Gwendolyn Said:

US Army members: A couple questions for a short story I'm writing.?

We Answered:

1) Most E5s will be in their 20s. It can take anywhere from 1 year to forever to make E6 depending on education, training, Physical Fitness and your job (MOS) some jobs promote fast some slow.

2) If you have any BA you come in as an E4 even if it's in something that has nothing to do with the Army. E4s would definitely have authority over privates if they are the Team leader (they can even have authority over other E4s). A new E4 (or PV4 as I like to say) would not be put as a team leader if he had no experience in the army or as a leader.

3) Medics would be assigned a weapon and would be qualified on that weapon (most likely an M4 but it could be an M9 pistol or an M16 rifle), they would also have fired most crew served weapons in the unit at least one time so they would know how to use it. At unit level a medic could be anywhere from an E2 if they just showed up to E6 if they were the head medic but it all depends on the unit. The medic would work for whatever unit they are assigned to so he would probably work for the HQ PSG in a company or the PSG at a platoon. If no DR is around he may be called "Doc".

4) this is allot harder, without watching a movie I can't think of whats wrong off the top of my head.

Good Luck

Josephine Said:

Can I take a single college course online?

We Answered:

Absolutely. There are a large number of college offering online classes... and you don't even have to enroll in a degree program.

In fact, if you don't care about receiving college credit, you can take the class FREE from a great school like Yale University or MIT. They offer "open" courses that are pre-recorded... you learn the EXACT same thing, but you don't have to turn in your assignments.

If you are interested in college credit, I have included a link for that as well below.

Marion Said:

What it takes to become a great author?

We Answered:

I can see you are serious about becoming a published author. The fact that you have written two novel-length stories already says how dedicated you are. Most people here talk about wanting to be authors but either have not written a scrap, or they have 39 pages and already have 'writer's block'. You are way past them.

You don't need a professional editor. Good professional editors are worth their weight but they don't come cheap. I'd recommend you find someone unrelated to you, preferably of mature age with a background in writing - not necessarily fiction. Friends and relations are not a good choice. They will usually tell you what they think of YOU, not what they think of your writing ("yes, it is just fantastic honey, you write so well" etc ...). It is a big job for someone to edit a manuscript so be certain to pay for it in one form or another. Also be prepared to be shocked by the number of changes they suggest, and often it's the paragraph you are most proud of that has the fat red line through it. You must take back your mangled (so it seems) manuscript from your editor and thank them profusely. Take it home, make the changes suggested no matter how much it hurts (but keep a copy of the previous draft), leave it six weeks then re-read it.

Some, usually small, publishers will accept manuscripts or queries from new authors without an agent. I recommend you check some of these out first before trying to find an agent. If you do interest a small publisher, then approach an agent to say you have found a publisher for your book and would they be willing to represent you.

In reference to your question re publishing in magazines, your previous record in publishing is everything to a publisher. If you come to a publisher with a 400 page novel and no previous publishing history, your chances of acceptance are low. If you come with a list of published short stories with your name on them, they will regard your ms more seriously.

Max Said:

College - Screenwriting, creative writing, poetry, Russian - Best College choice?

We Answered:

Try this.

http://www.brynmawr.edu/russian/rli.htm