Hi, everyone. I’m from South Wales, in the UK, and I'm a (amateur) writer. (God. It’s like Alcoholics Anonymous, but for writers, isn’t it? ;))

I left school for the summer holidays a few weeks ago, after finishing my GCSEs, and I’ve got two months to kill, so I thought I’d catch up with my writing. What with all the revision and panic and whatnot, it hasn’t been my top priority this year, and I’ve missed it a lot. It’s great to be able to get back to it, especially since it takes my mind off how the exams actually went, (I get the results on my birthday. How unfair is that?) and scary sixth form next September. :eek:

I’m so glad I found this forum - I’ve scouted around for a writing forum to join for a while now, but I’ve never really come across one that made me want to. The reviewing-before-posting-a-story policy is what made me take the plunge and sign up on here, because I think it’s a unique and well thought-out idea, and I thought it’d be interesting to try, since my reviewing skills need a lot of some work.

I love writing, reading, (funnily enough) and I’d love nothing more than to be a writer one day, but I’ll have to see how it goes. :D

Hi. I'm pretty new myself, and I actually joined because of the reviewing policy too. :-) So yeah, welcome to the forums.

Hi!
This is the first time I've actually seen anyone from South Wales on here (apart from me, obviously).
Welcome, and feel free to PM me if you need anything! :)

Welcome :)

Hi everyone. :) Thanks for the welcome!

Now I'll go and explore the rest of the forum ... *nervous* :redface:

Welcome to the forum, I hope your time off is well used.

Hello vivo neco, Welcome to the Writing Forums.

Thanks, I feel our reviewing policy is one of our greatest strengths.

Posting your own work should not be the very first thing you do here. It is really worthwhile to see what other people have done to improve their writing, and see if some of it applies to your writing as well. That is part of why we require members to review other members' work before posting their own for review. On the other hand, there are no restrictions, other than content and copyright rules, on showcasing your work in your member blog.

If you haven't explored the site yet, you should probably do so soon. Newcomers often gravitate to the Lounge, the Word Games, or the Review Room, but there is much more to be discovered if you poke in the corners. Remember to check out our FAQ (http://www.writingforums.org/faq.php) as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules (http://www.writingforums.org/showthread.php?p=101625#post101625), too, to avoid any misunderstandings or hurt feelings. Respect for one another is our principal mandate.

As for the Review Room, new joiners often wonder why we do things a bit differently on this site than on other writing sites. We emphasize reviewing as a critical writing skill. Training your eye by reviewing other people's work helps you improve your own writing even before you present it for others to see. Therefore, we ask members to review other people's writing before posting work of their own. The Review Room forums on this site, therefore, are true workshops, not just a bulletin board for displaying your work (and on that note, please only post each item for review in one Review Room forum). See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? (http://www.writingforums.org/showpost.php?p=65432&postcount=1) for more information.

Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!