Hello there. My name is James, or Jim, or pretty much any variation thereof. I answer to most. Before anyone else says it, yes, 'darthjim' is an excessively stupid moniker for a grown individual, but it seemed like a good idea when I started posting online more than a decade ago, and it's kind of hung around. Like a bad smell. Or one of those friends that just won't take the hint wen you never return their calls and you tell them you're dying of ebola and then they see you in Waterstone's mocking the latest Dan Brown tosh and you tell them you're cured and they're so desperate they believe you and... Well. Anyway. It all seems very nice and terribly civilized here. It's always nice to find a reasonable outlet for my verbosity (okay, okay, verbal diarrhoea) in the face of FaceTwit et al's horrid laconic nature. As a brief explanation of who I am and what the living heck I'm doing here, I've been a part-time writer for some years (various videogame/movie review and news sites), am currently gnawing my way through pencils (and my wife's patience) writing my first novel and enjoy dabbling in poetry when the mood doth take me. I also like lifting massive weights, but you don't need to know that. Hi.
Hello Jim, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Please read How to Use the Review Room before you post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here. It is worth taking the time 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. Also, be aware that posting a piece of writing on any public site, including this one, will greatly diminish your chances of selling it for publication. Removing the writing later does not alter that fact - once posted, it is irreversibly considered published. So do not post anything more than a small excerpt of any piece you are planning to submit for publication. 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 as well, and be sure to read through the forum rules, 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 constructive critique as a vital 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). Also, please use the same thread for all revisions and additional excerpts from the same piece of writing. See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out the RPG forum for improvisational fiction. Also try our Weekly Short Story Contest and Weekly Poetry Contest. They actually run more than one week apiece, but any member may enter, and all members are urged to vote for their favorites. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
Hi there! I have a ton of 10 year old internet names that I still drag around with me. My email dress is hilariously awful but I'm not changing it for the world.
I think I already love you, because as far as I can tell the title of this thread is a Simpsons reference. Look forward to reading your work!