Heya, I'm 24 and I'm just about to start my third (unpublished) novel. Just wanted to drop in and say hello looking forward to talking to all of you. Jupiter.x
Hey Jupiter, Welcome to the Writing Forums. I couldn't resist the Tori Amos reference. Well, I probably could have, but I didn't try very hard. 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 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 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? for more information. And while you're looking around, don't forget to check out 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!
Thank you Cogito I certainly don't mind the Tori reference, it's an excellent song! I haven't been on writing sites in quite a few years, I used to find they distracted me from the writing itself. I'm just going to take some time and look around, so thanks for providing all the info, I know it will come in useful I'm not really here to get my work read or reviewed, at least not yet, but I'll certainly join in the reviews of others. The reason that I don't want to be reviewed just yet is because I have real technical questions about the craft of writing and don't want my own style to undermine that. Does that sound pretentious? I've been writing since I was five years old - nineteen years! - and have decided that it is important enough for me to do professionally. I guess I want to approach this the way I would any other business, by learning as much as I can, asking the genuine questions I have and then moving on from there. I don't know if that is in keeping with forum spirit (I've been asked to leave other writing groups before for being, um, independent!) - I do genuinely appreciate having a sense of community and take my writing very seriously. I hope that's okay! Jupiter.x
Individuality is valued here. Writing has many many guidelines, but true rules are mostly limited to SPaG (Spelling, Punctuation, and Grammar) - and even that has some unexpected gray areas. We are ALL here to learn!
