Hello everyone! My name's Sílvia, and I'm a 17-year-old girl who just loves to read and write. I'm Portuguese, but despite that, English is not a problem to me, so reading and writing in that language feels just as natural to me as when I do it in my mother tongue. I hope you all like my work, your critiques are always welcome... and I expect to have lots of fun here!
Hey Sílvia, I'm Hedge -- or Greg, whichever you feel like. That's so interesting you're from Portugal. I'm just an uninteresting East Coast American. :[ What interests do you have in terms of hobbies, genres, or music? I hope you post your work in teh future. Enjoy your path to literary enlightenment and I'll see you around. /generic
Hi Hedge When it comes to hobbies, besides reading and writing, I also love listening to music - and I'm not picky, I truly like to listen to a bit of everything. Depends on my mood... I have been listening to a lot of Eddie Vedder's songs lately, but who knows what will be on my music player next week I'm also fond of doing some photography. My reading tastes are very similar to my music preferences: I read almost everything. But I specially like thrillers, horror stories... Stephen King, Agatha Christie and Dan Brown are among my favourite writers. Isabel Allende and Nora Roberts are also favourites, and then there's a Portuguese writer that's on my top list as well, José Saramago. You might have heard of him when the movie Blindness, which is based in one of his books, premièred Thank you so much for the warm welcoming!
Hello Sylvia, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Posting your own work 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. 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 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 for the precious advice! I'll do some exploring here on the forum, and try to learn how to review other member's work before I post my own.
Hey Silvia! Welcome to Writingforums! Critiquing others is very helpful as a learning tool for yourself. You can spot things that you may (or may not!) want to emulate that others have done. Not only that, it's supporting the community which is great for everyone. Have fun! Nate
