Hey everyone! I'm Ashley. There's not tons about me that's SUPER fascinating so I guess I'll just list the usual. Things I like: Summertime and the feeling of the warmth on my face, intricate details in nature, the sound and smell of rain, my countless piles of books and nearly exhausting list on Kindle, warm baths with scented bubbles, the fresh homemade smell to meals made with my family, and the sunsets and how each one is different. There are tons more, but we'll move on. Things about me: I'm 24 (25 is so close and yet still so far), I'm married to my high school sweetheart (we actually met due to horrible circumstances, feel free to ask me about it sometime), we have two beautiful boys (5 years and 6 months), I'm a very defensive person (due to a lot of horrible experiences in the past), I read often, I've moved from Utah to CA (moved from San Diego to San Fran in September 2017), I have a 10 year old black lab collie mix who is my trained ESA (I suffer from Social anxiety, severe depression, extreme fear of men, and multiple others), I struggle to make friends due to being shy, but as soon as I open up I won't ever shut up...EVER. What else? *clicks tongue* Well... I wrote my first book...well, to be fair I already wrote it...six times. But I finished it, so, YAY ME! *high fives myself* *realized I just clapped my hands, and frown because I must look like an idiot* (my dog is looking at me like I may have lost my mind) 80,000 words later and I feel drained emotionally and physically. I am a member on multiple writing forums, but this one looks a lot more promising than the others, where there isn't as much feedback. I'm pretty excited about that, and I hope *fingers crossed* that I'll be able to take criticism with a grain of salt...or however the saying goes. So that's me in a nutshell.
Welcome! I can't say for sure - but this is the best writing forum I've come across. Most importantly it's active. A lot of writing forums (especially those in my native language) are more or less dead. There is also a lot of nice people here - but at the same time most aren't afraid to be brutally honest when needed. Overall it's a nice place to be and with the added perk that your writing might improve. What else could one ask for?
I've noticed that too, the other forums I'm in have been draining rapidly. So each person's story post or prompt forum, or whatever...they don't have more than maybe 13 notes on each, and that's with a few people all responding multiple times. Some of the forums you have incredibly high posting numbers and you can't post more than a certain number of times a day or you'll get flagged. So the newbie forums are empty, and the senior forums are completely sealed. I definitely have seen some brutal comments here and there, but I would rather have someone give me there sugar coated opinion, and then have them go over it again to see how it changes the second time through. Most people's brains skim over stuff, and you end up not understanding things that were written. But I'm excited to learn to grow as a writer and get to know everyone I can.
Welcome Ashley!! My name is Anthony... I'm newer here as well (almost done with my newbie restrictions)... My family just relocated from CA to TX to downsize our bills so we can upsize our family size (yeah for kids!!)...I can see you have kids too so you understand. Anyways so far I have loved this site and I think you will too!! Lots of activity and lots of works to read!!
Oh I definitely get it. I’d move to Texas or back to Utah if I could. CA is bleh. But I’m enjoying this forum so far. It does seem very active which I love. I’m looking forward to breaking through my restrictions as well!
Very cool what is about writing things, topics, in our minds eye that make us scream, screech or whisper out ? Is it the spirit in side of us that has a purpose, or a reason to let it all out, some pain, anxiety or is it just our nature as human beings to scribble on the wall of a cave, an draw pictures in words.