Hello there everybody. I am MFreak, but please just call me Ben. I guess you could say I have been writing fiction since I was in elementary school, but I didn't really discovered my love for it until around 7th or 8th grade. I have been writing since, but I am honestly not that great at it. I have what some might call an out of control imagination, to the point where I have to carry a notebook and pencil with me everywhere I go because I fear that I might forget a great idea that would pop into my head in class, or on the bus, or in the middle of the night. I have a very large collection of ideas for stories that I have been adding to since around early 2007, and the problem lyes in the fact that I am not very good at putting together the plot after the initial thought pops into my head, and thus my notebook. I want to improve my writing so I can start getting some of the stories together. Also I am a bit mad... so yeah...
Hello Ben, 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 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!
I'm going to guess that whole thing was a copy-paste, but I'll convince myself otherwise by thinking it was an actual greeting written just for me. Thank you.
Hi Ben Welcome! I'm sure you'll find plenty of advice and encouragement to help get your ideas into plots and then into flowing stories. We're all a friendly bunch here
It's a template, but I modify it as needed for each new member, depending on what I read in teir intro post and other preceding posts. Welcome to the site.
Thank you very much. From what I've seen so far it seems like a very nice community and I look forward to contributing in the future.