Hello everyone! Getting started, my usage of exclamation points doesn't mean that I'm hyper and easily approachable, but I'm also not a hard person to get along with at all. I'm actually pretty shy, and laid back once you get to know me. If I seem a little awkward when you first start talking to me, it's because I'm easily intimidated by people I don't know. Just give me some time and you'll see I'm friendly enough. I certainly don't bite, and I hope that nobody here does. So, now that the explanation of my general awkwardness as a person is out of the way... hi there, I'm Comma =] Well, you can call me Kat or Comma. Or you-over-there-with-the-guitar. I answer to pretty much anything that's either a name/nickname of mine or a description of me. Indeed, I do play guitar, and my writing and my guitar playing enjoy battling for dominance over me, since I'm terrible at writing lyrics. I'm all right at composing, but poetry isn't exactly my forte, lyrical or otherwise. I'm definitely more of a prose person. Ironically, I signed up for this website and am typing up this introduction to procrastinate working on my novel for NaNoWriMo this year, as I've been sick for the past few days and ended up getting behind on my word count. Nothing I can't catch up on, I just don't feel like doing it right this second. I feel more like working on my love/hate relationship with procrastination. To round this up, I'll say that I write horror. It's what I've always written, from the days when my first grade teacher would contact my mother over my "strange" fascination with the "occult" (which basically meant she was afraid because I liked freewriting stories about haunted houses and scary monsters) to my very last days of high school. I've pretty much been writing stories since I could hold a pencil. It's commonplace in my family; my mom was the same way, and so was my older brother. Aside from horror, I also write a bit of fan fiction. If anyone's interested in it, my fanfiction.net account has some of my work. Mostly Death Note with some Harry Potter and One Piece stuff mixed in. And yes, I'm a Harry Potter nerd. I've become immune to people having problems with this due to living in the southeastern part of the United States, so don't bother if you do have an issue, since it won't due you much good. Sorry for all that. I get carried away on introduction threads. But... at least you know a bit about me now, right? And that's what introduction is about anyway
Hello Kat, 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!
Welcome Kat. I'm shy and easily intimidated too. And I'm doing NaNoWriMo too. I'm behind on my word count too. Oh dear, I've ended every sentence with 'too'..
