Hi all, since my childhood, I was sure I will be a writer one day. I'm never without some kind of a story running in my head, though as of now, in my forties, I am yet to actually write anything to completion. English is not my first language, but it is my writing language of choice. My genres are Fantasy and Science Fantasy. I typically prefer to have plenty of action in my stories, though the concepts I develop can get quite philosophical too. Anyway, I'm looking forward to spending time with the people around here and with their stories.
Thank you for the welcome. As it turns out, I already have questions. - I wanted to post a review in the Workshop, to a story that drew my interest, but somehow ran afoul of the forum's spam protections. I wrote a lengthy reply, quoting the whole of the opening post, edited with comments and suggestions, the way I've seen another poster do. Yet I keep getting the error note that it can't be posted because it 'looks like spam or contains inappropriate material' and to contact an admin. I there something obvious that I'm missing? Is there perhaps a cool-down period for new members before they can post reviews? Which one of the admins may I bother with this? - I joined the forum with the hopes of bringing my writing up to a new level, perhaps all the way to eventually publishing one or the other of my stories. I had to realize though, that using the Workshop here for getting feedback on a story could harm my chances of getting it published professionally one day. In view of this, may I/ how do I approach individual members here for private reviews? I live in Berlin, Germany, thus I don't expect there are any writing circles near me that do their writing in English. Though in this day and age, I imagine there exist international online circles that might help me along. Any thoughts or suggestions about those?
Welcome, Vally. I am not a forum moderator and I haven't been a member here all that long, so I can't answer any of your questions. However, I can certainly sympathize with having carried stories in your head for years without getting on paper (or into a computer). Been there, done that. The answer is to take Nike's advice and "Just do it!"
