Hi, a newbie here. I thought I'd introduce myself to the forum as there is a section for it. I was recommended to 'get tarred and feathered' on another forum (nothing to do with writing) in order to get a better feel for what's wrong, so here I am. Please be 'gentle' with me I'm already, technically, a self-published author. However, the reception to my first two novels didn't go down well and I'm having to take my ego and stick a knife into it and twist. Having recently re-read my second novel I realized that my prose simply isn't good enough, so I'm currently doing some experimental reworking of a small part of its beginning to figure out what I do wrong and how I can fix it. As for reviewing others work I can't know if I'll be much help as, if my own writing is in as much trouble as I think it is, just how much help can I be? However, I will do my best to offer practical, constructive, objective opinion where I can.
Welcome to Writing Forums, Ian! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirements. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself, Cogito, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
