... is what I found myself doing with a lot of my old stories that have been locked away among the endless files on my laptop. Re-reading them makes me remember the way in which writing is such a major venting aspect of my life. However, my life you know nothing about so I will give you some key details. I'm 20years old going into my junior year at college (small private northeast school). While I'm not majoring in Creative Writing or anything involving English, writing and poetry have always been a (hidden) passion of mine. My not-so-hidden passion/obsession as you can see from my name is playing rugby. Back in high school one of my poems was chosen for me to read on Broadway during a RENT workshop. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. The poem was about the relationship with my father. He has no idea the poem exists. A lot of my work deals with the emotional history I have with my father. I love writing poetry, however 95% of my poems rhyme... but not in a childish way. I don't know really what else I'm supposed to say here. I'm new to this whole forum world. I'm quite shy/intimidated to post my work, yet I want to show people a piece of me that not even my friends know about. Any questions? -Kelley
Welcome to WF, Kelley I think a lot of us are shy (not me, I think you'll see that pretty quick) and it's generally a pretty cool group of folks. Take some time, get to know how things work and what we're like, and I think by the time you're allowed to post work you won't feel so intimidated Very cool! Sounds awesome (and terrifying).
You don't need to worry about posting work just yet. You need to be a part of the forum for at least two weeks to make your own thread in the writing workshop (where we post our excerpts poems ect.). You also have to post at least two reviews first. By the time you've done all this you should be nice and settled in.
Welcome to the forum. Posting excerpts of your work for critquing is only one of the aspects of this forum, so don't worry about it if you don't feel you want to. If you do, read the ground rules, because you have to post at least two constructive critiques before you can post anything of your own, and you also have to be a member for a certain amount of time. In the meantime, join in the various discussions. As Trish said, there are some really friendly folks here (of all ages) and there are some who are very knowledgable and helpful when it comes to writing techniques and the business of publishing. If peruse some of the existing threads, you'll get a sense of what I mean. Enjoy!
Hello Kelley, Welcome to the Creative Writing Forums. Please read How to Use the Writing Workshop before you try to post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on should not be among the very first things you do here anyway. 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 Writing Workshop, 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 Writing Workshop, 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. We also impose a two-week waiting period before you may post writing for critique, to give you time to become familiar with what is expected and how the site operates. The Writing Workshop 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 Writing Workshop 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!
