Hello everyone! I've just signed up and wanted to quickly introduce myself. My name's Laura, a twenty-something English teacher from the Netherlands. In my spare time I've got lots of creative hobbies going on, like photography, film, dance, and my blog. I guess it's safe to say I don't get bored easily (although I still do). I haven't been part of a writing forum since I was a kid. Writing was one of my greatest hobbies back then, but I guess I lost interest somewhere over the past fifteen years. However, a recent creative writing project with my students motivated me to write my own short story. Hence, my interest sparked again! Of course I enjoy reading very much, so I'm going to try my best to read plenty on here in between checking all my students' work I'm looking forward to exploring this forum. I am quite a picky reader, but I've come to the conclusion I enjoy character-based stories best. Here are some of my recent favourite reads: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (Taylor Jenkins Reid), Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng), Eleanor Olliphant Is Completely Fine (Gail Honeyman), Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (Benjamin Alire Sáenz), Sally Rooney's novels, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie) Would love to hear from you and make some new connections!
Hi treacle from Netherlands. I think there are a few other members from the Netherlands here - so I guess you got location in common. The site hosts most of its creative stories in the workshop area. Other than there is also a “contest” section where you read a bunch of stories and get to vote for your favourite one in the bunch! You might find that amusing if you enjoy rating stories against each other. Though be warned that it’s pretty hard to vote for only one in the entire collection. These contests take place every month and you can read and decide on your favourite right now, then vote for it when the polls open - and they will do later in the week. There’s a forum book club that has been recently set up. And also people posting stories in the workshop that you can critique. Since you like reading I’d recommend the stories in the contests to warm you in. They’re a great taster of what the site has to offer. And your vote for them would be hugely appreciated. Apart from that have fun, of course!
Goeienavond! I used to have a twenty something teacher called Laura. Obviously not you, as that would make you sixty something now... and probably angry with me for not paying attention. Anyway, welcome.
Hello treaclewaffle (stroopwafel?)! I'm Dutch as well! Living in Australia though. Very nice to meet you, and a good selection of books you've listed there. Have you read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara? It's full of gorgeous characterisation and is particularly heartbreaking too.
Thanks for the tip! I'll make sure to wander over there first Oooh hadn't heard of it, but it's on my list now!
Hi treaclewaffle (a tasty name, for sure!) I’m one of the forum moderators, and I want to welcome you to the forum. It's fantastic that you already teach English, so you are ahead of the game in terms of using the language. And your reading list is quite impressive. (I like Sherman Alexie's work, myself.) So you know what you're aiming for. If you are already a reader, that's such a boost. You'll be totally aware of what written stories are 'like.' You might already have a favourite writing style, or a favourite kind of subject matter to inspire you. I really look forward to seeing you around the forum. In order to help you get oriented and get settled, here are a couple of links I strongly recommend that you read at the start, if you haven’t already. They will give you a good idea of how we operate here on the forum: New Member Quick Start Forum Rules You will notice in the New Member Quick Start that in order to post your work in the Workshop area—the only area of the forum where you are allowed to ask for feedback—you will need to do at least two critiques for other people, in exchange for receiving feedback on one of your own pieces of work. This site is designed around the concept of members helping each other out by ‘paying it forward’—through our two-for-one critique system. Do two critiques, THEN you can post something of your own. This advance 2:1 ratio lasts as long as your membership here. In order to help you get started doing critiques, here is a link to a good article written by one of our former moderators: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/constructive-critiques.20627/ One of the popular areas of our forum is our contest section. There is a monthly contest running for Short Stories, Flash Fiction and Poetry. You can enter these ongoing contests, even as a new member. And we really encourage you to visit the site, read the current entries, and vote for your favourite when the voting period starts. This means a lot to the people who have written these entries. And it will also give you a good idea of what our members are capable of writing. https://www.writingforums.org/writing-contests/ While the Role Playing Game section is not new, it’s being given a revamp. So if you are interested in playing and writing Role Playing Games, you might want to visit this section and get in on the fun. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/resurrecting-the-dead-rpg-section-rebuild.165055/ I hope you have fun getting to know us and let us get to know you, via the posts you make. Please feel free to explore the forum. There is a lot under the hood. This site map might help you find your way around more quickly than the menu bars do, so feel free to use it. https://www.writingforums.org/faq/ If you encounter any difficulties, don’t hesitate to contact me or one of the other moderators, whose names appear in yellow at the bottom of the Community page. We will be glad to help. Again, welcome! Cheers for now, Jan
