To whomever finds this message, I probably don't know you, but perhaps we will one day cross paths. In the spirit of whatever brotherhood or sisterhood we may find in this dismal passing of time and events, I wish to share with you a summary of my existence. The wastelands of Arizona have claimed me after my retreat from the fields of Illinois, my homeland. When sanity was tenuous and strained beneath the gray skies there we fled, my companion and I. We had been told that the clouds and darkness were held at bay by the mountains that guard this valley of sun and heat like the walls of a castle. On all sides there is nothingness--just death and air so dry it bleeds the water from your flesh as surely as it burns it from the sandy, rocky ground. Still, we make the most of it, she and I. We make a tight living among the isolated citizenry; she by caring for the abandoned and discarded innocent--the animals of this desert oasis--and I by repairing the obsolete and failing technologies we cling so desperately to in this time of change. To protect us I train to fight, having found seemingly the only man left alive in the entire valley to teach traditional arts of combat in the manner they were designed on the islands of Japan. I build kit of leather and brass for those who can spare to trade for things such as that in times such as these, and when I am not doing these things I am writing. Writing like I am scrawling this now, with keys so worn they can no longer be read and a screen so dim and stained I must turn down the meager lighting in the small apartment we occupy just to be certain that I have written anything at all. The only inspiration I have to continue this nonsensical digital scribbling is the desert and the words of others whose work is so beyond my own capability that it occasionally kills whatever hope I have of success in it. Fantasists such as Tolkien, Salvatore and Nix. Cyber-punk scholars like Lyda Morehouse and John Steakley. Psychotic scribes like Swanwick. They all have their influences upon me, as do so many more. My closet is filled with them and my digital media is similarly stocked. I only wish that one day I might have one of these greats acknowledge my work, but hidden as I am among the wastelands of this world I find my chances to be slim. In looking over these sentences of mine I fear it appears as though I have rambled a bit beyond the scope of this message, and so I do apologize. I hope that this finds you well and in good health, traveler, so that we may someday have the chance to discuss such meandering thoughts as these. Signed, N.M. Legel Wasteland Survivor
Thanks, Eunoia! I wanted to make my introduction a bit more interesting than the usual "Hi, my name is _________ and I'm from _____________. My hobbies are ____________ and _____________ and my favorite authors are ____________ and _____________," so I'm glad you liked it! Not all of my work is quite so eloquently worded as this, but I do try to write to keep people engaged. N.M. Legel Wasteland Survivor
Hello N.M., 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!
Thanks! Thank you, Cogito. I suspect from the tone used above that this is a template post? I appreciate the advice and would like you to know that I have, at this point, posted reviews which I sincerely hope were constructive to 3 or 4 pieces of work, participated in a Word Game, and provided my input on a few discussions. I have not, thusfar, posted any of my work except for this introduction, and so I hope that I have not violated the rules of this forum in any way.
