Hello everyone, I never thought I'd be joining a writing forum having neither the talent nor the desire to write in the past. Of all my friends I'm the least bookish but the most creative. I'm the 'arty' one. I'm a creative IT contractor who has been working at the same company for the past 4 years - the job itself pretty much bored me to tears but it paid well so I stuck at it. The part I did enjoy was the 40 minutes it took each day to travel there and back as it allowed my mind to wander and come up with different ideas, be it characters, TV Show formats or stories. Now that the contract has finally ended I've got a bit of spare time to myself so I'm trying to get down the stories I've had forming in my head for the past few years. I know what it's like to have the fear of a blank page, or in my case a blank canvas and I know you have to dive in and start making marks, even though you know it's rubbish you have to start somewhere and start with something. For the past month I've been creating story breakdowns, point by point what happens (there's the odd gap here and there). What I've now got is a pretty detailed skeleton of my story. Today I've just started making marks - Chapter One - and have written a page of A4 - not a lot I know, but seeing as I've never written anything creative at all after GCSE English some 20 years ago, this is a huge step for me. I may not create the next great epic but I’m happy to have started getting my ideas down, fleshing them out and revising sentences and paragraphs until they flow better (this post not included ). Anyway, I'm just saying hello to you all and will be lurking in the shadows and dropping in for advice every now and again.
Hi and welcome. Uninterrupted meditation (such as a long car drive) is the greatest muse for plots and story ideas. Good luck with your writing.
Hello Mr Grumpy, Welcome to the Creative Writing Forums. Please read How to Use the Writing Workshop 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 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!
