Hello everyone. My name is Ryan, but for reasons that are entirely an in-joke with my friends, I go by Joe on the internet...Explodjoe to be specific. I'm an artist whose been hit pretty hard by this economy. Having to increase my work hours to 50+ hours a week has given me a terrible arthritis in my hands making drawing nearly an impossibility. So around the end of October I decided to give writing a try! I'm a huge fan of reading and I've got a few stories in my head that deserve to be written down. Since typing doesn't kill my hands too bad, I'm going to give my artwork a break and try exercising a new medium of art. I have high hopes from what I've read so far that this community will help me work through this awkward novice period and help mold my writing into something that is worthy of the stories I want to create. I look forward to some good reading and some good writing here! Thank you! Explodjoe
Hi ExploJoe, and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry to what happened to you, but, hey! look what good came from it! I'm sure you've found the right place and good luck with your writing here. You'll get the help you need. Keep it up
Hello Ryan! I have lupus which gives me bad arthritis in my hands too, so I feel ya there. Writing still hurts them but its the love of the story that keeps me typing even when I dont' want to! Welcome to the forums!
Hello Ryan, Welcome to the Writing Forums. I'm not sure if substituting writing for drawing will really do much to alleviate repetitive motion trauma, but by all means, go for it! Posting your own work 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. 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 reviewing as a critical 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). 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 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!
Thank you all for the warm welcome! Just reading others works and going through topics in the General and Technical forums has already taught me a lot about writing I didn't know before. I have been doing hand exercises that make it possible to type easy enough. It hasn't been enough to get the subtly of working with a pencil back in order though. I can draw for only about 10 minutes, whereas I can type for a solid hour or so before it starts to bother me. My compliments to the idea of reviewing first before posting! By forcing me to look around I've learned so much in a few days, a lot more than I learned just from my practice writings. The eye of the reviewer is something I have a hard time turning on my own work, but I'm sure I'll develop the techniques for it here! Thanks again to everyone, Ryan aka Explodjoe
