Greetings folk! My name is Roberto, and I'm an aspiring writer. Whew, man. That felt good to say. I don't know a great deal about usage or grammar, but have a decent internal editor. I enjoy writing fiction, mostly about crazy things that have happened to people I know. Also, I like to write about flightless birds. Mostly, ones that attack people in an unprovoked and rather gruesome fashion. I'm in my thirties, have a family, and live in the southeastern US. I've had one short story published and hope to craft more as my imagination allows. My main thrust is to learn as much as I can about storytelling and plot structure, and how to create tension within a story. I approach my writing with a great deal of humility, enjoy reading and critiquing the work of others, and have had great fun learning how to write creatively. Thank you for having me; I look forward to participating in this great resource.
Hola Roberto, 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 Writing Prompts, 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 site 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!
Hello Roberto of The Southeast! Flightless birds? Cool! Perhaps a genetically engineered creature, a cross between a barnyard pimp and an ostrich with a "raptor's claw to disembowel? Or smaller Turkey Vulture size, hunt in raifs and don't wait around for something to die. Once watched Turkey Vultures eat an eighty pound dog and never saw the dog once the vultures descended on it. Dozens fought for position and the dog was gone in about 30 minutes. Like Clint Eastwood said in "The Outlaw Josie Wales," Buzzards gotta eat, same as worms." Whatever it is looking forward to reading excepts when you can post. Michael O of The LA...That's Lower Alabama. Roll Tide.
