I used to love to write when I was younger. Since then I have taken many paths and wound up on a ship in the middle of the inside waters of southeast Alaska, as an engineer--which has somehow synonymously, for me, become the ultimate in anti-literary career paths. I have not written anything in years, although I believe I have always had an ache to. I have no idea what I would write if I did. I suppose I like the old detective stuff--gritty. I liked Charles Bukowski before he was cool. I remember how I got started liking to write, though, and it was because of a beautiful woman teacher in a little Junior College in Modesto California. I was a high-school dropout, who knew little about grammar and writing when I attended her class, an ESL class, because I had done so poorly on the entrance exams. This woman, Lilian, wove the most wonderful praise into the margins of all my stories and delicately corrected my grammar and spelling. She made me want to write more. She was a fairy godmother of a teacher. I went on to attend honors English classes and to become an English tutor at that school, before moving on to become a long-haul truck-driver, which was the next leg of my journey. Well, I'm on break, at work, at this very moment; somehow while I was internet-day-dreaming I wound up here on your site, and wanted to say hello. I have to go now, bilges to clean, hi ho.
Hello Frank, Welcome to the Writing Forums. It sounds like you have a good assortment of life experiences to draw upon. 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. 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 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!
Great stream of consciousness intro there, welcome to the forums, perhaps they will aide you in your endeavors.
Thank you Nice warm welcome. I took a little time to browse this this informative site. There is a lot of talent here, truly. I'm grateful to be a new member to this community. I plan to contribute to it and benefit from it.
