Hey everyone! I've never really been very good at introductions so I'll make it brief, forgive me. Well my name is Danny, I'm 20 years old and from England. I decided to join these forums as I haven't written anything for a long time and would love to start writing again and work to my eventual goal of self publishing in eBook! I came here to gain some inspiration, as every time I'd like to start writing again, I sit there staring at a blank word document for such a long time! I really struggle to get started, thinking where should I start? World building? Character creation? It all is slightly overwhelming and I have yet to complete anything longer than about ten pages! I really do love writing, and I don't want my skill and enthusiasm to go to waste! I really want to learn and develop my skills as a writer - I know that there is an awful lot that I can improve on - and I come here with an open mind, ready to take on board any advice or criticism given to me or my work. I am content to write for nothing more than the joy of writing, although being able to write and sell eBooks as an extra form of income would be a brilliant bonus! I don't want to get ahead of myself, as my writing skills are definitely more than a little rusty at the moment, but I am ambitious in everything that I do, so you can't blame a guy for hoping, can you? I will tell you a little bit more about me, as it's always nice to have a person to associate with a name. I currently work in a factory as a Quality Inspector. It's very boring, but I suppose the pay isn't too bad. I have an interview coming up for an apprenticeship with a large company working on an exciting and innovative project for transforming travel in London. I won't name the company, but that's a job which I am really hoping to get, as it will open up a world of opportunities for me. I don't want to be working in a factory all my life! The job will involve a move to London, which will be hopefully a great new chapter in my life, and definitely will throw me out into the big wide world where I am without the home comforts of being able to pop round my mums to do my washing, or eat a decent healthy meal.. I will be on my own! That's all exciting stuff I suppose, even if it is a little scary! Outside of work, I enjoy reading, playing video games and swimming. I like to keep in shape by going to the gym and going swimming, and swimming is something I really enjoy. It relaxes me, being able to switch off and just focus on swimming, building up distances week by week. I love it, and love trying to push myself to do more and more even if it is just for fun. I enjoy fantasy novels and my favourite author is Robert Jordan, I absolutely love The Wheel of Time series, although I haven't finished it yet! Well I can't think of much else to say so, yeah, hi
Okay, that wasn't brief, but it's good when people actually give info about themselves rather than just say, "Hey. I'm new here." Welcome. My first piece of advice for you: don't spend hours in front of the computer hoping for inspiration to strike. It's not great for your health, or your enthusiasm, and you're not achieving anything anyhow. My recommendation would be to work stuff out on paper until you've actually come up with an idea you can run with. If you need to create character outlines, brainstorm, etcetera, you've got more freedom for that on paper and you're not wracking up a big electricity bill.
Welcome to Writing Forums, Danny! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirements. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. The requirements of the Writing Workshop don't apply to the contests, so new members are allowed (nay, encouraged!) to get stuck in and enter! If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
