Hello to all. My name is Casey but I always go by the handle "finnegan" in online forums. The nickname is the result of a practical joke from a Canadian friend who managed to keep her secret from me for many, many years, but I actually like the nickname and it stuck. Anyone who hails from Canada will probably make the connection, but for those who haven't spent any time there, think Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans. Or maybe Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop or Mr. Rogers and Bob Dog or King Friday would be a better comparison. In any event, I have an ecclectic background having been a farm kid, college basketball player, Alaskan crab fisherman, 911 dispatcher, cop, government contractor in Kosovo and Afghanistan, business owner, failed business owner, unemployed cancer husband and finally, aspiring writer. I have always loved to write, particularly opinion pieces and blogging about my experiences in whatever far-flung corner of the world I found myself in. My wife has beaten cancer and graduated medical school and is about to accept a Physician Assistant job in St. Croix. I'm thinking I'll tag along! I have several ideas I'd like to run by some of the experienced writers here and I will hope to get some good guidance. Hopefully I can avoid getting political on these boards so I can avoid ticking some of you good folks right off! Thank-you for allowing me to join your community. I will be posting a question straight away in the Suggestions and Feedback section and will look forward to some fun banter! Cheers!
Hello Casey, 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 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!
Cogito, Thanks for the welcome. I already posted, so sorry if that is a break in decorum. I wasn't looking to post parts of a manuscript or anything. Instead, I wanted to post the unconventional idea for a book and get some feedback. Hope that was an okay place to do so. Thanks much!
