Hey. My name is Derrick. I've been writing for a long time now, when I was younger is was "edgy" short stories about the frustrations about being gay. I would like to happily say I've exited that phase and now put out some decent material haha. The screen name Achillea is the genus for the plant name of Achillea milefolium which is commonly known as Yarrow. I went to college for forestry and I often fall back on the latin names I learned for screen names. Erm, what else. At the moment I am in the middle of writing my first real serious story. The root of the story come from the old days I would spend on a forum roleplaying. I know I know, the story sounds terrible, or rather it could be poorly written. I like to think that's true of all writing. The fact is the story is not based on the roleplay material, it draws a basic concept that drives the plot, as well as one character that is to closely tied to that basic concept to do without. I'm 19, turning 20 in a week and I live in Alberta, Canada. At the moment the piles of snow from shoveling our walks are over 6 feet high. I'll take it over crocs in my backyard any day. I actually found this forum when I googled "writing forum". I looked at one article which contained a list of publishers before I explored the rest of the forum. The community here seems to be great for feedback. By that I mean it's more then "oh yeah, no I liked it." or "SO GOOD!" I read more then a few posts where members would be completely honest and I think that's great. I can be direct at times and I'm happy to see others here are as well. With all the above rambling now done. It's nice to be here and I hope add my two cents to community as well as get some feedback and tips from you all. Cheers.
Hello Derrick, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Please read How to Use the Review Room before you post there. Posting your own writing for people to comment on 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 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!
