During this lock down after being furloughed, I realized that I only feel joy when I write. I was always under the impression that it's an unrealistic career path, especially since I haven't taken any courses in writing and haven't read any books in years. I listen to audio books every night though, but it's not the same as reading. I'm hoping to improve my writing skills by contributing on this site and learning from other writers.
Hi Scorpia95 I’m one of the forum moderators, and I want to welcome you to the forum. Yeah, this lockdown is causing lots of people to 'return' to the idea of writing, apparently, as we've had quite a number of new members join up since the lockdown began, as well as some welcome returns of longer-serving members. Lockdown does force us to live more inside our own heads than maybe we did before, which can certainly start our creativity flowing again. I'm impressed that you recognise the need to read, if you're going to become a writer. I think we have got away from 'reading' as a pasttime over the years, and now either 'watch' stories unfold on TV or in films ...which is an entirely different media form from the written word. Or we listen to, rather than read actual books. That's maybe a bit better than watching films, in terms of getting you familiar with the written word again, but as you say, nothing beats reading. As far as building a career as a writer ...well that requires your books getting written and marketed. So that's where you start, I guess. I think you'll see from the many comments on that aspect of writing, that it's not a comfortable career path. However, if writing gives you joy, then you will at least be enjoying the effort. And learning to make your writing as good as anybody else's in the process. And when you're done, you can certainly sell your work ...even if it never makes the kind of money you'd need to make a career out of it. Anyway ...in order to help you get oriented and get settled, here are a couple of links I strongly recommend that you read at the start, if you haven’t already. They will give you a good idea of how we operate here on the forum: New Member Quick Start Forum Rules You will notice in the New Member Quick Start that in order to post your work in the Workshop area—the only area of the forum where you are allowed to post your work and ask for feedback—you will need to do at least two critiques for other people, in exchange for receiving feedback on one of your own pieces of work. This site is designed around the concept of members helping each other out by ‘paying it forward’—through our two-for-one critique system. So do two critiques, THEN you can post something of your own. This advance 2:1 ratio lasts as long as your membership here—although it is your own responsibility to keep track of your own ratio. The software doesn't keep track of it for you, beyond your first two critiques. In order to help you get started doing critiques, here is a link to a good article written by one of our former moderators: https://www.writingforums.org/threads/constructive-critiques.20627/ One of the popular areas of our forum is our contest section. There is a monthly contest running for Short Stories, Flash Fiction and Poetry. You can enter these ongoing contests, even as a new member. And we really encourage you to visit the site, read the current entries, and vote for your favourite when the voting period starts. This means a lot to the people who have written these entries. And it will also give you a good idea of what our members are capable of writing. https://www.writingforums.org/writing-contests/ While the Role Playing Game section is not new, it’s being given a revamp. So if you are interested in playing and writing Role Playing Games, you might want to visit this section and get in on the fun. https://www.writingforums.org/threads/resurrecting-the-dead-rpg-section-rebuild.165055/ I hope you have fun getting to know us and let us get to know you, via the posts you make. Please feel free to explore the forum. There is a lot under the hood. This site map might help you find your way around more quickly than the menu bars do, so feel free to use it. https://www.writingforums.org/faq/ If you encounter any difficulties, don’t hesitate to contact me or one of the other moderators, whose names appear in yellow at the bottom of the Community page. We will be glad to help. Again, welcome! Cheers for now, Jan
