Hello everyone, I just registered for the forum and am hoping to improve my writing. I am very active with an adult roleplaying forum and many times find myself scratching my head having no idea where to go with my posts. Call it writer's block or simple insecurity, but whatever it is it drives me crazy. I've never considered myself a writer in the past as I had only occasionally dabbled in poetry, but now I thoroughly enjoy it. As I said, I'm hoping to improve myself and pick up some pointers from this forum. I feel so silly introducing myself:redface:
Oh wow, thank you all!! Glad that you are all friendly here, might even have to make this my second online home
Hi Greenthorn, welcome to the forums Don't worry about the intro, was fine. Most of us get a little nervous and embarrassed when we post one I know I did!
Hiya Greenthorn, Welcome to the Writing Forums. 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 reviewing as a critical 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). See this post, Why Write Reviews Before Posting My Work? for more information. Enjoy your stay here, and have fun!
Thank you all who have replied since I last thanked everyone I've done a lot of browsing actually...mostly "Writing Issues" and RPG (have barely peeked into Word Games). I actually have a question. As I said in my first post, I participate in adult roleplays on a forum, but does this actually make me a writer? Honestly I always have trouble wrapping my head around the idea, even though some of the people there write beautifully and it is a literary site. (I am middle of the road...the low end...there) Is anyone who creates or participates in a story considered a writer? (Pondering if maybe this should be a poll somewhere:redface
Roleplays can be good practice in character development, and in constructing scenes, but I wouldn't consider it writing per se. But that's just my personal opinion. You may consider yourself a writer even if all you ever do is journal for your own eyes only. There are no certification examinations in order to use the title. I find that there is a special satisfaction I derive from creating a story or poem from scratch, unconstrained by anyone else's scenario or rules, that is lacking when significant portions of it were provided by one or more other people. I don't mean that I can't have been inspired by other creations - that would be next to impossible - but that I have assembled a concept and executed it in a way that is uniquely mine.
I agree. Although the roleplaying that I do is freeform with no rules, it is still just "posting" to me. But either way, I'm up against many people who I -do- consider to be writers, so trying to be a better "poster" is my goal