Hello there. I hope you, and Emily Dickinson, don’t mind if I quote her for the title of my first thread. I was absolutely taken with her poetry as a child. I loved how she took the dreary and ugly colors of her life and turned them into a beautiful body of work. I have three goals I’d like to achieve here, and I hope you will help. I want to write more, write better, and grow a thicker skin. And, of course, I’d like to be your friend. I look forward to reading, writing, and conversing with you. I have much to learn; I hope I have something to offer.
Hello and welcome. Now you're here, I'm sure we'll never get rid of you. (Which is, of course, a VERY bad pun based on your username. You should've seen some of those I rejected!)
Hello BadPenny, Welcome to the Writing Forums. We are all somebody. Posting your own work 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. 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). 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 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!
Hello hello! Love your subject line. Ah, I must read more poetry if that's what I've been missing...BadPenny, are you a poet yourself?
