I'm a reader, a writer and an illustrator. Once I used to write a lot - mostly pretty cliched or generic fantasty, then I dabbled for a time in furry fiction and pokemon fanfiction. I thought they were pretty good. Indeed, some are still up on fanfiction.net and fictionpress.net. Then I had a dry spot for about 5 years, in which I devoted most of my time to creating artist trading cards and drawing New Zealand wildlife and other illustrations. Now I'm back into writing again. I recently completed a short course on "writing for children" which was most motivating, if not entirely teaching me a lot I didn't know. I think it did improve my writing style. And in November I completed my third succesful NaNoWriMo novel. I am just undertaking a final edit and completing the illustrations before publishing it via CreateSpace. This year has been a big year for me too, I got married and experienced a 7.1 magnitude earthquake (in two separate, entirely unrelated events). I'm only mentioning it because after about 6 weeks of no note-worthy aftershocks, we suffered the third noted (although I'd swear there's been 5) one since midnight on Christmas. It is now 5.35 in the morning. This brings our aftershock tally up to somewhere over 4000. So if anyone has any questions about what being in an earthquake feels like, you can ask me. We've experienced magnitude 2 (so small these often go unnoticed), 3, 4, 5 and 7. but not 6. Which I guess is something. Also if anyone needs an illustrator to draw birds, beasts or almost anything - I'm available for commissions. Cheers Angela "LemurKat"
Hello Angela, 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!
