Hello Magog, Welcome to the Writing Forums. 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. 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 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!
^Well, take a brisk read at Cogito's guide which he posted earlier. Still confused? Let me make an example right here. Ex. On the spot poem New Members, by Palmer The new members that join the forum All seem to like Cogito's decorum Though not many of them last too long I guess members who stick around are strong Review, by Person 2: That's a nice little snippet you got there Palmer, but I find that it's too short to fully evoke the readers' emotions. First, you bait them with a somewhat capturing line, and then you immediately let go of them with a weak finishing line. It lacks potency, and the cadence of the poem doesn't flow too well. Try adding a couple of stanzas to make it more interesting and to prolong the readers' interest. To be honest, there's not much to like about your poem because of the monotonous feel, though I hope this doesn't dishearten you. Good luck with your next rendition. ^That's just an example, though there are many other ways to make some critique. The critique was rather short because there wasn't too much to say about the poem and because the poem itself is short, usually, they're longer than that. Take a look at the Review Room and see how everyone else critiques.
