Hello. This is my first online forum. For me? Quite an accomplishment. (It took me years before I got over my resistance to using a cell phone) My main purpose in signing up here is to seek out people "in the know" about online writing schools. I want to learn about personal essay or maybe classes in writing memoirs. I have found 3 fairly well established for-fee sites. Does anyone have any opinion or suggestions about which might be the better site? Writers Digest Gotham Writers' Workshop Writers' Village Thanks much.
Hi and welcome. Honestly, I would say save your money, hang around here, learn to critique, ask advice, and write your heart out. ~R
Hello Reebok, Welcome to the Writing Forums. I can't really give you much of an opinion about online writing schools, other than buyer beware. There's no accreditation necessary for such a school (unless it is part of an accredited online University), so there's no real standard for what you can expect from such a course. 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!
