Um, hey. Fresh fish, here. I go by seventh-seraph, because I thought of it one day, and, well, I haven't been able to come up with anything else. I am a member of DeviantART, where I semi-regularly post mediocre pieces of prose under the username of ParadoxBox. Much to my own disadvantage, I love to write. It's problematic because I am also a perfectionist and never seem to be happy with my own work. Anyone who knows me could tell you that. My specialty is short, incoherent blobs of writing, devoid of any specific genre or purpose. I came here on recommendation of a man who somehow found me on dA and seems hellbent on convincing me I'm good. Lately I've become more and more disappointed in my own work. I'm looking for opinions and people who can help. Skimming the topics on these forums, this seems very much like a place that could provide the feedback I need and let me try to hone my skills a little bit. I've been writing since I knew how to hold a pencil, and my biggest project so far is a full-blown novel that I have now been working on for three years. The plot of said novel is very shoddy, and that might be my biggest concern at the moment. I love the story and characters, but I don't know how to save them from a life in purgatory. Hm, what else? Oh, perhaps I could pretend to have a personality. My name is Trista and I'm newly sixteen years old. I grew up in Canada, but currently reside in Ohio, USA. The weather is very moody here. I'll try to be a contributing member to the forums and, maybe, you'll all be able to tolerate me. That's about it! Thanks for reading! --Seraph
Welcome aboard seraph, I'm sure you have plenty of ability to write and I know that here on the forums you can improve upon it tons! The community here is very friendly and I'm sure everyone will do more than tolerate you
Hello Trista, Welcome to the Writing Forums. Perfectionism is what will drive continual improvement, as long as you don't let it paralyze you into never calling a piece "finished." 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 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. 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!
Hey Trista, welcome to the forums. Its a good thing to be critical of your work because you'll improve and you'll pick up on errors that you might have made, but don't let it get you too bogged down. A piece of writing does eventually need to be 'finished'.
