I just joined writing forums yesterday and actually joined another place that offers links to agents, publishers and has been around for a while. A few days there and I put some of my work up and the reviewing was tough, but I didn't mind so much because it made me work harder on my craft. The only thing that ticked me off about the other place was that there seemed to be an air of arrogance. After watching a couple of posters tear down a contributor with useless one line snipes I almost said. "This isn't for me." Instead, I ran a google search and this place popped up. Without getting long winded I just want you to know that my impressions of this place have been very positive and that I have yet to run into a post I did not draw something from. Anyway, I can barely keep my eyes open so I'll sign off, but thanks for a great frst impression. Cheers M
welcome, mj!... i'm glad you found us... it IS the most well-run and friendly/courteous site on the web, for sure... in fact i came here for the same reason you did, but way back when it first spun-off from a site that had become too unruly and discourteous to bear... love and hugs, maia
MJ: Wow can I relate to what you are saying! One of the biggest reasons I registered on this site was that after I took the time to first look around, I found far less of any "air of arrogance" here. I spent almost a decade on a music site and let me tell you, after being there from the first year I watched it go from a big happy family to nothing but a bunch of stuck up snobs that wanted nothing more than display their power and complain about pity stuff 24/7. Please don't misunderstand, I got to the point I was getting negative too, but when a S.I.G. forum site stops being fun, or a learning experience and becomes a name calling contest I feel it is time to bid farewell. I hope that never happens here, I truly wish to stay here.The last thing I wanted was to register on a writing site to only find the same "air of arrogance" here. Gosh, I am a banjo player, I'm a target for many people to pick on. I applaud you for posting your writings online. I am not to that point yet, as I am still catching many of my own mistakes. My spelling is terrible and my grammar is perhaps worse. It may be many months until I have the guts to post any samples of my writing because I already know I have a great deal of improvement to do before that time comes. Great post. Terry
Thanks for the kudos. Part of the reason I am posting my work is because of my atrocious grammar. At 45 I'm still apt to learn a thing or two from constructive criticism. The folks here seem content to share and that is what I'm looking for.
Yeah, welcome MJ, from another newbie who has already performed a little grammatical correction work for you elsewhere a couple of days ago. I agree with your point. I have a somewhat unfortunate history with forums, sometimes through my own shortcomings, and sometimes through the shortcomings of the forum itself. Indeed, I actually tried to leave this one yesterday due to a personal issue that doesn't belong on a public thread like this, but luckily Cogito wouldn't accept my resignation. So, here I am...
Now THAT is music to my ears! Wow, it is so cool to read that this site is doing things to retain it's membership base! I fear too many forum websites lose track of what a large healthy membership can do for their site, and sadly I watched one of my long term favorite sites loss total respect for their members, and they actually became blinded by some big time $$ that the site started making from both it's advertisers and many generous member's donations. The saddest part was when they lost the ability to even thank their members for all of their input and hard work at making the site not only a very active and large one, but also a site that earned the sole Admin (the owner) what appeared to of been a large profit. So many members were abandoned by a small group of people in power that seemed to of lost all common sense- instead it was tossed out the window. Many veteran members got crushed when it became obvious the site was no longer about the special interest it stood for- the love of making music. Somehow all love and common sense got tossed out the window in favor of big egos because of all the cash the site started making. It's almost a book in it's self in the way it turned from a true happy and helpful site to one blinded by greed and power and kicking off some of it's most long time helpful members, even Mods! I fear the owner still does not have a clue how many helpful and faithful daily posters that were suddenly treated so badly, and the more money the site made the less compassion for the members there was, despite the hundreds and even tens of thousands of dedicated members that really made the site what it had became. Everything was replaced by the love of making more and more $$ and people started ripping each and other apart over what often was pity things. Yes, MJ, and others, you all make a valid case. I hope and pray this site never becomes a site like the one I speak of that changed so much within less than a decade. On the positive side, I like what I see here and find not only respect, but also an element of compassion from the good members here. That's not easy to find online these days! I apologize for bumping this thread, but I felt I had something to add to the conversation here. I hope others will understand. Thanks to all of the veteran and new members (Admins/Mods too!) on here that allow us newbies to read and post with the freedom of not being torn to bits (I mean sometimes people can get carried away too far and say hurtful things that are pure personal attacks that may never get flagged as such) for our lack of experience with every typo and misspelled word we may post. It means a lot to people such as myself to be able to treat people with the same respect they return to me. Most of us only ask for a little respect when correcting our mistakes and are fine as long as we are not "treated like dogs" (popular expression in these parts) for such innocent mistakes. I know I appreciate it. HAPPY TO BE HERE. Terry
I only found (and joined) this site today... and already am getting heaps of great info from reading other threads, and just wanted to pop my head into this conversation and add my huge thumbs-up for what I've seen so far! Great first impressions! Am looking forward to spending my time here, looking around, getting familiar with the site and members.
I'm glad you got a good first impression of us; when I joined this site that's one of the first things I noticed, too. This site is definitely helpful and the people are nice; there's really no arrogance here. Very rarely is there a scuffle. It's like all the nice people on the Interwebz got dropped off here and decided to form a community.
That would explain why there's only a handful of people online at any given time. Ha ha ha ha ha... :c
MJ Preston for the win! I came here from another forum too, and this place is a lot better. There isn't any air of "I'm so good with my tiny fonts and short stories" and the people are so much nicer.
Sorry if this is too off topic- I only wanted to say I LOVE your Beatles Album Avatar! I'm a big fan. Cheers!
I would like to echo all the sentiments above; this website is top class! The people here take the time to critique your work and everyone seems cool. Big up to all the mods!
I also came here from another forum, though it was for animating, which was just a couple of people who obivously had no social standing in real life and so decided that they'd take it out on other people who they knew could never lay a finger on them. Everyone's so much nicer here, and the rules aren't mega tight either.
