I was part of this community a few years back under a different screenname (I don't even remember what it was now). I'm sure it has changed a lot since then, but I'm eager to get back into the thick of it. A little about me...I live in Boone, NC, right in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. I run our local writing group here and host a writing blog of my own as well as one for that group. I was surprised to learn a few weeks ago that English Majors get a very small dose of grammar. It appalled me. How can people who go on to teach English not know the basics of the grammar? As for my writing background...I've been writing since I was 12. That makes 13 years. I've self-published one novel for the sake of my family and friends. While it would be nice to see my work published in one of the major publishing houses, it is not what drives my writing. I write because I love words and the way they slot together to form stories. I write both fan fiction and original fiction.
Welcome to Writing Forums, pocketsoul1127! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirements. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. The requirements of the Writing Workshop don't apply to the contests, so new members are allowed (nay, encouraged!) to get stuck in and enter! If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
Welcome back! Assuming I can say that since I just learned about and joined the forum yesterday... I've been writing for 14 years and I've never been good at the technical elements of grammar. I understand how it all works and what can and can't go together. I've just never been able to label the bits and pieces of English. I would like to learn but haven't yet gotten around to it. And now that I think about it, I'm surprised it hasn't come up in any of my college courses. Linguistics touched on a few but not much. If I'm ever going to pursue that further, I'll definitely need to buckle down and figure things out. I don't plan on teaching English, though. If I were, I would definitely make sure I'm comfortable with the mechanics of grammar. It just doesn't fly laying out rules with no explanation. I do plan on teaching authors I edit for how to write better but I hope that doesn't involve the mechanics of grammar... I should probably prepare for it regardless. I self-published a novel, too. I started writing it when I was 13. It's dreadful. Absolutely dreadful. And to think I thought it was the best thing ever... I'm glad I realize what it is now.
