Practicing Writing
I had a conversation recently with someone who expressed interest in writing (Hi, Mia!). One thing that came out of the conversation was the value of having someone read what you write. Here are a few sites where a writer can post something they write and have others read and comment. The internet has a pile of places like these but here are seven that I looked at and they seem to be okay, with good terms of service. Free, too. The sites generally have extensive forum sections.
I’ve posted a handful of poetry here over the years. They encourage positive comments. Like about everyplace else, they have a paid membership option; well, two. Six dollars a month and 15 dollars a month. The free membership has unobtrusive ads and a requirement that you comment on the work of others. The site has a nice look and lots of options for managing your account.
This site just revamped their interface, and it looks nice. It’s aimed at more or less finished work, but you don’t have to have much experience to put something on the site. The ads are unobtrusive and all publishing related. It includes a forum section for discussions. I didn’t see a way to pay for a membership.
This one is for people interested in fantasy and science fiction, and it caters to both writers and artists. What caught my eye was a Tutorial menu with an item named How to Write. As far as I saw, the tutorials give background information, such as types of space vehicles, not grammar or story construction.
I can’t resist making a comment about language. I saw this in their FAQ page:
If a story violates one of the criterias in the Elfwood terms of service it may be removed. This includes language that is racist, abusive, deceptive, profane, slanderous, offensive, or inappropriate, including explicit pornography. All stories that are removed are left with a comment.
Note the word criterias. “Criteria” is becoming a singular! You know that criteria is a plural, and the singular is criterion. At least they didn’t write “criterions.” Sigh.
This one has a complicated free membership setup in which you earn credits by making critiques of other people’s writing. Earn three credits and you can post your own. You can also buy memberships and get credits faster.
A well-designed site that has completely free membership, apparently. At least I couldn’t see a way to send them money. No ads that I saw, either. You do have to register to make submissions, and they have lots of categories of fiction and poetry.
Flashy front page. Lots of pictures of covers for the contributions (to make them look like books) and about three dozen categories for contributions. You have to sign up to be able to post stories. They encourage you to invite others to join, and you get badges for degrees of participation. The contribution page is a basic word processing window; I presume you can paste previously-written text into it. I didn’t see anything involving money.
This one has lots of ads, but I’m including it because of the tutorial section. One of the types of tutorials (tutorial is one of their writing categories) is “Writing.” Judging from what I looked at, they look pretty good. The site apparently expects you to create your contribution on your own, then upload the file. It looks like the only place you can get critiques on your writing is in the forums.
Well, there you have seven possibles out of many. Google something like “sites for beginning writers” to find a lot more.
I never felt like a real writer until I got my first check… Then I felt like a thief. Comments from others were sort of useful in the beginning. Not everyone is qualified to comment. (You, Rogers, are among the exceptions.) I discovered that many who considered themselves experts were just filled with so much gas. You reach a point where you simply write what you want to say. How you say it is what determines your level of professionalism, in my humble opinion. I have earned my living as a professional writer for 35 years, and there are days when I am as full of shit as anyone else.
I love your blog, Rogers.