Despite Anna’s support, there’s been no activity there for ages. Nik has joined to try and generate some interest but, as yet, no one has responded to his thread.

I know the purpose of the group is to provide a place where inexperienced writers can post their work without feeling intimidated by us oldies. The problem is – apart from the fact that nothing is happening there – if all they get is peer feedback, how are they to progress? How is being in the group helping them improve their writing? How will they become more confident to explore other groups?

There’s a clear difference here between new members who are new writers, and new members who don’t consider themselves beginners.

We have around five or six or more new members every day. What’s stopping most of them from posting their work? And what can we do to help them stay?

Dee

Dee, good and useful questions to ask, as always. I am happy to 'set' exercises in this group, from very simple to more complex, if that's what people would like- or maybe you and/or Nik could chime in with these as well- but yes, let's find out what people would really like. Is it a group for any kind of uploaded writing, but in the knowledge that everyone else is roughly at the same stage? or something more structured?

Just to say redcoat who started at the Beginners [he's not in any group at the moment]has a rather lovely 6 part story that I've been keeping an eye on ever since he posted at the Beginners. I am currently reading the whole lot to get a better sense of the whole story.

Jen
x

Yes Dee, good questions. I would hope that having Anna and myself as members would be useful for people new to the site/to writing in that we can aid their developement AND point them in the right direction as to what group they ought to join to have their work read by people who write in their genre(s).

And Anna, of course I'd be happy to set some exercises. It may be more useful to do that when the group's a little more active...

As always this is just my opinion. And if it's wrong then tell me. I'll do all I can to help.

Nik.

I've signed up and will contribute as and when I can. I've been writing for years but I still regard myself as a "beginner" in many many respects.

Thanks Murphy. See you over there.

Nik.

Great! I’ll do as much as I can, too.

Welcome again, Murphy!

Dee

Looks like Spring is upon the BG now! That's more like it.

Nik.

I've just joined the group today and I'll put some work up on Monday when I can access my office computer because I forgot my flash drive tonight!

Looking forward to it.

Nik.

I have posted the synopsis up, I was going to add two or three random chapters but after I posted the synopsis I had a message telling me it would delete existing work. Thus it confuzzled me a bit. I take it I have to include synopsis and chapter samples to the body of one post is that right?

Ah ha! Right. It's like this:

You can only have one piece showing in a group at any one time. You can, if you're a member of other groups, switch it across at any point.

Plus, WW has something in place, so that everyone has a fair opportunity to be commented on, that only lets you upload a new piece of work every two days. Worth knowing to save further confuzzlement!

Nik.

I am a real beginner - just minutes old! I am looking for feedback from a variety of levels. I just can't figure quite how it all works -yet! Your comments seem to imply that only beginners are providing feedback to other beginners. As said I was hoping for feedback from experienced writers as well as peer group. When I DO figure out how to post my first piece (and I am writing short stories here) what can I expect?

Rushing this a bit because I’m at work… until you’re paid-up members you can only post one piece of work, and you can’t edit it. Even after you become a full member, you can only have one piece at a time in a group archive. However, previous posts are not actually deleted, they’re just shifted into the general archive – but if you’ve set them to only be visible to your group members, most people won’t be able to see it.

To get as much feedback as possible, post a short piece and then announce it in the Introduce Your Work forum. Commenting on other people’s work encourages more feedback too. Nik and Anna are members of the Beginners Group, although they are very experienced writers. You can ask for comments from experienced writers in the IYW message, but be sure, when you do upload, to tick the box to let us know what level of feedback you would like – be honest, especially if you say you can take it. Most people are gentle, but sometimes it’s hard to know where to pitch the level of comment.

Good luck.

Dee

Hi Forbes and welcome to the site.

The point of the beginners group is, yes, that it's a place where those new to writing can start out without feeling under any pressure. But in that group, Anna is certainly no beginner and neither am I (he says - hoping he doesn't sound like he's blowing his own trumpet). We both write professionally and, in various shapes, teach it as well.

I'd suggest joining and uploading something.

And what to expect? In my experience here you can expect helpful, supportive, constructive and friendly comments. I'd also suggest having a nosy around the site. You can see comments by clicking on a piece of work and scrolling to the bottom of it.

To upload in a group, first you must have joined. Do this by clicking on a group - that done you'll see a 'CLICK HERE TO JOIN' tab at the top of the page.

Once you're 'accepted' go to your 'MY WRITEWORDS' tab at the top of any page. There'll be another tab there which you can click to upload. Just copy and paste into the bocx (it's obvious once you're there).

Hope that's helped and look forward to reading your work.

Best,

Nik.

<Added>

bocx??? BOX. New keyboard. Struggling with it!

I think we cross posted there Dee. I'd echo what you've said. And also add... when you are uploading work you can select who can read it. If it's something you hope to have published DO NOT SELECT the viewable to everyone option as that can be viewed by anyone on the internet.