Welcome to all the new members who have recently joined. I hope you quickly feel at home and I look forward to seeing you around the site. Over the past week or so we have been joined by:

Macwriter
skloepfer99
Alina E
tomsuth
Makeshwar
gwyneth
Nicole7
Marggret
MM Gandour
ceredigion
slowmon
RK
salxyz10
Hopity
Esi
SueL
jubero
Mel Foster
J Ogberaha

It would great to hear from you even if it's just a quick hello. Of course, if you'd like to introduce yourself and say something of your writing goals, all the better. If you have any questions please feel free to ask either here or in the forums. I’m sure you will find there are plenty of friendly writers who are willing to help.

I hope I haven't missed anyone; the new members list changes pretty quickly, but if I have, do shout out! 

Regards, Andy

Hi

Welcome to all, especially everyone who has 'gone for gold' and joined WW.

I hope you get as much from being a member of WW as I have done. It's a friendly and constructive site, with great members.

Andy,

This is a great introduction. Just out of interest, how many (if you know) of the last bunch actually contributed to the site, thus proving they were real people? 

Just out of interest, how many (if you know) of the last bunch actually contributed to the site, thus proving they were real people? 

Members are in gold, trial members are in silver. Is that what you meant?
Edited by Sharley at 15:55:00 on 02 February 2014

Alan, as far as I can see, two have joined groups and commented on other people's work. Some might be shy, busy, or not even real, but rather than miss someone out I thought to simply mention all the names. It doesn't take long and doesn't cost anything! Perhaps I might only ever receive a reply from a new member in one out of ten of these posts, but if it's a member who might have otherwise held back without encouragement, then I think it's worthwhile. 

Perhaps I might only ever receive a reply from a new member in one out of ten of these posts, but if it's a member who might have otherwise held back without encouragement, then I think it's worthwhile. 

Well done - and thank you - for taking the time to extend a welcome. 

Welcome to WW. I hope you all find it a useful site and enjoyable experience.

Great idea, Manusha!

And welcome to all new members! Hope you're finding your way around and starting to join in and discover how much WriteWords has to offer.

Members are in gold, trial members are in silver. Is that what you meant? 

Not exactly. A while ago it was brought up that most of the new members (those with more random letters followed by a number) were not people, but computer creations - a bit like pop music. David indicated he would do something about it. Seeing this thread just reminded me.

Welcome to all new members! I hope you find Write Words useful, friendly and helpful, as I have found it in the four years I have been here.

And if you are this:

a bit like pop music

... I hope you're as totally and utterly wonderful as Lorde!

Hi Andy and everyone,

I'm so new, my name isn't even on the list yet:) but I'm a veteran of a rival site which I'd better not mention (I couldn't see anything in the TOS against posting links but neither have I seen any links posted by anyone else).

Other writing forums I've experimented with are disaster areas, taken over by spam bots and full of one-member 'groups' where no one has posted for over a year. This site has good mechanisms in place to prevent this.

The groups are not massively populated but seem hyperactive, with recent posts in the last week or 24 hours.

My only regret so far is that we as authors can't take full legal responsibility for our own work that we share on the site. Because the buck stops at the site owners' door, free speech is at their mercy and discretion, even if we restrict access to a private group. Or have I got that wrong?

Hi Jed,

​Welcome to the site and thanks for joining us. It's no bad thing to be a member of another site, a number of WW members are on other sites too, and at least you already have experience of how writing forums generally work. 

Because the buck stops at the site owners' door, free speech is at their mercy and discretion, even if we restrict access to a private group. Or have I got that wrong?

Sorry for being a little unclear on what you mean. Are you wondering if admin ever censures work uploaded in the groups? Although admin does have the right to edit anything on the site (as explained in the Terms and Conditions) I'm not aware of that ever happening to someone's work. An automatic warning appears if there is swearing in a story but it is not removed. And it is asked that admin be contacted if the work is of an explicit or graphically violent nature so an appropriate warning can be added. Posts have been removed because they were insulting to other members but that also is rare. Others may be aware of other examples though. 

Andy

I think I have seen one instance of the admin cutting a comment. However, an explanation was given to say that it bordered on the defamatory or something to the effect that we have to be careful not to make libellous statements on this site (as with anything in the public view).

I do know that there are some sites which aren't so constructive as this. May I - shock - say that I don't have an issue with the small fee for this site, as it means a commitment of sorts is required from the membership. But I note there has to be a contra-benefit for potential members who may get free comment/support on other sites.

However, we have far fewer difficult members than other forums, from what I can see. We're a friendly bunch. I don't know how this links with payment, but I just felt like pointing that out.
Edited by Sharley at 21:21:00 on 03 February 2014

Thanks Andy and Sharley,

I meant, if I upload work to my profile, share it with a private review group, and restrict access to that group, it can still be edited or removed by the site owner (as well as the group owner).

But your answer has covered all my bases, anyway. (I have a murder scene and two scenes with naked men (not sex scenes) which I don't think are too graphic or explicit for the 13+ I've self-rated the novel on the other site, and I can't upload them here until I have a paid membership.) 
 

Hi Jed,
Welcome.

You have control over your work here and can set visibility, edit etc. once a full member. Obviously, work can be removed by admin - as with any content on any website - but I have only ever known spam to be deleted in this way. That said, it is assumed that writers take responsibility for what they upload, just as it is assumed that they take responsibility for their posts in the forums.

I am not aware of any site deleting legitimate work by any writer and would also say that it would need to be either pretty overtly offensive, blatantly spam or incontrovertibly defamatory for a community - certainly this community - to request deletion. However, I have known many writers to withdraw a piece once they recognise how it is interpreted by others - and that realisation is what critique is all about. 

I'm not sure where or what your previous experiences were, from the tone of your upload (and profile) I'm going to assume you feel your treatment was unfair, but in the same way that writers have to be open to different opinions on the quality of their writing, I hope you will accept that others can and will interpret your stories differently to the way you do. When that happens, it is futile to pretend it hasn't, but often very valuable to look at why. 

G