What has Writewords done for me?

The best is getting good critiques about form. I need inelegant phrases pointing out and the feedback on this is generally excellent and very helpful in making final drafts.

I have also learnt that reader reactions about content vary immensely and should be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to evaluate them percentagewise - how many went for this ? How many did not? In many ways I think that putting your stuff 'out there' is not so much about discovering whether one has talent or not, but rather finding out how many readers can 'tune in' to your wavelength. This, I imagine is a microcosm of what readers would do for published works too.

I have also learnt that fiction writing is powerful but not just in its ability to intrigue or entertain - my writing can and does upset people quite often. Aha!

Hamburger Yogi

HY,
What are 'inelegant phrases'?

About WW..? Unfortunately it has become almost an essential part of my life for it has so many differing and interesting characters running through the Forum; people I have grown to like and to respect.

There are some 'good' writers on our site - but 'good' is word that needs defining - I enjoy the different opinions and the way in which clues as to what makes a member 'tick' can be picked up from their work and their comments... in all a fascinating bunch!

Len

Thanks for mentioning the Icera Stone – yes the WW comments I found really useful - a big thank you to everyone who commented. Just an update on the IS, it is currently going through a rewrite, especially the early chapters, with the idea of making it sharper and more punchy.

Thanks again.
Andrew

Hi, Andrew, glad to hear you’re still working on IS. I’d love to see the final version –in my local bookshop!

Dee
x

Discovering writing rather late, WW has given me the confidence to experiment and be brave.
I have always writen things down to give vent, be it by letter (mostly never posted)or just to offload onto paper.(An 'ex' who recieved a few of these epistles used to call them my 'holier than thou' letters.)

I'm now trying to write seriously but WW is not only a place where you can upload work that you want critiqued but also somewhere to put stuff that just needs to be written (as I've just done in the journalism group.)

I agree that it can become seriously addictive but it has also increased and diversified my writing.
Thankyou WW

I've come to this a bit late - and maybe I'm repeating something of what others have already said - but WW has given me the confidence to believe that I can write.

Okay, I have had my bad days, (don't we all?) and I have removed large sections of work where the feedback has been along the lines of - Sorry, jumbs, this isn't working!

But behind that, there has always been the support and the encouragement that I never quite managed to find anywhere else.

And here I am 15 months later, one novel complete, another almost complete and a third - well, it's moving, but slowly - as well as a few poems dropped in along the way (thanks, tc!).

So thanks to everyone/anyone who has read my 'stuff' and helped me along the way.

All the best

jumbo

All I have become, and probably much of what I’m going to be.

Thanks to all.

Grinder

And there was I coincidentally looking at one of those talking stones, Nell. They still taste of salt.
Becca.

I like writewords a lot, but no-one will read my posting! I desperately need feedback! Shot myself in the foot though cos I posted quite a big chunk of my frist chapter and I think people are put off by the length and dont bother to read it. But I have very few people that I can ask to read over it. I am only a part member just now, cos I gave up my job to do this and cant afford the subscription fee. Please will someone read my posting! I'll send you a card on your birthday!