An invaluable tool for aspiring writers (writewords.org.uk)

Member Name: DancingCopper

Product:	writewords.org.uk
Date:	31/10/08 (362 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Dynamic community, effective feedback, up-to-date information

Disadvantages: Can be a little intimidating, lots to navigate

---------- Introduction to Writewords? ----------

Writewords describes itself as 'a source of inspiration and feedback to writers, offering support, advice, must-read interviews and articles from top writing names, as well as inside info on the latest writing jobs, opportunities, competitions and news.'

As well as being a constantly updated conduit of information for writers, it provides a community of friendly, dynamic like-minded people.


---------- How do you use Writewords? ----------

The link is www.writewords.org.uk

The first screen can appear a little wordy and overwhelming. I was somewhat intimidated by this, feeling that I would make a fool of myself having no real credentials as a writer. You quickly learn to find your way around - 'writing' is such a general heading, you have to break it down into smaller catagories. You just need to explore a little.

To make full use of the service, you pay an annual subscription. This amount varies depending on what facilities you want to use. Here is a breakdown of the pricing:

£35 - Full Membership: This gives you full access to the jobs and opportunities listings, the directory of agents and publishers, membership of the WriteWords community, and a showcase site for your own writing.

£20 - Single-option membership: You can choose one from jobs and opportunities, the directory or WriteWords community.

If you are not sure about parting with your money, there is also a one month trial-membership option where you get access to the different facilities available.

Payment can be made by cheque or completed online with credit or debit card. Online payment has been my option for the past three years and is taken automatically when each year's membership ends - you will need to make sure you cancel membership, should you decide to leave. On your profile a calender tells you how many days membership you have remaining

---------- I'm a member; what now? ----------

The WriteWords content is divided into six sections: Archive, Groups, Writing Jobs, Directory, Showcase, Blogs. You will make much greater use of some of these areas than others. Here is an explanation of what each section contains:

Archive: This contains every piece of work written by all members of the WriteWords community. Pieces can be found by searching user name (similar to those in DooYoo) or by searching the type of writing. The most recently added comments on work are also listed, along with the user who commented and the date.

Groups: This, to me, is the most important section of WriteWords. There are a number of different groups to join, focusing on particular styles of writing. Each of these groups has a membership limited to fifteen. This means that, for some forms, there are several groups - Poetry has three groups.

To join a group, you need to ensure there is space available. You then send a message to the group's host, through the internal mailing system (similar to DooYoo), stating why you want to join that group. This sounds like a job interview but really isn't. Expressing an interest for a particular writing form is enough to let you in.

Once you are a member of a group, you can upload one piece of work at a time. Don't worry if you are nervous about who sees your work, you can control who sees it, whether it's everyone on the internet, all members of WriteWords, everyone in your group or you alone. I found this useful for uploading drafts, which I would then make accessible once I was satisfied.

I was impressed with the quality of feedback. You can specify how harshly you want to be reviewed ranging from 'Be gentle' to 'Go on, I can take it'. Many of the people on the site have published work, some are respected in their fields, but all the comments given were useful, even those I struggled to accept - it's hard to write twenty thousand words of a play script to be told some home truths, but it helped!

Groups are as follows:

-Fiction-
Chick Lit & Contemporary Fiction
Children's
Flash Fiction I
Flash Fiction II
Fiction I
Fiction II
Novel I
Novel II
Novel Motivation Group
Short Story I
Short Story II
Teen/Young Adults
Women's Fiction
Young Children's

-Specialist-
Beginners
Crime & Thriller
Fantasy
Film & TV
General Non-Fiction
Historical
Horror
Humour/Comedy
Intimate Moments
Journalism
Memoirs
Radio
Science Fiction
Synopsis & Outline
Theatre
Teachers' Group
Travel

-Poetry-
Haiku & Short Poetry
Flash Poetry full
Poetry I full
Poetry II
Poetry III
Poetry Seminar
Songs & Lyrics

Some of these groups might appear confusing or ambiguous, but you don't have to be a member of one to explore its contents. So, go and have a browse.

Writing Jobs: The third group is also very useful, providing information about jobs and courses currently available. You can choose to search the whole database or select more specific entries by narrowing down the writer and job types. This allows you to focus on such things as fiction or non-fiction, in relation to parameters like paid work or competitions.

It is updated on a daily basis but do not simply jump in to something that looks appropriate. Some of the entries I would regard as vanity publishing and they will exploit aspiring writers wanting to have a piece of work published.

Directory: Hundreds of contact details for publishers, agents, broadcasters and competitions. Again, these are divided up depending on what style of writing you are interested in. The details are updated by philanthropic members; this seems to happen fairly regularly.

Showcase: I've not found this particularly useful, but it does have potential. The idea is that you, or preferably an editor of some kind, comes to this page and searches for a particular type of writing or geographical location. They, or you, are then able to see work that might be of relevence to them. Hopefully this could lead to commissions of work etc. In reality, while I have a few pieces on my showcase page, I have never really had much reason to use the facility. It is quite a nice way of randomly seeing other people's work though.

WW Blogs: Another potentially useful tool, this section allows members to add links to their external blogs or websites, with a synopsis of what they contain. For a budding writer, keen to market themselves in a range of traditional and multimedia formats, this is quite a good idea.

---------- Anything else? ----------

WriteWords make use of its expertise by running a variety of online writing courses. These are paid for seperately and involve tuition from one of the site experts. I haven't tried one, but I was tempted before taking up an option elsewhere.

WriteWords is a fascinating, powerful resource. The people behind it are supportive and enthusiastic. The information available is useful and, if you are serious about exploring writing, in a specific form or just generally, it is well worth having a look.

If you want to have a look at any of my work there, my user name is Mr B.

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Tenuous Link

Latin for Even More Occasions - WriteWords.org

Not only did the Romans not have access to the internet, they did not use capital letters to start new sentences and 'and' had some of the grammatical functions of a full stop.

Summary: An exciting on-line writing community for the amateur or professional