Why I'm in a writing group and all that

For some time now I have been a member of WritingForums.com and WritingForums.org. As a freelance writer, I spend my writing time on my own, without the usual support you would find in a normal office environment.

I write because I find that it’s the easiest way for me to express myself. I would rather explain myself to someone using the written word, rather than having to stand up and speak. That’s just the way I am.

I am not the perfect writer – far from it. Like many others, I constantly doubt what I am writing and how I am writing, and I don’t have the luxury of asking my co-workers for help, because I don’t have any.

In these cases, I have found using the writing forums invaluable. This morning, I spent a long time searching for ways to add photos within the text of this blog, as far as I could see, I could only place one before the text. No matter what I put into the search engine, I could not find a solution to this problem.

So I asked the forums. As many of the people there are in the US, I naturally have to consider the time difference if I post a question, so it’s not always ideal if I need an answer straight away. But if I can be patient for a few hours, I can almost guarantee that someone, somewhere, will read my post and will know the solution.

Of course, if you’re going to take information from the forum, it’s only polite that you give something back. If you can take a little time each day or even just once a week, to read other people’s posts and offer your expertise, it will not only be very well received, but you will get to know the regular members, and come to think of them as friends, albeit virtual!

I must admit, I don’t post on these forums as much as I should, something I need to work on! But as a link to other writers, it really is a wonderful tool.