Friday Writing Essential—My One Year Anniversary As A Member Editor—October 17th, 2009

This is a repost of my first article written as a Gather member editor of the Writing Essential group, one year ago. I can't believe it's been a year already; where did the time go?

I realize that over time, many members have come and gone from the Writing Essential group, while a core of "old-timers" remain intact.

I want to reencourage everyone here now to get excited about writing and feel free to use this group as a place to ask questions, bounce ideas off one another, and of course, submit writing pieces. I would also encourage anyone to submit ideas directly to me for topics they'd like to see covered or even writing prompts; I'm always open to new ideas.

This is your group, and I'm here to help in whatever way I can. Thanks for making this so much fun!

As always, I look forward to your submissions.

Hello to everyone on my first day as the Friday Gather Essentials Writing member editor!

I have spent this week traveling around Gather trying to become more familiar with who and what is out there, in this group and the community as a whole.  What I found, as expected, was great diversity in both the writing and personalities.

So how best could I serve as a member editor?

I went back to the group description for advice:

Writers—looking for feedback? Share your creative works, and discuss the triumphs and challenges of writing. Publish your original fiction, short stories, plays and poetry; Member Editors choose features each day. Join the virtual writing workshop!

What a great concept: a virtual writing group designed to display members’ work and to talk about writing. That’s every writer’s dream, right?

Okay, maybe not every writer's dream, but I hope it’s yours because that what I’d like Fridays to be about in this group: the craft of writing.

I realize that everyone may not have a portfolio of work to draw from, but if you do, send something in! Let’s read that short story you wrote 5 years ago (or 2 days ago). Dust off that story, poem, play, memoir, author interview—whatever you wrote (even if it never quite got finished)—and if you're stuck, tell us why. Or the piece you are most proud of and why it worked for you. Maybe there’s a concept rolling around in your brain that you want some ideas about—let us know!

And if you’re new to creative writing, don’t be shy. Send in a paragraph of something you’re working on, or even a line or two. Get inspired from a photograph, looking out your window, or make it up; it’s all good stuff!

Let’s talk about writing—maybe you have questions about the craft, or want to learn more about a specific topic. Can you recommend a writing book or website that offers something you found helpful in your own writing? Or maybe you have a writing tip you'd like to share. Have you always wanted to write a play or even a screenplay but don’t know how to get started? Maybe you’ve written a line that just doesn’t feel right but you’re stuck on how to improve it. Post your questions, and be specific about what you’re looking for and we’ll try to help.

When you post, let the group know if you have a specific request for feedback; not everyone wants a critique. And for those of us reading the work, let’s try to make meaningful comments. Most writers have some self-doubt about their writing, but honest and thoughtful feedback is so much more helpful when someone is trying to improve their writing—and let’s face it, we can all learn something.  A comment like “nice!” is great to hear, but doesn’t help a writer grow. And if you really do like something, be specific and tell them why. My personal opinion is that it’s better to leave a few thoughtful comments than many hurried ones.

So, are you ready? Let’s really try to support each other in our love for the written word. After all, isn’t that why you joined this group?

I look forward to hearing from you all.