When I first began writing, I looked for a venue where I could compare myself to other writers so I might be able to tell how poor my writing skills were. That probably sounds a bit strange, but its the truth. I'm that type of student who writes their paper a few hours before class and receives praises upon compliments of how well written my report was and how much of an enjoyment it was to read. I'm that type of office employee who write laboriously long e-mails to clients or contractors, simply because I enjoyed doing it. Although they all seemed to detest using the dictionary to decipher what it was I was saying, they also appreciated that nothing was misconstrued and the information was always plentiful in order to get the job done. My significant other admits that I occasionally use words that are beyond typical vocabulary and she just glosses over the words that I used that were not readily understandable. In the eight (or nine, depending on what you read) Multiple Intelligences tests, I obviously fall under the linguistic and logical classifications. What I needed to know was the thing I thought merely something that I thought or was the thing I thought a reality and something to be sought after? Enjoy that.
I started writing and posting some of my stories, poems and excerpts to a site called Writing.com in order to try to find an answer. My question came down to this - Am I good enough to pursue this skill of mine as a career choice or is it merely hobby-worthy? The users of Writing.com helped me to decide that for myself.
They were all very critical yet beneficial to my pieces. Their reactions were actually better than I anticipated for two reasons. The first being that I expected a bunch of elitist punks (you know, the kind you see commenting on CNN posts) ripping on my work and calling me a homosexual for liking words or something. This was not the case. The reviewers ranged from site moderators to n00bs and all were equally helpful in their own regard. Grammar checks, continuity checks, questions about hidden meanings - it was all surprisingly helpful. The second reason why it was better than anticipated? The users not only universally critiqued my style and habits, but also honestly enjoyed what I had submitted. One cannot underestimate the drive that can be found once you've received glowing praise from people worldwide of a similar mindset.
I would recommend Writing.com to anyone who enjoys anything that pertains to the English language. If you don't enjoy writing, you are always free to sign up and read the literal infinite amount of work posted to peruse and add to the splendid community of people trying to help aspiring authors. If you do enjoy writing, but don't know where to go to begin trying for a little more beyond your personal journal, this website can work for you too. You are allowed to set privacy settings to allow your friends, registered authors or the entire world to read your goods. I suggest anyone and everyone to give it a shot. There's something enjoyable to be had for anyone who likes this sort of thing. If you don't - look into it anyway, you might surprise yourself with one of the many mystery, romance, horror, spy, erotic, adventure, choose-your-own-story works that are available for free.
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