10 Best Writing Communities You Need to Join Today - Freewrite Store

10 Best Writing Communities You Need to Join Today - Freewrite Store Back in the very early 2000s, when the internet was still young, YouTube didn’t exist, and Facebook was just a twinkle in Mark Zuckerberg’s eye, I joined a Yahoo Group for writers.  Ã‚   Why? I was writing fiction that I wanted to publish online – but first, I wanted to get it peer-reviewed. And not long after I signed up, one of the other writers reached out to me and offered to help me with my 30,000-word novella. She said she saw promise - and some things that needed fixing. I accepted her offer and began an amazing friendship that stands strong to this day.  Ã‚   It still amazes me that this stranger from across the world was willing to give up her time, for free, to help me hone my craft. It took several months of rewrites. She didn’t pull any punches with her feedback, but she was always constructive and kind, and her advice was invaluable, as was the input from the other writers after I finally reached the stage where I was happy to release my story to the wider group.   I’ve been a big fan of online writing communities ever since. If you’ve never joined one before, you might not be aware of the full range of benefits you can get by signing up.    Support   Writing is a pastime (or profession) with a unique set of challenges that only another writer can truly understand. Being part of an online community gives you the chance to interact with others who understand your struggles, frustrations and challenges, and who can offer helpful encouragement and wisdom. It provides you with a group of people with whom you can discuss and explore your ideas and your roadblocks, and who can encourage you to keep going when you’ve hit a creative brick wall.   Critique   When you’re emotionally involved in a piece of writing, it can be hard to assess it objectively. Not sure if your plot makes sense? Do your characters ring true? Are their motivations plausible? Family and friends often lack the technical ability or the courage to provide truly constructive feedback, whereas an online community provides you with a diverse group of writers with a wide range of experience who can help you gain valuable insight on your strengths and weaknesses.   Knowledge   Every writer brings something new to a community in terms of experience, genre, format, perspective, tips, processes and ideas. A writing community gives you a forum to exchange knowledge and take away the most useful tidbits to apply to your own writing. Offering to critique someone’s work can also be a valuable learning experience which gives you exposure to a plethora of writing styles. Many communities also offer their members access to learning resources.   Resilience   One of the things any writer needs to learn to deal with is criticism - no writer is going to be accepted by every publisher or enjoyed by every reader. Writing is a very personal and emotional activity, and it can be  difficult to hear negative things about your work, and scary to share it with strangers. Good writing communities will help you build your resilience to feedback by being constructive, thoughtful and helpful.   Marketing   If you’re going down the self-publishing route, you’ll need some marketing skills, and being part of an online community puts you in contact with other writers who have been there, done that, and can share what has worked for them. Most communities also have avenues through which you can promote your own books to other members.   If you’re keen to experience the support, companionship and knowledge that comes from joining an online writing community, here’s a list of the ten best groups you can join right now:   1.  Scribophile   One of the world’s largest and most active communities, Scribophile operates on a karma system, whereby you have to critique others’ work before you can submit your own. However, if you pay for premium access ($9 per month or $65 per year), you get unlimited submissions and an ad-free experience. Scribophile also offers the opportunity to compete in writing contests (for cash!). All levels of writing ability are welcomed and almost every genre covered.   2.  Insecure Writers’ Support Group   This community was created by sci-fi author Alex Cavanaugh, who realized that there were a lot of lost souls out there scouring the internet for help with their writing. Today, it has a Facebook group with over 4000 members and a mission â€Å"to share and encourage†. The community’s website boasts a wealth of information including links to writing tips, publisher lists, marketing guides and contests. There’s a weekly newsletter and even a free guide to publishing and beyond.   3.  Absolute Write Water Cooler   If you’re looking for a purely forum-style group, then Absolute Write Water Cooler is a great place to start. With almost 68,000 members at the time of writing, it’s extremely active, well moderated, and there are threads on everything from writer’s block and grammar to publishing and freelancing. Plenty of writing formats are covered including podcasts, graphic novels and scriptwriting, to name a few. There are dozens of discussions about writing-related topics to get involved in, and a section where you can find yourself a beta reader, writing buddy or mentor.    4. Chronicles   This community is the largest forum that caters specifically to science fiction and fantasy writers. Aside from the writing forums that offer workshops, critiques, challenges and resources, it’s a great place to discuss the genre as a whole. Topics cover TV and film, featured authors, the publishing industry and more.   5.  The Next Big Writer   If you’re focused on getting your work critiqued, The Next Big Writer offers an international audience of authors – many of them published – to provide you with feedback on your writing and support with every aspect of your craft. This forum isn’t free but comes with a rich list of features for the membership ($8.95 per month, $21.95 per quarter or $69.95 per year) including guaranteed feedback, unlimited posting, access to premium groups, discounts on classes and entry into site competitions.   6.  She Writes   Looking for a supportive community of female writers? She Writes might be the right one for you. It’s the largest online writing community exclusively for women. Once you’ve joined, you can follow specific groups and content topics, post your own blog and read the articles posted by other members (more than 30,000 available). She Writes also operates its own self-publishing platform, where you can invest in professional coaching, editing, e-book creation and printing.   7.  Nanowrimo   Sometimes you need a deadline to give you that extra bit of motivation. Nanowrimo stands for National November Writing Month. Started in 1999 by freelance writer Chris Baty, it’s an online novel-writing challenge held from 1–30 November every year, with the objective of writing a 50,000-word novel. The community aspect comes in the form of camaraderie across social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, and you can also join theNanowrimo forums to discuss all aspects of the novel writing process and share your journey with other participants. If the timing and word count don’t suit, tryCamp Nanowrimo instead, which holds virtual writers’ retreats in April and July for projects of any format and length.   8.  Talentville   Screenwriters – this community’s especially for you. Talentville is designed to help aspiring screenwriters not only hone their craft through collaboration and education but also to build connections within the industry. With over 10,000 screenwriters and more than 200 industry professionals registered, one of Talentville’s goals is to actively promote worthy work to agents, managers and producers. Membership ranges from free (with posting limitations) to $99 per year.   9.  Agent Query Connect   If you’ve already finished your manuscript, this online social network could be your best choice. It specializes in helping you get your book published, with discussion topics and helpful resources covering everything from writing query letters and finding agents to self-publishing and promotion. You can even get your query letter peer-reviewed.   10.  Reddit   Reddit is a vast social network made up of subreddits that focus on every topic imaginable, and there are plenty of writing-related discussion boards in which you can participate. It’s free, and sometimes unmoderated, but great if you have a very niche area of interest or are looking for a large and diverse group. With almost 700,000 subscribers, r/writing is a great place to start.    BONUS: 11. Freewrite Insiders Our Freewrite Insider group has over 30,000 writers all over the world who are serious about improving their writing process.   From free resources, quality content, and exclusive discounts on the latest writing tools, this is one  email newsletter that every writer who is serious about their craft needs to be part of.  Ã‚         About the author: Claire Wilkins is a freelance copywriter and editor from New Zealand. She loves to write about travel, health, home, and proper punctuation. After a career in financial services spanning almost three decades, Claire left the corporate world behind to start Unmistakable - her writing and editing business. She creates website copy, blogs, and newsletters for creative agencies and small businesses, and  specialises  in polishing existing content until it shines. In her spare time, Claire enjoys cloud-spotting, singing in the car and editing video.

Facts and Figures About Pikaia

Facts and Figures About Pikaia During the Cambrian period, over 500 million years ago, an evolutionary explosion took place, but most of the new life forms were strange-looking invertebrates  (mostly weirdly legged and antennaed crustaceans like Anomalocaris and Wiwaxia)  rather than creatures with spinal cords. One of the crucial exceptions was the slender, lancelet-like Pikaia, visually the least impressive of the three early fishlike creatures that have been found preserved from this span in the geologic record (the other two are the equally important Haikouichthys and Myllokunmingia, discovered in eastern Asia). Not Quite a Fish Its stretching things a bit to describe Pikaia as a prehistoric fish; rather, this inoffensive, two-inch-long, translucent creature may have been the first true chordate: an animal with a notochord nerve running down the length of its back, rather than a protective backbone, which was a later evolutionary development. But Pikaia did possess the basic body plan that stamped itself on the next 500 million years of vertebrate evolution: a head distinct from its tail, bilateral symmetry (i.e., the left side of its body matched up with the right side), and two forward-facing eyes, among other features. Chordate Versus Invertebrate However, not everyone agrees that Pikaia was a chordate rather than an invertebrate; theres evidence that this creature had two tentacles jutting out from its head, and some of its other characteristics (such as tiny feet that may have been gill appendages) fit awkwardly in the vertebrate family tree. However you interpret these anatomical features, though, its still likely that Pikaia lay very near the root of vertebrate evolution; if it wasnt the great-great (multiply by a trillion) grandmother of modern humans, it was certainly related somehow, albeit distantly. You may be surprised to learn that some fish alive today can be considered every bit as primitive as Pikaia, an object lesson in how evolution is not a strictly linear process. For example, the tiny, narrow lancelet Branchiostoma is technically a chordate, rather than a vertebrate, and clearly hasnt advanced very far from its Cambrian predecessors. The explanation for this is that, over the billions of years that life has existed on earth, only a tiny percentage of any given species population has actually been given the opportunity to evolve; thats the reason the world is still chock-full of bacteria, fish, and small, furry mammals.

The Professional Responsibility and Communication Assignment

The Professional Responsibility and Communication - Assignment Example The code of conduct of some of the most successful companies is very clear. This however should not be the benchmark of their operations. Moral virtues as well as professional conduct should be incorporated into the organizational behaviors of these individuals by the human resource departments. On the other hand, business ethics are also a big responsibility that all companies in all fields must observe. Technological and computing companies should not practice in such a manner that breaks the generally accepted business ethics. For example, they should be honest and not manipulate other companies because of superiority in the information aspects. In addition to that, it is good for such companies to practice corporate social responsibilities in the society they operate (Grodzinsky 1999, pp. 10). Such undertakings could be done by advancing bursaries, giving educational trips and sponsorships to students with passion in this industry but without the capacity to do so. DQ 2-Â  Commu nications The use of internet slang, short texts and icons has raised questions about their benefits and their effect on the mainstream languages. There has been a debate on whether the new style is in itself a new communication mechanism or otherwise. It is clear that despite the merits involved in this new style such as ease of use and convenience, written language is negatively affected and boundaries should be set. In some areas, some of the old versions or formal language is being totally replaced with new words, commonly among the youths. One of the most obvious merits in the use of short or simplified language especially while using the internet is that that it provides a convenient way of communication. Brown et al (2006) point out that this creates... This assignment highlights the responsibilities that these professionals have to the society, ways to be responsible and the business ethics that are involved in the course. The biggest responsibility that they ought to have is ensuring that they assess the social impact of their creation to the society according to ACM. This is because there are numerous instances where the savvy technological experts come up with very beneficial programmers. The use of the signal and new generation slang has no doubt affected a considerable number of users especially in the official world. There have been instances where a number of graduates use unofficial and grammatically incorrect languages in job applications. This is one effect that a repeated use of such language has over the society. The researcher shows the direct effects that technology has brought especially in the communication sector. He categorically states that the mobile phone text messaging creates a very comfortable and easy way o f communicating which risks many minds to be lazy and using shortcuts. In conclusion, the discussion has looked at the professionalism of the computing world and the responsibilities that are expected from the involved experts. In the world today, the way people carry out their professions has changed to include ethics and professional responsibility. Additionally, there has been an insight that communication helps to alleviate the mode of living. However, if not taken with caution it may end up spoiling or negatively impacting the society.

Hypocrisy in The Scarlett Letter and The Adventures of Huckleberry Essay

Hypocrisy in The Scarlett Letter and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Essay Example The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, on the other hand, is a critique of the lack of consistency in the moral and spiritual standards of the people of the southern states of America before the abolition of slavery. painting a realistic picture of the antebellum south, Mark Twain manages to bring to the notice of the reader the evils of the practice of slavery and the contradictions inherent in this system. The awareness regarding this social ill among the southerners is a testimony to the remarkable hypocrisy that they demonstrated when it came to issues regarding African Americans who were discriminated against and ill-treated because of the color of their skin. This was used against them and they were required to do a lot of unpaid work for the whites who considered themselves to be the repository of a great many beliefs that they considered noble and elegant. The coexistence of these beliefs with the practice of slavery is contradictory and hypocritical; this is precisely what the author seeks to say through his novel. The theme of hypocrisy in The Scarlet Letter is explored primarily through the critique of the Puritan establishment of New England. In the very beginning of the novel, Hawthorne introduces the hypocritical attitudes of the people who live in the nineteenth centuries and profess to be owners of great virtues but are interested in the same sensual activities as the others. In the chapter titled â€Å"The Custom-house†, Hawthorne uses irony as a tool to criticize the shallowness of the Puritan establishment of nineteenth century America (Subbu, 300). He thus seeks to establish a connection between the renegacy of the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter and himself in their acts of defiance towards the hypocritical attitudes of the Puritans, who failed to employ the same standards of virtue to everybody. The gluttony and the sloth of the members of the custom-house are remarkable since they are the very people who are against this in other pe ople, at least in theory (Basu). However, it is this very discrepancy between theory and practice that is critiqued constantly in The Scarlet Letter. This discrepancy characterizes the relationship between Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale who is a priest in the Puritan establishment. Neither Hester nor Dimmesdale chooses to expose the secret behind the birth of Pearl and the puritan emblem of virtue, Dimmesdale, is fine with letting Hester bear the brunt of the punishment that is given by the society for the ‘crime’ of adultery. This exposes the hypocrisy that even people who were apparently of great moral rectitude could fall prey to in a puritan society where the appearance of virtue was more important than the actual presence of it in a person. This theme is something that Hawthorne explores even in the short stories that he has written. One such story would be Young Goodman Brown which reveals the presence of vice in the best of hearts in a puritan society that s ought to repress even the basic human desires that a person was likely to have. The

Operation Management Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Operation Management - Assignment Example The tools include the following; This approach is aimed at eliminating defects through minimising the number of errors that a products or service has. I shall be extensively utilising this tool within my job to perform assessment of the processes involved in my daily work activities in order to detect areas which have weaknesses and make essential corrections for improvement of the outcomes. Observations of the business processes within the various jobs which I undertake will be key to the effective application of this tool in enhancing my performance while working for the various companies and running my own business as well. The application of this tool within the various working stations will enhance my analytical skills as the utilisation of this tool requires analysis of statistics which are related to the business process. Evaluation of the processes will be based on the targets which I shall have set at the beginning of the business processes which will include the desired profits and other financial targets as well. This tool seeks to assess the various processes which are used within the business environment in order to determine the kind of improvements which can be undertaken. This tool will be critical in assessment of the activities which are involved in the different jobs which I will be undertaking. Assessment of the activities will ensure that I understand the job in detail in order to be able to improve my performance on every job that I shall undertake. Within the management positions which I will hold, this tool will be critical to the understanding of the operations in order to enhance the performance of the firms which I shall be working for, I relation to the kind of work I shall be doing. By understanding the job requirements from the process flow chart, I shall be able to manage the operations better as they will be clear to me. This is one of the most effective tools that can be utilised in the business

Admission essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 4

Admission - Essay Example m my work experiences and my educational career at Tarrant County College that group synergy translates into outstanding work performance and maximum satisfaction for the participants of the group. I have work on several projects as an undergraduate student in which have displayed the ability to interpret both qualitative and quantitative information. I have always had a passion for math, science, and field work. The discipline of electrical engineering provides a good mix of office and outdoor work. It is important always to work cohesively as team to achieve the optimum results. I like designing work. I understand that it takes hard work and dedication to achieve the disciplined required to become an engineer. I have always tried my best at everything life since it perseverance shows true character. Obtaining the educational attainment of an electrical engineering degree is my ultimate professional goal which I planned to achieving by enrolling in a top engineering school. The world has become a place where the interrelations among nations have become imperative in order for people to survive. The continent on earth that is behind all other in terms of social economical progress is the continent of Africa. I was born and raised in the nation of Sudan. As an African is my obligation to better myself in order to help my families and my people. Africa is one of the poorest nations in the world. In order to improve the well being of a nation education must be a top priority. In Africa only 57% of children are enrolled in primary school and only one in three does not complete school (Fightpoverty, 2006). I want to become a part of the movement and participation needed to change Africa forever. There needs to be a commitment from the private and public section to dramatically increase the investment in education to reach larger sectors of the population. In order to improve the standard of living of Africans we need to build better basic infrastructure such as roads,

Advise a policy maker Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Advise a policy maker - Research Paper Example While doing this, a policymaker should ensure that they followed any of the four perspectives to public administration in order to ensure that the framework within which a policy operates achieves the desired results and objectives. In effect, failure to ensure that the policy framework was within the four perspectives to public administration will consequently make a policy inept, and its objectives to be unachievable. Based on the abovementioned, one of the best approaches that any policymaker should incorporate while making decisions, resolving, developing, and implementing a policy is the political perspective approach to public administration. By its precise nature, this perspective has to be an effective approach to any policymaker who wants to achieve a policy that was effective, efficient, and equitable in nature. In this case, the perspective contains four basic aspects that will ensure that a policymaker attained effectiveness, efficiency, and equity while developing a poli cy. These four fundamental aspects include public participation in the policy, equal representation of the public in terms of demographics and interests, the public’s responsiveness to a policy, and accountability of administrators involved in any stages of the administration of this policy. In line with this, this expose uses the political perspective to assist a policymaker resolve a problem that requires their urgent resolution. It is pertinent to explain the nature of the problem that required urgent resolution. In this case, the problem involved state government’s resolve to close all land administrations offices in the state’s precincts in order to centralize the operations in its State capital. The objective to implement this policy was to institute cost-cutting measures that would see all matters of land administration administered from the State capital. In doing this, the state had observed that the land administration offices in the precincts were not cost-effective to operate, and it was recommended that centralizing land administration would save the expenses. Nonetheless, there was a public outcry over this issue, and it was important to resolve this issue within one week in order to ensure the policy developed was effective, efficient, and equitable to the entire population in the state. The political perspective to public administration recognizes the important role of political responsiveness while developing policy. In this regard, Dahl (1971) identified the important role of the government in ensuring that the government’s policy centered on the preferences of all the citizens, who in most cases should be considered as political equals. In this regard, it is important for the policy that we are going to formulate ensure that all the demographics will feel that the policy represented them equally. In addition, it is crucial for the policymaker to consider whether the needs of each citizen in the state are considere d before implementing this policy. Furthermore, political representation cannot be attained when developing and implementing a policy without considering all the characteristics of the constituents in the state. In support of political responsiveness, Lindbloom (1992) noted the importance of considering a policy that appealed to the masses in terms of objectivity and values that the policy espouses. In view of this requirement, it is evident that the policy that the State was about to implement did not meet these requirements. First, the policy does not consider the impoverished citizens in the state who would find it challenging to seek assistance from the State ca