Loads of places, given that you know where to look. And the question is whether they're active. Just look through the community interest list for writing. Count to that that there are plenty of forums out there dedicated to the same thing. And then detract every single one of them that's bled to death for some reason or another.
Most of those that are active seem to be those built up out of groups like ours. Like-minded people who also happen to be friends and/or friends or friends. Closely-knit circles at any rate.
Others thrive on comment-for-a-comment like principles and aren't so much for writing as they are for criticism, which as you noted, we already do a fair bit. ^-^
Those are just my observations (and experiences), though, so they could be different for other people. There are also places like WritersCo and Elftown which are technically larger communites, but all break down into tiny pieces when examined closely. Those comment exchange notes on Elfwood sites mean little beyond stating 'I return comments' in nice gold letters. There isn't any friendship there.
I've been an admin for some place or another for the majority of my teens. Keeping anything alive online is hard work, make no mistake there. People have real life interference, people drift apart... Loads of things happen. It's not impossible, but know what you're getting yourself into.
Personally, I've missed being a part of a forum or a community, though I relish the fact that it means I've stopped spending my time on them and have had more time to focus on my writing. That's one thing the internet doesn't really give us -- a place to 'hang out' together. LJ could give us that, if we want it to and if we let it. LJ isn't the only site that could, but it's a convenient one all the same.
I've been toying with the idea of projects before, really. But I'm too chicken to bring it up first. More of a passive person. Not too good at discussions either. Fun to read, but not so much fun to participate in them. Had my hands burnt a few times too many. Given how timed contests depend largely, on, well, time, I don't think those would be the best idea. It's too dependent on real life factors we can or cannot predict.
I can pretty realistically say that in December and June, I'm supposed to be studying for exams and I'll want to feel like I have time available. Never mind that I stuff it full of non-studying activities. ^-~ Really do have to change that sometime...
Erm, anyway, point is -- it's unpredictable. Likely to get results in a decent time frame from some people, yes, but still highly unpredictable. I know I'm very unlikely to finish anything on time for a deadline, unless it's a deadline for something like grades. Guess I'm odd like that. I don't know how I'd handle timed things, though I'd like to work on it if I knew I'd have the time to. Last semester coursework just ate the life out of me, or consumed all my time.
I still write for the love of it, even though my writing is mainly consumed to larger pieces. Every single one of them as cherished as the other, if not always that enjoyed. No one's ever going to like hurting their own characters (unless they're awful characters), nor the characters they like.
I've seen co-written projects, though. A Song So Pure was born from it, even. Don't think that's an idea you've considered yet, but it is one. I seem to recall Brandi and Anne going to have their characters cameo in their stories. Why not do something like that or set up a world for all of us to write in and build on? Again, such projects already exist and the question is whether there's interest, but it could be fun. Would almost certainly contain general writing discussions.
And that's my semi-coherent ramble after midnight for you. ^-~
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Date: 2006-05-18 10:50 pm (UTC)Loads of places, given that you know where to look. And the question is whether they're active. Just look through the community interest list for writing. Count to that that there are plenty of forums out there dedicated to the same thing. And then detract every single one of them that's bled to death for some reason or another.
Most of those that are active seem to be those built up out of groups like ours. Like-minded people who also happen to be friends and/or friends or friends. Closely-knit circles at any rate.
Others thrive on comment-for-a-comment like principles and aren't so much for writing as they are for criticism, which as you noted, we already do a fair bit. ^-^
Those are just my observations (and experiences), though, so they could be different for other people. There are also places like WritersCo and Elftown which are technically larger communites, but all break down into tiny pieces when examined closely. Those comment exchange notes on Elfwood sites mean little beyond stating 'I return comments' in nice gold letters. There isn't any friendship there.
I've been an admin for some place or another for the majority of my teens. Keeping anything alive online is hard work, make no mistake there. People have real life interference, people drift apart... Loads of things happen. It's not impossible, but know what you're getting yourself into.
Personally, I've missed being a part of a forum or a community, though I relish the fact that it means I've stopped spending my time on them and have had more time to focus on my writing. That's one thing the internet doesn't really give us -- a place to 'hang out' together. LJ could give us that, if we want it to and if we let it. LJ isn't the only site that could, but it's a convenient one all the same.
I've been toying with the idea of projects before, really. But I'm too chicken to bring it up first. More of a passive person. Not too good at discussions either. Fun to read, but not so much fun to participate in them. Had my hands burnt a few times too many.
Given how timed contests depend largely, on, well, time, I don't think those would be the best idea. It's too dependent on real life factors we can or cannot predict.
I can pretty realistically say that in December and June, I'm supposed to be studying for exams and I'll want to feel like I have time available. Never mind that I stuff it full of non-studying activities. ^-~ Really do have to change that sometime...
Erm, anyway, point is -- it's unpredictable. Likely to get results in a decent time frame from some people, yes, but still highly unpredictable. I know I'm very unlikely to finish anything on time for a deadline, unless it's a deadline for something like grades. Guess I'm odd like that. I don't know how I'd handle timed things, though I'd like to work on it if I knew I'd have the time to. Last semester coursework just ate the life out of me, or consumed all my time.
I still write for the love of it, even though my writing is mainly consumed to larger pieces. Every single one of them as cherished as the other, if not always that enjoyed. No one's ever going to like hurting their own characters (unless they're awful characters), nor the characters they like.
I've seen co-written projects, though. A Song So Pure was born from it, even. Don't think that's an idea you've considered yet, but it is one. I seem to recall Brandi and Anne going to have their characters cameo in their stories. Why not do something like that or set up a world for all of us to write in and build on? Again, such projects already exist and the question is whether there's interest, but it could be fun.
Would almost certainly contain general writing discussions.
And that's my semi-coherent ramble after midnight for you. ^-~