What are other good Writing Forums?

[yoffi]

Let me know!

 

[skip.knox]

Which ones (besides this one) have you found in your searches so far?

 

[yoffi]

Hi skip.knox! I've found:

fanstory.com (this seems to be all about the competitions)

writerscafe.org (which is kind of different to what I envision a classic forum to be like)

writersdigest.com (has some cool blog-style posts written nicely)

I like this one though as I think I'll be able to explore my lateral writing skills with other writers

Can you recommend any?

 

[skip.knox]

Fantasy Faction
Science Fiction & Fantasy forums
Specifically for fantasy, but there are many excellent forums for writing more generally. The best thing is to do your own searching, join, participate, then settle on the ones that best suit you. That's what I did. I was on probably a dozen or more forums, which got rather overwhelming for a time, but eventually settled on just three.

 

[yoffi]

3 sounds like the magic number. I'll try and have a look at more fantasy forums and let you know what I find.

This is a great way to practice writing though... being active in forums. Better than posting on your facebook wall because then all your friends can see your words, which is a little daunting!

 

[Devor]

In addition to the ones mentioned above, Amazon has its own forum community, and there's a number of subreddits you could look at. You'd also be remiss not to consider places like goodreads, scribophile, or wattpad. While they're not exactly forums, they make a good blend of related activities.

For full disclosure, at one point or another I've looked closely at each of the sites mentioned so far and I don't use any of them. I do keep a fanfiction on Archive of Our Own (AO3). And I follow a bunch of fantasy art pages on facebook for inspiration. But I have to consider not only where can I get information from, but also where can I contribute the most. Spreading myself thin across too many sites didn't feel like a great way to contribute much of anything.

 

[skip.knox]

I like forums because they're communities. We've pretty much lost our neighborhoods, at least in the post-industrial West, and forums offer something akin to that--people who are not so close as friends, yet are not strangers or that odd condition known as co-worker. They're people with whom one has casual conversations that can turn thoughtful, talk around common interests, share a joke or two. Community provides, or can provide, information, support, even wisdom. Facebook is too noisy, Twitter manages to be noisy and superficial as well. Instagram and Pinterest are the online equivalent of waving placards. Forums--going all the way back to the era of listserv and Compuserv--are uniquely suited to the camaraderie of text. It's worth spending the time to find the community that suits you best.

 

[Aldarion]

Ya, that is true. I am active here and occasionally at WritingForums; other than that, I also visit SFFChronicles on occasion, though I almost never post. Other forums I visit are not writing forums though they are related to literature (Lord of the Rings and A Song of Ice and Fire, specifically).

 

[Ned Marcus]

For me it's here and Fantasy Faction. I joined some others but hardly post in them.

 

[yoffi]

I'm starting to realize forums are a great way to cut through the noise of social media. This, so far has been the most engaging forum!
I will check out the reddit writers pages too.
I got banned from SFFChroniclesI think it's because I name dropped "Netflix" but I wasn't trying to promote it I was trying to give authentic advice to watch shows with the Audio Descriptions and subtitles on to improve conversational writing. Oops.

Thanks Ned Marcus I'll try Fantasy Faction!

 

[Devor]

There's also the worldsmyths forum. They're smaller and newer than the others but very friendly.

 

[Adela]

Joined one some time ago whose forum is called the Absolute Write Water Cooler Needlesstosay, I post very little and haven't really gotten to know anyone. The place is overwhelming and don't get nearly as much information or camaraderie as I get here. It covers SO MUCH and is so wide ranging with so many genres and members it's extremely hard to keep up with. I could spend an entire day on it.

I'd rather write. Or spend my time here.

 

[skip.knox]

Agreed on the Water Cooler. It's a great place, but Mythic Scribes is like hanging out at the best pub ever while the Water Cooler is more like wandering through downtown New York.

 

[CelestialGrace]

Apart from the one I'm building this is the only writing forum I'm on at the moment. I dropped back years ago, and now I'm finding that the other writing communities on other SM platforms not as helpful as I once found them. It's become too much like shouting into the void. I'm going to check out all the suggestions here; though I may find that just as overwhelming over time.

 

[Alex Reiden]

The folks over at Fantasy Writers are a pretty good community, specific to fantasy. There are other subreddits dedicated to other genres and some general writing subs, too, but I don't have experience with them.

Also, worldbuilding communities like Building Magic Systems Subreddit and taking escapism to the next level.

 

[MrNybble]

From managing several forums for over a decade, I can say the new generation of writers prefer instant gratification that social media can offer. Hard to get people to stay around and contribute significant content these days. Recent content creators (social media) only look for immediate fulfillment of something for the moment.

The question is what venue one looks to put themselves in? People want valued insight to a subject or just gain praise for the moment. One gives you long-term goal satisfaction, while the alternative provides a reason to exist for the praise of others. Do you want to be stalwart of trendy?

 

[yoffi]

(I want to be stalwart and chic. I don't have to be trendy - I have to be timeless. Preferably channelling Josephine Baker. MrNybble I'd like long term satisfaction as well as consistent praise. Hm. But I hate it when my joker mates call me out on social media for being lame when I think I'm being totally cool and arty. I like this waiting for a reply thing - it's what I reckon having a pen-friend would be like. However, my pen friend once sent a letter from france that was all shredded up and I had to put it back together. But it was like 110% shredded so she never got a reply. Wups.)

Wow. I'm breath-taken. Such a fantastic response! And these responses aid in putting this forum in good stead to be one of my favourites so far.

I must say as well - I first though - I am totally not a fantasy writer... but I do like history...and within few months I am MORE than enjoying writing fantasy and reading everyone's posts. So. Much. Fun.

So I've been continuing with my research and these are my top so far: I've gone back and read this thread again and lots of the same names came up! So I'll dig a bit deeper into the one's that were name-dropped here

1. WritingForums.com (thanks Aldarion - I preferred this one to the .org one)
2. She Writes
3. Absolute Write (thanks Adela agreed - there's a hella lot going on)
4. Scribophile
5. NaNoWriMo
6. Wattpad (thanks Devor)
7. Reddit (thanks Alex Reiden reddit is super useful - kinda vast though - still not posting just reading there)
8. Commaful
9. Discord

Thanks @Slip.Knox - It was worth spending the time to actually engage in the communities out there. I feel I've only started my adventure though!
CelestialGrace wow! how's the forum building going? What are you using?

1. However ... I'm really struggling to find any good Facebook writing groups - does anyone have any suggestions?
2. Sending love, light, laughter and lyricisms to all! Happy New Year - 2020 will rock!

 

[Ned Marcus]

I'm really struggling to find any good Facebook writing groups - does anyone have any suggestions?

No. There aren't any good FB fantasy writing groups. Someone prove me wrong Perhaps there are some general writing groups, I don't know. Lot's of good FB book marketing groups though.

 

[skip.knox]

I've hung out in some FB groups. I agree there are better places to go for writing. At the same time, it's been interesting to see responses about books or about types of writing. The short version is this: there's a reader for every type of writing. There's also another reader who hates it.

 

[Devor]

I tried out a general writing fb group that was pretty good a while back. The big focus was on reporting in with your word counts, and I think that can be useful. Also good for cheap writing quotes and the occasional article. It was based on one of those how to write books.

Wouldn’t go to fb for story advice though. People chime in without reading other comments or building the discussion. It’s like 15 micro discussions and none of them particularly useful.