Petition To Writer's Digest Mag.

 (This message was edited by jessiebelle on 05-16-04 @ 11:19 am EDT)

I have seen similar comments, Gary, but I think they spring from a basic misapprehension: "101 Best Websites for Writers" appears to be more of a People's Choice Award. It is not entitled "101 Best Websites for Breaking Into Print" or "101 Best Websites to Help Launch Your Writing Career." Nor would most of the sites listed there do that for you.

Writing.com has been featured on WD's list for two years, but was dropped this year, despite continuous improvements to Writing.com;

Writing.com advertises in WD's publications;

Writing.com is a better resource than many of the Web sites listed in the 2004 "101 Best Websites for Writers."




Writing.com and its 50,000 members (I believe that is the number you mentioned) seem to be immersed in a very recreational mode without any serious intent to help a 'near' publishable writer take that final step and break into print.

You are absolutely correct. Any serious efforts to support the "near-publishable writer" in getting published are found in small, grassroots group efforts. They're out there. That doesn't mean they're always effective, or that their "leaders" understand that being "published" by the International Library of Poets isn't exactly what most publishers would consider a legitimate publishing credit. The real value in these groups is that writers who share certain goals can encourage and support one another in achieving them. Ultimately, each writer has to do the grunt work of getting published: research the markets, write query or cover letters, stick the manuscript in an envelope, and put it in the mail. Writing and editing are easy, compared to the "administrivia" of submitting your work and waiting for rejection or acceptance. Many published authors are busy doing this - too busy doing it to be hanging around here.

Me, I hate that part of the job. But I have the luxury of being a professional technical writer. I get to make my living doing what I love. I can submit my fiction at leisure, or just share it here - immediately and for free, my only "payment" being the comments I receive from readers. Most of my freelance work has been done on assignment, from editors I've known over the years. I don't have to seek them out and risk rejection; they come to me. (I also don't get enough assignments on a regular basis to support my Starbucks habit - just enough to say, legitimately, "I'm published, I get paid for my writing, and I the work comes to me." It's true, but it doesn't keep a roof over my head - let's be brutally honest on that score.)

So, I can't speak for all published, professional writers, but I know there are a few here on Writing.com, and I imagine there are a multitude of reasons we could all give for being here and staying here. But I doubt that "helps me make the contacts I need to sell my writing" is one of them. Recreation and possibly mentoring certainly would be on the list.

For the novice writer, there's a wealth of information and a supportive community here. I have seen many people's writing skills improve dramatically. Just ask The Critic , or The Sun SmilesOn Small Valley , or... well, just about anyone. I've even received some excellent tips to improve my fiction-writing skills, here, and I have a BA in creative writing. (Okay, no, it's in "Rhetoric & Writing," but that sounds so...snooty.)

There doesn't seem to be any real leadership where serious writers are concerned...a kind of 'the partially sighted leading the blind' attitude seems to prevail.

Yep, pretty much.

Writing.com does help all of us write better..and there are some beautifully written pieces in writing.com portfolios. Most of the reviews are helpful and well written with the intent of improving each author of the piece reviewed.

That's true.

But there is no forum that searches through writing.com portfolios for publishable work or near publishable work. The absence of such a forum, a forum that could help launch a successful writer, a forum made up of published writers within the ranks of writing.com (or others with verifiable credentials who are willing to contribute there expertise and a small amount of time to help a 'carveresque' type elevate his game to that of 'published' as opposed to 'promising') would seem to sentence writing.com to recreational or casual status.

If you find any such forum on any site whatsoever, I want to know about it. Seriously. If you have any idea how to launch this or maintain it or recruit the editors and buyers who would really spend the time to do this, I'd have to say that it would really enhance the value of what Writing.com has to offer.

Actually, I have sold reprint rights to two articles I originally posted on sites similar to writing.com. But put yourself in an editor's shoes - culling through the hundreds of thousands of items on a site like this, hoping to find a publishable gem that meets the current needs of your publication would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sites like "WrittenByMe" (could you think of a dumber name for a site that billed itself as a marketplace for selling and syndicating content?) have failed miserably, which says to me that the buyers are not making an effort to come to the work - the work still has to get up and throw itself over the transom and beg to be read by the buyers.

Maybe such a forum exists within writing.com? I have clicked on many icons looking for it and have come up with zero results. Many items are rated accurately but I've seen poorly written pieces given a perfect 5.0 rating (Shakespeare returned?).

Start one. Seriously. That's another nice thing about Writing.com - you can take an idea like this and run with it.

We need a leader here (leaders?), someone willing to take the unpopular stand, someone willing to correct 5.0 ratings given by someone's best friend, someone to search for the good stuff and submit them to an elite reviewing board....someone to lead writing.com from its recreational status to a sign pointing to a path that says, 'serious writing website can be found in this direction'.

The StoryMaster does correct instances of blatant abuse of the ratings system, and actively encourages honesty in ratings. But let's face it, it's hard to give a 2.0 to a total stranger, too. There's too much psychology involved in any popular ratings system. It's too bad a robot can't rate. Then again, see "machine translation" for a good example of why robots should stay out of linguistics altogether.

What MIGHT help is a ratings system that gave more weight, say, to the ratings given by publishers and editors (again, assuming we had enough of them out there reading and rating - but that's the problem, isn't it? some work would never be noticed, and those weighted ratings would make it even more unfair).

I do think Writing.com is a "serious" Web site for serious writers. What you get out of it largely depends on what you put into it. You could, for instance, go out and interview a famous author - or a not-so-famous editor or publisher - and post the interview here. Brainstorm ideas - there are many people here who would like to see the kind of forum you describe, but have been at a loss as to how to start or run one. Don't cry out for a leader - BE one.

Or we can appreciate this site for what it is...a way for the casual writer to improve...and a pond in which the serious writer with potential....can tread water.

That works for me, too. See, in a sense, it really is up to the membership. As you point out, leaders are needed. There is absolutely nothing stopping you or anyone else from having a go at some of the ideas you've proposed. There are groups here, currently, whose aims include "help get our members published." Are they effective? I don't know. I do know that I've read success stories - a number of active members of Writing.com have been published, for the first time, since joining the site - and the bottom line is, if you really want to get published, you'll do the work, submit, persevere, and eventually - you'll probably get published. (Assuming your writing doesn't just stink like yesterday's fish, your odds really are slightly better than winning the lottery. But like the lottery, you can't win if you don't enter.)

Jessie

P.S. Sorry - that was a little long-winded. I'm going to go scrub the bathroom and kitchen now. Enough "playing writer" for me today. Time to put on my wife and mommy hat. I'm kidding. I wear all of my hats, all the time.