W.com Changed My Life

A long time ago, I stumbled across writing.com while searching for creative writing sites. I don't even recall what led me here exactly. I excitedly joined up, thinking that this was the "cool" place to be.

In the beginning, I had a free portfolio; I quickly filled it with five items. But I hated the ads. On a dial-up internet connection, the ads, especially the pop-ups, made EVERY page extremely SLOW to load. Not to mention I desperately wanted more space to post other writings. So I took the plunge and bought an upgraded membership. I liked the site; I wanted to be supportive of it.

It didn't take long for my status to change to Preferred Author. That was one of the most exciting emails I ever received from the site. Receiving Preferred Author status made me want to visit the site and participate more often.

But, as with all things, my interest waned. Real life intervened. I had other things to do than to spend time on-site. Really, it meant that I didn't have time to spend writing, or posting in forums. I occupied my time with other things.

Suddenly, in 2004, I found that I needed writing.com. The Daily Writing Challenge was starting, and I signed up. The DWC and writing.com helped me get through a terrible self-inflicted depressive episode. I wrote more in six months than I ever thought I could write. I earned a merit badge for participation in that challenge, and I learned that I needed that type of daily word count deadline to get motivated to write.

I thought, "This time, I'll have the habit I need to succeed."

Again, however, real life intervened. This time, my home computer hard drive died in July 2004, and every piece of writing I had saved on it was unrecoverable; I lost approximately 75,000 words on two books. I felt helpless. Unfortunately, I had not backed up the drive, nor had I backed up online. Why didn't I save my stuff in my portfolio? Because I thought my home hard drive was infallible. For awhile, I felt like not writing anymore at all.

To add insult to injury, the place where I kept my online journal died in February 2006, and I lost all my entries there as well. Maybe I should have just given up entirely. In addition, I was having money problems and could hardly scrounge up the money to keep paying for my upgraded membership. At the last minute, due to some kind soul or souls, I was given a three-month reprieve.

Someone out there thought my portfolio was worthwhile enough to renew.

So I found myself drifting back to writing.com, to the forums I frequented, the newsletters I subscribed to, the writers I had marked as favorites. I found myself returning to the one place I felt comfortable--the one place I know will be around for a good long time. I renewed my membership at the beginning of June with a renewed purpose and a renewed sense of self. I have also received some great comments on my works, including one that was part of the 75,000 words I lost two years ago. Receiving that comment made me want to take it up again and continue with it.

In a way, writing.com validates me as a writer. I write, people respond. Sometimes what I write touches people. When I rate and review, my comments inspire others to keep up the good work. Every little bit helps when creativity and motivation are in short supply.