I've been lurking around the forums for a while now but I am really hoping to take part a lot more and be a more active member. I've always been reluctant to write because I always thought that my vocabulary wasn't big enough but quite recently I've had many friends as well as my partner tell me that I should write an autobiography as I've lived a fairly hard life. Although, I still think that it could have been worse and I got out quite lucky. Before I attempt an autobiography though, I want to write a lot of short stories to build my skill set up so I am hoping that this site can help me in this as what I have seen so far, everybody is willing to help out. Thank you.
Welcome to the forums (again), Jessica! I hope you find a way to build up your writing skills, although most of that comes through writing and reading a lot. Reading will also widen your vocabulary, so don't be afraid to read books that seem a little beyond your current level. It's good for writing that you've had a hard life - more experiences to draw upon! Anyway, have fun here.
here's a tip for increasing your vocabulary that I used. it worked really well for me. I picked up a dictionary and a thesaurus and began writing poems, but not using the same words. when I couldn't think of one I would look for a synonym to one I did know, and then read the definition in the dictionary, as it often gives you a better understanding the a thesaurus definition. once I got poem structure down I started writing poems that had rhyming that started with the same letter or went as far as to write poems that contained only rhyming words. the craven raven has a haven kind of thing. doesn't have to be good poetry just do whatever you can to use as many words as possible and learn the definitions. that's what I did to increase my vocabulary and after that it was all short stories and novels. good luck and welcome.
Welcome to Writing Forums, Jessica! I hope you find what you're looking for here, whatever your interests in writing. This forum aims to provide the best workshopping resources on the internet, and to that end we have a few rules which you should familiarise yourself with before you get stuck in. The main section of the site is the Writing Workshop, where members can post their writing in order to receive critique of their work. However, before we allow members to post their work, they must have met some basic requirements. Firstly, you must have been a member for fourteen days, and have made twenty posts on the forum overall (please note, posts in Word Games do not count towards this). This is so that members, when they post their work, have familiarised themselves with the forums and contributed to them (as well as hopefully learned something for themselves). Secondly, members must provide two constructive reviews of other people's work for each piece of their own that they wish to post. This is because we believe that the focus of workshopping should be equally upon giving reviews as receiving them, as they allow a writer to practice and improve their editing skills, which they can then apply to their own writing. Beyond the Writing Workshop, you will find that we have extensive forums for discussion of aspects of writing, as well as a community area for general discussion. We also run periodic short story and poetry contests, which are good for challenging yourself and expanding your skills. The requirements of the Writing Workshop don't apply to the contests, so new members are allowed (nay, encouraged!) to get stuck in and enter! We also have a growing short story club (think book club, but with short stories!), which you can find stickied in the Book Discussion forum. If you have any questions or problems, then the moderators (myself, Lemex and Dante Dases) should be your first port of call. Any technical problems with the site itself should be directed to Daniel, the site administrator and owner. I would recommend you have a look over the rules so that you know what to expect, and what is expected. But aside from that, I hope you enjoy your time here. Banzai
