Hi readers, thought I'd write something a bit different today. So this is going to be a sort of informal essay style post discussing how the internet has made writers more sociable and the positives and negatives of this.
I want to look at this subject more closely due to my recent activity on a site called Readwave. This website allows people to put/publish their writings, though there is an 800 word limit. The one thing that really attracted me to Readwave was their weekly challenges, which they have been improving. Every week there is a different subject (now four) which is often connected with a theme. Writing can be fiction, non-fiction and biographically. You can add images, tag lines and summaries. Also, as far as I know there's no limit to the stories you can put up, but you can only enter a challenge once. You get your own page for your stories and can have a bio. There is share buttons for social websites. The best bit about Readwave is that people can comment on your stories and can share them. My page can be sen here;
http://www.readwave.com/hayley.hardman.7/
I think that's the key to most writing websites. The internet is allowing writers to interact in a new way which was not possible before. Writers know that they need isolation time and space in which to work, but afterwards, social interaction is needed. The writer wants and often needs a readers opinion and other minds to spot things that they have missed. Also new writers seek reassurance about they work. Thus the sites are very useful. The other side of this is that they allow readers to experience new genres and writers.
There are downsides to this though. A writer shouldn't let other people's opinions influence their on own every occasion. The writer needs to remain in control and do what they think is right. Over-posting needs to be avoided. The writer doesn't want to flood their page or their readers with too much at once by continuously putting up new or redrafted pieces. The writer also shouldn't think that just because they are gaining a large readership that they must post up more pieces to keep all the readers. Normally, posting once a week or month, the same as doing a blog, is a good strategy to have. Readers can become easily bored with the same or similar pieces.
Lastly, don't let negative comments or lack of readers get to you. People always have opinions on things they don't like. Remember not to take it to heart and perhaps if they make suggestions you could see these as changes to bare in mind during redrafting. The internet is massive and there are so many other websites and stories that grab peoples' attentions. It can take a while to get a readership, the same with a blog and the way to do that is to keep publishing different stories and doing a bit of self-promotion.
There are all different kinds of websites for publishing too. Doing research into this could be beneficial for some writers, as if you have a piece on a certain topic or containing certain themes, which you wish to share with a connecting audience which some sites are tailored too. Fan fiction is a good example of this as some sites only accept fan related pieces and others sometimes don't.
For me, publishing on these websites does need to be taken seriously. That's because it is increasingly becoming the in between of officially unpublished and published writers. There are writers now who are earning a living through self-publishing online/kindle without an agent or a publishing company. Writers are also being picked up by agents and publishers after their work has been seen online. It can also be used as examples of writing for job applications or agents.
I publish though because doing the challenges means I have to write once a week and it's helped me get over my writers' block. It also allows for story subjects that are new or need a different take on them to happen. This is a good way to practice more and share your thoughts with others. I have also enjoyed reading and commenting on other peoples' works. That is something that really needs to be done, you need to give back as well as receive. Becoming an active member of a site can also attract more readers and help other writers to develop.
So there are a lot of good reasons why a writer should be getting themselves out there on the internet. That saying of you take out what you put in is very true and I believe that every writer will find publishing on writing websites beneficial in some way. It is a great chance to share your work, get a peoples' opinions and read the works of others. That idea of writers being anti-social is a fantasy, because we are a very supportive and respectful network.
That's it for this post then and next week I'm going to be writing a book review. It's going to be slightly different though. I hope this post has been helpful and the discussion can be carried on in the comments below. I've also included a list of websites for people to check out that relate to this post.
Images from:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/Stipula_fountain_pen.jpg
http://www.openculture.com/2013/11/the-100-best-novels-1898.html
http://blog.moveguides.com/skilled-freelance-writers-wanted/
Websites:
http://www.readwave.com/
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/
https://kdp.amazon.com/
http://www.lulu.com/
https://www.createspace.com/
http://www.writeandshare.co.uk/
http://www.writing.com/
https://www.fanfiction.net/
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