Chrissy

A discussion on beta reading sounds a good idea. I could probably learn a lot from the way other people approach beta reads.

I don’t think I’d want to offer my beta reading services to a wider public, as it were. I’m happy to do it for members here and for people who pop up on the site asking for a reader from whoever is available. I generally…[Read more]

@Bella I hope the writing mojo comes back. And the reading and sax playing. These big events like Covid can really knock the oomph out of all sorts of things.

OK, but what about the many other advantages of discourse?

@athelstone have you looked at moving to a 21st century forum like discourse? I use it on talk.restarters.net and it’s pretty slick. You can get email notifications and reply by email; can upload pictures, has trust levels and you can restrict areas.

Well done, Libby – a deserved win!! And thanks Ath.

DoW problems: Usability just isn’t what it should be; not being able to post pictures is a pain; definitely doesn’t promote idle chat.

The wordcloud was very far from perfect, but had one significant difference: the course offerings meant new people were always joining, wondering wth was going on, some figuring it out or persisting without fig…[Read more]

I agree with everything said so far, from the time pressures for people with publications etc in the works via Richard’s points about the site layout right through to feeling that posting stuff may not be worth the effort. And yes, idle chat would be lovely.

I don’t use social media but I’m quite active on Jericho Writers and therefore could…[Read more]

I like Kate’s suggestion of a fortnightly writing topic. A clearly marked heading and space might draw in potential new members among people who are Googling for writing advice. But it would need the links problem to be solved.

I agree with Richard about subjects currently being hidden away.

As a member of Kate’s SE 2016 group, this site has…[Read more]

The Den’s been a lifeboat for my SE group. And I love the inspiration the winter writing challenge brings. It’s also lovely to be able to see the successes of people I met on the cloud.

But I wonder if, for the main page to be active, we need writers at different stages. I think we’ve all got a fair amount of experience on here, have writing…[Read more]

Blimey, managed to write something and very pleased to be able to enter the comp. Was a bit concerned at managing to get to 250 words and wanting to post without having to DQ myself! Happily at 256 words including title. 🙂

This might be the day.

He hadn’t closed the curtains. The sunbeam found the bed at 6.37 and warmed his left foot at 6…[Read more]

Sound Waves (470 words)

An aeroplane churns the sky but no siren has sounded, and behind the blackout fabric at my attic window there are no searchlights. The aircraft must be one of ours.

In my armchair I pick up today’s paper but find it hard to concentrate. We have all turned into experts in aircraft identification and the noise from this o…[Read more]

Transformation

It’s easy to transform. You just change, from one state to
Another. Nothing much to worry
About. Examples are (quite literally) everywhere you
Look. Consider the universe. Just
Took the universe a picosecond to drag itself
Out of an incomprehensible
Mess, shrugging on the laws of physics, sorting
Its chaotic nature into f…[Read more]

Congratulations, Sandra!

This is fab, Sandra. Congratulations.

Wow, that’s not far from me at all. Half an hour by car. A pilgrimmage might be in order

@bellam, perhaps you can help me. I remember as a child hearing about a pirate radio ship that had been caught in a storm and had to put into Harwich, when it was impounded. I was there with my Mum and she pointed it out to me. I just remember a small, red ship. This was in the mid 1980s. I can’t find any references to it. I know we still had…[Read more]

Lovely, elegiac blog, Richard. I don’t think I realised how hard it could be to access pop music, especially anything out of the mainstream, until the late 60s.

As you know, Fairport is one of my favourite bands as well. I’d never heard the live version of Percy’s Song but just listened to it, and I know what you mean – both versions have…[Read more]

Interesting to see this pop up again – thanks for those podcasts Libby, looks interesting – and it has sort of kicked a thought into the foreground.

As a writer, my books *are* me (when it comes to fiction, that is). They are fragments of my being that I have extracted and slapped down on paper. I find it impossible to conceive of someone who…[Read more]