Looking for a good writing board

January 22, 2009 4:59 AM

Anyone knows a friendly forum where writers hang out discussing their craft?

I know of the Nanowrimo boards but I never quite liked them. The discussion there seems a little too geared towards fantasy, sci-fi and romance. Also it is so large I find it hard to filter out the useful discussions. All ideas appreciated.

posted by ilike to writing & language (9 comments total)

It's not a board but the Evil Editor's blog is hilarious and insightful. There's a pretty robust community of bloggers who comment there and I bet if you lurk a bit and follow links in profiles etc you'd figure out where those folks hang out when they're not commenting on Evil Editor.

http://evileditor.blogspot.com/


(Mostly geared toward novels--maybe some memoir/creative nonfiction? I assume that's the craft you're talking about.)
posted by Neofelis at 5:42 AM on January 22 [1 favorite]

"The Well"? Salon bought it and boasts that writers hang out on there. I would think Blogspot would be an excellent community for writers.
posted by teabag at 6:12 AM on January 22

www.writers.net has some good folks (plus a cranky agent or two) but it is essentially unmoderated and there are some obnoxious trolls. I spent a fair bit of time there last year. The problem with forums is that you find yourself posting and not writing, and I'd rather write. The craigslist writers' forum is fun, with a lot of people posting snippets of work, but sothere's also lots of snark.



http://www.absolutewrite.com/ might be a better choice. Many forums and good advice. If I were active in forums right now I'd be there. But like I say, I'd rather write.
posted by Guy_Inamonkeysuit at 6:15 AM on January 22

The forums at Literature and Latte are very active.
posted by webhund at 6:27 AM on January 22

I'm a fan of AbsoluteWrite, myself.
posted by Jeanne at 7:02 AM on January 22

The Gazebo at Alsop Review. There's even a virtual pub where the writers chat.
posted by cymru_j at 7:13 AM on January 22

I think the Poets & Writer's Speakeasy is the largest/most active one of its kind (that I know of).
posted by theantikitty at 7:52 AM on January 22

I have a friend (published novelist) who swore by Backspace -- bksp.org. There's a reasonable membership fee, but real-live, published writers frequent their forums and are friendly and helpful.
posted by Work to Live at 11:49 AM on January 22

Readerville and The Backspace Writer's Forums.

What both of these places have in common is that you have real, live working, published, professional writers, agents and other publishing industry professionals hanging out there. You need to know your stuff, you need to have a professional demeanor, and you will be schooled if you do not and you act stupid. I was pointed to both forums from some of the forums previously mentioned in this thread when I was first beginning my career and finding the non-professionalism of those places frustrating. I was getting a lot of very bad advice from people who acted like they knew what they were talking about but did not.

Readerville is free, Backspace is not. You get a two week trial to Backspace to see if it's your cup of tea. Both are remarkably troll-free due to the professional culture of the forums.

Most professional writers, however, are busy writing and not hanging out on forums. If we're networking we're doing it in person and not online.
posted by micawber at 11:57 AM on January 22 [3 favorites]