Creative Writers Online

There are a few things to keep in mind to help smooth your entrance to our community:

Explore the site.

There are a lot of different pages in addition to the message boards, including advice on writing and critiquing and links to markets, writing help, and other writing communities.

Read the Community Guidelines.

This will save a lot of headaches.

Practice polite promoting

(Or, if you're from England, "Practise polite promoting"!)

If you're here just to promote a book or your personal website, leave your link in the proper place. Don't put it on the message boards! That is the fastest way to gain the animosity of the members.

Spam is not welcome! 

If you're here to promote a dating site or anything else that has nothing to do with writing -- if your intent is to leave spam on the boards -- be aware that this is not welcome in any form. Your post will be deleted and your membership cancelled as soon as it is spotted. And during the time it is on the site, we can guarantee that you will gain nothing but the animosity of the members. It's not worth it. If you don't intend to participate, you may as well resign your membership right now. (Note: If you're here primarily to read and maybe comment every so often, welcome! We can always use more readers!)

This is a worldwide community 

We have as many different personalities as members. You're bound to run into someone who will rub you the wrong way. Maintain your good humor and a teachable attitude, and you should be all right.

Don't expect "warm fuzzies"

You might get them, but more often, you will get hard criticism here. It will sometimes border on harsh. (See the last point.) Don't take it personally. We don't know you; you don't know us. We can't possibly hate you as a person, no matter how good or bad we think your writing is. To survive here, you may have to develop a thick skin -- but if you're able to see past the personalities and learn from the excellent advice you'll get here, you will improve as a writer.

No guarantees

We don't claim to be able to turn you into a best seller. You may come away from here with nothing. Much of your growth will come from within yourself. We only offer a place where you can get some interactive feedback on your writing.

We respect our members and their work. Therefore, our forums are private. To read and post in our forums, you must be a member. Please join us in our quest for the perfect phrase by clicking on "Sign In or Register" on the left.