Fourteen poems for Valentine

My main focus recently has been job hunting as I was made redundant on 13 February 2017.  I didn't want to lose touch with my writing so I set myself a challenge for Valentine day. 

The Challenge

Starting from 14 February 2017, for fourteen days, I would post a love poem.  It involved reading some of my old work and editing to publish one each day.  I posted the poems to Wattpad. 

I discovered poems I had forgotten about.  Some of these, I am really proud of and others just needed a little editing (and some were so cringe worthy that we shall not speak of). 

Next year, I plan to set myself the challenge again and I plan on creating more poetry books in future.

Click here if you'd like to read the 2017 Valentine edition.

Organising Writing

The unexpected reward was how amazing it felt to organise my work.  I've written so much, in various stages of edits, it is hard to keep track of it all. Sorting them into a novel and posting online not only enables me to get the feedback I need but also is an easy way of organising my work.

I have written so much that my MS Office OneDrive has exceeded the space limit!  I remember my IT Department thinking I was nuts when I said I need to buy a 128gb USB to free up space on my computer by moving my writing. 

If anyone has any tips on how to organise writing (with multiple versions), please let me know. 

Great Sites for Writers

Have you set yourself any writing goals for 2017?

My goals include posting my writing online on a regular basis.  I'm hoping that posting regular will gain me the attention of some loyal readers who will give me the feedback I need to improve my novel further. 

As a result, I'm considering my options.  Here are the sites I shall be reviewing.  They are listed in the order I have ranked them:

1. Wattpad:  https://www.wattpad.com/home
2. Figment:  http://figment.com/
3. Movella:  http://www.movellas.com/
4. WeBook:  http://www.webook.com/
5. Swoon Reads:  https://swoonreads.com/
6. Opuss:  http://opuss.com/home/
7. Sribophile:  http://www.scribophile.com

None or these sites require you to pay a fee to use.  However, some have a fee for certain features (i.e. WeBook and Scribophile).

Swoon Reads isn't actually a social site for writers but when I come to write my review you will understand why it is listed. 

One day, I'd love to create my own writing site. I'd take all my favourite bits from these sites add them together with some of my own ideas and make a site everyone can enjoy.  I'm so pleased these sites are out there but I can see so many opportunities to take the concept further.  If only I had the know how... 

As for the full review of the above listed sites... I plan to post one each day.  Let me know your favourite writing sites - Do you enjoy the above or have I missed any.  I'm also happy to discover new ones.

Writing Experiment

When I started Drift in December 2010 I found WeBook to be incredibly active.  It was my first experience of an online writing community.  The feedback I received on the project was extremely useful and motivating.  Once my manuscript was complete, I worked on editing to get it suitable to send out to agents/publishers.  After polishing it up, I hoped to get feedback again on what required further improving.  Each time I returned, there was less and less activity.

Is it because I no longer have the same volume of free time to dedicate to the community so my contacts have waned.

OR

Is it because readers have moved on to other websites that are more in tune with their evolving needs such as those with mobile applications.  

I decided to conduct an experiment starting from the first Bank Holiday in May to the last. 

I have picked four websites to post my writing to.  These sites are:

WeBook

Figment

Wattpad

Movella

Each day I aim to contribute at least 500 words to the project.

Each site has the same novel image, the same blurb and the same chapters. The chapters are uploaded almost simultaneously.  

The goal is to identify which website is most active and achieves the best outcome (i.e feedback). 

At the end of the experiment I will share my findings and review the four sites.  

In addition, I finally will have started a novel I've been wanting to write for years but never been sure how to begin.