The sites listed below have free and paid memberships:
- WDC (Writing.com)
- Writer's Cafe
- Scribophile
- Flickspin
- The Next Big Writer (requires paid membership)
- Writer's Network
- Author Nation
- Protagonize
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Online writing communities
Sunday, July 8, 2012
Summer in Alabama
Yellow grass crunches underneath my flip flops. The old folks are all talking about rain. They're saying what I'm thinking now as I listen to the crunching under my feet. It's too dry outside. The heat is almost unbearable, even to a veteran like myself. Thirty-one years seems like plenty of time to adjust to summer weather in Alabama. I'm beginning to believe that a lifetime isn't long enough.
I can't contemplate how my ancestors survived in the heat and summer draught before the days of air conditioning. Most of my ancestors were farmers. Draught means minor inconvenience to me, but it would've meant a loss in income and possible starvation to those that came before me.
Two zucchini and one cucumber plant make up my micro garden. I can sense how the plants suffer in this heat, and even though I water them twice a day, their leaves are still shriveled and less productive than normal. I can't imagine large scale farming in this heat wave. It's too depressing.
Yet somehow my great-great-great grandparents, great-great grandparents, great grandparents, and grandparents survived and prospered through the draughts, despair, and doubts that came with farming the dry dirt in Alabama. My life and living aren't dependent on the rain, but the living of modern farmers may be. I pray for rain for their sakes, as much as I pray for it to ease my physical discomfort. Rain brings relief and life to the dry landscape. I sit waiting--expectantly--as I watch the sky.
I can't contemplate how my ancestors survived in the heat and summer draught before the days of air conditioning. Most of my ancestors were farmers. Draught means minor inconvenience to me, but it would've meant a loss in income and possible starvation to those that came before me.
Two zucchini and one cucumber plant make up my micro garden. I can sense how the plants suffer in this heat, and even though I water them twice a day, their leaves are still shriveled and less productive than normal. I can't imagine large scale farming in this heat wave. It's too depressing.
Yet somehow my great-great-great grandparents, great-great grandparents, great grandparents, and grandparents survived and prospered through the draughts, despair, and doubts that came with farming the dry dirt in Alabama. My life and living aren't dependent on the rain, but the living of modern farmers may be. I pray for rain for their sakes, as much as I pray for it to ease my physical discomfort. Rain brings relief and life to the dry landscape. I sit waiting--expectantly--as I watch the sky.
A Paragraph a Day
Think you don't have time to write? Here's a writing challenge that everyone has time for.
Write a paragraph each day. It doesn't matter whether it's fiction or creative nonfiction. Construct the best paragraph you can using 3 or more sentences. An average paragraph ranges from 50-250 words. Keep a notebook for your paragraphs or open a word document for your daily paragraphs. Paragraphs can later be expanded into longer pieces.
Writing at least one paragraph per day keeps the creativity flowing, and is manageable for any schedule.
Write a paragraph each day. It doesn't matter whether it's fiction or creative nonfiction. Construct the best paragraph you can using 3 or more sentences. An average paragraph ranges from 50-250 words. Keep a notebook for your paragraphs or open a word document for your daily paragraphs. Paragraphs can later be expanded into longer pieces.
Writing at least one paragraph per day keeps the creativity flowing, and is manageable for any schedule.
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