Website Review:
Writing World
By Dawn Copeman
© 2006,
Dawn Copeman
Writing World (http//:www.writing-world.com)
There are multitudes of
writing sites that cater to the needs of writers. In fact, the choices can
be overwhelming and writers can soon find themselves with links to more
sites than they could ever possibly visit. I know I found this to be true
when I first started writing in November 2004. But one site I visited then
is one I still make my first point of call for writing information and that
is
www.writing-world.com.
Writing World is edited and
published by Moira Allen, a freelance writer with over 25 years experience
who is also a contributing editor for The Writer magazine. Moira is
the author of over 300 articles and columns, as well as having four books on
writing. Writing World bills itself as "A world of writing tips for
writers around the world," and it certainly delivers on that.
It has approximately 600
articles on writing, covering general writing topics from the basics on
starting your writing career to how to syndicate your work as well as
genre-specific advice articles covering such topics as writing for children,
poetry, screenwriting, and technical writing.
As a beginner I found the 78
articles in the "Getting Started" section were essential. I read and
re-read them all and I really learned from this site: I sold my first
article within a month of starting to visit it!
Now that I have some
experience in writing -- I've sold forty articles and columns to date -- I
find that when I need to know something about writing, this is where I
look. Want to know how to take a professional photo? The answer is here.
Want to break into the health market? Writing World can show you how.
Thinking about self-publishing? This site has all you need to know. What's
more, Moira is now adding new articles to the site on a weekly basis. She
really does ensure that Writing World readers are as fully armed with
relevant information as they can be.
In addition to the vast array
of writing advice contained in the site, which alone makes it worth a visit,
Writing World can provide you with outlets for your writing. It has a
comprehensive contests database where you can search by entry fee, category
or deadline. Moira even provides tips on how to search the database. It
also has a Writer's Wanted page that lists calls for submissions for both
paying and non-paying markets. The Writers Wanted section is small at the
moment -- Writing World had to take down its previous jobs board as it had
become inundated with spammers -- but these are all up-to-date and genuine
jobs. It's worth checking it out on a regular basis.
If you need to take a class,
Writing World offers them too. Currently the site offers online classes in
Freelancing for Newspapers and the Fundamentals of Fiction. The most
popular class at Writing World, "How to Write for Magazines," was taught by
Moira and has recently been turned into a book.
Whilst Writing World does
carry advertising, it is done in a discreet way and does not in any way
detract from the content. It is an easy-to-navigate site with lots of
drop-down menus and the site carries links for relevant products or sources
of further information at the bottom of each page.
One area of advertising that
is of interest to all newly published authors is the Author's Bookshelf.
Here your book will be advertised in the relevant category and each newly
listed book is automatically mentioned in the Writing World Newsletter,
which currently goes out to over 16,000 subscribers.
This newsletter packs more
into a single issue than many of its competitors. Each month you can read
about the latest news from the world of writing, find out about no-fee
contests that are coming up, find out about new or useful sites for writers
and read useful articles relevant to all writers; regardless of their
abilities. Again, whilst the newsletter carries advertising, this does not
detract from the content and all the products advertised are useful to
writers.
In short, if you really want
to progress in the world of writing, you need to go to Writing World.
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