How can I participate in a meaningful way?

Tanja Bisgaard

Tanja Bisgaard

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2016
Messages
123
Location
Copenhagen, Denmark
Hi.. I joined a couple of months ago and posted a few questions - and so many people replied and were very helpful. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Now I am wondering what I can do in return? I look at many of the threads here, hoping to help, but feel since I am such a new author with very little experience (only one published short story in an online magazine) I do no have much to offer!

But maybe I am not looking at it in the right way? Therefore my question...:confused:
 
Jump in wearing size nines - just be polite ;) I think most people here have changed their mind on a variety of writing related things over the years I've been on the forum.
 
There are a lot of ways to contribute.

Until you feel confident about responding to discussion as a writer you can always give your opinions as a reader. When some aspect of storytelling is under discussion, you can give your personal reactions, tell what you like and dislike, what affects you, etc. And the same applies to giving critiques, as Jo says.

And of course the forums here are not all about writing, if you've read something you love lately, you can look for discussions of the book in the General Book Discussion, and if there isn't already a thread you could start one. Maybe no one else has read that book, but they might become interested because of what you have to say about it. Or there might be others who have read it and have been thinking they'd enjoy a conversation about it but just haven't gotten around to initiating one. The same goes for a television show, or a movie. Sharing opinions might lead to new insights, but having fun together is an element of this community, too.
 
I agree with the above.
If you see something you have an opinion about, or a question about someone's answer you'd like expanded on, just pop in and say so.

I'm not published at all, have 0-minimal grammarian skills, and thought "oh no. Everyone here already knows everything." when I got here. And while yeah. Lots of people here know a lot more than I knew I didn't know about things I didn't even know I didn't know about... I've still been able to help out just by asking questions, giving my opinion, and cheering on those around me.

Positivity is always a good gift to give. Start by believing you can contribute, and you'll find ways to.

You are valuable because you are unique. If someone else already said exactly what you were going to say, like to post. If lots of people are saying one thing, and you think another, politely present your view and how you got there. You could save someone's novel! Or at least their day. ;)

Critiques is a good place to go.
The lounge is another good place to hang out. So much random stuff happens there that ends up being meaningful help to people... It's crazy. :)
 
Tanja Bisgaard said:
Now I am wondering what I can do in return?
Click to expand...
Simply by asking this question you have contributed. Every time someone asks or answers a question they are adding to a knowledge base from which we can all learn something new.
One day in the not too distant future someone will ask how they can contribute to the forum and @Tanja Bisgaard will answer. :)
 
My advice would be run. Run and never look back!

Joking aside... all the advice above is spot on. Just remember Chrons is a journey not a destination; you'll learn and you'll educate the longer you stay. I came here in 2011 with no real writing experience and nothing to offer - I don't even write sff - but now I can't imagine going anywhere else to check in for info or to assist. Not even defecting to a horror forum ;).

pH
 
Just be true to yourself. If you feel the urge to contribute do so. I think that having a voice is important. You cannot please everyone, and there is no need to try. Just be you.

The value of who you are as a person is far greater than your expertise or advice in a given area. It is diversity that enriches any community.

Participation is the hardest thing for many types of forums to get because there are always folks who doubt that they have a lot to contribute. But they do.

You may be a new author, but I bet you've been a human being a tad longer. I'm betting you have a wealth of good stuff to share with everyone here.

That is your strength and that of each and every member. Also believe me, "experts" are not perfect. They don't know everything. No one does. Being an "expert" just means you have been at it a while or immersed yourself in something heavily.

You don't need to be anyone else but yourself. And I think that the fact that you would post a thread thanking others and asking how you can help or contribute to this community or be more involved speaks volumes as the the quality of yourself as a person.

Kudos to you. Keep being you and others will respect you for it. You have my respect and I am sure that the community very much values what you have to contribute.

Cheers!
 
If you aren't sure where to start, pop on down to the Playrooms and join in on some of the fun we have down there. Make your first blog post, even if it's just about not knowing what to blog about! Everything you do here contributes to making Chrons a better, more useful resource for the community as a whole.

But seriously, come join the Limerick thread. You'll howl with laughter at some of the things us wackos come up with down there!
 
If you wanna get stuck into the big writerly questions, just remember that a reader's feedback can be as valuable as an author's to some of these. I often try to approach them from both angles.

And speaking of questions - asking questions is still contributing! Sometimes we'll think of something new thinking of an answer, sometimes we'll read something new in someone else's answer.

This place would not survive without a constant stream of questions.
 
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