About Writing.Com

..:: An Overview ::..

Writing.Com is the premiere online community for readers and writers of all ages and interests. Whether you are a casual reader searching for a good story or an enthusiastic writer looking for the perfect place to store and display your masterpieces, Writing.Com is the website for you!

Free memberships are available to anyone who wishes to join. Each registered membership includes an online portfolio, numerous creative user tools, email services and the chance to meet and bond with fresh creative minds!

To further enhance your community experience, Writing.Com also offers Upgraded Memberships at a very reasonable cost. Upgraded Members have the ability to upload images, create survey forms, organize groups and much more while supporting the site! (Read further: Memberships @ Writing.Com )

Members may also purchase Writing.Com Gift Points, which allow them to interact even more within the site. Gift Points are "tokens" used within the site to purchase products or show another your appreciation. (Read further: Gift Points Info )

..:: For the Authors ::..

We encourage our members to showcase their talent by providing the necessary tools and support. Each member is supplied with a free online portfolio in which to store literary items. Adding items to portfolios is made simple through the use of online creation utilities. Authors are also provided with an easy-to-remember public portfolio URL, which can be handed out to publishers, friends and family!

Each Writing.Com Author contributes a great deal in his or her own way, whether by adding ideas into another's interactive story or enlightening our visitors with their own creative tales. We strive to recognize and promote those individuals with outstanding portfolios and positive interaction; these members are Preferred Authors and Writing.Com Moderators. If you have a question or need a helping hand, these members are a great place to start!

Writers of all skill levels are able to get a feel for their own style and how readers truly react to it. With the Writing.Com rating system, authors no longer have to rely on friends and family alone for encouragement and criticism. After reading an item, registered members have the ability to rate and review any rateable item; thereby, giving the author a completely unbiased opinion. If a writer would like to simply showcase an item without receiving feedback, that is also an option.

The constant exposure to opinion and constructive criticism can increase the quality of an Author’s writing on a daily basis. Authors will also find that reading and reviewing other members' items may further their own writing with new ideas, writing styles and topics. The flow of creative ideas within the community is both beneficial and inspiring!

Writing.Com also provides many advertising and exposure opportunities for Authors within the site itself using genres, item listings and the Sponsored Item section. (Read further: The Writing.Com BidClick System )


..:: For the Readers ::..

Where there are great Authors, there are great items to read! The enjoyment to be had by the Writing.Com reader is limitless on this site. The scope and breadth of the creativity posted here is truly phenomenal.

Writing.Com has thousands of wonderful short stories, poems, novels, articles and essays ranging from fiction to non-fiction, romantic to horror. Readers will also enjoy taking part in madlibs, word searches and interactive stories! Our readers offer great encouragement to the Authors by providing honest and constructive feedback when rating and reviewing their rateable items. And be sure to delve further into any Author's portfolio to find any of his or her unrateable items on showcase.

And besides the obvious enjoyment that reading provides, there is the added benefit of expanding one's own literary skills. As time goes on, readers may feel so inspired by the creative environment and community support that they actually create their own items and become Writing.Com Authors!


..:: For the Educators ::..

Writing.Com is a great resource for education professionals. Our Group item makes it easy and efficient to gather students in an online classroom! Teachers may set up Groups for each of the classes he or she teaches. Set up one group for Period One: English and another for Period Six: Writing 101. Teachers then enter the students into a Group using the Writing.Com username of each.

A few of the benefits for teachers and students are:

... bulletins to announce new assignments to the Group. If a student misses class, he or she has easy access 24/7 to classroom assignments and updates.

... message forums to discuss topics within the Group. This is a centralized area where Group members may respond to a topic or bring up their own.

... group email to send updates or new assignments quickly. Leaders have the ability to get emails out quickly and efficiently with one click of the mouse.

... consistency within student work. If each group member (student) posts his or her work on Writing.Com within his or her portfolio, checking and reviewing the work is made easy! Students (group members) use WritingML to post assignments and teachers use the review text box at the bottom to give feedback.


..:: For the Parents ::..

Writing.Com is beneficial to children and teens, as well as adults. Reading and writing can enhance your child’s life and future! We recommend that parents share this online experience with their children. It will strengthen the bond between them and allow the parent to monitor and marvel at the child’s progress!

There are many educational benefits for children associated with this creative community. Reading and writing skills can be improved, along with the knowledge of the English language. Children can also share their public portfolio URL with their teachers and have them review their work online! With each review received, children also learn to accept constructive criticism and use it to improve their items.

When sharing their love of reading and writing with other creative individuals, children grow confident in their literary skills. Members encourage and support each other on a daily basis at Writing.Com. We promote enthusiasm and creativity within the community and our members are wonderful examples of that!


..:: Regarding Minors ::..

While Writing.Com provides a thorough content rating system, ratings can never be completely guaranteed to be accurate due to the nature of member-submitted content. When surfing this and any other website, proper supervision of minors is strongly recommended.


..:: Getting Started ::..

We highly recommend that every member read through our "Help" section, which is located at the top of every page. This area will answer most questions members may have regarding Writing.Com.

Another advised area is our "Getting Started" section, which is located in our main navigation button bar on every page. (Read further: Getting Started: Table of Contents )


..:: About the Business ::..

Writing.Com is owned and operated by 21x20 Media, Inc. Founded in September 2000, this wonderful, creative community has grown to be the largest and leading online writing web site today! Each day hundreds of new members join in the fun and thousands of our current members welcome them with open arms.

Writing.Com Staff is readily available and monitoring the website almost 24/7. We interact with our members as much as possible and answer questions in a very timely manner.

All Writing.Com software is proprietary and written in-house. This allows us to provide customized features and cutting-edge activities such as interactive stories, survey forms, groups, madlibs, and user polls. The future holds nothing but creativity, inspiration and support.

We take pride in our efforts to encourage readers and writers to exercise their minds online. Writing.Com fuels creativity and ideas by providing an active and imaginative environment.

Explore your creativity... become a Writing.Com member today!