I've also been a part of a membership online writing community (mowc, the kind you pay for monthly) for almost a year and a half.
But I'm still skeptical. How come I don't hear about any bestselling authors who use fowcs or mowcs? Are they just a big time sink? Will they actually help improve my writing?
I don't know the answers, but I have a few thoughts.
1. Online writing communities will ALWAYS sound like a great, wonderful idea.
2. Fowcs tend to be more about the passion of writing, which I like, and less about showmanship, competitions, and elitism.
3. Mowcs are great at keeping freeloaders and inactive people from cluttering things up.
4. Whether a fowc or a mowc, I think any online writing community (owc) ought to encourage as much writing as possible, instead of begging for reviews.
5. What's with this whole "We have our own currency here" thing? It's never made sense to me why an artificial currency has to be involved. I don't want people leaving a review of my writing just because they get 30 golden review bucks to do so. I want them to read it and leave a review because they like the story, or like me as an author. Otherwise I get the one-liner review: "I thought it was good and compelling." I'm not looking for blurbs. I'm looking for perspective.
6. One thing OWCs are always good for is a self-confidence boost. As long as you can ignore any negative comments that come through, there are usually a lot of smiling ones to look at.
Does anyone have an opinion about OWCs, FOWCs, or MOWCs? Has anyone found an online community that has helped them get a book written or published?
