I have been waiting a very long time to be able to say these words. For the past couple of months I have had a bottle of champagne sitting around, waiting, for me to finish the site enough to launch it to the public as a beta. I am glad, honored and relieved that the day is finally here that I can crack open that bottle and drink it (actually, finishing up the last bit of it now). My close group of friends have been pounding away at the site already reporting bugs that I promise I will get on top of as soon as I can.
Type Aloud has been a dream of mine for at least four years now. I envisioned a writing and reading community where people will not only be able to share their stories (and poems) but also get collaborative feedback for both editing, and hopefully, print publishing. Some of the most intriguing writing I have read came from people that were not published professionally. I look forward to being able to read (and write!) much more than I have in the past with this service. My primary goal is not to be profitable: Type Aloud is a service that I want to use myself. I am a lucky man if I am able to break even.
If you have a couple of minutes, or even better some writings that you want published, please take the time and head on over to the open beta page and sign up for a free account. Remember that all work posted to Type Aloud you retain ownership to. In the coming days I will have a proper copyright agreement up on there which will basically amount to you giving us the permission to publish it on the website.
There is much, much, more to be done, but I feel as if the first hurdle has already been past.
In a lame attempt to actually promote my my lifelong dream of a project I have decided to write a few blog posts on how to become a better writer. I am not going to claim that I am an authority on writing, but somes kills that I have acquired over a very long career in amateur writing. As I go along I may incorporate my thoughts on some other blog posts as I completely believe in taking advice from people who are more informed on a particular subject matter than I am.
A Google search regarding reading and writing will bring up millions of search results that explain exactly what I am about to summarize – the more that you read the better of a writer you will become. The two cannot be separated from each other. A blog post on writetodone.com gives some suggestions on how to use reading to improve your writing skills. The first is quite obvious – develop a habit of reading and make sure to stick to it. If you are like me, a public transportation commuter, pick up the daily newspaper and read through all the articles that you can on your trip. If you happen to stroll by the cheap novels go find one that interests you and make a habit of reading a few chapters each day while on your subway grind.
The more that you read the more you will want to read, but make sure to choose something that interests you. One particular suggestion that is made in the aforementioned blog post is that you should read great writers. While I absolutely agree with this statement I do not believe it is a prerequisite to building a reading habit to foster a writing desire. Because I have been a reader most of my life there is rarely a book that I won’t at least attempt to read, but I have found that most of the “classics” bore me. I am not a person that is drawn to reading romance, drama or anything in between. I often find myself picking up young adult novels because of the interesting story aspect. When you are first embarking on this journey read what you believe will keep you interested. If you happen to stroll across some great novels at the book store, give them a whirl, you can often find them for about five dollars at Barnes and Nobles.
After spending a couple of months becoming a frequency reader you’ll quickly notice that your comprehension, vocabulary and reading speed have all dramatically improved. The fact of the matter is the more words that you take in the more you are likely to recall when you are writing. Please remember that Words Are Power. If you have a few minutes watch this short YouTube video with Morgan Freeman. When you are reading keep your mind open because inspiration for writing may come from the words in front of you as well as the life you’re walking to everyday.
If you want to help me out with my writing movement, whenever you write a blog post, story or newspaper article be sure to reference the #iamwriter, #iampoet and #iamreader hash tags on Twitter. The more writers, readers and poets we can inspire the better off the world will be.