Message Board For Writers

I have the world's worst luck with message boards. I don't know why. I think part of it is that I don't speak message board-ese very well, which invariably leads to misunderstandings. More than that, though, I simply cannot tolerate the clique system that seems to dominate those forums.

It goes beyond just being a newbie. Most established boards have one or more cliques, and if you don't readily inculcate yourself into one of them, you are held in suspicious regard. The very act of refusing to participate in the message board clique system is seen as an act of defiance, and brands you as a potential troublemaker. This is made even worse when the administrator of the board actively participates in such nonsense. You can't possibly hope to be treated fairly under such circumstances.

The problem is that message boards--particularly when they serve a specific purpose--can be very useful tools. A writer's message board, just to pick an example totally and completely out of unpremeditated air, can be an excellent resource for critique, market information, how-to, and even emotional support. Where these forums fail, I think, is when the people running them permit--or, God forbid, actually promote--a system in which some people are "in," while others languish about on the outside. It creates an atmosphere that is detrimental to the purpose of the board (unless, of course, the purpose of the board is to prop up the egos of those people fortunate enough to be "in") and ultimately leads to a lot of unnecessary conflict. The final nail in this particular coffin is when a board administrator allows the forum to wander too far from its intended goal. I'm not a big fan of "general discussion" or "political debate" anyway, and I certainly don't care to see it on a message board that is ostensibly about something else entirely.

So, against my own better judgement, I found a service that let me create my own message board for writers. Click on APOCRYPHA INK over in the links for writers section. I don't know if it will work or not, but I like the idea well enough to spend a little of my time on it. It's not costing me anything, and I am an eternal optimist. If you are a writer, looking to help launch a community such as the one that I have described, check it out. If it works, it will be cool as hell. If it doesn't work, well, it still looks cool as hell.