The Hatrack River Writers Workshop forum has been a great place to spend time, for which I am grateful to you all.
The people who have come and gone from this forum have helped to make it fun and interesting (in my opinion, at least) and, I hope, helpful.
The people who are still here, active and merely lurking, have made this "farewell" a sad thing for me.
But there really isn't much of anything going on here any more. If COVID-19 and the extra time it may have given us to interact online hasn't improved participation, then I don't think anything will.
So the Hatrack River Writers Workshop forum is going to be closed to participation at the end of June 2020.
Until then, please feel free to capture anything that you want to refer to in the future. I don't know how long it will be available in read-only format after June.
And please feel free to offer each other your good wishes and any last-minute feedback and encouragement.
If anyone out there wants to stay in touch with me, please send me an email at my Hatrack email address between now and the end of June, and I will give you a more permanent email address for me.
I wish you all the best with your writing and with your lives. Thank you for being an important part of my life.
Write on!
Kathleen Dalton Woodbury kdw@hatrack.com
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Yeah, Meredith. I have really appreciated your continued support and participation, even though it may have seemed that no one noticed.
I really hope your writing goes well and you experience the wonderful successes you deserve.
Posted by BenM (Member # 8329) on :
It seems like many years since work and life dragged me away kicking and screaming, but I still miss the community we had here. So many good memories to cherish, and so many great people.
Thanks, Kathleen. It wouldn't have been what it was without you.
Posted by Reziac (Member # 9345) on :
Wow. Now I'm sad. I may not have much to say anymore but ... this place is an institution, and there's nowhere else quite like it. You will be missed. Perhaps someday we'll meet in Real Life.
===
So since it's one last time, for once I'll toot my own horn: I do freelance editing, with a focus on preserving the writer's voice. Genre agnostic, reasonable rates. Email in my profile.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Thanks, BenM. I feel that I was only a small part of it. The other Hatrackers were the ones who made it work.
I agree, Reziac, it will all be missed, especially by me, but it really hasn't been doing much for a while. It would be nice to be able to meet in real life. And congrats on the freelance editing. I think you're good at that.
Posted by Robert Nowall (Member # 2764) on :
Ah, well. It's been a good ride, but it has been kind of empty lately.
Maybe we'll all run into each other somewhere else online, but, however it goes, hail and farewell.
Posted by EmmaSohan (Member # 10917) on :
Ouch. This was a good resource for me and I enjoyed the people here. So I'm sad about this.
Thank you for hosting, Kathleen.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
It's been an even longer ride with you, Robert, because of the SF and Fantasy Workshop. Thanks for hanging in there with me all these years.
I'm sad, too, Emma. I've enjoyed the people here, and I've learned from your questions and explorations. Thanks for being part of it all.
Posted by EmmaSohan (Member # 10917) on :
Are people going to another forum?
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
EmmaSohan: There are a lot of writers' groups on Facebook. Some more helpful than others.
It's . . . not really the same thing, though.
Posted by Grumpy old guy (Member # 9922) on :
To every thing there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.
Ecclesiastes 3
I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has participated in this community. You have all been a great help to me in developing my understanding of the craft and how to apply those lessons learned in a practical way.
I will be moving to Critters. This is a great critique source, particularly for short stories. On the occasions I have submitted such I have had anywhere between 20 and 30 in depth critiques. A great help. Novels are more problematic however. All it requires is for you to actively participate by submitting one or two critiques a month, maybe even more if you are of a mind to do so.
The interactions within the critter’s community is mainly e-mail based which lacks the immediacy of a bulletin or message board. The etiquette required is also something you need to pay particular attention to. They aren’t quite as easy going as kdw. Annoying not to say exactly what you think but it isn’t too onerous.
Last, but not least, I would like to give kdw a special thank you. I doubt anyone would freely give their time to moderating and organising such a community as this. It must have been like herding cats at times and trying to control a playground full of 3yo children on a sugar rush at others. Thanks Kathleen.
Phil.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Thanks, Phil.
It really wasn't as bad as herding cats or playgrounds full of 3-year-olds (I'll take the cats, by the way - I've experienced the 3-year-olds and don't want to do that ever again).
More like trying to deal with the occasional 3-year-old maybe.
I really do like to work with writers, though, and I'll miss this. I wish I could have figured out a way to keep it as active as it once was.
Best wishes to you on Critters.
Posted by InarticulateBabbler (Member # 4849) on :
First, thank you, Kathleen. You did a hell of a job providing a peaceful learning environment and creating a place to meet like-minded writers. You've selflessly volunteered so much of your time and energy to this place, and so many writers have gained from it. I know I have.
I've learned so much from this place and the people who gathered here: from those that were phasing out as I was phasing in, from those who joined around the same time I did, and from those who came after, when it was our turn to phase out for the next group. I met my best friend here. At least one SFWA accredited publication came out of a group of hatrackers. How many WotF winners (1st, 2nd, or 3rd place) have come from this forum?
I learned to critique here, that critiquing teaches me about recognizing the flaws in my own work, the value in a critique group, and recognizing when something is confusing, boring, or unbelievable is perhaps the most important principle behind why stories fail.
The industry has gone through many changes, and this was a good place to find out about those changes and discuss them.
This post cannot possibly cover everything I've gotten out of my experience at hatrack, or the gratitude I feel toward OSC and you for it. I know I've lurked more than anything lately, and that hasn't been all that much, but I'm sad by the loss of it. We're all the richer for having had it available at all.
Posted by Jay Greenstein (Member # 10615) on :
This site has always been unique. I'm going to miss it.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Thanks, Rich. It means a lot that I have been able to help writers in this way.
I will miss it, too, Jay.
You all, and so many others, have helped to make this place what it was. If it could have kept going in the same way, things would be different.
Oh, well. What great memories we have had, and, I hope, what wonderful lessons we've learned.
Thank you all for your part in it.
Posted by Reziac (Member # 9345) on :
Will the forum be left online but disabled, or taken down? seems to me there's a lot of good material here; hopefully at the very least someone will archive it.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
They have said something about archiving it, but I'm not sure how that will work.
I asked if it could be read-only from the end of June until at least the end of 2020. Not sure what will happen after that.
Posted by Reziac (Member # 9345) on :
Maybe just zip up the contents and make 'em available for members to download.
We do have an upscale class of discussions and a level of technical detail here that I've seen on no other writers board. It sometimes produces unique insights.
If we must lose Hatrack... I'd like to invite the lot of you over to Holly Lisle's forum, where you'd all be valuable additions (and where, strangely, I'm staff, so you know what you're getting into... https://hollyswritingclasses.com/ Posted by Mecopitch (Member # 10173) on :
Kathleen, thank you for taking care of this for so long!
The support I found here taught me more about writing fiction than any formal education. Jay, Robert, Phil, Emma, Ex, Warren, many more than I'm certainly forgetting, Kathleen, who bears mentioning twice.
With the strength and support I found here, I self-published a short story via KDP. I did this instead of submitting to magazines in these uncertain times, and to develop a platform for my larger works, which some of you are familiar with.
You all can find me at justjeffpitcher @ gmail if any of you would like to stay in contact, swap stories, snippets, intros, ideas, etc. I've had a good time here.
Thank you all! See you around the internet!
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
I'm glad we could be of help to you, Mecopitch. Thanks for letting us know, and best wishes in your writing endeavors.
Posted by Grumpy old guy (Member # 9922) on :
If anyone would like to have my opinion on anything, and you've probably guessed by now I'm full of opinions, you can contact me via this e-mail account:
sparkles.odonnell@gmail.com
Obviously it's only a forwarding point but it does eventually get to my private e-mail. If you enter your Hatrack handle in the subject line I'll know not to delete it out of hand.
Phil.
Posted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury (Member # 59) on :
Well, today is the last day.
The forum will change to Read-Only sometime tomorrow (depending on time zones).
I've enjoyed getting to know you all, and I wish you the best with your writing.
Posted by Meredith (Member # 8368) on :
Sad. This forum taught me a great deal of what I know about writing. I'd never have published one book, let alone eleven, without what I learned here. I wish everyone success. And hope we all find a place half as congenial and useful to continue learning our craft.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)