by Simon Wright

Created on: February 08, 2011

Since mankind invented words, people have enjoyed joining them together to communicate and as a representation of artistic endeavor. In previous eras, the opportunity to see your own words in print was greatly restricted compared to the online opportunities that our generation enjoys. Getting articles published in magazines or newspapers or getting novels, short stories, or poems distributed was largely the preserve of a small writing elite and breaking into that talent pool was often exceedingly difficult.

The advent and rapid adoption of the Internet has made it possible for anyone to get his or her writing in front of an external audience, which has been an incredibly liberating experience for countless amateur writers. In many cases, this has meant self publicizing content through blogs or personal websites. Creative writing outlets also exist where writers can submit their poems, short stories, or novel excerpts and thereby get their work in front of an audience and possibly also gather feedback on their material.

In most of these instances the writers do not get paid for their content, or may only earn very small revenue streams. Why then are so many writers prepared to put their precious words out into the public domain without monetary reward? The answer is that the reasons and motivations differ by writer but let’s look at some of the most common ones.

Honing one’s ability as a writer:

It used to be quite common for budding authors to write a novel or short stories, etc, and then shove them in a drawer where they would never see the light of day. Maybe the writer had sent them to a publisher but received a rejection letter or maybe they were just too uncertain about the quality of their work to submit it for possible publication. The obvious problem with this approach is that you will never get better as a writer unless you let your work see the light of day and invite constructive feedback.

Being able to immediately publish your written material onto the Internet provides an excellent opportunity to gauge how well it is received by your intended audience. Whilst there’s the danger that it may dispel your belief that you are the next Shakespeare, the benefits outweigh the negatives and the process should help you to gradually become a better writer.

Building awareness of your writing brand:

Every time that you distribute your work, it adds or detracts from the impression that other people form of you as a writer. Obviously, it’s

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