BarCamp Milwaukee was this past weekend (October 13 & 14), and I did two presentations: one was on Electronic Publishing, which I've talked about before, and the other was on "Fast-paced Fiction".

The session was a bit misnamed, I suppose, as we talked about a variety of things, but mostly it was geared towards the concept of online writing and creating fiction in somewhat non-traditional ways. In the session, itself, we actually wrote what might be called a short story, but it was a fun collaborative effort, that I think everyone enjoyed taking part in. We also talked about shared-world projects, flash fiction, and collaborative works. There are an innumerable amount of each one of those on the internet these days, and I think they're wonderful ways of expressing yourself as a writer. (At the end of the post, I'll link to some of those sites).

I think one of the things that I felt the group really latched onto was the idea that traditional writing is certainly the best means of making a name for oneself as a writer, but because of the internet, there are more ways - and more inventive ways - to truly present oneself and stand out from other writers who may not have as firm a grasp on the internet as you.

Outside of a good writers group, I think online communication with other writers is a great way to continue to keep yourself in writing mode. If you're not always writing, then it's hard to get yourself motivated to write. Having contact as often as possible with other writers is great motivation, and I think that any one of the three ways mentioned above is a good way of doing that - even if it's just a casual thing.

Having a writing buddy is good, too, but I'll touch on that more next time, as I discuss the upcoming National Novel-Writing Month, which I will eagerly be working on throughout November.

Flash Fiction:
365 Tomorrows
EveryDayFiction
Flashshot

Shared-World Projects:
Fargoth

Collaborative Works:
Viyala Project