This question is not aimed at members of this forum, who, judging by the available evidence, are talented writers. I belong to another general forum with a writing board, and most of the 'discussions' are rants because writing sites have turned down their articles.

Okay, it happens to us all, but in these cases, it's justified, as the OPs can't string a sentence together, and in some cases, can't even write in understandable English. What makes these people think they can write, when they obviously can't? Do they see writing as an easy way to make money, or am I missing something here?

Well everyone can string letters and sentences together....but they probably don't realise what they've written doesn't make sense to others.

I've commonly had that issue with people writing from their mind and expecting people to just get it, without actually making sure it makes sense first. I write from my mind but I try too double check it makes sense first...some people don't.

You can quote me on this (and you better or I'll have you for copyright infringement ha ha), "Reading and comprehension may be tested together, but they're two completely different things" - Jade Elizabeth

Oh and I've had people tell me I was a good writer forever but didn't realise I was okay at it until I'd also won 1st (school), 1st (district) and 2nd (country) for an essay writing competition. It never went forward because I moved country and didn't get to sign off on it before then .

Also I made my teacher teary when I read this poem in class (written for a poetry assignment):
http://www.creativeburrow.org/poetry/ballad-of-the-duck

So I guess I had a couple of indications to make me think I could be a writer if I wanted to be, which were independent of myself, family, and friends . Maybe the people you talk to don't have objective people in their lives, or they aren't as technically inclined (enough to know their structure or grammar is wrong, for example)?

Have you asked to see their articles yet? LOL

I've seen similar rants elsewhere, and it's also one of my peeves I think. People who think they can write, but really can't. I particularly find annoying people who make a big show about being a creative or whatever writer but really can't put a solid idea to paper.

One of my related bigger peeves (I really should count how many such pets I have these days... I think they are breeding. Ugh. Must be age.) is people who get into professional freelance writing in the oh-so-many sites and services all over the Web, but are really not very good. (I'm being nice here) Once I was employed to proofread a so-called writer's work; It gave me headaches just reading it, and in some cases ended up rewriting entire sections.

* * *

And in the other sense... like Jade, I didn't realize I could write until someone actually said what I did was pretty good, which was sometime in High School for me. Several English teachers encouraged my work, and I even (accidentally? This is a good story to tell some time) got into a poetry writing group. Some time later I got into a creative writing/role play forum, and got a good number of "fans" among the other writers there... that helps the ego.

I never did get into "professional creative writing" though, but I do freelance writing now, with the hopes to actually finish some stories some time.

@ Jade: Good grief, no, I never read any articles - it was bad enough deciphering the forum post. That told me all I needed to know! I agree with you that other people help you to believe in yourself as a writer - and well done for that essay competition. That certainly endorses your work.

As for people having objective criticism available, what they tend to get in these rants is people of similar ability - or rather inability - who come in and denounce the sites as 'scam sites' because they won't pay for garbage.

I belong to Helium, and they are very supportive of writers wanting to improve - which is all of us, really. Anyway, in this same rant, somebody came in and said Helium's raters were racist, because all the Asian writers were rated down. This despite the fact that the peer rating system is anonymous! I went in and said the only thing Helium was prejudiced against was bad writing. That went down like the proverbial concrete parachute!

@ Xian: I'm with you on writers who think they can. I did an editing job for a site owner who'd bought up an article directory and wanted them polished up for publication. Some of them needed complete rewrites before they were even halfway towards making sense.

I always get a kick out of articles that have evidently been spun, and not only spun but spun and also translated through several languages, as if their copy of WP-Robot had gone berserk.

Writing is in some ways similar to martial arts in that there are a lot of fakes and phonies out there, pretending to be Masters. The good part of that is that a simple demonstration of skill is all it usually takes to separate the men from the boys.

And no, I'm not talking about priests ...

I think it's because it's seen as an 'easy money maker' online now. Any time I see the question asked about how to make money online, the response is always to "write articles." And yes, you can make money doing that, but it doesn't mean every random Joe on the street should take it up.

Xian (11:33am Tue, Sep  4, 2012)

And in the other sense... like Jade, I didn't realize I could write until someone actually said what I did was pretty good, which was sometime in High School for me. Several English teachers encouraged my work, and I even (accidentally? This is a good story to tell some time) got into a poetry writing group. Some time later I got into a creative writing/role play forum, and got a good number of "fans" among the other writers there... that helps the ego.

I never did get into "professional creative writing" though, but I do freelance writing now, with the hopes to actually finish some stories some time.

Same here! I think there's never been a time better to be writing in than this time...it's excruciatingly simple to get fans and famous with the internet as it is, and with eBooks and eReaders being the thing....it's the perfect time to get started if you're good.

But yeah I started to get an idea I liked writing in 6th grade, it suddenly occurred to me writing was a thing....and by 10th I'd won the competition and was overly passionate on the subject. But I still don't think I'm good good....just good at certain aspects, and I have potential if I want to use it ha ha.

Sandra Piddock (01:00pm Tue, Sep  4, 2012)

@ Jade: Good grief, no, I never read any articles - it was bad enough deciphering the forum post. That told me all I needed to know!

LOL I had no idea it was like that! I bet if you point it out they argue they only talk like that in forums ha ha.

QuirkyJessi (08:10pm Tue, Sep  4, 2012)

I think it's because it's seen as an 'easy money maker' online now. Any time I see the question asked about how to make money online, the response is always to "write articles." And yes, you can make money doing that, but it doesn't mean every random Joe on the street should take it up.

Those people are the people who are taking money out of the profession by being so willing to get little money for a lot of work.

SifuPhil (05:14pm Tue, Sep  4, 2012)

I always get a kick out of articles that have evidently been spun, and not only spun but spun and also translated through several languages, as if their copy of WP-Robot had gone berserk.

Can you post a new topic with some examples of spun articles? I don't think I've ever seen any and it's very interesting!

Bunny (07:35am Wed, Sep  5, 2012)

Can you post a new topic with some examples of spun articles? I don't think I've ever seen any and it's very interesting!

Spinning has always been with us, since the beginning of the written word - it's really just stealing the work of another author, substituting words at certain strategic spots and then presenting it as your own work.

Thankfully, the 'Net now makes it much easier to find these rip-offs, and such giants as Google have implemented Panda and other systems that penalize for the use of spinning.

When I get a chance I'll try to post "before-and-after" examples. 

Bunny (07:35am Wed, Sep  5, 2012)

QuirkyJessi (08:10pm Tue, Sep  4, 2012)

I think it's because it's seen as an 'easy money maker' online now. Any time I see the question asked about how to make money online, the response is always to "write articles." And yes, you can make money doing that, but it doesn't mean every random Joe on the street should take it up.

Those people are the people who are taking money out of the profession by being so willing to get little money for a lot of work.

They certainly are. It really frustrates me when I try to bid on some of those writing bidding sites and I can see that the people who are bringing the prices down so low are from Indian companies. That's going to come off as stereotyping maybe and there are PLENTY of other people who are working for super low prices. In general, though, I can't compete when there's a group of people in India who will spin articles like there's no tomorrow on any and all topics and can do it for pennies on the hour.

Here's a quickie example of article spinning - just imagine it being done to an entire article instead of just one sentence.

Quote

New evidence shows that vitamin D might be beneficial to ward off bat bites, according to preliminary results of a study in Ethiopia.

Quote

New evidence shows that vitamin D might be helpful to ward off bat bites, according to preliminary results of a study in Ethiopia.

Quote

New evidence shows that vitamin D might be useful to ward off bat bites, according to preliminary results of a study in Ethiopia.

Quote

New evidence shows how vitamin D might be beneficial to ward off bat bites, according to preliminary results of a study in Ethiopia.

Quote

New evidence shows how vitamin D might be helpful to ward off bat bites, according to preliminary results of a study in Ethiopia.

Quote

New evidence shows how vitamin D might be useful to ward off bat bites, according to preliminary results of a study in Ethiopia.

At its simplest it is just substituting words with synonyms and rearranging their order.

I wrote. And I liked what I wrote. And I liked writing. But I never thought I could be a writer. Ever.

It wasn't until many years later nearing the end of my undergrad where I took a creative writing class to fill some credits. And the teacher said something really simple: if you want to be a writer, you just need to tell people you're a writer. Somehow, giving myself permission to tell people I was a writer made me feel like a writer.

And I kept writing...

I just received some compliments at school for an essay I wrote. I always loved writing about subjects that interested me. When I chat with friends online, I also tend to write a lot (while I'm not speaking a lot, I'm rather a silent type). When I'm writing down my thoughts, I try to review it a few times, to see if it all makes sense.

About stealing words and articles, nowadays as soon as you post something online, it can be published already somewhere else without any credit. I hate it.

Maybe we should find a way to combat that.

FlanneryCam (05:25pm Wed, Sep  5, 2012)

if you want to be a writer, you just need to tell people you're a writer.

To take this quote slightly out of context, this is perhaps the issue. It's been said many times that some people think writing is an easy gig and any monkey with half a GCSE can do it. People say similar things about lots of professions, acting for example. They don't realise and/or understand that it's a skill and a craft. I doubt they would take up a job as an artist without the necessary talent and skills, as they see being able to create a likeness of something on canvas as a skilful occupation. But writing seems to be seen as an easy option. Perhaps, to an extent, it is an easy option when the quality of work they deem acceptable is the norm for lots of these articles. Maybe it's just a lot of people desperately trying to make some money.

I have dabbled with the idea of signing up to some of these sorts of sites, but it seems to make it worth my while I'd need to be able to write an article in ten minutes or so. Maybe the time spent says it all, anything worth reading surely needs more time spent on it.

The folk who rant about 'scam' companies probably just need someone to be honest with them! Perhaps nobody has actually told them that they can't write for toffee and would be better off pursuing a different source of income. Of course if someone is just writing for pleasure then that's a completely different animal. Anyone is entitled to write just for the pure joy of it, but to expect money for total piffle is delusional. Though it is understandable if the writer doesn't know it's piffle! Maybe it's a bit rude or mean to tell someone they aren't good enough, but in another way perhaps you're doing them a favour. If they take the advice, it frees them up to focus on something at which they can excel, therefore make better money because they are at a higher standard than they would be as a 'writer'. Maybe try the 'compliment sandwich'!

Ok so the issue is that everyone can write, but not all can write well....so they think they have the skill already