Are there other websites out there that are just as good?

In my opinion, no. AW is one of a kind.

This is definitely the busiest writing forum I frequent!

I also belong to Forward Motion, which is quieter but does a lot of writing challenges, marathons, and so on. I also belong to SFF Chronicles, which is more for fans but does have a small writing section - and being UK-based, it has a high proportion of UK members and therefore good for networking (for me).

There are certainly other writing sites, but the ones that I've seen are not as good about pointing out what practices among publishers and agents are predatory and what are things that should be expected. They were also mostly populated by a different caliber of writer. So far, for me at least, AW is more challenging and I can see improvements in my writing just by reading others' stuff, even though I don't have the nerve yet to post my own excerpts. Other sites thought my stuff was phenomenal, yet publishers weren't interested. Here, I'm slowly learning why.

I too think that AW is the best and busiest website available for writers.

-papaholmz

You may check out Writer's Digest 101 Best Writing Forums {or something like that} I believe there's a link to it here on AWWC

no.

I visit WritersNet's forum sometimes. Members there appear to also visit AW, and it seems decent though less busy, but I find whatever script they use to run the forum not as user friendly.

There are several, all with different focus. Of the ones I can think of offhand:

AW is probably the most newbie-friendly (both the interface and what you can do here), and gets folks the most direct editing help.

Hatrack only allows short posts for edit/evaluation purposes, but gets into deeper theoretical discussions of writing and its elements than I've seen on AW. The interface is simple but workable; however there's no notification of replies. It tends to be relatively formal and polite as forums go.

Forward Motion probably has a higher concentration of pro-grade SF/F writers, but the interface is a PITA. (I'm used to it from other forums that use the same software, but it's still a nuisance to navigate.)

Writers.net tends to be too snarky for my taste, and the interface is strictly one-post-at-a-time navigation.

Baen's Bar has a submit-and-discuss area. It can be accessed via newsreader, which us old farts think is way cool. Some of Baen's authors have their own subforums there.

At present I generally hit AW and Hatrack every day, and the rest only occasionally.

I've been a member of many writing forums for more than ten years and it really depends on what you are looking for and how experienced the members are.

As with any writing group/forum, you have to understand what is being said in order to gain anything useful. There are no magic group where they critique your work and suddenly you're a published author...

You still have to put in the work to make your writing the best it can be.

http://www.showmeyourlits.com/
http://www.libertyhallwriters.org/

These two groups, last I checked, work the same way. Every week a prompt is given, you submit a flash piece within a time limit, it gets posted anonymously, everyone crits and votes for their favorite. There's a strong work ethic in both, and you can trust that snark and such won't get in your way.

There are probably seven or eight writing forums I am signed up to, though the majority seem to be hang-outs for vanity presses - it gets really annoying having to correct people again and again on the same inane subjects. AW is the busiest writing forum I can think of (in the English language, at least, there may be a larger site in another language).

I miss one in particular that was destroyed by hackers twice last year, and never put back up.

Personally, I think AW moves too fast, and has too much info. I go to one more often, but it is too slow. Just want something in between where writers can chat about writing and enjoy the forums, without the morning's posts being five or six pages back.

I've been coming here off and on for years. I've visited other sites but never more than a few times. AW is home. The regulars here are like a big family. Everyone is different but they all have something to offer. I've gotten a lot here: useful information, encouragement, pats on the back, a shoulder to cry on and more.

AW is the best.

Reziac said:

Hatrack only allows short posts for edit/evaluation purposes, but gets into deeper theoretical discussions of writing and its elements than I've seen on AW. The interface is simple but workable; however there's no notification of replies. It tends to be relatively formal and polite as forums go.

Click to expand...

I went there and registered. Maybe it's just what I hit at random, but it looks like it's all about SF/F.

Al Stevens said:

I went there and registered. Maybe it's just what I hit at random, but it looks like it's all about SF/F.

Click to expand...

It is.

I've found AW to be miles above other sites in terms of user friendliness and opportunities for interaction. Recently checked out Writer's Cafe, which is prettier, but most of the time you can hear crickets chirping. Also, I've been won over by the sort of free for all pandemonium here, which keeps things nicely democratic. Other sites encourage "rating" each others work, with a scramble to get more points, which--in the end--are so subjective or transactional as to be meaningless.