Hi I'm Shy_Mom!

That's a great introduction, and Iowa is a brilliant place for a writer to be from. Welcome to AW. We're all shy here - except CassandraW. And Haggis, of course. And PuttPutt and Cornflake. And - oh hey, never mind....

Hey! I know a whole song about a shy person!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouL9ZMzEZ4k

Pfft. Don't listen to mccardey. I'm totally bashful. However, I shall push my natural reserve aside in order to welcome you to AW.

Welcome, shy_mom! (And thanks for welcoming me. )

I completely understand about feeling shy. I remember once in fifth grade rehearsing what I would say during roll call over and over in my head. Everyone else said "Here!" and I decided that I would say "Present!" to be different, but I was afraid that I would forget (or sound like an idiot), so I rehearsed what to say until my teacher finally called my name and I squeaked out "present", but in not in the tone of voice I'd intended at all. I was silent the rest of the day. (Most days, actually.) I lived in fear that the teacher would call my name. Not because I didn't know the answer (I definitely did since I was/am a bit of a know it all), but because I was afraid it would come out wrong and I would sound stupid.

Strangely enough, I made myself join the congressional debate team in high school. Maybe I thought with a grade on the line, I would actually be motivated to improve my ability to speak in front of strangers--or maybe I was just crazy. (Probably crazy.) It did work, though. I was never great, but I did improve and managed to teach myself that it wasn't that big of deal if I sounded like an idiot (which I definitely did--some of those speeches were truly cringe worthy).

My job now involves regularly communicating with strangers and I believe I do it rather well, but I admit that I still feel awkward when things go beyond my job and people want to engage in small talk (which I'm terrible at). A large part of me will always be painfully shy and awkward.

Well, we're just going to have to be extra welcoming, aren't we? Have a seat, have some tea, and welcome to the Cooler!

shy_mom said:

That's quite a voice for a supposedly shy person! Would that I could be so outgoing!

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My wife introduced me to that song. I've always gotten a kick out of it.

Carol Burnett rules. We have a best-of on DVD that we're slowly working through.

Shyness is part of the business for most of us! You're in good (shy) company.

if you get to 50 too fast, they don't have time to decorate the cake.

shy_mom said:

Do people really do this? Make a mad dash for 50, post a thread and then leave? To my way of thinking the 50 posts is a brilliant way to get wallflowers off the wall!!

It's not so many that a scaredy like me will think it's unattainable but its enough that hopefully I'll feel part of things enough to ask for help by then.

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Fifty posts seems huge here, because I seem to struggle with what to say.

I am the newb of newbs in many ways, I didn't decide to get serious about writing something until a few weeks ago (literally), then I cranked out a 50K word draft in ten days. Go figure. I checked my file date stamps though, I created the initial outline in 2006 so it took me a little while to take the next step.

But I'm not exactly brimming with writing wisdom to share with others at this point.

The funny thing is on a sailing message board out there somewhere I have something like 30,000 posts? That took a decade+ to hit, but I wasn't exactly...shy. Loudmouthed and outspoken is more like it. Put me in a topic I know something about I will talk.

Here feels different though. Perhaps because I don't know the community, or the customs. Or much about writing, except what my gut as an avid reader tells me.

Anyway, welcome. We ought to try and be not-shy together, as I have some work I want others to look at some day.

Sounds like you do too.

I'm shy and don't know what to say yet either! Your post inspired me to give it a try.

I'm also a member of the "rehearses conversations that will probably never happen" squad. That's the nice thing about forums - you can (over)edit what you want to say. Nice to meet you!