"I'm not opposed to Absolute Write in general. The amount of collective experience in the AW forums is impressive. Unfortunately, so is the cronyism and narrow-mindedness. Over the past several years, I've watched as anyone who disagrees with the core AW moderator group is silenced and banned. The forum is an echo chamber. Ideas and discussions that don't conform with what the moderator group deems appropriate (this varies, depending on who makes the comments) are squashed.
If you're a new writer looking for a community, consider the following questions:
- Are you okay with abasing yourself to perceived authority if said authority disagrees with you? Is it more important to be liked than to be right?
- Do you prefer to follow traditional and "safe" paths that have been trod for decades?
- Are you opposed to crowdsourcing ideas?
- Do you believe tone can be determined from a handful of forum posts? Do you believe the tone you perceive from those posts reveals everything you need to know about a person?
- Do you revel in Internet drama and secrets?
If you answer yes to all of these questions, Absolute Write is the right forum for you. If not, I recommend looking elsewhere for a writing community; the positive aspects of AW will not outweigh the negative for you."
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