Pen and Palette; Writer's and Artist's Forum
An Interview With Director Dulcinea Norton-Smith
Sep 8, 2009
Launching a writing career is a hard task, but Dulcinea Norton-Smith's new free writers forum aptly named Pen and Palette, is a site where writers and artists can find jobs, give each other support, and find the tools necessary to make it big in the creative world. Suite101 spoke with Norton-Smith about Pen and Palette.
Why did you start Pen and Palette?
'As a writer I have grown used to 99% of my interaction with fellow writers being a virtual one. With so many different places to get in touch it can sometimes get a bit time consuming checking every outlet for answers. I decided that a forum would be a great place to centralise things. With a forum writers and illustrators can share good news, ask for advice, network (dirty word but essential when promoting your published work) and chat. It is also a great place to showcase your work.
I also realised that, other than the SCBWI (for which you have to be a paid member), there are not a lot of places where artists and writers can come together in the same forum but there should be as we often have a symbiotic relationship. Anyway that idea went and I started to think of two words that would reflect that the forum was not just for writers but for illustrators and artists too and finally I decided on Pen & Palette - the original tools of our trades.
The website is for anyone and everyone who classes themself as an artist or writer. Some forums can be quite snobby towards unpublished authors and artists or are bent towards a specific genre. Pen & Palette is about sharing information and ideas. Even an unpublished 16 year old (or 60 year old) amateur scribbler has something to share and contribute.
Why is Pen and Palette different than any other online writing group?
Firstly it is open to all. No membership fees, no refusal of membership (unless of course you are a spammer!) and everyone welcome no matter how influential and famous or how much of a beginner you are. Secondly it brings artists and writers together which has the benefit of getting new perspectives on your work from the other side of the fence so to speak.
Finally the ethos of the forum is one of positive and friendly support. There are a lot of places online where writers seem to thrive off bringing each other down and I am sure that it is the same in some places of the art community. As if you can assert your own superiority by criticising others. On Pen & Palette members are encourage to be supportive in their relationships of each other.
Tell us how your forum can launch writers.
The Internet has catapulted us into a world of global online marketing and a lot of people almost "don't exist" if they don't have an Internet presence, at least in a business sense. Many of us will now Google someone before we hire them for a job to see if they are legit. One way the forum can help new writers is by giving them a place to post their bio and samples of their work.
It is also a great place to meet professional writers and learn from their triumphs (and mistakes). Until you start chatting to other people the only person you have for opinions is yourself and you already think your work is great (or rubbish!). Finding out how things read to others can be a real stepping stone in improving your skills.
There is also a section on anthologies, competitions and places accepting submissions. This is a great spot to find people to submit your short stories to and for many writers this is the first step to publications. Stephen King, for example, was printed in countless anthologies and magazines in the years before his first novel was published.
For anyone who wants to link to their own site from the forum there is a Self Promotion board which is open to all members to post on. We don't yet have a section of links to websites recommended by Pen & Palette but that is something that we may be setting up in the near future. As for linking from your site to the Pen & Palette forum…link away!
On Pen & Palette there is a Jobs, Gigs & Opportunities Category which is separated into 3 boards ranging from non paying, kudos only work to full time high paying jobs. We will be regularly scouring the next and posting jobs here but we hope that members will start to do it too. Unlike many other jobs boards (such as the essential Freelance Writing Gigs run by Deb Ng) it is not specific to online or print work, fiction or non-fiction. It is a category for both the jobbing writer and the writer who wants just to be published.
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