I agree, MAB. If necessary, at some point, I'll publish a few rules and guidelines. There is also a section here called Off Topic and, if people start to really get into it, I will urge them to continue their conversation over there.

That's a great idea. It's sort a pet peeve of mine and something I see reflected in people's songwriting. You read it especially in lyrics. People will write and write and write lyrics and you cannot find a POINT in what they are writing about. Then they want to ask for critiques or help on their lyrics and you don't know where to start because none of it makes sense. In my opinion and experience this is what was a problem with other sites. People put things up there and no one comments. The reason is because you DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. It's like trying to put a crossword puzzle together with a blindfold on. 

On songwriter forums, there is a tendency for threads to drift off the original subject and then people respond to the responses, and before you know it you don't even remember what the original point was. I've always tried to answer posts as they come in but often have to go back to the beginning of the thread to even remember what we were talking about to start with.
This really gets weird when people come in in the middle. They try to play catch  up, but the issue has gotten so confused you don't even know where it begins.

I have similar complaints on things like FACEBOOK. You come in on the middle of people's conversations and sometimes it can be very delicate. Someone might have died, or going through great challenges in life, and you can't even find out what happened in the first place. 

So that would be my only thought for this new site. It seems to be very good, very easy to navigate, and I'm looking forward to the discussions going on. Thank you for putting it together.

Hello MAB and Gav,

Excellent point and I agree with both of you.  We will not be helping anyone by carrying the original point of a post in to never never land.  Thank you both for bringing this up early on.  Best wishes,

Speak soon,

Thank you Deacon. It's been on my mind for a while and like I say, it's part of my experience. The lifeblood of writers are artists, and artists tend to be young. They also think they KNOW everything. It's very hard to get them off their own pedestals to ever listen to anything, and us old folks get frustrated because we wonder "what is next" for our music. It doesn't mean that we stop writing or trying, but it does help when you have other people to help you get where you can't go yourself. My process has always been to find your own artists, groom them yourself, and work with them to get your own music out there. And while we all have our own hopes and dreams, a lot of time getting someone else's energy, perspective, etc. helps with your own songwriting.

In my point of view, I try to get the younger people interested in visiting web sites, being able to read (I know that is an impossible word for some of them) and by extension, provide some avenues for the writers who might not themselves be artists. 
So that is the method to my madness and the reason I do most everything I do, to provide a conduit.

And there is nothing like building up a web site, talking about it, linking it to other people  and saying "this is where you want to go and learn some things." Then they go to it only to find a huge long diatribe on some issue they have NO INTEREST in all because it has drifted far away from where it actually started, and just off in the stratosphere somewhere. And of course, then I would get these private messages, "What in the CRAP is all that about?" Gets very tiring when your whole motive is just to bring people together. 

We have one example here with Jenny Stokes and John Evans, who met on 101 and now work together. That's the point of what I try to do. And what I hope this site can facilitate more of. If we can keep the subjects going and focused, I think the goal of gathering friends will work out well.

I like the method to your madness, it makes a lot of sense when you think about it.  Most writers, me included, go headlong into writing with the belief we will be discovered by an artist or publisher or a label, yeh fat chance.   As you have always said, the relationships are the road to a foot in the door, not hoping and wishing.   I have found that working with a few local artists, (not yet up and coming), has actually helped me understand what drives them and what they believe they want.  I am beginning to understand that I need to write to meet their needs as best I can.  Thanks for starting this thread MAB, best wishes,

Speak soon,

Deacon,

That is really great that you have been working with other artists. Great job. I'd like to talk to you about that. And so we can stay on the subject, I'll practice what I preach and start another thread that you can talk on .I'd like to know the high points and low points. What has opened your eyes, what roadblocks and challenges have you come across. We'll see if we can get a dialogue going and some of the others might chime in. 
Not everyone is interested in co-writing or finding artists, and I understand that. But I do believe that working with other people help you to see things you couldn't on your own and gives you a different perspective when you are not only working for yourself.

So I'll open this in another section and we can kick this site off in good form.