www.absolutewrite.com The forums here will give you more incite and knowledge that just about anything else out there. They also have specific password protected forums for sharing your work for critique.

What are the chances that a publisher might refuse to publish my work if they know parts of it were posted to an internet forum?

I don't have any formal training in creative writing. My first novel's due out on November 6th.

I think the most important thing to have access to is a source of feedback that will be both objective and constructive. Someone who will just point out your flaws is no better for you than someone who insists everything you write is pure gold. What you need is discourse, people you can engage with and work with to improve your writing.

Classes and writing groups are a good way to find potential critique partners. One thing to consider is National Novel-Writing Month, which is coming up in November. I know a lot of people who've made some good friends through and even completed novels which stand a chance at publication.

One bit of advice I'll give you is don't compare your work to someone else's too readily. You'll have to develop your own unique style and what one author is great at, you might be weak at. That's okay. Also remember that a published book has gone through as much as a year of editing and re-writes to get it ready for publication. Whether a book is self-published or through a publishing house, what you see when you buy the final version has likely gone through significant changes from the first draft.

It's okay for your first draft to suck. In fact, it's almost better if you think it does, because you'll be more open to making changes. The important thing is to first get the book written.

Good advice.  I'm actually a member of Nanowrimo, but last year's project didn't go anywhere.  I think I have more motivation this year.  We will see.

It's good to know that the first draft isn't required to be pure gold.

Did you just start writing, or did you take formal creative writing classes at a local college, did you have a mentor, or was it something else?

I'm really curious about this.  I'm an aspiring writer, but I find that my work is....not that great.  And I don't really know how to improve, to be honest.  I can be writing something and it might seem decent, then I go and read something by a real pro (like Jim Butcher) and it's kind of depressing to realize how poor my work really is.  I want to improve, I just don't know how to do it.