Getting advise from an expert is always a positive. Orson Scott Card is well known in sci-fi communities and his website, Hatrack River, has a place for writers to come, look for advise, and give some of their own. The forum also has a place where you can sign up for a writers workshop hosted by Kathleen Dalton Woodbury, a published author of both sci-fi and fantasy works.
If you want to check out the forum, you will find a lot of places to ask questions including a place to ask for beta readers and critiques. The board I found especially interesting was the one for character interviews. You can post a thread about your character and ask others to interview them. As other people come up with questions to ask them, you answer as your character and hopefully learn some new things about them.
Writers in the forum also have a place to post about their writing accomplishments, so that if they publish something, everyone can celebrate with them. What kind of stuff do you look for in a writing forum?