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  Noticing Newbies  1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions  Welcome to the Noticing Newbies Newsletter! Our goal is to showcase some of our newest Writing.Com Authors and their items. From poetry and stories to creative polls and interactives, we'll bring you a wide variety of items to enjoy. We will also feature "how to" advice and items that will help to jump start the creation process on Writing.com We hope all members of the site will take the time to read, rate, review and welcome our new authors. By introducing ourselves, reviewing items and reaching out, we will not only make them feel at home within our community, we just might make new friends! Your host this week bianca_b     Passionate about writing? Take your passion to new heights - with an online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, available only from top ranked National University. Choose workshops based on your interests. Work with experienced and published faculty. Prepare for a variety of career opportunities. Use a state-of-the art online system: Study where and when you want. Click here to get more information!  I am going to start this issue with a question from candytwist: I have been connected to this site for a short while, and although I have passed the Newbie tie frame, I am still getting used to the site and all that is offered. But I do have a question, maybe a idea for a newletter topic? What do all these abreviations stand for? Roak, NaNoMa,and slamming. what is all this and there are others sprinked around. Thanks for your time-Candy RAOK. Random Acts of Kindness. This is a group of people, who have a goal to help people within the Writing.com community. They hand out upgrades to people who need it. This month, many people are donating and/or writing for RAOK; in order to help them, help others. The link to the group:
NaNoWriMo. That stands for National Novel Writing Month. In the United States that goes for the November month. I saw that quite a few members of Writing.com tried to write at least 50.000 words for their novel, in just 30 days time. To be honest: I tried and I failed... while Writers Block catched me. Ah well... better luck next year I guess. Slamming and anti-slamming... The slam is "common" among poets. I read that the first slams were organized in restaurants, where poets had to write the best of the best in a minimum of time. Even in Rotterdam (NL) they started to organize a poetry slam, so this has traveled over the world. The slam within Writing.com: Dale Arthur   and Cappucine  organized the last slam, this summer. I expect one coming again in February. The "rules" are just a little different compared to a "restaurant slam". What stays is that you have to write your best work, but there is a reasonable time given. This is because participants in different time zones also should have a chance to enter. In every way, it is a challenge to participate in a slam, and in my humble opinion a learning experience.The Anti-slam... In a way, it works exactly like the slam on Writing.com. But... instead of writing your best work you have to submit your worse. The rating for poems submitted in the Anti-slam are different too. If a poem is so bad that it makes you cry, you'll reward it with one star. (If you don't the participants will be mad at you! (LOL)  ) Different forms of poetry are used, to get the worst out of the poets. Driving force behind the Anti-slam is Pita . I hope that helped a bit Sinterklaas has left our country and we are making ourselves up for the most busiest time of the year. Christmas is coming, and right behind that New Year's Day. Most people are stressed, they have to wrap up gifts for Christmas, while Santa has to drop the gifts under the tree. But I hear you all say: who is Sinterklaas? Saint Nicholas, or Santa Claus as you know him by, was a Catholic bishop, who lived in Myra (now Turkey). He was known as someone who always tried to help others. Sometimes he gave away the little he had, to help. What we know for sure is that he died on December 6th. The tradition of celebrating Saint Nicholas is known in The Netherlands for many centuries. Saint Nicholas was the patron saint of Amsterdam, and he was also the saint of the traders. Dutch emigrants took Saint Nicholas with them to the United States. Saint Nicholas became the patron saint of New Amsterdam, now known as New York. I am not sure how the celebration of Sinterklaas was hooked up onto Christmas. What I do know, is that the American soldiers brought Santa Claus with them in World War II. Dressed in a jolly costume Santa Claus tried to get foot on European soil again. The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas is gaining popularity here among older people; people with young children prefer celebrating Sinterklaas... Personally I also follow the tradition of Sinterklaas; while the gift giving part takes away the essence of celebrating Christmas. I taught my children this: "Christmas Day is a happy day We celebrate the birth of Jesus!" Still, I like the idea of giving... like the action The StoryMistress  and lifewriter started for RAOK... Why? It is not important how much you give, it is more important that you share that much, or that little what you have, to help others. If you read the Bible, you can find stories, where Jesus gave... bread and fish to 5000; to name an example... So my humble suggestion for this period is to enter a contest and share the giftpoints you win, with one of the charities here on the site. With these donations they can help others to write on!  My selection for this week:
Submit an item for consideration in this newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form  Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form Don't forget to support our sponsor! %%NL_AD_BOT%%  Have a question or comment for the Editor? http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form  To stop receiving this newsletter, go into your account and remove the check from the box beside the specific topic. Be sure to click "Complete Edit" or it will not save your changes. |
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