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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 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! This week's editor is Beyond the Cloud9   . 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!  ~*~  ~*~~*~~*~~*~Happy New Year! I hope each of you had fun ushering in 2004. Whenever a new year comes around, I often recall the highlights of the last, and then decide what I’d like to see happen in the new year. Here are some Writing.Com Highlights of 2003 and some suggestions for 2004. ~~*~~Contests~~*~~ The Contest that got me started writing and that has cured a good case of writer’s block on many occasion is The Writer's Cramp, hosted by The Milkman . This contest is open to anyone, whether you are brand new to Writing.Com or have been here since the beginning. The nice thing about this contest is that it is daily. Every day a new writing prompt is posted, and 24 hours later, the winner is announced, with an award of 1,000 Gift Points. They even have special poetry weeks! This month is very special for The Writer's Cramp because on January 23 the contest will celebrate it's second year here! That whole week the contest will feature guest judges! Maybe you better pop on in and congratulate on the 2nd birthday, and enter the contest yourself!
A recommendation to try for 2004 is a contest especially for Newbies. PoeticSyble  has this to say about it: Would you mind posting this newbie contest for me? I am trying to give Newbies a new place to post their work. Not to mention get used to entering contests, help with Writing ML formats and so forth. We have lots of Gift Points and AwardIcons available for the winners. Without further ado, here’s introducing...
~~*~~Forums~~*~~ 2003 brought a couple of favorite forums my way. First, a forum dedicated to all you Newbies out there (don’t you feel special?), is the Noticing Newbies Forum. This is the place to plug your stuff! Don’t be shy...you know you want to! You can also post questions and comments and they will be responded to.
Another forum I found especially helpful this year was the Technical Support Forum. I cannot count the times I’ve visited here with questions on how to do something. I always got a prompt and complete answer! And it’s not just for Newbies!
A 2004 suggestion on a forum is Bids for Sigs. If aren’t too savvy creating computer graphics and are just dying for a cool signature for yourself, your contest, or your favorite forum, here’s a great place to go. A variety of sigs are displayed and you can place bids with Gift Points for your favorite! All proceeds go to the ROAK group, who as their title suggest, goes about performing Random Acts of Kindness!
If you just can’t beat that high bid on your favorite sig, you can go to this forum and request a sig made for you at an affordable price!
~~*~~In & Outs~~*~~ If you have not discovered the joy of participating in the In & Outs, I encourage you to try it out, and perhaps create one of your own. A few of my 2003 favorites to goof off in are listed below. These creations allow you to pop in and out as you please. These are great when you are only online for a short while, or even a long while!
I’d like to see some Newbies out there create some In & Outs! It’s a great way to gain exposure for your port! If you are a Newbie, go ahead and create, then send it to us at the newsletter! Or plug it in the Noticing Newbies forum! Some In & Outs to try for 2004 are:
~~*~~Events~~*~~ The first significant event on Writing.Com (that I recall) was the 2003 Writing.Com Convention. This was set in beautiful Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. I was able to attend and finally got a chance to put faces with pen names. It was an exciting time, and there was obviously a lot of work that went in to put it together. It was more than I expected with the planned events and generous gifts. In fact, I decided to try it again this year! I will be attending the 2004 Convention, and I think that you should too! During the Convention, our founders, The StoryMaster  and The StoryMistress  got engaged! This was set up on the “Open Mic Night” as a magic trick performed by The StoryMaster . It was quite a surprise to all, and you can read all about it from The StoryMistress point of view here: "I Never Saw It Coming"  The 2004 Convention will be held in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and promises to be better than the last! If you are interested in finding out more information, check out this item:
After the Convention, Writing.Com was all abuzz with the news of The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress engagement, as well as Birthday Celebrations for the website! Many contest were held in honor of the site gaining another year of age, and many Gift Points were dispersed abroad. Many of the pen names reflected the celebrations, along with colorful graphics decorating emails.October came soon after, and The StoryMaster decorated the site up in spooky garb! I was almost afraid to log on! Horror stories were featured on the main page and many contest reflected dark themes. The IM Scroll was haunted. If you spent any time hanging out on scroll, no doubt you received a haunting or two (or three or too many to count). These ghosties loved to IM, and they could not be soothed! Other ghosties haunted the scroll board, hosting unusual games. The first person to solve the puzzles would win Gift Points, along with a polite “thank you” from the ghost.Another strange event was thedoctor and billwilcox running for office – for President and Vice President (respectively) of the United States! It all started as a mindless suggestion that Doc should run for President. From there it was all over. Doc appointed advisors and other staff, and even had an assassin after him on scroll! Many antics played out on the rolling scroll board. It is a mystery if Doc was truly serious about his candidacy. He raised his right hand and swore he was, but since he’s left Writing.Com right now to pursue his music career, we may never know. Check out thedoctor’s port to find out the scoop! December came and brought more games to the IM Scroll Board. These games you could (and still can) host yourself by pressing the [G] key. The board was full of these games right before Christmas. I heard there was a New Year’s Eve Party here on Writing.Com, but unfortunately, I could not attend. I’m sure it was a blast, as everything usually is. Those are my personal Writing.Com 2003 Highlights! I am looking forward to another fun-filled year here of wacky events, new items to review and new people to “meet.” Stay tuned for next month’s newsletter! I will be interviewing a very special...someone! Beyond the Cloud9   ~*~ ~*~~*~~*~~*~Along with the Newbie Highlights, I have included some comments! These were submitted by using the response form at the bottom of the newsletter. We thank you and welcome your suggestions, comments and questions! ivyhill wrote: “I greatly enjoy this newsletter each time I see it in my mailbox. I love to notice the newbies. I've submitted a longer work of mine. It's about the choices we make in our lives, based upon actual events.” Thank you ivyhill! Be sure to check this Newbie author’s book! They are off to a great start and it is updated often!
windac wrote: “This is the only item in emma's port and her first attempt at story writing. I found this piece to be amazingly well written and full of fantastic imagery. My hope is that her story can appear in an upcoming issue of the newsletter!” Wish granted! Be sure to check out this talented Newbie!
kat2 suggested this next Newbie’s item and had this to say: “An interesting play of thoughts.” I agree completely! This poem is unique and is not to be missed! I guarantee you’ll like it!
Some more Newbie authors you are sure to enjoy... This is eerie, sad, but absolutely beautiful!
This is the only item in this Newbie’s port, but it’s a great start on what is sure to be an interesting story. Let’s encourage this Newbie to continue writing!
I really enjoyed this poem. A piece we can all identify with.
This Newbie author’s port already has quite a collection! I have not read anything yet I did not love! Be sure to raid his port!
If only we could actually step inside our daydreams or stories!
An insightful poem full of feeling. A look at getting older.
Thanks for reading! See ya next time! Beyond the Cloud9 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%%  ~*~ ~*~~*~~*~~*~Do you have a question or comment for the editor? You may fill out the feedback link below or email me or any of my fellow newsletter editors. We'd love to hear from you! esprit bianca_b amawitch Thanks for reading the Writing.com Noticing Newbies Newsletter. See ya next time! ~Beyond the Cloud9 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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