This week: The Newbie Survey Results Edited by: JACE  
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Hi, I'm JACE .
Welcome to this issue of the Noticing Newbies newsletter. Join me as I take you into some nooks and crannies of Writing.Com that you may not have found time to check out yet. This newsletter is about and for you. And for you seasoned members, I hope you'll find something you can take from my ramblings. 
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I received 31 survey responses out of the many thousands of WDC members from my "Newbie Survey" . While it seems a significantly small response, I was struck by the variety of answers received. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised with even a small sampling considering the diversity I've found across WDC during my almost 13 years here.
Housekeeping first.
 Nineteen responses were from males.
Two-thirds of the respondents were equally divided between the 50-59 and Above 60 age range. Three respondents were 19 and Under; one in the 20-29; four in the 30-39; and two in the 40-49 range.
Membership distribution includes thirteen Free, one Basic, ten Upgraded, and seven Premium. A final demographic includes responses from one Senior Moderator (not me), two Moderators, six Preferred Authors, 18 Registered Authors, and four Registered Users.
Finally, 58% of the respondents are Newbies--members with fewer than 12 months on site.
The Newbie Survey consisted of ten questions. The easiest way to handle this is question by question. And interestingly, the responses to these questions were mirrored by both the Newbies and longer term members.
1. How long have you been writing? Most respondents (more than 80%) have been writing for more than 15 years, a lot from childhood. Three folks said that writing was a recent pastime in their life--one began writing during the lockdown last year..
2. Why do you want to be a writer? One of the best responses I read was "writing heals." Many found writing as the best way to express themselves. And some had life experiences they wanted to share with others. Only two said they wanted to make a career of their writing.
3. Have you ever attended a writer's group or a writer's conference? Fewer than a third of respondents said they had attended a writer's conference, and about one-third said they had attended a local writer's group. A few credited these groups with finding Writing.Com.
4. How did you discover Writing.Com (WDC)? By far (more than 75%) respondents credited Google or another search engine for discovering WDC. I found WDC the same way. Other responses included an article in Writer's Digest magazine, Facebook, and a number of friend recommendations. One person stumbled across the site.
5. Have you tried other internet writing sites? If yes, which one(s)? About half of the respondents had tried other writing sites, mostly ones where they could post and save their work. They often didn't meet their long term writing needs.
6. Why did you decide to join WDC? In order of the number of responses, the reasons for joining WDC were positive community support, good place to learn and 'hone my craft', desire for feedback, seeking mentors, friend suggestions, and one just to "put myself and my work out there."
7. What do you hope to get from WDC? Here the answers were evenly split--constructive feedback, safe place to share one's work, improve one's writing skills, gain readers and reviews, and friendship.
8. What is your favorite feature on WDC? I found it interesting that the Newsfeed and the reviewing features on WDC were evenly split among the respondents with five answers each. But half the respondents found community and camaraderie as their favorite thing here. Mentoring and finding someone to help hold them accountable for their writing is very important. Other responses included contests for inspiration and feedback for growth.
9. What is your least favorite feature on WDC? Also interesting was that five folks thought the Newsfeed was their least favorite feature. Other issues included an overwhelming site that was hard to learn and navigate, Community Recognition (leading to a dependent on obtaining CR rather than improving one's writing abilities), contests that disappear without warning or judging that takes too long, and unappealing or garish pages (too much color and formatting). One suggestion that hit close to home was that not all Mods (I guess Sr. Mods by extension) were very helpful when answering questions by members, and that there should be some training for them on the various features of WDC.
10. Finally, how would you rate WDC? Here the views differed. While all of the established members who responded rated WDC highly, about half of the Newbies found WDC hard to navigate thus rating WDC lower. Many complaints were about specific issues, specifically related to what features are offered for the Free membership and what must be paid for.
An editorial note: Regarding training the Mods (and Sr. Mods), I'd ask you to consider the following. While it's true that we were selected by The StoryMaster  and The StoryMistress  for our positions based on past performance and interaction on the site, we are all volunteers. As with any diverse group, each of us has strengths and weaknesses. Some are well versed on specific areas and features on WDC; others are better mentors. Each of us has different strengths. And we comprise a group (of six Senior Moderators and 86 Moderators) that makes up less than one tenth of a percent of the total membership.
The Sr. Mods and Mods, indeed all the established members, will help answer questions about some aspect of the site. If we don't know the answer, we'll refer you to someone who does. For those of you who are new, please don't give up. It DOES take time to learn this site. And the StoryMaster is always updating it's features. You'll find your way. And remember, there are folks here who want to help you succeed in all your writing endeavors.
Finally, that you to all who took time to respond to my survey. I've noted a number of complaints that I believe can be easily solved and will contact those individuals in the coming weeks.
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Check out this forum designed to assist Newbies.
Then drop in on these Newbies. Take a moment to review this offering ... or something else in their Port. Welcome them to WDC through a scribble in their Notebook.
| |  | Gestorben (13+)
A short horror story about a guy working a night shift when everything goes bad, it seems.
#2247915 by Unicorn  |
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2248435 by Not Available. |
| | | silly (E)
melancholic words of unrequited fondness
#2248297 by bee. |
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Thanks for spending time with me today. At the bottom of every newsletter is a section entitled
followed by a text box. If you liked what you read (or if you didn't), please take time and drop me a line. I'd love to hear your ideas.
From the mailbag:
From hbk16: Great to remind all of us not only the newbies this. Indeed, authors want to get many readers.
Thanks.
From the Newsfeed:
From DavidCJones  : More than happy to if I had the faintest idea where to find it. There's a lot of content here (or at least appears to be) and I can't see any survey. A link directly to it would help.
I provided this link in that Newsfeed post. In fact I found some eye-opening responses in the surveys received. I've included the link above hoping more folks will respond in the future.
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Noticing Newbies: April 21, 2021 Issue [#10725]
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