This week: Writing For Fun Edited by: Jeff  
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"You never know what you can do until you try,
and very few try unless they have to."
-- C.S. Lewis
About The Editor: Greetings! My name is Jeff and I'm one of your regular editors for the Noticing Newbies Official Newsletter! I've been a member of Writing.com since 2003, and have edited more than 350 newsletters across the site during that time. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via email or the handy feedback field at the bottom of this newsletter! 
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WRITING FOR FUN
A lot of us write with some end result in mind. We write novels because we want to be published. We write screenplays because we want them to be produced into movies. We write poems to express how we feel about or interpret something, and essays/nonfiction to explore a topic. And since writing isn't a linear career where just doing X + Y + Z results in success, we can spend a lot of time working toward those goals.
But when was the last time you just wrote something for fun? When you weren't thinking about marketability, or what your audience wants, or whether it's a good use of your time. When was the last time you just wrote something for the joy of writing? For some of us, that might be something you do regularly. For a lot of us, I suspect, it might be something that happens less and less often as we focus on the realities of being an author.
For me personally, I spend a lot of time thinking long-term. I think about entire series of books I want to write, whole seasons of television shows that I imagine in my head, and throughout all of it is the business side of my brain wondering what's going to be marketable, what's going to be a worthwhile investment of time, what's going to require too much effort for too little return, etc. It's even something that sometimes holds me up here on Writing.com as well.
"I like the premise of that contest prompt, but what are the prizes being given out and do they seem worth it to me?"
"I kind of have an idea for a story, but do I really want to write it if it doesn't qualify for some contest or activity?"
"How does this particular activity fit into my overall writing goals for the month?"
Sometimes I forget that when I first started writing, I just wrote whatever tickled my fancy. Sometimes I forget that when I first joined this site, I would enter almost every contest that I possibly could, whether I liked the prompt or the prizes or not. Just for the joy of writing. Just for the challenge of trying a specific thing.
There's a lot of pressure on writers to create output. It's tough to do anything other than focus on your specific efforts when you're trying to make a name for yourself. And once you have made a name for yourself, there's the added pressure of reader expectations and business decisions shaping what you write. I guess the point I'm trying to make with this month's editorial is to make sure (if you aren't already) to set aside some time to just write for fun. To write something you find enjoyable simply because it's enjoyable and not because there's a motive behind it.
It's easy to forget that most of us first got into writing because we enjoy the process itself, the experience of creating something. If you find yourself a little lacking in enthusiasm or energy (and now that we're halfway into NaNoWriMo, there's a good chance that applies to at least a few of you!), it's always helpful to remember why you started writing in the first place. And, if you need a little added encouragement, to take a break from whatever current plans you're pursuing to just write something for fun again, for no other reason than you enjoy telling a story that appeals to you.
Until next time,
Jeff
If you're interested in checking out my work:
"Blogocentric Formulations"
"New & Noteworthy Things"
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This month's official Writing.com writing contest is:
I also encourage you to check out the following items:
EXCERPT: The world revolves without anyone telling it to do so. Yet, at different locations around the world, a different view is seen during the course of the same moment. The same can be true of how another experiences each individual and the world as a whole. For instance, I see myself as a fraud who is struggling to hold it together before being found out. I am on a journey of self discovery and eventually forgiveness for wrongs that may or may not be mine to own. The world around me sees the person I am in a completely different light. I know this from comments I have heard, directly and indirectly.
| | | The Legacy [E] #2261934
An unexpected gift changes a young couples life forever (in progress as of 11/14/21)
by Sherasi  |
EXCERPT: Mr. Spencer was in a hurry because his wife, Lissa, was waiting for him at home. This was their anniversary. John really didn't want to go home empty-handed but he didn't know what he wanted to get either. As he walked along the grey streets in the rain, he saw a colorful sign in old-fashioned gilt and blue. "Antiques" was all it read and he had an unusual urge to step inside. A chiming bell rang out as he entered the small store and he saw immediately that it was overflowing with old, lovely, and shabby antiques. Bric-a-brac crowded counters, display cabinets, and flowed down to the floor.
EXCERPT: I went to bed at 8:30pm. It was a very cold night, the last day of fall. It was raining. I woke up and looked at my clock. It was 2:02am. I heard a loud gunshot. It sounded like it was inside.
EXCERPT: Cold darkness of winter twilight took the city in its icy grip. Depressant ever-grey west-Michigan winter sky issuing a false promise, morphed to high altitude cirrus formations, teasing hope for feeble attempts at brief sunshine, then descended once again into maddening grey, laughing mockingly at all who wished for resurrection of Spring.
EXCERPT: I have been asked i don't know how many time now,(Why are you depressed, you have nothing ti be depressed about!) I cant tell you how many time i have sat down and cried in a bathroom or laundry room cause of it. I cant count the times i have wanted to scream to the top of my lungs cause i just felt like it. The life of being a mom is fabulous, words cant describe how much a mother loves her children. However there are times where we as mother get stuck in loop, an every day cycle that feels like it is never ending. |
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Feedback from "Noticing Newbies Newsletter (October 20, 2021)" about palate cleansers:
I liked the idea of a palette cleanser. I didn’t know it, but that’s what I’m doing at the moment. Writing poetry, something I’ve never done but is satisfying my creative urge without writing thousands of words. -- Sumojo 
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Noticing Newbies: November 17, 2021 Issue [#11082]
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