  Contests & Activities
This week: Everyone Needs Support Edited by: Leger~  
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The purpose of this newsletter is to highlight some of the current contests and activities on the site, help educate members on how to host contests and activities, and provide clues to submit quality entries to contests. Write to me if you'd like something in particular covered.
This week's Contests and Activities Editor
Leger~
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Everyone Needs Support
Nah, I'm not talking about undergarments. While that might be fun, it's for another type of newsletter.  This is for contests and activities! Whether you're hosting a contest or entering one, use your network of friends on the site for support. You would be surprised how many people are willing to help if you just ask. Asking is the hardest part, just let them know what you have in mind and when you need a reply. (And be sure to offer help in return, that's part of what a "network" is.)
If you're entering a contest, ask your friends to look over your entry. Are you missing the word count or misspelled something? Spell check won't find those their/there/they're errors. Have you posted your entry properly? Did your b-item link work? Sometimes that extra set of eyes on the page can be so helpful. If the entry is prompt related, ask your helper and see if the prompt is readily noticeable in the writing. If you were supposed to bold the prompt, did you?
If you're hosting a contest, ask a friend to look it over, pretending they might enter. Do they find the rules easy to follow? Are the prizes listed clearly? Does it tell the entrant how to post their entry? This will help prevent entry questions when you post your contest on the "Writing Contests @ Writing.Com" page. Then who knows, your friend might decide to enter, or help judge your contest.
Don't be afraid to form a network of Writing.com friends to help you and for you to help them. It's always nice to know there is someone out there to help support your writing and activities on the site. So reach out and help someone!
This month's question: How does your network help you on WDC? Send in your answer below! 
Editors love feedback! Let me know you're alive out there and reading my newsletter!
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Excerpt: The task is simple: get inspired by the photograph above and write a short story using this inspiration!
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Excerpt: In celebration of Writing.Com's 13th Birthday, this contest runs for 13 days, with 13 prompts and 13 prizes. You can enter any or each day and qualify for first place up to 13 times.
Excerpt: Round starts on the 20th of August.
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Excerpt: Every two weeks, we will post a prompt. There will be one prompt for both genres. Use the prompt to write either an erotic story OR a horror story. If you're feeling really brave, use both genres! As long as the No-no lists are adhered to, we're happy! Also, anyone entering a horrotica piece will automatically get reviews from both of us. (And might even qualify for an extra prize!)
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Excerpt: This contest is to encourage participants to entertain me through descriptive writing. A prompt is posted which will, hopefully, inspire you to to portray what YOU see.
Excerpt: Every fifteen days, I will provide a prompt. Your job is to let your imagination run rampant and create a story/poem with children and young adults in mind.
Excerpt: We have established this group to promote the writing efforts of all members of the blogging community at Writing.Com.
Soak your friends!
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Excerpt: The goal of this forum is pretty straightforward. Here, any member in the community can partake in welcoming newcomers to the site in any way they feel.
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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!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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This month's question: How does your network help you on WDC?
Last month's question: What is your biggest challenge when hosting a contest?
Our new Sr. Mod Jeff  replied: My biggest challenge when running a contest is remain consistently invested. Especially when turnout is low, I sometimes find the routine of running a contest tedious and I have to avoid the temptation to change things. That's not to say that a contest can never change if it needs a face-lift... but contests do need to have consistency to them, and for me it's a constant struggle against, "Oh, wouldn't it be fun if we tried this instead?" 
Angels in my Ear  spoke about her contest "Shadows and Light Poetry Contest" : My biggest challenge has been exactly what you wrote about. I have a rule prohibiting editing after posting an entry. This is not a common rule and is often not noticed or followed. I must disqualify good pieces for changing folders or adding an emoticon. But I cannot keep track of who changed what and must be consistent. Reading the rules is the biggest challenge by far.
blue jellybaby  responded: I host a contest and often find the biggest challenge is getting people to participate. I post it on boards, advertise in my notebook and make sure I update regularly and respond to posts, but still I find that I'm getting less entries than I ever have. I plan to try and spice things up by allowing fiction as well as non-fiction in the hopes it will inspire some more entries
Annette  answered: Well, my biggest challenge when hosting a contest is that people don't read the rules. I guess we could have a newsletter by this title at least once a month. I wrote one with the exact same title a few months back, yet the questions I get for my contests are mostly answered on the forum page. I agree with keeping it simple on the host's side. However, writers with hopes to publish should really understand that contest submissions here are like a testing ground for the real world. If you don't follow rules for submitting to a publisher, you won't even get a rejection letter. While we're here to learn, we can't disrespect one another and ourselves by pretending contest rules don't apply to us.
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Contests & Activities: August 14, 2013 Issue [#5838]
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