  Contests & Activities
This week: Take a Break! Edited by: spidey  
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Welcome to the Contests & Activities Newsletter. I'm spidey , and I'm your Editor this week!
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Take a Break!
This past weekend, I went off the grid and went camping with my family in upstate New York. Well, I say off the grid, but really it's just that there's no Wi-Fi at the campground. I still had my cell phone, but I didn't take my laptop. I was tempted, even without the ability to connect to the internet. (It's easy to forget there's lots of things you can do with a computer even with no internet connection!)
Ultimately, I decided to leave it at home and take a break from it. I think that's a good thing every once in a while. It's good to get away and concentrate on other hobbies and fun things. Of course, I don't see anything wrong with still staying in touch while you're away! A cell phone is a handy thing!
Regardless, it's a good idea to plan ahead for when you'll be away from your online life. Let your friends know you'll be away so they don't worry, and take care of any obligations before you leave. Some ideas:
 Email. Send out an email to friends or groups that you run, letting them know of your absence. Many email programs let you set your email to automatically reply to incoming messages. (Be careful about sending mass emails, though. Only use it when necessary. For instance, I wouldn't send an email to a WDC group of which I'm a member, but if I'm hosting an active group, I might send an email if my absence will impact the group's activity.)
Invite guest judges/hosts. You have two choices when going away (if you won't have an internet connection). You can put your contest/activity on hold for a bit, or you can have someone else judge/host it while you're away. Just be sure everything is clear to the guest judge/host before you leave.
Play to your comfort level. Some people love leaving all electronics behind when they take a vacation. Others may find themselves bored silly! There's no reason to make yourself miserable for the sake of disconnecting. While I think it's a good idea to not check work email on vacation, if it's going to cause you anxiety not to do it, it's not worth it, right? The whole idea of a vacation is to be comfortable, so if electronics are part of your comfort, I say do what makes you happy! (Of course, it's probably a good idea to also pay attention to the friends & family you're on vacation with!)
Have a plan. Plan ahead so that everything is taken care of before you leave and so that you know where to pick up when you get back. It's not necessarily required, but it will help you get back in the swing of things when you get back!
 A warning: It's not always a great idea to announce on social media that you'll be away from your home for an extended period of time. It's tough because you want to share the joy of an upcoming vacation, but you might not want to let everyone know your house will be unoccupied for a time. Use caution. 
Above all, enjoy yourself! Life's too short not to find some joy in it! 
I personally found myself inspired while out on Oneida Lake, watching the waves and the sailboats, catching some fish and soaking up the sun.  By the way, if you have any good tips on dealing with mosquito bites, send them my way! 
Always, keep on writing!
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My last newsletter, ("Contests & Activities Newsletter (June 11, 2014)" ), discussed following the rules!
Well, if a person didn't follow the rules for my contest, I'd review the item, but put them in a Disqualified section, and not have them be eligible for the MB or Awardicon.
~ BIG BAD WOLF Feeling Thankful 
Good answer! I think that's a fair response to a participant not following the rules.
I think the rules, as a whole, add consistency to the entries which makes it easier for those judging to find the needed info. It would be a pain to have to do a word count check on every story. Some might but having the word count posted saves time for the judges. If an entrant exceeds the word count, this is unfair to other entrants who most likely struggled and cut parts from their stories to comply. I would disqualify an entry for this. Then again, if I notices a lot of entries missing the same rule, then I would check to see if I was clearly stating what I wanted. If possible, I would give the author a chance to fix the over sight but only if I noticed it prior to the deadline. Over all the contests are for fun and experience dealing with deadlines and seeing how your writing compares to others like you so being too hard and strict can take the joy out of the competition. At the same time, fair is fair.
~ bane1
Great answer! I especially like that you take it as a sign to check to make sure your rules are clearly stated!
IN answer to the question - I think the most important rule is to follow the prompt/request of the contest - eg. If the contest asks you to write a story about a pet, don't write a story about an aeroplane. If the contest asks you to use certain words in your entry, use the words. I had big problems with this in a contest I ran and I'm always seeing people not following the actual prompt of contests when I browse through them!
~ Jellyfish needs more hours 
I agree!
I don't think the contests on WDc have been lacking. Maybe a newbie might forget something. For the most part the rules are clear. Word Count, genre, rating, deadline. The next thing I look for is when will the winners be posted. In a couple of weeks I may have forgotten about it. I'd like to know when I can expect to see a list or notification.
~ Quick-Quill 
That's a great idea! I also like when hosts create a static item with a list of winners, too!
Thanks for featuring "Invalid Item" in your last newsletter! I appreciate the exposure for the polls! {?b}
~ PatrickB 
No problem! 
Questions to think about:
How do prepare for going away? And do you take any electronics (laptop, tablet, cell phone) with you to stay in touch? |
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Contests & Activities: July 09, 2014 Issue [#6423]
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