  Contests & Activities
This week: Exalting the Humble In-and-Out Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI back on Jan 4  
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| Every now and then, I find myself taking a break from serious writing with an quick visit to an In-and-Out. Slowly, this item type grew on me. I noticed other addicts, too, and promptly befriended them. This NL is about the item type, In-and-Out, by an addict. |
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Dear Reader,
So here's a secret. deemac  is allergic to ducks.
Yup, yup. Duck allergy, that's what he has. And ☮ The Grum Of Grums  has very kindly supplied us with this precious nugget of information:
"Unusual fear: Anatidaephobia is the irrational fear you are being watched by a duck."
Of course, ms_penguin responds with this: Why is that irrational? If a duck is watching you, I guarantee it's up to no good!
Wait, wait! Don't click out of here! I'm getting to the point already!!
So, it all began with an In-And-Out called "Fortunately/Unfortunately" . And with me (Sonali, your current Newsletter editor) discovering that StoryMistress had made the cutest emoticon ever -- a -- yes, yes -- a  . (Isn't that cute??)
deemac was pretty sporting about it for a while. He had ducks quacking all over his precious plot-line, disrupting things, and he watched with an indulgent smile. But finally, when the quacking got too loud and threatened to drown out any semblance of plot whatsoever, he put up a duck-resistant fence, and the quackers merely cheeped up a couple of times from the outside, thereafter, just to say 'how d'you do' to him.
This brings me to the importance of that item type on Writing Dot Com, the IN-AND-OUT. deemac runs some of the best in-and-outs around, and ☮ The Grum Of Grums , ms_penguin and I are contributors, along with Dad  and Steev the Friction Wizurd and a whole bunch of folks ... folks who have now become friends, indeed, become online family. We hang out regularly at Steev the Friction Wizurd 's cozy den, aptly named Steev's Place.
So what is an In-and-Out?
Writing.Com 101 says:
In & Outs are an interactive means for lists or rolling stories and are available to every member of Writing.Com. A simplified version of the Message Forum, an In & Out requires little or no maintenance once you've set it up. Every time a new addition is made to the list, the last addition on the page is bumped off. One comes in as one goes out! You can have up to 100 additions in your In & Out, and the posts themselves require no immediate response by you.
The purpose of an In & Out is to allow new additions to replace old entries. This not only keeps your board fresh, but keeps your readers coming back for more!
And do we ever go back for more. Be it in word-additions to stories, or line-additions to poems, or avoiding bad advice, or friendly chit-chat, we're there, us In-and-Out addicts.
And while we're adding to the In-and-Outs, something happens. We feel a sense of belonging. We recognise each others' style. I asked Bumblegrum to recognise which entries I'd put in at "Three Word Mayhem!" , where contributors are anonymous, and he got some of them right and some of them wrong, and it was interesting to have his analysis of what he thought were my entries.
But it goes deeper than that. Now, I've started telling my In-and-Out pals about important things that are happening in my life. When I was facing a tough time with my eyes (detachment of retina and eye pressure) I emailed them, and promptly received comforting messags back. When a session I was doing at a poetry festival had to be cancelled because the organisers wanted me to fit it in to a particular format that I wasn't comfortable with, I vented my feelings to Bumblegrum in a chat. He sent me some moral support across miles and across time zones -- it was almost midnight his time.
To what uses can an In-and-Out be put?
(Samples of many of these can be found in the Editor's Picks section below.)
Well, the site uses them for review requests.
Groups, like "WdC SuperPower Reviewers Group" use them for review requests as well.
Several writers use them for rolling stories or poems.
Some use them to talk about anything and everything.
Some use them to keep track of things, like to-do lists. Or any lists. In-and-Outs are great for those that love lists. 
Some folks use them to make new friends, to find new portfolios to review.
There are In-and-Outs meant specifically to help newbies.
Kraken through the Snow  uses his effectively to collect bets and have discussions on "The Amazing Race Club" (The In-and-Outs are group only items, so I won't link them here.)
With StoryMaster recently introducing 'trinkets' on Writing Dot Com, I've seen some trinket-related In-and-Outs, too! 
I've used In-and-Outs sometimes to get people to talk about aspects of writing.
They have a lot of uses -- anything that requires an in with the new out with the old approach.
To find out what addicts think about In-and-Outs, I did a little survey.
I'll put the responses down as I got them.
Here's the survey:
And here are the responses!
Thanks, everyone who took the time to do my survey!
Teerich - 2019 contributes to three In-and-Outs, feels they are indirectly relevant to a writer and don't distract - in fact: "They are fun to do and suit my talents and capabilities. They are a pleasant change from having to be a 'serious' writer *sniggers*"
Prosperous Snow celebrating  contributes to five In-and-Outs, of which "Three Word Mayhem!" is her favourite, because it requires a quick first thought response. According to her, this item type is very helpful for writers, and doesn't distract at all. She says: " I created my first In-And-Out in December 2015 and found it fun. Now I would like to know how to get more participation."
ms_penguin contributes to about 15 In-and-Outs, and says that they are fun and a lot of the same people join in and she enjoys interacting wit h them. She loves In-and-Outs, feels they are indirectly helpful to a writer, and may be a little bit of a distraction.
Steev the Friction Wizurd contributes to about nine In-and-Outs, of which his favourite is his own, because it's his! He feels In-and-Outs are indirectly helpful to a writer, not a distraction at all, and is always glad to see a new In&Out invented that takes the item type into a new creative direction.
☮ The Grum Of Grums contributes to a dozen In-and-Outs. He feels they are very relevant for writers, and don't distract at all.
He has this to say:
Firstly, they are fun. But they also pose a challenge to comment on a few words (always difficult for me). And they provide opportunities for lighthearted conversations with other WdCers. In at least two cases, they challenge my poetic muse (sort of 😂)
He then hastens to add () My answer should be, they are a MAJOR distraction, but I wouldn't have them any other way. Also, I identified 12 In&Outs I contribute to, but counting those in which I make an occasional appearance, the number would be 20 or more. I am an addict 😄
Dad feels that In-and-Outs are indirectly relevant for a writer, and maybe distract a little. He contributes to ten In-and-Outs because: "They are fun and they make me think. And I get to tease Steev."
deemac and I have had long talks about In-and-Outs! Hi, Dee, from Deemac contributes to 3 In-and-Outs on a regular basis. Lots of others occasionally. He finds them indirectly relevant to a writer, and feels they might distract a bit occasionally. He distinguishes between 'creative' and 'chat' type of In-and-Outs, and has this to say: "I find some In-and-Outs creative and stimulating,almost a regular series of 'mini-prompts'. Their set, running formats make them especially challenging for me, more so than the 'chat room' variety of In&Out."
ruwth  took the survey twice. She feels In-and-Outs are indirectly helpful to a writer, and don't distract. She sent detailed responses, which I converted to a static item. Here goes: "Ruwth's Response to In-and-Out Survey"
Thanks, everyone -- now, go OUT from this Newsletter and IN to an In-and-Out! (I know, I know, lousy pun.  )
- Sonali
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Thank you for the responses to "Contests & Activities Newsletter (February 4, 2015)" !
Kay 
This email came at exactly the right time! I have been thinking about sending physical letters, literally within the last two or three days! Now I can look up people I don't know, and get to make new friends because this email has shown me a new group! Thanks!!!
Lazy Writer est 4/24/2008
this sounds like fun I want to join! Keep Writing. LW
An apple a day.... 
Hi Sonali, I'm happy to hear snail mail is so popular. Yes, there is nothing like getting a letter in your mailbox...may have to sign up .
Osirantinous Capricornus 
Great newsletter, Sonali! And it's wonderful to see what the other Snail Mailers think/feel. It is a very wonderful group to belong to, and worthy of a newsletter mention!
And a couple of closing remarks about ducks:
☮ The Grum Of Grums
Those ducks, they get everywhere. We've had quite a lot of rain recently, and the damp soil has attracted a few of the local ducks to visit our garden and forage for bugs. Drivers are generally very careful and give them right of way.
Steev the Friction Wizurd
I love the sound ducks make. Some people characterize it as angry, but to me it sounds like a laugh. There is a pond nearby and I always smile when I hear the ducks laughing.
ms_penguin
The ducks in our town completely control the downtown roads. Drivers will sit and wait patiently til they move. People get hit by cars every so often though, so perhaps pedestrians should start dressing like ducks.
Dad
Steev doesn't realize the ducks are actually laughing. It's not his imagination. They really are laughing. They more quiet quacks are when they are telling the truth about Steev, and the louder quacks are them laughing at him.
☮ The Grum Of Grums
So that's what it is. Steev must have a worldwide reputation, so whenever I hear our ducks laughing and quacking, I shall be reminded of Steev. What horrific turn of events has led to this catastrophe?
I warned deemac that this newsletter was dominated by ducks.
Here's his response: Aaarrggh! No! Anything but the d-d-dreaded d-d-ducks!  That's not so much advance information as a health warning! LOL
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Contests & Activities: July 27, 2016 Issue [#7769]
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