  Noticing Newbies
This week: Go WdC, It's Your Birthday! Edited by: Sara♥Jean  
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Go WdC, It's Your Birthday
The birthday week on WdC is winding down, so now what? There's still tons of fun features! I'll let you know about a few.
Even with the birthday week winding down, I feel that there are tons of things to do on this site all the time. My first week on Writing.Com happened to be during birthday week, so I was surrounded by color and activity and flourish, so I do understand the "what now?" feeling that comes after. It took me quite a while to acclimate myself to the site and figure out just how to find everything.
Just in case you didn't know about our usual goings-on, I'll let you know about a few.
 You can send a FREE merit badge every month! Our Oh Supreme Leader, The StoryMaster  allowed us to send ONE A DAY during the birthday celebrations, but you can still send one free merit badge every month, NO Gift Points required. So, you can pick your favorite person, and make their day special, or pick different people each month and just show them you notice how awesome they are. And if you don't mind spending the GPs, you can send them other times also, of course!
The Monthly Official WdC Contest! I feel like this is mentioned all the time, but since so few are entering every month, it is worth mentioning again. The prizes, they are AWESOME! Writing.Com Gift Points - and not $10 worth... I'm talking $100 and $50, and other such amazing things. And you always have PLENTY of time to enter and make sure your entry is just amazing. (Don't forget, you can buy real stuff with Writing.Com Gift Points here on the site, too - not just virtual things. Tshirts, sweatshirts, notepads, cards, poetry magnets - the list is endless!) You can always find what the monthly contest is on our main page, but here's the link to this month: " What a Character! : Official WDC Contest" [ E]
Every month, three great reviews get three great rewards! It's called "Good Deeds Get Cash", and it's been going on as long as I can remember. It's awesome! And all you have to do is give a great review, and just click the little check mark that says to submit your review to "Good Deeds Get Cash", and you're in! They really do pick winners every month! If you're not big into reviewing, maybe you would consider plugging out a few good reviews every month to get yourself into this drawing - the prizes are $50, $25, and $10. Not GPs, CASH. I love these things! Here's the details: " Good Deeds Get CASH!" [ E]
There are ALWAYS members hosting activities and contests! You can find these on the activities page here: " Activities @ Writing.Com" [ E], or on the contests page here: " Writing Contests @ Writing.Com" [ E]. Or, just by clicking that "Communities" link on your left sidebar, and looking at all of the pages there. Now, you may want to favorite your favorite activities or contests, the people hosting them may not remember to post about them every month, but if you favorite them, you can find them in your favorites menu all the time.
There are always lots of things to do here on WdC, and these are only a FEW in a very long list. Let me know, though, because I'm curious. Submit a comment to me - what did YOU do during the WdC birthday week?
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Here are some writing from some of our newest members - check them out!
| |  | Raced (E)
A poem about a rowing race in the Berlin Olympics 1936.
#2095799 by Heleny  |
| |  | Invalid Item
This item number is not valid.
#2095778 by Not Available. |
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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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Two months ago, I received a comment that made me a bit sad, so I wrote a newsletter about pulling away from reading and writing and what caused me to do it, and then asked what causes others to. I'll reveal the comment that spurred all of that now, and the responses I received:
Back in July, Btplove58 said, "Hello, although I am still writing, the reason I have not submitted anything in a while is bacause, the people I have run across were not so nice. One creative writing school I attended was not very constructive in the criticism department. Although the school said I could continue my studies after my tuition was paid, I did not."
I first want to mention that I am sorry you experienced this. I know that there are some not-so-nice people out there, and while I have found them to be few and far between on WdC, some might unfortunately run across them more often. There are wonderful groups that are NOT this way at all, and I hope you are willing to post your work again. One such group I think you would find fulfilling is "SIMPLY POSITIVE GROUP" [E] - they are out to ONLY spread the love. Talk to them. Their forum is located here: "Simply Positive Review Forum " [E]. I wish you luck!
So, in August, I asked several questions in "Noticing Newbies Newsletter (August 10, 2016)" , and received several replies I think you will be interested in. Thank you so much for all who participated! Sometimes just knowing we aren't alone in our struggles is helpful. And I know it isn't directly related to the above situation, because they hadn't stopped writing (thank goodness), but I do know some who have stopped writing or reading because of negative experiences with people. We all have our own reasons for pulling away from things. I am so glad some were willing to share.
From River :
I pulled away from writing everyday or at least every week. Why? Because my local Writer's Group closed for the summer months. Here, on WDC, I've been focused on reviewing and helping Newbies. My answer was to start a Blog. It sparked my interest and I try to write a Blog entry each day.
From papadoc1:
I have to say that we humans can harbor lots of latent interests! Most importantly though, when I found myself simply reading, there was always that feeling of comraderie - however distant - with the author of the book itself. Usually it turned on a dime into the realization that, "Hey! What does that author have that I don't?!?." We writers can be a competitive lot!!
Along the way, let me just say that we'll come back to this writing aspect - and when we do, something special might happen. Its like we enjoy a relationship of duality - nothing complicated mind you, for we "read-what-we-write" and sort of "write what our muse's read"....so the idea here is ...is that our enjoyment from literature is doubled from such endeavors. We might even think, "What got me away from doing this in the first place?"
Indeed, your NL was spot on and I enjoyed every word of it!!
From GabriellaR45 :
I joined a book club at local free library. It is helpful have a set deadline for reading and finishing a book.
I love reading again--It helps to have a goal. I look forward to sharing feedback with a group of bright
people. Pulled away from writing to move out of state to live near my daughter and family.
Selling our house and getting settled in new digs has meant giving up
writing for a while. I look forward to starting anew in the fall. This has meant regrouping, setting a regular time
each day for W.Com. W.Com's Anthology provides incentive to work at improving my writing.
For many here, the Anthology offers a chance to be published for the first time.
From Grin 'n Bear It! :
I, too, don't read responsibly and found that I had to restrict my reading to the summer months. One summer I asked the librarian to recommend a book, and she suggested "Clan of the Cave Bear." Was just going to read a couple of chapters. Next thing I know birds are chirping, I was suddenly aware I had 3 cats in my lap, and dawn was breaking as I finished the book. Went back and got the second book in the series and did the same thing the next night. For the rest of the series, I confined my reading to when I was on an exercise bike! Then I found our state's library system had digital downloads and like you, became hooked on audiobooks! Some of the readers are so outstanding. It's also great to hear foreign words pronounced correctly. Nowadays I'm afraid I've let the demands of my job- I'm a school psychologist- interfere with both reading and writing. I write daily, but certainly not creatively! I now spend what time I have off in the summer with my three grandchildren who live over 900 miles away. That will change when they're older I'm sure. So for me it's a constant struggle. I do believe if I set a schedule I could keep for at least 8 weeks, It would make a huge difference. As to people helping on WdC, creating and running all these great contests are great motivators and sources of inspiration. I'm especially excited about "Mysteries of the Mind." Now to carve out the time to commit my thoughts to paper and submit an entry by the end of the month!
From Merry QPdoll :
What do you think caused you to pull away from your reading or writing? Do you think it will happen again?
A couple of things pulled me away from reading and writing. First, my depression kicked my butt and kept me from doing a lot of things. Second, my kids were young and needed mom a lot more than they do now. My ten-year-old still keeps me busy, but I do get breaks when I can read or write. Funny enough it was Writing.com that brought me back to writing. I received an email and a postcard from them after being away for three years! I decided to log on again and I haven't been away since. No, I enjoy it too much. I don't think it will happen again.
Thank you, everyone! This had a great response, and I was so glad to see responses from everyone. Depression, schedules, motivation - there are tons of reasons to pull away. I wish I had a book club at the library here and such, but we are small-town and don't have that kind of thing. WdC is my virtual book club, as well as a small group of people that I share interests and such with on Facebook. We've created our own little book club there, too. (By the way, TOTALLY have read Clan of the Cave Bear - snuck it from my grandmother's house when I was about 14 or so - there are some shocking scenes for a 14 year old... 0.0 )
Now, don't forget about this month's question - not as deep, but sixteen times as fun. What did YOU do during WdC's birthday week? |
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Noticing Newbies: September 07, 2016 Issue [#7850]
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