Dear Me, Myself and I

Written for and winner of 2nd Place in the 2011

SURVEY

Dear Me: Official WDC Contest  (E) What are *your* goals for the new year? Think it over, write a letter and win big prizes! #597313 by Writing.Com Support

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Dear Me, Myself and I,

I call this meeting of all Jace's alter egos to order.  As much as I hate to sound cliché, we're all in this together. We must work as one to make this year truly great for Jace.

We know you're one of the latest group of Moderators to be promoted, Modster, and frankly, no one was more surprised than us.  But why are you taking charge?  I've been here longer than you, and Newb even longer than I.

I know, Preffie.  I'm not taking charge; I just think our future has to be a collaborative effort, and that's based in large part on what we've accomplished since joining Writing.com almost three years ago.

Agreed.  I've been here the longest, and I can't believe how much this place has improved since I posted that first story and wrote that first review.  I still remember the first review I received.  It was from a young lady, still very much active on this site, who politely, but firmly, pointed out the potential I was not using.  What a wake-up call!  It's a humbling experience to learn you were not as good as you thought. 

We remember, Newb. You did almost 800 reviews in the six months before I was promoted to Preferred Author, mostly of other Newbies and Black cases as you tried to pass on the things you learned from interacting with others here.

Indeed, all three of us have enjoyed some wonderful successes on our journey through Writing.com.  We've made some great friends, written some pretty good stories, essays, and even two novels....

Both of which still need a lot of work, I might add.

Yes, Newb.  You wrote one of them as I recall ... and it wasn't too shabby, if I might add.

You may indeed, Modster.

Guys, you're both right.  We've even become fairly accomplished poets, if we can believe what fellow members say about our work.  But we can't rest on past laurels; where do we go from here?

Get published?

Get published!  Heck, it's why I joined Writing.com.  But like most Newbies, I was scared.  Uh, no, that's not the right word.  I was apprehensive, tentative, a bit unsure even.

I agree, Newb.  Even after I was promoted to Preferred, I was overwhelmed.  This site is vast.  I suspect even the StoryMaster has some moments that confound him when dealing with everyone on site.  We're like kids and kids can really gum up the works sometime.  Just think--ten years in existence and it's been home to more than seventy thousand people, each with their own reason for joining.  The StoryMaster and StoryMistress have given us some pretty awesome tools to fulfill our writing dreams.  Maybe it's time we gave something back to the community.

Let's agree then.  We three have learned a lot on Writing.com.  Now it's time to look forward.  The past is written, pun intended; what shall we 'write' in 2011?

I'm sure we all want to continue helping members on their writing journeys.  We can answer questions in the Help forums, review their work, and write How-To essays.  Modster, you're in a unique position to really make that happen.  Your position is important, and members generally look up to Mods.  Let's sharpen that helpful attitude to a keen edge this year.  We got a good start this past summer when we helped revise the WDC Reference Guide in anticipation of the most comprehensive site update ever.  What an honor it was to help on that project, and it was a great way to be proactive in helping WDC members.

Right on, Preffie.  That document gives Writing.com something few other writing sites, if any, have--understandable and complete, easy-to-use instructions.  It's there for everyone.

Okay.  Helping others is one priority for 2011.  That's one goal.  But let's not forget the reason I joined Writing.com--to become an accomplished and published author.  We're well on our way.  I propose we commit to submitting four short stories for publication....

Four...?

...within six months!

Dang, you in a hurry, Newb?

We've had almost three years to polish our work, and we've made some great strides to that end--reviews and contest results have shown that.  We need to stop procrastinating and "git 'er done."

Alright, goal number two is submit four short stories for publication by the end of June 2011.

And I believe we should fully embrace Modster's efforts to expand our writing creativity through poetry with the "Poetic Exploration"  group.  I've read the reviews we're getting and they're quite good, perhaps even publishable.  We'll be writing fifty poems, one per week throughout this year, each using a different poetic form.  I suggest we use our life as the inspiration for these poems, and publish them in a book at the end.  We have a good start already.  Let's make that goal number three.

Thanks, my illustrious elders.  Poetry has become quite a passion.  And may I suggest a final goal for this year?

What's that, Modster?

Reviewing.  It's always been another passion of ours, and one that's been overlooked lately as we've looked into other areas of Writing.com and ourselves.  Let's commit to a reasonable goal of reaching 2000 qualified reviews by the end of the year.  I guess this goes hand-in-hand with goal number one of helping others.  But this is more defined, and easily measured.

Done!

We have one thing left, guys.  We have to write these goals out, print them, and post them on the office wall where we can see them everyday.  These are targets we can all live with.

         Goal One:  Help other WDC members by answering forums, writing How-To essays, and joining WDC groups that help members.

         Goal Two:  Prepare and submit four short stories for publication by 30 June 2011.

         Goal Three:  Explore our poetic creativity through the "Poetic Exploration"  during the coming year, and prepare a book of poetry based on our efforts in this area.

         Goal Four:  Surpass the 2000 mark of qualified and helpful reviews before 31 December 2011.

Let's do it!  Thanks, guys.

Jace

Word Count:  1009