Noticing Newbies Newsletter is geared to help members get acquainted with Writing.com. There are many things to do and learn. Our goal is to help you make your time here more fun and manageable.
Each week we select and showcase new items (poetry, lyrics, short stories, essays, campfires, polls, etc.). Exposure for an item (your writing) helps to bring you more rates and reviews by fellow members and the general public...of course depending on how much exposure you want your item to have. Some writers like to keep their work private. When your work does receive exposure, it helps bring more member interaction, which will give you the opportunity to build new friendships. Remember, it is a two-way street...try to make an effort to reciprocate reviews.
"There's someone that you haven't already met, go introduce yourself to him or her. Walls and labels can't keep you from the people who are so similar to you in spirit. There's a friendly face behind every door if you pick the right moment to knock. Once you start your wave of creative outreach, it turns into a contagious force. People are waking up and smiling at each other, sharing their dreams without hesitation. This community is worth something."
-- Author Unknown
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EDITOR'S NOTE:
Hello New Members!
Have you ever hosted or entered a contest? Well, what better time than the current moment to take that leap! I'm going to give you some handy tips for hosting a contest or submitting an entry for a contest.
Writing Information
Good writing skills are essential to any piece of literary work. Most readers are looking for a story that will entertain them, let them escape from their everyday life for a short while and allow them to experience something new or exciting. An author can be a great writer but if he or she is unable to capture the reader's interest they have not succeeded in being a great storyteller.
Some writers say that writing is like music practice: if you miss a day, you'll notice your work isn't as smooth; if you miss a couple of days, you'll really notice, and if you miss a week, other people will notice. So what can you do when you aren't working on a story or poem? You can practice. You can exercise. You can enter a contest!
A writing exercise is usually something short that you can complete in an hour or two (or less), and gets your mind working, the words flowing. Often if you don't know where to begin on a new project, or just can't seem to get going on a project already in progress, doing a few writing exercises will bring on the inspiration you need.
Idea-Generating Exercise
You know that you need to exercise you body in order to stay healthy and fit. Well, your mind needs exercising too! If you have trouble thinking up things to write about, try the following idea-generating exercise:
Browse through some novels, short stories or poems and read only the opening lines.
Do you notice any similarities between opening lines? Are there techniques a writer can use to catch the attention of a reader?
Make a list of brand new opening lines that you make up off the top of your head. Don't worry about whether or not you'd actually want to use them, just think them up and write them down.
When you've got a fair number, read through them again. Which ones catch your attention? Which ones make you laugh? Think about why these ones might work better than the others.
Pick your favorite couple of opening lines and see if you can expand them into a paragraph or more. If you start getting some really good ideas about any of them, you may want to just keep going to see how far it takes you, or you may want to pause to take point form notes about your ideas first.
Set the list aside in and later on have a look at your list again to see if the same lines still grab you.
I hope that some of the writing exercise tips, and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to e-mail me.
Until next time...
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