Each Day Already is a Challenge

Responding

I received some emails about yesterday's blog entry from folks not wanting to go public with their comments. That's fine.

Only one person had a negative comment. She thought that sharing information about another site was unethical. Perhaps you think so as well.

Here is part of how I responded to that WDC member:

What I was trying to explain, and perhaps did not do it well, is that there are
contests at Gather that EVERYONE needs to know about. That doesn't mean anyone
has to give up a membership here.

If you've read my blog when I was active, posting daily and sometimes 2 and 3 times a day, you know that I listed contests I found all the time. That's what this is about. There are so many here who would like to be published. Why shouldn't they have the ability to try in a contest at another site?

I personally think it was selfish for those who have been on Gather - who specifically went there for the contests - to keep the information to themselves. I think that's unethical, frankly. That's not the way I work.

I will continue sharing any and all contests that I think are worth checking out.

You will find as you look back upon your life, that the moments that stand out, the moments when you have really lived, are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love. - Henry Drummond

"The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one's self to others." -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

"Maturity begins to grow when you can sense your concern for others outweighing your concern for yourself." -John MacNaughton

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without brightening our own." -Ben Sweetland

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

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So let's take a moment to discuss other writer's sites.

I joined my first writer's site in 1999. Themestream. How I loved that place! I've heard when it began that the writers were paid 10 cents per original page view. Then it went to 5 cents per view. When I arrived they paid 2 cents per page view. Pretty cool. The first check I received was for about $25. I never received another check, because the site closed. The owners did give everyone ample notice to get their writings copied and saved somewhere, in case they had not already done so. But they went away owing a bunch of writers a bunch of money. Why? They didn't get enough advertisers.

I've also been a member of other sites that closed. Frankly, I don't remember all the names. I wrote for Heartwarmers newsletter and had a personal page there I don't know what happened to that site, since the only email address they had on file for me was one from Texas that was no good after 11/03.

Writtenbyme and Thoughtcafe are two other sites. I remember when Writtenbyme closed down. I don't know what happened to Thoughtcafe. I had lost my password and completely forgot about that site. When I remembered and found my password, it was gone.

Prose-n-Poetry.com was started by a guy who had been a Themestream member, I believe. I do have some of my writing there, and some kind soul actually paid for my membership through January. But it's a site that frustrates me a bit. If you're not a gold member (and I'm not sure what the qualifications are for that) when you write a story or poem, it goes to a workshop. It cannot be moved to the "regular" part of your portfolio until a certain number of votes or stars have been collected. I have had some things in the workshop for quite a while. Others have had things in the workshop for years. Discouraging, to say the least...

PearlSoup.com. I liked this site when I found it. But everything you write there has to be a pearl of wisdom. You have to prove that it has a lesson or some value. Not all poetry teaches a lesson, so there are some arguments amongst writers about what is or isn't a pearl. It's a free site, so that's nice. There are discussion boards that get really crazy. But the sad/bad thing is that the owners seem to have taken off to parts unknown. They don't update pears of the day/week/month anymore. They don't respond to correspondence.

I'm a member at AuthorsDen.com too, but I only have a few things posted there. There is a two-tier system there. Paid and not paid. I used to have a paid membership. Now just the free one. It's nice, but...

Gather.com. I mentioned that they have some great contests there. They do. It's also easy to share pictures and graphics if you're an artist. And recently they added the ability to post videos. That's nice, but with my slow computer, I cannot see videos. It's a free site that has some point rewards for posting articles, commenting, etc. That's nice, but... There are some serious writers there and lots of folks just messing around for getting points. I know that frustrates some "real" writers. The ratings go from 1 to 10, and people do give out 10s. Lots of them, in fact.

Back to Writing.com. Here you have a mixture of old and young, of rich and poor, of writers and wanna be writers and readers. Here you'll find people from all over the globe who will become your writer friends. Here you'll find someone always ready to lend a hand if you're a newbie and confused about the site. There are folks who will give gentle reviews if that's what you prefer. And there are folks who will give complete (and sometimes harsh) reviews if that's what you desire. It's all here. You can be a free member, or for just a little bit you can be a paid member and have more features available. There's even a writer's school here - A-1 Academy. So...if you're trying to grow as a writer, this is a great place to be. I have been here for 6 years and, hopefully, I have grown as a writer, as a person, as a friend in that time.

Personally, I think you can be a member at lots of sites. It's a bit like shopping. Sometimes I like to shop at a number of stores to get what I want. At other times, I prefer the one-stop-shop.

What we need to do is encourage the StoryMaster to find a way to offer contests that result in getting a book published...