Tributes to Writing.Com

I go way back. My membership turns 20 next July. That's a lotta years for one life, and even more so for the internet.

Back then, it was Stories.com. Many of you are aware of this. Yet, even in those days, it was a community. These were real people, telling their stories through their poems, anecdotes, campfires, and the few forums we had. The engagement was real, for an internet still relying on emails and AIM (AOL Instant Messaging) and whatever your default homepage's landing spot was. Whatever it was, it certainly was not The Hub as we now rely on and know it to be. At the time, I was fortunate to meet and/or talk to a couple members, validating their awesomeness and also their opinions of me. Kinda mind-blowing in 2001 or 2002.

And from there, I've only seen the site grow and add so many great different things to keep us all engaged and creatively flowing. I remember the run-up to Jack's birth, the switchover to WDC, everyone rallying around Phoebe, and probably more big events I've forgotten than many might ever know. I remember members who helped me and then left the site, and I revere them as much as I hold closely the friends I have here now.

There used to be a spot on the side, where the ads are (for those who aren't upgraded) or under the basic menu...it was for Testimonials. You shared your love for the site, and randomly every time you moved to another page a new one popped up. It was other people reaffirming your own feelings and experiences with the site. Maybe it was why you joined and how it affected you as a writer; maybe it was appreciation in general for knowing you weren't alone in the vast Wild West days of a young internet, being surrounded by people with similar interests.

I don't remember what my Testimonial was, but I know I was driven to write one many years ago. I just remember a lot of different things I've been involved with over the years. Contests, raffles, people, circumstances...you don't show up here almost every day for 20 years and not gain or experience something.

I'm still kinda young-ish...I'm 45 and I don't plan on ditching WDC anytime soon. I still think of it as the springboard to my first two published books...without the feedback and encouragement of this community, I wouldn't have had the confidence to contact an independent publisher. And I stress feedback. I know it's something I don't do enough of, and I know I need to do a lot more of it, according to what many people who have appreciated it have told me. But we're all here for different reasons, and that's another spoke in the mighty WDC wheel.

This site has something for people of all ages; that's what I'm trying to say in the last paragraph. The teens can mix with the people in their 70's-90's, and it's really a beautiful thing to see in times when there's so much division otherwise.

I can't thank The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress enough. Everyone likes to say "Oh, this feels like home for me" but it's true. For so many of us, it really is home. We care on a practical, professional, respectable, and personal level for our friends. To some they're not just "internet friends" but a lot more than that. Nowhere else on the internet may that closeness exist.

I didn't plan this; it was pretty much off the cuff, and it probably shows. I'll leave you with this, and the real OGs will know what I'm talkin' about...

Happy Travels, WDC!

-Norb