  Noticing Newbies
This week: A Letter to a Newbie Edited by: THANKFUL SONALI 17 WDC YEARS!  
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Um.
I've been around ten years.
Yep, there are people who have been around a lot longer, whom I have learnt a lot from and continue to learn from ...
There are those who just joined ... who teach me a lot, too.
So these are just a few ramblings from an oldbie, to newbies!!  |
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Dear Newbie,
Hallo there, and I'm glad you found this online home for readers, writers and reviewers of all genres, types and levels.
But I'm here to warn you.
You'll soon be doing a whole bunch more than reading, writing and reviewing here.
You'll be making friends. You'll be laughing and joking with people as you get to know them. For example, you'll tease ☮ The Grum Of Grums for disliking pineapple on pizza. Everyone knows how good pineapple is on pizza, except Bumblegrum, that's what. Intellectual stuff like that, you know. 
You'll be lending your shoulder for someone to cry on, or your ear for someone to vent in to. You'll be asking someone for a supportive shoulder, a listening ear or a helping hand when you, in turn, need one. I can tell you, people on Writing Dot Com have helped me cope with my Mom's death and with some scary eye surgeries I had.
You'll join groups and find yourself taking on tasks for those groups. You'll do virtual 'Snoopy dances' with people in those groups ... and sometimes, you'll quarrel with them and sulk a bit. You'll get caught up in the excitement of a review raid or a challenge with multiple deadlines. You'll find yourself logging on every day, to check the winners of a contest, or the current highest bid in an auction. You'll feel the excitement of receiving your first review, your first Merit Badge and your first Awardicon. You'll cheer when friends achieve something, either online, or even in their real lives.
In short, baby, you are going to love it here and be so addicted, you won't know where the time flew and when you became a decade old on site.
(Oh, and, if you are like some oldbie couples who are reading this right now, you may fall in love and meet your life partner, right here on WDC! That has happened to some of my friends, here ... you know who you are!  )
Anyway, so ... what do you do now, as a newbie, to start your journey? Here are a few suggestions ... just something you may enjoy doing.
Read and review. And when you find an author or a piece you particularly like, 'fan' that author or piece. (There's a plus sign you can click on to favourite, then click again to fan). Once you've favourited or fanned an author, the things that author puts in her/his notebook become part of your personal newsfeed.
Which brings me to: Visit your personal newsfeed and the community newsfeed to find out what is happening with your fellow WDCers. React to what others have said, say stuff of your own. Reach out!
Write. Put your original writing in your portfolio. Poems, stories, essays, letters ... go ahead, write them!
Add chapters to the interactive stories in another member's portfolio. (See 'browse by type' on the left of your screen.) And while you're browsing by type, look up some of the groups we have and join one or two of them. (Or maybe a half-dozen ... )
Enter contests, participate in activities. You'll find these listed under 'browse by genre' on the left of your screen.
Say Hello. Introduce yourself in "Noticing Newbies" and greet others who have posted there. Fil in your bio-block and biography section, so people get to know you.
Okay, okay,  ! This is all very overwhelming, and you are now wondering whether to turn around and RUN for it! Don't do that. You can take all this at your own pace.
So remember:
Take the site at your own pace.
You don't have to do anything, you're here to meet your own goals -- personal, professional ... whichever. Commit to only what you can do. If you're not sure, don't commit yet. There have been newbies who have burned themselves out, doing too much in the beginning.
Warn your family and close friends (and office colleagues, too, while you're at it!) that you'll soon be talking of authors' handles (pen names) as if they were real names. So you'll be saying things like: "Eyestar told Jellyfish that Fivesixer had won the raid and Thing had come in second". Then you'll look surprised that they look surprised. Everyone around here knows Eyestar, Jellyfish, Fivesixer and Thing.
So, a handle is a pen name and can be changed as often as you like.
A user name is what is used in your email id (@Writing.Com) and can't be changed easily.
So, here the user name is jennybowden -- Jellyfish-on holiday  while the handle has the word 'Jellyfish' in it.
Authors are linked with a user link -- {user:mhicks}
gives Maryann - House Martell 
Running your mouse over the author's suitcase gives you the username.
The word 'level' can be used in two ways around here.
It could mean the level within the community, which is denoted by suitcases of different colours.
Staff members have red suitcases, like The StoryMistress 
Senior Moderators have purple suitcases, like Jaeff | KBtW of the Free Folk 
Moderators have blue suitcases, like eyestar~* 
Preferred Authors have yellow suitcases, like innerlight 
Registered Authors have black suitcases, like Dad
and Registered Users have grey suitcases, like sunitha 
If you're a newbie, you're likely to have a black suitcase (if you've uploaded at least one item in to your portfolio) or a grey one (if you haven't shared any of your writing yet, or have deleted everything you shared.) We sometimes refer to a group of people by this colour coded system: "Red cases" or "Purple cases" ... and so on ... we call them. You become a grey case when you set up your account and a black case when you put your first item in to your portfolio. Yellow, Blue and Purple is achieved when the site promotes you. (Please don't ask to be promoted! Those who perform will be noticed in time!) Red cases are pretty rare.
The little pictures you see on some of the suitcases are called 'costumicons'.
The word 'level' can also mean the level of membership.
There are five membership levels available at Writing.Com: Free, Basic, Upgraded, Premium and Premium Plus.
Read more about them here: https://www.writing.com/main/handler/item_id/688627-Compare-Free-and-Paid-Member...
Remember -- this is a global site.
Anyone, anywhere can be a member provided they have an internet connection. Please be respectful of all cultures and sensibilities. When you have the content rating changed on an item, or a post suspended from a forum, please don't take it personally. Try to understand why it was done.
Understand the rules and guidelines, and know that they're there for your own protection and others'. This is one of the most user-friendly sites on the internet, and a precious gift to writers. Please know that the rules are there to assist writers in the best way possible, and please follow the rules. If in doubt, ask. Email someone or post your query on the newbie forum.
Remember that writers are passionate, emotional people.
That's why we write! Because we feel deeply. Which means that we clash sometimes. I've had my fights arguments debates and discussions here. In my very first year, I once considered closing my account (shudder). Thank, thank goodness I didn't. IMAGINE what I would've missed out on! Writing Dot Com has been SO MUCH a part of my life during the last decade. So -- yes, like in every meaningful relationship, you might come across some friction. Deal with it as best you can. Be friendly and respectful if that's what's called for. Ignore it if that's what called for. Just don't let one bad experience ruin your entire WDC life.
The word 'rating' is used in two ways around here:
1. CONTENT RATING. This means you, as the author, 'RATE' your piece according to the age/audience it is appropriate for. Ratings start at 'E', for everyone, and go up to 'XGC' for Extreme Graphic Content, which is for readers 18 years and older, not squeamish about extreme levels of sex and violence. You need to follow WDC's content rating system while rating your introduction and main text. If you rate it incorrectly, and a Moderator, Senior Moderator or Staff Member feels it needs altering, they'll alter it and you'll lose the ability to change the rating of that piece yourself after that.
See https://www.writing.com/main/books/entry_id/699183
2. STAR RATING: This rating signifies the response of a reader to your work. Possible ratings vary from one star (needs a LOT of improvement) to 5 stars (perfect). When someone reads your piece, they might rate and review it. Different people have different standards for rating, and it's up to you to interpret these and use them as you will. You have the option to make a piece a 'review only' piece as well, which means readers won't be able to give you a star rating.
See last week's issue for this: "Noticing Newbies Newsletter (September 13, 2017)"
You'll soon know what Bitem Links and Gift Points are.
i'll admit it. We oldbies sometimes use these words forgetting that they might be incomprehensible to newbies.
I'll give examples of some links here:
BITEM
{bitem:2134582}
gives
RITEM
{ritem:2134582}
gives
"Dear Newbie" [13+]
ITEM
{item:2134582}
gives
"Dear Newbie"
Basically, these are ways to share what you have written with other members, or with the hosts/judges of a contest. When you give a link to YOUR poem or story, using the item number assigned to it, you enable others to read it, b y clicking on the link.
And don't worry if it takes you a while to get this! I exchanged six emails with SHERRI GIBSON when I wanted to post a bitem link to enter a contest for the first time!
When you're done reading this letter, you could come back here and click on "Dear Newbie" ... find out what a lot of oldbies on site want to share with you!
GIFT POINTS are the site's currency. We call them GPs for short.
You earn them when you review, when you win contests and in other ways. You spend them on memberships, Merit Badges, stuff from the WDC shop, and in other ways. Can go on forever about gift points, the way you can about real money!
You can pay for site stuff in real money or points. When people speak of 'raffles' and 'auctions', they are usually talking about amounts in gift points.
If you find us speaking a language you don't understand, remind us. Ask us what we mean. Tell us to speak in plain English.
Look up Writing.Com 101 (linked from the top of your screen) if you aren't up to asking. It's all there.
And speaking of English ...
Don't worry if English isn't your native language. If you're worried about making grammar mistakes or spelling errors, just put a note somewhere in your bio-block or on top of your item, so people know you need help.
Your thoughts and the way you express them are what's important. People can help you with spelling and grammar once you've put down what you want to say.
There are different types of items on WDC.
Basically, there are items in which:
a. Only one person is active -- that is, say, a static item like a story, essay or poem
b. Several people are active -- these can be groups, forums, interactive stories or in-and-outs.
Here's an example of an in-and-out, where some of my fellow oldbies have shared their thoughts with you: "Dear Newbie"
And this is an example of an Interactive Story. Add a chapter, go on!
(I've given just a few examples, above, there are several more to choose from on site!)
Have fun!
This is what I think has helped me the most. I've been having so much fun here, I've written long stories and essays, I've tried out new genres and styles and I've learnt something new all the time ... without fatigue. So enjoy yourself!
Um.
I think I'll stop now, and let you get on with it.
Thanks for listening!
PS -- One of my friends here is ♥Hooves♥ -- who sent me this review! Review of "Dear Newbie" 
PPS  gave examples of a USER link and REVIEW link, respectively.
PPPS - I use post-scripts a lot, because I like to keep talking after I've said I'd stop. |
By our authors!
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Noticing Newbies: September 20, 2017 Issue [#8504]
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. Wonderful read and thanks again for the feature!