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Memories to Celebrate Writing.Com's 5th Birthday |
[Introduction]     Happy Birthday, Writing.Com To celebrate W.Com's 5th birthday, let's write our favorite memories. Please keep the rate ASR, though, so that everyone can participate and/or read. This Campfire is hosted by  
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| W.Com has become my second family and my writing community. My first memory after starting here was a message from SM informing me that I couldn't post any more items to my freebie account. He was kind and understanding as he instructed me in upgrading my account. Oh, my, so many of memories include him having to be patient with my technological ignorance. Yes, my memories are made of these and other kindnesses from members and friends on the site. Happy Birthday, Writing.Com. |
| I remember the day I posted my first poem and back it came with great ratings and reviews. After 35yrs of writing my work was out there for others to read and share. The day I got my first award from another author I nearly cried, and the day I was promotoed from black to yellow case. I was so surprised. I didn't even know you could be promoted. The one day I got a care package, now, that's a day I won't forget. I was so depressed and along comes this bundle of poems, c-notes and signatues but most of all good wishes and love. Friends, support, information and opportunity, with people and a place like this the memories will just keep growing. |
| I turned three just last month and it seems like only yesterday that I was brand new to this site. Writing.Com has helped me with my writing and I've gotten to know a lot of great people. |
| After almost five years on this site I have many favorite memories. But I think the most special was the day I logged onto my account, at Stories.Com, and my suitcase was bright yellow and said "Cool". Back in the day all the Preffered cases said "Cool". I was so honored and excited that I spent the next week spending practically every available moment reading, rating, and posting in the General Forum. |
| I stumbled onto Writing.com., hunting for someplace to publish my poetry. I was open-mouthed, but suspicious when I first entered, not able to quite believe that such a site as this could REALLY exist. It seemed far too wonderful to believe. Then I posted. Miracle of miracles -- someone read my first poem and story. And they liked them! I still am open-mouthed with wonder, but no longer suspicious. What a fantastic place! |
| I came to this site a year ago, in June, 2004. I'd heard of WC a year before that, but I remember not feeling inclined to join it then. It has been a pleasure to contribute to a professional site filled with supportive people from whom I've learned a great deal. |
| I first came to W.com about the time I retired and began to care for my aunt who had Cancer. Marilyn was just a year older and more like a sister to me. The people on site were so supportive, and the writing was a catharsis for me emotionally as I watched my dear one take her journey to heaven. I know that I would not have done so well without this new online family who were there for me. Now I can say that "I am retired, refired and retreaded." Thanks W.Com! |
| I had just become introduced to the internet and so I was wandering all over the place eating up all kinds of wonderful adventures. But then I found Writing.com (Stories.com) and my wandering eye became fixed. I had found a place to call home and I began to fill up my portfolio until I had to upgrade my membership. Each night I had trouble tearing myself away from the site to go to bed and each morning I could hardly wait to sit back down to write and read and share. There was so much to do and then I became a yellow case and I felt so honored. And again when I became a moderator, I became even stronger as a writer. I have made so many friends and shared so much. Honestly, I feel my writing has improved because of Writing.com. |
Another special memory is being asked to join my first group, Portfolio Support Society, and added to the sub-group Raiders of the Lost Art, headed by Micah. I was accepted and became part of the community. I made friends forever, even though the group no longer exists. Harry  , Melissa is fashionably late!  , Mckinley Rose , and so many others. I learned how to manage a group when Micah had to leave, and I was given the leadership of the sub-group. Bit by bit I learned other things about the site. I was addicted big time, and I was home. |
| For me, one of the special memories is when a senior moderator decided to gift me my first ever merit badge ... and that too, the 25K one for my item on Gandhiji. I was stunned to receive it! Since then, a lot of badges have come my way, but that would have to be the best one. |
| When I first discovered W.C I'd lost my job, my man, my home and my heart. I was lost in a spiraling swirl of depession and hopelessness. I have always written and I thought perhaps a writing site would help. I began posting to my free site...then someone very special gifted me with a long basic subscription. Then I was upgraded....reviews started pouring in and with each one my head was held higher. My smile returned as did my self-confidence. I don't think I would have made it without WDC; the people here really did save my life. |
Back in the summer of 2001, I did a search for writing sites on the internet, and one of them that came up was stories.com. At that time, I posted a poem and sort of forgot about it. Sometime later, I came back to the site, then renamed writing.com, and found many reviews of my poem and lots of contests to enter. At that time, I started entering contests and posting my other writings on the site, and I became addicted. Now, writing.com is in my blood, and if I was cut off from it, I'm sure the withdrawal symptoms would be excruciating |
| What to choose...hmmm I guess I can not go past the beginning. I was surfing the net, I can't remember what for, but it bore no relationship to writing, yet it popped up in the search results. Since I loved writing, I decided to check it out. Just minutes after going into the site, I joined. I spent as much time as I could on the site over the next few weeks, to the point where my husband called me a "Stories.com widow" (as it was back then). And since I was a home bod, that was a LOT of time.  Not much has changed over the years, except a thousand wonderful memories, dozens of friends and a growth in my writing I never would have imagined. |
| Like many others, a search brought me knocking at the door of Writing.Com. I rudely pounded on the door after reading about the community and waiting for my dial-up connection to process my free membership. I remember cringing in the corner of my port wondering if I was about to make a total fool of myself by sharing my writings. It’s been over 3 years since that fateful evening and I’ve never felt a fool, but rather a recreational writer who's been encouraged and nurtured to ~write on!~ I’ve suffered only a few days since joining without signing in because coming here is like walking through my own front door and being welcomed and hugged by my family. Happy Birthday Writing.Com! |
| So many memories. But I think the best one was beginning to write a novel length story (that I will finish one day dang it!) and meeting two very good friends. One has left the site since that time, but we are still in regular contact. That plus the conventions show how internet relationships can extend well beyond the computer screen, and Writing.Com has been a big part in showing how it works. Happy Birthday! |
| First, my discovery story: I was a sophomore in high school and bored out of my mind during the computer lab class. I had been typing stories for over a year by then, and while everyone else was struggling with the typing lessons, I was breezing through them and found I had a lot of free time. On October 11, 2000, I randomly typed in stories.com looking for something to read. It was so different back then, but I was thrilled to discover a place not only filled with wonderful stories to read, but a place to display my own amatuer writings. When I got my first review, I was hooked. |
Let me introduce you to a memory, if you will, of a website not quite of this world. A place where strange things are written as so much fodder for the imaginitive mind. A place where people you've never met gather daily and read and write and of things that are only dreamt of. A place of the unexpected, with voices echoing approval of your ideas, your dreams. Here they gather like raw diamonds, polishing and perfecting their words. They remain indistinct: shapless and allusive as a masque. Yet their very vagueness conveys a sense of intention; of desire to succeed. These are my memories. This is the place that swells in the bottom of the hollow--the piled boulders--the electric book of ideas. |
| I found Writing.com surfing the net, looking for stories to read. I guested on the site for nearly a year, reading everyone's work and enjoyed all the great stories. I thought to myself, I write pretty decent stories, I should join. Well, my portfolio filled rather quickly. Thanks to the newbie reviewers who visited my port almost the moment I posted something, I felt so encouraged. It sent me on my way to become a part of this wonderful community where I've made some great friends and have gained the confidence to write more. Writing.com has certainly changed and enriched my life. |
| I was browsing the net, looking for a cheap way to publish my work, when I saw W.com pop up in my search. I thought the name was interesting. So simple, yet holding so much meaning for me. I had only written a few poems and fanfictions, but still I knew I loved writing. I filled out my information, just like usual, and then it asked for my pen name. It was the middle of the night, and I remember fumbling for the right one. Then out of the night came those few fated words. "The Wandering Gypsy." I put up my few pieces of work, and I knew I was home. In my heart, I've been Mary The Wandering Gypsy ever since. |
| I stumbled upon Writing.Com in late summer of 2001, and it has been home ever since. I've made many transitions in my life; wife, mother, and because of Writing.com I would also call myself an author. I have also met many people that I would consider family. If I don't talk to each and every one of these people on a daily basis, I worry and wonder if they are okay. There are some people that, though they are no longer on Writing.Com, I keep in touch with them and am genuinely concerned for their well-being. This place has become an integral part of my life. One that I will always cherish, with friends who I will always love. |
| Shortly after I found Stories.com back in May, 2002, I knew that I had found an Internet home. In those early months, I received many helpful reviews that improved my writing and made many new friends. Through the years I have always felt at home here and received many kindnesses from other members. This site is a godsend to aspiring writers, a place where they can improve as writers in a friendly, cheerful atmosphere. Long may Writing.com prosper and be a home to writers! Happy Birthday. |
| We had just purchased our first computer and I very few skills. I'm not even sure how I managed to find this site. I registered and posted a few items. After receiving even one bad review, I would delete it. Finally a kind member told me to wait. He said he found it frustrating to take the time to review when all I did was delete. I stopped deleting, bought an upgraded membership and the rest is history. Thanks so much Writing.com. Wendie |
| Finally we can send our memories to the Story Master and Story Mistress. This campfire is our part of the W.Com 5th birthday celebration. Thank you, SM and SMs, for the memories. The End! |
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