Noticing Newbies 1. About this Newsletter 2. A Word from our Sponsor 3. Letter from the Editor 4. Editor's Picks 5. A Word from Writing.Com 6. Ask & Answer 7. Removal instructions Welcome to the Noticing Newbies Newsletter! Our goal is to showcase some of our newest Writing.Com Authors and their items. From poetry and stories to creative polls and interactives, we'll bring you a wide variety of items to enjoy. We will also feature "how to" advice and items that will help to jump start the creation process on Writing.com We hope all members of the site will take the time to read, rate, review and welcome our new authors. By introducing ourselves, reviewing items and reaching out, we will not only make them feel at home within our community, we just might make new friends! Your host this week is esprit Passionate about writing? Take your passion to new heights - with an online Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, available only from top ranked National University. Choose workshops based on your interests. Work with experienced and published faculty. Prepare for a variety of career opportunities. Use a state-of-the art online system: Study where and when you want. Click here to get more information! Brief Descriptions are Important Hello everyone. This week, I too am a newbie. I am editing my first newsletter for Noticing Newbies. I should have titled this one 'Fear', and spoke of the fear of posting your first items up for everyone to read; like the fear I'm feeling right now. Instead, I chose the next topic that everyone has a little trouble with. Brief Descriptions I notice items being listed with descriptions that say, 'I hate descriptions!' Good descriptions are the way I choose to buy my books. We certainly can't read a chapter before we buy, so we must depend on the descriptions. Picture a box of Boston Baked Beans. Pretend you’ve never heard of them. What are they? Pick up the box and read the Brief Description. If it says, ‘We didn’t know how to describe these, just try them for yourself’, without telling you anything about them, would you? They must be beans, baked in Boston, covered in chocolate, right? I don’t want to try them. But, if the description says, ‘chocolate coated peanuts’, wow! That sounds better so I will try them. How do you choose something to read? Do you look at the picture on the cover to give you an idea of what the book’s about? Is the title enough information for you; or do you read the Brief Description printed on the back? For me, it is all three, but the most important is the description. You want to make the description the hook to pull the reader in. Make it sharp, and make sure it and the title both match the story. If the reader is expecting ‘Danger in the Snow!', it better be snowing. If the description tells the reader, ‘I can’t describe this, it isn’t very good’ why would a reader even want to read it? Like it or not, you have described it. You've told the prospective readers not to waste their time because it isn't very good. Writers have no time for humbleness. If you or I put it out there for someone to read we are ready for feedback. Of course it is not finished and it needs work, but if you, the writer likes it, it is good. No misspelled words are allowed in the Brief Description. Be very careful here. If the first thing seen is a misspelled word, it may not get read. If you truly have trouble with descriptions, just copy and paste a good action sentence from the content and use it. For a poem write; a sad poem, or silly, or full of angst. Something! Hey, that was fun, how'd I do? I'll see you after the holidays. Happy Holidays everyone. esprit There were so many new talented authors I didn't have room to list them all, here are just a few. Please check out their ports and make them welcome. halfwright I found this Author to have a wonderful sense of humor! He's talented, too. charm1 This author has some very well written items in her port. What I call 'Memory' stories. lorney31 A fantastic talent who writes in the drama genre. and these too, Rasputin kireimusume ivyhill strange_me The Silent Boom! I had no trouble finding extraordinary talent. Check out these items for some great reading.
Submit an item for consideration in this newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter! http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form Don't forget to support our sponsor! %%NL_AD_BOT%% Hi, I'm a "newbie" and don't know how else to get help concerning this matter:the disturbing email I received in response to a review I did. Please let me know where to forward this disturbing reply. writeonbabe You can go to these sites, which are also listed underneath your received reviews in your inbox. Just scroll down until you find them. Thanks for asking!
Links that I found helpful as a newbie, and still use everyday;
Have a question or comment for the Editor? http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form To stop receiving this newsletter, go into your account and remove the check from the box beside the specific topic. Be sure to click "Complete Edit" or it will not save your changes. |