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! You come across this site, by accident, or perhaps following a link from some entrenched Writing.com'mer. Soon you are drawn into the supportive community who all share a common dream and passion - writing. After that initial excitement of finding Writing.com there comes the need to make the most of the many opportunities afforded. This newsletter is to welcome you, our 'Newbies' and to help make you experience here an exciting, friendly and rewarding time. In this newsletter we will showcase some of our talented Newbies as well as providing handy tips and advice. We welcome you to submit questions, ask for help or say hello. We are here to help. Many non-newbies read this newsletter to. A warm welcome to them and a huge thank you for helping to make our new members feel welcome and supported. Your host this week is: Puditat 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! Power Search Just when I was struggling to come up with something to write about, I get handed the subject on a platter by our beloved, The StoryMaster and The StoryMistress . A number of changes have been made to the site. Many of you have probably already noticed some already. Such as the little icon links have disappeared, replaced with easier to understand text links at the top of the page. The drop-down menus have also altered appearance and they look prettier and fit more easily onto the page. By far, in my opinion, the most exciting change, is that the Power Search, once only available to Upgraded Memberships and above, is available for every member to use. If you have not played with the Power Search, I thoroughly recommend it. It is located in the black bar up near the top of every page, right beside the Sponsored item in yellow. There is a white text box to put in a keyword or keywords, a box to choose genre, a box for type and the Search button which tells the system to perform the search on your chosen settings. The Power Search can help you find reference material, narrow down what you want to read, find a particular contest, compete in contests and much more. A Few little Searching Tips: 1. Some contests utilise the Power Search as part of the gameplay, like an old-fashioned Scavenger Hunt. One that I know of is : "Invalid Item" Played every Monday at 10pm, Writing.com time. 2. You can use the search to research answers to a problem. For example, maybe some help is needed on grammar. I performed the following searches (I have listed only one result from each search) - Keyword: grammar Genre: How To/Advice Type: Any type = "Invalid Item" Keyword: grammar Genre: Educational Type: Any type = "Invalid Item" Keyword: grammar Genre: Reference Type: Any type = "Invalid Item" Each search brings different results as each person will categorise their work under different genres. 3. It takes pracice and familiarity to use any search tool proficiently. Sometimes you get no results, sometimes too many. Where you get few, or no, results, try specifying just a keyword and either genre or type. Alternatively, if you get too many results when using only two of the options, try adding the third to narrow the list down. I bet there are dozens of other searching tips out there. Do you have any you would like to share? Send them via the feedback form below and I wil post them in my next edition of this newsletter. Thanks for reading. Puditat I found some awesome works from our latest set of Newbies. I hope you enjoy the reads.
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%% ~~~~ Dear Puditat, Another fine job and passle of people to review. Having a simile day, "I feel like a junkie and this newsletter is my fix." Hope that offended no one. I look forward to this newsletter every week! I learn some things I haven't picked up even in two years. Thank you for your dedication! PastVoices PastVoices I'm glad that some 'new tricks' are coming out of the woodwork. Thank you for your feedback, your support is valued. ~~~~ Any queries, problems, praise or advice? Send it to one of Editors via the feedback form on this newsletter or direct to their email by clicking the wee envelope after their handle. 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. |