Thoughts & Things

WDC Participation

In the past year or so, I have been working hard to maintain an active presence here at WDC. Although I have always loved writing, I have never done as much of it as I prefer. WDC has been one of the tools I have had at my fingertips for years (my nine year anniversary will be in November), and failed to utilise as best I could.

I have always been around in a lurking sort of way. I posted a few pieces of writing, and I reviewed a few works of others. Unfortunately, I have never really done much with my time here. I spent more time reading newsletters than doing anything else (although the newsletters are quite fantastic). In the past year, I feel like I have achieved so much here, and made so much progress in my writing output, that it's hard not to regret that I didn't make such good use of it before. All I can do now is keep making steps forward.

I have spoken before of the kind of progress that I have made here at WDC. This blog is a great example of that progress; this will be my 119th blog post since I started this blog in July of 2016, a solid year ago. I spoke of many examples of my progress in "One Hundred Blog Posts and Counting" , and even since then I have managed to continue to progress.

Last year, I purchased my first upgraded account. Someone originally anonymously (thank you, amazing stranger!) gifted me three months of upgraded membership, and I quite liked what I experienced. I think it was a big part of what drew me in to doing more stuff here. I purchased a year long upgraded membership after I received what I like to think of as a free trial courtesy of the kindness of someone's heart. I think upgrading my account is why I felt so encouraged to continue my writing projects big and small, and inject myself further into the amazing community that is WDC.

It occurred to me recently that I have done very little to play around with the benefits of paid membership. I definitely use the extra space, I love having my blog, and there are other small features that I enjoy. I decided that I wanted to play with more of those extra features, and set up my very own C-note shop featuring photographs from my time in Ireland.

Part of what encouraged me to do this was WDC's fantastic community. When I have gone through hard times in recent months with my grandmother becoming ill and passing away, and dealing with physical and mental health struggles, WDC has been incredibly kind to me. I have received C-notes from users named and anonymous that have brightened some of my darkest days, and they meant the world to me. I felt that being a bigger part of the WDC community should include contributing to that incredible system, which is why I set up some photographs in an album here at WDC, and started up the shop. I am always trying to gain enough gift points to pay for my membership in the spring, and I keep reading that this is a good way to earn a few extra.

I have also been trying to participate more in site contests and challenges, and I think I have been doing okay, although I always seem to feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew. I am still working on my Give It 100 challenge, where I committed to blogging daily for one hundred days, and I have grown quite fond of keeping up on my blog. I participated in Promptly Potter in May, which produced more flash fiction and short stories in a single month than perhaps any other single month in my life (as I have never committed to writing either daily). Now Game of Thrones is closing in fast, and I am incredibly excited. I remember seeing everyone talking about it last year, and I'm glad I get to be a part of the chaos this time around (although I am a bit nervous).

My participation here at WDC only continues to grow, and I feel more a part of a community here than ever before. I also feel more like a true writer than ever before, as I have shared so much content in what feels like so little time. I hope I can continue to keep my participation up here for a long time to come.


You can visit my C-note shop here: "Scenic C-Notes" .

(I have committed to blogging daily with Give It 100. This is Day Seventy-Seven. Eight days of leave taken total.)