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 Noticing Newbies: July 06, 2005 Issue [#455] |
  Noticing Newbies This week: Edited by: esprit   More Newsletters By This Editor   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!             Editors: Cubby  Puditat laurencia Your host this week is esprit 
 Sharing Your Work is Scary! Hey! How's it going? You've posted your first item, it's been reviewed and you're still here. That's the big first step. Was it as hard as you thought it would be? Yes? Sharing work with other writers is scary. Self-esteem and self-confidence issues are the major causes of putting off submitting our work, either here on the site or to the major or minor publishers. Wondering if anyone will like it, or if it is good enough, is stressful. Stress will knot up your stomach and cause real physical pain. I know from my own experiences. Even newsletter editor's feel it.  Writing is easy, writing well is not. It takes encouragement, practice, and lots of reading to learn how. You will never get better if your self-confidence is allowed to die. Building, boosting and reinforcing our self-confidence is something most of us need to constantly work on. If someone gives you a review and comments on technical issues/errors, don't go running to the delete button in tears. Hold on a minute and think about it. Think about why you became a member of Writing.Com. It was to learn to write better,wasn't it? Can you do that by yourself? I can't. We need the feedback other writers and readers give us. A review should also praise what you did right. Focus on the positives. Take a moment to feel proud of that descriptive scene, or that great character only you could have created. Take pride in your achievements. You'll need this commitment, especially when you're feeling discouraged or frustrated by the comments of reviewers. Then, take the time to consider the reviewer's comments. If you don't agree with them, that's okay. The important thing is, you're learning. We are all here to learn as much as we can, or at least as much as we want to. Do you ever doubt your abilities as a writer? We all require constant assurance that our work is good. Praise keeps us from giving up when our confidence takes a hit, and it will take some hits if our work is posted for public view. Friends and family can praise, but are they writers too? Writing.Com members know and understand the amount of time and effort you've invested in your work, because they do the same. They gladly give honest praise along with good tips and suggestions. You will also receive reviews with no praise, and some from Anonymous. You can delete them; but keep in mind they could be from a *publisher or a published author; or from a member who knows what they are talking about. Don't brush them off too quickly. I have had several items published in paper and ink magazines by publishers who found them here. Publishers don't take the time to praise or tell you what's right about the submission; they don't tell you what's wrong either. They only say it's "not right for us"; they'll accept it; or they say nothing at all. They give no feedback, no editing help and they leave you wondering what was wrong with it. Is your skin thick enough to take rejection from a publisher? Self-confidence is another word for thick skin. Yeah, rejection hurts, no doubt about it; but you send it out again, and again. Why? Because you know it's good. "Burn My Letter - Volume 5" by The StoryMaster  Write for the joy of writing, to please yourself. Your writing will reflect your pleasure. The more you learn from receiving and giving good feedback- the more confidence you'll gain. It is that confidence that'll soon become evident in the quality of work you turn out. The most reliable, constant source of confidence building is yourself. *publishers often visit Writing.Com, and there have been works chosen to be published. One was recently contracted by, I believe, HBO! ** Image ID #715135 Unavailable **    
** Image ID #830174 Unavailable ** My Pick For Newbie of the Month is;  Besides being an excellent writer, Christine is a quiet, gentle soul. You'll never hear her raise her voice in anger or even whisper a slight disagreement. She's been noticed around Writing.Com often since she joined about three weeks ago. She hasn't done much reviewing yet, but that's because she's been so busy writing and posting new items daily. Her reaction upon hearing she was going to be featured this week, was this nice, dignifed reply. Holy Cow!!!! I'm being featured?? Thanks! I've never really gotten into the whole reviewing and interacting thing, but this site is changing my whole perception of interactive writing sites. I'm totally blown away here. I'm so glad I gave this site a try. I'm definitely a big fan. I'll be adding this site to the links page of my website. Ya'll rock. Happy Writing, Christine You rock too, Christine! Welcome aboard. Highlighted newbies are chosen from those I've read during the month. I choose most of them by the quality of their writing or the quality of their replies to my reviews. Some are chosen by whim just because they've told me how much they're enjoying and quickly learning to love the site. I'm just sorry I don't have room to highlight more. You are all quality talents. sharonbythesea bibliosylph Rixfarmgirl  nysa
Remember to read your neighbor’s work too!
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!  Submitted By: PastVoices Submitted Comment: Esprit, Thank you for another wonderful Noticing Newbie Newsletter that touched on things even I didn't understand how to use. Now, if someone would just explain the "My Notepad" function to me. LOL Newsletter ON!! PastVoices hugged Suze (32) Thank you, Nanette! Gosh, Notepad, huh? Well, you can store your various sigs there handily, and copy/paste them as needed. Write your reviews and view the ML before sending it. Keep reading the letter Nanette, someone will be along with lots of ideas. Submitted By: hdelphyne Submitted Comment: To the editors of the Newbie Newsletter: I expect to be spending a lot of time culling the resources of this letter as I do find the site overwhelming with its wealth of resources. Thank you for thinking of the newbie and providing this resource. Thea Thank you, Thea. You can also click on each editor's briefcase to read their newsletter archives. Back issues have helpful information too. The site can be overwhelming at first. Just take it slow and easy and ask questions, though most questions are already answered somewhere. Write a couple of keywords in the search box and you may find the answer quickly. Submitted By: angelique54 Submitted Comment: To know someone is reading and enjoying your writings is a pleasure. To be judged by your peers to be worthy of acknowledgement is an honor and very humbling. Thank you for including me among the highlighted stories You're very welcome! It was my pleasure. Submitted By: Puditat Submitted Comment: Wonderful editorial Esprit. These topics are not often covered, so good job! Thanks so much! As I mentioned in the letter, praise is needed by all of us, even editors. Thanks for reading and always remember to toot your own horn. You're good!  Have a question or comment for the Editor? http://www.Writing.Com/main/newsletters.php?action=nli_form
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