  Noticing Newbies
This week: Cultivate a Writing Ritual Habit Edited by: JACE  
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Hi, I'm JACE .
Welcome to this issue of the Noticing Newbies newsletter. Join me as I take you into some nooks and crannies of Writing.Com that you may not have found time to check out yet.
Don't forget to toss me a note about what you liked or didn't like in my column, or about a topic you'd like to see discussed. This newsletter is about and for you. And for you seasoned members, I hope you'll find something you can take from my ramblings. 
Your Noticing Newbies Newsletter full-time Editors:
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Cultivate a Writing Ritual Habit
I've been reading a fascinating book by Sage Cohen entitled "Writing the Life Poetic." While its primary focus is things poetic, many of Cohen's comments and suggestions apply to writing in general. One of her topics is Cultivate a Writing Ritual. I found that particularly interesting as that's something I've seen as a need for my own writing efforts.
Last night I went for a walk with my wife. I'd looked up the definitions for 'ritual' and 'habit,' which I thought might be a more appropriate choice, and found them to be similar. So I asked Laura what she thought the difference between them might be. In her opinion a ritual had more thought and purpose behind it, and that every aspect of a ritual would be performed the same way; a habit, on the other hand, was just something a person did. I argued that habits had to be consciously developed and maintained over a period of time to become habit. She responded, "You asked my opinion...." I had, and I shut up.
You joined Writing.Com in hopes of improving your writing. My point here is that for your writing to improve you must write regularly. In today's fast-paced world, we seldom have two minutes to rub together. But we can often find time to do something we want. If you want to write, you must set aside that time. I submit you must make it a habit to write everyday. How does one do that?
Start by determining when your creative period is. I've found that inspiration and ideas come to me at all times of the day--that's why I carry a small notebook. But, I can't always sit down when that idea forms and start writing. Even if I had time at that moment, the words that flesh out that idea don't always come easily. Too many other things on my mind compete with that spark of inspiration. I know my most creative periods are late in the evening after winding down, and first thing in the morning before getting ready for the day. Rather than argue with my muse, I take ten minutes (or more if the urge is strong) before bed AND upon rising just to write. Twenty minutes a day is three hours a week; in a month I can write anywhere from two to five thousand words ... just part time.
I have several different essay's or stories going at the same time. Which one I work on depends where my mind wanders. I can't explain how that happens, but it does. While that seems hit or miss, the very act of writing is critical. Setting aside time to write every day, and knowing that time is sacred helps me write.
My location is just as important as the when. I have an area at home well appointed with the usual writing support accoutrements. I also have a Scentsy burner, which is usually going when I write. I love the Cozy Fireside scent. According to my wife, using a Scentsy would be part of a ritual. But sometimes I forego the olfactory for auditory sensations--I rather like classical music going in the background. The bottom line is I've developed the habit of writing every day.
Sometimes I have time to write during the day. Being able to write whenever the urge hits is not a bad thing. But you may not be able to count on having that time when you wish. I believe that like exercising, writing is best done regularly. Develop a habit of writing each and every day. I think you'll be surprised and pleased at the results.
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An Upgrade Moment
Each issue I write will highlight a feature available only to paid members at various levels. With so many nooks, crannies, and features available to members, one can hardly comprehend everything. Even older members can't track all the changes WDC has undergone over the past two years.  Most are explained in " Writing.Com 101" , and are marked with a symbol indicating to which membership level the feature applies. You may see something you didn't know existed, or something you just haven't tried before.
You can compare all the features available to a given membership level at " Compare Free and Paid Membership Benefits" .
This month, I'd like to discuss Books.
The ability to create Books is reserved to persons with Upgraded and above memberships. Book items are a great way to keep related things in one place. Chapters in a novel or entries in a blog are perfect reasons to create and maintain a Book. You have several options available when creating a Book. These include Collections, Handbooks, Journal/Blogs, Novels, Novella, and Short Stories. You can find a description of each book type in "Book" . An Upgraded member can have up to 725 entries in a Blog--that's two years of entries at one per day. The number of book items a member can create, the number of available entries for each book, and the size of each book increases as the membership level increases. Let's just say one can pack a lot of information in a Book Item.
Managing the individual entries or chapters is easy to do using the Manage link found within the book's edit tools. You can create a customized Table of Contents, or move chapters around if you determine a novel's flow is better served. You may restrict access to individual book entries. Please note that the book item's overall access restriction takes precedence over individual entry access restrictions. Thus, if a book item is set to Private, making one entry public will have no effect. However, if the book item is set to Public, making one entry private will block readers from viewing that entry.
You may even embed YouTube videos in your book entries, or if you have a Premium membership or above, you may add photos. See "Embedding Photos and Media Files in Books" for more on these features. The WDC Reference Guide ("Writing.Com 101" ) contains more entries regarding the creation and management of Books.
Finally, book or journal entries are individual items, and may be reviewed separately using either the Review box located under the entry or a Review Tool template. Auto Rewards may be added to each individual entry to further entice members to read and review specific entries. All in all, a Book item can be a valuable feature for your WDC writing arsenal.
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Check out these Newbies (I've selected folks who have filled out their Biography or something in their Bio-Block). Take a moment to review something in their Port ... or just say hi.
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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!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form
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And from the mailbox about my last Noticing Newbies newsletter, "Growing Your Own Writer's Group" .
From Hannah English-Maden  : What if you don't fit into any of those groups and would really like to find a group that you'd fit into???
Of course, being the ultimate optimist when it comes to WDC, I believe there's a group for you. I notice you write poetry. Perhaps you might check into some poetry groups; you may find a great fit with one of them. Please let me know if you need some help searching them out.
From jim1184  : Hi,Jace another good newsletter. I do think it is time to take your advice and join a group. I am reading some of your picks now, Just sent one review. Tomorrow I will start a search for a group to call home. Thanks.
Thank you, Jim. I hope you found a group that fits your needs and desires.
From believer10: This is great. Thank you so much for creating this newsletter!
Thanks, Mellisa. I didn't create this newsletter, but I sure enjoy being one of the editors, and helping folks out.
From luminous1 : I love your newsletters. They are very informative. I have a question: How does someone get established friendships on this site? Also, I would be grateful if you posted my story on your newsletter. Thank you so much. Keep up your newsletters.
Thanks, my friend. I believe you establish friendships by getting involved in various activities on site. You've accomplished the first major step (in my humble opinion) by filling out your Bio-Block and biography. Maintaining a presence in some of the forums, such as "Noticing Newbies" or "Writing.Com General Discussion" , keeps your name active. Make contact with those who have similar interests and strike up conversations with them. I've no doubt we'll see lots of you around.
From ruwth  : Jace, So many folks on here are writing novels or poetry. I just want to write non-fiction articles and essays. After a period of inactivity, I have purged my review request forum and I am looking forward to starting again - reading and reviewing articles and essays for other folks. Any Newbies with the same kind of interests, please head this way!
Submitted item: "rambling ruwth's reviews"
Thanks, Ruwth. Anyone interested, check out the link above.
From AL : Hi Jace. I think it felt nice to go through this newsletter - considering that it gave some ideas regarding how to move around and get acquainted with this site. I mean its been a fortnight since i joined WDC- of course I didn't log in to the site each day of the past fortnight - but still trying to get a feel of things. I hope I'll have a good time here. Thanks again :)
I appreciate your kind comments, my friend. I hope you're finding things a mite easier now.
From Yera ~Twelve!~ : Thank you so much for including my short story in your newsletter! It was such a pleasant surprise! :)
My pleasure. 
Some submitted items from our Newbies:
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Noticing Newbies: May 02, 2012 Issue [#5020]
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