  Noticing Newbies
This week: Own Your Obsessions 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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Own Your Obsessions
Let's talk about obsessions. I'm sure we all know what obsessions are, and that they vary from person to person. My own obsessions may never rear their ugly head within your worlds just as I may never notice yours. Indeed, some obsessions may not even be ugly.
Family and friends would have no problems believing your mono-mania for writing as obsessions. However, we each know that nothing about our own writing is obsessive. We're passionate! 
Whatever the case, obsessions, loosely defined, are the things that drive you ... perhaps those very things that cause you to be on WDC day after day. They may be ideas for stories, or simply a desire to learn more about some aspect of WDC.
I personally like to think of obsessions regarding my writing as positive--a path or a guide toward improving my lot on this site, focusing my efforts on becoming a better writer. There are many features and tools on WDC that help me on that path, perhaps so many that I get bogged down with all the minutia and complexity.
Make a list!
I use a matrix to list all my obsessions ... uh, tasks. I jot down all the things I want to accomplish. I separate them by category--say, writing ideas, review techniques, WDC mechanics or features, etc.--and prioritize those tasks. Finally, I identify the desired end results for each task.
Would you like a specific idea fleshed out as a contest entry, or for submission to a magazine for publication? You may want to break that task down into several results with different deadlines--first, submit to the Public Review page, then post to a contest, and finally submit to a publisher.
Maybe there is some facet of WDC that you'd like to understand better. Or, you might just want to organize all those thoughts in an easy-to-read form. My point is list ALL your obsessions in one place and not on all those little scraps of paper you carry around in your pockets, or stack up on your desk, or leave lying all around your room.
Get organized. Use this list as a roadmap toward becoming a better writer. At least, you'll no longer obsess about the little things ... I hope. 
Write on, my friends.
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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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And from the mailbox about my last Noticing Newbies newsletter, "Stranger in a Strange Land" .
From jeanb67: Sorry for the 2 week+ delay in reading the newsletter (and commenting). Thank you for the advice about selecting one area of writing as a beginning and taking baby steps. I have not been very active on the site to this point. I will be more active and visible STARTING NOW! Thanks, again.
My pleasure. I'm looking forward to seeing you around the site.
From THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  : Great advice, Jace. Too often newbies try to get involved with several activities and groups all at once and then have WDC-burnout (yes, there is such a thing!) Taking one step at a time, as you suggest, seems to be a good way of going about it.
And I'm living proof that it doesn't just happen to Newbies; I need to take my own advice. 
From Jeff  : Excellent NL, Jace. It took me a few years of dabbling on this site before I finally jumped in and started to learn my way around. I couldn't agree more that the best way to get started is to find one particular aspect of the site (reviewing, writing contests, interactives, etc.) and get really comfortable with that first. It's amazing how much you'll pick up and begin to naturally expand into other areas of the site if you just start with a small, focused aspect of WdC rather than trying to learn it all at once. Well said, my friend. 
And I appreciate your encouragement, something folks at all levels need.
From gurudude: I'm a newbie! Thank You, Jon McC, for helping me get my first short story off the ground, You were freely and generously helping me in what I believe is a good and funny first shot! Thanks again, GuruDude.
I'm glad you found someone to help you out. And for the rest of you who need assistance--don't hesitate to ask. Lots of folks are willing to help.
From Quick-Quill  : What a great prompt!!! Book of ELI came to mind, Every season of Star Trek. This is a tried a true plot that any one can build a story on! I think noticing a newbie is a great way to make a friend for life! I love WDC!
From Doug Rainbow  : A Newby (or an Oldby or anyone in between) may come to WDC without caring about its many features. Maybe he/she just wants to read a short story. Fine. A fisherman need never visit the golf department of a sporting goods store. He knows it is there, but it is irrelevant to him.
True. Then again, it may only be irrelevant at that time.
From Starrunner  : My Work: I am researching and writing (1st.man) a science fiction novel. I want to to keep it to real physics (mostly/some theory (Worm holes/4th demension)) etc. I want to also in-corporate real places in the milky way.i.e.(crab nebuls/perseus arm/orion spur/Gum Nebuls) etc.
Q: I have searched and searched to find a chart/picture that is labeled with the different nebula locations/constellations, star clusters, etc. like this:
http://galaxymap.org/drupal/node/171
Would one of your readers know where I could find such a image with the locations of different Nebula/constellations/cluster locations?
Thx for your time, I enjoy your NL and have used some of the resources.
Respectfully,
Anthony Dorey,
Vancouver,BC.Canada.
Any Sci-Fi writing enthusiasts out there?
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Noticing Newbies: November 13, 2012 Issue [#5362]
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