Noticing Newbies: August 05, 2015 Issue [#7136]
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Noticing Newbies


 This week: The Power of Habit
  Edited by: Tornado Dodger Author IconMail Icon
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Table of Contents

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

About This Newsletter


The Noticing Newbies Newsletter's goal is to make the newer members feel welcome and encourage them with useful information and/or links to make navigating Writing.com easier. Writing.com members of all ages and even veteran members can find useful information here. If you have specific questions, try visiting "Writing.Com 101Open in new Window. and/or "Noticing NewbiesOpen in new Window..


Meet The Noticing Newbies Full-Time Newsletter Editors






Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor



“The path to artistic insight in one direction often involves deep study of another—the intuition makes uncanny connections that lead to a crystallization of fragmented notions.”
― Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning: A Journey in the Pursuit of Excellence


Habits define us, whether good or bad unfortunately. The key is to develop and nurture good habits to increase or efficiency and productivity, thus improving our lives. Charles Duhigg describes keystone habits in his book The Power of Habit (linked below). What he says is. “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives.". Basically the point he is trying to make is, when you start small with little changes introducing something into your life, that change can cause a ripple effect that causes further changes in your life for the good as well.

I was reading an article yesterday that compared habits of talented people. While many of us get up and spend our morning coffee break checking the newsfeed or playing games on Facebook, Josh Waitzkin spends the first thirty minutes immediately writing in his daily journal. The name of Josh Waitzkin might not ring a bell. However, his accomplishments will. He won his first National Chess Championship at the age of nine and was still a teenager when his father's book Searching for Bobby Fischer made him a worldwide celebrity. Why does he do this you ask? Because it stimulates his creativity and allows him to further develop ideas that are still on the tip of his brain and subconscious from sleeping. Instead of reacting to the ideas and actions of others and taking in information, he is stimulating his brain with output.

There are many theories on how you should start your day which include everything from exercise, what to eat, even prayer and meditation. Whatever you choose is your own business as some are 'morning people' and some aren't. However, I can personally vouch for the inspiration involved with journaling. I've gotten away from the practice in the past couple years and I desperately miss it. Journaling helps you develop your creative side. Just like runners walk after a run to wind down, you need to wind down after a busy day at work or school. SO whether you are a day person or night, you should find some time to relax and write. Letting your mind spin a few lines to unwind, can help your mind rest. It also helps you stay in the present while turning off your work-mind and recovering your creative side. Journaling has been proven to reduce stress, increase focus, as well as increasing retention of information. How you ask? Because listening and reading engages different parts of the brain than writing. Writing helps reinforce information while experiencing intensified retention and learning which are also important in writing.

While good habits come in many shapes and sizes (eating healthy, exercising, etc.) none are more important for the writer than developing consistent writing habits. Write daily, whether its flash fiction, poetry, or simply journaling/blogging your non-fiction tasks of the day, just get writing!

Write and Review on! ~ Brooke

“Entertaining . . . enjoyable . . . fascinating . . . a serious look at the science of habit formation and change.”—The New York Times Book Review
*Down* Over 60 weeks on NYT Best Seller List! *Down*
ASIN: 081298160X
Amazon's Price: $ 11.26




Editor's Picks

Highlighted Newbies:

Check out these items that caught my eye. If you read them, make sure to leave a review. *Smile*

 Five Rules for Keeping A Journal Open in new Window. [13+]
Lessons I learned the hard way: for writers new to the practice of daily journaling.
by SketchAnEtch Author Icon


~*Star*~

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


~*Star*~

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


~*Star*~

 Filth Open in new Window. [13+]
Filthy habits die hard, change is harder, but with faith, everything is possible
by JosLav Author Icon


~*Star*~

 Rising from the habit.... Open in new Window. [18+]
Reflections of a man addicted to a habit.
by blacpoet Author Icon


~*Star*~

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


~*Star*~

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


~*Star*~

 Journatation Open in new Window. [E]
Was journaling about journaling, and this came out.
by Dan Sturn Author Icon


~*Star*~

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


~*Star*~

 Invalid Item Open in new Window. []

by A Guest Visitor


~*Star*~



 
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Word from Writing.Com

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!
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Don't forget to support our sponsor!

ASIN: 197380364X
Amazon's Price: $ 15.99


Ask & Answer


I received some wonderful feedback to my last newsletter [#7089] "Commonly Mistaken WordsOpen in new Window. and I'm proud to share it with you.

From benjwriter14
I love Grammar Girl and have been listening to her podcast for years. Grammar reminders are always welcome. Thanks for sharing.


From Elfin Dragon-finally published Author Icon
The tragedies of the English language. I think we'd all be better off if we spoke something which made a bit of sense. *Laugh* Consider a young German woman taking an English class. She's trying to say hoarse. She has it written correctly but for some reason she's not being understood and people are looking at her oddly. I ask her what she's trying to say and she repeats the word. Now I look at her oddly, for instead of hoarse it sounds like (well, lets not say in mixed company) and we must quickly try to explain. But it's not easy to try to get a German accent to say a word which can sound several ways to sound one way. *Smile*


From S Ferguson~ Prepping for Prep Author Icon
I am so happy I still read the Newbies newsletter. There were words brought up I didn't know even had different spellings and different meanings! The mind is always expanding. I love it!


From ☮ The Grum Of Grums Author Icon
Lots more of these, Brooke. The top three, I would say, are "to, too and two"' "your, you're and yore" and "there, their and they're". Then we have "compliment" and "complement", "invalid" with different emphasis for a sick person, or something that is not legitimate, "right, write and rite", "ring and wring", "felt" as the past tense of "to feel" and the thick furry material, "route" and "root", "solvent" as something that dissolves something else, or being financially sound, "click" and "clique" "tense" as the status of a verb, and stressed, "seen" and "scene", "forth" and "fourth", and, unfortunately, "ice" as both frozen water and the foul drug. And let's not forget "foul" and "fowl" as well as no doubt many more.

Warm regards



From Tiger Cub 🔱 Author Icon
Thank you for the wonderful newsletter! I especially liked the explanation of misspellings - very useful *Smile*



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