Greetings from Mississippi

[rtodd5011]

My name is Richard. Im 48 years old and happily married since Oct 2010. I have been a christian since I was 18 in 1982. Last year I started a blog at google, and have several christian writings now plus my testimony. im looking forward to sharing my writings. Im disabled with a mental illness but that has not stopped me from writing whats on my heart. But have lots of time on my hands to cultivate my passion for writing. I really dont know where to start on Faithwriters, and only a silver member. Maybe someone can direct me to what i can do as a silver member? I have no clue...

Richard Hicks

[jerseygirl]

Hi Richard -- I am new myself as a gold member, but since I am so new there is not much I can tell you except I do remember reading that brand new this year the site was going to have the challenge contest open to silver members 4 times a year. I think this is one of the times or it is coming up soon. I am sure from encouragement and Christian love I have seen from one of the founder's so far to me on my e-mail that you will get lots of encouragement and some good info... I am mainly writing to encourage you because my son has a mental health challenge and loves writing. He won second place for one of his writings but then needed a sabbatical because of His health. My son and I will say some prayers for you and your wife and maybe you could do the same for us. The body of Christ is a beautiful thing! Hope you and your family have a blessed week in the Lord, Alicia

[rtodd5011]

Thanks, I did find a contest where silver members can write in it, and entered a writing in it. It was tough counting all those words lol. Thanks Alicia, its very encouraging to meet you and your son. I pray my writing is received well and does well. I will most definitely plray for you and your son.

God Bless you both,
Richard

[rtodd5011]

I entered a writing on the writing challenge. How do i know if it posted and got submitted once i pushed the the submit buttom. I havent got anything in my email.

[Shann]

Hi welcome to FW! I'm so glad that God directed you here. As for your question about the weekly challenge, I'm assuming the story you entered was for the topic rest. The deadline for that topic is Thursday at 11 am Eastern time. At that time the winners for measure will be announced as well as the new topic. Then the rest stories will be available for reading and leaving comments. The authors will remain anonymous until the judges are all done. Then Deb will give the all clear for brick-throwing, which is thread in the forums that allows people to leave links to their stories. This will allow more people to find your story and leave feedback. You in turn are asked to leave feedback for others.

I hope that answered your question. You don't get an email saying your story has been accepted but instead after you hit the submit button, it should take you to a page that says your article has been submitted. If you don't remember seeing that page, you can send a PM to Deb Porter and ask her if she received it. The challenge is one of the most popular spots here for sure. If you can afford the few dollars a month it is so totally worth it.

So Silver members can enter the challenge four times a year. They also can enter the blogging contest. This month it is about WellSpring Missions. You don't receive the writing job if you're a silver member but instead the Silver member receives a year long Gold membership.

You can also enter your stories under the general submissions. You may want to leave a link here or in the Open Forum so people can find the stories easily.

You also can find a wealth of info on the boards. It's also a great way to make friends. I've become close to people from all over the world.

The Critique Circle is a great place for paid members to receive a detailed critique on their work. Just recently, they have allowed members to pay so much a page for detailed feedback. This is for silver members or members who want a critique but don't have the time to critique someone else's work. That's how the circle works. Each time you leave feedback, you receive a credit to allow you to post a piece and to get a constructive critique.

I hope I gave you some places to start. The site is huge and there are so many wonderful things here. You may want to check out the FAQ thread as that may answer many of your questions.

Have fun exploring, jump into conversations and don't be afraid to ask any questions.

[rtodd5011]

Thank you for posting Shann. I am real excited about being here, and I believe this is part of my calling as well. Yes i joined the writing contest called rest. I dont remember what it showed after i pressed the submit button so i better email deb porter. how do i find her?

I have writings that I wrote on a google blog since last year, so i can post them in the general submissions forums?

i looked at the blogging contest and was a tad bit confused, I will go back and relook at it. I guess the most important thing right now is to see if my article got submitted.

Richard

[RedBaron]

Hi and welcome.
You should be able to PM Debthrough her profile (I think it's working again).

Anything that's appeared elsewhere can be put in the general submissions. Anything for the challenge, must be written new for the challenge.

[rtodd5011]

Hi and welcome.
You should be able to PM Debthrough her profile (I think it's working again).

Anything that's appeared elsewhere can be put in the general submissions. Anything for the challenge, must be written new for the challenge.

Thanks RedBaron, I found her on the forum and pmed her. yes i seen that somewhere, I wrote what I wrote for the contest just today when i signed up for contest.

[rtodd5011]

I just now went up to Gold membership! I guess i didnt look close enough and just seen where they can take out 5>95 a month!

[Shann]

Oh cool I'm so glad you upgraded! I think you'll be really happy. If you post your stories, you may want to leave a link to them here or in the Open Forum ( not stories for the challenge though)

[rtodd5011]

im still trying to find where i can post them, and havent heard from Deb Porter. I been quiet busy this afternoon and tonight. I got alot of encouragement from my friends on facebook and several of them are people from my church and online support group .

Rich

[Shann]

The deadline isn't until Thursday so don't worry about it now. Deb is in Australia so I'm not sure what the time difference is for you. When you log in to the main site not the forums, you'll see a list of popular spots. Also there is a box on that page that shows the benefits of a gold member. If you click on that, it will help you navigate the site.