Hello!

[coachlindaberg]

Hello,

What an interesting site! I am excited to be a part of this community and know I will be blessed by engaging with many of you.

I have been a writer for the past sixteen years mostly in the area of newsletters for the mission work my husband and I are involved in. I have often been told by the readers of those newsletters, "Write a book." I am certainly not ready to write a book, but am stepping out in faith to develop my writing skills so that through the written word I can share what I have seen God doing in people's lives.

[mikeedwards]

Glad to have you on the site. Make sure you check out the challenge for writing improvement. It is a great feature that writers rave about. God Bless, Mike

[chrisg]

Hello Linda! I was Publisher/Editor of our church newsletter for several years, (Under His Wings) and just loved it. Many articles blossomed out of small sidebars and other submissions. I'm sure I could write a book about my experiences. (I'm sure you can too) I've kept all of them, and enjoy reading them from time to time. May God bless you in your writing endeavors!

Chris

[coachlindaberg]

Glad to have you on the site. Make sure you check out the challenge for writing improvement. It is a great feature that writers rave about. God Bless, Mike

Thanks for the welcome Mike. I did check out the challenge for writing improvement and submitted an article.

[coachlindaberg]

Hello Linda! I was Publisher/Editor of our church newsletter for several years, (Under His Wings) and just loved it. Many articles blossomed out of small sidebars and other submissions. I'm sure I could write a book about my experiences. (I'm sure you can too) I've kept all of them, and enjoy reading them from time to time. May God bless you in your writing endeavors!

Chris

So good to hear from you Chris. I have enjoyed the newsletter articles I write too. So many wonderful stories to tell of God working in people's lives. It's an honor to share it with others. I'd enjoy reading some of your articles. Are they on here? Or do you have others? Thanks for the encouragement.

Linda

[Shann]

Hi Linda, welcome to FW! This is an awesome site. There are so many things to explore. It can feel a bit overwhelming at times but don't hesitate to ask for help if need be.

I do the newsletter for my church. It's a lot more work than one might expect. I do find a lot of my filler stuff from members here at FW. There is great free reprint stuff. Then I'll leave a note by the author's name telling them if they want to read more work by this author check out the site. You may want to look into the free reprint section too for your newsletter.

One of the best things at FW is how I have made close friends with people all over the world. I hang out in the Pacific Coast Rest Stop a lot so I have friends in those states and another oddball who lives in Maryland. I have also become close to people from Africa, Australia, England, Latvia and Thailand. I live in a super rural area in Western NY and would never had the opportunity to meet people from all over the world. I can't imagine my life without FW!

There are all ages from teens to grandparents who having writing experiences from journaling to published books. There are also all kinds of genres. My favorite is Children's stories. But you'll find sci-fi, fantasy, devotions, nonfiction,romance, Biblical fiction and everything in between.

The weekly challenge is the most popular way to showcase your work. I am super impressed that you already submitted a challenge. It can be scary at first. I try to read and comment on all of the challenges but just got out of the hospital so haven't done as much as I wish I could have. If your entry is for accent, they will be posted on Thursday and after the judging is complete, usually sometime over the weekend, you can go to the throw a brick thread and leave a link to asks for feedback. It's a great way to improve your work and get more input from others, you just have to wait until Deb gives the all clear.

I have learned so much from feedback from people who want me to be the best writer I can be. I have also learned to write on topic while still being different from all the other entries. The deadline has really helped me write on a regular basis.

Another place for members who would like to have their work critiqued can go to the Critique Circle. They now offer two options. If you're a Gold or Platinum member you are given one credit to post your piece and ask for feedback. Then you have to leave feedback for others to receive more credits. If you're a nonpaying Silver member, however, you can pay a small fee to have your story critiqued in detail. This option is also available to members who don't feel comfortable or have time to critique others.

Also you can post your older stories in the general submission or free reprint page. The challenge submissions need to be new stories that fit the topic.

Have fun exploring the site and jump into any threads that sound interesting. I hope to see you out and about and read some of your work.

[coachlindaberg]

Shann,

Thank you for responding with all the information about this site. There is so much here and I am excited to have this opportunity to have my writing critiqued and encouraged.

I see you have been ill. I pray that you are recovering well.

Blessings!

Linda Berg

[RedBaron]

Hi and

[coachlindaberg]

Thanks for the welcome Red Baron. Congratulations on your new writing job. Way to go!