Welcome. Steemit is the place to be. It's the frontier of social media. This platform allows for people from all over the world to work together in their areas of interest and expertise. Very exciting stuff. The people are intelligent , friendly and supportive. At least that's been my experience. You mentioned an interest in writing. I can suggest checking out the writers' groups. There are writing contests that are challenging, fun and there are prizes. Yay.. These are two groups I can recommend:
https://steemit.com/trending/hive-161155
https://steemit.com/trending/hive-153970
If you decide to participate I'll be sure sure to look for your posts.
Not everyone speaks English so Google Translate can help...
Best wishes. @yancar @lunasilver