Another week, more updates on the work we are doing at The Writers' Block.

Growth

 
We are just shy of 600 members - an incredible 100 new people joined our community since our last update! Many have joined from Scribes and Scribblers - an off blockchain writers' group we are affiliated with - so we created a new channel called Steem-Stuff. We use this as a resource of how-to's and general guidance for newcomers to the platform.

New Channels

 
In addition to Steem-Stuff, we have added some more new channels.

The first is called Brainstorming and is a place for brains to storm ideas and help each other come up with some killer ideas. Everything from worldbuilding to plot and characters.

Haikai-No-Renga was added at the behest of @damianjayclay and @dbooster. They discovered the have a mutual love for this Japanese form of collaborative poetry.

^{Renku (連句 "linked verses"), or haikai no renga (俳諧の連歌, "comic linked verse"),[1] is a Japanese form of popular collaborative linked verse poetry. It is a development of the older Japanese poetic tradition of ushin renga, or orthodox collaborative linked verse. At renku gatherings participating poets take turns providing alternating verses of 17 and 14 morae. Initially haikai no renga distinguished itself through vulgarity and coarseness of wit, before growing into a legitimate artistic tradition, and eventually giving birth to the haiku form of Japanese poetry. The term renku gained currency after 1904, when Kyoshi Takahama started to use it.
Source}

The room will be used for everyone everyone to work on a long form collaborative poem. At each step everyone who would like to is free to post a submission for the next verse/stanza right in the channel (not as a steem post). After this there will be a period for voting where anyone who wants can pick their favourite by giving their choice an emoji. At the end of the voting period, the verse with the most votes will be added to the poem. Once completed, the entire poem will be posted on steemit and all the money it makes will be given to charity.

To cater for our Dutch speaking members, we have created the Nederlands channel where members can workshop their work, and is somewhere to get help with Dutch to English related challenges.

Finally, Writers-Workout was created. It will provide weekly writing excercises in our Discord Server. It is often easier to build a skill if you focus only on it, instead of having to focus on everything at once. In these writing exercises, we attempt to focus on different aspects of the craft. We learn as much from others mistakes as from our own, so critiquing each other will play a big part in these excercises.

Science Fiction Contest

 
@Rhondak's sci-fi contest has now moved onto the judging phase. Good luck everyone who took part.

Write Club

 
First rule of Write Club is you don't talk about Write Club ... unless you are giving a weekly update. This continues to do well under @jordanlesich's leadership and all participants are doing great work.

Animated Footer

 
Building upon @GMuxx's static footer design, seen at the top of this page, @Rhondak has cracked open her 3D bag of tricks and created a gif for The Writers' Block. Nice job Rhonda.

Promotions

 
@jonknight and @jrswab have both joined the moderation team, along with the sheriff of @minnowsupport, @discordiant. Recognising his talent with poetry, @damianjayclay has been promoted to poetry editor.

Upcoming Weekly Poetry Contest

 
Keen to show off your poetry skills? Keep an eye out for a weekly poetry contest run from The Writers' Block Steem account and sponsored by @GMuxx. Every week a prompt will be provided, and all poems should be written with this in mind. Prompts will range from general ideas to quotes, visual artwork to structural guidelines.

Update on The Fictioneers Show

 
We have not aired our regular podcast / radio show for several weeks. @anarcho-andrei runs the technical side and hosts it. In between travelling to Canada and back and moving house, he has not had the time to commit. It will return, possibly with a new format, in the near future.

... And Finally

 
@Rhondak has filed all necessary legal paperwork, taking the first step toward creating Steemhouse Publishing, our very own publishing house backed by crypto. We at The Writers' Block are incredibly excited for all our futures.

@GMuxx

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Are you a writer or keen to learn? Do you wish to join a community of like-minded individuals who can help hone your writing skills in the fields of fiction, non-fiction, technical, poetry, or songwriting? Join us at The Writers' Block by clicking the logo below.