Love dA Lit: Issue 61

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HugQueen
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Welcome to the sixty-first issue of my weekly news article, Love dA Lit! :dance: Every Sunday this article will aim to promote volunteer opportunities, various resources, prompts, challenges, and workshops, as well as highlighting various contests, interviewing various members of the literature community and spotlighting a specific group every week. This is by no means a complete list of all the literature going-ons, merely a tool to help you get involved and stay informed.


:star:This weeks group spotlight is NonfictionNook!:star:







Literature Links




Literature Links [in other languages!]
I am still looking for non-English literature groups, I'd like to keep tabs on them too! :eager:



This Week's Group Spotlight



:spotlight-left: :iconnonfictionnook: :spotlight-right:



NonfictionNook is a relatively new group, focusing on, you guessed it Non-Fiction! This group hosts literature lessons and are currently hosting a contest, Kick Ass Kick Off Contest. Learn more about this group by clicking here!

The wonderful founder of  NonfictionNook, ATrue, graciously answered some questions regarding her group.



:star: The "Nonfiction Nook" was originally started at LITplease, but was later removed because of little participation. What prompted you to make the NonfictionNook into a group instead?

Real nonfiction is a dying art. With today's pension for instant gratification, reality TV, blogs, and the like, people don't take the time to think about what real life is about before they write it down. Today, you see more rants, journals, and other unedited materials than good, thoughtful nonfiction.

But I really love nonfiction! I'd hoped having the Nonfiction Nook prompts at LITplease would give nonfiction an audience through the group's existing members, but it didn't work. When I decided to end the nonfiction prompts, I couldn't bear to see nonfiction disappear entirely, as there really isn't a home for it still active on dA. I tried to see about using a dormant nonfiction account (as anyone who knows me knows I hate opening new accounts if it's not necessary) but eventually the NonfictionNook was born.

Nonfiction is for everyone, as I always say! There isn't a literate person in the world who can say they haven't read nonfiction at some point: magazines, newspapers, blogs, journals, etc. Since nonfiction isn't always about literature, it's good that it is disassociated from any other literature group. Now people looking for resources, tutorials, and information on topics not related to literature might find the NonfictionNook and decide to contribute their own insights to an art medium they never realized they could contribute. Everyone can and should try their hand at writing nonfiction, as everyone has something to say that another person will find interesting and/or useful. That's why I took a risk and listed the NonfictionNook as a General Interest group rather than a Literature group.


:star:How is the NonfictionNook different from the other groups on dA?

Well, in a way it's different and in a way it's the same, and that was kind of the point. As I mentioned, I don't believe there's still an active general nonfiction group out there. There are more focused groups: ones solely for resources and tutorials, there's Letters-To-Myself (whose focus is self-explanatory), but no group to which you can submit any type of nonfiction. We accept them all. So, that's how the NonfictionNook is different. But because the Nonfiction Nook prompts failed at LITplease, I didn't want to do it the same way at the new group. So, I'm doing what thousands of other groups do quite successfully: I'm focusing on featuring deviations. That's something LITplease avoids and why our members stay with us (because we aren't like so many other groups), but for the NonfictionNook to draw and audience and give nonfiction a try, I had to do something a little more mainstream. If I really want people to notice nonfiction, I have to feature it, and that's what I intend to do.

We are also unique in that we publish Literature Lessons, brief articles with interesting facts about just about anything, aimed at edification and inspiration, along with related prompts. We've published two so far: 1.01, 1.02, and 1.03. Watch the group so you don't miss out!


:star:What do you think is a common misconception about nonfiction? Why?

I hear it all the time: "My life isn't interesting enough that anyone would want to read about it." People have this idea that nonfiction is about writing the facts: what happened, when, where, etc. so if they haven't fought in a war, traveled the world, had a traumatic childhood, saved a life, or gone to jail, then they don't have anything interesting to say. This is entirely untrue! Nonfiction isn't just about the facts. True, the facts are important to legitimize nonfiction, but it's really about is perspective. It's not about what happened, when, and where, but about the writer's observations and how their experience relates to other parts of life.

The smallest observation/experience can inspire an amazing piece of nonfiction. Virginia Woolf wrote an entire essay, "The Death of the Moth," after watching a moth on a window sill and it is one of the most significant pieces of nonfiction I've ever read. The reason is because the essay isn't really about a moth on a window sill at all, but about what the moth's actions signify about life and death for everyone. Woolf found perspective in a simple observation.


:star:Anything else of note you would like to share?

Absolutely! The NonfictionNook is just getting started, and I am hoping people will really want to get involved. As incentive, I'm running a Kick Ass Kick Off Contest to generate interest. We are also accepting submissions. Any submission that is good enough not only gets featured in our currently empty Featured Gallery, but also gets suggested for a Daily Deviation for even more exposure. So, watch the group and start contributing, because we want to get your work out there!


Quick Links:

If you're looking for some more groups head over to leoraigarath's Literature Groups List or Realm-of-Fantasy's for their list of literature groups[Fantasy, Sci-fi and General], or you could always head over to my journal[recently re-vamped!] to see the small list I've compiled. Or if you're still not finding a group you like check out the list of all literature groups on dA: Click here!



Inspiration (Workshops, Prompts and Challenges)


Weekly:

Bi-Weekly:

Monthly:


Other:



Lit Contests Galore!



These include contests that are purely Literature based and those that have other categories as well, but still accept Literature.

Here are the contests ending this week:



Please click here for the full list of contests!
There is also a group dedicated to Literature contests around dA, DALiteratureContests, if you're still looking for more contests!



Resources


Regular Lit Articles


General Resources

Writing Resources

Critiquing and Miscellaneous Resources

Publishing Resources

E-Zines/Magazines

:iconreadthismagazine: :iconsoundzine: :icondazine: :iconthemissingslate: :iconsecond-look: :iconverandahclub: :iconsuturehq: :iconpoetrymagazine:


Looking to help out the Lit Community?






Literature Community Relations



:iconhalatia: Halatia - Halatia's DD Suggestion Guidelines
:iconikazon: ikazon - lightningmonkey's DD Suggestion Guidelines
:iconbeccajs: BeccaJS - Beccalicious' DD Suggestion Guidelines
Go on and send your literature DD suggestions to them! :eager:

#CRLiterature Community Relations Literature Chatroom
Literature CR Update - December 2011
 December's Literature Daily Deviations

Literature Forums
Literature Forum
Posting Guidelines - Literature Forum

Monthly Literature Critique Thread: January


:note: FAQ #61: What is a Daily Deviation?
:note: FAQ #18: Who selects the Daily Deviation and how is it chosen?
:note: FAQ #873: What do I do when I disapprove of a Daily Deviation feature?




Contacting Me



:star: Want your group to be spotlighted? Your Literature project? See something you don't like? That you like? Want changed or removed? Have a suggestion for the next issue? Then please send me a note! The Literature Community is huge, so I'm always going to miss something or make a mistake, don't be afraid to let me know. ♥

Hugs, love and thanks to:
:iconatrue: for letting me help run LITplease's Community Portal and spamming her inbox with countless notes, all while being wonderful.
:iconxmothermoonx: a LITplease Community Liason and will be helping me with gathering information while being fabulous.
:iconevlydia: another LITplease Community Liason who will be helping gather even more information and continuing to be awesome.
© 2012 - 2024 HugQueen
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