One of the best things about being a writer on deviantART is the opportunity to be featured in a Daily Deviation (DD). While most literature communities can only offer you an audience of other writers, deviantART can expose your work to an incredible range of artists - and even non-artists (and other assorted muggles). A DD is a golden ticket to the kind of exposure which is so hard for a struggling wordsmith to find.
And yet, the systems behind DDs seem to be a mystery to a large part of the deviantART community. Our
recent poll suggests that almost half of our voters don't understand what DDs are or how they work.
#
WritersInk is stepping in to help. Over the next few weeks, we'll be talking in more detail about some of the different aspects of DDs. We'll explain how suggestions are processed, how to suggest a piece, and what to look for when making a suggestion. We'll also pay a visit to Daily Literature Deviations (DLDs) - a smaller, but no less important, cornerstone of the literature community.
What are Daily Deviations?DDs are works of art, hand-picked each day from across the whole range of artistic mediums - from visual art to literature to Journal CSS. You'll have seen them: they appear in the footer of most of deviantART's pages (including the home page). For the day of a deviation's feature, it can expect to get
thousands of page views. It's difficult to buy that kind of publicity; and a thrill to receive it.
A small group of Community Volunteers (CVs) run and choose the Daily Deviations. They rely on suggestions from the community to help them find the best artwork out there. Literature has to stand up against visual art - so the bar for quality is pretty high. It needs to be impacting, original and instantly engaging. There are four CVs dedicated to looking after literature DDs (they're all writers, too).
It's important to remember (and we think a lot of people don't realise this): DDs aren't supposed to be
perfect. As CV ^
neurotype said:
They're not an award, they're just a feature. Opinions will vary on what's worthy of the feature and what isn't, and anything is open to respectful criticism. We encourage everyone to read the literature DDs every now and again - but also to remember that DD-featured artists are desperate for feedback too. Constructive criticism is incredibly valuable, even to pieces which receive a lot of attention.
Why does it matter?Writers here on deviantART are united by a common cause. Yes, we want people to read the words we've spent hours arranging on a page. But we're also desperate for
feedback: to know what works, what doesn't, and why. We want to know what kind of people our writing speaks to, and whether we're hitting the right notes. We're all dependent on the wisdom of our fellow writers to help out, and that means we all need to put in a little bit of effort, too. Daily Deviations make a huge difference in attracting that sort of feedback.
By the end of these articles, we're confident that you'll be comfortable in seeking out and suggesting work to be featured - and by doing so, you'll be making an important contribution to the community.
Next weekend, we'll introduce you to the people who run literature deviations (and tell you a little more about what they do!)
if only, if only.i.
we drove nowhere
and we spoke a language
that nobody understood
underneath a foreign sky
blanketed in the scent of pine.
ii.
you told me
my eyes were like envelopes—
because they were always
opening
closing
fluttering to the sound
of breaking seals
and ink stained fingertips.
iii.
i told you
we should run away
to a new land
with new faces
because
i was enamored
with people i had never encountered
and places i had never gone.
iv.
you laughed at me
and said that
if i didn't spend
so much time with my head
buried in world maps
i would realize
that i was living on one.
v.
i remember
it rained that day
and the tea went cold
but the
SolsticeOnce upon a time, when you were still sunlighthouses and shimmering existence wherever you were needed most, you found him. He was November, shaky on his first last legs, and you saw through the mind-twistings he feigned to the mind-twistings that were really there, knotted up in his dreams.
You were still birdsong then, and thunderstorms, and your bodyheat melted the frost claws that held him tight. You held onto him as his November deepened. When he howled, you howled with him, and the wind played with your voices and pressed the softness of your lungs against your cageribs—and then against each other's.
November became solstice, and
If you're impatient to know more about DDs - here are a few links to help you get started.
FAQ #18: Who selects Daily Deviations and how are they chosen?
Project Educate on Daily Deviations [link]
The original "DD's are an award, not a feature" discussion [link]
How to suggest a DLD [link]
#WritersInk
love 1
1
joy 0
0
wow 0
0
mad 0
0
sad 0
0
fear 0
0
neutral 0
0
it was leading elsewhere to a journal from the beginning of time
`anmari has been spreading her infectious positivity throughout our community for over 6 years. Throughout this time Ana has been at the core of all things devious, passionately developing an eclectic gallery, helping organise devmeets, participating in chat events and also recently completed dedicating her time as a Community Volunteer. We are absolutely delighted to bestow the Deviousness Award for May 2013 to `anmari, congratulations! Read More
Sta.sh
Every Sunday this article will aim to promote volunteer opportunities, various resources, prompts, challenges, and workshops, as well as highlighting various contests, 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.
Always with the bullet points. 
Every Sunday this article will aim to promote volunteer opportunities, various resources, prompts, challenges, and workshops, as well as highlighting various contests, 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.
Some changes and updates from the group, #Written-Imagination.
Every Sunday this article will aim to promote volunteer opportunities, various resources, prompts, challenges, and workshops, as well as highlighting various contests, 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.
Every Sunday this article will aim to promote volunteer opportunities, various resources, prompts, challenges, and workshops, as well as highlighting various contests, 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.
'ing it!
DDs: An Introductionby #WritersInk