This is the quick and dirty to get you up and running in the forum. We will give you links throughout that will take you to the more detailed information. First and foremost: Our Community Admins are in Red Moderators wear Orange Contest Admins are in Burgundy Supporters are Green Regular Members are differing shades of blue depending on how long they’ve been with us and how much activity they have had within the forum Admins and Moderators The Admins are the Owner, NWOPD, and Big Soft Moose (admin moderator). The Moderators are Homer Potvin, Hammer, Dbesim, and Seven Crowns. This list will change from time to time. We're an approachable bunch so if you're not sure about something just ask, any of us will be happy to help. Our main job is to make sure the forum runs smoothly and is an enjoyable and worthwhile place to talk about writing. From time to time we may have to ask for calm; move, edit, lock or delete threads, or warn or ban members. When that happens please accept our decision as final. If you really want to ask about something contact us, don't start a thread. Threads like "why was this thread closed?" or "why was XYZ member banned?" are not allowed and will be deleted. All our staff are volunteers, giving up their time to keep this forum running for you to enjoy, so we ask that you treat them with respect. Anyone who is abusive or threatening to our staff will be permanently banned. Your Screen Name There is more detailed information in the Forum Rules concerning screen names, but one important point that should be mentioned right now, before you get started: If you are using your real name as your screen name, you may wish to reconsider. Although we will delete accounts on request*, if your digital footprint is of concern to you, using your real name is not a smart move. If you want to change it, please contact Big soft moose now before your name gets quoted or mentioned in forum conversations, posts, etc. Once you have started using your screen name we only change it while you are a new member; when you reach 14 days and 20 posts your name will be set in stone. Don't attempt to change your name by starting up another account. Unapproved double accounts may result in the permanent banning of both. *Note that if you request account deletion your name and identifying information will be removed - your posts will not, but will instead be assigned to a random user name. Also having deleted your account you cannot return with a new one, so think carefully before requesting this, as it is a one time thing. Language Though our membership is worldwide, English is the language spoken here. We are NOT a G-Rated forum, but that's not license to swear like a drunken sailor. Conduct You are expected to treat other members, and the staff, with respect. Of course there will be disagreements, it's fine to disagree courteously with the opinion, but not to insult or abuse the person who holds it. We all know people who make us uncomfortable either on line, or in the meat space, don't be that guy or girl. No one wants to see your junk or other bits, no one is looking to hook up, just treat everyone like a rational civilized human being would. If anyone does creep you out, report them. We no longer allow debates about religion and politics and associated inflammatory subjects. If you want to have a political debate there are many places on the net where you can do that, but this isn't one of them. You are still allowed to post your work about these topics but critique and discussion should focus on the writing not the topic AIs and Bots We expect your posts and writing to be by you, not generated by AIs like ChatGPT and the like. If you want to specifically discuss AIs, this is acceptable in the appropriate forum, but you must make it clear which parts of the post are AI generated. Bloggers We're a writing forum. The purpose of the venue is writing. If you're here to push and link your off-site blog in every post you make, this is poor forum etiquette and isn't something that will be tolerated for long. Your Profile Details If you want to change things in your profile, just hover your cursor over your screen name to the right of the forum and you will get the following pop-up window. Pretty self explanatory after that. Can I promote my work? We're very happy to see our members get published, but this forum isn't here to be a customer base. You can tell other members about your story/novel/play whatever, but please don't create spam-like posts saying buy my book, buy my book. Once you pass the Active Member threshold (90 days membership and 100 posts) you can have two links in your signature which may include links to your book on amazon or wherever. At that point you can also have one link per thread in the Success Stories forum. Please remember that these are the only places on the forum where you can post links to your sales pages. Also you should be aware that we have a no advertising rule, so you can't link to or promote any other kind of venture whether that's Viagra, false documents, writing services, or anything else. Posting spam will get you banned instantly. But I want critique on my STORY !! If you’re here, you probably have a work in progress that you’re dying to post to get critiqued, right? Of course! And we’re dying to give it a thorough critiquing, but our forum has some requirements that all of us have had to meet prior to being able to post in the Writing Workshop. Each member can post one thread in the workshop without the need to first give critique on the work of others. After that you need to give at least 1 constructive critique on every members work for every item you want to post. This means 1-for-1 all the time. If there are 10 unique items you want to post for critique, you need to have at least 10 critiques given by you. It's not 1 crit and then empty your hard-drive into the Workshop. Writing posted for critique must be by you, no posting work by your mate, your significant other, some bloke you met on the bus, or by an Artificial Intelligence or bot. NOTE: The Writing Workshop is the only place where you may post your writing for critique! All work that is posted outside of the Workshop (unless it's an entry in one of our Writing Contests, or finished work for display in the Showcase or Blog section) will be deleted. Here are 7 questions you should answer before posting your work for critique. Note that we don't allow deletion of work, since it isn't fair to all those people who gave crit and helped you achieve brilliance. Once you've posted it, it's here for good. If you just want to show your work off without receiving critique, instead of using the workshop post it in the writers' showcase. https://www.writingforums.org/community/the-writers-showcase.224/ I've met the Requirements and I still can't post!! If, after having met all the requirements to post in the Writing Workshop, you still can't start a new thread in there, please PM a moderator (click here). We are happy to help you get your thread up and running. THE MAP I. Welcome The top section is where you introduce yourself and view our important announcements, rules, FAQs and so on New member introductions - who are you and what do you write Announcements - important information about the site Writing Contests - hone your craft by entering our monthly short story, flash, or poetry competitions The Writers Showcase - show off your finished work to the community here. (not visible to non members) Success Stories - tell us about having got your work published. Links are allowed here, but it is not the place to spam annoyingly about your work or to try and sell it II. the Writing Workshop. This is where you give critique to other members and ask for it yourself. (remembering the 2 given for each 1 asked guideline) Novels and Short Stories Poetry Song lyrics Non-Fiction Autobiography & Memoir Essays Scripts and screen plays Erotica: this is for all forms of writing with explicit sexual content, it is subject to its own additional rules III. The Writing Process: This where you can post questions concerning different aspects of writing, brainstorming, etc. Research - Ask other members for help with topics you want to know more about, or help other members with your experience and specialism. Character Development - Fill in and flesh out those actors. Plot Development - Get help moving the story from A to B to C. Setting Development - Build that world! Dialogue development - Learn to talk the talk Descriptive development- Bring your stories to life with descriptions that pop Point of View and Voice - Confused about First vs Third (or if you're brave, Second) here's where to ask Word Mechanics - Slept during 6th grade grammar? It’s cool. We all did. Here’s where to get help with the nuts and bolts. Revision and Editing - Polish your draft Genre discussion - discuss issues that relate to writing a given genre Erotica and Sex Scenes- An 18+ limited forum for the discussion of these matters, be aware that content must be legal (in the United States where our server is based), so there should be no discussion of kids in sexual situations, bestiality, necrophilia, or rape. Also this board is for discussing writing these things, not sharing your personal kinks Progress Journals - record and discuss your progress here Writing software and hardware - A place for questions and answers about writing software and web applications. Note that it's not for general chat about software unrelated to writing. Bear in mind the no discussion of cracked apps rule. Sub fora for discussing AI as applies to writing General Writing - the board of last resort for things that don't fit anywhere else. Threads started here may well be moved to other boards if the staff think they fit better IV. Poets' Corner The Craft of Writing Poetry - Discuss the nuts and bolts of putting poems together The Philosophy of writing poetry - discuss the more philosophic side of the art OctPoWriMo - a section dedicated to discussions around national poetry month V. The fifth section is Publishing - exactly what it sounds like. Traditional Publishing - Want a book deal? talk about how you get one here Agent Discussion Publisher discussion Query and Cover Letter critique Self-Publishing: Want to publish your own book? Talk about how here Electronic publishing. Ebooks, blogs, Wattpad and new media Cover design Blurb Critique Print on demand Marketing - We do not actually market in here, we discuss the ins and outs of the topic VI. Community Interaction area. The Lounge - Enjoyable chat about light hearted topics with friends, this should not become a replacement for your social media, or is it the place for heavy discussions of religion, politics, and the state of the world. Entertainment - Specific to topics concerning TV, Film and Gaming Word Games - an area for prompts and games to help get the creative juices flowing Discussion of Published Works - Want to chat about your latest read whether that's a book, poem, script or any other kind of writing? Here’s the place. We do not talk about our own works here. Collaboration - want to find people to work with on writer projects, beta readers etc? This is where you ask (after you have been here for 14 days and made 20 posts and met the workshop requirements) VII. The final section of the forum concerns Site Information Support & Feedback - ask for help using the site
This is a great idea. I love the layout, the tone, the content... The overall presentation is a nice introduction. Kudos staff.
It might be better to have IV at the very top of the forum and to have the General Writing subforum at the bottom of I. Perhaps the Workshop section could go near the top as well. I guess we'll have to see what Daniel thinks because he's the only one who can make the changes.
My impression is that General Writing is one of the most - if not the most - popular forum. If that is the case, I think it should stay at the top of I, IMHO.
That's the problem, though. Too many members use that subforum to post threads that would better be suited for another subforum.
I'm not sure that changing the order would change the behavior. OTOH, changing the order would work an inconvenience for those who use it appropriately.
i have to agree with ed... besides which, 'general' just naturally makes more sense being placed before getting specific, doesn't it?
The problem is that a lot of new members post threads about plot creation, characterization, or grammar in General Writing without bothering to check the other subforums. The mods have had to move a lot of threads lately as a result.
Add Introduction Threads to that list, @thirdwind. All the time... Cleaning up General Writing is #3 on my daily routine of things to do. #1) Check the Mod-Chat for any goings-on I've missed. #2) Deal with reported posts that haven't been already taken care of. #3) Move threads out of General Writing to where they should go... It may not seem like much of an issue because I do try to stay on top of it, but one less mundane chore means more time for other things...
While I agree with Ed and maia's concerns, I also think moving General Writing down might be a good idea so that new members actually look through the other forums first. Then again, there is a chance that it wouldn't change anything, as Ed suggests. Members may see the other forums, but they may not be entirely sure of where to put their posts... Although, then I might question their reading comprehension since the forum names are pretty self-explanatory and one would think people cognizant enough to scroll through the whole page before deciding to post anywhere... Maybe it would be good to sticky this somewhere like New Member Introductions and/or add something into the rules (or here) about being sure to read the forum descriptions before deciding where to post new threads.
I will only make one other point - it seems that the assumption is that members post inappropriately in General Writing because it is the first category listed. But one can plainly see all the other subforums at the same time, which suggests that they post inappropriately because they either don't recognize that it belongs elsewhere or just don't bother giving the matter sufficient thought. If that's the case, I doubt changing the order of the subforums will make an appreciable difference. I'll keep mum.
That's what I was getting at in the middle of my previous post. Hence the section to to add a comment about the forum purposes in the rules, or stickying this in New Member Intros. Hey @Wreybies or @minstrel, is it possible to add a tag line or short blurb/description below each of the sub-forum titles. It might provide some clarification if members are actually confused and not being lazy. Otherwise, you might want to post a sticky of some sort to the Generel Writing forum providing a brief explanation of the purpose of the forum or type of questions that should be direct elsewhere. I mean it looks pretty self-explanatory, but you never know...
I like the idea of moving General Writing down to the bottom of the list. It's kind of like taking a multiple-choice test - the "none of the above" option is the last one. You look at the previous options before settling on "none of the above." I was, I think, the first to suggest moving General Writing to the bottom when @Wreybies started discussing it. It's just too easy to select General Writing for a question when it's the first on the list. It almost begs people not to look at the other choices.
This is a really good way of thinking about it. I also like Andrae's idea of adding a short description under each subforum title.
Thank you. Since this is meant for brand new members like yourself, is there anything you were hoping to come across here that was missed?
Hi, New here and was just wondered if the was a critique button or how do we know when we have met that requirement? Does someone look out our post and judge if a particular comment was considered a critique. I just want to make sure I meet all the requirements.( by the way this is post number 4 for whoever is counting)
The forum software automatically counts your first two critiques in order to get the Workshop Guardian to move aside. That bit is automated. After that it's up to the mods, the Reviewers and the general populace to keep track of things. When it comes to giving a critique, just think about what you are hoping to receive in the form of critique. If you followed the link concerning constructive critique, you'll have at least a basic idea. No one is expecting anyone to write a doctoral thesis analyzing the social commentary made in any piece, but a genuine effort must be seen to have been made.
Okay, how about this? I can see the problem with the General Writing tag. How about listing all the other categories first, then re-naming GW "Other Writing Issues." Or something like that. That makes it clear it's for things that are not covered in the other catgories?
Thanks so much for this wonderful information. Very helpful to those that are just getting started with the forum. Page has been bookmarked!
Did I break the rules with my introduction? I wrote very short story that seems to have been deleted. Is this not allowed?
You may only post your writing in the Workshop (unless it's like a sentence or two that you have a question about) and the rules for posting there are the following: You need to have been a member for 14 days and have at least 20 posts of which 2 are critique on other peoples' work in the Workshop. For any further work you want to post you need 2 more critiques for each. Does that answer your question?
