A couple of newbies have posted work for critique in the General Writing section in the last few hours, and both have seemingly had their threads deleted for breaking forum rules / etiquette. However, considering I had gone to the trouble of giving a lengthy response to one of these, could it not have been moved on this occasion, rather than deleted outright?
Maybe instead of deleting, just edit the user's post to take out the work offered for critique and leave the advice given by other users intact.
The threads in question were clearly not in the Workshop, and should have simply been reported rather than commented upon. Please try and imagine the riot that would ensue were we to make such exceptions. The constituency is nothing if not sensitive to such events and pitchforks and torches are ever at the ready. This is not the case. What we do not delete are whole accounts. Deletions absolutely occur for rules violations.
That's kinda why I don't jump on commenting on newbies work much anymore. Before I'd have a whole critique ready and then zoink the page would be gone. Now I look at there history and wait. Sometimes the newbie is offended or I don't know what but some things never get reposted. I count it as practice anyway.
You could just restrict your critiques to works posted in the correct subforums. My understanding is that people can't post there unless they've met the requirements.
That is partly true. A member can't post in the WS until they've met the initial requirements, but after that they can post whenever they want even if they don't keep their 2 critiques per item quota (in which case the thread is likely to be removed).
The reason for sticking to this rule is to be fair. And if you didn't have the rule the workshop would be flooded with people who want critiques but never give them.
Yes, it is. You want to post your own work for feedback—and never get any, because the other members can't be bothered? They want you to help THEM. Then they're off, and only return when they want more help? It's one of the things most of us appreciate about this forum. There is always give and take on here. Not just take.
Yes, especially when they drown out the posts of people who do give back. You'd be surprised how many people post their work here for critique as their first post. The workshop would be flooded and people giving critiques would burn out in no time.
I'm going to post my clown midget erotica in the word games section. Everyone make sure to critique it for me please.
I agree with the wiser posters who in other threads have mentioned you learn more by critiquing than receiving critiques.
But there are plenty of people asking for critiques that also give back. If it were just a matter of a couple workshop entries it wouldn't be a big deal. But I have seen that even with the rules, new members come in droves looking for critiques. They would overwhelm the workshop if not restricted.
Ah, that makes sense. I guess when I read through it all, I saw "accounts" but understood "the forum and all its contents are permanent." But of course, that would be absurd. What if a spammer posted junk? That post would remain forever and ever? Silly me, it does seem obvious when you think about it. As it happens, I really appreciate the structure and rules that keep this forum running so smoothly. I have investigated various writing forums over the years and ultimately decided not to join because I saw lots of spam, lots of unanswered critique-seeking posts, and lots of flaming. I think this one is well managed and well organized. I agree with the New Member rules, including the critique rules, for reasons cited above. Critique vampires and all.
Despite critiques being good for the critic, there would still be a flood of one way critiques on the forum that would be unfair to the critics that do give and take.
