RULES, GUIDELINES, AND SUGGESTIONS

All rules, guidelines, and suggestions are subject to change as agreed upon by members and staff. These rules, guidelines, and suggestions are created in order to ensure a safe and comfortable place for members to meet and share their ideas and their work. Violations of these rules, guidelines, and suggestions will result in warnings and can be followed by expulsion from the forum. Suggestions are, of course, only suggestions and not rules. However, these suggestions as well as the rules and guidelines are created in order to ensure a more productive discussion forum. Disregard for these Rules, guidelines, or suggestions may be disruptive and counterproductive and will be taken seriously.

Rules

Failure to follow rules, guidelines, or suggestions may result in your membership being cancelled. If mistakes are made, you may receive a warning. Continual disregard and abuse of rules, guidelines and suggestions will result in your membership being cancelled. Use 11, or 12 point fonts. Do not use colored fonts or colored backgrounds. Use easy to read fonts such as, but not limited to, Times New Roman or Arial. No excessive font use. Subject lines for all posts must be PG. Signatures and forum handles must not contain any obscene or unsuitable material. Do not personally assault a member for any reason. This is a writing forum and critical debate on the written work is expected; however, personal attacks and disrespect towards authors and members is not acceptable. You remain solely responsible for the content of your messages. Do not post personal real life information such as names, phone numbers, or home addresses of any members. All work posted in the Creativity forums must be your own. Plagiarism is prohibited. Profanity is allowed within reason and completely prohibited in the children’s forum

Guidelines

If your post is potentially offensive to others, e.g. inclusive of excessive violence or adult themes etc., please put a disclaimer before your work begins. Staff who find a work potentially offensive may add a disclaimer if you have not done so. We are a site catering to all ages and everyone must behave accordingly Quoting is encouraged, but please use good judgment. Quote only enough material to show what you are replying to and enough to make your point. Protect yourself and your personal/private information and avoid inappropriate situations. If you feel you have been contacted inappropriately please report it to a staff member immediately. False claims will not be tolerate. We reserve the right to delete comments which are deemed inappropriate. Keep your private information private. Do not share your email address, phone number or other private information with anyone you don't know or trust. Private messages are the responsibility of each member. If someone is bothering you, please report it to a staff member. The situation will be investigated and appropriate action will be taken. Please keep copies of any alleged complaints and forward them to staff directly. Do not post or speak about these matters publicly as these are private issues. All complaints will handled on a case by case basis. All complaints will be taken seriously and all complaints will be investigated and appropriate action taken.

SUGGESTIONS

Have a clear idea, or as clear as possible, of what you as an author want to accomplish with your manuscript. Let us know your audience. What is the message you want your reader to come away with. Members of the forum should make you feel good about your writing and you must be confident you are receiving honest comments for improvement. Tell us what you are looking for. Do you want comments on your grammar, spelling, punctuation, or on the voice of the character? Does it ring true? Is your plot line valid, logical, and consistent? You may want to give us a one-page synopsis so we know where you are going with this although this is not necessary. Be prepared to hear that your manuscript is not perfect (unless it is, of course.) Don’t be hurt or upset if someone says they don’t understand what a character is doing, or why he is doing it. Criticism (positive suggestions) is the point of a critique group. We are supposed to point out flaws. We are also supposed to suggest ways to correct the problem. Be ready to discuss how the problems raised by forum members can be solved. Do not take criticism personally. Members are not criticizing YOU, we are pointing out places that can be improved in your manuscript. When critiquing, always begin with a positive. Then you can point out weaknesses or places where you were confused or where the dialogue did not move the story forward or there were inconsistencies, etc. Do not rewrite the offending area; just say “I thought the dialogue here was weak. Perhaps you could have stated it this way…” Critique must be honest otherwise there is no help in it. Look for strong plot – do you want to turn the page? Do the scenes connect logically? Do we know the problem, setting, and time right away? (we should) Are the characters believable? Do I Care about them? Note every spot where your mind wandered away from the story, or where the writing gets in the way of the story. Finish your critique on a positive note. Write thorough and helpful comments. Work to help your fellow members produce the best work that can be produced.