POSTING RULES

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noemz
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Joined: Mon 22 Apr, 2013 3:46 pm

POSTING RULES

Post by noemz »

This group writes and critiques science fiction and fantasy short stories, novel excerpts, chapters and synopses.

Critiques are centred around the meetings, which take place on the fourth Sunday of each month.

If you post a story, then you need to attend the meeting. You are also expected to read and comment on other members' work for that meeting.

If you don't know how to critique other people's work, then have a look at previous stories and comments for inspiration. (It takes practice, but critiquing other people's work helps to make you a better writer.)

You are welcome to attend meetings even if you do not post a story.

Each meeting will have its own forum inside "Monthly Workshops", named with the date for that meeting. Eg, 21st May 2017.
Post your story for the meeting you will be attending.

Post your story at least two weeks ahead of the meeting if it's over 7000 words, otherwise post it one week before the meeting date so that other members have a chance to read and critique your work. (Posting deadlines are shown in the description of each Monthly Workshops topic.)

Comments can be posted the day before the meeting, or printed out (if you're a scribbler!) to bring along with you.

Do not post the same story more than once for the same meeting, as the multiple versions cause confusion. People might comment on an old version, only for their comments to become obsolete. If you are tempted to revise your work, then wait until the final deadline before posting your story. Once you post your story, wait for the next meeting before posting a revised version.

ONLY post a revised version of your story if you've done a substantial rewrite. Don't post your story a third time; people get bored. Some writers share their stories with alpha readers first (eg family, friends, writing community online) and revise before posting to the group, so they can get the most out of feedback.

DO take other members' feedback on board. You might not always agree, but if several members have pointed out the same problem in your work, and you fail to address that problem, then you're wasting our time.

Please keep novel chapter posts under 10,000 words and short stories under 15,000 words. (If you're new, ONLY post short stories, and keep them under 5,000 words.)

NOTE: Do not rush through a story and post it without proofreading or polishing it first. Ensure that your spelling, grammar and punctuation are correct. A story full of errors is very difficult to read and creates an unfair burden on other members.

If you are posting chapters of an ongoing work, you may wish to put all your previously workshopped chapters into the Member Archive so that new readers can catch up. You can revise and update your work in the Member Archive whenever you like, and provide a link to it when you post new work to Monthly Workshops.

NOTE: The Member Archive is NOT for new, unseen work; it is for previously workshopped chapters.

NOTE: CHECK YOUR FILE SIZES! If your document is pushing 400Kb in size, then either you are posting too much, or something is going wrong when you save the file (this could depend upon the device you are using). For example, if writing on an iPad, try copying and pasting the text into a new file on a desktop computer and saving it. Large files use up the forum's file space very quickly, and this problem quickly multiplies when people add comments to the file and upload it.
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