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Treat each and every member of the list and their stories, ideas ang opinions with respect. No Flames Ever! Debate an idea - do not attack the person behind it. See Rule above - respect and flames are incompatible. Develop a thick skin. Since this is a discussion list, there will be differences of opinion. You are not being flamed if someone disagrees with you - even if they do it forcefully. If someone dislikes your ideas or disagrees with your opinion, you are not automatically being flamed. Do not take differences of opinion personally. This list is for discussion of writing in general and JAG fanfic writing in particular. Please keep posts on topic. We do not need to know if you are going to be on vacation next week or that you just updated your website or that a JAG star is going to be on David Letterman or that TV Guide OnLine is conducting a poll and we should go vote for someone. What kinds of things are on topic? Sharing things you’ve learned about writing that you think might be helpful to other writers. Posting helpful resources you find on the web or in a bookstore. Discussions of such things as finding time for writing, overcoming writers’ block, fear of the blank page, how to gracefully end your story, etc. Go back and reread the first sentence of this guideline - let that be your guide. Please make your "Subject" line meaningful. If the topic being discussed in the post changes with your reply, please change the subject heading to better reflect the content of your message. If someone posts a question, please read ALL of your mail before responding. If the question had already been answered, do not respond unless you have something new to add to the existing response. Please make your posts meaningful. "Me too" or "ITA" does not add anything to the discussion. If you feel you really must do that, please do it privately to the person with whom you are agreeing. Please snip liberally when you are responding to something. Quote only those sections to which you are responding. Delete all headers and signature lines (although you can leave in the name of the person who posted the message to which you are replying). If you are on digest mode, snip everything except those parts to which you are responding. This goes along with the basic idea of treating everyone with respect. Failure to snip clogs mailboxes, consumes computer memory, and wastes time for the reader as he/she tries to figure out what is important in your post. For readability’s sake, please put quoted material first with your response following it. People read a page top to bottom. Putting your response before the quote makes it extremely confusing for the reader. At this point in time, the list is open to all ages. Therefore, we will not be discussing "erotica" on this list. If there seems to be enough interest after this list is well established, we can make a restricted offshoot of this list for that purpose. This list does not allow attachments. You can use the "Shared Files" option of Onelist to post those. If you do not know how to do that, send an inquiry to JAGWritersWorkshop-owner@onelist.com. No spamming, chumming, trolling, chain letters, cross-posting. If you do not know what any of those terms means, ask. Please post messages as text rather than html, and please do not use backgrounds or stationery. Many browsers cannot receive these types of messages, and they can cause problems for our members./ All material must be spellchecked and proofread before posting . If you do not have spellcheck capabilities, have a trusted friend proofread it for you before posting. If you do not know anyone who would be willing to proofread for you, ask on list - someone will volunteer. What’s the difference between spellchecking and proofreading? I’m glad you asked. <g>
The preceding was spellchecked but not proofread. Please do both before posting. Do not send your story as an attachment. Cut-and-paste into the body of your e-mail message. Format your story so that the line length is approximately 4-1/2". Do not indent paragraphs. Leave a blank line between paragraphs. This will alleviate the problem of irregular line lengths and formatting that not all browsers will support. It will also make the archivist’s job easier when your story is finished. Stories may be posted complete or in parts. A "part" is defined as a section that materially advances the story line. If all you have is a couple of paragraphs of transition or exposition, please wait and include it with the next portion of your story. List members must have enough sense of how the part fits in with the story as a whole in order to give meaningful feedback. Your story will be discussed and critiqued on list. If what you really want is "Great story - when will you post the next part," don’t post it here. That is not the kind of feedback you will be getting. (See Guidelines for Readers below.) Develop a thick skin. The purpose of this list is to improve writing in general and our stories in particular. Problems with your story will be pointed out. You will also be given guidance on how to fix the problems. Do not mistake criticism of your story for criticism of you as a person. It is not. People are on this list in the first place because they want to help you be the best writer you can be. Always remember that! Writers are encouraged to carefully consider the feedback given and to rework their stories to incorporate that advice which they believe is valid. If you put Mac in a black dress and someone says they think she looks better in red, that’s very subjective and you should feel free to accept or reject as you see fit. If, on the other hand, you have Harm and Mac going to visit the "Famous La-De-Da Restaurant" while on a case in East Wherever, and someone who lives in East Wherever lets you know that the "Famous La-De-Da Restaurant" burned down in a fire three years ago and was never rebuilt, it would be a wise move to revise your story. Occasionally one must bend reality slightly because it’s critical to the story, but that should be done sparingly and only when absolutely necessary to keep the story moving. Punctuation and spelling corrections are *rarely* optional. Such corrections should be made. If readers cannot tell that a word is misspelled on purpose to suggest an accent or that you are using incomplete sentences for effect in the story, it is indicative of a problem. If you need help correcting that, "ask and ye shall receive." When a story is finally "finished," writers are encouraged to post the complete final product to Article 78 for all JAG fans to enjoy. There are also other lists where it might be appropriate to post your fanfic. If you would like to post a story to a list to which you are not subscribed, ask on list for someone to post it for you. From Article 78, stories are archived to ExLibris. If for any reason you do *not* want your story posted to Article 78 or archived at ExLibris, please post the final version to the list so that all who helped in the creative process can see the results of the joint effort. Feedback is defined on this list as "reaction serving to alter or reinforce the character of a process - in this case writing." Feedback should be specific and constructive. Remember, feedback will be helpful not only to the writer of the piece being critiqued but also to other authors reading your comments. They should be able to gain a general understanding of what works and what doesn’t work. Feedback that is not helpful: "Great story - can’t wait to read the rest." Feedback that is helpful: "It looks real good so far. I really liked the conversation between Harm and Mac; I could hear them saying that dialog in my head. It was very realistic." Feedback that is not helpful: "This story sucks." Feedback that is helpful: "This section did not work for me. Based on Harm’s background of having lost his father when he was a young boy, I really cannot see him willingly participating in something that would deprive a child of his father where it has not been proven that the father is in any way unfit or unloving. I think Harm would be on the father’s side in this case." The preceding illustrations were made up without reference to any particular story, but you get the general idea. Don’t just say you like it - state with specificity what you liked about it. If something doesn’t work, tell the author why you feel it doesn’t work and what you think would work. Feedback should educate the author, not just stroke his/her ego. Authors are free to write whatever type of JAG-related story they want here (except "adult" material). If you absolutely cannot bring yourself to put aside your own personal preferences and accept a Harm/Mac or Harm/Meg or AJ/Mac or Brumby/Mac pairing for any reason, please refrain from commenting on that story. This is not a place to discuss whether Harm and Mac are secretly in love or whether AJ would ever break the rules and fraternize with Mac. List members are expected to volunteer their time and services to authors. If someone needs a proofreader or research help, by all means volunteer. It is not the responsibility of the list moderators to fulfill these functions. Develop a thick skin. Remember - authors are not compelled to accept your comments and incorporate them into the story. You are not being flamed if an author decides that she wants Mac to stay in a black dress rather than dress her in red. Sometimes your points may be valid but will take an author down a path he/she is not prepared to follow. That’s okay too. It is not a reflection on you. No author should be pestered for the next part of the story. The process of good writing can be very time-consuming. Sometimes you get lucky, and the story practically writes itself. Others times it will fight you all the way. Authors experience writers’ block. Authors also experience real life and sometimes cannot find or make the time to write. Respect that. |