A Little Rant. If you're easily offended, leave.

[Rein F Wolfe]

Ryiel

Rein F Wolfe

Ryiel

Rein F Wolfe

Ryiel

I am under the opinion a self-respecting author is bound to not be a very good one.

Self-respect is underated, especially in writing.

I'm not above saying I write s**t. If I write s**t, I have room to improve.

If I write well, what reason do I have to force myself to learn to write better?

But yes, this forum is filled with 13 year old wannabe writers who really haven't figured out what it means to be a writer yet. Thanks for pointing that out. You win the "state the obvious" prize of today.

And Rein,with the addition of this new rule, we're not allowed to. Since the mods are slow as hell to do their damn job, and the newbs are incredibly fast, and the regulars aren't allowed to say "GO READ THE DAMN STICKIES" it is only logical that the WF will slowly fall into the poor quality of every other forum on gaia. I'm not saying we were better before, we were just different. We were a sarcastic group of people forcing our forum to be as perfect as possible (and flaming and getting angry and making it "newby unfriendly" in the process). Now we are just the same as every other forum.

I'd prefer to be different and have more of what belongs than the same and a bunch of dumb and useless threads cluttering the first three pages.

Ryiel, I already gave my two pence in about how ******** slow the moderators are.

And I do think that I said we aren't allowed to tell people, or something to a similar effect?.

Rein F Wolfe

... "DON'T TELL PEOPLE THEY'RE IN THE WRONG FORUM" ...

Oh, and as for us all being a sarcastic group of people.... Yeah. We were. And hey, we still are. But if you have to start flame wars over stupidity, Ryiel, its obvious that our happy hatted forum is far from "Perfect"

And no, we aren't the same as every forum. I have yet to see how we're "just like" the Chatter Box, the General Discussion, The Extended Discussion (Which is largely full of fail) and Barton Town.

I don't see cyber sex requests, HAO AWZUM TEH NOO ITEM US, 'Should .99 continuous equal 1?' or "DIS R EPIC ROLPALY."

Actually, I think I edited that topic sentence and it ended up somehow screw up. I'm not sure what happened, but that sentence is entirely out of character (if this is making sense at all)

Anyway, I think you didn't quite understand what I meant. The regs here were trying SO HARD to make this forum perfect, that they flamed the hell out of everyone who screwed it up. I didn't say we were perfect, I said we were striving for perfection and screwing it up ourselves. That's why the new rule came into effect.

Problem is, now we can't tell people to GTFO if they don't obey the rules. And so, with slow mods and all, the forum slowly but surely WILL become just like all the others. We just had a one line post like this "sdfgha ghdsfjewfhg ggghefgjah" two days ago. That was it. The entirety of the thread. We've had dozens of threads that break the rules, whether intentional or not, and because we can't tell them they are wrong, other threads with the same topic pop up, thinking they are right. In the end, we are essentially opening a floodgate of s**t threads without purpose. We'll end up like all the other forums, cluttered with crap threads that don't go away.

That's what I meant. I don't like the new rule, but I get where's it's coming from. The only problem is, if they want to hae the new rule, the mods have to be WAY MORE ACTIVE, and they aren't. which is the problem. They can't have it both ways, if you ask me.

I see what you mean now.
Thank you for clearing it up.

As for slow mods, I even mentioned to Terrii, or whatever her name is (She is the one that generally deals with reports against me) that the moderators seemed to be too slow to keep up with the reports, and that I wanted to be a moderator myself, since I don't have a life right now.

EDIT:
Also, in my own combat against that rule, I began reporting anything and everything I thought would be a violation of the new rule, and old ones in place by definitions given to me for reasons why my own posts/topics were BALLEETED.

Do what I'm doing. Flood the ******** moderators with reports.

Good plan. Then they either have to work harder, or get more. I wouldn't mind beign a moderator for the rest of the summer as I am essentially sitting around the house doing nothing five days of the week, but once school starts again I probably won't have time for a long while. How the heck do you even become a mod?

Last year or so, gaia realized they needed more moderators, so they set out a form for gaians to apply.
Problem was that they didn't pay you money (Which is okay) but all the same you had to be 18 or over for some stupid reason.
I was, of course, 17 a the time.

I doubt that it will occur again. A friend of mine was a global moderator for about two months before he quit.

[Adversative]

Rein F Wolfe

I'm reading through this rant and I'm noticing the words "Literate" and "Those silly illiterates" like you're some how superior, what with your "Perfect" grammar and spelling.

Granted, we do get a lot of people who are illiterate, referring to them like they're cockroaches just furthers my own disgruntled hate to the general community of the WF.
The problem, you see, is not that the writer's forum is full of people who are illiterate, its full of people who are under this strange notion that they are writers.

I will say this: There isn't a single, god damn one of you here who hasn't started off with a story you've written, posted it in the writer's forum, and then without fail, received a truckload of pointless asshattery, bad critiques and "lulz i lyk it it r not bad." thrown in for good measure.

Maybe if everyone stops thinking that they're Writers (the capital W makes all the difference) and start being... Oh, I dunno... Helpful? Some of those people who type with grammar they got out of a cereal box will learn something, rather than everyone having the same mantra of "GRAMMAR SPELLING OR KILL YOURSELF" and thus making some poor innocent person, who with some practice like every writer has to do in order to be a good writer could in fact write a readable story, instead you blow them off, call them s**t, and go make them become an heroes.

Why don't you all stop bitching about the rise in illiteracy and do something to ******** fix it?

THIS. Thank you.

I remember being thirteen and writing a story entirely in caps because I was so lazy I didn't want to hit the shift key every time I was at the beginning of a sentence. I wrote bad fanfiction and Harry Potter ripoffs (the equivalent of today's Twilight ripoffs.) I didn't have bad grammar/spelling or use chatspeak, but that's because chatspeak hadn't been really invented yet, and I have a photographic memory when it comes to printed text -- I don't have to learn spelling & grammar the way most people do. And luckily for me, the internet didn't have a lot of writing forums yet when I was 13, so I couldn't put any of these stories up and get heartbroken by trolls. (I *thought* they were good. I even thought they'd get published.)

And I remember being a self-important 16-17-18 year old who liked to puff up my own self-image by showing off all I knew about the publishing industry, giving overly thorough critiques to little kids who weren't ready for a grown-up critique yet, and throwing around the words "Mary Sue" and "cliche" and "unoriginal" like they actually made me a good writer.

Being able to point out how bad other people's writing is does not, in fact, make you a good writer. There's a lot more to good writing than simply not writing badly.

And then I started doing workshops & meeting "Serious Writers" (writers who've won awards, who make a living off of their work, even a couple of bestsellers) -- who were invariably gracious and encouraging, even when I gave them really bad stories to critique. They don't pull their punches, but they help you up afterwards, they dust you off, and they give you a reason to keep going.

Y'all are not obligated to be kind to strangers on the internet, of course. Many of you hang out in the WF precisely to put down other people for shits & giggles & ego-inflation. Whatever, that's human.

But as someone who has benefited from the immense kindness of people far above her on the writerly feeding chain, I'm paying it forward.

[i just like green]

I agree. Really it is a bit of an issue...

But there is nothing you can do really? Is there?
You just have to dig around until you find a good topic.

edit: ...and report like CRAZY

[just an e c h o - -]

Rein F Wolfe

1. Some people do not write seriously. I don't write seriously. If you take yourself seriously, you already lost.
I learned that lesson in the Comic forum.

2. Yes, it is just Gaia. But didn't you hear? The internet is srs bsns.
The fact that a person would even post a story on gaia in the first place is redundant. If anything, I use it as storage now, in case I need to back up something that I can't save.

3. Smite those against you and exalt the ones who love you.
In other words, if someone gives you a meaningful critique, immediately put them on your ignore list and flame them like an angry azn, but if a nubby says "LZOL I LURVE IT", strive to be their bestest friend.

4. ?????

5. PROFIT.

This was funny, especially #3. xD

[just an e c h o - -]

I must say that I agree with Adversative, though. Not everyone here is doomed to suck as a writer for the rest of their life. A lot of us just need some good, friendly yet constructive criticism and advice to help us better our writing.

[Rein F Wolfe]

Adara Wolfe

I must say that I agree with Adversative, though. Not everyone here is doomed to suck as a writer for the rest of their life. A lot of us just need some good, friendly yet constructive criticism and advice to help us better our writing.

...So really, you agree with me, since she was just agreeing and going off on a tangent of what I was saying.
*Wins*

I'm glad you found my post to be humorous, by the way.

[Jeodiac]

Adara Wolfe

Is it just me, or is there a serious decline in the number of good writers in this forum. There are so many people who call themselves writers and hang around here that shouldn't call themselves that. Honestly, no self-respecting writer with a true love for their craft would actually post something like this:

"hai guyz can u rate ths story 4 me? i kno its not good but plz give me comments"

First of all, no self-respecting writer would actually admit their writing was not that good. If you're going to share your writing, at least share something you feel like you did well! Why would anyone honestly want to show off the work that they gave little effort to?

Second, how could anyone calling themselves a writer actually post something like that, whether it was their story or not. If you're too damn lazy to hit the shift key once in a while, you don't deserve to be called a writer. I don't care if English is your first language or not, it's common sense for any Latin based language.

Another thing that generally bothers me is the amount of block texts I see. If you're going to write, follow a book paragraph format. It's really not that difficult a concept. I understood it in the third grade when I started writing.

I don't hang around this forum often, but I used to. I left because it was so hard to find anyone who actually seemed to care about their writing. I check back once in a while to see if I can find any good stories to give a real critique to and ask the author to critique something of mine in return, but I have such a hard time doing that.

Of course, that's only my opinion. What does anyone else think?

I completely agree with the ranting, especially the chat speak. It really starts to piss me off now. If you're a writer, why do you not write out the whole enitre word? What publisher would honestly take you seriously if you sent them a short story with just "nd i ws lyke" I mean seriously, I wouldn't even go past the first sentence!

I'm a serious writer, I have been posting chapters of my story in my journals but then I thought, 'what if some of the lazy wanna-be writers try to take my work?' so I discontinued the posting. Instead I want to at least publish it before I put it out online.

This rant is complete awesomness! xd

[TaylorRAWRxoxo]

There are just some people who are not cut out to be writers. I hardly ever use chatspeak. It is a true gift to be a talented writer. The people who "tlk lik dis" shouldn't even GLIMPSE at the writers forum.

[RoseEmber]

This is Gaia. A lot of people on Gaia are quite young.

In addition, writers do not all have the same starting point. Some writers start out bad and then become good. Some writers may never become good. Some are lucky enough to start out good and remain that way, or somehow get even better. All writers are equal in that they do it because they love it, and most of the time they try their hardest with the tools that they have.

I am incredibly thankful that I am old enough to have started writing stories during a time when my house had no Internet. My foolish younger self was spared from posting my error-prone stories about plucky kids meeting dragons and having plucky adventures. The Internet was spared from me asking questions like, "Does Silverhart sound like a good name for a dragon?" and "WWhat colours should a dragon egg lok like?"

More importantly, I was spared from older kids telling me that I was a horrible no-talent hack that couldn't string a sentence together to save her life.

I appreciate that many people here provide polite constructive criticism. I appreciate that sometimes their patience and kindness is met with irrational flaming from bruised egos.

I also appreciate that there is a learning curve, and that people shouldn't get so excited and elitist just because they happen to be near the top of the curve.

[nature_music]

I agree. They really should be as professional as possible if they don't want to get cussed out or seriously critqued by the real writers. I also hate it when someone steals story ideas and then pretends it's theirs. But, all writers have to start somewhere, right? So I usually try to be as polite and kind as possible when critquing other people's work.

[LeeEyeLa]

It is annoying how most of the people who post here can't spell, and are all-around not very good at writing. But everyone was a beginner once, so while I'm a bit of an amateur myself, I just give them the best advice I can. Yes, you might be cursed out, and yes, you're going to be sorry you took the time to help them. But if they're serious about their writing, even if they can't stand criticism, eventually they're going to look back and work on the things you suggested.

Then again, many of them won't, but we've got to help them, anyway.

[MalevolentChocolate]

Adara Wolfe

Is it just me, or is there a serious decline in the number of good writers in this forum. There are so many people who call themselves writers and hang around here that shouldn't call themselves that. Honestly, no self-respecting writer with a true love for their craft would actually post something like this:

"hai guyz can u rate ths story 4 me? i kno its not good but plz give me comments"

First of all, no self-respecting writer would actually admit their writing was not that good. If you're going to share your writing, at least share something you feel like you did well! Why would anyone honestly want to show off the work that they gave little effort to?

Second, how could anyone calling themselves a writer actually post something like that, whether it was their story or not. If you're too damn lazy to hit the shift key once in a while, you don't deserve to be called a writer. I don't care if English is your first language or not, it's common sense for any Latin based language.

Another thing that generally bothers me is the amount of block texts I see. If you're going to write, follow a book paragraph format. It's really not that difficult a concept. I understood it in the third grade when I started writing.

I don't hang around this forum often, but I used to. I left because it was so hard to find anyone who actually seemed to care about their writing. I check back once in a while to see if I can find any good stories to give a real critique to and ask the author to critique something of mine in return, but I have such a hard time doing that.

Of course, that's only my opinion. What does anyone else think?

Exactly, I mean, (though I'm not one to talk, but, anyways...) I've read through a couple of stories, and it's not exactly the best writing I've ever seen.

[frozennight]

I agree about the whole chatspeak thing. The thing about it is that I don't think it really saves any time, so why not spell out your words? I used it once with a friend because we were mocking it and I found that thinking of how I was going to abbreviate something took more time. However, as much as I hate chatspeak, I don't think using it automatically equals bad writer as long as they don't write like they text.

I really don't get what is wrong with admitting that you aren't the best writer, or even a good one. I think it is annoying when people brag about being a good while showing something that isn't all that great. People have different levels of talent too. Just because it isn't good doesn't mean they didn't put time into it or care about it.

Also, English is not a Latin based language. It's Germanic.

[Firlodge_the_second]

Adara Wolfe

First of all, no self-respecting writer would actually admit their writing was not that good. If you're going to share your writing, at least share something you feel like you did well! Why would anyone honestly want to show off the work that they gave little effort to?

I put effort in but I don't think anything's good but that's just me. Other than that, I agree with you completely.

[Quintessence Of Dust]

Adversative

THIS. Thank you.

I remember being thirteen and writing a story entirely in caps because I was so lazy I didn't want to hit the shift key every time I was at the beginning of a sentence. I wrote bad fanfiction and Harry Potter ripoffs (the equivalent of today's Twilight ripoffs.) I didn't have bad grammar/spelling or use chatspeak, but that's because chatspeak hadn't been really invented yet, and I have a photographic memory when it comes to printed text -- I don't have to learn spelling & grammar the way most people do. And luckily for me, the internet didn't have a lot of writing forums yet when I was 13, so I couldn't put any of these stories up and get heartbroken by trolls. (I *thought* they were good. I even thought they'd get published.)

And I remember being a self-important 16-17-18 year old who liked to puff up my own self-image by showing off all I knew about the publishing industry, giving overly thorough critiques to little kids who weren't ready for a grown-up critique yet, and throwing around the words "Mary Sue" and "cliche" and "unoriginal" like they actually made me a good writer.

Being able to point out how bad other people's writing is does not, in fact, make you a good writer. There's a lot more to good writing than simply not writing badly.

And then I started doing workshops & meeting "Serious Writers" (writers who've won awards, who make a living off of their work, even a couple of bestsellers) -- who were invariably gracious and encouraging, even when I gave them really bad stories to critique. They don't pull their punches, but they help you up afterwards, they dust you off, and they give you a reason to keep going.

Y'all are not obligated to be kind to strangers on the internet, of course. Many of you hang out in the WF precisely to put down other people for shits & giggles & ego-inflation. Whatever, that's human.

But as someone who has benefited from the immense kindness of people far above her on the writerly feeding chain, I'm paying it forward.

Amen
The people who can't write are not the only problem.
The stiff uptight people who can see the mistakes and can criticize the right places, but don't seem capable of delivering their thoughts in a way that the other writers can accept.
I honestly think that if anyone can save this forum it will be the people in the middle, who maybe don't have the skill at writing that others have, but don't feel so superior to the new people , and can look at their writing from a different perspective.
Anyone get what I'm saying?