arddunaid
(?)Community Member
Offline
- Posted: Sun, 04 Feb 2007 23:26:31 +0000
No introduction required. cool
How to post effectively in the Double-You-Eff.
As enacted by Susy Newbie.
Scenario Number One
Don't post if you are just hungry for attention, it is five out of seven times an autofail.
Susy Newbie, after an evening or two exploring the roleplays of Barton Town, the chaos of the Chatterbox, and even the wide-armed friendliness of the "Welcome To Gaia" forum, happens upon the Writer's Forum, a relatively slow-paced place, and in it she sees a great opportunity to make new friends and try to get better at writing, a new hobby of hers (she thinks she might have natural talent!).
Looking over the threads and even posting in a few, poor Susy immediately notices a problem. Nobody is talking to her. Little Susy looks jealously at the five or so threads just bouncing with activity, and suddenly, an idea dawns. What if Susy Newbie made a thread? It could get her some attention, and maybe even make her some new friends!
Susy goes to work, and with a few clicks and a couple punches on the keyboard, her topic is introduced to the forum.
"Hi ppl!
Hi guys, i'm a yung wirter (only 12!!!) and i really like poetry I think it is fully of expresion and would like to see sum of urs!!! "
Looking over her new topic, Susy is filled with pride. The topic is perfect. It provides information on herself, a friendly introduction, and an invitation for others to provide the same. It is even on topic for the forum, with the poetry discussion!
Soon, however, little Susy is quite disappointed, as her responses are thus:
"There is a subforum for posting poetry, go there."
"Try some punctuation and a spellcheck."
"Nobody cares how old you are."
"Reported."
Susy responds angrily, and vows to leave the forum forever.
Poor Susy! She wanted attention, and that is surely what she got.
Scenario Number Two
Read the stickies.
Let's try re-entering the Writer's Forum, shall we, Susy?
After perusing the general threads of the forum, and before deciding to post, Susy clicks on the thread entitled "HOLY RULEBOOK, BATMAN! Check out that Posting Guide!" and discovers a good many things about what is a good thread in the Writer's Forum and what isn't allowed.
Little does Susy know, she's already graduated to a new level of forumgoer, and is now far more likely to have a happy and productive experience in the Double-You-Eff.
Scenario Number Three
Always double-check for two things before you post a new topic, content and legibility.
Let's have Susy re-try posting.
First, Susy checks her title for indication of content and legibility. "Hi ppl!", while appropriate for the Chatterbox or "Welcome To Gaia" forum, isn't indicative of Writer's Forum level contribution. However, she can't write a title until she knows what her post will be about. So she blanks the space and tabs down to the inviting blank "Message:" space. She re-reads her original post, and finds is curiously lacking in both content and legibility! Revising it with better punctuation and spellchecking it on Microsoft Word (although she's a natural talent, little Susy isn't much of a speller), Susy is left with this:
"Hi, guys! I'm a young writer (only 12), and I really like poetry. I think it is full of expression and would like to see some of yours!"
With her legibility errors out of the way, it is easy for Susy to discover that her content is actually quite off-topic, despite her original impression that anything pertaining to writing was allowable in the Writer's Forum. Having read the stickies is saving her from a major error!
Unfortunately, Susy is now left with no reason to post. Which brings us to...
Scenario Number Four
Always have a reason to make a thread.
Avoiding posting for attention or posting in a manner that violates the stickies severely limits Susy Newbie's posting options. Fortunately for her, Susy has actually come across a conundrum while writing her poetry. She decides to ask a question about it.
She writes the bulk of her topic first.
"I've just started writing poetry."
Susy begins with some personal information, which is always allowed, even encouraged, as long as it is accompanied with good, stickies-obeying content.
"But I have a problem."
And here is how she includes the content! A real question about writing is, under most circumstances, appropriate in the WF. Having read the stickies, she certainly won't be asking anything inappropriate or answered elsewhere!
"I just don't have such a great vocabulary. I can't describe things like I want to. How could I get a better vocabulary without reading the dictionary?"
Here, little Susy has truly created a thing she can be proud of!
Checking her responses, she was pleased to see:
"Try reading books."
"Read poems and look up the words you don't know."
Curiously, however, she didn't see any more responses. What to do now?
Scenario Number Five
Try to respond to the people in your thread.
Little Susy Newbie, noticing that her thread had stalled at two responses, tries to encourage conversation by replying to her visitors.
"What book do you think I should read, Poster One?
And who is your favorite poet, Poster Two?"
She thereby invites responses from both posters, who point her toward their favorite author and poet. After a couple responses and her accompanying reply, Susy feels that she has made some new friends in the Writer's Forum, and goes on to read a new book and look up some poems on the internet.
Overall, a very productive topic, Susy!
Now, lets thank Susy for showing us a good way for a new forumgoer to start participating in the wonderful world of the Double-You-Eff. Next, we'll follow young Billy Been-Around and Regina Regular as they try to enrich their own Writer's Forum experience.
A note from the Author: If you'd like, you can comment on your own first experiences here in the writer's forum, and perhaps give some advice of your own to the Susy Newbies of Gaia. You could also discuss similar errors made by brand new poets or authors, or berate me regarding the whether or not this topic is actually allowed by the revered stickies, and whether or not it is completely hypocritical or unneccessary. wink
How to post effectively in the Double-You-Eff.
As enacted by Susy Newbie.
Scenario Number One
Don't post if you are just hungry for attention, it is five out of seven times an autofail.
Susy Newbie, after an evening or two exploring the roleplays of Barton Town, the chaos of the Chatterbox, and even the wide-armed friendliness of the "Welcome To Gaia" forum, happens upon the Writer's Forum, a relatively slow-paced place, and in it she sees a great opportunity to make new friends and try to get better at writing, a new hobby of hers (she thinks she might have natural talent!).
Looking over the threads and even posting in a few, poor Susy immediately notices a problem. Nobody is talking to her. Little Susy looks jealously at the five or so threads just bouncing with activity, and suddenly, an idea dawns. What if Susy Newbie made a thread? It could get her some attention, and maybe even make her some new friends!
Susy goes to work, and with a few clicks and a couple punches on the keyboard, her topic is introduced to the forum.
"Hi ppl!
Hi guys, i'm a yung wirter (only 12!!!) and i really like poetry I think it is fully of expresion and would like to see sum of urs!!! "
Looking over her new topic, Susy is filled with pride. The topic is perfect. It provides information on herself, a friendly introduction, and an invitation for others to provide the same. It is even on topic for the forum, with the poetry discussion!
Soon, however, little Susy is quite disappointed, as her responses are thus:
"There is a subforum for posting poetry, go there."
"Try some punctuation and a spellcheck."
"Nobody cares how old you are."
"Reported."
Susy responds angrily, and vows to leave the forum forever.
Poor Susy! She wanted attention, and that is surely what she got.
Scenario Number Two
Read the stickies.
Let's try re-entering the Writer's Forum, shall we, Susy?
After perusing the general threads of the forum, and before deciding to post, Susy clicks on the thread entitled "HOLY RULEBOOK, BATMAN! Check out that Posting Guide!" and discovers a good many things about what is a good thread in the Writer's Forum and what isn't allowed.
Little does Susy know, she's already graduated to a new level of forumgoer, and is now far more likely to have a happy and productive experience in the Double-You-Eff.
Scenario Number Three
Always double-check for two things before you post a new topic, content and legibility.
Let's have Susy re-try posting.
First, Susy checks her title for indication of content and legibility. "Hi ppl!", while appropriate for the Chatterbox or "Welcome To Gaia" forum, isn't indicative of Writer's Forum level contribution. However, she can't write a title until she knows what her post will be about. So she blanks the space and tabs down to the inviting blank "Message:" space. She re-reads her original post, and finds is curiously lacking in both content and legibility! Revising it with better punctuation and spellchecking it on Microsoft Word (although she's a natural talent, little Susy isn't much of a speller), Susy is left with this:
"Hi, guys! I'm a young writer (only 12), and I really like poetry. I think it is full of expression and would like to see some of yours!"
With her legibility errors out of the way, it is easy for Susy to discover that her content is actually quite off-topic, despite her original impression that anything pertaining to writing was allowable in the Writer's Forum. Having read the stickies is saving her from a major error!
Unfortunately, Susy is now left with no reason to post. Which brings us to...
Scenario Number Four
Always have a reason to make a thread.
Avoiding posting for attention or posting in a manner that violates the stickies severely limits Susy Newbie's posting options. Fortunately for her, Susy has actually come across a conundrum while writing her poetry. She decides to ask a question about it.
She writes the bulk of her topic first.
"I've just started writing poetry."
Susy begins with some personal information, which is always allowed, even encouraged, as long as it is accompanied with good, stickies-obeying content.
"But I have a problem."
And here is how she includes the content! A real question about writing is, under most circumstances, appropriate in the WF. Having read the stickies, she certainly won't be asking anything inappropriate or answered elsewhere!
"I just don't have such a great vocabulary. I can't describe things like I want to. How could I get a better vocabulary without reading the dictionary?"
Here, little Susy has truly created a thing she can be proud of!
Checking her responses, she was pleased to see:
"Try reading books."
"Read poems and look up the words you don't know."
Curiously, however, she didn't see any more responses. What to do now?
Scenario Number Five
Try to respond to the people in your thread.
Little Susy Newbie, noticing that her thread had stalled at two responses, tries to encourage conversation by replying to her visitors.
"What book do you think I should read, Poster One?
And who is your favorite poet, Poster Two?"
She thereby invites responses from both posters, who point her toward their favorite author and poet. After a couple responses and her accompanying reply, Susy feels that she has made some new friends in the Writer's Forum, and goes on to read a new book and look up some poems on the internet.
Overall, a very productive topic, Susy!
Now, lets thank Susy for showing us a good way for a new forumgoer to start participating in the wonderful world of the Double-You-Eff. Next, we'll follow young Billy Been-Around and Regina Regular as they try to enrich their own Writer's Forum experience.
A note from the Author: If you'd like, you can comment on your own first experiences here in the writer's forum, and perhaps give some advice of your own to the Susy Newbies of Gaia. You could also discuss similar errors made by brand new poets or authors, or berate me regarding the whether or not this topic is actually allowed by the revered stickies, and whether or not it is completely hypocritical or unneccessary. wink
