***NEW FORUM RULES*** (As of Nov26/07) READ BEFORE POSTING

[The Great Lion]

Official Writer's Corner Laws and Guidelines

*Note: It has come to my attention, that despite extra-special attention to detail that was undertaken by none other than my partner Moderator Leavaros, that Rules continue to be broken all over the forum and I know even though the frequency of such rule breaking is infrequent and most often a slip of the mind, I have changed the forum rules to LAWS, because laws cannot be broken.



Thread Titles & How to Properly Post

In the header section of your brand new post, should you be, in fact, posting a work of fiction, poetry, heck even non-fiction or anything else, you are REQUIRED to use one or more of the following Header Boxes.


[P]=poetry
[PR]=prose
[SS]=short story
[FY]=fantasy
[SF]=sci-fi
[F]=fiction
[FF]=fan fiction
[NF]=non-fiction


*Note: We are enforcing this law so that it is easy to categorize your work. It also makes browsing THAT much easier, say you like Sci-Fi, well just look for the [SF] header box and there you go! Please and thank you for abiding by this law.

POSTING, there has been much debate lately about this, and by debate, I mean myself brooding over why Leavaros never mentioned that one MUST post the actual story and not a link, only deeming to specify how proper online etiquette was to be maintained when posting. Here are the laws on how to post a story:

1. Members MUST post the ACTUAL story, link threads WILL be deleted
2. Block-Formatted stories WILL be deleted, see below for a description on Block-Formating
3. Double-Spaced stories are NOT allowed, this also falls under the category of making a post difficult to read and will be warned pending a Mod post and without compliance will result in thread deletion
4. Chapters MUST be posted in proper order at all times, if the story is not ranked into chapters but sections, every section must be posted following the correct order of the prose
5. Making the story harder to read by posting it in Bold, Italics, Underlined or even using an awkward "Say Style" will result in a Mod warning, non-compliance will result in deletion of the post
6. Talking down to your readers will not be tolerated, you are an author, not an authoritarian. If you wish people to only comment on certain things, ask politely, most will be more than happy to oblige you. Failure to obey this law will result in a warning pending a Mod post, failure to comply will result in thread deletion

**SUGGESTION** Lately members including myself have been using the Ornate "Say Style" to show our chapters, I highly recommend using this Say Style.


*Note: Block-Formatting is what publishing companies use when printing an author's book. You will notice that paragraphs are stacked one on top of the other and that there is no space between individual paragraphs. This is called Block-Formatting and it is not tolerated the web over by anyone, even professional news site avoid this practice because it makes reading anything unnecessarily difficult. An example of proper web-article formatting is as follows:

Quote:

Sure, you can hit the delete key on your MacBook or MacBook Pro and delete characters behind the cursor, but did you know that you can use that same delete key to delete characters in front of the cursor? We show you how to “forward delete” on Mac laptops in the latest Quick Tip of the Week.

Everybody has been a rock star. We have all jammed in front of the mirror, dazzling a sold-out stadium of make-believe fans. But unless you’re Nat and Alex Wolff, pretending to be a rock star doesn’t get you superstardom. The brothers starred in a mockumentary about a make-believe band and within a year they became a real band with an international fan base, a hit album, and a successful TV show on Nickelodeon. They’re called “The Naked Brothers Band,” and they’re the envy of every kid who has ever belted a ballad into a hairbrush.

Tis’ the season to learn how to use iPhoto to create beautiful holiday gifts and keepsakes using your photos. Make a 2008 calendar. Design your own holiday cards. Create a hardcover photo book complete with customized dust jacket. Sign-up or drop-in for a free Print Products Holiday Workshop at your local Apple Store.

***POETRY***

Note that poetry will often take many varied and dysfunctional forms. The rules that apply for poetry only apply to LAW# 1, 4, 5 and 6.



Memorable Threads: A How to

The memory threads are here to commemorate any works of fiction, prose, poetry etc. that you think should be held in special regard. These threads are NOT intended for the following:

-Posting of YOUR OWN material
-Posting chatter
-Posting anti-post propaganda, this is not a democratic set of threads, this is opinion

*Note: Any chatter found in the memorial threads will be deleted pending a PM to the posting offender. Material found posted of the author's own creation will be deleted pending a PM to the author/poster. Anti-post chatter that complains about another member's choice of prose to post in the memorial threads will be deleted and depending on the severity of the post, membership to the guild will be revoked if TOS and Guild Guidelines are broken. This decision will be made between the Moderators of the FSFBG, no pleas will be heard.

Should you in fact deem an author worthy of notable mention, here is how to go about posting in the memorial forums:

Author: (Given Screen Name)
Title: (The title of the work produced by the author)

And Finally...

The Piece Itself (<--- Do not include, simply post the story, poem etc.)

Courtesy

It should be noted that flaming, flame wars, flame war instigators and general s**t disturbers will not be tolerated here nor in other parts of the guild. I for one still have scars from many a flame war back in the old days when Fanfiction.net had next to no moderators and members could be as ruthless as they pleased. I will not for an instant see this guild tarnished by such actions, should myself or any other Moderator for that matter see the beginnings of a flame war, I personally will explain to Crystalmuse why they had to be banned from the guild.

Should an author wish to receive only helpful critiques, please ask so decently, demanding it will not be tolerated and will result in a Mod post warning. A member may ask for any kinds of reviews except flames, but it must be done so tactfully and should they receive reviews that they never asked for, be happy that someone read your piece, we are one of the few, though it is my belief that we are the ONLY, guild(s) that have a regular base of readers and reviewers. Demanding reviews or begging for them will also not be tolerated, asking is fine, but neither of the above.

Rest assured that I plan to uphold ALL these laws personally to the best of my ability and I hope that my fellows here abide by these standards as well.

Thank you everyone for making this guild what is it,

the Great Lion