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| We're glad that you have joined or are thinking of joining us. We have a few rules and requirements as well as some guidelines for the kinds of things that we find acceptable in a format such as this. Please take a few minutes to read all our restrictions. It won't hurt, we promise... and we don't bite, honest! ...Except when annoyed. :) Just kidding! I know it's long, but I didn't add in a single unnecessary word. Everything on this page is very very important and it contains a lot of information that is essential to proper participation in the group. If you do nothing else, please read the section on Guidelines for Story Writing to understand our stances on content and magic. The restrictions have changed somewhat since Jenny/Eowyn came into management. :) Sections addressed in the information page/letter: THE FORUM The forum is not restricted to members. Anyone may post at the forum, but we ask that you post discussion questions only. Any stories, comments, or critiques should be addressed to the group's e-mail circle. Although aliases are not required at the forum, they are a way to protect yourself. If you feel like using an alias is a way to cover up misdeeds or inappropriate posts, you are incorrect. The administrator (Jenny/Eowyn) will be able to block you from the board regardless of what alias you use thanks to the technology of IP numbers. JOINING Anyone may join, provided that they are willing to abide by our terms. The society is mostly for unpublished writers, but we do have a few "professionals" among us that will be willing to lend a hand (or perhaps even get some instruction). Remember, just because someone is published doesn't automatically make them better or more authoritative than you! Please remember this whether you are published or unpublished. Our e-group is moderated and restricted simply to protect the identities and copyrights therein. To join, you must request a subscription from Eowyn (Jenny Sawyer), the group's moderator and owner. You will then be sent a copy of this (in case you didn't read it online) and a survey to be filled out. You don't have to fill out any questions that make you nervous. In fact, all we really need from you is your first name and an alias (for your own protection and enjoyment.) The alias is a way for you to "get into" your favorite book, but also a safe way to be able to post to our forum, which is not restricted to members. Once you are approved, you have access to the e-group and may read, write, and critique to your heart's content. You also have access to the files, links, data, polls, and other things contained in the Realm. The moderator/owner/administrator (affetionately known as the MOA or Webmistress) reserves the right to deny anyone access or ban anyone from the group or forum as long as she has a good reason, (if you're not sure why you've been booted, just ask, I'm reasonable). If you have any problems with anyone in the group, please notify Eowyn immediately. THE E-GROUP ITSELF The reason that Writer's Realm (formerly Writers 4 His Glory) went to a more web-based status is entirely for convenience's sake. Instead of e-mailing every story, poem, or critique to the moderator (then it was Beth/Marian) and then her mailing it to everyone else, it's much more simple to send it to the group address and have it immediately go to all members. The E-Group can be joined without Internet access: however, you will need a browser to see a lot of the benefits the group offers, such as files, links, and data. All the surveys as well as the basic information chart on each member will be stores on the E-Group home as well as the site. :) Those of you who joined via e-mail (not Writer's Realm YahooGroups area) will need an e-groups account and password to access these files. All the material, however, will also be stored at the Writer's Realm site at 50megs.com. The E-group will be used for sending stories, reading stories, and critiquing. THE SITE The site, created entirely by HTML by Eowyn is hosted by 50megs. Although it was hoped intially that the longer stories could be stored at the site and simply be password-locked (a password would be needed to access the page that only group members would have), 50megs forbids their page-users to lock any of their pages. (Good thing Eowyn read the terms of service or we'd be shut down someday, eh?) Instead of moving the whole darn thing to another Eowyn simply decided to leave the material for the story uploaded in file form at the secure E-groups site at yahoo.com. The site is partnered with and linked quite profusely to Charity's Place, which is nearly the mother site and provides a lot of the traffic (as well as vice-versa) for the Writer's Realm. WR and Charity's Place overlap in a few areas, including Picture Magic and the Write Track. Participation at both sites is highly encouraged. Charity's Place produces high-quality movie ratings and writings from quite a lovely young authoress, Charity Bishop. This site, then, serves as a member file, with history and guidelines for the society as well as a backlog and information for stories sent in by the members. All stories will be summarized and their progress tracked, along with the availability of the author's e-mail in the event that a non-member should wish to read part or all of a certain story. The site also provides a forum and holds most of the less-private documents found at the e-groups site. GUIDELINES FOR STORY WRITING I'm afraid that you will find that Eowyn (me) came from the less-stringent side of a debate that cleft Writers 4 His Glory in two a few years back. The group's original owner (Beth/Marian) also came to our side of the split but no longer had time to run the club, so it was turned into the hands of Eowyn. Marian is still a participating club member and weighs in on some of the guideline decisions as the rules for this club draw from her original statements. At any rate, the club is now accepting fiction, non-fiction, poems, short stories, and essays of any nature. The only writing tip that will be offered from the WR administration will be held in the motto. "A drop of ink may make a million think." Stories are written to make people think. Please make sure they do so. We're not saying that you have to have a moral, but unless your plot has a conflict and a resolution it will have no effect on the reader. Make sure your story has some elements of tension to provide an impact upon those who discover it! One of the key elements in the W4HG disputes was the presense of fairy tales and magic in the story-writing. After some consideration, WR has adopted a fairly lenient policy as far as use of magic goes. This policy is directly in line with Eowyn's beliefs but is approved by all members. Policy on magic: Science fiction and fantasy are both acceptable in this society. They will, of course, follow the same moral standards as any of our writings, but we will not prohibit the use of magic as long as it meets the following requirements: Policy on content rating: The policy adopted by WR for content within the stories is as follows: 1) All serious themes within reason may be addressed, but those that need to be handled delicately must be done so. STORY SUBMISSION To send in a story, simply e-mail it to WRealm@yahoogroups.com. It will then go out to all the Writer's Realm members -- yourself included. When you submit a short story or the first chapter of a novel, (you don't have to do this for every chapter,) please rate your work for the members in our group who wish to abstain from certain content. a) Thematic Elements: G to PG to PG-13 based solely on the subjects that you address. Most war stories would garner a PG; some stories dealing with influences of the devil might garner a PG-13. In addition, please submit a "teaser" for your story just like would be found on the back of a book to post at our site. This way, people who visit the site who are not members can contact you about reading your book. GUIDELINES FOR CRITIQUING Critiquing is an essential part of what we do. Please try to critique constructively. There are several essential things to consider to ensure that your critique is constructive, the most important being the aura of the critique. One of the things W4HG struggled with is the fact that the criqitues came out of personal preference. Those who preferred action-filled stories critiqued the "domestic" stories for lack of interest, and those who prefer "domestic" stories critiqued the writers of action and fairy tales for addressing themes that they disliked. Please please please make sure that your comments come from an objective stance and that they really will help the author to become a better writer, not a writer more suited to your personal tastes. Everyone struggles with this. Simply do your best to remain unaffected. What to critique, then? A writer's style may be critiqued to some extent: an author may be descriptive, and that should not be condemned, but long detailed paragraphs may lose the interest of readers not interested in the minute things of life. An author may be honed in on dialogue a lot of the time, which may not be your personal preference, but it should not be addressed unless you are having a hard time following the setting and plot due to excess chatter. When critiquing, try to touch on these matters: a) Does the story make sense? Can you follow it? It is helpful to think of one good thing the author does and one or two things they could improve on. That gives people not only a sense of what they can fix but a sense of what they excel at (and perhaps can incorporate more of.) Whew! That was a lot. But it's all important. Got it all down? Don't worry if you can't remember every letter of this information packet. :) If you memorize it all, you're just plain... different, I guess, for lack of a more insulting word. :D Problems as they arise will be addressed in the club. Remember, we're people, not judges! ...We all have opinions, but we're all heading toward one common goal: to better our writing for the Glory of God! Last amended: July 7, 2001 by Eowyn Guidelines and Writer's Realm are ©2001 Jenny Sawyer (Eowyn)and Beth Feaker (Marian) |