These are designed to create a safe and enjoyable space for the discussion of writing. The rules may be changed or added to when the need arises so you should check them regularly. Any delay in enforcement of the rules does not mean they cannot be enforced at a later date.
General Forum Rules
- Incivility towards another member or a moderator will not be tolerated, please treat all members with respect and courtesy at all times. Deliberately starting arguments and other troll behavior is forbidden
- No pornographic or nude images, No images or descriptions of bestiality, necrophilia, pedophilia, or rape. No hate speech or incitement or threats to commit illegal acts. No harassment of, or unwanted advances to, another member either on open forum or by private message
- No claiming to be an admin, moderator, or other staff member when you are not.
- Posting spam or any other unauthorized advertising anywhere on the site will lead to an instant permanent ban. You are allowed to link to your published work in the success stories forum, and in your signature (see below).
- No debates about religion, politics, and the like. You are allowed to post writing about these topics but critique and debate should focus on the writing not the topic.
- Market research is not allowed
- We do not allow the discussion or promotion of cracked apps, pirated software, or other forms of hacking such as techniques for compromising phones or devices.
- Homework, university coursework, competition entries, and other work intended to reflect individual effort, should not be posted for critique. Our members will not do your work for you.
- No thread bumping, i.e. appending meaningless posts to bring a thread to the top, or creating duplicates of threads to garner attention
- Posts must contain content by you. Posts generated by AIs and bots, posts with a naked link and no words, and posts that consist solely of memes or emoji's are not allowed.
- This is a writing forum, please use writing in English to communicate. Although we don't insist on perfect grammar, a minimum standard of legibility and comprehensibility is required. Posts that don't make sense will be removed.
- We do allow the deletion of content without good reason. Minor alterations to correct typos, or add more information, or deleting a remark you thought better of before it is replied to is acceptable, but trashing threads by removing posts is not.
- Users may only have one account. (Staff may have more than one for testing purposes), Creating more than one account without permission may result in permanent banning of all accounts used by the member.
- User screen names consisting of or containing URLs or website addresses are expressly forbidden , as are names containing offensive, derogatory or vulgar verbiage.
- Accounts will be deleted on request with all personally identifying account information (name, date of birth, email etc) removed. Posts will not be deleted but will instead be assigned a random user name.
- Screen names are changed only while a poster is a New Member. Once posters have achieved full Member status—by being here at least 14 days and making at least 20 posts—screen names are not changed.
- Images are not allowed in signatures.
- Once you are an Active Member (90 days membership and 100 posts) you can include two links either internal or external, such as to your personal blog, or to your books sale pages. Other types of commercial page are not allowed
- Links cannot be to sites that contain pornographic or illegal material or which otherwise break our rules.
- Please limit signature size. Those that are deemed unreasonably large may be edited or removed without notice.
- Signatures also may not contain text with sexual connotations, racial slurs, vulgarity, content intended to upset a specific member or to prolong arguments.
- Avatars must not contain pornographic or offensive material, or foul language.
- You must not use your avatar image to upset, offend, or harass another member, or as a means of inciting or prolonging arguments.
- Posting material that is not yours without attribution or claiming it as your own is considered copyright infringement and/or plagiarism, if proven to the staff's satisfaction this will lead to a permanent ban.
- Small sections of copyrighted material may be posted when you cite the original author.
- Material which you believe to be out of copyright must still be cited, as writers we have a moral obligation to respect an author's right to be recognized as the creator of their work.
- Each member can post one workshop thread without the need to first make critiques. After that posting in the Writing Workshop requires you to give at least 1 constructive critique of other members' work per each new thread you start in the workshop.
- The text of all stories, poems, or other writing offered for comment and critique must be posted directly within the Writing Workshop. Likewise critiques must be directly posted not links directing offsite
- Only your own work may be posted for critique, and you must own the copyright. Posting work by other writers, or which is generated by AIs, is expressly forbidden
- If your writing contains adult language, sexual behavior, or violence, it must be marked/categorized as such. Graphic sexual descriptions may only be posted in the erotica sub forum - which has its own rules
- By posting, you are granting limited use. Specifically, retention or removal of that piece of writing from the site is solely at the discretion of the site administration team, and members may quote the submission in full or in part for the purpose of critique within that thread.
- If you are requesting a beta-read for a complete manuscript, OR wish to co-write a project with another member, please request this in the Collaborative Projects subforum. These collaborations may be requested only after you have satisfied the Writing Workshop requirements, as well as been a member for 14 days, and made 20 posts. Any agreement to give a beta-read or do a collaboration is made solely between the members concerned. The forum bears no responsibility to enforce completion of said project. The Collaboration Forum is intended to be non commercial so payment of any kind should be neither sought nor offered.
- If you wish to display finished work without receiving critique on it please use the showcase rather than the workshop
The lounge is a place for lighthearted discussion with your forum friends. It's a perk for regular members and should not become your only reason for using the site. It has its own rules and guidelines and specific topics are forbidden. These include:
- Specific advice about health, mental health, legal or financial matters. This is the internet where anyone might be a dog, therefore for those things where poor advice is likely to have serious real world consequences, you should consult a properly qualified real world expert.
- Heavy duty debates about religion, politics and the like. This is a writing forum. or raison d'etre is to discuss writing, if you want to discuss these sorts of topics there are many other places on the internet specifically for that purpose.
The Admins and moderators are in charge of the day to day running of the forum. The Admins are NWOPD (Owner), and Big Soft Moose (Admin Moderator). The Moderators are Homer Potvin, Selbbin, Dbesim, Seven Crowns, and Hammer (this list will change from time to time). Their job is to keep the forum running smoothly as a worthwhile and enjoyable place for all. As part of this, they will from time to time have to call for calm, lock, edit, move, or delete posts or threads, or to warn or ban members. When this happens please treat their decision as final.
Moderator actions are only reversed in the rarest of circumstances, and members are expected to respect their authority to run the forum. Refusing to do so may earn you a temporary or permanent ban.
However if you really feel that you must question a point please either use the report function, or contact a staff member by private message. Threads/Posts questioning specific moderator decisions or actions (such as "why was so and so banned?") are not allowed and will be deleted.
Our team are all volunteers who give up their time in order to keep the forum running for you to enjoy. As such they deserve your respect and treating them otherwise will not be tolerated. Abuse or threatening behaviour to any of our team will result in a lifetime ban.
Rule Violations
Rule violations will lead to warnings or in serious cases bans. Each violation has a different level of warning points. Once you receive 5 points you will be banned for 7 days. At 10 points you will be banned for 30 days, 30 points will see you banned for 90 days, and 32 points will result in a permanent ban.
Breaking of any of these rules is a breach of your agreement. We reserve the right to ban or terminate any user at any time for any reason. Penalties will vary based on the severity of the situation.
. I wrote my first book when I was 8. It was heavily plaigarised from Watership Down and featured hand drawn pages and cover art nearly as bad as that of Empress Theresa. My more recent books are better, I hope.![[IMG]](https://www.writingforums.org/data/attachments/19/19840-c683bf804105f6974fb5ea59d3071646.jpg)
![[IMG]](https://www.writingforums.org/data/avatars/m/80/80728.jpg?1606981954)
![[IMG]](https://www.writingforums.org/data/attachments/21/21175-6b6a3d305ebdfbf11dc5f81d462d7d20.jpg)
