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From:
[email protected] (Wendy Chatley Green)
Newsgroups: misc.writingmisc.answers,news.answers
Subject: [misc.writing] Posting Guidelines FAQ (modified 10/96)
Followup-To: poster
Date: 18 May 1998 10:36:53 EDT
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Summary: Posting guidelines and information about misc.writing
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Archive-name: writing/misc-writing-guide
Posting-Frequency: weekly (Monday) to misc.writing;
monthly (3rd Monday) to *.answers
Last-modified: 10.96
URL:
http://www.scalar.com/mw/
THE PURPOSE OF MISC.WRITING AND OUR PROTOCOL
This group was established for the discussion of the
business of writing/editing/publishing. It has evolved also into
a place for those in the industry to kick off their shoes and
chat.
misc.writing Posting Conventions
In a vote, the majority of people that voted in January of
1995 agreed with these conventions. The vote request was only
posted in misc.writing. Anybody can come through the door here.
Most people are welcomed. A few are flamed or killfiled.
There are ways to avoid that. If you want to avoid being jumped
on, I have a few suggestions.
Read the FAQs, all of which are posted weekly, lurk the
newsgroup for a week or so, and then jump in. Our culture is
pretty much the same as the rest of the 'Net, except that we
are a bit more active about defining and defending it than some
places. Make yourself at home.
Questions and answers: Don't ask any questions that are
answered in the FAQ. If you're going to answer someone's
question, try to be reasonably accurate and to offer information
no one else has mentioned.
Discussions: Try to be intelligent, reasonable, polite,
amusing if possible, as succinct as you can manage, and
informative.
Chatter: Same as above, with more stress on amusing. If
all you have to say is "right on", "you go, girl" or "ditto",
send it via e-mail.
Arguments: Try not to. Sometimes it's hard to tell when a
discussion verges into an argument; sometimes it's really
tempting to flame back. People will forgive an angry post or two
(again, as long as it's intelligent, reasonable, polite, etc.)
Announcements, market tips, etc.: Keep them short and
relevant. Don't be too commercial, i.e. don't say "This
book is available for $99.95; you can send cheque or money
order to such-and-such address, or call such-and-such number, we
take VISA, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. . . ."
Worst of all is a form with "fill-in-the-blank" lines for
printing out and mailing. Much better to say "If anyone here is
interested in this, contact me by email and I'll tell you how to
get my book."
Writing samples: Definitely don't. Post them to
rec.arts.prose or rec.arts.poems, or maybe alt.prose or some
of the other alt.* groups. If everyone posted their samples
here, the informative posts would be drowned in a tide of
bandwidth.
We talk about writing techniques, style, language, grammar,
semantics, story or article construction, plot, theme, genre,
markets, submission tips, news about particular editors or
publishers, manuscript tips, writing software, and a certain
amount of how we feel about writing, or how we survive it.
Basically anything relating to the study, practise, or lifestyle
of writing.
What we prefer not to talk about here are *subjects* of
writing. We really could not care less about political diatribes,
old girlfriends, books about cooking or architecture or whatever.
The purpose of this newsgroup does not include the topic of every
other newsgroup on the 'Net. We talk about subjects in the
context of talking about markets, but that's about it. For
example, while political crap will bore and annoy people, a
discussion about speechwriting would be on-topic.
In particular, paradoxical as it may seem, a lot of us are
sick of hearing about the Internet. A number of writers only
grudgingly accept technology in their lives, which is why we have
discussions of bizarre things like fountain pens and the right
kind of paper and binding for a journal. Not to say we won't
help someone who is lost or confused about things technical but
we do need a break from all this stuff.
We ask that profanity be kept to a minimum (as we know at
least one high school writing class reads our group regularly) or
that you use * in place of vowels. No, this request is not meant
to censor, just a request to "keep it clean and fun" and to give
everyone a chance to expand their vocabulary beyond the bovine
feces that goes on in every-day conversations.
When responding to a thread, please be sure to reference the
correct subject so that others will know that the posts are
related. When you change the focus or change the subject
completely, please re-name your post with (was "old thread
subject title") following your new title.
Example:
Old Thread = What I had for Lunch Today
New Thread = I hate Twinkies (was: What I had for Lunch Today)
When using a portion of another post in your own post
(quoting), please be sure to correctly attribute the original
poster. It is very important not to "put words in someone else's
mouth". If a mistake is made, please correct it and apologize. We
all know that news readers are quirky and sometimes attribute
nested post references to the wrong person, so take care when
quoting.
FLAMING AND NETIQUETTE
As misc.writing wants to be considered the friendliest group
on the net, flaming, trolling and spamming are considered
inappropriate and in bad taste/form. No personal attacks should
be made on a fellow poster (by name or nickname or address) in
your posts. If you disagree with another person's opinion,
write that person via e-mail to discuss your personal differences
and DO NOT post your disputes/arguments/flames. You are free to
post your own opinion as a separate post in and of itself. It
helps newbies, lurkers, and established writers see that the
publishing industry gives us all different experiences and points
of view on our many subjects.
If you disagree with the content of someone else's post as
incorrect or inappropriate and you have *facts* to support it, or
wish to discuss it further on the group and can do so without
defaming the original poster's character, feel free to respond.
Please use the rules of logic and common sense as well as common
courtesy.
Remember words have more than one meaning and they are apt
to be misinterpreted. There is a difference between American and
British English as well as the English of someone using it as a
second language. You may want to ask yourself or the original
poster if your impression of the post is correct.
If you see a person posting a blatant flame, personal
attack, or an inappropriate business advertisement to all groups,
DO NOT RESPOND TO THE POST ON THE GROUP. Gently remind the poster
(via e-mail) that such posts are not permitted and to please
discontinue the practice. By responding to these things by e-mail
instead of on the group, we are able to allow the post to die in
a relatively short time and for the person/organization to get
the hint that no one is interested in such trash.
Be aware that some software does not allow the correction of
misspellings or the editing of posts (short of starting the post
over). Do not correct spelling or grammar--e-mail the author
directly. Be prepared to converse fluently in the author'
s native language if it turns out that English is a second
language.
We all have our pet peeves, but try to be civil when
pointing out mistakes of these kinds.
THE COCKTAIL PARTY CONVERSATIONS IN OUR
VIRTUAL COMMUNITY OF MISC.WRITINGVILLE
The purpose of the "misc.writingville" or "MWVille" section
of misc.writing is to give the busy writer a place to "play" and
unwind from the stresses of deadlines and writer's block. Posts
may mirror the regular discussions going on in the rest of the
group, the world at large, or you can make it up as you go. The
only "restrictions" are these:
1. The header of a MWVille posts should start with "MWV:".
Some people are not interested in the off-topic foolishness that
can occur in MWVille and the prefix will warn them away.
2. It is highly recommended that your post be humorous,
entertaining, or at least thought-provoking.
3. Please--reserve the "MWV" header prefix for MWVille
posts.
Anyone may participate in "MWV" mode but you might want to
read at least part of the history of misc.writingville, which
holds some of the established cast of characters, streets,
businesses and houses, etc. This is on the misc.writing home
page:
http://www.scalar.com/mw/
The MWV City Directory is posted on this page; it is a
listing of (almost) everyone and everything that has appeared in
MWVille.
Feel free to create your own character for our community or
to join others in a saga. Your creativity and wit are your only
limits (or not, as the case may be).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
These guidelines were originally posted by Alexander von
Thorn in response to a newcomer's questions regarding
misc.writing's conventions. More recently the duty was performed
by M Barnard. Erin Barrett-Hamner followed on the duty roster.
Wendy Chatley Green (
[email protected]) now maintains the
misc.writing FAQs. All suggestions, comments, and criticism
should be sent to her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--
Wendy Chatley Green --
[email protected]
