Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!howland.erols.net!cs.utexas.edu!geraldo.cc.utexas.edu!not-for-mail From: wcgreen@cris.com Newsgroups: misc.writing,news.answers,misc.answers Subject: [misc.writing] Posting Guidelines FAQ (modified 1/99) Followup-To: poster Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 09:36:55 -0600 Organization: Staggerwing Enterprises Lines: 242 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Message-ID: Reply-To: cgreen@cris.com NNTP-Posting-Host: dhcp-218-7.bus.utexas.edu Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: geraldo.cc.utexas.edu 951752214 10069 128.83.218.7 (28 Feb 2000 15:36:54 GMT) X-Complaints-To: abuse@cc.utexas.edu NNTP-Posting-Date: 28 Feb 2000 15:36:54 GMT Summary: Posting guidelines and information about misc.writing Keywords: x-no-markup: yes X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.7/32.534 Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu misc.writing:411874 news.answers:178127 misc.answers:10810 Archive-name: writing/misc-writing-guide Posting-Frequency: weekly (Monday) to misc.writing; monthly (3rd Monday) to *.answers Last-modified: 01/1999 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 Conventitons 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.) --HTML: Posting in HTML (the stuff of which web pages are made) is a very bad idea; Usenet was designed for text, not code. Please don't assume everyone else can, or wants to read HTML if your newsreader can use it. In fact, HTML is so detested that many m.w denizens, if your post contains it, may cut off your hands and return them to you on a platter with garnish. The garnish depends on the denizen. --Soliciting manuscripts and writing-for-hire in misc.writing: Publishers who seek submissions in misc.writing should include the rights sought and the payment offered. On-line exposure is rarely a sufficient enticement. Those who cannot or do not offer monetary compensation should expect negative reactions from the denizens of misc.writing since many writers here object to the assumption that it is an honor to write for no pay. --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 alt.skunks (it really is a writing newsgroup), 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. --What 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 (wcgreen@cris.com) now maintains the misc.writing FAQs. All suggestions, comments, and criticism should be sent to her. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- Keeper of the misc.writing FAQ and Posting Guidelines at http://www.scalar.com/mw/ and at ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/misc.writing/writing/misc-writing-guide ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/misc.writing/writing/faq/basic-info ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/misc.writing/writing/faq/organization-list and at http://www.landfield.com/faqs Posted to news.answers & misc.answers monthly and to misc.writing every Monday