Posting Checklist

Posting Checklist

Here are my suggestions on what to do before you post something in the Literary Forums.

1. Have you critiqued at least two things by other people?
That's a forum rule. Don't worry, it's not hard. ^_^

2. Have you read through your entire story/poem at least once?
It's amazing how much one more read through can catch. If your work isn't full of little mistakes your critiques can focus on the important stuff.
> Is it entirely free of typos?
> Is it spellchecked?

3. Have you formatted your work?
It's really, really hard to read prose that's all in a bunch.
> Are your paragraphs frequent and double spaced?
> Does all your dialogue have a new paragraph?
> Are all your sentences a reasonable length, not extremely long?

4. Is your story/poem/other punctuated?
If you don't know how to punctuate, there are plenty of tips in the writing tips forum, here.

5. Are you posting things one at a time?
You'll get more critiques if you wait a few days between posting each new story/poem.

If you've done/are doing all that, you're ready to post! He're's a quick link to the Literary Forums. I hope this has been helpful.

-Jenna

I applaud you for posting this! *claps*

In all seriousness, though; this is a good checklist for everyone. When people ignore number rules 5 and 2 it really annoys the heck out of me.

Jennafina wrote:2. Have you read through your entire story/poem?
It's amazing how much one more read through can catch. If your work isn't full of little mistakes your critiques can focus on the important stuff.
>Is it entirely free of typos?
>Is it spellchecked?

Yes, I've checked, but sometimes the little things slip through. My first grade teacher told us to read it backwards, word by word, to look for spelling errors.

*Joins Cassandra in applause*

One more thing I would add (under step two):
> Do you use periods occasionally?

A lot of people seem to struggle with run-on sentences, which is okay for a while but after a whole paragraph that's one big long sentence I start to wonder if this person has ever heard of a period, I wonder if they know how to use it, they seem to be addicted to commas, they don't ever end sentences...

You get the idea.

Think I could take these and make them stickies in the Fiction Section without you minding?

I'm not sure how often people actually read the stickies, but this would be helpful...lol. If I do do it, I'll be sure to credit you and link to this page because chances are I'll put the bare questions in the sticky. *lazy*

They're really good though! But on Q2 I have to admit something. I don't read my work through once, I tend to read it 3-5 times before posting. And then some after it. It's habitual. I have to check it, make sure nothing is wrong.

The little info you put after the questions were nice...now that I think of it, if I do decide to sticky these I'll put even more info than you did after the Q's.

> Does any dialogue have its own line?

You should add something to this, I think, because that is so vague. Really, the rule is, if a new character is speaking there is a new paragraph, ALONG WITH each line of dialog starting in a new paragraph. And, even if it is the same character speaking, sometimes it is necessary to start a new paragraph. It's debatable.

My first grade teacher told us to read it backwards, word by word, to look for spelling errors.

That is an amazing idea. I'll have to try it!

Edited! I added the thing about periods, and tried to make the dialogue line more specific. Is it any better?

Clau>> About the stickyness, I'd be flattered.

Yay! Much fandom!

Thank God for Jenna

1. Have you critiqued at least two things by other people?
That's a forum rule. Don't worry, it's not hard.

It's so annoying when people don't pay attention to that rule. If I notice that someone's piece is their first or second post or if I know that they haven't been critting others, I usually try not to respond to their work.

I usually try not to respond to their work.

But then you're being bias! lol. You have to think of it like this: 1) They are like you assume, and they are stupid, rude people who just want critiques and are too lazy to give critiques OR don't know how to give critiques so the don't give any. Or 2) They are unaware of this rule.

So its better to actually critique them (lightly, if you want, don't waste too much time doing it if you don't feel like it) and while you are at it mention something like "I noticed this was your first post, and in the rules it says that...." even quote the rules, just sort of tip them off to it.

Some people really don't know that is the rule. I mean we've got 11-14 year olds who may not be Forum savvy, and not know that its polite to critique before posting. So don't ignore them all together but...don't give them gold either XD IMHO.