Workshop FAQ
Oct 30, 2014 10:06:41 GMT -8
Post by Lady Door on Oct 30, 2014 10:06:41 GMT -8
What is this even?
This is a workshopping group formed from members of the RPGDL. Submit your writing, get feedback! Rinse and repeat.
How do I join?
Create a new account. It will be added to the admin queue. If you are not already a known member of the DL, you may be asked to provide additional information about your interest in joining. Once you're a member, we'll add you to the next round of submissions.
What can I submit?
Anything in writing. Short stories of any genre, essays, non-fiction biographies, chapters, incomplete works, hell, even poetry. Just keep in mind that the members of your commenting group may not be familiar with your type of work. You may include a short introductory paragraph with your submission if you think the context is necessary. Revisions of previous submissions are acceptable provided they are substantively different (it's up to you to decide what counts as substantive), you mark that it's a re-submission, and you have posted it no more than 2 times previously.
What happens if I miss a submission or a review?
You will be docked points. For each missed submission or review, you will get 1 strike.
What happens after 3 strikes?
You'll be removed from the round and the next round. If you'd like to participate again after that, you can be entered in the pool for consideration. This may sound harsh, but understand that a workshop only works if everyone participates.
Can I erase strikes?
Yes. You can earn back 1/2 a strike for every review and submission you post. (Note that no matter how many times you post in the review for a single submission, you'll only earn back 1/2 a strike. We're not trying to encourage spam posting here.)
What if I need to withdraw from a round after it's already started?
Things happen. You will be removed from the current round and may be asked to sit out the following round. Again, participation is how these things work! If you are unable to participate, we don't want to stress you out by forcing you to continue submitting reviews or your own story. This will probably be case-by-case and depend on why you had to withdraw.
Okay, I'm in. What do I do?
When it's your turn, submit your writing to a new thread in the round's workshopping folder. Always create a new thread for every submission. This is very important. Reviews will be posted to the thread with the submission. It can get very confusing if multiple pieces, even revisions of pieces, are submitted to the same place. This is just the easiest way to keep it clean.
How many words can I submit?
That's up to you, but please keep it below 5000 words. Any more and it will be hard to give a quality review. If your work is longer than this, consider excerpting. If that just isn't possible, let us know and we'll see if the group is up to something longer.
What do I do when it's my turn to submit?
After you've created a submission topic and posted your story with a very brief introduction, you wait. Authors will not comment on their own thread until, if necessary, after everyone has submitted their review. This will hopefully cut down on explaining or arguing. You should also review your submission week's other author(s)!
How do I post a review?
Create a Google doc copy of the author's story and use in-line commenting and edit suggestions. When you post your review, feel free to write anything in the post itself but please also link to your Google doc. We'll revisit this recommendation to see if it's working for everyone.
Anything else I should know?
This is a workshopping group formed from members of the RPGDL. Submit your writing, get feedback! Rinse and repeat.
How do I join?
Create a new account. It will be added to the admin queue. If you are not already a known member of the DL, you may be asked to provide additional information about your interest in joining. Once you're a member, we'll add you to the next round of submissions.
What can I submit?
Anything in writing. Short stories of any genre, essays, non-fiction biographies, chapters, incomplete works, hell, even poetry. Just keep in mind that the members of your commenting group may not be familiar with your type of work. You may include a short introductory paragraph with your submission if you think the context is necessary. Revisions of previous submissions are acceptable provided they are substantively different (it's up to you to decide what counts as substantive), you mark that it's a re-submission, and you have posted it no more than 2 times previously.
What happens if I miss a submission or a review?
You will be docked points. For each missed submission or review, you will get 1 strike.
What happens after 3 strikes?
You'll be removed from the round and the next round. If you'd like to participate again after that, you can be entered in the pool for consideration. This may sound harsh, but understand that a workshop only works if everyone participates.
Can I erase strikes?
Yes. You can earn back 1/2 a strike for every review and submission you post. (Note that no matter how many times you post in the review for a single submission, you'll only earn back 1/2 a strike. We're not trying to encourage spam posting here.)
What if I need to withdraw from a round after it's already started?
Things happen. You will be removed from the current round and may be asked to sit out the following round. Again, participation is how these things work! If you are unable to participate, we don't want to stress you out by forcing you to continue submitting reviews or your own story. This will probably be case-by-case and depend on why you had to withdraw.
Okay, I'm in. What do I do?
When it's your turn, submit your writing to a new thread in the round's workshopping folder. Always create a new thread for every submission. This is very important. Reviews will be posted to the thread with the submission. It can get very confusing if multiple pieces, even revisions of pieces, are submitted to the same place. This is just the easiest way to keep it clean.
How many words can I submit?
That's up to you, but please keep it below 5000 words. Any more and it will be hard to give a quality review. If your work is longer than this, consider excerpting. If that just isn't possible, let us know and we'll see if the group is up to something longer.
What do I do when it's my turn to submit?
After you've created a submission topic and posted your story with a very brief introduction, you wait. Authors will not comment on their own thread until, if necessary, after everyone has submitted their review. This will hopefully cut down on explaining or arguing. You should also review your submission week's other author(s)!
How do I post a review?
Create a Google doc copy of the author's story and use in-line commenting and edit suggestions. When you post your review, feel free to write anything in the post itself but please also link to your Google doc. We'll revisit this recommendation to see if it's working for everyone.
Anything else I should know?
- Do not be prescriptive.
- Be polite.
- Critique the story, not the writer, not the subject matter, not the genre.
- Don’t try to rewrite the story.
- Avoid line editing.
- Be specific. Avoid “This works.” Say what works.