.: Rules :.

[Athnai]

Here are the rules. Abide by them, for if they are broken, a swift punishment will be imminent.

Abide by the Gaia TOS and Rules. Nothing more basic than that, I would say.

Flaming is a NO-NO. If you are caught flaming, you will be warned once. Only once. After that, you will be temporarily banned, and if we catch you once more, you will be permanently banned from the guild. There is no excuse for flaming. If you don't like it, don't read it.

Do not use chatspeak, otherwise known as 1337 speak. Frankly, it is ugly and will not make your readers happy. Even if you use chatspeak in the author's notes, it is not pleasant for anyone. Please do not use it. If your story is that bad, you might even be warned.

Please be at least semi-literate. This goes along with the chatspeak rule. Acceptable grammar is not that hard to use, you know. Grammar is taught to everyone since grade school. Spelling is easy. If you do not know how to spell a word, use spell-check. Literate writing will get you more readers, and better reviews.

You may curse, but you will be warned if it goes overboard. A few words here and there are okay, but saying the same or various foul language every other word is not acceptable. Using these words in a story is only acceptable if there is a warning in the topic title of the story, or in bold before each chapter.

Please, in bold before each chapter warn readers if there will be: sexual themes (see rule two below this one), violence, blood, gore, cursing, religious themes, etc.

Do not use quote towers or requote the entire main post. Sections are fine, however.

Keep posts PG13 and under. With stories, this applies mostly for sexual themes. Mentioning or hinting at is fine, but nothing that would not be appropriate for a thirteen-year-old to read.

If you see anything that would be considered inappropriate for the guild, contact a staff member with the problem and the users involved.

 

[Kassandra Dastardly]

Hi, Melodicanth!

Is it alright if I post in the Rules section to ask a few questions?  

[Athnai]

Sure! Go ahead. ^^ Any questions are fine, especially if they help me replace the rules I've forgotten at the moment. (My brain doesn't work when it's so hot.) ^^

EDIT: I ahve to go, but I'll probably be on tomorrow, 'kay? ^^  

[Kassandra Dastardly]

Thanks! Well, I was wondering if the rule regarding cursing includes the use of profanity within the work itself. I understand that in non-writing posts (like this one) we have to watch our language, but I know that there will be writers who will want to use certain kinds of language within their stories for... creative purposes, or something. Should that kind of writing not be allowed (which I don't have a problem with), or should authors indicate the maturity level, or kind of content that is within their writing in the title of their post?  

[Athnai]

Yes, I do think that would be all right. As long as there is a language disclaimer of some sort either in the topic title or before each chapter. I'll add that rule now, thanks for reminding me. ^_^

 

[Recohn]

Perhaps the authors should include the maturity level in the title in parantheses, or somewhere where others can see it and can't say things like, "Oh, well, I didn't see that" (for all the sensitive readers, anyway sweatdrop ).  

[Kassandra Dastardly]

I think that's a fair rule.

I was also wondering if there should be a thread posted that covers all the basics of grammar (since it is one of the requirements, and no one will have an excuse for not using it). Something that might be useful as a writing guide, or reference for things that people might have trouble with when they write.

P.S. My posts are endless. gonk  

[Athnai]

Yeah, that would be a good idea. ^^ I'll probably start one after I post a few stickies on sub-forum rules and guidelines in the other forums. Would you like to work with me on it?

 

[Kassandra Dastardly]

I would love to! biggrin

Edit: I'll be right back, gotta go for bit!  

[Athnai]

Allright. ^^ If you could just write down a few tips that you think others would find useful, that would be great! I'll start a topic once we have enough. CC-san, you should help too, ne?

@CC-san - If the disclaimer is in bold, there's no reason why the reader shouldn't read that first, especially if it's at the beginning of every chapter. ^^  

[Kassandra Dastardly]

Back! Okay, well I can make up a rough outline of a few things that I think would be helpful, and I'll post it when I'm done.

Should the post go in the General Discussion area, or the Writing Discussion?  

[Athnai]

I think writing discussion's good. ^^ General Discussion's for everything not having to do with writing, i.e. word games, chitter-chatter, etc. I'll turn it into a sticky and add tyhings myself, as well, if you don't mind. ^^  

[Kassandra Dastardly]

Of course I don't mind! This was all your idea, you should have the final say in everything. heart Although I should warn you, I did go a little overboard... I'm an English major, and I think I got a little carried away with the information. sweatdrop

I have a small outline of what I have that I'll post for you to look over, and see if there's anything that should be added, or that might be unnecessary and should be omitted. biggrin  

[Kassandra Dastardly]

Basics: Punctuation marks, and their functions.
1. Periods/Exclamation Marks/Question marks
2. Commas
3. Apostrophes
4. Quotation marks

Other Marks of Importance:
1. Semicolons/Colons
2. Dashes/Hyphens
3. Ellipses
4. Brackets (Parentheses)
5. Italics

Words Commonly Confused
List of words mixed up frequently. (ex. they're/there/their)

Writing References
List of Writing guides that are (I think) handy tools for the writer.

I know it looks like a lot, but each punctuation mark has only a small definition of its function, and an example of how it's used correctly. Feel free to edit anything you think should go, and add in anything else that you feel may be important. I was considering a small list of literary terms... but I think that might be a bit much. D: