No-Critiques Warning For New Members

[Andy]

Over the past few weeks, Shaun and I have seen several instances of people who join the site, post their work......post more work, and then leave. Of course, this is a bad thing, because it means free critiques for them, and a lack of gratitude towards everyone here who does do their fair share of critiques.

So we've added a (friendly) warning message. Now, whenever a person who has not critiqued anything tries to post their work, they will see a big (long) message at the top of the page explaining how we expect them to do their fair share. They can still scroll down below it and post their work, but now, they can't claim they didn't know, and hopefully a lot of them will understand that this site is not a place to drop by for free critiques.


This warning will not appear in any non-Literature forums. It will also not appear in the Co-operative Writing section. And of course, if you've already done some critiques, you'll never see it. :)

A big thanks to everyone who will never have to see that message, because this forum would be dead without you. :approve:

[GeorgeMichael]

*sigh*... is it just me or does anyone else actually want to see this message :P

[Ichigo]

*raises hand*
:D

[Andy]

Okay.... :D Just keep in mind the people this is supposed to be directed towards.
Important!

Writers post their work here so they can receive helpful advice from other writers. When you post your work, it is only fair that you also review the work of other people. You help others, and they'll help you.

We ask that you not post your work until you have given some helpful comments on the work of other people. Though this may seem restrictive, we've had people come here, post work, receive advice, and then leave without contributing anything. That isn't fair to the other members.

If you have no idea how to help others improve their writing, don't worry! Everyone has to start somewhere. We have a guide about giving critiques (reviews). If you read it, you'll learn a lot about how to help your fellow writers. You'll also learn some ways in which to improve your own work!

How to Critique (http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=213)

If you want to learn all the ways helping others will also help you, you can read this article:

The Benefits of Giving Critiques
(http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=17)
And lastly, if you want to learn how to receive the highest number of comments on your work, you can read this article:

Improving Your Chances of Getting a Critique (http://www.youngwritersonline.net/showthread.php?t=19)

We thank you you for your consideration, and for your help in making this site the best that it can be!

[Carraka]

-raises hand also-

I don't think I'm critting enough, see, and if you guys scare me into critting, it might just work! It just might work! It work might just!

We thank you you?

[Imelda]

It won't scare me. But it's a good idea. Or y'know, you could make people post a critique before they do it. Most people don't have a conscience ...

[Guessed]

I haven't been contributing either way. << The least I could do is crit, so... I'll do some of that after school, hopefully. If I'm not too distracted by the End of Evangelion which I've been planning to watch.

Is it considered rude to crit and not to show your own writing? I hope not. :\

[Andy]

Or y'know, you could make people post a critique before they do it.
We thought about that, but decided no, because it was too restrictive. Some people might decide to stay based on a critique they get.

Is it considered rude to crit and not to show your own writing? I hope not. :\
Not at all. The big no-no is taking without contributing, which is like stealing. You can gain a lot of experience from giving critiques, but the key thing is you're also helping others out, so it's fine. ;)

[jordanisonfire]

Nevermind new members. I should get one of these PM'd to me everyday to remind me to critique. I can't even remember the last one I did...

[Shaun]

As Andy said, we thought of having it set up so you couldn't post work until you critiqued. That is still an option for the future, which we plan to implement, but because we are a small site still we wanted to at least make things non-restrictive and give people the opportunity to decide on their own. When we have more members we'll likely be more restrictive so that people don't take advantage of a larger community.