Rules of the Writing Haven

-All group rules apply.
-Keep on topic to one of our many discussions or activities. Spammers will have their posts reported.
-Spelling and grammar are MUSTS here. If you cannot bother to use caps, commas or periods, you will be booted from the club.
-Always be polite to others. Just because a story needs improvement doesn't make it awful. Always provide reasons to why you don't like something.
-There are more specific rules for certain areas. Please make sure you read them as well.
-Please post once every 5 days. If you do not post within that timeframe, you will be moved to the inactive list. If you are on the inactive list for 3 weeks without valid reason, you will be booted from the club for a month's time (if you wish to rejoin).

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Joining the Club
-PMs only, as per new rules. Requests to join on thread will be flagged as spam.
-NEW! Please PM ALL applications to moderator Zyflair. He will be handling all applications from now on.
-Do not PM Zyflair more than once about you joining. He has a life too and may not get to it right away.
-Please include your username and a link to a specific fanfic of yours in the Writing Corner. If you have multiple fanfics, pick one that you think suits you best.
-We will also be looking at your posts in general on Pokebeach. If we find you generally have lax grammar and spelling all over the place and/or are not very active, we may not accept you. We will also automatically NOT accept you if you have been banned within the last three months.
-Based on where your writing skills are, we may or may not accept your application. Please do not argue with this.

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Current Activities

Writing Topic/Technique Discussion/Group Activity- The Writer's Haven's Guide to Better Writing
Come help us compile a super guide covering all topics of writing!

Current Progress/Layout and Assigned Authors:

Intro (Crystal Hikara)

An introductory post that would link to all the specific writing standards. :B Starring me, the grammar nazi! And everyone else in this club that is as grammar nazi as I am. Yes, that means you DNA.

Getting Started: The Basics of Writing

-Basic Sentence Structure
-Spelling and Grammar
-Common Mistakes on 'They're, There, and 'Their'-like Words
-Creating Your Own Original Character!
-Basic Description (Apollo)

The Story, The Plot, and The Theme: Intermediate Writing

-Types of Fanfiction (Pokemon-wise) (Crystal Hikara)ROUGH DRAFT COMPLETE!
-Canon Vs. Non-Canon: Pick your Poison (Crystal Hikara)
-Making Believable Plots
-Making Interesting Plots (Zenith)
-Character Development
-Battles in Stories: Better Known as We Will Cry If We See Another 'Dodge-it-then-use-Thunderbolt' Fight Again (gamercal) ROUGH DRAFT COMPLETE!
-Themes in Fanfics (optional)
-Plot-Holes and How to Avoid Them
-Point of Views in Fanfiction and Which is Best for You (Apollo)

Fine-Tone Honing: Advanced Writing

-Description and You: How much Fluff is Too Much? (Apollo) ROUGH DRAFT COMPLETE!
-Foreshadowing and Smooth Storytelling: Keeping Those Readers Hooked! (Zenith because he stepped up to the plate)
-The Fictional Camera: Showing the Story and Making Your Readers Feel Like They're A Part Of The Story (Zyflair) Rough Draft complete(?)
- Semicolons, Colons, Dashes, and Parentheses
- Flaws in Design: Making Your Characters Believable (Crystal Hikara)
- Figurative Language: Bringing Poetry into Prose (Crystal Hikara)
- Symbols and Motifs (Zyflair)
- Quests and Character Development (Zyflair)

Critiquing and You: A Definite Must-Read for a Better Fanfic!

-General Rules of Thumb (Crystal Hikara) ROUGH DRAFT COMPLETE!
-Spelling and Grammar: The Grammar Nazi's Way (DNA?)
-Understanding and Fixing Your Fic Based on Critique
-Big Boo-boos and How to Fix Them (PMJ) ROUGH DRAFT COMPLETE!
-When to know to Start Over on a Fic (Crystal Hikara)
-We May All Be Wrong!

General Proofreaders: 42 chocolate, (DNA?)
Final Draft Proofreaders: Crystal Hikara, Zyflair

Contests- None

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Story of the Fortnight- None
Every two weeks we will pick a story (with author's permission) to read, rave and critique on. Will be picked by the members.

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Mentoring

This is the one place on Pokebeach you can consistently rely on positive yet construtive criticism to better yourself on writing. Please do not apply if you're not willing to take feedback and improve on it. If you are reported of being as such, you will be placed on a critique black list. We don't want to have to waste time and genuinely helpful advice on those that won't listen, for ANY given reason. That being said, strictly negative or unhelpful advice will land you on the Banned Authors list in addition to the mentor blacklist.
If you are interested in getting a mentor, please post the form below to have it added. You MUST have a Pokebeach fanfic (Author status) to receive mentoring. Any other mentoring has to be private. Mentors will post on the public thread. Please keep this in mind.

Username:
Story link: (so we dun have to dig for it)
Type of Mentor/Specific Mentor: (please tell us what sort of help, if specific, you're looking for.)

Mentor list:

Crystal Hikara
Comprehensive Mentor; specializes in detail/poetic work and general GMSP work.
Currently mentoring: gamercal (mentoring closed)

Zyflair
Technical Mentor; specializes in mechanical aspects of writing, such as varying sentence structure, setting tone, plotting, character development, etc. Note: expect to do exercises; writing is something that can't be master with teaching, but with practice and self-reflection on the self and the self's progress.
Currently Mentoring: sturtle (mentoring still open)

DNA
Spelling/Grammar Mentor; specializes in sentence structure and finding typos in a story (proofreader).
Currently Mentoring: TBD


Looking for mentor:
None.

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Member List
Please bear with us as we do some spring cleaning of our list. ALL MEMBERS! If you wish to remain in the group, please post stating your attendance is still going to happen in the future, or something cool-sounding like that. ;D

Executive Editor (Group Leader)
Crystal Hikara
Please PM me if you have any questions or suggestions concerning the club.

Scholars (Assistant leaders)
Zyflair
Scholars are expected to be extremely active, always be available for mentoring and be able to supervise the club without bias.

Mentors
None
Mentors are very active members that offer tutoring to those who ask for it.

Scribes
Apollo the Incinermyn
gamercal
Members who are active, have stories in the Writing Corner, and proven their basic mastery of the English language.

Pages
42 chocolate
charidude
Kingdra King
MylesPrower
Negative Zero
PMJ
SinRaven
Zenith
Members who are active, and may have stories in the Writing Corner.
* means member is dangerously close to getting an inactivity ban D:

Bad Hams
Naughty writers that have been inactive. Stars mean they have been inactive for a while.

Honorary Author
None
Authors who either request tutoring or have written the Story of the Fortnight. They aren't necessarily members, but treat them with great respect as you would fellow members.

Banned Authors
Dictactor Dauntless: constant rudeness and disregard for other people.
Rotom-Cut: Lack of grammar and lying about being accepted into The Writer's Haven.
Inactive members that are either temporarily or permanently banned from the club due to inactivity, breaking the rules, etc.

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MOST IMPORTANTLY! This is NOT all serious bizness, guys. Writing should be for fun, as this club should be. Always remember that.

Banners:


Credits to the wonderful InfinityFangX for the banner and signature tag!

Approved.

Please remember if you would like to join this group, PM the group leader. Don't request in the thread. Thank you!

Haha, I've always wanted to do this, but I just didn't have the time. :3

To me, spelling and grammar has always been regarded as one of those "very crucial basic skills." I've learned that in a good writer, the whole point of mastering mechanics is not to follow the rules but to know how to break the rules without looking uneducated. Such as the easy mastery over fragments, such that the writer can use emphasis or draw attention to an idea by remove the subject or predicate. To demand attention and draw the reader in at a powerful time for some reason. To powerfully state your pompous rhetoric and break the rules to get away with it. I say that purposely creating fragments is just only the mere bolt laying in the corner of a toolbox. Every. Tool. Can. Only. Be. Found. As. Long. As. You. Have. The. Toolbox. And what is the toolbox? Mastery over spelling and grammar, particularly grammar; you cannot create unique writing if you do not realize what the norm is. So how can you formulate unique syntax if you don't know the basics of it?

Grammar is not just to make it easy for the reader to read, but it is a weapon to strike the reader's heart. Syntax is already half of the language (diction being the other). Use that half well. Very well.

Becoming Civilized

Lol, I think that was more an example of dialect with the fragments, but close enough.

I personally think that spelling is key to everything in writing, and the only time it should EVER be broken is in dialogue, such as a character botches a word's pronounciation. Something like that. If grammar's the syntax of the system, the thing holding thoughts together, spelling is the oil. No one likes squeaky things! Be sure to keep EVERYTHING oiled perfectly, because writing doesn't squeak. It hisses and screeches. Stories without speelcheck sound like a forest full of evening cicadas while you're stuck in the middle of it. And that'd hurt.

All similes aside, I'd like to disagree on that fragments bit; whereas simple to learn, it's hard to master. There's some artistry in knowing when and where to use it. I know that even writing pros can have a hard time with frags and run-ons.

...Is it bad if I wanted to type frags and HAND GRENADES? ;D

Also, yaaaay for three member totals! On another discussion note, what should the first Story of the Fortnight be? (I love that word so much. It seems we can never use it!)

I personally completely agree with Zyflair about S&G. It just annoys me whenever users post something and don't take the time to make sure it looks good, although I've gotten used to it.

As for story of the fortnight, I really don't know right now... I'll have to go check in the Writing Corner.

The Writer's Haven (WE REAL WRITER \m/) is awesome.
Oh, and of course, Right off the Clefs: A Music Group falls into the awesome category as well.

(01-09-2010 04:16 PM)Crystal Hikara Wrote:  I personally think that spelling is key to everything in writing, and the only time it should EVER be broken is in dialogue, such as a character botches a word's pronounciation. [Pronunciation]

Vernacular. The ONLY reason you should botch spelling. Either that, or you're dealing with an unreliable narrator or some other strange thing. Say something along:
"B-b-b-but..." he stammered.
Compared it to:
"But..." he stammered, hardly choking the word out.
Horrible example, yeah, but there's actually a difference.
Yes, spelling is great, but that's easy fixed with spellcheck/dictionary. You can't easy pinpoint a syntax error without knowing grammar. Even if you don't know how to spell the word, it can be fixed with some spelling tool.

On second thought, you're correct. Mastery over that little tidbit is harder than it sounds, but it's relatively easy to all the other stuff I've encountered in the great English literature... Ay, silly writers and their godly egos ;_;

Story of the Fortnight... no clue.

Becoming Civilized

42: That's WRONG. No one should ever have to get used to it. (Hopefully this club will make that situation better...?)

Zy: And why Wii doesn't come with spellcheck or a cheaper keyboard, THE WORLD WILL NEVAR KNOW.

Yesss, that's the word I was going for. Slang is the prime example of this...but internet slang in stories or emoties? It shames me to know I used to be one of those writers. ><
True, but even spellchecks can miss certain words. I know I've caught some words Word was like 'DURHURWHUUUUUT' on. Pokemon or names not included.
*easily btw. This is gunna be like a forum game! ;D
Well agreed. I'm sure good ol' Willy S. had some...part of that tragedy. (My soul's hurting from that AWFUL PUN!)

Both: Lol, neither do I. (It doesn't help that you posted on every story ever, Zy. Seriously.) There's not a whole lot of new activity there. THIS MUST BE REMEDIED. SOMEHOW.

I know I'll have postable stuff for the fic section by early February, but...

(01-09-2010 06:25 PM)Crystal Hikara Wrote:  42: That's WRONG. No one should ever have to get used to it. (Hopefully this club will make that situation better...?)

Actually, by "gotten used to it" I meant I've gotten used to being annoyed by it, and know I am going to find it here, regardless of what people try to do to improve it. I do wish there was some way though.

The Writer's Haven (WE REAL WRITER \m/) is awesome.
Oh, and of course, Right off the Clefs: A Music Group falls into the awesome category as well.

Maybe if we make what they're writing look like they took five minutes in comparison to our behemoths they'll run the other way? I mean, I mod (lol not really anymore, site's unfortunately dead...) a game site, and the fanfic section was given to me, just because no-one cared about it. I think if we could suggest/enforce a 1 1/2 to 2 page rule, we'd get a lot less garbahge. Said with an accent.

But yaaaaay more members are joining. :3 Speaking of forums, why do you think people are too lazy to use commas, periods and caps online? Don't even get me started on people that exploit 1337 stuff or shorten EVERYTHING.

One and a half page seems fine. That's roughly 500 words. A decent amount for even an aspiring writer. Although much garbage tends to be short, there is such thing as babble writing, but it's a good rule to start with.

Hm... It's not exploitation, it's the demand to quickly type with results in shorthand. For example, doctor's handwriting.

Becoming Civilized

They're just lazy.

I'm out of time so that's all you get for now :> (:<

edit I mystically have 40 more minutes so REPLY EXTENDED

Now that I have time to actually read your question, I realize that you are not asking why they don't, but why they are to lazy to do it.

The answer... well, I guess Zyflair nailed it. People just wanna get done quickly so they type shorthand. However, there really oughta be a limit to this sort of thing. "U" is a letter, not a word. If you are so lazy that you have to abbreviate a three-letter word, you need to be strung up by your toes and beaten savagely with spiked bats and soaked in lemon juice.

That said, some people are quite young that get online these days, and typing anything at all is an adventure for them. I used to be that way myself (using u, ur, and the like), but I learned how to not suck and now I am the grandmaster typer. It's fine for little kids who do it.

On the other side of that coin, there are little kids who _do_ have awesome spelling and grammar skills, who type just as well as you and I, but I think they're the exception, not the rule. I think that not using internet shorthand is something that you have to want to do yourself - no amount of calling them noob or whatever will get them to change their ways.

Personally, I agree with PMJ's opinion on restraining from annihilating the younger and less experienced authors who are just getting used to typing and such for using computer grammar (U, ur, imo, idk, etc...). However, I think that CH has got the right idea about the whole minimum word limit thing. I think that that would help to illiminate a bunch of junky spam stories that start off with like one paragraph and then just sit there until the end of time spamming up the pages.

Also, on the subject of the Story of the Fortnight, I think that Zyflair's "The Account of One that Accounted for the Ske of Accounting" deserves a mention, and is my vote for the title. I have only just read the first 2-3 chapters but it is a great story as far as I've gotten and when I have time I mean to continue.

Where I understand little kids, and they are acceptable for that much, I'm talking about the older generation that should know better. For example, my father was apparently a great poetic and his mother (my grandmother) was an English teacher. WHY he insists on typing run-ons with only commas for grammar like some grade-schooler texting, I have no idea. It's people like that I'm kinda ranting on. And lol, PMJ. ...u just hiy the nail on one of my biggest petpeeves. Stuff like that's what I really mean. ;D

Zy, by doctor's handwriting, you mean COMPLETELY impossible to understand unless you're the one that works for the doctor, riiiiight? ;D

Ahem, all grammar naziing out of the way, Daren's suggestion for our own Zyflair's fic would be most excellent as a first SotF. Yay or nay-sayers? My vote is yay, on the chance that Zyflair uploads a new chapter. :3

Or unless you're the doctor. I have a classmate; when he rushes, his handwriting... you can only read a few words.

I have Chapter Nine done, but I haven't mustered the effort to actually get chapter Ten done nor have I sent DNA the last part to proofread. >_<
I'd critique my own writing, but that would be a bit weird. To be honest, I don't think I know my weaknesses in writing (besides verb tense use. Zy HATES those >=[). I wouldn't mind have it critique. Perhaps on a specific chapter?
And to be honest, the best material I ever came up with was the first few paragraphs of the prologue, all the way up until someone snaps back into reality.

Becoming Civilized

Sounds like my writing. >_> When I don't slow myself down, it goes into this bizarre, unintellectual (SP?) scribble cursive. Being an artist probably has something to do with that.

Well, we're still anxious for more around here, soooo yeah. Nine would be nice, assuming people post what they think, please!
Anyhoo, you'd temporarily become the Honorary Author, or whomever gets picked will be. Honorary authors don't have to critique their work, but they are expected to share their thoughts and feelings on their writings, such as inspiration, motivation, etc.