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YCM Creative Writing Forum Rules


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STUPID THINGS THAT GO WITHOUT SAYING
00. The general rules of the YCM forums apply to this forum as well unless explicitly stated otherwise. Rules specific to this section pertain to all writing posted and/or updated after July 11, 2011.
01. Work must be spellchecked and proofread before being posted. If there’s only one or two typos, I’ll let it slide; but if there are enough spelling/grammar errors to the point where it's unreadable, the thread will be locked.
02. This is an English language forum, so all writing should be English. If you have a foreign language fic that you would like to post, please translate it first to the best of your ability and we will help you as you go.
03. Any work that would warrant a PG-13 or higher rating (through swearing, drug or sexual references, violence, etc) must put a warning of some sort in the thread title. You also cannot portray any graphically sexual or violent content, or anything else that would require an M rating.
04. You must only post your own work. Plagiarism of any form, including posting other people’s work sans permission; claiming someone else’s work as your own; or posting blatant derivatives is forbidden. Anyone found breaking this rule will be banned without argument.

CHAPTERS AND POSTING
05. Only stories and discussions directly related to the story (e.g. chapters and chapter feedback) are to be posted in this main forum. For other threads, read the rules in Story Planning.
06. All chapters must be at least 2 pages in MS Word with single spacing, standard margins, and size 11 Arial font. This applies to all fics, regardless of being serial or one-off. The exceptions to this rule include pro/epilogues and poetry.
07. Any piece of work that is either nonfiction or is done in a non-narrative manner (such as a field guide) is allowed. However, they must still meet the length requirements and should acknowledge any sources that are directly quoted or paraphrased.
08. All chapters of a specific piece should be kept in one thread. It is up to the original poster how to distribute them within.
09. Hosting chapters on sites like Fanfiction.net or Deviantart.net and merely linking to them here is not allowed. Please repost the content of each chapter in its entirety.
10. The owner of a thread may bump a thread at any time to update it with new chapters. However, this does not apply to other posters, and the owner must add new content at the time or risk being locked.

REVIEWING AND PLANNING
11. Story review threads in the vein of MST3000 are permitted, and are allowed to review any piece of work posted on the YCM forums without permission. However, all reviews must be civil and stick to criticizing the work itself instead of the author, and they must also meet the two-page minimum.
12. By posting your work, you waive your right to complain about feedback. You must agree to at least acknowledge any and all criticism that comes your way and not immediately dismiss harsh reviews. However, this does not permit direct insults. (This is also known as the Jack Witt Clause.)
13. Character signups/requests are allowed in the Story Planning subforum: however, they require at least the prologue or first chapter of the fic in question to be posted simultaneously.
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[quote name='Kyubey' timestamp='1310346852' post='5344239']
[b]LENGTH[/b]
All chapters must be at least 2 pages in MS word with single spacing, standard margins, and size 11 Arial font. This applies to all fics, regardless of being serial or one-off. There are a few exceptions to this rule, though:
[i]Pro/Epilogues:[/i] Considering that these serve as teasers or to tie loose threads up, they are not required to be at this standard.
[i]Drabbles:[/i] A drabble is unofficially defined as “a quick piece of writing, often from a prompt, that is used to develop a specific scenario or character.” They are always one-shots.
[i]Poetry:[/i] ...justification not needed.
[/quote]

A rule that forces people to actually write instead of posting two sentences and calling it a chapter?!

I think I love you.
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[quote name='Dwarven King' timestamp='1310355080' post='5344623']
Alright. And another question. Is there a limit to how many fics we can have going? And if there is, would one still be breaking said limit if they were doing their own fic while doing another fic with a group?
[/quote]

There's no limit, but I expect you to at least be responsive to any you have going and not bite off more than you can chew.
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[quote name='Kyubey' timestamp='1310346852' post='5344239']
However, full-blown theatrical screenplays with stage directions and all are allowed, provided they could theoretically be given to two random people on the street and be acted out without any confusion.
[/quote]
A+ Topic.

[quote name='Kyubey' timestamp='1310346852' post='5344239']
[b]LENGTH[/b]
All chapters must be at least 2 pages in MS word with single spacing, standard margins, and size 11 Arial font. This applies to all fics, regardless of being serial or one-off. There are a few exceptions to this rule, though:
[i]Pro/Epilogues:[/i] Considering that these serve as teasers or to tie loose threads up, they are not required to be at this standard.
[i]Drabbles:[/i] A drabble is unofficially defined as “a quick piece of writing, often from a prompt, that is used to develop a specific scenario or character.” They are always one-shots.
[i]Poetry:[/i] ...justification not needed.[/quote]

Question(s)!

What do you mean by "always one-shots"? If I made a collection of very short stories, and decided it be kind of cool to make one of them be a sequel, or loosely tied in with the first (my most popular one), that wouldn't be allowed? What if they're a collection of stories that loosely make up one bigger story?

What is the punishment for disregarding the length rule?


Edit: Also! How does the "Full Stage Script" thing work with the length rule?

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Answers!

[quote]What do you mean by "always one-shots"? If I made a collection of very short stories, and decided it be kind of cool to make one of them be a sequel, or loosely tied in with the first (my most popular one), that wouldn't be allowed? What if they're a collection of stories that loosely make up one bigger story?[/quote]

Two/three/four shots are okay, as long as you say at the beginning of the first one that "this is going to be an X-part fic" where X is a reasonably small number (six at the greatest). I guess drabbles are more common on FF.net than here, which was why I thought I'd get less questions than I did... so let [url="http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Drabble"]TvTropes[/url] answer! (Just replace 100 with a low-ish number - not like 3000.)

[quote]What is the punishment for disregarding the length rule?[/quote]

Varies case-to-case, but I most likely plan on just locking the thread if it's new and have the person PM me a lengthened version, after which with my approval they can reopen.

[quote]Also! How does the "Full Stage Script" thing work with the length rule?[/quote]

Scripts are exempt, but they should be of a sizable-enough length to meet the quality requirement in the first place.

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[quote]Two/three/four shots are okay, as long as you say at the beginning of the first one that "this is going to be an X-part fic" where X is a reasonably small number (six at the greatest). [/quote]

Well... *lists an example from someone here and hopes they don't mind!*

What if I made some short stories like thatnoobkorean (or whatever he calls himself now).

[url=http://forum.yugiohcardmaker.net/topic/239405-noobkoreans-original-short-stories/]link to topic[/url]

Like that, but much shorter. Just whenever I felt like writing, I'd go back to that topic and scribble something else down. And then if some time later I felt like "oh hey, I really liked my first one. Here's a sequel/prequel drabble to it."

... In short, is a collection of drabbles allowed?

... And on an unrelated note, if I may make a suggestion, all drabbles should have one selfcontained story in them with a proper goal, climax and resolution.

[quote]Scripts are exempt, but they should be of a sizable-enough length to meet the quality requirement in the first place. [/quote]
Scripts don't have chapters though. They have scenes and acts. Having a scene that doesn't meet [u]quantity[/u] requirement isn't impossible, nor would it even be a sign of a poor play playright necessarily.

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Two new rules added - they're under "Non-Fiction/Narrative" and "Images".

[quote]Well... *lists an example from someone here and hopes they don't mind!*

What if I made some short stories like thatnoobkorean (or whatever he calls himself now).

Like that, but much shorter. Just whenever I felt like writing, I'd go back to that topic and scribble something else down. And then if some time later I felt like "oh hey, I really liked my first one. Here's a sequel/prequel drabble to it."

... In short, is a collection of drabbles allowed?

... And on an unrelated note, if I may make a suggestion, all drabbles should have one selfcontained story in them with a proper goal, climax and resolution.[/quote]

If you mean, "a thread which contains multiple drabbles together to keep them organized," sure. However, I should try to clarify further on how one-shots and drabbles differ. A one-shot follows the conventional narrative structure; introduction, exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, conclusion. They use characters and plots. Drabbles don't necessarily. Think of the sound the word evokes - it's like running water. They're just literary tidbits or prompts that spill out. Non-poetic poems, if that makes sense.

[quote]Scripts don't have chapters though. They have scenes and acts. Having a scene that doesn't meet quantity requirement isn't impossible, nor would it even be a sign of a poor play playright necessarily.[/quote]

Point taken: I thought the "two pages" referred to the play as a whole.

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[quote]
[i]Drabbles[/i]: A drabble is unofficially defined as “a quick piece of writing, often from a prompt, that is used to develop a specific scenario or character.” They are always one-shots.
[/quote]

Just a minor elaboration about the length part:

Drabbles are generally stories of roughly 100 words; I believe it's fine to go over by several words (I've seen writers do as much as 130), but one should generally try to get exactly 100. Variations include Dribble (50 words) and Drouble (sp?) (200 words).

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I have only one word to describe one particular rule in this thread, and that word is in the form of a question: WHY!?

Why do we have to have the length requirements be of that with Microsoft Word? Have you forgotten, or have you just not gotten the message made many months ago? Not everybody in the world has Microsoft Word, and you're basically saying "You have no choice but to use MS Word or you're not making a long Fan Fic!" I don't have MS Word, mainly because I currently am using an iPad at the moment, and I still have been making Fan Fics regardless.

So, maybe you should edit that small segment into something more valid or, at least, logical.

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  • 1 month later...

[quote name='~Raigeki~' timestamp='1314558097' post='5475268']
Hey I got a question. about the length: If one doesn't have MS Word, how is he supposed to measure it?
[/quote]

You'd get another word processor. I recommend OpenOffice, which is free.

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[quote name='~Raigeki~' timestamp='1314558097' post='5475268']
Hey I got a question. about the length: If one doesn't have MS Word, how is he supposed to measure it?
[/quote]

If you're up to counting words, the average Chapter Length is about 5,000 words, more or less. That's, on average, seven double-spaced, 12 pt font pages in MS word.

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[quote name='Devil's Advocate' timestamp='1314575117' post='5476010']

If you're up to counting words, the average Chapter Length is about 5,000 words, more or less. That's, on average, seven double-spaced, 12 pt font pages in MS word.
[/quote]

"Average," of course, depends on the medium and author. However, two pages is a good arbitrary minimum - long enough, but not too pressuring.

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[quote name='Kyubey' timestamp='1310346852' post='5344239']
[b][u]SHIPPING[/u][/b]
Also known as "the romantic pairing of canon characters with other canons or OCs." If you plan on shipping canons at all, please put a warning somewhere in your title: it isn't all members' cup of tea. OC-only romance needs no warning, though.
[/quote]
That's kind of a weird rule...

I mean, I dislike plenty of genres, but why is romance being singled out? Why not a warning for all genres, like horror or review or fantasy or warn by certain fandoms or something?

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