Update
Yes, I have been absent and difficult to reach.
Sorry, but RL has been more than a trial and I will not bore you with it.
Thanks to those who have kept watch in my unintended absence.
I am back.
Connectivity issues having been supposedly resolved - pull the other leg on it, Comcast, it's got bells on it - there are archive changes in the air. My life being the tesseract that it tends to be, nothing is written in stone but I will be posting a schedule soon (soon = by the end of the month).
Suggestions as to what you would like to see are welcome.
I plan on posting a rough sketch overview of the site on 5.16 - there wll be a place to post comments. Yes, you can post anonymously, I am not taking names and kicking asses unless you are rude to another. In cael's sandbox, we have manners.
Thanks for playing and I hope you enjoy the changes.
--cael on 07 May 2008 - 04:53PM
covering bases
please visit either the LJ community or the Yahoo group for updates - thanks
--cael on 29 August 2007 - 02:23PM
Flaming
Don't do it. Don't.
You want to see your clever bon mots listed in public? Then do it. Otherwise, don't.
Be civil or take it elsewhere.
Oh, and when I say in public, I mean with your name attached to it.
--cael on 07 May 2007 - 10:32PM
Another Reminder
You MUST be at least 18 years or older to be a member here. We will delete any accounts without warning should we suspect otherwise as we refuse to put this site or its members at risk
Thanks
--Nightsister on 01 February 2007 - 09:59AM
Attention writers and betas!
Are you a writer looking for a beta? Are you someone with extra time on your hands and a willingness to help a writer in need?
There was never a central place where writers and betas could find each other, except for the occasional plea on LJ or a randomYahooGroup. Until now!
Betasinbabylon (http://community.livejournal.com/betasinbabylon/) is
the new community dedicated to the writer/beta hook up. Whether it's a one-night stand or the start of a beautiful relationship, Babylon is the place to go.
Feel free to join, pimp the site, tell your friends and neighbors!
PS -- this is ONLY for hook ups. Actual beta reading/editing should take place away from this community. Thanks.
PPS -- You don't have to have a LiveJournal account to play. The community is open to all (as long as you're over 18, of course).
--Nightsister on 06 January 2007 - 09:32PM
A note about submissions
The Submission Rules set pretty clear guidelines to what we will and will not accept in this archive. I've been pretty lax about the whole smart quotes issue recently because frankly, it's too much trouble to reject a fic ONLY because of that. Not using smart quotes is more for the author's benefit, because words can get garbled due to HTML's inability to recognize Microsoft's stupid formatting (kicks Microsoft), but garbled/mangled words aren't really my problem.
What is my problem, however, are things that I can control and things that irritate readers. Please, please make sure that your fic meets at least the minimum quality standards regarding spelling and grammar. Use a beta. Consult style books. Look stuff up online. Misspellings in the title is an automatic rejection, as is misspelling character names. (I don't mean common typos like "Brain" -- I even do that sometimes. I mean "Emmit" and "Debby" and "Michel").
Improper punctuation in dialogue is also ground for immediate rejection and is also something I'm seeing more and more. There are plenty of online resources to fix this, however, including the following:
Punctuating Dialogue
Punctuation in Dialogue
Quotation Marks
And my favorite:
Dialogue Formatting Tutorial: Star Wars Version
But what is the easiest and most enjoyable way to learn about correct spelling and punctuation? Read! Read books, magazines, even newspapers. See how the pros do it, and try to follow their example (without stealing any material outright, of course!)
Finally, your archivists are always approachable. If you are having difficulties figuring out exactly how to make your fics submission-friendly, email me. I might not be able to go into as much detail as a good beta,but I'm here to help. Good luck!
--Nightsister on 18 December 2006 - 09:21PM
