Post by Whill Sahn on Apr 15, 2013 8:19:12 GMT -8
What is the Journal of the Whills?
The Journal of the Whills is an IC forum, where any Registered User can create threads for the purpose of writing creatively for any purpose, be it writing a character's backstory exactly as it happened (rather than summarizing events), or writing "what-if" threads, or an interaction between characters that might not fit into the Universe timeline very well at the moment, or anything you can think of.
The Journal of the Whills is for expression, for creative writing, for collaboration where applicable, for solo writing where desired, for character development, and for in general writing stories of interest to be shared on JvS.
It is not for you to write single lines of training for the purpose of teaching your character powers. It is not for writing defamatory statements about other characters. It is not for bypassing in-Universe defenses or in any way using it to give yourself an unfair advantage.
We ask that you adhere to the spirit of the Journal, which is to write stories of interest in a more convenient way than the Universe. This is not to steal writers from the Universe, but rather to encourage writing without some of the "reality constraints" that the Universe may find.
Also, it is an unspoken rule that your stories should be Star Wars or JvS-based. Irrelevant stories may be removed.
For example: You find that you're in the middle of a storyline in the Universe, and no one else is online. We call this an RP void, usually. Given that you now have loads of free time, with no writing to do, instead of surfing the JvS OOC Forums you now have the option of detailing in some of your character's backstories; maybe a meeting with an influential character in your past. Maybe you write meeting with another character who's also in an RP void.
Negative example: You choose to write about how your character learned Force Storm (wormhole) from Darth Sidious. This is bad, because this power is banned in the Universe, so there's not much oppurtunity to use what you've learned, and moreover you're using a canon character. While the scenario is potentially interesting, and the writing could be good, you've already kind of set yourself up for disaster with an unrealistic plot.
Positive example: You choose to ask another player you've chatted with in the OOC Forums to meet with you in a thread here. Maybe you guys haven't worked out the details of how and why you come to meet, but that's not important here; you can write the meeting first, and then write in the Universe how you came to meet where you did, and use links to reference your meeting here. In this way, this forum opens up the doors to interact more broadly and readily.
That sounds pretty good, how should I do this?
Registered users can set up their own threads. But rather than just make a thread right away, it would be better for you to make sure everyone and everything is in order; as in, you might not want to make a thread before telling someone you want to meet them! There is currently no time limit, however, on how long you can take to write, so if you plan on being the only one writing in your story, you can set it up anytime with just a post, and go ahead and write whenever you have down time.
When you are setting up your threads, you may find that filling out this form may be useful to inform anyone about posting on your topics, what might be going on when they read it, and other information:
This, of course, is not required and is only designed to help you categorize things.
What about poems, ballads, songs, or speeches?
Why not? Any form of poetry, literature, or speech could be written here, and then referenced later IC, or not at all if you so choose. You could write a speech just for its own sake.
And if I have a sequel to my story?
Sequels should be written on new threads. If you desire, provide a link to the prequel story to it, and/or post links where continuing the story in a new thread. However, we would ask that you limit the number of active threads to three or fewer. Rather than start a lot of stories with no conclusions, we would rather not have an unlimited number of threads, and instead ask you to focus on finishing what you've begun.
This is not strictly enforced, but if it becomes problematic, we will deliver warnings to players if needed.
Feedback on Stories
An appropriate thread has been made here for players to offer their critical remarks. It need not be said that criticism should be delivered in a positive, professional, and constructive matter. Simply saying "your story sucks" completely defies the purpose of criticism. Instead, you should explain what you did not like about the story, and highlight changes that could be made to improve the story.
Contrary to what you might think, the critiques you receive on your stories are important. No one becomes a better writer by being told that his writing is already great. Instead, you can learn where to improve, and should get a feel for what sort of stories are going over well, and what are not.
Specific instructions on critiques have been given in the appropriate thread.
The Journal of the Whills is an IC forum, where any Registered User can create threads for the purpose of writing creatively for any purpose, be it writing a character's backstory exactly as it happened (rather than summarizing events), or writing "what-if" threads, or an interaction between characters that might not fit into the Universe timeline very well at the moment, or anything you can think of.
The Journal of the Whills is for expression, for creative writing, for collaboration where applicable, for solo writing where desired, for character development, and for in general writing stories of interest to be shared on JvS.
It is not for you to write single lines of training for the purpose of teaching your character powers. It is not for writing defamatory statements about other characters. It is not for bypassing in-Universe defenses or in any way using it to give yourself an unfair advantage.
We ask that you adhere to the spirit of the Journal, which is to write stories of interest in a more convenient way than the Universe. This is not to steal writers from the Universe, but rather to encourage writing without some of the "reality constraints" that the Universe may find.
Also, it is an unspoken rule that your stories should be Star Wars or JvS-based. Irrelevant stories may be removed.
For example: You find that you're in the middle of a storyline in the Universe, and no one else is online. We call this an RP void, usually. Given that you now have loads of free time, with no writing to do, instead of surfing the JvS OOC Forums you now have the option of detailing in some of your character's backstories; maybe a meeting with an influential character in your past. Maybe you write meeting with another character who's also in an RP void.
Negative example: You choose to write about how your character learned Force Storm (wormhole) from Darth Sidious. This is bad, because this power is banned in the Universe, so there's not much oppurtunity to use what you've learned, and moreover you're using a canon character. While the scenario is potentially interesting, and the writing could be good, you've already kind of set yourself up for disaster with an unrealistic plot.
Positive example: You choose to ask another player you've chatted with in the OOC Forums to meet with you in a thread here. Maybe you guys haven't worked out the details of how and why you come to meet, but that's not important here; you can write the meeting first, and then write in the Universe how you came to meet where you did, and use links to reference your meeting here. In this way, this forum opens up the doors to interact more broadly and readily.
That sounds pretty good, how should I do this?
Registered users can set up their own threads. But rather than just make a thread right away, it would be better for you to make sure everyone and everything is in order; as in, you might not want to make a thread before telling someone you want to meet them! There is currently no time limit, however, on how long you can take to write, so if you plan on being the only one writing in your story, you can set it up anytime with just a post, and go ahead and write whenever you have down time.
When you are setting up your threads, you may find that filling out this form may be useful to inform anyone about posting on your topics, what might be going on when they read it, and other information:
[font size="4"]
[b](Name of Work)[/b][/font]
[ul style="disc"][li]Principal Authors: (list)[/li]
[li]Who can post on this thread: (list)[/li]
[li]I want to receive critical responses: Y/N[/li]
[li]I will be using standard Universe rules here (e.g., canon-only, fleet limits, etc.): Y/N[/li][/ul]
[b]Location:[/b]
[b]Timeframe:[/b]
[b](Abstract or Summary of Work)[/b]
This, of course, is not required and is only designed to help you categorize things.
What about poems, ballads, songs, or speeches?
Why not? Any form of poetry, literature, or speech could be written here, and then referenced later IC, or not at all if you so choose. You could write a speech just for its own sake.
And if I have a sequel to my story?
Sequels should be written on new threads. If you desire, provide a link to the prequel story to it, and/or post links where continuing the story in a new thread. However, we would ask that you limit the number of active threads to three or fewer. Rather than start a lot of stories with no conclusions, we would rather not have an unlimited number of threads, and instead ask you to focus on finishing what you've begun.
This is not strictly enforced, but if it becomes problematic, we will deliver warnings to players if needed.
Feedback on Stories
An appropriate thread has been made here for players to offer their critical remarks. It need not be said that criticism should be delivered in a positive, professional, and constructive matter. Simply saying "your story sucks" completely defies the purpose of criticism. Instead, you should explain what you did not like about the story, and highlight changes that could be made to improve the story.
Contrary to what you might think, the critiques you receive on your stories are important. No one becomes a better writer by being told that his writing is already great. Instead, you can learn where to improve, and should get a feel for what sort of stories are going over well, and what are not.
Specific instructions on critiques have been given in the appropriate thread.