Please note that once something is posted to the mainsite, it is submitted for summary judgment!
Reviewers may be less likely to post critique on mainsite posts compared to during the drafting process.
(The image above can be opened in a new tab to view a larger version.)
Getting right to the point: (if you just want to read the bolded parts, that's fine.)
If you're getting critique!
- As of July 24 2019, authors may have at maximum two active draft threads at a time.
- If you're a first-time author, remember to provide a direct link to/information for your two greenlights!
- Please post a wordcount for your drafts so reviewers know what to expect! You can use this link: https://wordcounter.net/
- Be patient and polite!
- It can take a few days to get critique. No one here is paid to review. If you can't wait, go to chat or message a staff member (politely) asking if they can ask the people in chat to look at your thread.
- If you've already gotten a response and you're seeking another critique or additional assistance, feel free to send a wikidot PM to a reviewer/staff member asking them if they can look at your thread.
- Keep the thread title, thread description, and first post short and simple. Reviewers can get overwhelmed if they see a ton of extra text.
- As a courtesy to reviewers and readers, please indicate if your draft contains any material that is Not Safe For Work, including gore and erotica.
- Use the sandbox!
- Put your draft there, then make a thread that has a link to your sandbox. Do not post the article text into a comment.
- Do not bump threads!
- That's spammy and unfair to people being patient.
- One thread per draft!
- Keeps things neat. And also so no one person floods the entire first page with threads about their one draft.
- Also, only ask for feedback on one draft per thread! (Make multiple threads if you need feedback on multiple drafts, unless the pieces are meant to be read together.) That keeps discussion organized and efficient.
- Caveat: if at least a few weeks (~14 days) have gone by since your thread was last commented on and you have made significant edits, go ahead and make a new thread.
- Don't announce minor changes!
- You can announce major draft revisions and/or additions. We don't need to know every time you added a comma.
Example post written by an author asking for feedback:
http://scp-sandbox-3.wikidot.com/example-sandbox
Please read the top section for the draft of my new SCP (not the drafts in the tabs). I'm not entirely sure about the wording in the description, so I'd really appreciate some help with that! The idea comes from something that a friend suggested to me, so if there are any changes that would improve the conceptualization, please let me know!
If you're giving critique!
- Give the author an action to follow!
- Just saying "needs work"/"needs more"/"has potential" and leaving it at that is vague and unhelpful.
- Just saying "I like this a lot" / "I don't like this" is also too vague. What specific parts were good and can be kept after edits? What parts are weaker and can be trimmed?
- Give examples!
- If you're going to note tonal or grammatical errors, give some examples and suggestions for fixings. Otherwise, the author's still sort of lost.
- Make sure you know what the community wants!
- SCPs don't need to be dangerous or scary or kept in perfect cube rooms to be successful. Be familiar with the current site standards and what the community is expecting in an article of quality.
- Be aware of forum activity!
- Staff prioritize threads with no replies. If someone leaves a relatively generic comment, that lowers a thread's visibility and makes it less likely that a staff member will leave a review.
- If you're not inclined to write a thorough review (i.e., covering concept, execution, a few examples of specific fixes, and so on), please hold off on making the first post so a more experienced reviewer can address the thread first.
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Croquembouche, not by the Forum Crit team; please contact him with any issues.
