REQUIRED READING: HOW TO USE THIS FORUM - IDEAS

Summary:

Required reading before making a new request for conceptual critique. [archived version]

HOW TO USE THIS FORUM - IDEAS

Zyn 02 Mar 2020 02:19

As a basic instruction, to create a new concept critique thread, go to the main forum listing: http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/c-89000/help:ideas-critique and click the "Create a new thread" button.

As of March 2020, all authors seeking conceptual critique must use the following template:

Seeking Greenlights: Put yes or no.

Page Type: SCP Article, Tale, GoI Format, Joke SCP, Site Dossier, Other (specify)

Genre (Optional): Horror, Drama/Emotional, Comedy, Action, History, Other (specify)

Page Layout (Optional): How will you structure the page in terms of information presentation, or plot development? If you plan on using a unique format/format screw, describe that here.

Elevator Pitch: What is the basic core idea? Use a bullet point list if necessary.

Central Narrative: Describe the story beats or overarching context/"big picture" for your piece. If there is no story content, put "none".

Hook/Attention-Grabber: What is novel/unique about your premise? What is special about your idea here that will make it stand out among the other works already on the mainsite?

Additional Notes: Note any concerns or particular areas of assistance you would like reviewers to focus on.

HERE IS A COPY-PASTE TEMPLATE YOU CAN USE:

**Seeking Greenlights:** Yes or No

**Page Type:** SCP Article, Tale, GoI Format, Joke SCP, Site Dossier, Other (specify)

**Genre (Optional):** Horror, Drama/Emotional, Comedy, Action, History, Other (specify)

**Page Layout (Optional):** 

**Elevator Pitch:** 

**Central Narrative:** 

**Hook/Attention-Grabber:** 

**Additional Notes:**

The combined text of the last four sections¹ of the template may not exceed 400 words.

For convenience, authors can check wordcount using this site: https://wordcounter.net/

---

Additionally, to prevent flooding of the forums (as there are many, many prospective authors, and not enough active reviewers who are able to volunteer their time and energy), the following forum rules are in place:

• Each author is limited to posting two new concept threads per week (every 7 days).
• Do not create a new thread for a concept already on the forum,² unless the current thread has not been posted on in 14 days or longer.
• Do not bump threads. (Posts announcing major edits are okay, so long as they're not spamming.)
• Do not use one thread to seek feedback on multiple ideas.
• Do not link to a sandbox unless a reviewer asks to see a draft.
• Do not copy-paste portions of a sandbox draft into the template in lieu of actually filling out the sections.
• Do not use other authors' threads to advertise your own work.
• Do not post long thread titles or thread summaries (the text in the little box under the thread title).

If you need help getting more reviews, try politely reaching out to individuals from the following:

• The Butterfly Squad Roster list
• The IRC chatrooms
• The Reviewers' Spotlight archive
• The Authors's Pages (look for someone who has written works similar to your vision)
• Offer to exchange reviews with other authors in the forums and/or chat (notify them via private message).
• If you are still having trouble finding a reviewer, notify a staff member or chat operator and ask them for assistance being matched to a reviewer.

If you are confused about any of these forum rules, please use the Questions Desk forum. Make a new thread there to seek clarification.

For reference, the previous (now obsolete) "how-to" thread is here: http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/t-12808866/how-to-use-this-forum-ideas

Footnotes

1. Elevator Pitch, Central Narrative, Hook/Attention-Grabber, and Additional Notes. Text in footnotes and collapsibles counts towards the wordcount limit.

2. Revising a concept does not make it a new concept. Rather, it is a different version of the same concept.

Last edited on 17 Jul 2021 08:10 by Zyn Show more

BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON NEW CHANGES

Zyn 02 Mar 2020 02:21

To keep question discussions focused (and because a lot of people mistakenly tried to seek concept feedback in the previous "how to" thread), this thread is locked.

Per the above thread, please use the Questions Desk forum: http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/c-891087/help:questions-desk for specific queries about the conceptual review portion of the writing process.

For some background behind the implementation of the template and revised guidelines:

• It has always been an issue that there are too many authors who actively need feedback, and too few experienced reviewers who have the time, energy, and interest to provide feedback.
• There has also been the issue of reviewers attempting to ensure that every author gets at least one quality feedback response, but in doing so a lot of time and energy is spent on high-problem concepts that need a lot of extra work to make even remotely successful on the mainsite. Oftentimes these ideas are simply abandoned, with no improvement between successive ideas.
• Recently, there has been a significant increase in new concept threads, many of which possess the same repeated issues, many of which could be avoided had the author read through some of the many resources already available on the mainsite (the Guide Hub, discussion threads for existing articles, the deletion record archives, other concept critique threads).

To make the best use of extremely limited reviewer time, it is in the community's interest to ensure that authors seeking critique possess (or are able to study on their own to obtain) basic threshold levels of both reading comprehension and writing ability.

Of note: the flagship format of the SCP wiki, the SCP article format, is inherently based on following guidelines and being able to write in straightforward, concise clinical tone. Prospective authors capable of handling these two basic requirements should have no problem with the new template.

In the event that enough experienced reviewers become active on the forums to offset this lack of balance, the template requirement may be lifted.

In the meantime, authors are encouraged to make sure they put effort into understanding what the SCP wiki audience considers a quality concept, as well as making use of resources already available to them to give their idea the best chances of being well-received.

Last edited on 03 Mar 2020 02:28 by Zyn Show more

SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO GET GREENLIGHTS QUICKLY:

Zyn 03 Mar 2020 02:28

For those wondering how they can give their concept the best chance at getting greenlighted¹ immediately out of the gate, here are some suggestions based on trends observed in the forums and on the mainsite:

The Background Check:

• Confirm what you have hasn't been done already. Remember, tiny differences typically aren't enough to convince the audience that the site needs a new article that effectively does the same thing. Here are two ways to quickly check if there's already something similar to what you're planning to write:
  • The Tag Search: http://www.scp-wiki.net/tag-search and accompanying Tag List: http://05command.wikidot.com/tech-hub-tag-list
  • The Site Search: http://www.scp-wiki.net/search:site/q/ (note, oftentimes not as reliable as Google)
• Confirm what you have isn't close to something recently deleted. Just because something isn't on the site yet doesn't mean it's automatically a good idea. Check the Announcement forum: http://www.scp-wiki.net/forum/c-1113520/announcements top listing for the current Deletions announcement thread. Scroll through the recent entries a bit to check.
• Master the audience. You're writing for the audience of the SCP wiki here, so it's always going to give you a head start if you know what the audience likes. Look at the discussion threads for successful recently posted articles, and the feedback on deleted works. See if you can guess how the community will react after you read something. Learn what gets a good reaction, and what tends to get negative reactions. Incorporate that knowledge into your writing.

The Presentation:

• Use correct grammar and punctuation. The sloppier the forum writing is, the less ready for draft writing the author looks. Also, posts that are full of simple errors are pretty distracting to reviewers and can take much longer to get through with one read.
• Be polite and professional. Authors who seem pleasant to work with tend to attract prompt attention.
• Keep it simple. Knowing which parts of your concept summary are crucial to understanding the overall article and which parts are fluff details for the draft stage is the mark of a good author. If you have a ton of extra information that the reviewer is swimming through to get to the important stuff, it doesn't really inspire confidence in the quality of the eventual draft.
• Try to have something new to excite readers. Given that there are thousands of articles on the SCP wiki and thousands of threads in the forums, reviewers are hungry for novelty and unique perspectives they have never encountered before². It doesn't have to be a big flashy epiphany, but there should be something neat or quirky or otherwise new that will make a reviewer glad they picked your thread to read.

Footnotes

1. Greenlights are given when a qualified reviewer believes a concept is ready to be drafted. For a first-time author wanting to use the draft forum, two greenlights are required. Greenlights are not required for posting to the mainsite, or seeking draft critique via wikidot private message or in the chatrooms.

2. Examples including thoughts like, "what happens if someone turns your brains to salsa and eats it?" from Salsa Hammer or "what if a driver's hand signal could prevent road rage?" from Share the Road

Last edited on 04 Mar 2020 04:59 by Zyn Show more