Date: Fri, 1 Dec 1995 12:54:19 EST From: the janitor Subject: FAQ: Somewhere Near The Dudley Do Write Inn, (rev. 8) walking down memory lane, I turned into this place in the moonlight... thought some of you might enjoy taking a stroll with me. [for those who wonder what the heck this is, keep reading...] tink -+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+= Somewhere Near The Dudley Do Write Inn, On a Dark and Stormy Night Nov. 28, 1995 (rev. 8) You look a little lost, so let me introduce you to the place. It can be a mite confusing at first. What is this? Well, let me invite you into the WRITERS Saloon, part time grill, and (sometimes) font for libations (all kinds welcome). Some people think of this as the bar for after the workshop, which isn't a bad way to describe it. Don't you go listening to those rumors about us being a front for liberations, we just like candelabra on our piano now and then. Nothing to do with libertines, fraternizations, and eggheads, really. I notice you're admiring that bar. Let me tell you, it's pretty special. Starts at WRITERS@mitvma.mit.edu, also called writers@mitvma.bitnet, but the bar (whether you're looking for drinking, ballet, or judgment) stretches around the world with plenty of odd kinks and twists. You can get caught in those angles in no time. The place is open for business any time. Serves stories, poetry, essays, and those big bowls of chatter for your pleasure. If you don't see what you like, feel free to whip some up and set it out on the bar for everybody to enjoy. Don't let the comments about seasoning get to you, everyone seems to have their own notions about the best way to get the taste right. Try some of the bubbly humor or those dark poetics and relax with the folks. Darn! Oh, not you. Someone stuck some of their gum up under the edge of the bar here. Just a minute, I got to get that out before it gets hard. That stuff seems to turn up everywhere. Oh, now that's really pretty disgusting. Someone left their ear under here. Those artists! Where were we? Oh, if you like gambling, try the Dare. Best game in town, I think. Simple, too, like drinking a shotglass of beer every minute. Just write a new story every week and send them all out to the magazines. Ask around, someone can tell you all about it. There's usually a Quote Of The Day going on, and some of the folks toss in a game of words now and then. Some of the exercises are good ways to stretch your writing, too. Aside from that, there's a fair amount of friendly talk, sometimes making it hard for your order to get through. But be patient, we will get around to you in time. If you get in a hurry, help us out. Let's see. There's lots of dark corners, and always an empty seat for another lurker. So if that's what you want to do, set down, take a sip from the pop bubbling around or fill your plate at the smorgasbord of literate delights and relax for a while, watch the show. If you get to feeling rowdy, go ahead and take a swing. Fair warning, plenty of these folks carry loaded words, so you may find yourself looking down a double-barreled thesaurus full of words. Some of the folks also like to dance, though, and you may get invited onto the floor. Can't tell until you try, and even then you may not be sure. Oh, if you get into a real knock-down drag-'em-out fight, please take it outside. If you've got some real fancy wordwork, we might all watch for a while, but don't just keep on wasting everyone's time. Take it out in the alleys, and let us know how it comes out. Whoops! Turn your head a little, that's it, there you are. Got to watch out for that mirror, it's a specialty of the place. Liable to show you almost anything. Fellow that made it, let me think, oh, yeah, Marlin, British fellow, I think, he said it's just like those ones they had way back in Greece and Rome, maybe before that, but he added in a lot of fancy new stuff. Sometimes you can see forever in it, sometimes just the back of your head... Takes some getting used to, but then you start to like seeing yourself in new ways. Bet you never knew about that little extra something back there on your neck, now did you? If you get curious about something, ask around, and someone will usually help you out. Friendly bunch, even if they don't have a lot of spare time. They're all writers, you know, just like you, so don't yell at them about not doing something until you've tried doing it yourself. I mean, look at who has to sweep up - and I'm not getting paid for it, either. Who am I? I run the popcorn, peanuts, and candy concession out at the east end of the bar, near Ha'va'd. Got a special on bubble gum this week, if you want some. I'll help pop your bubble, too. Just call me tink. Okay, I'm going to put away the broom and leave you alone out here for a while. Whenever you're ready, step up to the bar or kick off your shoes and jump on the dance floor and show the folks your stuff. They'll be looking for it. Just remember the key - write and write and write and... +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= [Please feel free to print this FAQ and keep a copy for when you have questions! In fact, the author would be pleased if you did that.] The meat in this sandwich - v. 18, Nov. 28, 1995 1. Posting to the list--Submissions and other work 2. Help with LISTSERV 3. Some of our programs 4. Archives and other resources 5. PM&I 6. Poke around with the web... 7. Other questions 1. Posting to the list--Submissions and other work Submissions: To provide all members with a copy, send it as email to writers@mitvma.mit.edu (internet) or to WRITERS@MITVMA.BITNET (bitnet) (everyone will get a copy automatically). Please use the tag SUB: in your subject line. Those who prefer to send their work out individually should use the RFC (Request For Critique) heading below on a general announcement describing your work and saying that you will send a copy to anyone requesting it. You should be prepared for such requests by private email or the list. Critiques and comments for RFC work should be sent by private email. To archive a copy of your work, send it as email to wfiles@mitvma.mit.edu (internet) or to WFILES@MITVMA.BITNET (bitnet). Postings to WRITERS are NOT automatically archived, and material filed in WFILES is NOT automatically posted. It is YOUR decision. To help us recognize the kind of work it is, if possible put the following "tags" in your subject line as appropriate writing SUB: pieces (genre--poem, short story, essays, etc.) CRIT: critiques COMMENT: comments (some people have suggested that detailed technical critiques and quick comments should be tagged differently, thus the two headings) RFC: request for critiques--used to announce availability of a piece with exchange and critiques handled via private email OPIN: opinions TECH: techniques of writing (a good place for summaries of techniques, workshops, or other helpful aids) EXERCISE: exercises ROBIN: round robbins interesting WOW: writing related interesting bits (World Of Writing) WOE: electronic related interesting bits (World of Electronics) FILLER: non-writing related interesting bits FLAME: self-admitted stupidity; or, the dam burst and here's the spill list related INTRO: say hello now BIO: background about yourself (may overlap intro) SOCIAL: addresses, phone numbers, and other personal ads ADMIN: topics about the list use a plain subject line for odds and ends, like everyone else RE: for followups you can also make up your own - useful ones WILL be adopted. [Note: Novels or other longer pieces should be announced and offered to those whose email systems can handle them. Please do NOT post extremely large pieces. my rule of thumb: 50K or 8000 words in one post is pushing. Some people are now using the TOPICS filtering of listserv to limit mail. As a result, the following tags are especially significant SUBMISSION, CRITIQUE, TECHNIQUE, EXERCISE, WOW, FILLER (you can combine tags! e.g. "Subject: SUB, ROBIN: Once More Down the Dandelion Tail" is a perfectly acceptable subject line) As a self-imposed discipline, many of our members use the 50/50 rule - for every "chatter" posting, they try to post one posting relevant to writing. You may want to follow this rule to help maintain the focus on writing. Public chastisement, unfortunately, is NOT an effective method of promoting writing-related postings - it adds one more irrelevant post, and does not provide positive encouragement. 2. Help with LISTSERV To take a short vacation: send email to listserv@mitvma.mit.edu (internet) or LISTSERV@MITVMA.BITNET with SET WRITERS NOMAIL when you leave. Then send email with SET WRITERS MAIL when you return. To have batches of mail collected in large mailings, send email to LISTSERV with SET WRITERS DIGEST To return to normal mailing, send email to LISTSERV with SET WRITERS MAIL To leave the list: send email to LISTSERV with SIGNOFF WRITERS [NOTE: The SIGNOFF is NOT instantaneous. You may want to SET WRITERS NOMAIL first, then send the SIGNOFF command as it takes some time to process. I recommend waiting at least a day before deciding it didn't work.] To subscribe to the list: send email to LISTSERV with SUBSCRIBE WRITERS yourfirstname yourlastname To get a list of members: send email to LISTSERV with REVIEW WRITERS BY NAME To check on your own mail parameters: send email to LISTSERV with QUERY WRITERS To limit your mail to certain topics: send email to LISTSERV with (select your own list of topics) SET WRITERS TOPICS= SUB CRIT You can then go back to the normal full delivery of all topics with SET WRITERS TOPICS= ALL 3. Some of our programs Poems On Demand--on Friday, the challenger posts a challenge (usually describing a form, theme, maybe some allusive references). Others respond with a poem of their own over the next week. (NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE--needs someone to organize and run it) Story swap - each participant writes a story around a common theme or title, then the stories are "swapped" - and you rewrite the story you get. (NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE--needs someone to organize and run it) Critic's Galore--the Critmeister helps make sure everyone gets critiqued, and that we share the load of critiquing! Don't hesitate--let the critmeister show you how to get in there and CRIT! (NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE--needs someone to organize and run it) Parsons M&I - the small town newspaper of Parsons, Iowa always amuses. A new issue came out in January, 1995 - if you haven't read it, get a copy! Title challenges - these are interesting phrases proposed by a member as possible titles for you to write a piece (story, poetry, or other form) around. Just another one of our ways of provoking writing... Dare to be bad challenge - this is a self-imposed discipline, to write and submit at least one story for publication each week. Variations on the basic challenge are up to you, but several published writers have recommended this program as a definite way to get published. Round robbins spring up from time to time - essentially a form of writer's relay race, with the hope that someone will take up the baton and finish the race. Sometimes we have several participants grabbing the baton at the same time, and somehow these races don't seem to reach a finish line very often, but they are quite entertaining... and another method of provoking writing. Square robbins are another program, with a moderator who paces and selects the public postings to help maintain the integrity of the race. We also have had sine robbins, with a "writer's bible" issued along with the first post which provides guidelines for the style and other issues of the runners. A "convention" for robbins has been the author's name list - each person adds their name with a colon, thus allowing branches if two people want to add sections at the same point. E.g. such a list might look like tink:mji:jane:randy:bill:ming. Just add your name when you post a new section. Other programs include QOTD (quote of the day) and WOTD (word of the day) - both intended to provide you with thoughts to help you keep writing. Note: all of our programs are open to submissions from anyone - but don't overload the list with all of your favorite ideas at once. Pace yourself, and tantalize us with your good taste! 4. Archives and other resources Send a message to WFILES-SEARCH-REQUEST@mitvma.mit.edu with just the number from the following list 3776 FAQ: A Preliminary List of Sparks and Irritants - some upsetting topics Tink's discussion of what causes anger on this list 3777 FAQ: SUB guidelines (DRAFT!) - submission guidelines 3778 FAQ: CRIT guidelines (DRAFT!) - critique guidelines (if you find other helpful documents in the archives, please let me know and we'll add them to this list!) and if YOU want to write one of these useful documents, let me know! To get information from the archives, first send a message to LISTSERV similar to the one between the dashes -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= // JOB Echo=No,Reply-To=None Database Search DD=Rules Echo=Yes //Rules DD * search * in wfiles from 1 jan 1995 to 1 feb 1995 index -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= you may also want to use search lines such as: search * in wfiles where sender contains ( barker ) search exercise in wfiles since 1 jan 1995 LISTSERV will send you a list of available postings matching your search. second, send WFILES-SEARCH-REQUEST@mitvma.mit.edu a message with the number(s) of the pieces you want to get a copy of (change the number to what you want). it's that simple. 5. PM&I The local newspaper is irregular, but you might like to read it. This is the archive number for the most recent issue. (Most of the original issues are now out of print, unfortunately, although I have heard rumors about someone finding some in a spider's web or downspout or something) 115 PM&I Golden 1995 Issue 6. Poke around with the web... try these URLs our very own home page http://www.acci.com/acci/writers.html Others worth looking at... http://www.ucalgary.ca/~rmherrin/writers.htm http://www.wsnet.com/~alphabet http://www.physplt.wsu.edu/pub/people/althea.html http://linux.burridge.nscc.ns.ca/burridge/homepages/thea.htm http://negaduck.cc.vt.edu/DPMA http://www.ucalgary.ca/~phamel http://www.umr.edu/~acareaga http://xp.psych.nyu.edu/~giner/Homepage.html http://www.eskimo.com/~ericj http://bvsd.k12.co.us/~dewitt http://pages.prodigy.com/MD/starbug/stuarbug1.html http://bronze.ucs.indiana.edu/~dlodge/writing.html http://www.missouri.edu/~wleric/writery.html http://web.mit.edu/mbarker/www/writers.html general interest http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/FAQ-List.html 7. Other questions There may be other information or help you would like. Ask, and someone will (usually) answer. Sometimes you may be asked to help turn the answers into a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) piece, sometimes you may have to repeat the question a few times to get an answer, but don't be afraid to ask. -=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=- You know, I think that storm's clearing up. Maybe you can find what you're looking for, or we can see you, dancing by the light of the moon at the Saloon... Won't you come out tonight? -+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=-+=