Greetings, Wanderers.
Do you ever find yourself stuck when it comes to developing an idea or fleshing out a character? Do you ever feel like you need some more help on making your finished draft better? Do you ever fantasize about helping others with their works?
- To use this forum to get review on an idea, you need to create a thread detailing what you need help with and what your goals are. Hit the "Create a new thread" button on the I&A Forum page and title your thread appropriately. You can use a possible title for the draft or a general idea as the title for the thread, but keep it concise (you don't need to mention "SEEKING LOTS OF HELP PLZ", it's already assumed). Likewise, the summary should also be short. You can mention if you need help with characters and plot points; believe it or not, this is important because the more specific you are in your search for help, the more likely you are to get the right member to help you. Don't fear if you need help on a lot or if you fear making the summary too long and crowding out everyone else—You still have the space of the actual thread post. In the post, talk about your concept and what needs workshopping. Mention any specific purpose for the story you have in mind, any format you plan to use, or any random thoughts that even might work, but you're not sure of. The goal of Idea Review is to help kickstart a story and assist other users in planning their stories or even just a section of their story. Keep it to the point, and don't go overboard with walls-of-text. If there's a lot of background reading needed/the idea itself is really lengthy, use a sandbox. Wait for a reviewer (or really any member) to come along and leave their thoughts and suggestions in your thread.
- To use this forum to get review on a draft, you first have to write a draft. Ideally, you should have a mostly final draft ready, with maybe some spots here and there that you feel you need help with. This is not the place to ask for help on your first paragraph or for periodical grammar checks. You can ask for help on the general direction of the story, but you should try to make whatever you have so far the best that it can be, so your reviewer can spend more time helping you with what comes next. After you have material ready to receive review, create a thread, title it, and write an appropriate summary. In the thread post, leave a link to the sandbox page that you wrote your story in. DO NOT leave a link to pastebin, Google Docs, or some other word processor! Wikidot formatting is notorious for changing the look of a story when pasted from elsewhere, especially since Wikidot doesn't have any text indentation. Wait for a reviewer (or really any member) to come along and leave their thoughts and suggestions in your thread.
- You can also use this forum to give review by commenting on someone else's thread. All reviews should be fairly in-depth comments/questions/concerns. There isn't a strict length on how long a review should or shouldn't be, but remember that 1) the goal is a great story for the site, and 2) you're just volunteering. #1 means that you should be detailed and constructive, and treat others with respect. #2 means that you don't have to review something if you don't want to, you shouldn't review something if you can't give it a good deal of attention, and you don't have to put up with disrespect from an unhappy writer. Leave troublesome users to staff. A guide may be posted in the future if it's needed, but for the most part, use your wits and your instincts to fix a story.
Remember that the forums can sometimes move a little slowly, so don't lose your hopes and wait for at least a day or two to pass. Feel free to privately message a known reviewer and summon them to your thread for help if no one's responded for too long. For reviewers, remember that there is no rush to give someone a review. You want to give the writer the best-quality critique you can give, so take your time.
NOTE: This is not the place to get a spell-check. While reviewers may choose to suggest grammatical corrections, no one needs to act as your dictionary. You should be able to demonstrate good English skills on your own to avoid giving headaches to reviewers and readers alike. Please make sure to reread your works all the time, even if you don't seek out in-depth review.
If any of you have any questions about the review process, feel free to hit "New Post" below and wait for a staffer/an informed user to respond.
Our Sandbox: http://wanderers-sandbox-2.wikidot.com/ (Remember, you can only have 1 page for all your drafts! Use the tab function to create space for multiple stories.)
New Member Orientation: http://wanderers-library.wikidot.com/orientation
Edited due to us having a new sandbox site, and minor changes for clarity. -UC
