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rec.arts.sf.composition Frequently Asked Questions

(http://www.lshelby.com/rasfcFAQ.html )
Content changed since last update will be marked {this way}.
Last updated: 11 Jun 2008

1. Introduction

This FAQ has been written by Michelle Bottorff based on comments and
suggestions from various members of the group, and is maintained and
posted by Michelle Bottorff (mbottorff@lshelby.com
<mailto:mbottorff@lshelby.com>) and Zeborah (zeborah@gmail.com
<mailto:zeborah@gmail.com>). The general purpose of the FAQ is to inform
newcomers and to serve as repository for useful information.

The FAQ will be posted bi-weekly to rasfc and maintained online at
http://www.lshelby.com/rasfcFAQ.html.

If you have any comments, questions or contributions, please post them
in the newsgroup or send them to the FAQ maintainer (see above).

Table of contents

1. Introduction <#intro>

Table of Contents

2. What is on topic in this newsgroup? <#ontopic>

* What we are here to talk about <#subject>
* {Off-topic and controversial discussions <#offtopic>}
* Critiquing policy <#critique>
* Announcements, URL sharing, and Advertising policy <#ads>

3. What posting formats are acceptable? <#posting>

* Replying from Google Groups <#google>
* Quoting <#quoting>
* Crossposting <#crossposting>
* Spelling, Punctuation and Grammar <#style>
* Courteous conduct <#courtesy>

4. How does one start posting to rasfc? <#newbie>

* The proper way to not introduce yourself <#introduce>
* Red-flag topics that might best be avoided and why <#redflag>

5. What do the group members mean when they say...? <#vocab>

* Terminology, acronyms, common abbreviations

6. Where else can I go for help? <#help>

* Other newsgroups <#newsgroups>
* Critique groups online and in person <#critgroups>
* Reference librarians <#librarians>

7. What do I need to watch out for? <#warning>

* Regional specific advice <#regional>
* Writer scams <#scams>
* Copyright issues <#copyright>

8. What do I need to know about the business of writing? <#business>

* Manuscript format <#manuscript>
* Word count calculation <#wordcount>
* Submissions process <#submission>
* Advances <#advances>
* Agents <#agents>

9. What legal issues should I be aware of? <#legal>

* Your copyright <#yourcopyright>
* Other authors' copyright <#othercopyright>
* Trademarks <#trademarks>
* Assignment of rights <#rights>

10. Additional resources (our links section) <#additional>

* Writers' resources <#resources>
* Netiquette <#netiquette>

Appendix A: Newsgroup Charter <#charter>

2. What is on topic in this newsgroup?

What we are here to talk about

This group is for the discussion of the writing of speculative fiction,
(hereafter shortened to "sf"), or in other words fantasy and
science-fiction. (It is NOT for discussing music composition in San
Francisco!) The writing of any work of another genre that has strong
fantasy and/or science fictional aspects will probably also be
considered on topic.

Appropriate topics of discussion include the process and details of
developing settings (world-building), the business of selling the stuff
once it's written, the physical environment in which one writes and how
it affects one's writing, and, of course, the writing process itself.
The posting of actual sf works is NOT on topic. (see Critiquing policy
<#critiquebelow.)

{Off-topic and controversial discussions}

Sometimes topics are introduced that seem insufficiently sfnal in nature
or that would be better addressed in another newsgroup, in which case it
is commonly requested that the discussion be moved elsewhere (and not
everyone who makes the request will do so politely). If you are not
familiar with the group, please check section 6 "Where else do I go for
help?" before posting, to make certain this is the right place for your
query/comment. Also read Section 4. "How does one start posting to
rasfc? <#newbie>"

{Often a thread will begin on a sfnal topic but veer into non-sfnal
territory. When this happens, particularly if it is likely to be a
controversial topic, either a participant or bystander may request that
the discussion be moved to rec.arts.sf.misc instead.

A request by a bystander may consist of a post on rasfc saying words to
the effect of, "This discussion would be better suited to
rec.arts.sf.misc", with followups set to rasfm. A move by a participant
may begin with a short statement in rasfc that "I disagree, but am going
to present my arguments in rec.arts.sf.misc".

Reasons for the move need not be given in rasfc itself (and probably
should not be, as they are likely themselves to be controversial); nor
should the arguments themselves. If they are presented there, a
responder may ignore the followups and post a short reply to rasfc
saying words to the effect that "These arguments should not have been
posted to rasfc, and I will be posting a rebuttal in rec.arts.sf.misc",
with followups set to rasfm.}

Critiquing policy

This is a discussion group, not a publication venue or a critiquing
group. However, it is difficult to discuss writing in detail without the
posting of illustrative examples and it is hard to discuss the cures for
a problem unless we understand what the problem is. Short examples (two
or three paragraphs) of your own composition may be posted freely as
part of a discussion of writing technique. (We frequently see, for
example, story beginnings posted with a "does this catch your interest
or not?" or an interior paragraph or two with a "does this sound too
much like an info-dump, how else could I convey this information?" This
sort of posting is quite welcome.)

It is also allowable to post not more than 500 words worth of something
for general critique if they are posted under a subject header that
begins with "CRIT". These works must be "in progress". If you are not
intending to change them based on the comments you receive, do not post
them here. Even then it is strongly recommend that you find another
source of critiques. There are many online and in person critique groups
available. This subject is discussed in more depth in Section 6 <#help>.

Announcements, URL sharing, and advertising policy

Officially all advertisements are off topic. Be warned, "advertisement"
also includes postings saying "I just wrote this book, it's available at
[url] go check it out." Anything that is posted with the intent to get
people to go look at a particular website, or just to spend time on the
poster's behalf, without a commensurate offer of recompense is treading
on dangerous ground. Only the following specific types of "ads" are ever
welcome here:

* Requests for manuscripts from venues that pay professional rates.
Make sure the actual rates offered are included in the advertisement.
* Rare public service announcements posted by people who are very
familiar with the group and know that what they are posting will
be considered useful and relevant.
* Notices of the publication of works that were discussed in the
group by their author /as they were being written/.

If an ad, announcement or URL posting does not meet one of these three
criteria, it will be treated with contempt, and may result in a
complaint to the poster's ISP.

URL postings should contain a summary of what is there that people might
want to look at, providing enough information to determine whether or
not one wishes to do so, and whether the site is connected in any way
with the poster.

3. What posting formats are acceptable?

The posting conventions of this group are as follows:

Use only ASCII, no MIME or HTML.

Replying from Google Groups:

When you're looking at a message, instead of hitting "reply" at the
bottom of that message, hit "show options" at the top of it. Then hit
"reply" from the list of options that brings up, and it will give you
proper quoting and even attributions.

{Please also be aware that the "hide/show quoted text" option works
/only inside Google Groups/. Make an executive decision whether a given
chunk of text needs to be quoted at all -- see below.}

Quoting:

Quote the /relevant portion/ of the text you are replying to, and place
your comments beneath the quoted section. If what you are replying to is
long, snip out unnecessary portions of the quoted text, and interleave
your own replies between the quoted sections. Try to leave the
attribution headers intact, so that people will know who said what in
your quote portions.