Advanced C&C
Posting Guidelines
For those who are very well-versed in verse, have strong opinions on what makes a piece of writing worth reading, and are able to provide polished poems and detailed constructive criticism.
Before you consider posting, please read these guidelines in full:
Welcome to the Advanced C&C forum of the Poetry Free For All. This is where things start to get pithy, and subsequently, where the bar is set higher. As with all the forums, the Posting Guidelines are very much applicable here. So too are the guidelines below:
1. "Well-versed in verse" means that, as a writer, it is assumed you know the more than just the basics of poetic knowledge. If you don't know what you're doing, and do it blindfolded, you shouldn't be in Advanced C&C. This forum is for work that's polished, revised, and, if the writer chooses to do so, could be accepted into reputable poetry publications or competitions with a bit more tweaking. If you're not sure that this qualifies you, then you're not qualified yet. You should know common poetic terms, common forms, and what the heck clichés and abstractions are. There should be evidence from the quality of the poetry you post that you have put thought into it, that some revision has already been done, and that you are ready for and will understand the forthright, honest, and potentially harsh critique you will receive in Advanced C&C.
1a. If the moderators do not feel that your work indicates a fundamental knowledge of poetic basics, and that you have not, in fact, put some work and some thought into it, the moderators reserve the right to delete it, lock it, or move it to a more appropriate forum. We'd prefer it, however, if you lurked in Advanced C&C and figured it out for yourself. If you're not sure you're up to posting in Advanced C&C, post in C&C instead. Better safe than slapped by mods. Trust me.
2. As a critic, it is assumed you possess a fairly extensive collection of poetic knowledge. The critique offered in Advanced C&C should be well-informed, accurate, and extensive. Now certainly, since this is the forum for the highest quality of work, it is possible a poem will be posted where an experienced reader can find very few nits. However, this doesn't mean that fluff is allowed here. The moderators reserve the right to bar users from commenting in Advanced C&C should their critiques consistently lack substance and/or accuracy.
With your comments, it should be clear that you are able to grasp a writer's intent and evaluate how successful the poem communicates that intent, that you have an appreciation of how sound works in poetry, and that you have a familiarity with figurative language, metric forms, and effective use of rhyme. Lastly, you should be able to tell when a revision is actually regressing rather than progressing. If you can't do that, you should hang out in C&C a while to get the hang of it.
2a. If the moderators feel that your critique consistently indicates a fundamental lack of knowledge about poetic basics, you will be asked not to critique poetry in Advanced C&C but instead to keep your comments and poetry to the C&C forum, where you can continue to work on your skills before returning.
A critique of poor quality can do far more harm than good to a writer, particularly when that writer is moderately experienced but not yet at a level where he or she is easily able to accept or discard critique as beneficial or not compared to someone in, say, Advanced C&C.
3. Keep the fluff down. We hate vacuuming and some of us are allergic. If you're there, reading the poem, and if you're about to respond to that poem, make sure you have something to say about that poem. Keep the idle chit chat to the Watering Hole, and avoid consistent "critique" that one could have easily pulled from a fortune cookie.
4. There is an expectation of revision, should revision be called for. If you are a writer who consistently posts work to Advanced C&C and consistently does not revise work, and if you're a writer whose new work, when posted, consistently reveals much the same errors and weaknesses as previous work, then you may well be asked to discontinue participation in the Advanced forum and to stick to a lower critical forum instead
Advanced C&C is one of the most crucial workshopping steps in the Poetry Free For All. This is where the niggling, persistent bugs in a writer's poetic style are smooshed and where consistency of quality and consistency of voice really begin to emerge. We don't like people screwing with that. This doesn't mean we mind if things are light-hearted, but try not to get distracted by shiny objects or flashing lights. In other words, stay focused on the poetry, and we'll get along just fine.
We hope you've enjoyed these guidelines. To continue, click the link below: