Charon's Leaky Schooner

Posting Guidelines

A teaching forum. This is a place for those less experienced yet yearning for criticism to post, and those more experienced yet of infinite patience to critique. No off-the-cuff "I like this" critiques, no offended poster backlash. If you post here, you're a beginner who's dying to learn.

Before you consider posting, please read these guidelines in full:

THERE IS A PREREQUISITE OF 40 POSTS AT THE SITE BEFORE YOU CAN POST IN THIS TEACHING FORUM.

Welcome to Charon's Leaky Schooner. This forum was designed for the beginning writer who isn't satisfied with the comments he's received in General, but doesn't feel quite ready to suffer the slings and arrows of High or Merciless. The following guidelines specifically apply for this forum and may be slightly different from the general Posting Guidelines that cover the rest of the site, so to avoid confusion, please read them carefully:

1. The guideline for posting at PFFA is one poem per forum per day. In Schooner, you will be allowed to post one poem per week, (seven day period) rather than one per day. (Revisions will be addressed below.) Learning to write well takes discipline and one poem per week gives those mentoring you in the development of your poem time to interact.

2. This is not a forum for your first submission at the Poetry Free-for-all. We understand your enthusiasm, but ask that you spend some time lurking around and get some experience posting in some of the other forums before you post anything in Charon's Leaky Schooner for critique. Those who spend considerable amount of time, sometimes up to an hour per poem, are leery of commenting in length on a piece by someone who has made less than 40 posts and who hasn't yet explored all that the site has to offer. Therefore, (to reiterate), YOU MUST HAVE AT LEAST 40 PFFA POSTS TO YOUR CREDIT BEFORE POSTING HERE If you choose this forum for your first or second post, it will be moved to a more appropriate forum or deleted by a moderator, NO EXCEPTIONS.

3. Poems posted to Schooner should be exclusive to the forum. They can be previously posted work, but not simultaneous postings. In other words, a poem should not be posted for critique in General, Teen or High and Schooner at the same time.

4. "This is a place for those less experienced yet yearning for criticism to post, and those more experienced yet of infinite patience to critique." In other words, if you're posting here it means you're a beginning writer learning the basics and more than likely aren't ready to post the kind of critique called for in a teaching forum. If you're seasoned enough to critique here, you're not a beginning writer for the most part and don't need the help of a teaching forum such as this.

5. No "I really like this" comments, no "pat on the back" critique. Such comments do not benefit the writer and will be edited or deleted. If you think you'd like to comment, spend some time reading the posted critiques and see if you have something to offer on that level. Remember, experienced is the key word for those wishing to critique in this forum. If you aren't, don't post.

6. Offended poster backlash will not be tolerated. You posted in this forum to learn and will receive some of the best constructive criticism around. The moderators will strictly enforce the rules of the forum and an infraction that causes a thread to be closed, comments of an argumentative nature to be deleted or that instigates a trip Outside will result in the loss of posting privileges in this forum.

7. Specific questions--"I'm struggling with the connection of my metaphor between the first and last strophes"--or explanations--"I wanted to show her anger with the use of the scissors throughout this piece"--may be added as a footnote by the poster to his work. This will allow a critic to get an idea of where the poster is trying to go with the piece.

8. No more than one revision per week will be allowed (a revision will be considered as part of the current working poem) and revisions will be limited to 3 per poem. Again, writing requires discipline and revisions should be well-thought out and take time. A few word changes over a few hours won't cut it here. There are two ways you may choose to post revisions:

9. No "new" poems should be posted by a member until work on the "old" poem, including revisions, is done. When a poem has gone through up to 3 revisions (if necessary), or it is deemed by the critics and poster that a poem will not benefit from revision, that thread will be closed. The poster is then free to post a new poem after the forum's "one poem per week" rule has been met.

10. Deletions of posts in the forum will be made by a moderator. The critiques offered here are an integral part of this forum and serve a valuable purpose for those who want to learn more about the critical process. It would be a disservice to delete the excellent work from such critics, considering the time that most in-depth criticism takes and the lessons they afford, even if it is determined by the writer and critics that a poem won't benefit from revision. With that in mind, deletions will be made only when deemed necessary by a moderator. We want to encourage our critics as well as our writers and deleting their work doesn't go far in that direction for those taking the time to comment.

We hope you've enjoyed these guidelines. To continue, click the link below:

I have read and understood the rules for posting in Charon's Leaky Schooner,
and now request permission to come aboard, as it were.