This article presents the concepts of the Fanpop Writer's Group, and was last edited on 6 July 2009.
Session Information
The third session for 2009 is posted link. Please participate!
Previous sessions
* Session 2, 2009: link
* Session 1, 2009: link
What is the Fanpop Writer's Group?
It's a group of Fanpop users who are committed to writing, sharing, reading, discussing and critiquing their work. At a minimum, this involves a monthly session (though it could be twice monthly). Each session involves the following:
1) One member starts the next session by starting a new forum thread labeled "Fanpop Writer's Group session X" (where X is the next session number). In that thread's initial message, the user posts prompts for different kinds of writing, then sends messages to the members of the group to notify them that the next session has started.
2) Writers then have a week to write something based on one or more of the prompts, or can write something else.
3) The writers post their writing to the writing club within that week. If the writing is posted elsewhere in the club, the writer will make sure to post a link to its location in the Fanpop Writer's Group forum thread.
4) Writers then read all the submissions for that session, and can discuss what they're read in the forum thread.
5) Writers then provide their critical responses to the writing submission for that session, as comments in the Fanpop Writer's Group forum thread, or in the comments thread for the particular piece (if it was posted elsewhere). Such responses are posted before the end of the second week of the session.
6) The user who posted the session then chooses the user to start the next session from any volunteers.
Why a Writer's Group?
As discussed in link, writing, reading, discussion and critical analysis are all vital to improving our writing. We've got a club for writing here, so let's use it!
Posting your writing
When you post your writing in the club, if it isn't in the current session's forum thread, it should be labeled "fanpop writer's group", the current year, and the session number. This way people can find your writing more easily later. After you've posted it, make sure to add a link in the current session's forum thread. If you post your writing directly into the forum thread, please provide a title or other way to distinguish your writing from the other comments in the thread.
Reading others' writing
Whether or not you post writing for a particular session, please read the submissions that are posted and discuss them in the forum thread for the current session. When you discuss or have questions about a particular piece, please make sure to refer to the piece by its title, to be clear which you mean.
Critiquing others' writing
When you read writing from the Fanpop User's Group, collect your impressions first before submitting them as comments. Try to be thorough, and talk about what worked for you, what didn't work for you, and what suggestions you have for the author when you post your critique. Avoid abuse or purely emotional responses. "I like it" and "I hated it" are equally useless in helping an author improve his/her writing. Explain why you liked it, or what you hated about it. Don't attack the author, either: you are critiquing the writing, not the writer. Try to use words that talk about your reaction to the piece, rather than absolute judgments of the work. "I think this is a terrible cliché" is much better than "This is a terrible cliché", though even better would be to explain why it seems like a terrible cliché to you.
Receiving critiques
What you have written is not you. So any critiques you receive are about your writing, and should not be taken personally. If you find yourself having a strong emotional reaction to a particular piece of critique, step back and consider that the person is not intending to slight you, but provide feedback on your writing so that you can get better. That is to say, the critiques are trying to help you.
Further notes
Participation in the Fanpop Writer's Group is voluntary, but if you are a committed writer, you are asked to "sign up" by putting your name in a comment to this article, and to encourage other writers you know on the site and elsewhere to participate.
Signing up in this way does not commit you in any way beyond your word that you plan to participate in the writing, reading and discussion. If your name is on the list, you will get a message from another user when the next prompt is posted, and when the reviewing round begins for each session. Participants will also see your name and may expect to see your writing and critiques.
You can ask to remove your name at any time if your circumstances or intent changes. However, if you do still want to be listed but are unable to participate in all or part of a particular session, PLEASE make sure to notify the group in the forum thread, something like "Sorry guys, I've got a family emergency and won't be able to discuss this week" or "I'm going on vacation to Argentina for a month, so I'm going to miss this next session, but I'll be back after that."
Anyone can participate, whether or not they are listed as "members" of the writing group. If you post writing for the writer's group, you should discuss and critique at least three other submissions that session (ie, it's not OK to post writing and then ignore everyone else's writing, unless you are unable to read and respond - see the previous paragraph).
Participants
The following users have either said they were going to participate in the 2009 sessions, or have actually participated in the Fanpop Writer's Group in the past (writing or responding).
* Cinders
* fire_ice
* liissaaxx
* Dearheart
* chel1395
* ToastedRabbits
* mrs-mindfreak
* axlluver43
* kateliness2
* marissa
* l3371
* amazondebs
* Spotty_Vision21
* PkmnTrainerJ
* jennyrules1504
* Rockster
Session Information
The third session for 2009 is posted link. Please participate!
Previous sessions
* Session 2, 2009: link
* Session 1, 2009: link
What is the Fanpop Writer's Group?
It's a group of Fanpop users who are committed to writing, sharing, reading, discussing and critiquing their work. At a minimum, this involves a monthly session (though it could be twice monthly). Each session involves the following:
1) One member starts the next session by starting a new forum thread labeled "Fanpop Writer's Group session X" (where X is the next session number). In that thread's initial message, the user posts prompts for different kinds of writing, then sends messages to the members of the group to notify them that the next session has started.
2) Writers then have a week to write something based on one or more of the prompts, or can write something else.
3) The writers post their writing to the writing club within that week. If the writing is posted elsewhere in the club, the writer will make sure to post a link to its location in the Fanpop Writer's Group forum thread.
4) Writers then read all the submissions for that session, and can discuss what they're read in the forum thread.
5) Writers then provide their critical responses to the writing submission for that session, as comments in the Fanpop Writer's Group forum thread, or in the comments thread for the particular piece (if it was posted elsewhere). Such responses are posted before the end of the second week of the session.
6) The user who posted the session then chooses the user to start the next session from any volunteers.
Why a Writer's Group?
As discussed in link, writing, reading, discussion and critical analysis are all vital to improving our writing. We've got a club for writing here, so let's use it!
Posting your writing
When you post your writing in the club, if it isn't in the current session's forum thread, it should be labeled "fanpop writer's group", the current year, and the session number. This way people can find your writing more easily later. After you've posted it, make sure to add a link in the current session's forum thread. If you post your writing directly into the forum thread, please provide a title or other way to distinguish your writing from the other comments in the thread.
Reading others' writing
Whether or not you post writing for a particular session, please read the submissions that are posted and discuss them in the forum thread for the current session. When you discuss or have questions about a particular piece, please make sure to refer to the piece by its title, to be clear which you mean.
Critiquing others' writing
When you read writing from the Fanpop User's Group, collect your impressions first before submitting them as comments. Try to be thorough, and talk about what worked for you, what didn't work for you, and what suggestions you have for the author when you post your critique. Avoid abuse or purely emotional responses. "I like it" and "I hated it" are equally useless in helping an author improve his/her writing. Explain why you liked it, or what you hated about it. Don't attack the author, either: you are critiquing the writing, not the writer. Try to use words that talk about your reaction to the piece, rather than absolute judgments of the work. "I think this is a terrible cliché" is much better than "This is a terrible cliché", though even better would be to explain why it seems like a terrible cliché to you.
Receiving critiques
What you have written is not you. So any critiques you receive are about your writing, and should not be taken personally. If you find yourself having a strong emotional reaction to a particular piece of critique, step back and consider that the person is not intending to slight you, but provide feedback on your writing so that you can get better. That is to say, the critiques are trying to help you.
Further notes
Participation in the Fanpop Writer's Group is voluntary, but if you are a committed writer, you are asked to "sign up" by putting your name in a comment to this article, and to encourage other writers you know on the site and elsewhere to participate.
Signing up in this way does not commit you in any way beyond your word that you plan to participate in the writing, reading and discussion. If your name is on the list, you will get a message from another user when the next prompt is posted, and when the reviewing round begins for each session. Participants will also see your name and may expect to see your writing and critiques.
You can ask to remove your name at any time if your circumstances or intent changes. However, if you do still want to be listed but are unable to participate in all or part of a particular session, PLEASE make sure to notify the group in the forum thread, something like "Sorry guys, I've got a family emergency and won't be able to discuss this week" or "I'm going on vacation to Argentina for a month, so I'm going to miss this next session, but I'll be back after that."
Anyone can participate, whether or not they are listed as "members" of the writing group. If you post writing for the writer's group, you should discuss and critique at least three other submissions that session (ie, it's not OK to post writing and then ignore everyone else's writing, unless you are unable to read and respond - see the previous paragraph).
Participants
The following users have either said they were going to participate in the 2009 sessions, or have actually participated in the Fanpop Writer's Group in the past (writing or responding).
* Cinders
* fire_ice
* liissaaxx
* Dearheart
* chel1395
* ToastedRabbits
* mrs-mindfreak
* axlluver43
* kateliness2
* marissa
* l3371
* amazondebs
* Spotty_Vision21
* PkmnTrainerJ
* jennyrules1504
* Rockster
i would end up here with you
i was a restless wanderer on a distant path
you were a lonely dreamer with a broken laugh
i would go anywhere the road would lead
my hopes and dreams is all that i would need
i don't need a house or fancy cars
i would rather sleep underneath the stars
you did'nt have much to call your own
but what a lovely smile on your face shown
you said your chance at love had past you by
i told i'm here so dont you cry
our lives were like the pieces of a broken heart
now that we're together what a life could start
there was magic in the air that night
everything was moving at the speed of light
you were like my juliet and i your romeo
you love me i love you thats all i need to know
no longer will you dream of love thats true
no longer will i wander my search has led to you