Yes, I've been deep inside a hole, but I have just four more weeks to go before everything will again be right with the world. Bear with me. Spring break just started today, but I'm on my way to Georgia to visit my terminally ill grandmother. So no posts, I'm afraid.
I'm trying to recruit two more writers that I know. Both are students, which won't help Moses much because they, too, will be constrained by class schedules. I'm still hoping to catch at least a couple who are outside the school semester system to keep the group up and running between breaks.
Next up, because of the chance of newbies, I'm thinking of writing up a Sticky posts of ground rules -- basically the kinds of things one expects from a creative writing workshop. I thought I'd ask the two old timers (ha) what they'd like to see in the ground rules first.
I think we should all agree to regular posts--not every week if that doesn't work, but set up a feasible schedule and stick to it. That's my biggest problem anyway. Even if it's only a few pages, we should still set a goal for ourselves and feel free to bug each other if we fall off the wagon, as I have, many times, this year.
Other than that, I can't think of anything rules-wise.
I would probably suggest that everyone grab a copy of some kind of writing guide to refresh rules of punctuation, if only to let the readers focus on the story rather than the mechanics. As an English teacher, it's really hard to for me to read something without wanting to comment on commas, and I think it hurts the feedback I could be giving--if that makes sense at all.
I'm glad you're still hanging in there, CR! I am sorry to hear about your grandmother, though.
CR this is sad news and I will keep your grandmother and family in my prayers, no that the void of life is only temporary.
I don't think mechanics is that big of an issue since we are all lovers of English -- there might be a few human errors, but nothing illiterate. I really think being open with the group is the essential rule, and we should be able to encourage each other even if we can't read or post material.
Honestly these past two weeks have been crazy for me, causing me to become mentally fatigued. I am working two jobs, going to school, and teaching two classes on Biblical theology, and I am trying to rewrite a script for a producer and I just got an email last night from another producer who wants to read my short in hopes for the festival; so I feel like I've been hit with a ton of bricks now lol.
I think individual communication should be the golden rule for Animal Crackers and we should look at this as friends trying to help each other instead of teachers trying to critique each other, this will change the atmosphere of the site, and motivate us to keep going. What do you all think?
