Jed's Super-Dooper 'Ask a Mod' Thread (for all your Newbie Questions)

Ari Meermans · Mar 2, 2019

Continue to write crits when you can. You can also look for interesting discussions around the boards and participate there. Ask questions. There are a lot of ways to get to those fifty posts, just please don't make that your end goal. Give the community a chance to get to know you and let yourself get to know the community.

HTH

dpaterso · Mar 4, 2019

GroovyWordBender said:
I was hoping for a little advice.

I joined the community to take part and share ideas and work but I have to post 50 posts before I can show my own work (fair enough, I thought). Okay, I made a few easy posts early on with my 'hello' post but it seems inappropriate to milk that one and I thought the best thing to do is to get on and write some crits. I've written 2 crits and they have both taken me 4 days to write, review, format and post (I don't want to do a shoddy job).

At this rate its going to take me 5 months to be in a position to post anything, and frankly I'm feeling very dispondant at the insurmountable task ahead of me. I don't want to take an 'easy' path and I do want to pay my dues in crits, etc. but there must be a more efficacious way to get 50 posts?

Has anyone got any advice?

GWB

Maybe don't try so hard, just casually read something and say what you think about it, don't try to analyze every sentence or find every typo and misplaced comma on the planet. Sometimes writers are just looking for a general opinion on a piece, not the answer to the meaning of life. You read books and form opinions all the time, I bet.

Take a peek at the Post The First Three Sentences of your Short Story and Post the First Three Sentences of your Novel For Feedback* threads, and also the "Post 200 words..." threads in the various Share Your Work genre sub-forums. Critting much shorter pieces might be easier for you, to help get you up and running.

* the password for Brainstorming Sandbox forum is also vista just like SYW

-Derek

calisterol · Jun 2, 2019

HELP how do I add a picture for my profile, I feel like an old lady right now and it is making my brain feel like pudding even more than it usually does.

L. Y. · Jun 2, 2019

Here you go:

https://absolutewrite.com/forums/showthread.php?189978-FAQ-Everything-You-Always-Wanted-to-Know-About-Avatars-and-User-Titles

Make sure that you're not confusing a Profile picture, which only appears on your User Profile, with an Avatar, which appears in every post.

To change your Avatar:

Click Settings on the top right of any AW Forum window.

Scroll down to the section labeled My Settings on the left.

Click Edit Avatar

Scroll down to the section labeled Custom Avatar; click the radio button to the left of Custom Avatar

Use Option 2, and upload an avatar the (following the image and file size limitations) from your computer.
Option 1 has been disabled.

Remember to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click the Save Changes button.

If you don't see your new avatar when you check a post, and you're sure you clicked Save Changes, try emptying your browser cache and refreshing the page. You might have a local copy of the previous version still stored by your Web browser.

If you're truly stuck, PM me as AW Admin, and I'll take a look.

To change your Profile Picture:

Click Settings on the top right of any AW Forum window.

Scroll down to the section labeled My Settings on the left.

Under the My Profile heading, Click Edit Profile Picture

Scroll down to the section labeled Custom Profile Picture; click the radio button to the left of Custom Avatar.

Use Option 2, and upload an avatar (following the image and file size limitations) from your computer.
Option 1 has been disabled.

Remember to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click the Save Changes button.

If you don't see your new Profile Picture when you check your Profile, and you're sure you clicked Save Changes, try emptying your browser cache and refreshing the page. You might have a local copy of the previous version still stored by your Web browser.

If you're truly stuck, PM me as AW Admin, and I'll take a look.

calisterol · Jun 6, 2019

hello, my question is how do you look at reputation points because I got a message but I can't view it. I am very confused.

Ari Meermans · Jun 6, 2019

calisterol said:
hello, my question is how do you look at reputation points because I got a message but I can't view it. I am very confused.

Easiest way? Click Settings (upper right of your screen).

Scroll down. The reps you've been given are listed first, followed by a section of the reps you've given to others.

FAQ: "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Reputation Comments and Points."

Oh Non · Jan 10, 2020

Is "flying low" just a southern expression? That's where I first heard it, and had no clue what it meant. Now that I know what it means, I have a perfect spot for it in my book. I don't want to make people confused though.

Bufty · Jan 10, 2020

Oh Non said:
Is "flying low" just a southern expression? That's where I first heard it, and had no clue what it meant. Now that I know what it means, I have a perfect spot for it in my book. I don't want to make people confused though.

Up to my checking Google a few minutes ago, it meant nothing to me beyond 'low flying' in an aircraft or 'keeping below the radar'.

If you want to use it to mean something else, maybe an undone zip or fly, or dance movement or whatever, you should be OK provided the intended meaning is clear from the context or character reactions.

thewonder · Aug 24, 2021

I've been surfing the forums and haven't seen anything on self-publishing. I have some poems that I've submitted to a few places with no avail and would kind of like to arrange them in a small booklet. Is there a self-publishing advice thread anywhere around here?

Secondary Question:

Where do we just chat it up about our favorite books and whatnot? Most of the subforums seem to be somehow devoted to writing tips and I'm curious as to where I can just talk about books that I happen to like.

lizmonster · Aug 24, 2021

Here is where you'll find the master list of forums.

Here's the self-publishing forum.

Here's a set of threads about people's favorite books.

You'll find a lot more just by rummaging around - starting with the stickies on forums that look interesting to you is usually not a bad way to begin.

thewonder · Aug 24, 2021

Cool, thanks!

AW Admin · Aug 24, 2021

thewonder said:
Cool, thanks!

Many of the forums have sub-forums. You can spot the forums with sub-forums in the main list because just under the title it says "Sub Forums."

xkiarrax · Sep 17, 2021

Is it possible to change your username once you've decided it? I made mine back in 2013. I'd love to update it.

Sophia · Sep 17, 2021

Yes.

Please send a message (referred to as a "Conversation" in this forum software) to AW Admin asking about it.

AW Admin · Sep 17, 2021

shante said:
Is it possible to change your username once you've decided it? I made mine back in 2013. I'd love to update it.

There's a FAQ for that.

xkiarrax · Sep 17, 2021

AW Admin said:
There's a FAQ for that.

Whoops. Sorry, I should have thought about checking that! Thanks.

AW Admin · Sep 17, 2021

shante said:
Whoops. Sorry, I should have thought about checking that! Thanks.

I write my fingers TO THE BONE and no one reads

(Except Ari Meermans).

No worries; I'd be delighted to change your Username. I have to wait until you are not logged on, but will likely take care of it later tonight or very early tomorrow.

Isabelrhodes17 · Sep 30, 2021

jvc said:
This thread was the 'Ask the Mod' thread, however it is now on tour. It is now in Office Party and has morphed into the 'Ask Silver King and OFG' thread.

So, ask away.

Previous Intro:

So here's your chance to ask any of the Moderators 'Mods' a question. It can be about anything you like (just remember to keep it clean ). They can either be serious, as in relating to their individual forums, or just a bit of fun.

So, who has the first question for a Mod?

ETA: This thread started in the Newbie Forum. It is now 'On Tour' around AW.

Hey, I was curious as to what "beta reading" is. Thanks!

Unimportant · Sep 30, 2021

Isabelrhodes17 said:
Hey, I was curious as to what "beta reading" is. Thanks!

That is when a reader volunteers to read an entire novel and comment on/critique it. It's quite a timely investment, so quite often two writers will swap with each other. Obviously AW's text boxes can't support 100,000 words being typed in (!) so the authors usually communicate via personal/instant messages (the little envelope icon at the top right, in between your avatar and the bell image) and then swap email addresses or whatever method suits them.

mccardey · Sep 30, 2021

Isabelrhodes17 said:
Hey, I was curious as to what "beta reading" is. Thanks!

I am not a mod, but allow me to present you with your very own copy of - The Absolute Write Dictionary!

(We only let very special people read it.)

Izz · Sep 30, 2021

Isabelrhodes17 said:
Hey, I was curious as to what "beta reading" is. Thanks!

Beta reading is well-explained in this sticky thread from our Beta Reading room

It's something that many writers find helpful in making sure their writing (both plot-wise and word-wise) is strong enough to sell.

Please note that there is a 50-post requirement before you can start a thread asking for Beta Readers.

T.D.H. · Oct 22, 2021

Greetings, great and powerful Mods.
I am a Newbie and I have a couple of questions.
The first is, is there a limit on the length replies can be? I've written a crit on someone's SYW post, but I can't post it. Instead, I get a "Oops. We ran into some problems." message. Could the problem run into be the length of my reply? It's pretty long (part of the reason for that is that I quoted much of the original post.).
My second question is how does the Draft feature work? I've saved my draft, but I don't know where it was saved or how to retrieve it.
Thank you.

Unimportant · Oct 22, 2021

T.D.H. said:
Greetings, great and powerful Mods.
I am a Newbie and I have a couple of questions.
The first is, is there a limit on the length replies can be? I've written a crit on someone's SYW post, but I can't post it. Instead, I get a "Oops. We ran into some problems." message. Could the problem run into be the length of my reply? It's pretty long (part of the reason for that is that I quoted much of the original post.).
My second question is how does the Draft feature work? I've saved my draft, but I don't know where it was saved or how to retrieve it.
Thank you.

Good questions! I hope a mod comes along soon with wisdom.

I think that yes, post length is limited. I've no idea where drafts disappear to though!

Izz · Oct 22, 2021

T.D.H. said:
Greetings, great and powerful Mods.

Hi! I fit one of these three things (I'll let you guess which one

) so I'll try to help.

T.D.H. said:
I am a Newbie and I have a couple of questions.
The first is, is there a limit on the length replies can be? I've written a crit on someone's SYW post, but I can't post it. Instead, I get a "Oops. We ran into some problems." message. Could the problem run into be the length of my reply? It's pretty long (part of the reason for that is that I quoted much of the original post.).

Yep, there is a 20K character limit on posts. What can make this tricky to keep track of is that additional formatting (bold, different colors, etc) greatly increases the character count of the formatted text.

See this post for more details: https://absolutewrite.com/forums/in...ew-forum-software.348697/page-3#post-10692822

T.D.H. said:
My second question is how does the Draft feature work? I've saved my draft, but I don't know where it was saved or how to retrieve it.
Thank you.

Basically, your draft should save in the reply box of the thread that you are replying to. So next time you open that thread, what you've saved should show up in the reply box (I just tested it with this reply - saved, closed thread, reopened - and it worked). I think, too, that the default is to auto-save every so often, which is a nice additional step to help preserve posts we've worked for ages on.

If you want a double layer of protection against losing stuff, you could always copy your reply (with the BB code toggled to 'On'; that's under the More Options three dots on top right next to preview) into a text document and save it somewhere on your HDD/cloud storage.

T.D.H. · Oct 25, 2021

Thanks, Unimportant.

Jed's Super-Dooper 'Ask a Mod' Thread (for all your Newbie Questions)

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter

dpaterso

Also in our Discord and IRC chat channels

calisterol

L. Y.

Thread surfer and virtual bartender

calisterol

Ari Meermans

MacAllister's Official Minion & Greeter

Oh Non

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

thewonder

lizmonster

Possibly A Mermaid Queen

thewonder

AW Admin

xkiarrax

Sophia

AW Admin

xkiarrax

AW Admin

Isabelrhodes17

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.

mccardey

Izz

Doing the Space Operatic

T.D.H.

Unimportant

No COVID yet. Still masking.

Izz

Doing the Space Operatic

T.D.H.