Last Update: 9/20/99
This is where I dump anything a committee member suggests as possible language before we actually approve it for the RFD Current Draft. Sometimes I'll put in an attempt to articulate a portion of the RFD, sometimes I'll put in an email message that bears on a portion of the RFD. Sometimes, a suggestion consists of language lifted from an existing charter we may wish to use as a starting point. In all cases, I've listed who had the idea, so you can follow up with one another privately, if you wish.
The sections are:
Did I miss something? Email me
Return to RFD Committee Holder Page
Go to the RFD Discussion Tracking Document
Go to the Actual RFD Language Page
(Paul, 9/27/99 proposed language for comment)
The newsgroup misc.writing has long been a place for writers to congregate
and socialize. It has evolved to a place where socialization and flame wars
are the order of the day, and discussions centered around the art, craft
and business of writing are short-lived. It has also become a target for
trolls and cross-post wars. There are currently three other big-8
newsgroups for writers: rec.arts.sf.composition, misc.writing.screenplays,
and rec.arts.prose. Of these, rec.arts.sf.composition and
misc.writing.screenplays are highly focussed (on writing speculative
fiction and screenplays, respectively), while rec.arts.prose has long since
become
a stronghold for flamers and trolls. In order to alleviate this, and to
address the needs and desires of a growing usenet population for a more
focussed writing forum, we propose to create a moderated version of
misc.writing.
(jen, 9/18/99)
[insert name of newsgroup here] is a place where writers who are serious
about their craft, whether they are professionals, serious hobbyists, or
artists, can come together in a focussed environment to discuss the
writing process.
(carol 7/24/99)
[commenting on mw vs newgroup]
casual vs professional/business
community vs network
cocktail party vs workshop/conference
mixer vs session
(moira, 7/22/99)
If we think of MW as having a relaxed, not-necessarily-purely-writing
related atmosphere, an atmosphere wherein writers feel free to socialize
on many levels and not just exchange views on writing-topics, that
will help us, I think, to distinguish from the new group, which will
have a more rigidly defined writing-related atmosphere, where writers
socialize on writing-specific topics.
(moira, 7/22/99 [amended Kelly 7/22/99])
"Does this information directly benefit another writer?" [as a writer];
not "does this information *entertain* another writer?" -- the purpose
of the group should not, imo be entertainment.
(Paul, 7/13/99)
Rec.arts.writing.moderated will serve the growing usenet population who
seek to interact with other writers in a calm and supportive atmosphere.
The newsgroup will focus on the art, craft, and business of writing,
without the specific topicality of misc.writing.screenplays or
rec.arts.sf.composition, and with a greater degree of focus than is
available in either misc.writing or rec.arts.prose.
(Paul, 9/27/99 proposed language for comment)
CHARTER: misc.writing.moderated
Misc.writing.moderated is a forum for discussion of writing among those who are, or who aspire to be, professional writers. It is inclusive in that all forms of writing are fair game for discussion, but it is exclusive in that all discussion must be aimed toward improving the writing skills of its participants. Questions of grammar and style will be on-topic. Also on-topic will be thematic development, imagery, research methods, character development, manuscript formatting, finding an agent, marketing one's work, and the host of other concerns that make up the life of a professional writer.
Misc.writing.moderated will accept announcements of seminars, conferences, new markets, and other commercial ventures that may be of interest to the practicing writer.
Questions about how to write, writing problems and how to improve one's writing are welcome, but long excerpts of written works should not be posted. While the posting of works in their entirety, or of long excerpts, are expressly forbidden, participants are free to quote from their work as part of a larger discussion. This includes, but is not, limited to, illustrations of writing technique, questions of why certain passages do or do not work, and short segments designed to spark a discussion about the art or craft of writing. Those looking for critiques are welcome to post URLs where their work can be found, or to post short announcements that work is available for critique.
Misc.writing.moderated will not accept messages cross-posted to any groups but news.groups and news.announce.newgroups.
MW Charter (suggested starting point, Paul 7/13/99)
"Misc.writing is a forum for discussion of writing in all its forms --
scholarly, technical, journalistic, artistic and mere day-to-day
communication. It is a venue for professional writers, would-be
professionals and all those who write to communicate.
"Misc.writing is primarily about writing in English. As such, it includes consideration of linguistics, grammar and style as they relate to composition. It is not, however, limited to discussion of writing for print -- topics may include a variety of other media and means of communication.
"In addition to discussion about the process of writing, misc.writing also addresses writing as a trade, including (but not limited to) reviews of books about writing; notices of workshops and writers' group meetings; and information about marketing and publishing. Tools for writing may be a topic, as well.
"Questions about how to write, writing problems and how to improve one's writing are welcome, but long excerpts of written works should not be posted. However, the group may serve as a meeting place for those who wish to exchange works to critique via e-mail.
"Although the group is general in nature, misc.writing welcomes discussions about specific forms of writing; contributors are encouraged to identify their topic by including explicit tags such as "TECHNICAL:" or "JOURNALISM:" in subject lines.
"Such guidelines shall be enforced by peer pressure only."
NEWSGROUP LINE (limit 80 characters; 48 total for the description)
(source unknown - from early discussions)
The art and craft of writing
(Paul 9/27/99 suggested language for comment)
Moderation Policies:
The newsgroup shall be moderated through a combination of auto- and hand-moderation. The initial moderators were selected from among volunteers from the regular contributors/readers of misc.writing. A moderator is free to serve as long as he or she desires, provided said moderator has not abandoned the newsgroup (see below). The initial size of the moderator panel shall be four. The minimum size of the moderator panel shall be three. The maximum size will be determined by the newsgroup participants and the moderators.
The moderators are responsible for making any change in the size of the moderator panel that they deem necessary, compatible with the above minimum size restriction. A minimum two-thirds majority vote of approval by the moderators is required for the implementation of any such change.
The moderators shall be responsible for selecting a new moderator(s) should one of the following occur:
* For the purposes of this charter, abandonment is defined as the neglect of moderator duties by a moderator for 30 consecutive days without prior such announcement.
New moderators shall be selected from a list of people suggested by the readership of misc.writing.moderated; such suggestions may include volunteering.
The automoderator shall automatically reject all articles that fall into the following categories:
Moderators may only accept or reject submitted articles in their entirety. Moderators may not edit or attach comments to approved articles, except to warn the posters when they are about to exceed the boundaries of civil debate and discussion, in which case the moderators may attach a brief, relevant comment.
Moderators may not exclude any person from misc.writing.moderated based on his or her race, ethnicity, religion, or gender, or for any other traits having nothing to do with their actual contribution to this newsgroup.
The moderator(s) are permitted to post their own replies to others' articles, as well as their own articles, to misc.writing.moderated, subject to the conditions outlined in the charter; the same rules apply to moderators as to everyone else.
The moderators of misc.writing.moderated shall be required to post a digest of all rejected postings to a Web site at biweekly intervals.
Postings commonly acknowledged by the Usenet community to be "spam" or similar forms of net-abuse, e.g. forged postings, shall not be permitted; similarly, postings that exceed the bounds of common courtesy -- e.g., personal attacks, ethnic baiting, and posting of private e-mail -- shall not be permitted.
(paul, 8/23/99)
While browsing the Web site for STUMP, the robo-mod software we are proposing
for nwn, I came across the following moderation policies. I think there's real
food for thought -- and discussion :-) -- here.
****rec.food.cuisine.jewish:
The auto-moderation program will initially recognize participants as known
posters and propagate their submissions automatically and without delay.
Adherence to the group's charter assures that participants will remain in the
known-poster base. Repeated violation of the group's charter, however, will be
considered grounds for removing an individual from the known-poster base. All
further posts by that individual will be reviewed by a moderator before being
posted to the newsgroup until such time as a majority of the moderators feels
this is no longer necessary. If the problems continue, the poster may be
blocked from participation in the newsgroup, by unanimous agreement of the
moderators. Flagrantly offensive posts may result in an individual being
barred from the newsgroup immediately, again by unanimous agreement of the
moderators. An individual thus blocked from participation may apply for
reinstatement as an acceptable poster. Such reinstatement will require a
majority agreement among the moderators.
****soc.culture.african.american.moderated:
The newsgroup shall be moderated through a combination of auto- and
hand-moderation. The initial moderators were selected from among volunteers
from the regular contributors/readers of
soc.culture.african.american. A moderator is free to serve as long as he or
she desires to, provided said moderator has not abandoned the newsgroup (see
below). The initial size of the moderator panel shall be three. The minimum
size of the moderator panel shall be two. The moderators are responsible for
making any change in the size of the moderator panel that they deem
necessary, compatible with the above minimum size restriction. A minimum
two-thirds majority vote of approval by the moderators is required for the
implementation of any such change.
The moderators shall be responsible for selecting a new moderator(s) should one of the following occur:
* For the purposes of this charter, abandonment is defined as the neglect of moderator duties by a moderator for 30 consecutive days. New moderators shall be selected from a list of people suggested by the readership of soc.culture.african.american.moderated. A minimum two-thirds majority vote of approval by the moderators is required for the approval of a new moderator. A retiring moderator is required to continue to serve as a moderator until either a replacement is selected, or the size of the moderator panel has been reduced accordingly.
The automoderator shall automatically reject all articles that fall into the
following categories:
The submitters of automatically rejected articles shall be sent a copy of the above rejected categories to inform them of the reason why their submissions were rejected.
Moderators may only accept or reject submitted articles in their entirety. Moderators may not edit or attach comments to approved articles, except to warn the posters when they are about to exceed the boundaries of civil debate and discussion, in which case the moderators may attach a brief, relevant comment. Moderators may not exclude any person from soc.culture.african.american.moderated based on his or her race, ethnicity, religion, or gender. The moderator(s) are permitted to post their own replies to others' articles, as well as their own articles, to soc.culture.african.american.moderated, subject to the conditions outlined in the charter.
Any submitter of a post that is rejected because it is considered off-topic (defined below) may appeal said rejection to the entire panel of moderators. If at least one-half of the moderator panel agrees that the post should have been approved, it shall be declared so and posted to the newsgroup.
The moderators of soc.culture.african.american.moderated shall be required to post a digest of all rejected postings to the newsgroup at biweekly intervals.
Postings of a commercial nature shall not be permitted; the moderator(s) are authorized to reject said postings if and when they appear, return them to the submitter, and forward a copy of the charter and moderation policy of this newsgroup.
Postings commonly acknowledged by the Usenet community to be "spam" or similar forms of net-abuse, e.g. personal attacks, ethnic baiting, posting of private e-mail, forged postings, shall not be permitted; the moderator(s) are authorized to reject (or cancel, in the case of forged postings) all such posts, return them to the submitter, inform the submitter of his or her decision, and forward a copy of the charter and moderation policy of this newsgroup. If the abuse persists after an initial warning, the submitter may, upon unanimous consent of the moderator panel, be expelled from the newsgroup for a period of two months. In addition, moderator(s) are authorized, at their discretion, to inform the submitter's ISP and any other relevant Usenet news administrators for appropriate action.
The moderator(s) may also reject postings which are off-topic for the newsgroup. For the purposes of this charter, a posting may be considered off-topic if its content is unrelated to African-American culture or pertains to an issue that has no direct bearing on African-American life or experience.
Return to RFD Committee Holder Page
Go to the RFD Discussion Tracking Document
Go to the Actual RFD Language Page