Yeah, I guess I just want to make the moderators' jobs easier.

Does that get me any brownie points?

you get brownie points for taking part,
the problem, and it isn't a problem really, is that we are few. and the forum is getting many. but that's a good thing, too many mods can kill a site.

Is Freud here?

. 'if you have a pint'

(01-20-2013, 10:25 AM)billy Wrote:  also, let's remember this is in the discussion threads so jump in and bitch about it or ask about something. if you have a pint of view; share it and see what others think.

I would love to have a pint of view right now. I'm at work and a pint would be much appreciated.

'I might actually make a ruling'

Where is Lord Acton when you need him?

so I have a revision for one of my poems and I'm thinking that I want to post it in Mild but at the same time I'm still new and not even fully understanding the formats yet, is that how the progression goes though? first novice, then one revision in mild and then serious?

(01-22-2013, 02:07 AM)doolasmind#11 Wrote:  so I have a revision for one of my poems and I'm thinking that I want to post it in Mild but at the same time I'm still new and not even fully understanding the formats yet, is that how the progression goes though? first novice, then one revision in mild and then serious?

It's a little subjective. Here's sort of how it works:

If you're fully unsure where to post and very new to poetry Novice isn't a bad place to begin.

A lot of time what format you post in depends on how comfortable you are critiquing other poems. If you don't feel up to the types of critiques common in the Serious forum, you can acclimated in Mild or Novice.

My personal expectation for posting poems in Serious is that you want extensive critique. You have the ability to execute on the critique if you agree with it. You've done basic proofreading. Sure you can miss something now and then but to have the poem littered with obvious errors that are not intentional shouldn't be posted. You are your copy editor not the site.

You've also eliminated a lot of beginner mistakes. We all have them. We all slip occasionally, but Serious should not be emergency room triage for a poem. It should be a physical and a prescription--another set of trained eyes.

There does not though need to be a progression from Novice, to Mild, to Serious. You can start anywhere. If you choose to start in Serious do your prep work in advance.

Just my thoughts

and they are much appreciated sir

I have changed the forum rules in Serious to reflect this discussion. I've also added a bit to Serious, Mild and Novice regarding the one poem per day rule -- it's now one poem per day in ONE of those forums, not one poem per day in each as a few people were doing. In proper poetry lingo, that's just taking the piss.

By all means, please move my "ecce signum" post to a different forum. I misinterpreted exactly where I should be posting.

It's fine where it is for now -- these are only new rules and will take some getting used to.

Can we please try to remember that Serious Critique isn't "serious critique if you feel like it" -- to enter that forum, whether posting a poem or a critique, you MUST be committed to workshopping the poem until it is of as near to publishable quality as possible. This is the final polish, not the first port of call. It is also not just a place for socialising; while there will always be the odd flippant remark, too many devalue the critique process.

(too funny, I just wondered over "mild??? " critique.
what kind of bird is that) Is it the oxymoronian one I wonder

And now it's time to say a massive thanks to all for the incredible examples of workshopping we've seen in Serious Critique over the last few days. This is what it's all about, people!

what she said

one line stating something is cliche is not serious critique. claims of plagiarism are taken very seriously on this site. don't infer such things unless you have proof, cliche is not plagiarism. if people want to argue those two points, do so here.

(04-16-2013, 10:17 PM)billy Wrote:  one line stating something is cliche is not serious critique. claims of plagiarism are taken very seriously on this site. don't infer such things unless you have proof, cliche is not plagiarism. if people want to argue those two points, do so here.

Fully agree with you billy. I've come across blatant plagiarism about 4 times in the past five years (not counting shoddy attribution). Some were lyrics pulled from songs. Some were where sections of poems were copied. Most of the time they did it for an ego boost, or a school assignment.

The one I liked was where a guy quoted a Blake poem nearly word for word and asked, what do you think my poem means? It was to write an essay on the poem. It made me laugh.

That aside, plagiarism is a serious charge and I would never charge someone of it without posting the source material. Also, a single phrase may have been read long ago and placed in a work without thinking it came from somewhere else. Plagiarism is a bit more than that.

the thing is, plagiarism is an instant ban once proven, unfounded accusations can leave a dirty stain on a poet. using the term also tends to drive the person, usually a newb poet away from the site and possibly poetry. that is not what workshops are intended for. if cliche is plagiarism them most of the site are guilty.

(04-04-2013, 04:49 PM)Leanne Wrote:  Can we please try to remember that Serious Critique isn't "serious critique if you feel like it" -- to enter that forum, whether posting a poem or a critique, you MUST be committed to workshopping the poem until it is of as near to publishable quality as possible. This is the final polish, not the first port of call. It is also not just a place for socialising; while there will always be the odd flippant remark, too many devalue the critique process.

I feel it may be a good time to remind newer members that the serious work shopping forum is for serious work shopping. If you are unwilling or unable to participate to that degree just don't post.

An example - if I say I like red shirts, what does that say about red shirts? Nothing, it says something about me. If I say I like a poem, that is the same, it says nothing about the poem it says something about me.

Also, the Serious forum is the most closely moderated, which means that it's the place where a moderator's word is law. Arguing with mod calls is not acceptable.