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zeborahOkay, try this one:
If you're still not happy with it, it would be of great help to me if you could note precisely what you disagree with and/or offer alternative wordings.
But please note that I consider it very important to explicitly include:
a) the groups that have been implicitly sidelined by the sf community in general and rasfc in particular; and
b) the topics which were theoretically allowed on rasfc but which in practise more than one of us was afraid to talk about.
1) We will focus on discussing the process of writing speculative fiction (science-fiction, fantasy, and related genres).
2 a) We know that writers write in various genres, at various lengths, on various topics, in various orders, with various technologies, varyingly planned or unplanned, etc, according to their personal style and needs.
b) We want to share what works for us, and we want other writers to feel free and safe to share what works for them.
c) Therefore we will avoid implying either that any particular technique is obligatory, or that any particular technique is wrong - though there might be times when a particular technique is wrong for a particular author or for a particular story.
3 a) We know that society in general and speculative-fiction in specific contain many stereotypes and biases that are racist, sexist, homophobic, ablist, and/or intolerant of people in non-nuclear family structures, people of different religions or of no religion, and others.
b) We don't want to unwittingly perpetuate such stereotypes and biases in our own fiction. We also don't want to unwittingly perpetuate them in real life and/or hurt a fellow human being.
c) Therefore we want other members to feel free and safe to point out to us if we've said something that accidentally perpetuates stereotypes or biases or is otherwise hurtful; and we will take it as a favour and learn from it if they do.
4) Therefore, on-topic discussions will include but not be limited to:
a) dragon biology, alien speech patterns, how horses differ from motorcycles, ways to show/confuse chronology in time travel stories, etc;
b) outlines, punctuation, use of themes, infodumps, RSI, pen porn, etc;
c) cultural appropriation, sexist language, homophobic tropes, depictions of religion, etc; and
d) pun cascades, cats and chocolate, etc; because frivolity is the mortar that binds together a community.
5) The group will be moderated by a panel in order to keep it friendly and safe for all members.
If you're still not happy with it, it would be of great help to me if you could note precisely what you disagree with and/or offer alternative wordings.
But please note that I consider it very important to explicitly include:
a) the groups that have been implicitly sidelined by the sf community in general and rasfc in particular; and
b) the topics which were theoretically allowed on rasfc but which in practise more than one of us was afraid to talk about.
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no subject
Date: 2009-05-06 06:56 pm (UTC)Exactly. I have, and I'm also looking to see what can be done with less formal arrangements. You're making this group because you need it, and see wider need for it out there. Why compromise about that, or feel bad about it? The demand you speak of exists. Build the group well, and they will come. Some of us won't, because our needs aren't congruent -- that don't mean we'll vanish into the Outer Dark in every other context!
One thing that really persuaded me that this group could be a Good Idea, when I happened on the discussion, was just how clear the communication was, away from the hissing and smoke of rec.arts.stress.flippin'.central! I learned more about where Aqua was coming from, frex, in ten minutes here than I had in ten months on the newsgroup. That was a bit of an eye-opener.
I think there's nothing there that couldn't be fixed by a brief explanation of the group's rationale, combined with a reminder of your role as mellow yet unaccountable autarch, in whose domain people hang around because they trust you and enjoy it.
No. But since building a wall which will keep out the rabid polecats is a sine qua non for your purposes, there's no rule that says all the cool cats will necessarily be able to get through it, either. That sucks, but I have no other constructive suggestions there, except my own yet unproven tactic of relying on clouds of linky connectivity for my other cool-kitteh needs.
Fortune favour your project!
no subject
Date: 2009-05-08 03:32 am (UTC)One thing that really persuaded me that this group could be a Good Idea, when I happened on the discussion, was just how clear the communication was, away from the hissing and smoke of rec.arts.stress.flippin'.central! I learned more about where Aqua was coming from, frex, in ten minutes here than I had in ten months on the newsgroup. That was a bit of an eye-opener.
Part of that I think is that it's a different space, and also I think my ability to communicate about this has improved in the last few months. In other words, when I began trying to communicate about this on rasfc, I wasn't as good at communicating about it, and of course by the time you turned up (as I remember it anyway) I had given up on a lot of the group, and wasn't devoting much time to persuading others, partly because just dealing with how angry the group would make me on a regular basis was too time consuming for me to then also calm down and return as a kind and patient teacher.
(And as you may have seen in other comments of mine, I get angry when it seems to me I am expected to be a kind and patient teacher, treating other adults as though they were young children who cannot be expected to respect others yet. And mostly, the desire to express that anger overrides any desire to calm down, because I did not join rasfc in order to be the kind and patient teacher of general principles on how to treat other human beings with respect. To a bunch of writers!)
no subject
Date: 2009-05-08 10:52 am (UTC)Really all I want is a place where people consider it Really Bad to call people "cunt", and where if someone says, "Dude, 'twat' means 'cunt'," the dude in question will say "Oh, crap, I didn't realise," and withdraw it, and not say it again.
Except that this is synecdoche.
But "Oh, crap, I didn't realise" fixes lots of things! (Realising before breaking them in the first place fixes even more, but people who can learn to say "Oh, crap, I didn't realise" can generally learn to realise.) And it's really not that onerous, nor stifling to creativity. In fact, coming up with ways to insult an individual that don't accidentally take out an entire group of innocent bystanders with friendly fire is a wonderful exercise for a writer.
...Well, anyway, witter witter. Thank you for your comments; I agree that linky connectivity is a good thing.