You sign your name in the book, and turn to ask Sailor Uranus a short question... but she's gone! Wow, she really is like the wind, isn't she? You didn't even hear her run off, but you get the impression that she was behind you until only moments ago.

Wait... wait... what are you supposed to do now?!

You don't stand there for very long before another voice catches your ear.

"Oh my!" says a familiar, soft voice. When you turn, you immediately recognize Sailor Mercury! She's looking at you with a mix of encouragement and pity shining in those deep blue eyes. "My most sincere apologies, prospective Guild member," she continues. "Uranus is like that. We are so happy that you want to join our ranks!"

She's moving now, only a few steps, gesturing towards a small room to the side of the massive space that looms above you. It looks a bit foreboding, but you know that Mercury wouldn't lead you into danger. Clearly you ought to follow her if this is something important.

The room is small and sparsely furnished, dimly lit except for the massive scroll tacked up upon the wall. It is brightly illuminated, both by sconces that flank the huge parchment and by a light that seems to glow from within the document itself. Sailor Mercury stands beside it, careful not to obscure the list, and makes it obvious that she intends you to read it. You certainly can't avoid it now, not with her watching you!

"Please take a moment to review the rules," she instructs. "Careful reading now will serve you well as a member of the Guild."




You actually wind up reading it twice, just to make sure that she's satisfied. When you were finished the first time she was still staring at you!

Now she's leading you into the space that you were in before, and you're finally noticing that there are other rooms and corridors around you. There's a large book near the reception desk that seems pretty important, and you can hear the distant echoes of clicking keyboards as writers dutifully attend to their projects. It seems like you won't have much trouble finding a place for yourself to get some work done, too!

"Now that you're acquainted with the rules, please formally submit your Guild Member Information form and follow the instructions to complete your membership application. After that, it might be helpful to visit the Writer's Lounge to introduce yourself. We're so happy that you've chosen to join us!"

She's turning to walk away, but Sailor Mercury pauses and leaves you with a final note.

"If you have any questions or need any help, you can always reach out to me! Please keep that in mind."

What is a Guild?
A Guild is an association of people for mutual aid or the pursuit of a common goal. At The Galaxy Cauldron Forums, a Guild is a large organization run by the forum administration to provide a place for members to promote specific skills. It is distinct from a Club which are organized by by members and smaller in scale, as it has a dedicated board with sub-forums rather than a thread.

Guilds have traditionally used a ranking system to help distinguish between members of different skill levels. The Writing & Roleplaying Guild has adopted this organizational structure: Apprentices become Journeymen who strive to reach the level of Masters.

How do are Ranks chosen?
When a member officially joins the Guild, you will self-select your own rank. Be honest about your skill level and goals. It will help you connect with other members for guidance and camaraderie. The goal is to learn and grow with your writing skills, alongside others who feel similarly about the craft!

A guideline to the different ranks is provided below. If you still aren't clear on what rank you should start with, Sailor Mercury is available to help you decide!

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Apprentice
An Apprentice is just starting out or feels that his or her experience is limited. They are seeking improvement and experience in a variety of categories. They may be trying to find their own purpose or voice. An Apprentice aims to attain feedback and guidance from more experienced writers.

Journeyman
A Journeyman has some experience, but feels that they still have much to learn. They are both looking for input from other writers and willing to provide it to others. They might have a particular skill or area that they feel very confident in, but think that they need improvement in other areas.

Some checkpoints for Journeymen include:
• A work completed or in-progress that exceeds 15,000 words
• Participates in and sometimes wins writing contests
• Active participation in a roleplay community, such as The Galaxy Cauldron Forums Roleplaying Section
• Multiple completed works shared in communities

An Advanced Journeyman has experience and feels confident in their writing, but has not completed a Masterpiece.

Master
The Masterpiece is the definitive cornerstone of a Master. For the purposes of this Guild, a Masterpiece is a completed work greater than 20,000 words in length. To be considered a Master within the Writing & Roleplaying Guild, you must submit a Masterpiece Portfolio. This will be reviewed within the Guild and it will be approved or denied, with feedback provided.


This is an example of the Masterpiece Portfolio review form used by other Guild members: Masterpiece Portfolio Review Form (Example)

If you are seeking promotion to Master, please reach out to Sailor Mercury!

Please provide constructive criticism to other writers. It's significantly more useful for the writer, and it helps avoid hurt feelings. It's very important that you treat other Guild members with the respect and consideration that they deserve. Writing can be very personal. That's something to keep in mind when you sharing your opinion on someone else's work! It is possible to be both honest and considerate. Do not mistake one as exclusive of the other.

We want everyone here and their writing to succeed and improve. Advice and suggestions on how to fix flaws gets us closer to that shared goal!

MissMoon1996 wrote:

Hey everybody! I'd like somebody to critique my short I'm working on! Any help is appreciated! I'd like you guys to state improvements I could do and any little tips and tricks that can make this piece better!
{insert written piece}

Constructive Criticism Example wrote:

Your short story is very lovely! I like how you used metaphor to describe your characters! However, I think if you used a little less metaphor, your points would come across more clearly. While metaphor is great, too much can detract from the story because, as a reader, I'm trying to figure out what you mean or tripping over longer descriptions as opposed to following along with the narrative.

I think a couple you could tweak would be...{provide examples to help the problem and person out}

Criticism Example (**NOT OKAY**) wrote:

Wow, I could not follow that at all. Say what you mean to say or don't say anything at all. Your short isn't good.

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It's called the 'compliment sandwich.' Say something that you like, tell them something that you don't like and an idea on how to work on it, and finish with something else that you liked. For example:

Constructive Criticism Sandwich wrote:

(Compliment): "Your opening paragraph is enthralling! It really grabs me - I especially like your use of the verb 'incinerate'."

(Criticism): "But in the middle it kinda dragged on; you might want to watch the length of your sentences - they were really short and it made my mind take too many mental breaths, which made it seem like it dragged rather than flowed."

(Now for the constructive bit): "Perhaps you could combine a few of those sentences into longer phrases? It keeps the reader's interest a little better when you mingle short sentences with longer ones."

(Compliment): "Anyway, I think it's great so far, and I can't wait to see what happens!"

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Juliko wrote:

Good: I love your story so far. The characters are all endearing and you have a very well crafted story. However, your pacing is a bit brisk, and there isn't enough description on this and that. Try expanding on it a little so it'll feel more like your readers are in that situation.

Bad: You put (insert serious issue here) in your story?! How could you?! You can't put this in a story meant for XXX! You're a horrible person! You don't care about anyone but yourself! Your whole story is horrible because of this! If you put this and that in your story, that must mean you support/advocate/condone it, you heartless victim blaming ableist hypocrite!

Good: You might want to adjust some of your character's traits or add more to them so they won't come off as stereotypes.

Bad: There's no hope for this offensive story. No matter how much you revamp or rewrite, it'll always be offensive, problematic, and outright racist.

Posting Guidelines in the Main Section
The main area of the Guild is for discussion and chat about writing, requesting critiques and help, looking for feedback, joining others who have similar writing interests, etc. Please try to title your threads to make it obvious to others what is contained within. Most of the threads in this area do not require a specific tag. We request that you use tags for:

Thread Title: [Critique Request] Type of Fiction (Original/Fanfiction/Poetry/etc.)
Thread Description: Genre of work, title of work, etc.

Tag any and all works that you would like a critique for using this tag [Critique Request] in the title so that Guild members know when detailed feedback is appreciated! Feedback Requests are treated like Critique Requests! It's all about reading and responding! ♥

Thread Title: [Help] Subject
Thread Description: More detailed about the type of help needed

Please tag any thread wherein you're asking for help so Guild members can spot it and get you that help as soon as we can!

Don't forget! You can find tutorials and resources in our Classes, Tutorials, and Resources area, and for specifically academic things that don't necessarily have to do with creative writing, you can check out the GC Library and Study Hall. If you don't find what you're looking for, please feel free to post here! We'll do our best to provide assistance!

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What NOT to Post In the Main Section

We've separated out the Writing Guild into various areas to help keep things organized and easy to find! To help keep it that way, please post the following types of threads in their appropriate areas:

• Contests, Challenges, Games, Prompt lists, etc. should be posted in the Contests, Challenges, and Games subsection!
  
• Resources, Tutorials, Writing Walkthroughs, etc. should be posted in the Classes, Tutorials, and Resources subsection!
  
• Questions about our Apprenticeship Program, Apprenticeship Boards, etc., should be posted in the Apprenticeship Program subsection!
  

What NOT to Post in the Writing & Roleplaying Guild

• Completed Works that are finished and ready to share should be posted in the Writer's Section!
  
• Writing Collections should be posted in the Writer's Section!
  
• Roleplaying* belongs in the Roleplaying Section! *Note: Some Classes or Workshops will request participants to practice roleplaying specific themes or story parts (openers, action sequences, endings, etc.) in the Practice Area, but all other roleplaying should be kept in the Roleplaying Section
  
• Planning Roleplays goes in the Roleplaying OOC and Discussion area!
  

Why should you join the Writing & Roleplaying Guild if this information and forum are open to everyone? Why, for the perks, of course! ♥

The threads created here are visible to everyone at The Galaxy Cauldron Forums, but only Guild Members can officially sign up for Classes and Workshops and get feedback on the skills being taught within those sessions and post within the Practice Area.

The Contests, Challenges, and Games are for Guild Members to participate in and even host! It's a great way to earn forum points and flex your writing muscles!

The Fellowship Program is another great resource for Guild Members! Having a partner can make finding that writing accountability a lot easier!

We also have a channel on Discord, writing_guild—and it's only for members! (Make sure that you've Read and Understood the Chatbox and Discord Rules before you request to join in!) That's where daily conversation is welcome anytime, and where we host group discussion nights!