MODIFIED 12/14/2002 by JediGaladriel, following [link=http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=9793968]discussion[/link] of forum standards. Modified text appears in red. TSL's original post follows, and still contains valid information.

Board wide standards

Language & Profanity: The Jedi Council forums aren't a free-for-all on language, including things that fictional characters say to one another. The general rule of thumb is that curses used in the Star Wars movies ("hell" and "damn") are allowed, as well as curses from the books. This subject comes up periodically from other parts of the boards, and certain words may be debated again in the future. Because there may be different standards elsewhere, this will usually meet either with a request to edit or simply an involuntary edit with a PM explaining the action. If it becomes a repeat, pattern behavior, then disciplinary actions may be called for.

[blockquote]The following have been agreed to on a board-wide basis:

Allowable:[ul]
[li]hell[/li]
[li]damn[/li]
[li]crap[/li]
[li]ass/arse and derivatives (when not being used as an insult at a person)[/li]
[li]bitch (true dictionary definition and verb useage)[/li]
[li]bastard (dictionary definition and some verb useage)[/li]
[li]penis/vagina/any proper term for genetalia (only in a sheer biological sense and discussion)[/li]
[li]bloody[/li]
[li]sod[/li]
[li]bugger[/li][/ul]

These words won't be edited (if used as indicated). It should be noted that as far as language goes, characters are people, too.

Not Allowed:
[ul][li]**** (and any term/anacronym that implies it)[/li]
[li]c*nt[/li]
[li]n*gger/ch*nk/g**k/any racial slur
gay/gh*y/h*mo/d*ke (used in derogitory fashion)[/li]
[li]****[/li]
[li]c*ck[/li]
[li]p*ssy (when referring to anything other than in the feline sense)[/li]
[li]bitch (referencing a person)[/li]
[li]bastard (when used as an insult to any person)[/li]
[li]slut/whore/ho[/li]
[li]a**hole/ar**hole[/li]
[li]God damn[/li]
[li]Jesus Christ (when not referring to Jesus himself)[/li][/ul]

These words have been "starred out" in the list, but are still recognizable as a reference point. Starring them out in practice in stories will be treated the same as using them without covering them up. Note that some questionable words may not yet have been questioned, and this list is subject to change.
--Added March 9, 2003[/blockquote]



Sex and violence: The Jedi Council forums are rated PG, by the standard of American movies, and fanfic writers, like other board members, agree to uphold the site's Family-Friendly rating upon registration. The line can be fuzzy and hard to define, but there is a point at which it is passed, and in fanfic it can be particularly difficult. The following two excerpts, donated graciously by their authors, have been chosen as the "high water" marks for violence and sex respectively. Anything that goes beyond these in explicitness of description will result in a request to edit.

Violence
"[That may be so, but you have been gone for hours. And that is still an offense.]" Slightly calmer, the small floating man pulled a strip of flexi-steel ribbing from a shelf behind him. His hand moved down to the controller, once again activating the impulse. Obi-Wan was rendered immobile as waves of torment crashed through him. A new agony ignited as the strip landed across his shoulders. Quickly and efficiently, Watto flogged the boy. Fifteen lashes in total were dealt but they were enough to make the suffering child cry out in protest. After the last stroke fell, Watto spat down at the imp, ?[You?re lucky you?re getting off light. Now close up.]? The Toydarian flew away without another thought. Curled in on himself, Obi-Wan wallowed in his wretchedness. Hugging himself to fend off the anguished remonstration of his body. Tears streaked his dusty cheeks, leaving distinguishable trails. He remained on the floor waiting for the distress to abate enough to allow movement.[/

 

Oh and this is our first sticky topic. Yeah, snowboards finally got to coding the database again and enabled posts to be "sticky", or in other words stay perpetually at the top of the list. Kind of a cool feature, eh?

 

man, i need some sticky post on my story --
sorry to be off topic.
does this mean you'll be replacing the link at the top of the page with something else that's un-sticky?

 

I dunno - I have to think on that one for a while.

 

"Stick Threads"



Neato!

 

Sweet!

 

About time! Will we be seeing more of it, like, say, a Julie Story Link Index Mega Thread in Fan Fiction? (Just another thought)

 

I have been considering making the index sticky. You see only Managers can make the sticky threads (hence why I'm around) so I have no clue if Julie just wants me to repost her thread and make it sticky or what. The one downfall of this new feature is we cannot edit currently posted threads to be "sticky" - it just doesn't work that way. So if we want to create a sticky, we have to basically port content over into a new thread - kind of a slow process but it insures that we aren't creating stickies all over the place. (as I understand stickies also put a strain on the databases sometimes, so...)

 

Very cool
Stickystickysticky!

 

Ewwww this thread is so...sticky


~*^SARA^*~

 

And God bless every one of the mods for their outstanding work.

I agree with making Julie's index sticky. She works so hard on it and deserves it.

 

First off great idea, I'm glad there are stickies now. Second, I kinda noticed that the story of the week isn't really changed once a week. Is there a reason or just not enough time? Sorry, I'm just curious.

 

TSL is the one who does the story of the week. I can't do it as it requires manager access. He has been very busy of late, but I'm sure he'll change it soon.

 

I am now getting un-busy, so I shall start returning to mod/manager duties, starting with getting this FAQ updated.

Yay, good to be back.

 

Just a question, When do the two beta-readers, I picked, actually read it? Do they email me they don't want to read it or what, please tell me? From what I've read so far I have to contact the beta-readers before typing their name down for them to read it, I am very confused please help me? Oh and one more thing, am I allowed to make up my own Jedi story, you see my story takes place in another Universe, Is that allowed?

 

Are you refering about beta reader for TFN's Archive? If so, it would be best for you to e-mail your questions to ffeditors@theforce.net instead. This FAQ is for the Jedi Council and is seperate from TFN.

 

Okay, I'm interested in doing a round robin, but where do I find one?

 

ditto

 

I don't know whether this is the right place to say this, but I don't know where else to say this! At last we have a search function. I feel so happy!

And Jedi-Jaya (I think that was your username), if you want to join a Round Robin, just keep coming back to this thread every three days or so. Usually Round Robin threads are indicated with an RR in the title. I don't know if the planning threads are actually Round Robins also. I don't think they are.

Besides if you want to join a Round Robin, then just start one up - have a basic idea and put it out in here.

EDIT: Spelling errors

Aunecah

 

where's the T.A.C.T.I.C.S thread located? i searched through the entire writer's resource forum but i could not find it.

(never mind, i found it)

 

Some changes since the original post:

The editorial staff of the TFN archive has changed. Since it is likely to change on and off as we go, the most useful thing for me to do is post the link to the archive's [link=http://fanfic.theforce.net/contributors.asp?action=editor]list of current editors[/link]. These are the folks to go to with questions about the archive.

TSL and Julie have both stepped down from moderating positions. As of November, 2002, I'm moderating the Stories and Resources boards; if you need to contact me about anything, you can [link=http://boards.theforce.net/pm_send.asp?usr=234522]PM me[/link]. [link=http://boards.theforce.net/user.asp?usr=536346]KnightWriter[/link] is helping out as a manager, but is not exclusively assigned to fan fiction.

The topics of slash and profanity have been recently revisited with the site administration, and the following conclusions were reached:

1. Profanity that is allowed in officially licensed Star Wars products (films and novels) is permitted in fan fiction. Other words considered vulgar are not. If you're not sure, just ask yourself if you've heard it in a SW film or read it in a SW novel. Non-permitted words will be edited if reported or seen. Repeated use after an initial warning/edit will result in a short ban.

2. Slash fiction is not permitted on TFN.

And a reminder of what TSL put in the first post: These are PG forums. Sex and violence should be no more explicit than they are in the SW movies.

------------

New question

What are those sticky index threads I see in the Stories Forum?

The sticky indexes are just chronological listings of stories, made to help writers promote their stories. They follow a strict format so that it's easy to scan the titles available and see what you want to read. Directions for posting appear in the first post of each thread.

 

IMPORTANT

Plagiarism--the posting of another author's stories under your name--is considered one of the worst things a fan fiction author can do, and it will not be tolerated. A first offense will receive a three month ban, negotiable to six weeks if an apology is issued promptly. A second offense will result in a permanent ban from the Jedi Council. The defense of claiming another person posted this material from your account without your permission is not viable: you are responsible for anything that happens on your account.

Important caveat: Plagiarism is not the same thing as working from the same general idea. Ideas do occur at the same time to different authors by complete coincidence. If an idea is developed in a suspiciously similar way, we can look into it, but simply having the same scenario or plot question isn't problematic. It's bound to happen. If you do happen to come across a plot bunny in someone else's work, it is customary to ask the author's permission and credit that author in the first post.

Always ask about using other authors' original characters, no matter what plot scenario you're using. If you're not sure whether or not a character is the author's original or an OC from the Expanded Universe (or an obscure movie character), ask the author just to be sure.

 

JG, thanks so much for putting up the stance on plagiarism.

Much appreciated, great job.

 

Thank you for the clarification and the inclusion of those policies, JG.

I hope that it will benefit users in the future.

Am

 

You're welcome. Here's one more, just to re-iterate TSL's original post, because I've been hearing vaguely about some torture going on. Don't know if it was anything particular, or if someone is working on outdated info, but, just to make sure it's remembered:

Violence - The Star Wars movies keep it brief. If the torture scene fills more than two screens of text, it's too much. One paragraph is plenty when describing something unpleasant. For example in AotC, Jango Fett is beheaded. However, you do not see blood go everywhere nor see any details of the corpse. It is over within seconds with no lingering of the camera. Han's torture in ESB is one brief scene and though you do see him get shocked, the camera conveniently follows Vader out of the room so that you only hear and don't see Han screaming. Lots of really bad stuff is implied, but not actually shown, so please do the same when you write and leave out unnecessary details.

Torture has been explicitly prohibited by site administration. Please follow the above guideline.