Like most workshops, all subs, crits, and discussion posts are automatically mailed to all members. This can create a lot of email; therefore we demand that you pay attention to the headers you put on your traffic to the lists. Each type of post should be clearly marked "Sub" or "Crit" or "Disc", with the name of the story or discussion thread to which it is related. This allows members to sort out what they wish to read or reply to and delete the rest at will.

While you are free to copy/paste your story into the body of an email and post it to the list that way, most members prefer to sub directly to Files at the OWWW site. Allowable formats are .txt, .htm or .rtf. If you choose .rtf, you must also post a plain text or HTML version, as .rtf does not always translate well for everyone.

Cleaning up normal word processing documents for posting to the Web is an artform all by itself. Such lovely formatting as italics and underlines get lost in transition, as Yahoo posts in text format, not HTML. You may receive a confused "huh?" now and again from critters who didn't get the emphasis because the formatting was lost. Likewise, one should never assume that everyone will automatically put your Hero's thoughts in italics. They won't, and you'll hear about it in the crits. Therefore, there are some accepted conventions for posting as .txt:

• Italics are indicated via an underscore "_" before and after the word or phrase, like this: _Nuts!_ he thought.
  
• Posts should not exceed 4000 words, or the computer automatically converts them into an attachment. Not all mailers can handle attachments, and not all users know what to do with them. Break your subs, if necessary, into chunks of 4000 words or less. We don't care how many sections you post, so long as they are under the word limit per post.
  
• Get rid of curly quotes in your word processor. They will appear as odd characters such as =20 or something similarly ridiculous in someone's mailer, reducing the odds of that person critting that sub. No one wants to wade through strange gibberish to get to the real text.
  
• Long dashes, which on a typewriter are represented by two hyphens (--) don't convert well in email. Therefore you will encounter queer gaps in your post if you forget to change these computer-enhanced characters back to double hyphens.
  
• After you have converted all your hyphens and italics or underlines to our happy little conventions, you're ready to post. Almost.
  
• Convert your word processor document to a standard font such as Courier 12 pitch, then save the document as an ASCII text file. Reopen the new ASCII file. Copy the entire document. Paste it in the box on the Sessions page.
  
• Be sure to type in the correct header. The computer will prompt you if you don't choose a category. Make sure it says something like: "Crit: Whatever Story Part 1" or "Sub: Whatever Story, Pt 1"
  

We distinguish between crits for short stories and crits for novels. Therefore, you must clearly state what you are posting and what type of crit you would like. A rough draft crit is a far different affair than one for a fourth revision in the final state of polishing before submitting to a publisher.  See our critique guidelines for details on what types of crits are possible at Other Worlds Writers' Workshop.