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.

Cleaning up normal word processing documents for posting to the Web is an artform all by itself. Please remember that not everyone on the Web can use HTML settings in their mailers. For that reason such lovely formatting as italics and underlines get lost in transition, and 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:

• 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"
  

This workshop does not believe in warning readers about length of posts. If you're not prepared to crit long pieces you shouldn't be here. It is fair to state in the first section of a long chapter that this sub consists of three parts. This protects both you and the critter from terminal confusion and wasted time, as they pick apart a chapter's shortcomings, not realizing they're not seeing the whole picture. Short synopses of works in progress are also helpful, especially if there has been a significant length of time between the last post and this one. Critters often are working on several works by different authors at once. Be a pal, and help us out by summarizing the action thus far.