Petition: Storywriters of Apolyton civgroup

[vovan]

What We Would Like:

We would like to have a civgroup that could unite all of the writers of Apolyton, of which we have quite a few. We feel that now, when there's been a surge in activity in the stories forum, some sort of an acknowledgement should be in order. So, we would like to ask for the creation of: The Apolyton Storywriters' Guild.

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Why We Would Like It:

Well, there are plenty of reasons we would like a civgroup of our own. First of all, we believe in the sense of community. We think that some sort of identification with story-writing (such as a civicon next to our names would provide) would serve well to keep our existing authors and readers coming back for more stories, and would attract new authors as well. And that brings me to the next reason.

We think that it would be good to get a little more publicity for the story-writing section of the site. We attempt to put up regular news items about story competitions and such, but often times the news are either not posted at all or are delayed greatly. Either way, they have proven to be quite ineffective so far. In an attempt to bring more readers over to the stories forums, we recently posted a promotion thread in a rather populated section of the site and that had quite a positive effect. We have plenty of great authors and quality stories, so the potential is great. It's just that often times we find that we, the authors, are the only ones to read each other's writing. Our experience with an "ad thread" in another forum showed that maybe people just don't know about us, and indeed, some of the people, that came by as a result of that thread, came to stay. However, we think that it might be inappropriate to post a thread somewhere whenever we want to boost traffic, and thus we believe that a civgroup of our own would go a long way promoting the stories forum. Whenever one of us posts somewhere, the icon next to his or her name would inevitably remind people of the story forum's existence, and since our interests are quite diverse, and, cumulatively, we participate in almost all of the forums on this site, we think that this would help us a great deal.

Finally, we would like the civgroup to serve as a sort of encouragement to write. We found that our writing alone often encourages people to create something themselves. In fact, that's how I, and countless others, have started to write: I came to the stories forum, read some things, and had a great urge to write something myself. In fact, we very often hear things like: "Your story inspired me to write something too!" That's all great, but there are also some people that aren't quite confident in their literary abilities and often abandon even attempts to write. However, numerous examples showed that even people, who might not have thought they had a writer in them, are often capable of creating absolutely amazing worlds in writing. We would like to encourage such "shy" people to write and think that a civgroup membership would help them feel the support of comunity and overcome the initial fear of literary expression: the fear that the story might be no good, the fear that people won't like it. It's quite a natural feeling, yet we feel we are there to not only write ourselves, but also to help others overcome that fear and realize their creative potential. Again, we think that a civgroup membership would help here.

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EDIT: speeling.

[Paddy]

Well said Vovan.

There is a lot of interest in stories, and I know a few people that come to Apolyton to read the stories, as I did, while unable to play at work.

I would encourage you in your endeavors. I believe that some form of identification, some form of membership can only help people who like to write.

We are an active part of the community.

[self biased]

adds his name to the list... i've got a few in the works at the moment...

[dialectic2003]

Hear hear, i second that notion

I am a recent convert to the Apolyton experience and can attest wholeheartedly that reading some of the writing here has spurred me on to doing some writing of my own.

The concern that perhaps others out there in the far reaches of netland wouldn't understand, wouldn't appreciate, or (almost worse) wouldn't even read, is real and discouraging. This would be alleviated by having our own civgroup. The interaction and possible collaboration could only serve to enhance our individual efforts; and I, for one, am sticking my hand in the air and saying 'HELL YES'!

[Shogun Gunner]

I voted "yes", of course. This is a fine idea. I would like to add my name to this guild.

Thanks Paddy -- for the heads up on this thread.

[Carolus Rex]

It is often said that the pen is mightier than the sword... If so gentlemen, I wish you good luck in your quest.

Carolus

[DaShi]

Odd, this was songwriters the first time I read it.

[Wittlich]

Though I'm not much of a story writer myself, I have enjoyed the creative writings of other Apolytoners on more than one occasion. I concur that the writers should have their own "guild" to compare/refine/share their writings.

An excellent suggestion vovan!

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Obviously this idea gets my full backing thanks for putting this up Vovan

The range of talent to be found here is simply amazing. I myself would never have written a story had I not stumbled into the civ3 stories section and been so inspired, by the many great stories>

I can honestly say that Apolyton has changed my life, especially the stories section This is a great community and it should cherish all that is good about itself, so come give your support to the writers of Apolyton

[Alex]

what kind of stories? i mean, would they be based on the games we play, like the civ3 stories, or could it be any work of fiction?

[Don K Hotay]

Story inspirations that arise from civplay are essential to the community! I enjoy reading others creativity rather than expressing my own, which is enough for me to be pro-Guild.

Quixote

[ChrisiusMaximus]

@ Alex, as far as what kind of stories, I dont think it matters! Many people post stories that have no real bearing on civ3 in the civ3 stories forum.

All stories are welcome

I think a story has to be civ3 inspired to enter the contest we run but if more people posted different stories then I suppose things could be changed.

But any story is welcome and appreciated

[Zord]

I'm not very good at writing stories... hell, I'm TERRIBLE at writing stories. But I enjoy a lot reading.

[Chilean President™]

I voted yes. Great idea.

[Nikolai]

Haven't we got enough civ groups already?

[Chilean President™]

Never is enough

[Mickeyj]

Definitly YES! I find a lot of authers put a lot of time and effort into their works and reading about other peoples exploits (fictional or not) is a welcome change to the game.

[OzzyKP]

What do y'all think of this on going story?

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...threadid=98046

[SKILORD]

The Authors of this site are often plauged by a lack of feedback, that is probably the primary concern of many of us. Simply to see the civgroup symbol, and to feel the communion that perhaps is missed when you write a story and don't see any response. Perhaps to know that someone else out there knows, that they have likely read it, simply not, for some or another reason, responded. Merely to lie to yourself with this, to use it as an article of deception by which you may decieve yourself, might keep some alive and might keep the faith within them.

This is all we ask, that you lend us a brand by which we may mark ourselves, that in this burning embrace we might feel together, feel a sense of Union and confidence that many other groups have been granted.

God save Apolyton, God Save the Stories forums.

Vote

[DarkCloud]

Yes, please vote yes, and please read the stories in the stories forums!

[Urban Ranger]

Cloudy, are you a published writer?

[Andydog]

I voted yes - anything where people are encouraged to share and receive feedback on their stories can only be a good thing. Certainly it would give Apolyton something that not many other Civ sites have - always good to differentiate your service!

[MarkG]

will i see more submissions in the Fiction part of the Directory?
http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?t=sub_pages&cat=106

[Paddy]

Originally posted by MarkG
will i see more submissions in the Fiction part of the Directory?
http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?t=sub_pages&cat=106

That is an interesting question, which in turn leads me to ask if you write as well?

Thanks for the link. *heads off for a look*

[The Slayer]

I support this idea, I'm not a writer, but I'll want to read that good stuff you can write

[DarkCloud]

Cloudy, are you a published writer?

well, my technical article should appear in Feb 2004... unless the magazine has gone out of business

so, yes, probably yes, I am published

-

will i see more submissions in the Fiction part of the Directory?
http://apolyton.net/dir/index.php?t=sub_pages&cat=106

That would be good... I've been getting quite tired of writing reviews for stories for that section myself

And yes Markos, I'll get back to adding the contest 'winners' to the directory unless of course someone else would like to write the reviews- then all I have to do is approve them

[ChrisiusMaximus]

Bump!


DarkCloud, I would ask Vovan to do reviews for the Directory if I were you. Reason why is IMHO he always gives very good constructive advice when posting feedback to stories, which is always polite and fair.

Im sure he would consider this

And I would be happy to have him review my latest story before it goes in the directory.

Any more folks going to vote on this ?

[PLATO]

An excellent idea!

[Bugs ****ing Bunny]

Aye. It might shake my out of my torpor long enough to write another.

[ChrisiusMaximus]

It would be great to see you write again Laz