Hello all! 

I love seeing an increase of new folks being active in the forums. Us Old Skool kids will tell you that the forum is the best part of this contest. However, as always, when new folks come on board, and especially on a Stone Age platform like this, it's not always intuitive to navigate and can become a bit of a free for all. 

So, here's a list of tips and resources to help make your life a little easier.

****EDITED TO ADD*** I will occasionally come through and update with tips people are adding on the thread so that we are capturing them in the OP as well. :) 

Two tiny tips to add:

1. You can also anonymously "thank" people for their post, as 8 people have done for Nod with this post. When I post a story, I like to track the return reads I've done. So everytime I return read, I thank the person for leaving a comment and then click over to their story. But I don't thank someone until I'm ready to read theirs (so I can keep track where I am with the list). When I've thanked everyone, I know I'm done with my returns. :-)

2. You can follow or unfollow a topic by clicking "topic options" on the upper right side of the post.

This is how I roll too! Great minds! 

Indeed. Great minds!  And I just thanked you for your comment! 

I think that's a popular trick and a helpful one. My old lady brain would never remember where I had left off in returns (especially once I get up to multiple pages of comments) without the "thanks tracking method!" 

A related tip - when you leave a comment the forum defaults you to "following" that thread. The next time someone comments, you will get an email notice. However, you will not get additional emails for that specific topic until after you visit the forums again. This helps avoid a build-up of 50 email notices if a topic is hot and you haven't had a chance to log back in a see what folks are saying yet. Once you log in, you will again get a notice for that topic after the next comment is posted.

However, as I mentioned in the OP, this platform is geriatric and occasionally will glitch and fail to send you a notice. I've gone away for a few days and come back to find like a 1/2 dozen reviews on my story that I knew nothing about. <shrug> 

Thank you so much for taking the time to make this post! It's awesome!

I http://forums.nycmidnight.com/forum-tips-posting-signature-links-hyperlinks_topic57965.html" rel="nofollow - linked it in a forum post I made that goes into signature links etc. That way people can tie all the info together! I hope that's ok!

I think much of this is a repeat of what can be found in the posts I linked in point 3 & 5, but more info is always better than not enough. Thanks for connecting it!

You're absolutely right! I'm currently reading the posts you linked now! I wish there was a way for the info posts to be pinned so dunces like me don't swoop in to be redundant!  But, like you've mentioned, this forum is an antique.

Oh, MM you are gem for posting this. For all those that are newer side to NYCM -  WELCOME! 

1. I just wanted to underscore the value of MM's thoughts about feedback. It is incredibly helpful to include guidance of what feedback you are looking forward when posting your story. I always include a disclaimer that I'm a critical feedback junkie and welcome folks to really spotlight what resonates and what doesn't. The amount of critical feedback has helped strengthen my work far more than what any judge has said to me good/bad. But if you this is not your cup of tea (and that's A-OK!), it is wise to say so upfront, so those that are reading your story don't inadvertently step on your toes and hurt feelings.

2. Being critical does not mean that you are not being nice! There is a very lovely way to frame your thoughts without annihilating the author. This forum is filled to the brim with the sparkliest of folks who are eager to soak up your words. Kindness goes SOOOO far. 

So freakin' excited to read y'alls work. This is one of my favorite comps of the year and I'm giddy over here with anticipation. HAVE FUN! 

 

This is such a great discussion because I too have noticed that there’s a trend on this board toward only positive feedback. I’ve only been hanging out here for two years and have noticed this shift.  

But I’m with you @sfuji in seeking out critical feedback as it has helped me grow tremendously as a writer. And an extra thank you to @Nod/MM, who executes the sandwich approach to feedback so well and is so generous with her time and expertise. 

I appreciate the mention that being critical does not mean one isn’t being nice. Generally, it takes more time and effort to be critical, and I truly appreciated those who’ve gone the extra step to share what, in their opinion, could be make my story stronger. 

And finally, I have learned that a story that receives nits and crits may still be a great story! I once had political satire, and although I thought my story was funny, it got lots of crits about things I could’ve done better. My best beta friend at the time didn’t like how I’d structured the piece and didn’t appreciate the humor. There were lots of things I wanted to improve, so I had low expectations overall. So imagine my surprise when it came in first? It was definitely a lesson learned that just because a story could be better, doesn’t mean it won’t do well. 

I asked our friends at NYCm to pin this post, so now it will hang out and not get lost in the sea of posts. So keep your tips and questions coming so this can be a living resource! Thanks everyone!

Of course, positive feedback is incredibly important and, when I have received nits and crits, it’s paired with positive comments. 

And it is a big deal to just post a story, especially when you’re starting out. So kudos to all those newbies who have been brave. For the veterans, it can still be hard to put our work out there. Good job everyone willing to share. 

I don't want this to devolve into a huge back and forth about feedback (as the intention was general help on forum navigation) but I absolutely agree, and even mentioned in the OP, that everyone is looking to get different things out of the forums. So, adding a disclaimer on what a writer is hoping to achieve by sharing in their post is super helpful! 

I don't want this to devolve into a huge back and forth about feedback

Not my intention either. :) Just offering a different perspective. If it's not helpful, I'll delete, as I'm definitely not someone who has been here long term.

I don't want this to devolve into a huge back and forth about feedback

Not my intention either. :) Just offering a different perspective. If it's not helpful, I'll delete, as I'm definitely not someone who has been here long term.

 

Great tip! I've never had a good method for tracking, so this is great! Sometimes I just end up with a whole bunch of tabs open of reads I need to return!

Same; I like this one because the stories are SO short, which means I can read more of them and support more of the writers here!

So true!

Now THIS is exactly what I needed, thank you a million times over-- holy cow! 

This entire post is just filled with useful tips- definitely bookmarking for later! 

Thanks for these!

And reminder for us oldies.

Could be any time now..... with a 24h competition, Tuesday is generally more likely.

Thanks for keeping us all on our toes!

Whatever you are comfortable with! Some people use the "thank" button just to keep track of who on their list they've done return reads for.

Some people will reply to every comment, some will reply to none. I lean towards the latter (so I can use more of my forum time reading other people's stories), but I'll respond to direct questions sometimes.

Happy reading!

[/QUOTE] Your text goes here

It might not seem like much but over a long thread the wasted white space really adds up!

I've enjoyed some back and forth comments with folks from other groups, but so far I'm not seeing anything posted by other people who were assigned to my group. Is there a search function I'm not seeing? 

Thanks!

First round stories were uploaded here, if people chose to:

https://forums.nycmidnight.com/add-your-story-to-the-master-list-all-rounds_topic66626.html" rel="nofollow - https://forums.nycmidnight.com/add-your-story-to-the-master-list-all-rounds_topic66626.html

Each competition and round has its own master list. You'll only find stories if people chose to upload them, though. Only four people from my group posted their stories.