Always Chris

Virtual Writers Group

Localism can sometimes be a lie. It is good to have friends around that are close by that you can talk to, but as a writer, you need other people that understand and sympathize with your work, and you won’t necessarily find them around the corner. As you know, I spend a lot of time online moderating forums, and it was at a writer’s forum that I had a huge brain wave; why not start a hard working online writers group.

The problem with getting all of your support as a writer from an online forum or discussion board, is that there is no sense of commitment. A writers group is 4-6 writers that are committed to a professional career that want to critique each others'work. We meet fortnightly for a 45 minute video chat. Before the meeting we circulate writing. It is a good thing that we have mathematical minds, because we have worked out a very specific formula that allows us to manage our burden of reading while at the same time make sure that everybody gets an equal amount of time for feedback.

Each member takes a turn in order to moderate the group. When a writer has something to submit, they send it off to the moderator. Every Monday we check in about how much time people have to devote to reading in that week. The moderator takes an average of all the times and sends out reading from the top of the list. Each week the order of the list is adjusted so that the writers are in order of how many pages of writing they have submitted up to that date. We have members in 4 different continents so sometimes working out the best time for our meeting can be difficult. Again we alternate so its not always in the middle of the night.

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Moderating

It happens to all of us who work as forum moderators. A dispute breaks out and we need to resolve it. Sometimes, it does actually get a bit ugly, and I personally tend to lose sleep at this point. There is something about the anonymity of online communication that allows people to be more horrible than they would otherwise. Last week Global Pal got a nasty and it was up to me to sort it out.

I had to do two things at the same time: sort through the hurt feelings to create a sense of resolution and figure out who was saying what to whom and if they were using any additional aliases. The whole thing started with somebody being accused of being a racist. I am sure it is entirely possible to do by hand, but when I moderate forums, I use high end HR software. When problems arise, I am able to track the most frequent writers, what they write about, and certain key phrases that they are likely to use. By doing this on a consistent basis, I have an excellent data base of people who use the forums I moderate. This is important, because if I block somebody for being racist, I am able to identify if any additional posts are aliases of the original writer.

It is relatively easy, you simply create a profile for each of your frequent contributors as you would for an employee. A frequent writer will usually identify personal details such as location, family status, age, profession, and places travelled. Just note them down on their profile. This has really helped me deal with the current conflict, as the original writer did return under an alias and tried to stir up more dissent. My bosses were so pleased with my work, I got a raise.

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Grammar – A Sturdy Pillar On Which Language And Communication Stand

Do you know what is loreal majirel? I guess very few blog posts that you have read till date would have had such a muddled beginning. The word loreal sounds familiar but one just cannot be sure, right? Well, what if I rephrase the query? Do you know what is L’Oréal Majirel? You may not be very hot on make up and fashion accessories but you probably have heard about L’Oréal, right? Now, you can take the logical leap and conclude that it is probably a make up product offered by the famous company L’Oréal.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a 95 word crash course on the importance of grammar. Language is the primary tool we use for communication. Grammar happens to be one of the pillars on which language stands. Remove grammar and language will collapse taking communication along with it.

Needless to say, I take my grammar very seriously because I wish to become a professional writer. Not only do I need to communicate stuff to my readers but I need to do it in such a manner that they are encouraged to open their wallets and pay me to write more.

One reason why people are afraid of grammar is that it is a hydra headed monster that just cannot be controlled. Focus on punctuation and you may trip on the voice. Cover voice and you may have an awkward sentence structure. Take care of that as well and you may end up messing up with transitive verbs without even knowing what that is.

Most individuals do not like to think that language can be such a complex thing. That is why grammar is left alone even if it implies one will never become an expert in the language in question. All said and done, there is no denying that mastering grammar helps one explore all facets of the language with supreme skill and expertise.

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