How to tell the story
Anyone can tell the story, there are 4 steps:
1. Create your profile
There are very many reasons to create and maintain a profile here, not least of which is that you have to have a profile to tell the story! But beyond that, by having a profile here, your writing can be rated, you can participate in discussions, you can advertise where people can get more of your writing... Just about everything you want from a profile! You won't be able to change your username once its there but you can edit all other details of your profile, using the 'Edit my profile' link in the User Area (where you can also change your password).
So, step 1 is quite simply to create your profile!
2. Reserve a Pod
The story gets told in sections called 'Pods' - units of 5000 characters, about 500 words - so that a) it's manageable to read on screen; b) there's more chance of getting regular published pods; and c) because it cuts down the monopoly of any one writer at any one time to tell the whole story.
There's a simple reservation system for the pods. At any one time, only 5 pods are available in total. And any one writer can have a maximum of 3 pods reserved at any one time. This means that, at most, 5 writers can be editing, but there's never a chance of one writer hogging all the pods. Doing it this way ensures the story doesn't spin off into odd territory but also that it doesn't become monotone. So, now you've got your profile, go ahead and reserve your first pod.
3. Edit your pod
You can always access your reserved pods at the 'My pods' link in the User Area (which will appear over there on the left if you're logged in). You have a 5 day editing window in which to get your pod ship-shape prior to publishing. No-one else can view your pod while you're in your edit period, so you get to tighten it up to your liking. Remember there's a 5000 character limit, and a counter will let you know how many characters you've got left. Be careful if you edit offline - it'll simply chop the extra characters off at the end if you're over 5000. You can 'Save' and 'Save and Exit' as many times as you like on the edit page.
Once your pod is edited to your liking, you're ready to...
4. Publish your pod
There's a 'Publish' button on the edit page. Press that and you go to your last chance to edit the pod - once it's published, you can't edit it any more - that's why you'll see warnings all over the place asking if you're sure you want to publish. If you do want to make some edits, hit the 'Edit' button, if not hit 'Publish' and - SHAZAM! - you've told the story.
Building your reputation
There are 2 ways to build your reputation.
1. Tell a great story
I know that's simple, but its true. Each pod has a rating option as well as comments. You can't rate your own work - well, not without cheating and rating yourself anonymously but... well... You wouldn't be so shallow as to do that, right?
Write great content and, if the community likes it, you'll get great ratings. Write content people want to talk about and you'll get comments. Simple as that.
2. Help others get better
The second way to build your reputation is to build others' capability. Rate their work, comment on their writing, drop by their page and give them some feedback - build a reputation of building others. We are all helping each other to tell the story!
Where does my reputation show up?
There are a number of places your reputation will show up:
- On your profile page (where it will also show the number of pods you have writers)
- On the writer listing page (which is alphabetical)
- On the top 10 writers page (if you've earned that!)
- At the foot of any pod you've written (which you can always access via the 'My pods' link)
Can I quickly check my reviews?
Yes, you can read the reviews people have given you and those you've given to others at the 'My Reviews' link in the User Area.