valeca

..erm..thanks Daniela..but I already said I wasn't leaving . I meant I'm done with those threads. The reason for my post was to, perhaps, get people thinking about writing again. I've seen some 'bad' ones leave, but it's the steady decline I've noticed..not just a few glitches.

You're right, those of us who are actually here for the writing will keep doing what we're doing, and the rest will eventually get bored..as all irritants usually do when their attention seeking ways get ignored.

EDIT:
Queasy..Eloquently spoken. You said what I failed to get across. Thank you!!

Ilan: Awww, that's very sweet of you, thank you!

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"...make your own nature, not the advice of others, your guide in life." --Pythia, Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

I'm here.

Bhauger

Vote in my poll if you want me to leave: http://www.writingforums.com/viewtop...=153292#153292

Queasy Dillo

Thank you, Valeca.

On a side note, now would be a good opportunity for a picture. Us rodents aren't eloquent very often, you know.

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You have not yet begun to scratch the surface of my depravity.

daniela

valeca: I know you said you weren't leaving. My post wasn't directed at just you. It was for anyone feeling disappointed about the behavior on WF lately. This is nothing new; I have seen it happen several times over the past year. Things will get better eventually if good members like you continue to do their best and make it worth coming here for people serious about writing.

I do have to say that I enjoy a lot of the off-topic stuff in the lounge. No one can be "good" all the time.

--DM--

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"When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don't mean utterly, but kill most of them—then the rest will be valuable." - Mark Twain

valeca

Ahh, thanks for clearing that up, Daniela!

Yeah, I have enjoyed some of them too. I couldn't try to claim that I don't without being hypocritical Only that they were getting out of hand.

Dillo: Smile for the camera!

__________________
"...make your own nature, not the advice of others, your guide in life." --Pythia, Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

I'm here.

ms. vodka

I don't really understand where this is coming from. I posted a piece in progress recently and got a whole bunch of excellent critique.

In fact, the poetry forum always seems to run pretty smoothly, imo.

So does the short story forum.

I know that the lounge is for fun, I figured that when I first came here. Doesn't it say something like "anything goes" or something like that?

Is this stemming from something in particular? Because if it is, I wish someone would just come right out and say it. No problems have ever been solved by "beating around the bush" so to speak.

This is one of two writing forums that I frequent. The other is craigslist:

www.craigslist.org

Man, if you think this is bad for off topic posting and flaming, you should check into what happens over there sometimes...

Really, I have been very impressed with the level of professionalism here, and I have also made a lot of friends and just had a lot of fun through the lounge. I mean, how seriously can you take something like, "five words per post", or "what song are you listening to?"

Come on Val, I honestly respect your opinion and you know that. So, what's really going on?

Put it in PM if you feel more comfortable that way.

Ahh, another cool thing about this site... PM's.

vodka

valeca

Hiya v,
..erm..nothing else is going on, that's just what I've seen so far and I wanted to point it out...I just did a crappy job in expressing it. Dillo did a much better job than I did. No bush beating, so far as I know

I agree that the lounge can be a great place...that's not what I was meaning...sorry for the confusion.

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"...make your own nature, not the advice of others, your guide in life." --Pythia, Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

I'm here.

ms. vodka

Well, I haven't been here for as long as many others, but from what I've seen, it's an allright place to be.

...hope you don't decide to take off on us though, darling.

I always love reading what you have to write.

blademasterzzz

I haven't posted incredibly much, but I've been around in the forum for quite a few months now, and I must say I was thinking the same thing.

Back in the autumn, this place may have been a emptier, and it took five days to get a critique, but on the other hand, there were a mass of interesting and good threads, in and out of the lounge.

Now it has been overflooded with pointless topics that want to make me groan, and yes, I agree, the debates nowadays are all about i am right/you are completely wrong.

And if people would post unrelated things only in the lounge, but Bhauger posts all over the bloody place. Bhauger, I don't think life should be eternally serious, but you take it to an idiotic level. Especially the thing about the pope. You are not funny, interesting or amusing.
I really think you are an immature attention-seeking piece of...

Hm. Anyhow, the forum has deteriorated, and the atmosphere that it once had is almost gone - replaced by something else.

I think it can be made better, but that requires an effort from everyone.

cyberspecter

Indeed.. not even that much effort. All it would take is to ignore such posters. They tend to go away when noone will pay them the attention they desire.
I suspect that inside they are just insecure and afraid of trying to be accepted soley on merit.

Good post Blademasterzzz.

Paul

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Cyberspecter
(Evil incarnate, devourer of souls....and pizza)
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Bhauger

Shit? If you're going to imply it, say it. You pussy.

Nice generic tux as your avatar, by the way. I doubt you even use linux.

valeca

well thankies, v! That's a huge compliment



I'd like to point out, I wasn't pointing fingers at anyone in particular...it was a general observation about the decline of posts pertaining to actual writing.

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"...make your own nature, not the advice of others, your guide in life." --Pythia, Oracle of Apollo at Delphi

I'm here.

Ilan Bouchard

I've seen it as well. I've been finding myself growing bored of the forums lately, in fact.
People just need to critique more, and post in the lounge less. And ignore the vagrants.

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Ruthless comments encouraged!

Scratches

I'm guilty but I just did three critiques so I'm getting back on the bandwagon. (Or is it off the bandwagon?) Still, I don't think you guys should treat this quite so morosely. It's a simple problem with a simple solution. Get everyone with eyes to read this thread til they start buckling down and getting to the real issue. I'll promise not to post in the Lounge for two weeks. Startiiing... now.

And that's not a cue for someone to post a "Scratches is the scum of the earth" thread.

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Never get so attached to a poem
you forget truth that lacks lyricism
and never draw so close to the heat
that you forget that you must eat
- En Gallop, Joanna Newsom

mammamaia

question:

how much do you folks think the 'problem' stems from the current average age of posters being somewhere around 15.7 and the percentage of 'oldsters' [the over-30s] shrinking daily?

when i read the 'welcome' intros these days, i'm more and more convinced i landed in a jr high lunchroom, thanks to an alzheimer's-caused wrong turn... not that there's anything at all wrong with youngsters finding a place to seek help with their writings, but the young mind does tend to be less serious about things, right?... and the very young do tend to chat more about trivia, stray from topics into personal realms, and act like... well... like young people everywhere act!

as a mother/survivor of 7, i know how hard it is on a serious, adult mind to find itself vastly outnumbered by what amounts to an alien race... but the energy they release can be invigorating, if we see it for what it is and let them play in their side of the room, while we work over here in ours...

as for the contention in lounge threads, and the bits that creep into writing threads now and then, much of it's just background noise of kids at play... so, i do what i did for decades... tune it out and work right through it...

does any of this make any sense to anyone else?

love and hugs, maia

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