You are responsible for knowing the rules listed on this page. Failure to abide these rules can result in your temporary or permanent removal from the community.
The site administrator reserves the right to change the terms and conditions of the user agreement without prior notice to the user. It is the responsibility of the user to regularly review the terms of this agreement.
Chat is part of the community and these rules apply there as well.
The user agrees to the following terms:
All information that you provide to us for your membership is correct.
You must use a real, working email address in registration so that your password and membership information can be emailed to you. Registrations with fake email addresses will be removed.
You will not use your membership to spam, harass, or exploit other members in any way.
Don’t ask for or give location (beyond country), age or other personal information about a member of the site, either on the boards or in chat.
Any post with adult content, which includes adult language (beyond the damn and hell level), must have ‘adult content’ in the subject.
If you’re not sure, the best bet is to mark the post as Adult Content.
Under no circumstances can you post sexual content including, but not limited to, the examples below:
- Explicit sexual scenes.
- Scenes that include rape.
- Any sexual material involving children
Because of problems with underage members, the site will no longer allow the posting of erotica stories, even to the private boards.
If the moderators deem that your material is improper for the boards, do not argue with them in the posts. If you think that the call is wrong, you can bring it to my attention (Lazette Gifford).
Any member is free to exchange material with other members off the boards, of course… but be aware that if I receive word of someone sending inappropriate material to underage members, that person will be removed from the site — so be very careful about exchanging erotic and sexually graphic material.
No mass posting or flooding of the boards is allowed.
Copyright is a major issue for us — we are sensitive to not only our own copyrights, but those of others. For that reason no fanfic of any sort is allowed on the site or in chat.
All posts and chat conversations must be in English. This is only because we are a U.S. based site and our moderators must be able to read the material. We are not claiming English as the better language, only making certain nothing gets into the site that can get us closed down.
You must be an active member of the site before you can post links to other sites. This significantly limits the amount of spam the site receives.
By joining this community, you agree that you will not:
You will not post anything, whether text or image, for which you personally do not own copyright. Short sections of other material — no more than 500 words — can be posted, but only for information and teaching purposes. If, however, the material is available online, use a link instead.
You will not copy any Forward Motion content without the express written permission of the person who wrote it. This includes material written in chat.
You will not post spam or ads for the exclusive purpose of drawing customers. The administration reserves the right to judge posts and decide if it is appropriate or not. Join in the site’s activities and get to know the people at FM before you post information about ‘the perfect site for people here.’
Violation of these terms is cause for immediate removal of your post and a warning, and persistent violation will result in your removal from the community.
Community Interaction Rules for Everyone
Posting
You own your own words. That means that you and you alone are responsible for the content of your posts and any consequences of those posts. With that in mind:
Treat others the way you would wish to be treated.
Discuss issues, but do not point fingers. People who use name-calling, harassment, or abusive language toward other members will be removed from the community.
Do not leap into the flames. If you see an inappropriate post, IGNORE IT. Let a moderator know it’s there and one of us will remove it. Do not respond to it — the only effect that will have is that your post, too, no matter how erudite and well-thought-out, will vanish with it.
If you wish to discuss in a reasoned manner something that is going down in flames elsewhere, do so in a separate post with a similar title. That way people will be able to find your post, but it won’t be deleted or get you into trouble in the community.
We are a Writing Community. While some discussions go far a field of writing, remember that the purpose of the site is to help improve writing skills and how to best meet the needs of those seeking publication.
Do not post fiction on inappropriate boards. This includes poetry, short stories, chapters, excerpts, etc. Remember that we are not a site for readers. Fiction material posted on the site must be on the critique boards and be posted for the purpose of finding help to improve the work.
Legal Issues
Broadly, don’t do anything illegal in here or your membership will be revoked. /p>
More specifically:
Respect people. Don’t harass, stalk or verbally abuse anyone.
Don’t post inappropriate material. That means don’t discuss your drug use, personal sexual activity, or how you shoplifted the DVDs. Don’t post story material that would be considered sexually explicit.
Respect the law. Do not attempt to use these forums for the illegal sale or purchase of any form of contraband. (That includes the exchange of illegally made copies of movies or music.)
Respect copyrights. Don’t post anything for which you don’t own copyright, and don’t copy anything for which you don’t own copyright.
Religious and Personal Belief Discussion
The following rules have been put in place to protect all members from harassment, and to keep this site pleasant for everyone who comes here. If these rules do not suit you, you are welcome to join other communities.
Always remember that we are a writing site. Discussion about a religion for the sake of writing material is allowed. However, never let the discussion slip over into a defense of a religion or an attack of another.
People on this site have the right to their own beliefs. No one requires any member to discuss or defend their religious beliefs.
People may stop any conversation about religion simply by saying, “My beliefs are personal and I don’t wish to discuss them.” If a member pursues a personal religious conversation past that point, either in chat, on the boards or in private message on the site, he may be warned or removed from Forward Motion.
This ban includes any personal belief that may not be recognized as a religion, from vegan choices to PETA and anything of the like. If any such discussion starts into an attack/defend mode, drop it and move on.
Religion may be discussed when it pertains directly to a writing question for background and character development.
War and Political Debates
The rule on this one is very simple.
Don’t.
Do not post links to material about the war or politics (whatever your country and affiliation within it may be). Politics may be discussed for writing purposes, but if the discussion (on the boards or in chat) turns into a shouting match over whose side is better, it will be removed and the people involved warned or banned.
Purposes and Goals
Our main goal is to help each other get published. We do this by each member offering help in his or her area of expertise, by reading and critiquing work, and by encouraging each other to submit finished works. We also provide networking, contacts with professionals in the field, and a chance to work with writers who have similar interests.
Some of our members are pros, others have published in small presses, and still others are just now beginning to submit work. Some are still learning how to finish their first manuscripts
We are open to members of all levels of experience, and of all ages and interests. If you can’t find someone who shares your interest, tell us and we’ll see if we can recruit someone who does.
We are a working writers’ group, and our main premise is that writers write. If you join we’ll do our best to help you achieve your goal of getting your stories into print—your goal is one we share. You have to take an active part in the work, however. While you might learn a great deal just by lurking, you can achieve more by joining in the classes, critique groups and other parts of the site.
If you are interested in improving your writing, but not in publication, you are still welcome. Just be aware that the others will be offering you publication ideas.