Once in a while it becomes necessary to restate the rules.

This is such a time. The general rules of this site are the Terms of Service. Please take a moment to read them.

When the admins put together the Terms of Service, we tried to distill each main idea down to the basics. We hope that they are short and simple and easy to follow.

Today I need to reiterate that stories and reviews posted at MTT should not be continuations of scuffles that happen off-site.

These are good reasons for posting a story:

• You are a first-time writer, and you've worked up the gumption to post.
• You are a beginner, and want feedback that will help you improve.
• You are an established writer, and feel your work might inspire new writers.
• You crave feedback.
• You need to get a story idea out of your head, so you can concentrate on your regular, paying job again.
• You love The Office, Jim/Pam, Kelly/Ryan, Michael/Meredith, Stanley/Todd Packer. It's all good.

In other words, there should be positive (or at least constructive) motivation behind posting your story.

Likewise, all reviews, positive or negative, should be constructive. Good reasons to review might be:

• You want to tell the author that their story made you smile, cry, laugh, do a little dance, yell at a character, wish you were Pam, wish you were Toby.
• You want to encourage a new writer to keep posting.
• You want to point out images, themes, or word choices that you found particularly powerful.
• You want to encourage the author to quit their regular, paying job to write more fanfic for you.
• You want to point out something that may need work, and offer a solution to the problem.

Criticisms offered in reviews should always be about the story, never about the author. Period.

Here's to creative writing and helpful reviewing.

Thanks!