On a lovely May evening, which weather varied from participant to participant, the very first Writing Hour took place. The setting for this event was the newspaper room, which could be reached by simply saying 'teleport newspaper' in chat. Bob the leafy plant stood happily in the corner, and on the other side the Times newspapers diligently printed. It was a new place for a few, a place some did not even know of until now. A place where our meeting would soon begin.
I stood there waiting an hour before the Writing Hour was scheduled to start, and others began to come in throughout that time. The room had an excited atmosphere as we waited for the City Worker, AMae, to arrive.
Once she did, all that excitement flooded in a wave of greetings and questions thrown at her. However, we quickly regained order as she told us to stay on the yellow floor of the room so that she could direct the meeting better. A few disobeyed, but for the most part we did what she told us to.
First, she answered some questions about submitting an article, then we went on to brainstorm ideas for Times articles. It was very lively. Ideas came quickly, and it was challenging at times to read all of the thoughts being thrown out. Here are some that I managed to write down:
Pets
Summer break
Your favorite band/star/preformer
Book/movie/video game reviews
Does this thing really work? (product review)
Sports articles (sports teams, how to get started in a sport, etc.)
Why you like something
Dangers of UV rays and skin cancer
Dangers of the internet
Jokes
Mother's Day
Diseases
Stereotypes
How to make friends
Obesity
Living healthily
Top 10 lists
Outdoors
Plays
New fashion trends
Whyville fashion
Foreign fashion
Grammar article
How to take care of pets
How to stay focused in school
Science experiments you can do at home
We had two interview ideas:
Opinions on major political events
Do children have too much access to technology?
AMae noted that we need more science articles. For here on, AMae had us raise our hands and called on us individually to keep order.
We gave out some advice for Times writers, or aspiring Times writers.
Proofreading was mentioned by multiple people. This means reading over your writing and checking for any mistakes.
Remember the difference between fact versus opinion.
Avoid bias. Some sources might have bias, so you should be careful.
No ideas are dumb, they just need improvement.
A lot of works are good, but if some people did peer review it would be better.
Not all poems have to rhyme.
You won't get better at writing if you don't write.
Keep your article organized. Format it properly.
Then, AMae answered our questions.
What's the #1 reason why you deny articles?: The number 1 reason why I deny articles is because they're illegible. They need to be formatted correctly, grammatically correct, and organized.
What makes an article mature?: An article is mature if it deals with a mature topic. Anything dealing with sex, sexual identity, drugs, cursing, things that would be in a PG13 movie.
What are the chances of getting accepted into the Times?: Write an article that is formatted properly and it will likely get in.
How many articles can be in an edition?: There is no limit to the number of articles that can be in an edition.
What topics can you write about?: You can write about any topic.
How many articles would you say you receive on a weekly basis?: It depends. Some weeks I receive more than others.
Is there a limit to a series?: 10 is the max for a series.
Can we reach the limit in series parts then continue it under a different name or no?: Once you reach 10, you need to end the series and start a new one. it can be a spinoff, but it needs to be different.
What kind of pictures will not be accepted?: Inappropriate. Use your common sense. If you wouldn't show it in school, not appropriate for the Times.
How much of yourself can you show in a picture? You can put in waist below pictures. Or blur out your face. You can show your eye for a makeup tutorial.
Are pictures of your pets allowed? Yes, pictures of pets are allowed.
How do you put pictures in an article?: Write in the article where the pictures will be by saying something like, insert picture1, insert picture2.
You can always email times@whyville.net with any further questions.
Our meeting came to an end once everyone had asked their questions, and we took a group picture.
We had a couple trolls and it was disorderly at times, but it went pretty well for the first time in my opinion -- and we had a great turnout! Please remember a few things for next time: respect AMae, stay on the yellow floor, and raise your hand to be called on (otherwise she may not answer your question).
I look forward to the next Writing Hour!
