Fellow Brotherhood Members,

Some were perhaps wondering about the absence of the first report from the office of the Fiction Tribune. The reason is simple - the staff had to be changed, old projects had to be evaluated, and, overall, we felt that the Fiction Office needed new goals and new direction.

Therefore, we have come up with a definite mission for the Fiction office. Our mission will be to raise expectations and overall quality of the fan-fiction in the Dark Brotherhood. Our vision, is to create an environment where people will be able to improve their writing skills in a natural and undemanding way, while offering a number of competition for different writing levels, so that all members of the Brotherhood may find their own niche where they will feel comfortable to participate in.

I sincerely hope for your support in this.

Because of this, there is a change in the policy concerning the Writing Corner.

After consultations among the staff, and surveying of the submissions made in the Writing Corner, we have agreed that the WC in its current form does not serve its desired function: to be a place through which members may improve their writing by receiving feedback and constructive criticism. Therefore, the following changes will be made to the WC policy:

1. _Fiction staff will no longer be obliged to review on the pieces submitted to the Writing Corner. However, they will reserve the right to do so on their own discretion. _
   

This practically means that the Fiction Staff will review those submissions the reviewers deem have been a reflection of real effort of the member - submissions where members will benefit most from receiving feedback.

1. All restrictions to submissions to WC are currently removed.
   

This may change again in the future depending on the results, however, for now, people may post to WC whatever they want. It doesn't matter if it was a submission for a past competition (although those will probably not be candidates for awards), a piece of work made solely for the WC, or even a non-DB-related piece of fiction (which I would really like to see in the WC), you can post it to the WC, others may read it, and some may provide feedback to your writing.

1. Quality WC submissions that are decided to have real effort put into them will automatically receive a DSS.
   

We naturally still wish to encourage participation in WC, and to award people who contribute to it through their work. The change here is that length of work will not be a sole factor that will decide the award, but we seek that the submission shows real effort put into it on behalf of the member.

1. Instead of reviewing WC submissions, the Fiction Staff will provide feedback on Monthly Topic submissions.
   

We believe that people who participate in the MTs will write their submissions with the intent in winning. Therefore, it is those submissions which should receive feedback, so that members may see why they placed as they did, what were their strengths, and where they can improve for an even better result.

1. With the permission of MT participant, the Fiction Staff will post the submission along with reviews to the WC if it deems that general membership may learn something from them.

2. The Dark Voice from now on will feature select MT submissions along with their reviews, or at least a short note from whoever judged the MT event.

7.The Fiction Staff encourages general members to read, and review submissions in the WC.

We see this as another kind of of activity in the Brotherhood, and will be awarded appropriately.

Monthly Topics

Monthly Topics for September are:

Fiction - "Aftermath"

Poetry - "Loss"

Submissions will be taken until 30th of September.

Once again, thank you for your time. We are open to any questions, comments, ideas or suggestions - please send them by e-mail, message board or IRC.

Regards,

Vail Aquillarum Unteminar

Fiction Tribune