Frequently Asked Questions. please read.

[feath]

Conduct:

Respect will be observed for and to all members. No flaming.

What happens if I don't?
See "obnoxious" at the bottom

You must register with the boards to join. If you don't do this, you will not see anything of the boards.

Do I have to do this?
No, but if you want to be a part of the April Fools community, you do.

You will declare your goal in your own thread, in the goal section.

Why do I need to do that?
This is to help you in your word count, by making a public commitment.

If this is like nanowrimo, do I have to do 50,000 words?
No. This goal can be anything. If there isn't a pip with the goal you wish, tell me, and I will make one special!

Are you kidding? Even if it's 502 or 2338990?
Yes. If you're serious, I'm serious.

Can I write anything? Poetry, short stories, work documents, fanfic, slash, scripts, porn... anything?
Yes.

How about in another language other than English? Is that okay?
Yes.

How long is the challenge?
From April 1st, midnight your local time, through April 30th, midnight your local time.

Should I make my goal really hard?
If a high goal will help motivate you, by all means, use it! However, I've found that starting with a low goal gives you two advantages. 1) There is an emotional boost every time you make your goal, and raise it. 2) There is no negative impact when you don't make your goal. You feel like you 'lost' when you need to lower your goal.

Does it cost anything?
No.

Can I do school work as April Fools?
Yes. Anything that requires words. (IE: no math)

What does count?
These are the things you CAN count.

* Any genre, any language, any size
* Novel, short stories, scripts or documents
* Any school document (except math)
* Any work document
* Technical is okay
* Fan fiction is okay
* Continuing a previously started work is okay
* Editing work is okay (only count new words)
* Combined with other community challenges is okay

These are the things you CAN NOT count.

* Math
* Journal entries (I.E. Livejournal, diary - unless said journals are pure fiction, by that I mean, not your RL.)
* Forum entries

How about reports for work?
You didn't read the above question, did you?

How old do you have to be?
There is no upper or lower limit. However, age does not excuse you from being obnoxious. (see obnoxious at bottom.)

What happens if I fail a test during April Fools?
I will come to your house and hold you down while your parents beat you up. School work comes first. Always. That's why I let school work count towards your goals.

What happens if I don't make my goal?
If you don't reach your goal, that means you exceeded the goal just under it. Example: your goal is 50,000 words. You only make 38,000 words. You win a 35,000 word winners pip.

What's a pip?
A little icon that shows the world how good you did. You can post it on your blog, your web site, your forehead*, if you want.

What happens if I make over my goal?
If there is still time, you can raise your goal again. Or you can snatch the winners pip and run.

What happens if I know I'm not going to make my goal?
You can lower your goal with no penalties.

Penalties! I knew there was a catch!
No catch. There aren't any penalties for rising your goal, either.

What's the least I can write, and still win?
500 words.

Can I cheat, and copy/past something over and over again, and 'verify my story'?
Like nanowrimo, its on the honor system. You hurt no one by cheating, as each person is ultimately only competing against themselves. You harm no one by cheating, which makes it pretty pointless to cheat. You're not hurting anyone else's fun.

Will we be verifying our stories?
No.

How can I find out how much I wrote?
If you don't use Word, which has a built in counter, or find one on the web.

Do I have to be a professional writer to participate?
No.

Do I have to be a non-professional writer to participate?
No.

What's the latest I can join?
April 30th.

Where can I find that cool progress bar that Tom made?
Word meters, with winner icons

Do you have any cool things I can buy?
Not this time.

If I do April Fools, will I be cool?
Yes. And able to leap over tall buildings, too**.

Is there a chat, where I can talk to other fools, and maybe get in a word war?
No, not at this time.

Can I spam the boards?
Yes. But if I see 100 posts of smilies, I may wonder a bit about your mental capabilities.

What's this "[happy face] [sad face]" on the boards?
When someone does something to cheer you up, or help you write more, click the [happy face] button under their icon. When they say or do something that is mean, click the [sad face]. As there are very few (read: none) trolls on AF, I don't expect [sad face] to be used much. If I see it being used inappropriately, this option will be discontinued. You must have at least 10 posts to use it.

What will happen if I become obnoxious?
I'll kick you off the boards.

Define obnoxious?
If I get enough complaints about you from other members.

How many is too many?
It will be done case by case.

That's not fair!
Then don't be obnoxious.

Do I have to read the boards?
No. But mixing with other writers is half the fun.



*(not recommended)
**(also not recommended)