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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQS);faqs.546



    If you must engage in flackery for your company, use the "biz"
    hierarchy, which is explicitly "advertising-allowed", and which
    (like all of Usenet) is carried only by those sites that want it.

 8. Usenet is not the Internet.

    The Internet is a wide-ranging network, parts of which are
    subsidized by various governments.  It carries many kinds of
    traffic, of which Usenet is only one.  And the Internet is only
    one of the various networks carrying Usenet traffic.

 9. Usenet is not a UUCP network.

    UUCP is a protocol (actually a "protocol suite," but that's a
    technical quibble) for sending data over point-to-point
    connections, typically using dialup modems.  Sites use UUCP to
    carry many kinds of traffic, of which Usenet is only one.  And
    UUCP is only one of the various transports carrying Usenet
    traffic.

10. Usenet is not a United States network.

    It is true that Usenet originated in the United States, and the
    fastest growth in Usenet sites has been there.  Nowadays, however,
    Usenet extends worldwide.

    The heaviest concentrations of Usenet sites outside the U.S. seem
    to be in Canada, Europe, Australia and Japan.

    Keep Usenet's worldwide nature in mind when you post articles.
    Even those who can read your language may have a culture wildly
    different from yours.  When your words are read, they might not
    mean what you think they mean.

11. Usenet is not a UNIX network.

    Don't assume that everyone is using "rn" on a UNIX machine.  Among
    the systems used to read and post to Usenet are Vaxen running VMS,
    IBM mainframes, Amigas, and MS-DOS PCs.

12. Usenet is not an ASCII network.

    The A in ASCII stands for "American".  Sites in other countries
    often use character sets better suited to their language(s) of
    choice; such are typically, though not always, supersets of ASCII.
    Even in the United States, ASCII is not universally used: IBM
    mainframes use (shudder) EBCDIC.  Ignore non-ASCII sites if you
    like, but they exist.

13. Usenet is not software.

    There are dozens of software packages used at various sites to
    transport and read Usenet articles.  So no one program or package
    can be called "the Usenet software."

    Software designed to support Usenet traffic can be (and is) used
    for other kinds of communication, usually without risk of mixing
    the two.  Such private communication networks are typically kept
    distinct from Usenet by the invention of newsgroup names different
    from the universally-recognized ones.

Well, enough negativity.

WHAT USENET IS
--------------
Usenet is the set of people who exchange articles tagged with one or
more universally-recognized labels, called "newsgroups" (or "groups"
for short).

(Note that the term "newsgroup" is correct, while "area," "base,"
"board," "bboard," "conference," "round table," "SIG," etc.  are
incorrect.  If you want to be understood, be accurate.)

DIVERSITY
---------
If the above definition of Usenet sounds vague, that's because it is.

It is almost impossible to generalize over all Usenet sites in any
non-trivial way.  Usenet encompasses government agencies, large
universities, high schools, businesses of all sizes, home computers of
all descriptions, etc, etc.

(In response to the above paragraphs, it has been written that there
is nothing vague about a network that carries megabytes of traffic per
day.  I agree.  But at the fringes of Usenet, traffic is not so heavy.
In the shadowy world of news-mail gateways and mailing lists, the line
between Usenet and not-Usenet becomes very hard to draw.)

CONTROL
-------
Every administrator controls his own site.  No one has any real
control over any site but his own.

The administrator gets her power from the owner of the system she
administers.  As long as her job performance pleases the owner, she
can do whatever she pleases, up to and including cutting off Usenet
entirely.  Them's the breaks.

Sites are not entirely without influence on their neighbors, however.
There is a vague notion of "upstream" and "downstream" related to the
direction of high-volume news flow.  To the extent that "upstream"
sites decide what traffic they will carry for their "downstream"
neighbors, those "upstream" sites have some influence on their
neighbors' participation in Usenet.  But such influence is usually
easy to circumvent; and heavy-handed manipulation typically results in
a backlash of resentment.

PERIODIC POSTINGS
-----------------
To help hold Usenet together, various articles (including this one)
are periodically posted in newsgroups in the "news" hierarchy.  These
articles are provided as a public service by various volunteers.
They are few but valuable.  Learn them well.

Among the periodic postings are lists of active newsgroups, both
"standard" (for lack of a better term) and "alternative."  These
lists, maintained by Gene Spafford, reflect his personal view of
Usenet, and as such are not "official" in any sense of the word.
However, if you're looking for a description of subjects discussed on
Usenet, or if you're starting up a new Usenet site, Gene's lists are
an eminently reasonable place to start.

PROPAGATION
-----------
In the old days, when UUCP over long-distance dialup lines was the
dominant means of article transmission, a few well-connected sites had
real influence in determining which newsgroups would be carried where.
Those sites called themselves "the backbone."

But things have changed.  Nowadays, even the smallest Internet site
has connectivity the likes of which the backbone admin of yesteryear
could only dream.  In addition, in the U.S., the advent of cheaper
long-distance calls and high-speed modems has made long-distance
Usenet feeds thinkable for smaller companies.

There is only one pre-eminent site for UUCP transport of Usenet in the
U.S., namely UUNET.  But UUNET isn't a player in the propagation wars,
because it never refuses any traffic.  UUNET charges by the minute,
after all; and besides, to refuse based on content might jeopardize
its legal status as an enhanced service provider.

All of the above applies to the U.S.  In Europe, different cost
structures favored the creation of strictly controlled hierarchical
organizations with central registries.  This is all very unlike the
traditional mode of U.S. sites (pick a name, get the software, get a
feed, you're on).  Europe's "benign monopolies," long uncontested, now
face competition from looser organizations patterned after the U.S.
model.

NEWSGROUP CREATION
------------------
The document that describes the current procedure for creating a new
newsgroup is entitled "How To Create A New Newsgroup."  Its common
name, however, is "the guidelines."

If you follow the guidelines, it is probable that your group will be
created and will be widely propagated.

HOWEVER: Because of the nature of Usenet, there is no way for any user
to enforce the results of a newsgroup vote (or any other decision, for
that matter).  Therefore, for your new newsgroup to be propagated
widely, you must not only follow the letter of the guidelines; you
must also follow its spirit.  And you must not allow even a whiff of
shady dealings or dirty tricks to mar the vote.  In other words, don't
tick off system administrators; they will get their revenge.

So, you may ask: How is a new user supposed to know anything about the
"spirit" of the guidelines?  Obviously, he can't.  This fact leads
inexorably to the following recommendation:

 >> If you are a new user, don't try to create a new newsgroup. <<

If you have a good newsgroup idea, then read the "news.groups"
newsgroup for a while (six months, at least) to find out how things
work.  If you're too impatient to wait six months, then you really
need to learn; read "news.groups" for a year instead.  If you just
can't wait, find a Usenet old hand to run the vote for you.

Readers may think this advice unnecessarily strict.  Ignore it at your
peril.  It is embarrassing to speak before learning.  It is foolish to
jump into a society you don't understand with your mouth open.  And it
is futile to try to force your will on people who can tune you out
with the press of a key.

THE CAMEL'S NOSE?
-----------------
As was observed above in "What Usenet Is Not," Usenet as a whole is
not a democracy.  However, there is exactly one feature of Usenet that
has a form of democracy: newsgroup creation.

A new newsgroup is unlikely to be widely propagated unless its sponsor
follows the newsgroup creation guidelines; and the current guidelines
require a new newsgroup to pass an open vote.

There are those who consider the newsgroup creation process to be a
remarkably powerful form of democracy, since without any coercion, its
decisions are almost always carried out.  In their view, the
democratic aspect of newsgroup creation is the precursor to an
organized and democratic Usenet Of The Future.

On the other hand, some consider the democratic aspect of the
newsgroup creation process a sham and a fraud, since there is no power
of enforcement behind its decisions, and since there appears little
likelihood that any such power of enforcement will ever be given it.
For them, the appearance of democracy is only a tool used to keep
proponents of flawed newsgroup proposals from complaining about their
losses.

So, is Usenet on its way to full democracy?  Or will property rights
and mistrust of central authority win the day?  Beats me.

IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY...
---------------------
Property rights being what they are, there is no higher authority on
Usenet than the people who own the machines on which Usenet traffic is
carried.  If the owner of the machine you use says, "We will not carry
alt.sex on this machine," and you are not happy with that order, you
have no Usenet recourse.  What can we outsiders do, after all?

That doesn't mean you are without options.  Depending on the nature of
your site, you may have some internal political recourse.  Or you
might find external pressure helpful.  Or, with a minimal investment,
you can get a feed of your own from somewhere else. Computers capable
of taking Usenet feeds are down in the $500 range now, and
UNIX-capable boxes are going for under $2000, and there are at least
two UNIX lookalikes in the $100 price range.

No matter what, though, appealing to "Usenet" won't help.  Even if
those who read such an appeal are sympathetic to your cause, they will
almost certainly have even less influence at your site than you do.

By the same token, if you don't like what some user at another site is
doing, only the administrator and owner of that site have any
authority to do anything about it.  Persuade them that the user in
question is a problem for them, and they might do something -- if they
feel like it, that is.

If the user in question is the administrator or owner of the site from
which she posts, forget it; you can't win.  If you can, arrange for
your newsreading software to ignore articles from her; and chalk one
up to experience.

WORDS TO LIVE BY #1:
 USENET AS SOCIETY
--------------------
  Those who have never tried electronic communication may not be aware
  of what a "social skill" really is.  One social skill that must be
  learned, is that other people have points of view that are not only
  different, but *threatening*, to your own.  In turn, your opinions may
  be threatening to others.  There is nothing wrong with this.  Your
  beliefs need not be hidden behind a facade, as happens with
  face-to-face conversation.  Not everybody in the world is a bosom
  buddy, but you can still have a meaningful conversation with them.
  The person who cannot do this lacks in social skills.

                                     -- Nick Szabo

WORDS TO LIVE BY #2:
 USENET AS ANARCHY
--------------------
  Anarchy means having to put up with things that really piss you off.

                                     -- Unknown
--
Gene Spafford
Software Engineering Research Center & Dept. of Computer Sciences
Purdue University, W. Lafayette IN 47907-1398
Internet:  [e-mail]    phone:  [phone]
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From: [e-mail] (Betsy Perry)
Newsgroups: misc.writing,news.answers
Subject: Misc.writing Recommended Booklist
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Misc.writing Recommended Books List

Send corrections and additions to Betsy Perry ([e-mail])

Modifications since last version:
   Added writeup for Jane Yolen's *Writing Books for Children*
   Added writeup for Richard Curtis's *How To Be Your Own Literary Agent*
Questions included:

   What books are useful to writers?

   What magazines are useful to writers?

If you're going to write, you have to read; it's that simple.  You
ought to be reading widely *outside your field* -- reading only the
genre you intend to write is a sure way to recycle cliches endlessly.

This booklist is confined to books about writing.  All of the
following books and magazines have been recommended by at least
one misc.writing contributor.  None of them is universally adored.
Unquoted reviews are by the compiler; all others come from other
misc.writing contributors.
______________
BOOKS: AGENTS

Richard Curtis, *How To Be Your Own Literary Agent*
[ need bibliographic data; Writer's Marketplace press? ]

"This book is necessarily dated -- I think my version is from 1986, or
maybe even 1984 -- but still germane in almost every regard.  And it
isn't dated much; I found virtually all of the language he discusses
in his point-by-point contract review in my own 1991 contract, despite
the years that have passed.  (And was pleased to discover that the one
section I'd made my publisher delete was one Curtis considered
extremely disadvantageous.)  This book is an absolute must for anyone
dealing with book publishers, book contracts, and agents."

________________
BOOKS: COPYRIGHT
Stephen Fishman, *The Copyright Handbook:  How to Protect and Use
                  Written Works*
Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press, 1st national edition, 1991
$24.95 US.  USBN 0-87337-130-5.

  "Nolo's order number is [phone]; [phone] for info.
  They're a well-respected if somewhat irreverent publisher of
  legal self-help materials, including some volumes that might be
  relevant to the business side of freelancing and contracting.
  The book claims to discuss international copyright law.  The further
  you get from the borders of the US, the bigger the grain of salt you
  should take everything with, of course."

___________
BOOKS: HOW TO BE A WRITER

Rita Mae Brown, *Starting from Scratch: A Different Kind of Writer's Manual*
Bantam Books, ISBN 0-553-05246-2

  Care and feeding of yourself as a writer.  Brown, a working writer,
  has useful information on what standard of living to expect
  (near-poverty), how to make ends meet, and what to do with screenplays
  (take the money and run.  What appears on the screen will probably
  bear almost no resemblance to your work; that's why you write novels.)
  Also contains some interesting philosophy.
  DISSENTING REVIEW:  One misc.writing contributor finds the chapter
  on substance abuse essential, the rest forgettable.
___________
BOOKS: HOW TO WRITE

Lawrence Block, *Writing the Novel, From Plot to Print*
Writer's Digest Books, 1979

  The person who recommended this also recommended Block's *Spider, Spin
  Me a Web* and *Telling Lies for Fun and Profit*, which overlaps
  material in *Writing the Novel*.

Hallie & Whit Burnett, *Fiction Writer's Handbook*
Barnes & Noble Books, 1975  ISBN 0-06-463492-0

Hallie Burnett, *On Writing the Short Story*
Barnes & Noble Books, 1983  ISBN 0-06-463520-1

  "Hallie and Whit Burnett, as founding editors of STORY magazine (which has
  recently gone back into print as a quarterly), published the first works
  of writers such as Norman Mailer (who graces the first volume with a
  Preface), J.D. Salinger, Joseph Heller, Truman Capote, and Tennessee
  Williams.  In these books, they bring their enormous experience to
  bear in chapters that deal with both the creative process and the
  craft of fiction."

Lajos Egri, *The Art of Creative Writing*
Citadel Press, 1965

  "Although Egri's books are written with a slightly dated style, they
  go straight to the heart (in my opinion) of what makes dramatic fiction
  truthful and exciting.  These are not books with formulas or tips about
  writing, but rather, they analyze what it is that makes a reader care about
  characters, what makes them realistic, and how a compelling plot grows
  realistically from them."

John Gardner, *The Art of Fiction*
Vintage Books, 1985  ISBN 0-39472544-1

  "This book is a classic, and is a must buy for anyone seriously attempting
  to write fiction.  However, you will not find any formulas, point systems,
  or graphs that show you how to construct a story (well, maybe a graph or
  two).  What you will find is meaty chapters on aesthetics, artistic mystery,
  fiction as dream, genre, interest, and metafiction.  You will also find at
  the back a set of extremely useful exercises. All material is gleaned from
  Gardner's years of teaching graduate-level creative writing."

Rust Hills, *Writing in General, and the Short Story in Particular*
Houghton Mifflin, 1987  ISBN 0-395-44268-0

  "L. Rust Hills was fiction editor of Esquire Magazine for some 20 years,
  and his book is jam-packed with rapid-fire commentary on just about every
  technical aspect of crafting a short story.  It is by far the most
  intelligent and complete such book I have come across, and makes a
  fine companion to Gardner's *Art of Fiction* mentioned above."

Kit Reed, *Revision*
Writer's Digest Books, 1989  ISBN0-89879-350-5

  "A decent book on revising and rewriting, though I personally
  found most of it pretty self-evident."

Norman Spinrad, *Staying Alive: a Writer's Guide*
Donning, 1983

  "Spinrad's Writer's Survival Guide, is, as I recall, quite out of date, but
  a good read.  Spinrad is always idiosyncratic (when he's deeply sincere, he
  appears to lapse _out_ of profanity!), and a lot of the book was columns
  he'd written about the then-state of the sf market."

________
BOOKS -- HOW TO WRITE CHILDREN'S BOOKS

Jane Yolen, *Writing Books for Children*, The Writer, Inc., 1983, ISBN
0-87116-133-8

  Advice from a *very* successful author on how to research, create,
  and market books for the fastest-growing market.  Yolen's passion
  and seriousness shine through every line.

________
BOOKS -- HOW TO WRITE ROMANCE NOVELS

Kathleen Falk, *How to Write a Romance and Get it Published*
New American Library, 1990 (revised edition), ISBN 0-451-16531-4

  "Several writers in my workshop like it; others hate it. My assessment
  is that it contains some useful information, some marginal
  generalizations, and some downright stupid adivce. (My favourite: 'You
  cannot be a successful romance novelist unless you wear silky
  underwear.')  On the whole, this is a worthwhile book to have/read if
  you're interested in selling a romance novel, if only because of the
  extensive descriptions of the various formulae in romance writing."

_________
BOOKS -- HOW TO WRITE SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY/HORROR

Barry Longyear, *Science Fiction Writer's Workshop-I*
Owlswick Press, Box 8243, Philadelphia, PA, 19101, about $10

  "Longyear not only sits you down and lectures you on how to write SF that
  works, he shows you various examples -- from his own writing -- of what
  works and what doesn't by showing the first draft of various things and
  then covering the processes that took it to the final, improved version.
  There is no, and never will be a, SFWW-II."

*Science Fiction Writers of America Handbook*
Pulphouse Publishing/Writer's Notebook Press, ISBN 1-56146-406-6, $10.00
Pulphouse Publishing, Box 1227, Eugene, OR 97440

  A collection of essays by SF writers on various aspects of the trade.
  A mixed bag, but the good stuff is very good.  Mostly nuts-and-bolts,
  but some "how I write my masterpieces" essays.

Orson Scott Card, *How To Write Science Fiction and Fantasy*
Writer's Digest Press  [[[ anybody got bibliographic data? ]]]

  "The nuts and bolts part of the book are well handled, with solid
  examples (from other writers' works) of handling exposition,
  world-building and the like.  What makes the book worth the price of
  admission to writers who don't workshop, or don't live in an area with
  other writers in easy reach, is the section on creating the "wise
  reader".  In it, Card explains how his wife, Kristine, became a vital
  part of his writing process, even though initially she knew nothing
  whatsoever about what 'worked' in a novel."

___________
BOOKS: HOW TO WRITE PLAYS
Lajos Egri, *The Art of Dramatic Writing*,
Simon and Schuster, 1946, 1960

  "Although it is oriented towards playwriting, most of the advice
  applies to any dramatic fiction writing."

___________
BOOKS: INSPIRATION

Dorothea Brande, *Becoming a Writer*
T.P Archer, Inc., 1981  ISBN 0-874-77164-1

  "This book was originally published in 1934, and is as fresh as ever
  today.  An excellent and complete book, dealing with almost every
  aspect of the art of writing, with many wonderful suggestions on
  how to overcome blocks, view ones own work critically, etc.  The
  current printing has a foreward by John Gardner, himself an author
  of many books dealing with the art and craft of fiction."

Annie Dillard, *The Writing Life*
Harper & Row, 1989  ISBN 0-06-091988-4

  "Taken from essays that first appeared in Esquire, the TriQuarterly,
  and several other maagazines, in this book Annie Dillard describes
  her own personal experience as a writer.  The book is not a how-to
  volume in any sense; the crisp prose provides a direct glimpse into
  a writer's fertile mind."

John Gardner, *On Becoming a Novelist*
Harper & Row, 1983  ISBN 0-06-091126-3

  "The Foreword by Raymond Carver alone makes this book worthwhile. Although
  you could call the book 'inspirational' in nature because it deals with
  the art rather than the craft of writing (and although it says 'Novelist'
  in the title, the book is also valuable to short story writers), it is not
  an exercise in cheerleading, but rather a serious discussion of the nature
  and training of a fiction writer (there is also a chapter titled 'Publication
  and Survival').  A wonderful book for the serious artist."

Natalie Goldberg, *Writing Down the Bones*
Shambhala Publications, 1986  ISBN 0-87773-375-9

  "The book consists of about 60 two- or three-page chapters, each of
  which presents a brief technique or suggestion by which to improve
  one's writing and creative process, with emphasis on the latter.  Many
  times, the advice is presented via anecdotes.  A very 'zen' approach
  to creative writing, as one might guess from the publisher."

Brenda Ueland, *If You Want to Write*
Greywolf Press, 1987, P.O. Box 75006, St. Paul, Minnesota, 55175
ISBN 0-915308-94-0, $8.95

  "This fine little book was originally published at about the same time as
  Dorothea Brande's book and must be the *most* inspirational writing book
  ever to fall into my possession.  Carl Sandberg called this book 'The best
  book ever written about how to write.'  This is not a "nuts-n-bolts" book;
  it's one that raises you up, brushes you off, and sends you along
  the path to new heights of creativity."

________
BOOKS: LITERARY CRITICISM (SF)

Stanislaw Lem, *MICROWORLDS*
Harcourt, Brace, & Jovanovich, 1984  ISBN 0-15-659443-9

  "Lem is probably one of the world's greatest living writers, and one
  of the few SF writers to publish a volume which analyzes the field
  critically.  Lem makes many excellent points about the state of SF
  as he saw it when he was writing."
  DISSENTING REVIEW:  "Lem has clearly done very little reading in
  SF, and his criticism shows this."

Larry McCaffery, *Across the Wounded Galaxies*
Univ. of Illinois Press, 1990  ISBN 0-252-06140-3

  "Larry McCaffery is best known for his criticism of Donald Barthelme and
  other authors of 'metafiction', but he has, in this book, compiled a
  stunning collection of interviews with some of America's greatest
  contemporary SF authors, including William S. Burroughs, William
  Gibson, Samuel Delany, Octavia Butler, Gene Wolfe, Ursula Le Guin,
  Bruce Sterling, and Greg Benford. These are not fan-oriented
  interviews, either, but involved questions that probe each author's
  views about his or her craft and the state of the art in
  general.  A fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable read."
________
BOOKS: MARKET RESEARCH

  The Bible of market research is

*Writer's Market*, Writer's Digest Books,
1507 Dana Avenue,
Cincinnati, OH 45207.  Updated annually.

  There are innumerable variations (*Poet's Market*, *Novel and Short
  Story Writer's Market*, etc.)  Any public library should have these
  books. You can buy a copy more cheaply by joining the Writer's
  Digest Book Club;  see *Writer's Digest* magazine for a blow-in
  card.

  BE SURE TO USE THE LATEST AVAILABLE EDITION!  The publishing
  industry is a giant amoeba; not only do publishers' needs change,
  but editors change employment as frequently as Warren Beatty ...
  well, you get the idea.  If you can, check the listed editor's name
  against another source (a friend at the publishing house, the masthead
  of the magazine) before submitting.

*The International Directory of Little Magazine and Small Presses*
Dustbooks, P.O. Box 100, Paradise, CA 95967  ISBN 0-916685-17-9
Published annually.

  "Called the 'bible of the business' by the Wall Street Journal,
   this thing is *huge*, and full of small and literary markets that you won't
  find in any of the Writer's Digest books above."

__________
BOOKS: RHETORIC

Barzun, Jaques.  *Simple and Direct, A Modern Rhetoric for Writers*
Harper-Collins ISBN 0-06-091122-0

  "Does not describe rhetoric in the classical sense, but he does give some
  excellent suggestions for becoming aware of and tightening up one's writing.
  Eye opening and well worth the reading.  Although it covers mainly Rhetoric,
  this book really applies to any kind of technical or expository
  writing, and to some extent narrative fiction.  I'd classify it as a
  General Purpose writing improvement book.  Hardback edition out of print."

Corbett, Edward P.J.  *Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student*, 3rd ed
Oxford University Press, New York.  1990.  ISBN 0-19-506293-0  $38.00(?)

  "Highly Recommended text for learning the ins and outs of expository writing.
  Includes technical topics such as discovering (inventing) material,
  organizing material, stylistic tricks and stunts, exercises, modes
  of reasoning and other methods of persuasion, and examples/analysis
  of these techniques in actual everyday (and formal) use in prose of
  various people ranging from Homer to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
  The principles described herein apply to any kind of prose used to
  persuade and inform an audience.  Concentration here is mainly on
  the written word rather than the spoken word (the more commonly
  associated domain of Rhetoric)."

___________
BOOKS: STYLE GUIDES AND ENGLISH GRAMMARS

Strunk and White, *The Elements of Style*
Macmillan, ISBN 0-02-418200-1, $3.50

  The classic.  92 pages that can change your life.  *Not* a general
  reference manual.

William Zinsser, *On Writing Well*
Harper and Row, 1988, ISBM 0-06-091479-3

  "The book is subtitled 'An Informal Guide to Writing
  Nonfiction' and contains lots of good, basic advice on writing.
  This book is an interesting read as well as being useful."

For exhaustive reference: