Guidelines for New Authors

Thanks for considering adding your contribution to The Gift!

We are really open to authors who want to add their own unique take on the story, but we would politely ask that you stick to a few basic guidelines in the interests of quality, and just generally having the story work as an actual story.

Firstly, we’d like you to start a thread of your own rather than add to someone else's. This is because many of the threads are very story-driven and the primary writer probably has something they want to do with them, adding unwanted additions can detract from that and harm the vision of the original author.

Secondly, content: Besides the obvious about breaking the rules of the site, we're open to most things but you need to at least start with the same premise as everyone else. Which is that Clara is giving herself to Alex as an 18th Birthday gift. Please include the sentence ‘ “Alex, your gift is standing in front of you…me” Said, Clara’ , somewhere towards the start of your thread so there is some small continuity with the story overall. Content is going to be moderated but only initially to ensure you are on the right path and the quality is up to scratch (see below). Once we are happy that you have a few decent chapters ready to go (we don’t want loads of abandoned threads) we’ll leave you to it and you can publish yourself at will.

If you want your content to be accepted please ensure there is a basic but readable level of English. None of us are literary geniuses (Talonias and Dansak especially!) but poor grammar and spelling need to be the exception, not the norm.

You do not need to start from the same premise as us in any way except the main one (Birthday gift, Alex and Clara, etc. and the sentence mentioned above) you don't need to start them in the same location or use the same side characters. Feel free to add your own spin on things or change their personalities etc. If you want to write them as we have done there will be character pages to help you do that. We would love it if you engaged with us when you get started, we are as enthusiastic about the Gift as we hope you are and would love to help in any way we can, especially if you are not sure how to start or you want your ideas vetted for some reason, or just want to talk about the project.

Thanks and Good luck, we look forward to reading what you do with Alex and Clara!