Harblefarble

Anonymous asked: So do you have to be 18 to join or something? Or is it for 13 and older? Asking cause I'm 17 and wanna join but your comment has me confused.

…wait a minute. I’m a moron. The guide says “15”. Haha, that’s what I get for trying to act all high and mighty. Obviously the other person was pulling my leg.

Anyway, it’s 15. This also goes to show how you should double check the guides, so you don’t look like a moron. Like me.

SCP Writing Tip: Your First Article

I thought I’d start writing little tidbits of advice on SCP articles. While I’m still newer, I do know a bit about a few things. So, I thought I’d give people on Tumblr a couple of tips on how to write your very first SCP article.

1. READ THE GODDAMN ARTICLES

Many people assume that after they read a few articles on the site, they’re ready to write their own. And, trust me, that will get you nowhere. You need to read a lot of articles and stories, both the good ones and the bad ones. You gotta look at the really new ones and the really old (and sometimes bad) ones, along with the comments they have on each article. This will give you an idea of what the mindset is like when it comes to the articles, and your basic do’s and don’t’s.

2. THERE ARE GUIDES. USE THEM.

Once you’ve decided you’re a bad enough dude to write your own SCP, make sure to read all the relevant guides. Here are all the guides that you can read. While you don’t have to study each and every one religiously (especially not the Adult Section. We really don’t talk about that anymore…), it’s great to go through and learn things. For example, while the SCP has no actual streamlined cannon, there are a few recurring devices that can be used, such as Groups of Interest or sites. Some of the stuff is a bit dated, but most of it still applies. Except that Adult Section. 

3. PEER EVALUATION IS KEY

A very common mistake with brand new SCPs is not showing anyone else first. And this can hurt. A lot. We have a chat room that is very active and filled with a bunch of people that are, most times, willing to read your drafts. (Note: This does not mean you can badger the room about it every two seconds just because you didn’t get a response. This applies even more so when there’s another conversation going on. It’s massively irritating to do so. If you’re polite, and a bit patient, someone will get to your draft.) Or you can use our forums, which are also very populated. Either one works. But before you even think of posting it, or even working on it at all to be safe, bounce your work off of someone else.

4. EXPECT FAILURE, AND MOVE ON

It is a common fact that after your very first SCP gets posted, it’ll most likely be slammed six ways from Sunday (unless you’re really, really lucky). Do NOT let this get to you. A lot of newbies end up taking this failure to heart and just jump off of the site. Don’t. Listen to their actual critiques, and brush off the generic “This article is horrible/downvoted with the force of a thousand suns” shticks. No one is out to offend you personally, they just don’t like the article. So take what they’ve said and apply it to your article. Make changes, let it evolve into something better. Note: Be careful about constantly reposting the same article you’ve failed on. If you get multiple shut downs, it may be a problem with the subject itself. At that point, it’s better to leave it on the back-burner and try something new.

Addendum: Don’t let this be a reason to just throw out a shitty article to begin with. No matter how it looks, make sure to put in the effort as you would with anything else

Now, these are just a couple of tips. I didn’t mention specifics, like what exactly to write about or the layout, because those are all listed in the guides. These are just some tips to keep your head in the game. Happy writing, researchers!

Anonymous asked: Oh, you're part of the SCP Site? Can you tell me how the people there are like? I'd like to join the site, but I'm nervous because I've heard the admins there are quite mean.

The SCP people are a lively bunch, just like any other community. You go into the chat and I can guarantee you wont think any of them wrote anything remotely similar to what’s on the site. But once you actually strike up a conversation about some of the articles, or have them read some of your stuff, you’ll see where it comes from. 

The admins generally aren’t super mean. The mean one you’ve probably heard of is Bright, and he’s honestly a nice dude. However, admins are much less likely to upvote, and more likely to critique your work. They’ve been around the block and know a rookie SCP when they see one. But they’re critical, not mean.

However, all SCP members are the meanest when it’s a genuinely BAD article (this is usually because they haven’t read a lot of SCPs or haven’t gotten their stuff looked at). Things like blatant self-insert Mary Sues, really bad containment protocols, god weapons, etc. The easiest way to deal with this is get a lot of critiques on your SCPs from people in the chat and to expect failure with your first SCP. Almost everyone fails on their first try, even the ones who go on to write the best ones.

But don’t be nervous. We don’t bite. Except Mackenzie.

So yesterday I was reading through a bunch of SCP pages.

williamtheinfiltrator:

After a while, I thought, “Hey, it wouldn’t be so hard to write something for this,” and tried signing up… but couldn’t because applications are closed for the Renaissance Faire.

And then I read the site rules and guidelines. That’s when it hit me that a lot of the SCPs out there now don’t meet the originality standards. 073? Cain from Genesis, turned into a cyborg. 076? Gilgamesh, with just enough Abel to tie in with 073. 008? T-virus. 079? Pretty much every contained AI ever.

And then I found out about Dr. Bright, and quit for fear of another Christoph incident.

While I can’t necessarily defend this proper, I am a member (albeit a bit of a rookie) of the SCP and can explain a few things.

Those SCPs that you listed were from the really old site. See, the SCP site changed a lot over time, especially after the website completely moved. Before hand, it was a fairly open site where all sorts of junk got through. I’m betting half of the newbie articles that get deleted on a daily basis would’ve made it in. Nowadays we’re a bit more strict with it, to encourage people not to make the same mistakes and to try and bring in a bit more quality (doesn’t always work though, usually due to neutral votes).

Most of the old SCPs are kept due to their nostalgia value, and are not necessarily quality. I know many of the veterans of the site would like to nuke them from orbit and start over, but they’re already ingrained as a part of the SCP universe.

I want to say the same applies to Bright, but I’m not so sure. He’s obviously not the same as when he did write those, but he hasn’t exactly deleted them either. So I really don’t know.

Anyway, I’m sorry if you don’t want to join the site, but I hope that you do. We run a tighter ship nowadays and we could always use a bit more quality.