Polar Attraction's Submission Rules
PA Story Submission RulesWelcome to Polar Attraction! Following are some guidelines which should help keep this community the fun and accepting world we want it to be both for authors and readers.
1. Although Polar Attraction is a polar board, we welcome all ships and fandoms here. However, unless you are posting your story under non-polar stories or non-Roswell, the primary focus of your story must be the relationship between Michael and Liz. If you are unsure if your story qualifies as a polar story, please contact us.
2. Before posting a story, we ask all authors to read the following threads:
3. Your story must be beta'd (edited) for correct grammar, punctuation and spelling before being posted. Unbetaed submissions can and will be deleted without warning. If you are in need of a beta (editor), go to the Polar Attraction Looking For... Forum and request one as there are numerous volunteers available!
4. Your story must be properly formatted. This includes:
A. Single-Spaced - Double-spaced stories may look good while printed, but they are hard on the eye in the format in which they appear on our board.
B. Proper use of Quotation Marks - Please use quote marks, not a dash or * to distinguish dialogue.
C. Line between Paragraphs - Insert a manual line break (return carriage) to separate between your paragraphs.
If you have a story with formatting you think may need tweaking and you are having trouble, please feel free to contact us for help or advice. We realize most boards don't have formatting requirements and we want to make it easy for you to bring your story over.
5. Your story must have a header with the following points covered:
Story Title: Titles and summaries must be kid friendly. No exceptions. "Please read", "Untitled", etc. are not acceptable titles or summaries.
Author's Email: This is optional, but suggested if your profile doesn't contain your email address.
Beta Name: This is where you acknowledge the username of the person beta’ing for you. Remember, having a beta is a requirement! Spoilers: This story is set up through what point in the cannon? Stories set post Graduation are Future Fics.
Category: AU, Polar Afterhours (i.e., includes sex), Polar Story (Rated E-M), Non-Polar Story
Rating: E, YT, T, M, MA (see below for an explanation of ratings)
Summary: You must put something, even if it is brief.
Warnings: If your story depicts anything that may be disturbing to your audience, particularly graphic rape, slash, or incest situations, please post a warning at the start of the story. Also, please select that warning using the correct efiction selection listed under “warnings”.
Disclaimer: Tell us that Roswell or your fandom of choice doesn't belong to you. If you are adapting or quoting anyone else's work, this is the place to acknowledge that creator so you aren't accused of plagiarism later.
6. Ratings:We use ratings for a reason, to make sure that the stories are in the proper forums and that underage children don't read anything that they're not supposed to. To access the afterhours stories you have to be 17 years old. Because of MA restrictions from our server, all members wishing to have access to our Afterhour story forums, will need to send an administrator their name, birthday (including year), and a valid email address. Following are the guidelines:
Ratings guideline:
E (EVERYONE)
YT (YOUNG TEEN)
T (TEEN)
M (MATURE)
MA (MATURE ADULT)
Rating's Breakdown;
MA rated stories have a sex scene depicted. If the sex is merely inferred (i.e., they go into the bedroom, you show kissing, but the scene resumes the next morning without actually showing anything), it may be M. If a story you are posting includes actual penetration, it will ABSOLUTELY be MA. Strong language alone will not require an MA rating. Please note: Stories containing adults having sex with minors are strictly forbidden.
Rated M stories have sexual situations or language use that is stronger than what could have been shown on the TV show. Again: IF IT COULD NOT PASS TV CENSORS, THEN IT IS RATED M OR MA.
- If a story you are posting uses any of the following words, it must be listed as Rated M: Cock, cocksucker, fuck, motherfucker, shit, cunt, tit or any derivative of those words.
- If a story you are posting includes the characters in a sexual situation (i.e., bare-chested women, heavy petting; anything that is "second base" or beyond) it would be at least an M, even if there is no sex.
Rated YT and T stories are going to have content similar to what could have been shown on the show: no nudity, very mild language.
Rated E stories are rare. But if your story barely uses mild language (such as "damn") and has little more than light pecks or hand holding, then it may qualify as E
7. Forum Categories: Stories must be submitted to the proper category. If there is an appropriate sub-category, DO NOT add your story to the main category. The submission form allows you to choose multiple categories for your story, and we worked very hard to add that functionality for you. So please do NOT add your story multiple times!. The following descriptions will help you select the write one.
Polar Afterhours: Michael and Liz in the bedroom. All stories here are rated MA. To access these stories, you must be 17 years old.
Polar Stories: Our favorite couple is featured in the best polar stories around, rated E through M.
Roswell Crossovers Afterhours:Because in fandom Buffy can battle Nasedo, or Liz can become the next slayer, but the nookie must go on these stories are rated MA. To access these stories, you must be 17 years old.
Roswell Crossovers: Because in fandom Buffy can battle Nasedo, or Liz can become the next slayer. Stories held here, are rated E through M.
Non-Polar and Non-Roswell Stories: This forum is for any Non-Polar and Non-Roswell story, rated E through M, that you want to post.
Non-Polar and Non-Roswell afterhours: This forum is for all Non-Polar and Non-Roswell stories that are rated MA. To have access to these stories, you must be 17 years old.
MIA Afterhours:Afterhours stories, rated MA, from all catagories go here when they are not updated in six months. To access these stories, you must be 17 years old.
MIA Stories: Stories from all of the above categories, rated E through M, are placed here when they are not updated for six months or longer.
8. Stories with multiple chapters should be archived as such and NEVER as separate stories. Upload the first chapter of your story, then go to Manage Stories in your account to add additional chapters. If you have trouble with this, please contact the site administrator or ask a friend to help you.
9. Flaming is strictly prohibited here at Polar Attraction. We monitor all posts made on this board to ensure that they are within the realm of good taste. Admins and mod's will report any findings of questionable posts to each other and action will be taken at their discretion.
If you're not sure what constitutes flaming please read the following:
To flame is to post offensive, mean spirited comments on someone's story thread or about someone in general. It's fine to offer someone constructive criticism, if the situation warrants it but don't go around offering your "expertise" to everyone.
We ask that if you don't like something that's been posted, don't leave a comment on it or you will be subject to the punishment for flaming.
Also, if you feel a reader is flaming you personally or your story, please contact us and allow us to deal with the situation appropriately, rather than encouraging the person by continuing a potentially nasty debate on your story thread. Let us be the bad cops. Don't put yourself in the wrong by responding inappropriately, or we'll have to cite you, too.
10. All Roswell fanfic is inspired by someone else's work, but we must give credit where it is due, or the consequences will be swift and severe with no warning or appeal. We have a zero-tolerance policy for plagiarism, be it Scene, Story or Idea Plagiarism.
If an author passes off someone else's creative work including, but not limited to using passages and ideas from someone else's previously written work - as their own, all of their stories will be deleted. Furthermore, the author will be banned from this website, and we will post a note on the board for all to know what the author did.
You may not use excerpts from or create a sequel to someone else's fiction unless you obtain permission from the original author and provide proof of that to an admin/mod before the work is posted.
Quoting a poem or song lyrics or doing an adaptation of a story is allowed, provided that author credits the original creator. If you have a question about what is permissible and what is not, ask a mod or an admin.
"You can, within reason, quote dialogue from the show, but remember to state this in the disclaimer and indicate the episode it came from.
Using a few lines of episode dialogue is allowed. Quoting over half of an episode is not. For legal purposes, quoting must be done in moderation." (http://www.roswellfanatics.net)
If you're wondering if your story has used too much of the show's dialogue/scenes, consider this litmus test used in the courts and during our investigations: If you took away the scenes/dialogue from the show, what would you have left? If your answer is nothing, barely nothing, or a significantly weaker story, then you need to rewrite it. It's one thing to use the canon for inspiration/plot bunnies/plot twists, but quite another to steal it. Such stories will not be tolerated and will be immediately removed from the board.
A number of authors have requested that fans refrain from writing fan fiction based on their work. Therefore submissions will not be accepted based on the works of P.N. Elrod, Raymond Feist, Terry Goodkind, Laurell K. Hamilton, Anne McCaffrey, Robin McKinley, Irene Radford, Anne Rice, and Nora Roberts/J.D. Robb.
We must all be vigilant in keeping our board free from plagiarized works. If you suspect an author of plagiarism, do not confront them on their thread. Contact us and let us handle the situation.
11. No depictions of real life characters or groups included in anyway. We do not want to be subject to libel suits. It is one thing to borrow someone's fictitious characters for the sake of fanfiction, but another entirely to use an individuals name without their permission. If you can gain permission for the names usage, take the issue up with an Admin, but otherwise please refrain from making actors, musicians, political figures or any others actual characters in your stories. This does not mean that you cannot reference an individual, only that you cannot make them an active character in your story.
Submissions found to be in violation of these rules may be removed and the author's account suspended at the discretion of the site administrators and/or moderators. The site administrators reserve the right to modify these rules as needed.
If you have any further questions, please contact us and we will be happy to assist you.