A guide to Helium's Creative Writing channel
Helium's Creative Writing channel is a vast place. New users often have a hard time navigating through the channel and aren't sure where to post their creative pieces. It takes some time to get used to how titles are made and what goes where. This guide will help you determine where your work should be posted.
Before we review all the subchannels in the Creative Writing channel we should take a look at what's not allowed.
Plagiarism- All work posted must be your own. You cannot post other people's work. Helium only wants original work.
Foul language- For some reason, some members think they can use all kinds of foul language in the Creative Writing channel. This isn't so. Just like the rest of Helium, you can't use F's and S's. Your work will end up being deleted.
Names in Posts- Please do not put your name in your work. Rating needs to be anonymous. If you post your name in your work, Helium staff will edit it.
Self promotion- You may not post your website address or email address in your work. Your work will either be deleted or edited.
Duplicate posts- You can only post a piece on Helium one time.
All caps- You shouldn't type your work out in all capital lettering. On the internet, that's shouting. It's unprofessional and your work will be deleted.
Off topic- Your work must "go with" the title you've posted it to. Don't post a short story about love and marriage under the title Short stories: Storms.
Word count- All the subchannels in the Creative Writing channel have a minimum word count of 400 except for the Poetry subchannel and the Songs subchannel. Poetry's minimum word count is 17 and songs has a minimum word count of 50.
There are eleven subchannels in the Creative Writing channel. Here is a quick look at each one.
The Drama subchannel- Drama has got to be one of the most misunderstood subchannel on Helium. Scripts, plays, comedy sketches and monologues should be posted here. You should not post dramatic stories or poetry or memoirs in this subchannel. A good script will have character information, stage directions and dialogue. Think of scripts as external as opposed to internal. You can't get inside a character's head and know what they are thinking in a script. You can only see what they do and hear what they say.
The Essays subchannel- The Essays subchannel is for academic or literary essays. It's not a place for memoirs or reflecting on a subject. As stated in the user's guide, essays on Helium should be academic and literary compositions on a single subject, usually from the author's point of view.
The Memoirs subchannel- Life stories, autobiographies and personal experiences should be posted in the Memoirs channel. No fiction or poetry should go here.
The Humor subchannel- Humorous stories, fiction or non-fiction should be posted in the Humor subchannel. Jokes, puns, tasteless humor and offensive material is not allowed and will be deleted. Humorous poetry should not be posted here. Humorous poetry should be posted to the Poetry subchannel.
The Novel Excerpts subchannel- Excerpts is the keyword here. Don't post an entire novel. It won't get read. This subchannel is for short chapters from a novel you've written. Again, no poetry or non-fiction here, please.
The Poetry subchannel- All kinds of poetry is welcomed on Helium. Whether you write free verse or metered, formal poetry there is a home for it on Helium. Keep in mind, poetry should only be posted in the Poetry subchannel and nowhere else on the site. If you post poems to other subchannels they will be deleted.
The Reflections subchannel- If Drama is the most misunderstood subchannel on Helium, Reflections is a close second. Reflections is for pieces where you are questioning, contemplating and thinking about a subject. They can contain personal experiences but should be reflective on the subject.
The Satire subchannel- Satire is humor with a bite. Satire is when you ridicule or make fun of a subject. And again, no poetry should be posted here. Satirical poetry should be posted in the poetry subchannel.
The Short Stories subchannel- Short stories between 400 and 1500 words should be posted here. Fiction, only. This isn't a place for memoirs or reflections or informational articles. We don't have a place on the site for Flash Fiction at this point but you never know what the future holds.
The Songs subchannel-
Original songs should be posted in the Songs subchannel. Not song lyrics you like or articles about songs but the songs themselves.
There is another subchannel in the Creative Writing channel called Creative Writing (Other) but very soon, this entire subchannel will be deleted.
If you can't find a title that suits your work, you can always suggest a title. But look hard before you suggest a new one. The Title Finder is the best way to check to see if a title exists already. Titles in the Creative Writing subchannel are somewhat broad. If they are too narrow, other writers cannot write to them. So, try to think as broadly as you can when looking for a title or submitting a new one.
While Creative Writing isn't a big money maker here on Helium or anywhere for that matter, it's an important part of the site. And Helium is happy to have you posting your treasured creative work on the site.
Also, you should know that if your work isn't rating high, that's because there are so many people writing to the Creative Writing channel. It doesn't necessarily mean your work isn't any good. Don't let the rank of your work discourage you from posting. There are many places on the forums where you can go to get feedback. Click on the word community, located at the bottom of every page on Helium and you'll find many talented folks who are willing to give you a hand. If you're in doubt about anything involving the Creative Writing Channel, you can contact any of the Creative Writing Stewards to give you a hand, too