Quote:
Originally Posted by Rick Mullin
As I understand it, The Deep End was started by a group of friends who saw themselves, rightly or wrongly, as deserving a board above the common gaggle. When you leave the door open, that kind of thing falls apart. I like the door open. It is very easy, on the other hand, to start another critique board and control access--members only.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol Taylor
I think I can clarify that one. While Alan is correct that we considered having a beginner's board when the volume became too great for one metrical board (if you missed a day a new poem could slip to the second page before you even saw it, let alone commented to it, and no poem stayed around long enough for serious critique or revision), we never actually had one. We knew we needed to split the board, but we weren't sure whether to make the boards alike or have each with a slightly different focus. We even took a poll to see how members would like to have us name the boards.
We considered the Deep End and the Shallow End or Kiddie Pool, but in the end we decided against a beginner's forum because Erato is not a beginner's board. We bill ourselves as a senior workshop and don't feel that we can be all things to all people. The internet is full of beginner's boards.
We considered Met I and Met II (and Met III), but since we had fixed moderators, we didn't think there would be much mingling between one and the other. If you wanted a certain mod or the people who hung out on a particular forum to comment, you'd post to that forum. People from the neighboring board wouldn't see or comment.
In the end we decided to divide along the lines of skin thickness, and set up The Deep End as a forum for those looking for more advanced and more exacting critique and Met as pretty much the same but less so. If there is any practical difference it is probably that the crits in Metrical may be worded in a kinder, gentler fashion, acknowledging that a member may be new to writing metrical poetry even though he isn't new to writing, and may be looking for some help with the basics, and that all of us post poems in varying levels of completion, some of which may not be ready for the extra-picky scrutiny they would get on The Deep End. You choose your depth and your distance.
The idea got around that anybody who was anybody posted to TDE, so TDE got busy (often with problem-riddled drafts posted by incompetent poets) while Met slowed to a crawl. Some members employed a reverse snobbery and posted only to Metrical. I guess there's no ideal division, but Met seems to be enjoying a boost in popularity right now while TDE is momentarily in the doldrums. I just hope it doesn't mean we're becoming kinder and gentler at the expense of honest critique or that we've suddenly all become thin-skinned.
Carol
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Have we had this discussion before?
Yes, we have. Witness the thread
Is TDE Dying? from, umm, November of
2006. The discussion there is worth reading, not least for the persective it provides on such matters as the question, mooted above, of the real origins of the Deep End . . . and, yes, the unfortunate misunderstanding that sometimes has flourished as to what it means to post there.
For any of our newer members who might not know, Carol Taylor, whose post I've quoted above (it's #69 in the original thread) was Eratosphere's first Administrator. She held the position, as I understand it, for some five years; she knows whereof she speaks.
Anyway . . . I've been taking a break from active participation myself for the last few weeks, but in case anyone's concerned, the Deep End is indeed open for business. Splash away.
Steve C.