This year the E-Anthology will be open from May 16 through August 26, 2011. Participants may submit work through August 26, even if their own summer institute has ended. After the E-Anthology closes, participants will still be able to retrieve their portfolios for one year.

Here are some general tips to keep in mind when posting and responding to the E-Anthology:

• Assume good intent.
• Practice and encourage active listening and reading.
• Be as explicit as possible in your communication.
• Don't assume—ask for clarification as needed.
• Build trust by doing what you say you will do.
• Use irony and humor with care, as it does not always come across online the way you might have intended. You can always use emoticons to clarify! ;-)
• Review your writing carefully before you finalize a post or a response.
• Approach every contribution with curiosity, expecting surprise and wonder.

Want to use multimedia?

We encourage the use of multimedia (e.g. photos, video) within your post, although the E-Anthology does not accept uploaded multimedia files directly. Instead, we recommend that you post such files elsewhere online, and then link to those files from within your post.

Ready to read and respond to other people’s writing and comments? Here are some additional guidelines (adapted from the Dakota Writing Project's summer institute).

• Consider reading the work aloud to hear where the writing flows and where it doesn't.
• Remind yourself what type of response the writer has requested. Does the writer want the piece blessed, pressed, or addressed?
• Be honest but kind, even if the writer has asked you to press the piece of writing. Please remember that responding online lacks the benefit of facial expressions and body language.

Keep in mind that it’s your writing, so you may accept or reject any or all suggested changes.

Continue the conversation with your responders. You may want to thank them for taking the time to respond to your writing, even if you disagree with some or all of what they have said.

Consider carefully what the responders had to say about your writing:

• Did the responders help you see your writing in a different light?
• Did they confirm some things you had suspected about your writing?
• Did they say anything that surprised you?
• Was anything in your writing misunderstood?
• What do you think you need to do next to this piece of writing to create a stronger draft?

The NWP does not and cannot review all material posted to the E-Anthology by users and is not responsible for this material. NWP reserves the right to edit or delete inappropriate material.

Please note: Do not upload files or posts that contain photos, files, or other material protected by intellectual property laws, rights of privacy or publicity, or any other applicable law unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents.

***

Thank you for taking the time to review these guidelines. Feel free to use or adapt them for your classes and other writing-response situations.