>>1518 If you're not sure of what to use it for, just leave the email field blank.
"sage" (without the quotes) can be entered into the email field to prevent your post from bumping a thread. This means the thread will stay where it is instead of moving to the top of the board. At 250 posts (247 not shown) a thread will enter auto-sage, which means the thread cannot be bumped regardless and will continue to fall behind new posts. Generally, at this point it means a new thread should be started.
Not entering your actual email is generally a good idea because imageboards, unlike forums, are not protected in any way, and as such, things like spiders, trolls, and other unsavory scripts and/or people have free access to any information posted on them, including anything in the email field. It's frowned upon because doing so is simply asking for your inbox to be flooded with spam of one form or another.
Emoticons are not to be used. There is no "why" here, it's just a matter of "don't do it or you'll piss off the locals." Here's a list of the few emoticons that are allowed, use sparingly:
ಠ_ಠ
;_;
(some 2-chan ones)
If you're going to write here you need to be more than a little thick-skinned and willing to take criticism. Your attitude seems good and you claim you're eager to improve, which is a large part of why I've been willing to help so much. The rest being that this site lacks a decent FAQ to tell newcomers these things, and doing this has helped me compile some notes for what I hope will eventually be a comprehensive list of things someone should know before writing here. So thank you for that much, but do keep in mind that the feedback and help you've gotten here so far is an exception, and far from the norm. The fact of the matter is, had you started this on almost any other board, you would have gotten significantly more responses similar to
>>1477.
Don't get me wrong, this community is without a doubt a good one, but to the uninformed outsider it can seem extremely hostile... almost like Gensokyo itself in some respects. Which is why I strongly suggest you read at least three stories before attempting to seriously write here. I'll even narrow it down for you and recommend Expectation of Sanguine Disorder (aka SDM:LA) by Hungry Youkai, A Scarlet-Stained Memoir by U.N.Owen, and Retrospective and Astronomical Narraration by !T1e/DmU8Jg (aka blankfag
;_;). I specifically recommend these three because, in addition to having high-quality writing, they demonstrate several important elements unique to writing on this site:
-How wildly the characterizations of a single character can vary between authors.
-Both good (SDM:LA) and bad (ASSM) examples of author-voter communication, and the consequences of such.
-Shitstorms and how they can be handled well, poorly, or allowed to escalate to the point it destroys the story entirely (RaAN).
-What not to do in letting life and emotions choose or change the direction of your story (ASSM)
There's plenty more in there I've missed, but this will at least get you started.