Updated July 2023

Group founder JABrownOfficial answers your questions on Shut Up and Write.

• What is the goal for the community?
The goal for this community has always been to help writers improve their writing through helpful activities and general discussion.

• Are admins involved too?
Our moderators JABrownOfficial MikeMacColin FmEver _MidnightMelodies_

• I write mature work, can I still join?
Ah, ok. Well that is a tricky one. If your book is a story where sex or mature scenes feature in the plot as part of it then yes, you will be allowed to join. However this does depend on the content and whether or not it breaks Wattpad rules. Any book that breaks the rules will be reported. This includes books that are more sex scenes than plot, for example smut books/one shots.

• Do you have a book club?
Yes we do. It is run on a separate account ShutUpandReadBC and you will need to message FmEver to see if we have any places available

• What sort of channels do you have on Discord?
We have several channels on discord. The ones we use mostly are Main and social. Main is used for writing discussion, gaining help with your writing and we have some writing games here as well. Social is for pretty much anything else within the group rules.

• Are there editors that help us correct the grammar or helpers?
No, we don't have editors as it's more beneficial to help writers to self edit instead of editing their work for them.

• Do you do a lot on screenwriting?
No, we don't do that much with screenwriting, however we do have a screenwriting channel.

• What sort of things are expected of me and how much of a commitment is the group?
We understand that our members have lives offline which is why we don't expect everyone to complete every single activity we have. None of these are compulsory.

• Do I need to commit a certain amount of hours every week? I just want to know so I can plan for that in advance. No. You don't need to commit any certain time to the group. If you can do the activities, that's brilliant. If you can't, then you can't and it doesn't really matter. The only thing we ask is that if you do sign up for something and you're unable to complete it, it's important that you let us know.

• I would like to know about the different activities it hosts, and how active is the community. We are a very fun community. We have a book club and host various activities, contests and events throughout the year. Most of these are exclusive to our members on Discord. However, we do host non exclusive ones for everyone on Wattpad as well. Our activities can be anything from reviewing each other's work and providing feedback, to funny humour filled prompt contests like our favourite, Survival of the Fittest.

• Can I promote my story so I can gain constructive criticism? Yes we have a channel where you can promote your story and if you ever need constructive criticism you can ask on the main chat, which is where we have writing discussions.

• Will it be okay if I don't have a published book on Wattpad? I do write, but I prefer keeping it unpublished. The one book I do have is mainly a place for me to collect pieces of my writing I particularly like. Yes this is perfectly alright and understandable that some people may prefer to keep their writing to themselves. However, it will be difficult for us to help someone with their writing if we can't actually read it.

• Would you say there is a writing quality?
We are a very mixed ability group so there are beginners as well as more advanced and intermediate writers.

• Are new writers accepted?
Yes we accept new and beginner writers, however they must be open to receiving constructive criticism and want to improve their writing. This is the same for everyone whether or not they're a beginner.

• How active do you have to be for the group?
There's no right or wrong amount of activity you need for the group. However, we do try and remove those who have been inactive for a month or more. If you're worried about being removed and need time off, just let us know. If you have been removed, just let us know and we can send you a new link to rejoin.

• In rule 9, you mentioned paired activities. What sort of assignments do you host?
Paired activities could be anything, so short story co-writing, reviewing or providing constructive criticism. We will always ask you if there is someone you would rather not work with.

• Wanna know about the person who kept this name bc this has the VIBES XDD
We had a group vote in 2015 which is when the group name was decided