Limitations | Teen Ink

Limitations

July 3, 2011
By CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius


Dear Editors,
Everywhere teens go, there are limitations. Limitations on how long we can work at our jobs, what age we can vote, when we can get our driver’s licenses…need I go on? Since Teen Ink is a site for CREATIVE writers, I thought there would be fewer limitations. Apparently I needed a reality check.

Posts on the forums must be less than 10 000 characters “to keep comments concise and fresh.” I’m sure this works fine on the Regular Forums, but it can be infuriating in the Writer’s Workshop forums. As you are no doubt aware, members occasionally hold short story contests with prizes of good, honest feedback. Sometimes the stories entered in these contests exceed the limit and must be posted in more than one reply, which can be very inconvenient for the poster. Some parts of the stories are lost in the replying process, which is frustrating for both the person trying to enter the contest and the person holding the contest.

Many people ask for detailed feedback on their stories as well and sometimes 10 000 characters is not enough because of numerous errors in grammar and spelling. I have found this to be true when I attempt to post detailed critiques on published work as well as work in the forums.

Respect is a two-way street. Many writers here have immense respect for all the hard work you guys put into reading our work and running this amazing website. But you need to respect the fact that many of us are serious about wanting good, detailed feedback. If we do not receive detailed feedback, how are we supposed to improve our writing? Isn’t getting better at writing the point of joining Teen Ink?

I assure you, removing the limits (both minimum and maximum for forum posts as well as published works) will not ruin this great website. There is also no point in setting limits anyway because teens will always find ways to get around them. If a person has a really long comment, they post it in two replies to get around the 10 000 character limit. But this way of getting around the moderators is annoying and sometimes comments do not appear anyway (even if there are no ‘bad words’ in them and they do not exceed the limit). Please trust that we will behave like the mature young adults we are and your trust will be rewarded.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.


The author's comments:
I think the letter says everything I want to say--for now.

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This article has 22 comments.


on Aug. 19 2013 at 2:02 am
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Thank you! :)

on Jul. 19 2013 at 5:04 pm
DawnieRae BRONZE, Lancaster, Ohio
3 articles 0 photos 218 comments
I completely agree!!! I really loved this! I agree with you wholeheartedly!

on Sep. 26 2012 at 7:53 pm
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Thank you!

on Sep. 20 2012 at 7:01 pm
Alice_in_Wonderland GOLD, San Clemente, California
16 articles 0 photos 620 comments

Favorite Quote:
“I could give up, I could stay stuck, or I could move on, So I put one foot front of the other, No no no nothing’s gonna break my stride, “ –David Archuleta (The Other Side of Down)

I totally agree!! Great article! :)

on Nov. 29 2011 at 7:37 pm
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Thanks! :)         

on Nov. 29 2011 at 7:08 pm
SummerBlossom SILVER, Centralia, Washington
5 articles 0 photos 7 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Where ocean breezes storm the soul,
Where the love of strife grows quickly old,
Where the touch of God is beheld in power,
Where the spirit finds rest in its darkest hour."
The book "Rooms"

I really agree with this. Other people's opinion's are a very big part in making our writing better! Keep up the good work :)

on Oct. 8 2011 at 10:01 pm
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Yeah, it would be nice to edit published works.

on Oct. 8 2011 at 7:22 pm
SweetPolarBearHugs PLATINUM, New York, New York
27 articles 0 photos 75 comments

Favorite Quote:
"All conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil." - unknown author.
"All that we see or seem
Is but a dream within a dream." - Edgar Allan Poe

Really great work and I agree, they should trust us more and it would be nice to edit already posted works.

on Oct. 2 2011 at 5:26 pm
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Thank you!  And yes, I wish we could edit our articles after posting them.  A guy named Julian posted a letter to the editor about this.  It's called 'What's the Point of Critique?" if you want to read it.

Steph0804 GOLD said...
on Oct. 1 2011 at 11:52 am
Steph0804 GOLD, Seoul, Other
12 articles 4 photos 206 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog: you understand it better, but the frog dies in the process." -E.B. White

You have a completely valid point. I also wish the editors would let us edit our articles after posting; that way, we can fix typos and grammar errors without having to delete the article and post it again.

on Sep. 20 2011 at 5:56 pm
JoPepper PLATINUM, Annandale, Virginia
35 articles 0 photos 782 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Freedom is the ability to not care what the other person thinks."

"Not all those who wander are lost" --JRR Tolkien

"When you are listening to music it is better to cover your eyes than your ears." --Jose' Bergamin

You're welcome!!!!

on Sep. 18 2011 at 8:28 pm
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Thank you! :)

on Sep. 18 2011 at 1:25 pm
JoPepper PLATINUM, Annandale, Virginia
35 articles 0 photos 782 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Freedom is the ability to not care what the other person thinks."

"Not all those who wander are lost" --JRR Tolkien

"When you are listening to music it is better to cover your eyes than your ears." --Jose' Bergamin

Great job, this is probably one  of the best persuasive writings I've ever seen!!! :D

on Aug. 15 2011 at 10:10 pm
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Thank you! :)

on Aug. 15 2011 at 9:49 pm
CallMeMrs.Batman SILVER, Moreno Valley, California
5 articles 0 photos 39 comments

Favorite Quote:
"It takes a great deal of courage to stand up to our enemies, but a great deal more to stand up to our friends."
-Professor Dumbledore to Harry Potter
"What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger."
-Unknown

This is fantastic!!!! It made so much sense and I thought that it explained pretty much everything. :) Great work.

on Aug. 14 2011 at 12:24 pm
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

I doubt it, but thanks for commenting.

on Aug. 14 2011 at 9:56 am
MorenSore SILVER, Albuquerque, New Mexico
9 articles 0 photos 45 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right of being able to do what we ought."
~Lord Acton

I'm glad someone posted it. maybe this will get them to lift the limits.

on Aug. 12 2011 at 2:19 pm
musicispassion PLATINUM, Perris, California
35 articles 0 photos 733 comments

Favorite Quote:
" Life is never easy for those who dream."
There are so many other quotes i need pages to write them

i knew u would thanks again

on Aug. 12 2011 at 9:27 am
CarrieAnn13 GOLD, Goodsoil, Other
12 articles 10 photos 1646 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by." --Douglas Adams

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane." --Marcus Aurelius

Thanks! :)  I told you I would write a letter and I did.

on Aug. 12 2011 at 1:16 am
musicispassion PLATINUM, Perris, California
35 articles 0 photos 733 comments

Favorite Quote:
" Life is never easy for those who dream."
There are so many other quotes i need pages to write them

thanks for sticking to ur word carrieann love this