Slinging Ink

Welcome to the very first edition of the Inkslinger Inquiry, Inkslinger forum's and Slinging Ink's newspaper. Aided by a monthly email, the Inkslinger Inquiry will help keep members up-to-date on the website and the forums. Each month, this page will change to reflect the new issue of the newspaper. A bulk email will be sent when the newspaper is published.

During the month of November, there were many changes made to Inkslinger forums. Inkslinger gained 51 members and 1600+ posts. The growth is exciting for all involved in the forums. Changes that have been made to the forum are as follows:

Forum layout changes:

* The general chat area has been revised. We have a new Fun and Games forum. The Literature Dwellings forum has been moved to Inkslinger Development
* The Challenges and Tournaments forum has been moved to The Workshop
* The Drawing Room was taken out of the Artistic Expressions forum until there is need for it.
* Added new contests and events forum so members could read about events and contests on Inkslinger.
* Added new musical appraisals forum to post reviews of music, CDs, and more.
* Added music forum to discuss favorites artists, CDs, and songs.
* Added Unfinished Works forum for those who have works that aren't quite finished.

In addition to forum changes, we have had a slight staff makeover. The changes can be seen below.

Staff Openings

*We are currently in need of Critics and Agents. Editors are filled. We are also in need of newspaper staff to write articles for the newspaper. Please consider applying for this job first.*

This article is intended to introduce you to each position, give you an overview of each position, and request that you submit an application if interested. We are currently hiring.

Artistic Expression Duties

Editor- The editor is a global moderator position. However, the primary forum for this position is in the Artistic Expressions forums. They are responsible for keeping activity going and posting challenges.
Critic- The critic is a moderator position. They concentration of the moderation is in the review forum. Users can submit their paper for review and this is the critic's job. Also, the critic chooses the Story of the Month.
Literary Agent- The agent is a moderator's position that helps the editor post challenges. Also, the agent is responsible for interviewing the Writer of the Month.

Inkslinger Development Duties

Editor- The editor position is a global moderator position. The editor is responsible for moderating all development forums and posting Revision documentations. They are also responsible for submitting Tips of the Month.
Critic- The critic is a moderator position. He/she posts documentations in the Workshop forums and helps the editor with the Tips of the Month.
Literary Agent- The agent is a moderator position that focuses mainly on keeping discussions going in the development forums.

Literature Forums:

Editor- This position is a global moderator position. The editor is responsible for all literature forums. They must also add authors each week. (one-two authors is required). The editor also works with the agent to decide on Author of the Month.
Critic- This is a moderator position which focuses mainly on literature reviews. This could be books, poems, etc. (One review a week is required). The critic is also responsible for the Review of the Month of a book or other form of literature.
Literary Agent- The literary agent is a moderator position. He/she keeps discussion going in the Literature Dwellings forum. The Author of the Month is also decided by the agent, along with the editor.

Music Forums:

Editor- This position is a global moderator position. The music editor moderates the music forums. They are also responsible for posting short musician's bios.
Crtic- This position is a moderator position. The critic is responsible for reviewing music and CDs. They are responsible for submitting a Review of the Month for publication in the Newsletter.
Literary Agent- This position is also a moderator position. The agent is responsible for posting music discussions and posting lyrics of songs.

Staff Guidelines
All staff must be active at least five out of seven days.
All staff must post at least five times each day. Three of these posts must be in their topic forum.

Current Contest

Posting/Referral Contest

The posting contest is a good way to become an honorary member of the forum. Invite friends, make friends, and ensure your friends make posts. Look into the forums to find more information.

Author of the Month

Edgar Allen Poe

His Life (1809-1849)

Edgar Allen Poe was born Edgar Poe to actor parents. His father deserted before his birth, and his mother came down with Consumption (a form of TB) when he was two. After which time, he was taken in by John Allen, a tobacco exporter from Richmond. John and his wife were unable to have children, so John's wife loved Poe as a son. John, however, resented him to his dying day. He refused to adopt him, saying 'no son of an actor shall carry my name'. He compromised eventually, and allowed Edgar to have Allen as his middle name.

Poe went to an odd school as a child, he spent most of his time digging graves. He did do well enough, however, to get into the University of Virginia. He piled up gambling debts quickly, and was forced to leave before the year was over. When he returned, he found that his adoptive mother had died of Consumption, and John Allen had no intention of supporting him any more. After a great battle with Allen, he left the house of his childhood for the last time. John Allen would die a few years later, leaving no place in his will for Poe.

Poe spent the next few years in the Army before getting admitted to West Point. He was discharged from there only a few months later, for disobedience and neglect of duty. His life then went into a tail spin. We worked constantly on writing, but he lost jobs on several magazines. The reason for this is unknown. A biographer who wrote about him after his death said that it was due to compulsive drinking. That biographer's only purpose was to destroy Poe's reputation, which he did very well. Very few people know the truth, that Poe was indeed allergic to alcohol. During much of this time, he lived with his Aunt, and he fell in love with his 13-year old cousin, Virginia Clemm. Poe asked his Aunt for his cousin's hand in marriage. His Aunt permitted this union, but only if he would wait until Virgina was 14.

After he was wed, his life entered a more peaceful time. He was madly in love, and was begining to be accepted widly as a poet a short story writer. It was at this time that he was visited by one of the greatest authors of the day, Charles Dickens. Poe had started work on a poem, but could tell that it wasn't going anywhere, until he had a dinner with Dickens. There Dickens got to talking about an unusual pet he had that had died. A pet raven, that had gotten into a bucket of oil while he was away. This inspired Poe to add a raven to the poem he was working on. 'The Raven' is now one of the greatest and most well known poems ever written. At the time, however, it was all he could do to prove he wrote it. By a great folly, he had it first published in a newspaper. Since newspapers are not under copyright, several other people claimed it as thier own. Finally, Poe gained control of the work, and he toured the nation reading it. He would stand before a candle in a great ampitheatre so his shadow would be cast on the audience. This created a great atmosphere, and his fame quickly spread.

Edgar Allen Poe, the master of dark, the father of mystery, is more popular today than he ever was in life. Most of the misconceptions of his life are still perpetuated by even the most distinguished publishing companies. For all that, his work is loved at face value, stretching across generations and centuries like no writer since Shakespeare. Our children and grand-children will read and love his work long after we are gone. We will always admire his talent, and will always live in the shadow of his work, but none of us would accept the pain he endured to write as he did.

Tales

* "Berenice"
* "The Black Cat"
* "The Cask of Amontillado"
* "The Fall of the House of Usher"
* "The Gold-Bug"
* "Hop-Frog"
* "Ligeia"
* "The Man of the Crowd"
* "The Masque of the Red Death"
* "The Murders in the Rue Morgue"
* "The Pit and the Pendulum"
* "The Purloined Letter"
* "The Tell-Tale Heart"


Poetry

* "Annabel Lee"
* "The Bells"
* "The City in the Sea"
* "Eldorado"
* "The Haunted Palace"
* "Lenore"
* "The Raven"
* "Ulalume"

*To see more information, please go to the forums.*


Hot Topics

Do You Go To Church?:

A heated debate topic about whether or not people should go to church, how it may effect their life, and what should or shouldn't be done.

Abortion:

The never ending debate over abortion continues here where members are playing a game of cutthroat where nobody seems to prevail victorious.

Upcoming Events and Articles:

Post-A-Thon
Writer of the Month
Review of the Month
Tips of the Month
Story of the Month


Please feel free to stop in and see the progress of Inkslinger Forums. See the growth and become involved!

Inkslinger Forums Are Open

Inkslinger forums and Slinging Ink website are now fully functional. Although these places are slowly growing, ideas are in the works to make the places more enjoyable for all. You may post your stories, art, and journals. Get tips from The Workshop and help with revising from The Revisionist’s Lounge. Post your stories and get active within this community.

 
Staff Openings

There are still staff openings within Inkslinger forums and Slinging Ink Website. Please read the following staff positions and apply if interested. Please only apply if you are going to be active.

Editor- This job will be a global mod position for the entire board. The concentration forum for this job will be The Workshop and The Revisionist Lounge. Editors will post new topics as well as resources for people using the Workshop.

Critic- This is a mod position for the Artistic Expressions forums. Members have the option of getting their pieces reviewed when they submit them. This is the Critic's job. Also, making sure these forums stay clean and organized.

Literary Agent- This is a mod position for the Written Requests section. We are not going to have a graphics request position but we do have a written requests. You do not have to necessarily fill requests but just keep them neat. This mod will also be in charge of the Challenges & Tournaments...posting new challenges and what not.

Newspaper Staff- This will be a mod position for the Newspaper forums. You will be in charge of part of the newspaper each week. This could be anything from updates on the site to the latest Author of the Month. You will, of course, be able to pick the part of the newspaper you work with. More information about the newspaper is to come.

Author of the Month

Written by Joe, Editor on Inkslinger Forums

Maya Angelou is Slinging Ink’s Author of the Month. I love Maya Angelou and this is why I have picked her. Voting will take place for next month’s Author of the Month.

Life:1928-Present

Maya was born on 4 April 1928, in St. Louis, Missouri. Maya Angelou's autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, was nominated for a National Book Award in 1969 and made her a relic for African-American women. In the 1950s Angelou had been a dancer and stage actress, and she was active in the civil rights movement where she was nominated to be a Southern Christian Leader by Martin Luther King, Jr. During the 1960s she was a teacher in Africa for 5 years. When she returned to the United States in 1969, she published "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings". She was nominated in 1972. for a Pulitzer Prize for her collection of poetry, "Just Give Me a Cool Drink of Water 'fore I Diiie". Since then, Angelou has continued teaching, writing, acting, producing, recording where she won Grammy Awards for the spoken word for the years 1993, 1995 and 2002, and collecting honorary degrees from across the United States. Since 1981, she has been the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University in North Carolina.

During her acting career, Angelo was nominated for an Emmy for her role in the 1977 TV miniseries Roots, based on Alex Haley's novel, and she also shot a fil, Poetic Justice, with Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur in the 1930s. Maya's writings can be found in many text books used for teaching ranging from 3rd grade level all the way up through college.

She had a boatload of awards. Here they are:

HONORS & AWARDS

• Chubb Fellowship Award, Yale University, 1970. Nomination, National Book
• Award, for I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
• Pulitzer Prize Nomination for JUST GIVE ME A COOL DRINK OF WATER FORE I DIIIE, 1972.
• Honorary Degree, Portland State University, 1973.
• Tony Award Nomination for her performance in Look Away, 1973.
• Board of Trustees/American Film Institute, 1975.
• Rockfeller Foundation Scholar in Italy (Scholar-in-residence at the Bellagio
• Study & Conference Center, 1975.
• Honorary Degree, Smith College, 1975.
• Honorary Degree, Mills College, 1975.
• Honorary Degree, Lawrence University, 1976.
• Ladies' Home Journal Award ("Woman of the Year in Communication"), 1976.
• Emmy Award Nomination, made-for-television movie Roots, 1977.
• Golden Eagle Award, Documentary for PBS, Afro-American in the Arts, 1977.
• Honorary Degree, Columbia College, 1979.
• Honorary Degree, Occidental College, 1979.
• Honorary Degree, Atlanta University, 1980.
• Honorary Degree, University of Arkansas at Pinebluff, 1980.
• Honorary Degree, Wheaton College, 1981.
• First Reynold's Professor, Wake Forest University (lifetime appointment since 1981).
• Honorary Degree, Kean College of New Jersey, 1982.
• Honorary Degree, Claremont Graduate School, 1982.
• Honorary Degree, Spelman College, 1983.
• Honorary Degree, Boston College, 1983.
• Ladies' Home Journal, "Top 100 Most Influential Women," 1983.
• The Matrix Award, Field of Books from Women in Communication, Inc., 1983.
• Honorary Degree, Winston-Salem State University, 1984
• Honorary Degree, University Brunesis, 1984.
• Honorary Degree, Rollins College, 1985.
• Honorary Degree, Howard University, 1985.
• Honorary Degree, Tufts University, 1985.
• Honorary Degree, University of Vermont, 1985.
• Honorary Degree, North Carolina School of the Arts, 1986.
• The North Carolina Award in Literature (the highest honor the state bestows), 1987.
• Honorary Degree, North Carolina School of the Arts, 1988.
• Honorary Degree, University of Southern California, 1989.
• American Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award, 1990.
• Recipient of the Langston Hughes Award presented at the City College of New York, 1991.
• Distinguished Woman of North Carolina, 1992.
• Essence's "Woman of the Year," 1992.
• Horatio Alger Award, 1992.
• Woman in Film Award, 1992.
• Honorary Degree, Northeastern University, 1982.
• Inaugural Poet for President Bill Clinton, 1993.
• Arkansas Black Hall of Fame, 1993.
• Honorary Degree, Skidmore College, 1993.
• Honorary Degree, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 1993.
• Honorary Degree, Academy of Southern Arts & Letters, 1993.
• Grammy for Best Spoken Word or Non Musical Album, 1993, for On The Pulse of Morning
• Added to the Rollins College Walk of Fame, 1994.
• Spingarn Award, NAACP, 1994.
• Honorary Degree, American Film Institute, 1994.
• Honorary Degree, Bowie State University, 1994.
• Frank G. Wells Award, 1995.
• Honorary Degree, University of Durham 1995.
• Grammy for Best Spoken Word or Non Musical Album, 1995, for Phenomenal Woman
• Lifetime Membership, N.A.A.C.P., Honeywell Corporation, Minneapolis, MN, 1996.
• President's Award, Collegiate of Language Association for Outstanding Achievements, Winston-Salem, NC, 1996.
• Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Los Angeles & Martin Luther King King, Jr. Legacy Association National Award, 1996.
• The New York Black 100, Schomburg Center & The Black New Yorkers, 1996.
• National Conference of Christians & Jews, Distinguished Merit Citation, 1997.
• Homecoming Award, Oklahoma Center for Poets & Writers, 1997.
• W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Expert-in-Residence Program, 1997.
• North Carolina "Woman of the Year" Award, N.C. Black Publishers Association, 1997.
• Presidential & Lecture Series Award, University of North Florida, 1997.
• Black Caucus of American Library Association, Cultural Keepers Award, 1997.
• Humanitarian Contribution Award, Boston, MA, 1997.
• Honorary Degree, Shaw University, 1997.
• Honorary Degree, Wake Forest University, 1997.
• Alston/Jones International Civil & Human Rights Award, 1998.
• Christopher Award, New York, NY, 1998.
• American Airlines Audience, Gold Plaque Choice Award for Down in the
• Delta from Chicago International Film Festival, 1998.
• City Proclamation, Winston-Salem, NC from Mayor Jack Cavanaugh, 1998.
• Sheila Award, Tubman African American Museum, Macon, GA, 1999.
• Special Olympics World Games, Speaker, Raleigh, NC, 1999.
• Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature, 1999.
• Named one of "the top 100 best writers of the 20th Century" by Writer's
• Digest, 1999.
• Honorary Degree, Lafayette College, 1999.
• Presidential Medal of Arts from President Clinton, 2000
• Honorary Degree, Hope College, 2001
• Grammy for Best Spoken Word, 2002, for A Song Flung Up to Heaven
• Honorary Degree, Columbia University, 2003
• Honorary Degree, Eastern Connecticut University, 2003
• Grammy nomination for “Best Spoken Word Album,” 2004, for Hallelujah!
• The Welcome Table.
• New York Times Best Seller List, May 2006
• John Hope Franklin Award, June 2006
• Mother Teresa Award for her untiring devotion and service to humanity,
  August 2006

Collections:

• Complete Collected Poems of Maya Angelou, the (1994)
• Mother: A Cradle to Hold Me (2006)

Anthologies:

• I Am the Darker Brother (1997)

If you are interested in learning more please visit Maya's Official Website at http://www.mayaangelou.com/LongBio.html

 

Tips of the Month

Each month, Inkslinger will take three of the best writing tips in the Workshop, the Revisionists Lounge, and ones that are submitted and make them the Tips of the Month. If you think you have a useful tip, please share it with us. You can post it on the forum or submit the tip on the Submissions page.

The tips this month focus on the prewriting stage of writing.

Tip #1: Brainstorm before you write unless you are writing a stream of consciousness or are intending to. Brainstorming before you write allows you to get the ‘creative juices’ flowing, and you are not sitting down to a ‘cold write.’ A ‘cold write’ is sitting down and starting without any ideas about what to write. Look for more information about brainstorming and cold writing on Inkslinger forums.

Tip #2: Develop characters before writing. Know your characters inside and out. This includes what they look like, how they think, their spiritual and intellectual capabilities, their relationships with other characters, and more. Look at the character development tips and workshops. There is also a writing prompt focusing on character development.

Tip #3: If you have unused ideas, look back at these. They might trigger something that would interest you. Never throw old ideas away, no matter how silly or far out they seem. In addition, looking through journals, diaries, and blogs might trigger ideas for characters, settings, and plots.