The Dock · Salt of the Page community
The rules of The Dock.
Short version: be a nice person and you can stay. Here’s exactly what that means, so there are no misunderstandings.
The one rule: be kind.
The Dock is a place for writers to help each other. Treat every member the way you’d want someone to treat you on your hardest writing day. The seven rules below are what being kind looks like here.
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1
No cussing
No swear words or crude language. That includes starred-out or misspelled ones like f*** or sh1t, and it includes quotes from your own manuscript.
Fine: “This chapter is driving me up the wall.”
Not fine: Any swear word, spelled out, starred out or spaced out.
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2
No bullying or insults
Talk about the writing, never the person. Honest feedback is welcome when it’s kind. Mocking, name-calling and pile-ons are not.
Fine: “The middle dragged a little for me. Could the flashback be shorter?”
Not fine: “This is garbage. You can’t write.”
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3
No politics
No political parties, politicians, elections, government policy or culture-war arguments. Real history for book research is fine, and so are the kingdoms and wars in your story.
Fine: “How did people send letters in 1942? It’s for my novel.”
Not fine: Arguing about an election, a politician or a party.
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4
No hate or slurs
Never put anyone down for their race, religion, nationality, gender, sexuality, disability or age. Everyone who loves to write is welcome here.
Fine: Welcoming a writer from anywhere in the world.
Not fine: Slurs, or jokes at a group’s expense.
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5
Keep it clean
Nothing sexual or graphic. You can talk about the dark parts of your story, but keep the details off the board.
Fine: “My villain does something terrible in chapter 9. How much should I show?”
Not fine: Sexual or gory descriptions.
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6
No threats
No threats of any kind, and never tell anyone to hurt themselves, not even as a joke.
Fine: “I see it differently, and here’s why.”
Not fine: Anything that threatens or wishes harm on someone.
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7
No spam or scams
No ads for things that have nothing to do with writing, no scams, and no posting the same thing again and again. You can share links after your first three posts, up to two in a post.
Fine: “I wrote a post about outlining. Here’s the link.”
Not fine: Selling followers, crypto or anything off-topic.
Automatic removal
How removal works.
We’d rather never use it. But so The Dock stays a kind place without anyone having to police it, the rules enforce themselves.
Every word is checked first
Titles, posts, replies and display names are all checked before they appear. A word filter catches swear words, even disguised ones, and an AI moderator reads for bullying, politics and the other rules.
Break a rule and you’re removed
It happens automatically, the moment you post. The post is never published, your earlier posts come down, and your email can’t sign back in. No warnings and no strikes.
Think we got it wrong?
Computers can make mistakes. Email [email protected] from the email you joined with. A person on our team reads every appeal, and if it was a mistake we bring you and your posts back.
Good to know
- Can I quote a swear word from my book?
- No. The filter can’t tell a quote from cussing, so keep every post clean. Describe it instead: “my character swears here.”
- Can I give honest feedback?
- Yes, please do. Kind, specific feedback about the writing is exactly what The Dock is for.
- My book has politics or war in it. Can I talk about it?
- Yes, when it’s about your story or real history for research. What’s not allowed is arguing about today’s real-world politics.
- What if someone breaks a rule and it gets through?
- Tap Report on the post. Our team reviews every report and can remove the post or the member.
- Can I delete my own posts?
- Yes, any time.
Ready to pull up a chair?
Join with your email, agree to be kind, and say hello.