deviantART Literature: The Guide for Beginners

Have you ever found yourself wanting to becoming more involved in the deviantART community? Or maybe you've wondered how to become more noticed and appreciated as a writer? If so, you've come to the right place! Here, you will learn everything you need to know about becoming in, with the dA literature community.

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Step I. Know Your Gallery Moderators

It always good to know who the gallery moderators are for your favored style of art here on dA. The literature gallery moderators are the people who practically keep the community going. These are the guys who not only select the daily deviations for that specific art scene, but they also hold contests, keep us on track with news posts, and give advice to all deviants who need it.

The Gallery Moderators for Literature

_{Administration, Conflict Resolution, Projects and Contests}
^StJoan's focus is promoting and coordinating projects and contests as well as conflict resolution between members and all other administrative duties related to the running of the literature community.

_{Clubs and Chats}
^LadyLincoln's focus is promoting and coordinating clubs and chats that are literature-based.

_{Literature Resources, Tutorials and Forums}
^lovetodeviate's focus is expanding the base of writing resources and to help anyone with a desire to contribute to this base. In addition, she will help you if you are looking for articles related to writing, critiquing, revision and publishing. She is also taking on the Literature forums.

Any of these three moderators are voluntarily here to serve and help us deviants. If you have any questions or concerns of the dA literature community, note any of these three guys.

Step II. Be Active In Literature Groups And dAmn Chats

_{deviantART Literature Groups}
One of the best ways to get yourself better known and possibly get some great critique is by joining a variety of clubs and groups. There are tons of literature-based clubs around deviantART, and there is always one to fit your needs. Some can be general, such as all prose, all poetry, or any style at all. Others can be specific, such as only emotional poetry, horror prose, or only haiku's, to name a few. Here are some well known groups that are open for all writers that fit into the club's criteria.

*ProsePlease is the most diverse prose club on DeviantArt. It is designed to feature prose works of its members.

*simplypoetry aims to provide a place on dA where poets can feature their poems without a selection process, but will only feature poems that have been written for prompts that *simplypoetry has provided.

=The-Novelist-Club is designed to feature the novels of its members on a chapter-by-chapter basis.

*Writers-Club's goal is to promote and celebrate the foundations and evolution of the literature community in all aspects!

*Trashrock is an avenue of literary improvement, advice and constructive critique that allows you, as a writer, to slowly evolve at your own discretion and by your own election.

For more groups and clubs, visit ~TheList or go check out The Lit List news posts ([link]).

_{deviantART Literature dAmn Chats}
One way to create friends and possibly find some fantastic writers or critics is by being active in literature chat rooms. These chats are designed for us to go to and communicate with other writers and simply be in a pleasant atmosphere. Here are a few of the literature chats.

#getLIT (Description: Looking for the Literature Community on dAmn? Well, look no further!)

#LitLove (Description: An unofficial chat room for the literature community to inspire confidence and growth in your art.)

#PoetryPlease（Description: It's poetry, pure and simple. Please check your baggage at the door, you can have it back when you leave.)

#Trashrock (Description: A chat for the chatty.)

For more dAmn chats, check out the complete list. ([link])

Step III. Give Back To The Community

Instead of typing your fingers off and waiting for favorites and comments to roll in, why not go out and read some other deviant's literature? Some of the best motivation and inspiration can come from other writers. There are resources out there that features writers and/or their prose and poetry. Here are a few of the many (Check for updated posts).

Poetry Feature by *TheFavoritesProject is a fantastic resource that exposes some great poetry from all across deviantART.

The Best of 2008 by ^lovetodeviate features writers who have contributed greatly to the literature community and also presents some of the daily deviations of the past month.

Poems? What Poems? by ~chibiwolf1 features a large amount of poetry that are worthy of being featured.

Literature Features by =SeptemberBreeze is a database of prose and poetry that features writers and their literature works from all across deviantART.

Poets You Should Know by =nyxiathewarrior is a collection of excerpts from interviews with a couple of real poets here on deviantArt.

Please do remember to keep checking the literature section of the deviantART news for updates entries and features ([link])

Step IV. Participate In Contests

Participating in deviantART contests are a great way to challenge yourself, win a variety of prizes, and write some fantastic literature. Many contests are held by groups, but you can find a lot of them in the news posts. Here are a few examples of contests that are ideal to participate in. Please do remember that these contests have more than likely reached their deadline, and that these are simply examples.

Prose Litmas--The Future of the Holidays by ^StJoan: Write a short piece of science fiction detailing the rituals and traditions that would be present during the holiday season.

Horror Contest 08 by =SeptemberBreeze: Create a horrific, macabre, or simply bone-chilling piece of art for Halloween time!

Comedy Writing Contest by =tetemeko: The rules are that simple. A contest based solely on creating literature that will make people laugh.

For current contests, visit some groups or the literature news section and you are almost guaranteed you'll find one!

Step V. The Older, The Wiser

Get to know your literature seniors, because these guys have been around since the quill came out. Any of the literature seniors will help you out on your journey of becoming a respected writer here on deviantART. The seniors are the ones who help the gallery moderators keep the literature community running smooth, so while your stopping by their page, thank them! Here are some of the seniors that work with literature.

`poprocksandcharlotte
`fllnthblnk
`Flutterings
`PunknEra
`WineWriter
`GeneratingHype

There are many, many more literature seniors out there. To find them, visit these seniors and you'll be sure to find the others around and about on their pages.

Step VI. Be Devious, And Be Proud
You are not only a writer, but you are also a deviant. So, instead of only posting your literature and then running off back into your cave, be deviously active! Post your own news posts, construct your own contests, create your own groups. We are the people that keep the literature community alive. You, I, all of us, are the future.

Creating groups may be challenging, but just simply know what you are going to do, and make sure that you have some type of support, then you should do fine. Remember to keep your group active, because there are too many clubs that have been off line for a long time.

When creating a contest, try and get prizes for the winners. Being the only judge is a bit selfish, so why not ask some of your friends or seniors if they would like to assist you in the judging of the contest entries?

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Thank you for reading the unofficial beginners guide for deviantART literature, and I do hope this may have taught you some things and opened your mind up for more ideas.