Apocrypha is a term we use to describe the writings of fans designed to expand upon the lore of the Elder Scrolls universe. It denotes those fan creations executed with technical skill and a dedication to the creation of an organismic, living Tamriel.

The term could be thought of as part of the 'textual taxonomy' of the Elder Scrolls. Anything written by a fan of the Elder Scrolls is termed 'fan fiction,' but only those fan fictions aimed specifically at expanding the lore and creating a living world are included within the term 'Apocrypha,' and only those Apocryphal texts which successfully "[achieve] the sense of an alien and exotic universe, avoiding standard fantasy genre conventions to achieve an overall sense of alterity, while still containing a successful narrative," do we call Monkey Truth.

Aranarkus - "Macro- and Micro- Critique, Proofreading, and General Lore Checks."
Haute Quêteure - "[censored], Narrative Structure, Editing for Style/Diction, and [censored]."
SeriousFace - "Proofreading: Spelling + Grammar, Basic Lore Verification, Vocal Effectiveness."
Lady Nerevar - "General Comments, Lore Checks." (Availability Limited)
Fiore1300 - "General Review, Proofreading."
Dulcus - "Review of Finished Drafts."
Seras Arenim - "General Feedback." (Away)
XxChaplainxX - "All Around Critique." (Availability Limited)
ThoughtCriminal - "Editing, Proofreading, Constructive Critique."
Dinmenel - "Editing, Proofreading, Lore Checks, Holistic Critique."
DarthRavanger - "Political Plausibility, Lore Checks, General Feedback."
Lord Hyamantar - "Dunmer Millieu and Critique."
Mehrunes-Dagon - "Voice/Presentation, Plausibility, Conceptual Sounding Board."
Zinash - ""General Proofreading, Lore/History Fact Checking, Linguistic Correction/Correlation, and General Critique"
Issa Yojimbo - "Concision, Character Development, and Textual Imagery."
Gira_Harkaanius - "Proofreading, Lore Checks, and Stylistic Critique."

If you want your blurb changed, PM Dinmenel.

On Helpful Feedback
There's a fine balance to walk when critiquing someone else's work. On the one hand, you can't hold back what you think; if what they've written is of poor quality, you have to tell them that. On the other hand - well, writing is something that people put their souls into, and they're going to get offended if you just insult their stuff without explanation and without recognition of the parts that are good. So always make sure to provide praise alongside criticism, and preferably in a book-end manner; start out and end with the good. And there's always something good, no matter how bad it is. At the same time, don't hold back the criticisms, because no one can improve their work if no one is willing to tell them what's not working. Generally speaking, what we want to create is a positive, supportive environment, so provide your critique with that in mind. But there's no denying that that can be difficult to remember when you're focused on finding what needs to be fixed. Do your best.

Always be clear, when critiquing. If you think something needs to be changed, you have to explain why it needs to be changed, what it is specifically that isn't working, or people are just going to think you don't know what you're talking about or didn't understand the sentence. It's also generally helpful to provide some example of how the problem could be fixed.

Be thorough. Broad comments are helpful, particularly for those pieces that don't contain many technical errors, but they're not as helpful as specific, line by line critique. When a writer goes back to rework something, they go back to specific spots, to change specific things; if you haven't pointed out explicitly the places that need work, there's no guarantee that the writer will be able to tell just what is working and what is not.

When critiquing the content of the work, please keep in mind that all of this is speculative. The things we are writing about are almost always inherently grey areas in the lore, places we don't know much about. So don't tell people that what they've come up with is stupid, and keep an open mind. The point of this Society differs from that of Temple Zero; we are not here to promote a specific aesthetic of fan creation, but rather to promote quality in everything that gets put out. Critique on content is acceptable, but try to look at it from the viewpoint of function: does it help accomplish the purpose of the piece? Is it hindering the effect?


General Help
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
http://home.mchsi.com/%7Ewebclass/dialoguerules.htm

The Zero^th Directrix

The heart of good writing is simple: Vocal Individuality. You don't need to write like Michael Kirkbride; we have the man himself for that. All that aping his style does is rob your work of its own soul. Now, that's not to say that you can't take elements from his style or from the style of other authors and recombine them creatively; it's essentially inevitable, in this business. If something works, we use it. But just keep in mind that it's you writing, not Kirkbride: speak with your own Voice.


The Axis of Apocrypha


L I F E


We are here to expand upon Tamriel. We are here to, "... create a world as real as, but other than, that which is." For that, our texts must live, for true reality can only be organismic. This is the meaning of phytoglossia: organic language, allowed to grow from both design and decay, purpose and chance, individual and community. This is the essence of Apocrypha: the living body of unofficial texts, created by us and designed to incarnate our personal visions.

The Two-Hearted Dream of Creation


Heart the First - Exploration
Our lore creations can be viewed as a method of exploring the world. We go out, we have experiences, we get jobs, we read literature, we go through life's daily tragicomic coil - and then we bring that all back here, synthesized, to share with friends and to enrich the world of Tamriel. Another way of expressing this might be 'originality.' The Society encourages writers to search out the wonders of the world, from the complexities of science to the wonders of both ancient and modern literature, to treasure the things you find - and then to bring it back here, to mix it all up and reformat it in the spirit of Convention, and, through your writing, to use it to enrich Tamriel.


Heart the Second - Purpose
One of the keys to producing an effective piece of lore-expansive writing is to have in mind exactly what it is you wish to create. Choose one or two ideas (or more, depending upon the length of your piece) you wish to insert into Tamriel and make everything in your writing supportive of that purpose. But never allow this to override the Axis; your characters, your world, must disobey you, must live, to be real.


Three Elements of Effective Inventive Terminology

The First - Logicality. It makes sense. Good made-up words are constituted from existing words - whether TES or no - or from greek/latin/etc. roots in a logical manner. However much it may not seem like it at times, this is what Michael Kirkbride does.

Example: chronocule. 'Chronos', meaning time and stemming from the greek Titan of time Kronos, and 'cule', a latin suffix denoting smallness. So, logically, we can take 'chronocule' to mean 'a small unit or particle of time'. Or at least something close to that.

The Second - Aesthetics. It sounds good. Good made-up words are not just any old roots thrown together to make a concept; they're specific roots or words thrown together in a way that rolls off the psychic tongue in a pleasing way. Think about how it would sound. Let the aesthetics guide you. Again, 'chronocule,' just sounds good, as do most of Kirkbride's words: 'varliance,' 'protonymic,' 'impossipoint,' 'mananaut,' 'dracochrysalis,' 'creatia.'

The Third - Rarity. It is special. Which means: only one or two per piece. If you check Kirkbride's stuff, you'll find that he doesn't go about making up 50 new words in everything he posts. As a matter of fact, if you check KINMUNE, I think you'll find that he didn't make up anything new, only utilized pre-existing invented TES words. You see, words are invented for a purpose, to fill a conceptual gap no existing word covers satisfactorily. So when you include an invented word in something, the piece should become at least to some extent focused upon the explanation of that word and the concept it denotes. Throwing out something you just made up without explanation is boring, annoying, and ultimately fruitless. Invented words should be few, and should be central to the creative purpose of whatever it is you're writing.


Four Principles of Lore (stolen from You-Know-Who)

First Principle of Lore (Principle of Alienity) - What is boring and mundane is wrong; what is interesting and alien is right.

Sub-Principle of the First Principle of Lore - Alien in excess is mundane.

Examples: Yokuda was either sank by tectonic activity or by the Hiradirj. Obviously, the second is true and the first is false, because the first would be totally uninteresting.

Khajiit are either mer or aboriginals. There is an excellent story surrounding their mer origins, aboriginals have no real story, so they are obviously mer. There is other evidence against the aboriginal theory.

Second Principle of Lore (Principle of Interpretation) - Lore is nothing but interpretation.

First sub-Principle of the Second Principle of Lore - Lore is 90% the reader's interpretation.

Second sub-Principle of the Second Principle of Lore - The remainder is the interpretation of the author.

Examples: The endless debate over whether the Redoran are cooler than the Telvanni.

CHIM, despite Vehk's intense clarity.

Third Principle of Lore (Principle of Contradiction) - Contradiction is not invalidation, and, in a way, is confirmation.

Example: Morihaus is a winged bull and a man at the same time.

Fourth Principle of Lore (Principle of Mythopoeia) - Belief makes truth.

Example: Everything.

On Grammar
Remedies for Common Mistakes

1. Use a comma between the dialogue and the tag line (the words used to identify the speaker: "he said/she said"):

"I would like to go to the beach this weekend," she told him as they left the apartment.

2. Periods and commas go inside the quotation marks in American writing (the Brits have slightly different rules); other punctuation -- semicolons, question marks, dashes, and exclamation points -- goes outside unless it directly pertains to the material within the quotes, as in this example from Raymond Carver's "Where I'm Calling From":

"I don't want any stupid cake," says the guy who goes to Europe and the Middle East. "Where's the champagne?" he says, and laughs.

In the next example, the question mark goes outside the quotation marks because it is not part of the material being quoted:

Did he say, "We should all go to the movies"?

Also note that the sentence ends with only one mark of punctuation: the question mark. In general, don't use double punctuation marks, but go with the stronger punctuation. (Question marks and exclamation points are stronger than commas and periods. Think of it as a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, if it helps.)

3. When a tag line interrupts a sentence, it should be set off by commas. Note that the first letter of the second half of the sentence is in lower case, as in this example from Flannery O'Connor's "Greenleaf":

"That is," Wesley said, "that neither you nor me is her boy..."

4. To signal a quotation within a quotation, use single quotes:

"Have you read 'Hills Like White Elephants' yet?" he asked her.

5. For interior dialogue, italics are appropriate, just be consistent.

6. If a quotation spills out over more than one paragraph, don't use end quotes at the close of the first paragraph. Use them only when a character is done speaking.


Resources for Writers:
http://www.kokogiak.com/logolepsy/
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/commas.htm
http://home.mchsi.com/%7Ewebclass/dialoguerules.htm