This can be considered a reminder for those who have been here a while and an explanation for newer members.

Neopoet is not like most poetry sites. Our purpose is to actually make poets better, not to inflate or deflate egos.
We are here to lift each other's skills by giving truthful but respectful feed back to each other.If we just say stuff like "great poem" or "I loved this"how can we know where we need to improve ourselves? So if you are here to mainly receive such empty praise you are likely to be disappointed.

We are here to speak truth to one another but don't get me wrong. Telling each other the truth does not have to be a negative thing but it does need to be precise.

Now I realize it takes time to become comfortable in telling a poet what you think is wrong with his/her poem. Also there is the fact that some poems actually don't need any help. On the occasion when you run across such a poem or if you are not yet comfortable in suggesting a change in a poem there is still a way to be helpful.There is absolutely nothing wrong with pointing out Exactly what you like about a poem.After all every poets benefits from knowing what they are doing right as much as they gain by knowing what they need help with.

If you decide to point out another's "mistakes" do it with respect and remember to NOT attack the poet personally. Doing so is not only wrong but it will also make the person you are attacking far less likely to give consideration to anything you might say in the future.Also, remember to not take comments (negative or positive ) on your own poem as an attack on you personally.

So there you have it. We are a site established to produce better poets. We are not some mutual admiration society but at the same time we are not a site which condones personal attacks. We welcome all who are willing to participate and sincerely hope you enjoy yourself by being helped as well as by helping others.There will be periodic workshops in the future which will deal with this thing called "critique"and hopefully you will either join such shops or at least audit them.
Thanks for your time to read..........stan Holliday (scribbler)