I was considering having maybe 2 levels of "Academy" to start. Maybe three if we really get rolling. But I figure we could have a Beginner level, then an intermediate level where the story, instead of being a one-shot 'go to cave and kill bandit' thing got a bit more involved.
To address the writers' guild stuff, I've seen it tried and dissolve twice now. I've watched the conversations about it and honestly have no opinion about it either way.
I'm not proposing people give pointers in random posts here. I'm suggesting full-on real RPs labeled specifically for beginners with veteran storytellers. There will be a title and OOC thread for each 'academy'. We will make as many academy threads as we need to accomodate the interested parties. From the response to this thread, I'm seeing quite a bit of interest both from people who want to help and people who want to 'enroll'. It's not going to be helpful to anyone if we have one thread with 50 participants. No one will be able to get a word in edgewise.
I think maybe having the two levels will also help the 'tweeners' who may not be confident, but are not total newbies. Perhaps we can go into more of how to be a good storyteller in an 'advanced' level.