The Writers' Cafe

What's all this about?

Bonjour! You know what they say about opinions, right? Everyone has one, but only few are worth it. Since you are on this page, you obviously feel a deep urge to express yours. Do not worry, we are a highly tolerant bunch of people at SportsCafe, so do not hold back. But before you awaken your inner Harsha Bhogle or Gabriele Marcotti, you will have to opt for one of six clans in the writers' cafe.

There are four levels to our writers' cafe. Amateur writers, mid-level writers, featured writers and columnists. Each of these levels will be renamed based on the clan you opt for. Albus Dumbledore said, “It is our choices that show what we truly are far more than our abilities“. Choices like East Bengal or Mohun Bagan, Real Madrid or Barcelona, Atletico Madrid or 'Athletico' Madrid, Saina or Sania—you get the drift? But unlike life, we do offer you another chance to rectify it later—but only one. So choose wisely.

What's in it for me?

We provide you with a big platform to voice your opinion, and you have the chance to earn cool goodies (depending on the clan you choose) while doing what you love. Who knows, you might even get paid for it! Then there is also the matter having a personal column on our site, if and when you reach the final level.

How do I start?

It's quite simple actually. Browse through the clans below to understand which character progression you love. Then, scroll back up and click on Get Started, complete the registration process, selecting the clan you want, and in a few seconds, you should be ready to write and submit your first article.

CHOOSE YOUR IDENTITY

figure out where you belong

YE OLD OPTIONS

NEW OPTIONS

the writers page
the sportman within
The ministers of magic
Patrons from middle earth
The Lords of the realm
The Galactic council

level 1

Ink-slinger

Welcome to the club! Now that you have bid adieu to the hoi polloi, it's time to get busy. You need to make 50 points or get yourself make the 'writer of the month' list to get ahead to the net level. It's that easy.

level 2

Scribbler

That jump was easy. That's why we will add a challenge now. Make twice what you had to do to get here (100) or get the 'writer of the month' stamp twice and you are on to the pro levels. But , chill out even one month and you could get relegated back to slinging ink (-50 points)

level 3

Wordsmith

Hola! Good work on breaking into the pro gang. But The God did not retire after hitting his first century. Now let's see if you got it in you to make the final leap. Get 200 points or win three writer of the month awards to reach the elite club.

level 4

Columnist

Namaste. Come on board. This level is as permanent as Rohit Sharma's spot in the Indian squad is. Unless you choose to retire, you will be here. So lay back and write when you want. On what you want. You have earned it!

level 1

Fanatic

You know all the chants by heart. You wear the jersey with pride. Starry-eyed, you look up to your heroes on the pitch. You dream of scoring that winning goal at Wembley. “Someday,” you say to yourself.

level 2

Talisman

You have come a long way from waving flags on the stands. Now, you are up alongisde the stars, one of the names that fans chant and wait in queue for an autograph. You no longer take the train to reach the ground, you own a Ferrari.

level 3

Captain

Slowly but surely, your are etching your name in the annals of the club's history. You are now the leader of the pack. The armband you wear on the your arm is heavy with expectation, but nothing pleases you more than kissing the badge in front of the fans, and pumping the fist after a win. Captain. Leader. Legend.

level 4

Manager

You have won it all as a player, but now you have the chance to build your team from the scratch and establish your club at the top. The board trusts you, the fans adore you, and you have the final say on everything related to the club. They are even building your statue outside the stadium, gaffer.

level 1

Ginger Head

You may not be the hero yet, but you get the hot chick in the end! But, sometimes life is not about women. Look up!

level 2

Scarface

The prodigal hero. You could have suffered a few scars along the way for your love of writing, but we expect a lot more from your magic wand!

level 3

The Insider

“The mind is a complex and many-layered thing, Potter... or at least, most minds are“. One up on you, Potter! But not “always“ coz this is not Potter world. Spend some time writing real stuff instead of that silly scrabbling on chemistry books or fear the fall, you Half-blood Prince!

level 4

The Headmaster

The pensieve should come in handy right now. Take us along some trips down memory lane, granpa!

level 1

Halfling

Pack your bags and embark on your own epic writing journey. But mind that index finger - you need it much more than the original dude did!

level 2

The Walker

All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost; Unless your writing gets better, Level-2 is where you get at most.Stop singing around dying damsels and put that pen to work!

level 3

The elf-lord

Reading under the light of the Two trees must have been something. But I bet you found all that constant singing too disturbing. Now that you got a third life, let's go kill some literary balrogs!

level 4

Greybeard

Beard - Check. Baggy grey clothes - Check. Blow rings of smoke - Check. You should have been a writer. Lack of women in life - Check. You must have been the greatest writer of the Third age!

level 1

The Watcher

You know nothing. At least not yet.Your 'Call to adventure' is here, but let's break the monomyth and skip right ahead to 'the Road of trials'. Leave all that R+L headache to the noobs, and unravel a few actual mysteries - Like who really are the top 4 in EPL? Can Lionel Messi do it on a cold, wet Wednesday night in Stoke?

level 2

Dragonlady

Doing that egg-to-dragon stuff was smooth. But you still need to learn to control your inner beasts. The kingdom is not your birthright, you spoilt brat. Go earn it with some good writing!

level 3

The Dwarf

Witty, physically unattractive and constantly coming up with plots. You seem to be a born writer. If only you would put the bottle down long enough to pick up a quill!

level 4

One-Eye

You have finally made your mark - a permanent one at that. No rebellions to quell, No walls to go to! Lie back, and let's see if you can look long into the future with all those 1,001 eyes and can only predict when Rooney is going to score next.

level 1

Stormtrooper

Cadets, you entered this facility as children. And in a few short weeks, you will leave as soldiers. By the time you complete your training, you will be prepared to serve your Emperor.

level 2

Padawan

But instead of serving the Emperor, you have decided to join the rebels and restore the fallen Jedi Order. The force will guide you, but before embarking on your rebellious journey you must pass the Jedi trials.

level 3

Jedi Knight

Following the successful completion of a decade or more of one-on-one instruction from your master, and passing your Jedi trials, you are now the protector of the republic. You have a brave, and dangerous, new world in front of your to explore, with nothing but the light saber and the force by your side.

level 4

Jedi Master

The force is truly with you now, but “when nine hundred years old you reach, look as good you will not”. By this point though, you already know the biggest truth in life, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Rules-

This writers' cafe will contain 4 levels for you to traverse. The name of the levels will depend on the clan you choose, but the basics remain the same. You will need to earn a certain amount of points to climb up from one level to another.

  1. To progress from Level 1 to Level 2, you will require 350 points.
  2. To progress from Level 2 to Level 3, you will require 750 points.
  3. To progress from Level 3 to Level 4, you will require 1700 points and at least one Reader's Choice award or one Editor's Choice award.

Here is how you can earn these points:

  1. You will receive 150 points for every India-centric feature published on our site.
  2. You will receive 100 points for every international feature published on our site.
  3. Every time you win the Reader's Choice award, you will earn 50 points.
  4. Every time you win the Editor's Choice award, you will earn 100 points.
  5. If you submit at least one article each month for two months in a row, you will earn 50 points.
  6. For every article published on our main site, you will earn 50 points.
  7. For every 10 mistakes on your article, grammatical or factual, 10 points will be deducted from your total.
  8. For every writer you refer to our site, you will earn 40 points. The points will be awarded once that writer's first article is published by us.

Important Note -Please keep your content original and do not plagiarize content from other writers and websites. We will take stringent actions, including banning, against such offenses.

Reader's Choice Award

This will be awarded every fortnight, and as the name suggests, it will be awarded to the author of the article which has earned the most number of views within the fortnight. The winner will get a massive 50 points for this. Our suggestion: Force your friends to read it. Even if it is under the duress of a gun being held to their head.

Editor's Choice Award

This will also be awarded every fortnight, and along with huge honor and pride, you will also earn 100 points for this. What's cooler is the goodies you get when you win this award. It does not matter how many reads and how sensational your article is, there is only one criteria we look at—the quality of the piece. If that is self-explanatory, quality is defined as that intangible that we try to quantify through the following lens—the quality of writing and the quality of research. In case you are open to bribing us for this, remember that we are very fond of Pokecoins.

*Please note that we reserve the right to withdraw these awards at our discretion.

Quality of Articles

Quality of writing refers to applying the appropriate style and tone to hold the reader through the article, structuring the article into clean and readable segments, while steering clear of cliches, and intentionally complex words that serve no purpose other than to confuse and confound the reader, avoiding grammatical and spelling errors. To get an idea of basic feature writing, some useful resources include:

Word limit – The article should have a minimum of 900 words. Although there is no fixed upper limit, we understand that depends on the topic, try to keep your article within 1400 words.

Every article should also contain a crisp headline and an intro/ summary (not more than 300 characters).

Most importantly: Please keep your content original and do not plagiarize content from other writers and websites. We will take stringent actions, including banning, against such offenses.