Camp rules
Keeping camp tidy
Field Journal works best when it feels like a good campfire: welcoming, honest and respectful. A few simple things keep it that way, in stories, responses, letters and Biographies alike.
- 1
Be good company
Treat people here the way you would around a campfire. Comment thoughtfully, disagree kindly, and make newcomers feel welcome.
- 2
Talk the way you talk
Swearing is fine. Pieces with strong language get a small heads-up so readers know before they start.
- 3
Share your work, sell it elsewhere
Mention and link your guide service, book, shop or gallery all you like. Gear, products, and bookings for guided trips or outfitting are sold somewhere else, not here.
- 4
Leave heavy politics at the trailhead
Conservation, land and water stories are welcome. Party politics can stay outside.
- 5
Real pictures only
Your own photographs or hand-made artwork, please. No AI-generated pictures.
- 6
Had AI help? Just say so
Using AI to proofread or polish is fine. Tick the box when you publish and readers will see an “AI assisted” note.
The fine print: hateful content (including racism, sexism and homophobia) and pornographic or sexual content aren't allowed anywhere on Field Journal, whether in stories, responses, letters or Biographies.
If something slips through
A word filter keeps an eye out for the serious stuff. If a story trips it, the story waits for a moderator to look before anyone else can read it. If you come across something that doesn't belong, report it: on a story or profile it's under the ⋯ menu, and responses and letters have a small flag. Reports are private and go to a moderator, who decides whether it stays up or comes down. If 3 different readers report a story before then, it's tucked away until the moderator has had a look. You can flag something for:
- — Spam or advertising
- — Harassment or bullying
- — Racist, sexist, homophobic or hateful
- — Pornographic or sexual content
- — Selling products or taking bookings
- — Heavily political content
- — AI-generated image
- — False or misleading information
- — Unsafe or illegal activity
- — Copyright or plagiarism
- — Something else
And if someone just isn't for you, you can block them from their page. They won't be able to follow you, respond to your work or send you letters.
Letters
Letters from writers you follow arrive straight in your Letters. Anyone else lands in Message requests, where you can accept, decline or block. Until you accept, they can send up to three letters.
Photo credits
Sample stories use real, freely licensed photographs. None are AI-generated.
- Camp at Schroff Lake. Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska (42874251980) — Paxson Woelber, CC BY 2.0
- Sockeye spawners (9664729715) — USFWSAlaska, Public domain
- Bull elk bugling in Gibbon Meadow - DPLA - 18890d93507313a712eb7b17a5533eb1 — Department of the Interior. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. National Conservation Training Center. 10/1997-8888, Public domain
- Field notebook color sketch - Voyage of the Blossom (32077790488) — Tim Evanson from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
- 'Solway Sunset' — caroline legg, CC BY 2.0
- Hoh Rainforest, mossy log tree NPS Photo (16680304244) — Olympic National Park, Public domain
- FlyAnglerEastGallatinRiverMontanaAtDawn — Mike Cline, CC0
Questions? Explore what others are writing and follow their lead.