Our Community
Story World brings together readers and authors from all walks of life, united by a love of fiction. We want this to be a place where everyone feels welcome — where you can lose yourself in a story, share your own work, and connect with others who care about the craft of storytelling.
These guidelines apply to all users of Story World, including readers, authors, and anyone who interacts with our platform or community spaces.
These guidelines exist to protect our community, not to restrict creative expression. Great fiction can explore difficult, dark, and complex themes — but it must do so responsibly.
Be Respectful
The foundation of our community is mutual respect. We ask everyone to:
- Treat other readers and authors with kindness and courtesy
- Engage with stories and authors in good faith
- Disagree constructively — criticism of a story is fine; personal attacks on an author are not
- Respect the creative work of others, even if it is not to your taste
- Be mindful that Story World is used by people of different ages, backgrounds, and sensitivities
What Is Allowed
- Original fiction across all genres, including stories that explore dark, mature, or complex themes
- Constructive feedback and discussion about stories and writing craft
- Fan fiction and derivative works, provided they comply with our copyright guidelines
- Stories that include violence, conflict, or morally complex characters, when handled with craft and purpose
- Mature themes in stories that are appropriately labelled and not accessible to minors
What Is Not Allowed
Harmful Content
- Content that sexualises minors in any way — this is an absolute prohibition with zero tolerance
- Content that promotes, glorifies, or provides instructions for real-world violence, terrorism, or self-harm
- Content designed to harass, threaten, or intimidate specific real individuals
- Content that constitutes hate speech targeting people based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected characteristics
Dishonest or Harmful Behaviour
- Impersonating another author, public figure, or Story World staff member
- Posting spam, unsolicited promotions, or repetitive content
- Attempting to manipulate platform features such as ratings or discovery algorithms
- Sharing private information about other users without their consent
- Using Story World to distribute malware or engage in phishing
Intellectual Property Violations
- Publishing content that infringes the copyright of others without permission
- Presenting AI-generated content as entirely your own original work without disclosure (see our Author Guidelines for details)
- Plagiarising the work of other authors
Reporting Violations
If you encounter content or behaviour that you believe violates these guidelines, please report it to us. You can do this via our Contact page by selecting “Report Content” as the subject.
Please include as much detail as possible: the story title, author name, and a description of the issue. We review all reports and take them seriously.
Enforcement
When we identify a violation of these guidelines, we may take one or more of the following actions depending on the severity:
- Removing the offending content
- Issuing a warning to the user
- Temporarily suspending the user's account
- Permanently banning the user from Story World
- Reporting the matter to law enforcement where required by law
We aim to be fair and consistent in our enforcement. If you believe an enforcement action was taken in error, please contact us to appeal.
Changes
We may update these Community Guidelines from time to time as our community grows and evolves. We will notify users of significant changes. Your continued use of Story World after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated guidelines.