You are now reading part 1 (Meta-FAQ information). This answers questions about the FAQ itself, such as its availability and layout. There is also a full part-by-part contents at [Contents: 1.2] .
Part 2 (About the newsgroup) describes rec.arts.int-fiction.
Part 3 (General Interactive Fiction information) answers questions asked by people new to the newsgroup or interactive fiction in general. It does not cover writing IF.
Part 4 (Programming IF) will be of interest to the (prospective) interactive fiction author. It includes details of the major authoring systems and other tools. It is mostly focused on the programming side of IF.
Part 5 (Writing IF) contains an informal bibliography of Internet documents on interactive fiction theory, and information on the major discussions to be found in the rec.arts.int-fiction archives. It is mostly focused on the writing side of IF.
Finally, part 6 (Internet Index) contains brief descriptions and URLs of FTP and WWW sites and other Internet resources mentioned elsewhere in the FAQ, and describes the IF-Archive.
It is recommended that those new to rec.arts.int-fiction read part 1 first (to get a feel for the FAQ), followed by part 3 (if you don't know much about IF) and then part 2 (to learn about the newsgroup), with parts 4 and 5 last, though only if you wish to write IF. Part 6 should be referred to as needed, though the section on the IF-Archive is a must-read. Please read part 2 *before* posting *anything* to the newsgroup: it'll make it easier on everyone.