winterlive (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
winterlive) wrote2008-01-24 01:13 pm
winterlive) wrote2008-01-24 01:13 pm
Entry tags:
[ there's no home for you here ]
not for the first time, i wonder: why is it impossible to have a community that outright focuses on good fic? anthologies of selected works of fiction are published every damn year; what's so wrong with doing it for fanfic?
what if it were moderated by a small panel of people, maybe three people, whose job it was to allow or disallow what was posted there? it'd be unpopular at first, because some people would scream elitist bitchery and most people would listen to that, so it wouldn't even be all that much work. the moderators would obviously have to be people of brass and class, but i wouldn't even care if they were sockpuppets so long as they had good taste in fic.
how easy would it be to, when somebody new gets into SPN, just point them to the community? you want good fic, there it is, fly and be free.
there's only one thing i would want, and that's the ability of posters to delete or edit their own stuff. i considered yuletide for all of ten seconds before i found out that they won't take your stuff down later, even if you ask them. whoo, unacceptable, at least to lil ol me.
is that so undoable? bah. i'm sure it is. god knows we'd all rather open a vein than offend someone, even if the offense taken is totally unreasonable. *hands*
ETA: since this posting,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
maygra has decided to formulate a project. the parameters of this project are radically different from my little whine session here, and i assure you that she is taking every opportunity to consider the impact of her structure, process and presentation. her guidelines will be available soon for public review, so please withhold judgement on that project until you see them - things have really changed quite a bit. :)
what if it were moderated by a small panel of people, maybe three people, whose job it was to allow or disallow what was posted there? it'd be unpopular at first, because some people would scream elitist bitchery and most people would listen to that, so it wouldn't even be all that much work. the moderators would obviously have to be people of brass and class, but i wouldn't even care if they were sockpuppets so long as they had good taste in fic.
how easy would it be to, when somebody new gets into SPN, just point them to the community? you want good fic, there it is, fly and be free.
there's only one thing i would want, and that's the ability of posters to delete or edit their own stuff. i considered yuletide for all of ten seconds before i found out that they won't take your stuff down later, even if you ask them. whoo, unacceptable, at least to lil ol me.
is that so undoable? bah. i'm sure it is. god knows we'd all rather open a vein than offend someone, even if the offense taken is totally unreasonable. *hands*
ETA: since this posting,
maygra has decided to formulate a project. the parameters of this project are radically different from my little whine session here, and i assure you that she is taking every opportunity to consider the impact of her structure, process and presentation. her guidelines will be available soon for public review, so please withhold judgement on that project until you see them - things have really changed quite a bit. :)
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I think we could make the logistics work, Danny. I Actually think getting people to submit would be harder than making it fair and above board. And I Was serious about the fact that I'd front it. I'm a decent beta but I don't have time to actually review and comment on a story to the depth (even in selection, much less author feedback) this would require, but I Think we could find people who would and could, especially if it were possible to expand the juror selection if it suddenly took off.
And you could set up a pre-committe of people who would merely scan for common problems like spelling, grammar, typos, tense shifts, before the actual review board ever saw a thing. And if you set a single anthology limit -- say ten stories per anthology, you would only take submissions for until those slots were filled.
Defining the process on the website/profile page would keep it clear and having a non-judging contact point would keep it from being perceived as favoritism. Making criteria such as originality in style and/or execution could weed out the 100th version of something and keeping it from being called "the best of" would possibly make it less of a competition . I mean, Zines do it all the time.
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i think it'd be best if the comm just affiliated with a beta comm. if somebody required in-depth work, they could be referred over. i don't think editors should be required to educate as well. :D
wank:
will come. you cannot possibly make this wank free. it is imperative that the editors know what they're getting into, you can't protect them. they're gonna have to have the ability to shrug some things off.
rest:
pls to be reading over comments in this here page. people bring up a lot of good points that you might want to see if you're serious.
you:
awesome.
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What we need is a talent wrangler for the panelists -- which I think you could be very good at -- and applications for at large jurors could be as simple as list your 5 favorite stories and tell us why they are awesome.
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i think that YOUR especially your ability to be forthright with people who need it would be an absolutely essential thing.
my involvement, i think, should be at the beginning only. i want to drop off the management list after things get up and running, you know?
those favorite stories from the successful panelists could be the first anthology, you know. if the authors agree. :D
also, i don't think i said this outright, but i would desperately wish this thing to be just for SPN at the outset. other fandoms might benefit from something similar, but i feel that this sort of thing is something that we in particular could really really REALLY use.
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By which I mean, first time incest fics are out there in droves. Most are pretty good, but a few are both original and different and well done enough to be excellent candidates without being literary. They are still basically romances.
I think if you did the internal talent round up, and helped iron out the wrinkles, once the suit is pressed you could step back. I say you because while I know excellent when i see it, I sincerely have standards lower than say you or Cee or a dozen other of my favorite writers because I am more interested in story than craft. (which doesn't mean you aren't, only that I'm less likely to be bothered by stuff that I know drives you bonkers.)
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...v, help us. what word is it when what you MEAN is fictions that is grammatically sound, typo-free, interesting/original/different/significant, and you don't give a good goddamn if they're 30's gangsters or space aliens or actors or ghostbusters
or samurai, so long as they're a good stab at being art?no subject
and that might be a good name for this SPN Standards. Not necessarily the best or the favorites, but the stories that people come back to, that other stories remind them of, that they strive to meet in their own writing.
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of course, they'll probably take umbrage with any damn thing we call it. jerks. :D
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the OED's third definition for literary is: "Of or pertaining to, or of the nature of, literature. a. Pertaining to letters or polite learning. b. Pertaining to books and written compositions; also, in a narrower sense, pertaining to, or having the characteristics of that kind of written composition which has value on account of its qualities of form."
that doesn't exclude genres. if people come to the table with their prejudices about what literature means, a simple explanation on the about page should disabuse them of that notion -- and if they are unwilling to be convinced, well, they can found the Like Omg Romantical Quarterly or whatever inclusive space they feel comfortable in.
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That is, I agree, and that definition would clear up my concerns. (Uhm, I like to be inclusive in my exclusivity?) I want people to submit, even if they don't consider *themselves* literary, you know?
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AS DO I MUAHAHAHAHAHA.
i mean.
*cough*
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*press*
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I was just about to suggest something like this (5 favorite stories, or 20 favorite stories, or a del.icio.us page link).
I may get my ass handed to me on a plate, but please may I volunteer? Or at least volunteer to be considered as a volunteer? (Since I read more than I actively participate in fandom, I'm relatively unknown, and I certainly understand if you'd prefer to start off with people whose "standards" you're already acquainted with. On the other hand, being relatively unknown makes me somewhat impervious to being hurt by wank.)
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