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FanFics section

Started by Marko, January 16, 2017, 03:17:31 PM

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Marko

I don't come to this board often, but the last time I was here which was sometime last Spring, I noticed a FanFics tab at the top of the page.  Clicking on it back then, I noticed it was neatly arranged into sections where I could read fan fiction of the different books written by Katherine Kurtz.  There was only one fan fiction available then, one written by Evie called the Apparition.  It was very easy to read and I liked the picture towards the end of the story.  Nine months later it's still the only story there.  Why are there no other stories there?

DesertRose

Probably basically because we haven't taken the time to move the stories from the forum threads over to the fanfics section.  It's time consuming, and most of the mods have day jobs and the one who doesn't (me) is disabled and has been having health issues.

There are some new fanfics in the forum threads, though.
"If having a soul means being able to feel love, loyalty, and gratitude, then animals are better off than a lot of humans."

James Herriot (James Alfred "Alfie" Wight), when a human client asked him if animals have souls.  (I don't remember in which book the story originally appeared.)

Evie

As the only person to have posted stories both in the original Deryni Fanfic forum thread and the new Fanfics section, one issue is that while the format of the stories in the Fanfics section is more easily readable (and I suppose would be even more so with multi-chapter stories, since IIRC it automatically links chapters of the same story the way Fanfiction.net does), there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to posting stories there for the first time.  Most of our writers are already familiar with how making a regular post works, so it's easier for them to figure out how to post story chapters via the regular forum thread.  The way the story posts work in the new Fanfics tab section is similar to the way they work on Fanfiction.net, IIRC, but not quite that user friendly, so it could be that writers who aren't as at ease with doing new computer-related stuff might find posting on that side of things more intimidating.  That's one reason I wrote a tutorial post on how to use the new section, in case someone decided to try it out and found it too confusing to figure out on their own. Or it could just be that doing things the way we always have is what comes most naturally when it's time to post a story, so people forget we've got a new area for posting fanfic in now.  I also wonder if people even think to check that tab to see if new stories have been posted in there, since we've had several years of ingrained habit of checking the original Deryni Fanfic board instead?  I know I haven't thought to check the Fanfic tab in some time.  I have no idea if it even gives an alert that there are new stories posted, which is how I normally know to check for one on the main board.

While I didn't find posting in the new section too difficult once I got the hang of it, one of the drawbacks to it in my opinion is that there is no way to add a comments section directly to the story itself.  The best you can do is create a thread in the forum section that links back to the story, so that people can comment in there.  (And IIRC, linking that thread to the fanfic is one of those parts of the posting process that isn't as intuitive and user friendly as it should be. It took me a blooming age to figure it out myself, and I'm a fairly old hand at figuring out this sort of stuff.)  As a fanfic writer, what keeps me going is reading the feedback from readers.  That is the only "payment" that I receive for all that hard work.  So while I agree that the new section's format is a little prettier, it's a little frustrating to have to go to a different section of the forum entirely to read the readers' comments. 

As for the picture at the end of the story, I loved being able to "illustrate" the story in that way.  However, photos can also be added to fanfic posted in the original Fanfics section of the board, just like they can be added to any other post.  I just never happened to think about doing that before, that's all.  :)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Evie

I poked around in the Fanfics Section (the tab, not the original Forum board) this morning, and to my dismay I found a new story that had been awaiting approval since April 2016!  :(  I double-checked my email inbox from that time period, and it looks like no notification of a new submission was ever sent out by the Fanfics system, or at least if one was sent out, I never received it.  So if anyone decides to submit a story via the Fanfics System (that's the one with a separate link at the very top of the main page, not the original Fanfic section of the forum board), would you please send a PM to let me know?  I will ask Bynw if there is any way that section can be set up to automatically send out notifications to the moderators if new stories are submitted (I poked around in the system a bit to try to set that up myself and couldn't see any way to do so, but maybe I was looking in the wrong admin section), but for now that might be the only way for us to know if there is a story submission awaiting approval.  (I'll also try to check that "stories awaiting approvals" section regularly now that I know where to find it, but life has a way of getting busy and things out of sight tend to become things out of mind, so a "heads-up" PM would be greatly appreciated if you'd like your submissions to be discovered and approved sometime before the year 2020!)
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Laurna

For some reason, I have no idea where to find the Fanfic section, or where to find the new story. It does not show up on my unread posts, only the comments page for it. I read Evie's first story there last year, but.... hmmm... where is it again?
May your horses have wings and fly!

Evie

#5
Laurna, look at the top of the main page, beside "My Messages." If you don't see the link to it up near where you go to read  your PMs, then let me know.  Click on the link itself, not one of the subcategories in the pull-down menu, for the easiest way to get to the stories there.
"In necessariis unitas, in non-necessariis libertas, in utrisque caritas."

--WARNING!!!--
I have a vocabulary in excess of 75,000 words, and I'm not afraid to use it!

Bynw

And of course that Fanfics section up at the top is going away. It doesn't have some functionality we would like it to have so stories dont sit in limbo for 6+ months. And the forums are where everyone is used to posting them anyways.
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