Forum / Faves versus Comments

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 25, 03:47pm

  Faves are a very ambiguous, manipulatable form of story feedback. Better would be longer comments, more focused and on target. What do you think of a "Commentary Group" where people can suggest terms useful in a comment, a sort of well of ideas to enrich our comments, ideas that you think are important to emphasize in a piece of fiction. For instance: I learned the term "compression" from a comment from Sam and love it and try to apply it all the time. Comments we can learn from with a vocabulary pre-selected. What do you think?

• 
  Susan Gibb

  Mar 25, 05:48pm

  Faves aren't ambiguous when one knows and considers who they're coming from. As for comments, I think we should all be free to comment in whatever manner we wish. There are terms known to most as to the elements of writing, but there's also "Oh, wow." which means just as much if not more.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 25, 05:54pm

  You're right. Dumb idea. I take it back but I can't delete it.

• 
  Marcus Speh

  Mar 26, 09:18am

  *

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 26, 09:37am

  <3 Susan.

  I am gonna start using <3 for my fave marker.

  Gloria, you just keep on commenting and faving however makes you happy. :)

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 26, 09:41am

  Also, Gloria, if you're frustrated with the lack of quality commentary on your work, there are probably other people that feel the same. That seems like a useful group for helping those people find each other.

• 
  Jim V

  Mar 26, 02:15pm

  Fictionaut, I'm afraid, is a bad forum for critique of poems. I'd argue, in fact, that the internet is poor for that. Beyond pointing out typos, it takes too long to type out suggestions and there's always the chance the person receiving the crit will take offense. What you need, Gloria, is a writer's group, an in-person writer's group where everyone is there for critique and everything can be handled one night per week. Should be one in your area. Look around. If not, start one.

• 
  Jim V

  Mar 26, 02:17pm

  And when I say poems, I mean poems/stories. Sorry, I have poems on the brain right now.

• 
  Susan Gibb

  Mar 26, 03:15pm

  Fictionaut, aside from a few specialized groups within it, was never a place for literary critique or workshopping. It's been a great spot to read some exquisite work by writers both published and new, and to make connections with writers who become friends. It also gives us an idea of what's being published and where, what paths speculative writing is taking, ideas and concepts that are being discovered and how they are being received. There are literary critique circles online that have become as close as local groups but it's something to be wary of as many are not there to help as much as to get their own work adored.

• 
  Joani Reese

  Mar 26, 04:32pm

  Oh boy.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 26, 07:03pm

  JP: Could you elaborate? I have no idea what that refers to.

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Mar 26, 07:46pm

  I'm not saying a word.... not.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 26, 10:06pm

  OMG. Now I am SO curious. A SECRET! Someone has to talk. Who's the weak link? It's not fair if we can avoid a past bad experience. I hate when the oldies gang up on the newbies with all your secret handshakes.

• 
  Jim V

  Mar 26, 10:40pm

  If you're not going to say anything, then... don't.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 26, 10:49pm

  Exactly. Don't drop little tantalizing hints in the first place. It's mean.

• 
  Susan Gibb

  Mar 26, 11:17pm

  I'm not sure what Joani and James are referring to but they're not mean people so it's probably no more than the fact that these things come up on a regular basis and going through the archives might reveal questions raised and settled at regular intervals. Yet Fictionaut endures, as it thankfully shall.

• 
  Susan Gibb

  Mar 26, 11:19pm

  Oh, and they're covered in the sticky post of this forum "Welcome and a Primer."

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 27, 12:22am

  "They're"? What's that referring to? And you don't have to be a mean person to do thoughtless and hurtful things. I don't want to hear about this non-subject anymore.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 27, 03:52pm

  Sally sent me reams of documentation. I have no interest. I just wanted a sentence summary or two so it wasn't cloaked in secrecy. Is that so hard for writers?

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 27, 03:59pm

  Is that "whoop whoop" sound I hear the literary drama alert? I shall take shelter in my word bunker and wait out the storm.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 27, 05:55pm

  I think it's over.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 28, 05:14pm

  Except that I think it is wrong in any organization to give the impression that there is an in crowd and an out crowd. It's deadly to the cohesion. And it's clearly not over.

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 28, 05:24pm

  Well, fuck. I'm taking the Vicodin and the pizza and I'll be in the word bunker if anyone needs me.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 28, 05:27pm

  Don't forget the whiskey.

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 28, 05:29pm

  Oh yeah. That too.

• 
  James Claffey

  Mar 28, 08:05pm

  this bunker's getting pretty fucking crowded!

• 
  Matthew Robinson

  Mar 28, 08:07pm

  I heard mixing pizza and Vicodin can be deadly.

  (DEADLY DELICIOUS.)

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 28, 08:25pm

  Someone's gonna to have to go for a pizza & Vicodin run soon. I will stay here and guard the whiskey.

• 
  Susan Gibb

  Mar 28, 09:56pm

  Move over. You're sitting on my foot.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 28, 10:19pm

  I have a little bit of Vicodin. Could lead to a tussle in the bunker.

• 
  Dolemite

  Mar 28, 10:24pm

  All right (since no one else will), I will (gently) stir the stew, as it were...

  "I think it is wrong in any organization to give the impression that there is an in crowd and an out crowd. It's deadly to the cohesion."

  This is not an organization.
  This is not an "office environment."
  This is not a job.
  This is not a university.
  This is not a factory/hospital/private practice.
  This is not a "not-for profit" association.

  There is no unified goal.

  This is a free gathering of free individuals who are free to manifest in whatever form they choose, using whatever language they choose to express this freedom to manifest.

  There is always, "in the course of human events," an in crowd and an out crowd.

  We learn that in kindergarten.
  Later on we learn not to care.

  "cohesion" in its naturally-occurring state, is the free exchange of affection/respect when and where it is deserved and cannot be compelled.

  Think back to your high school lunchroom.

  People sat with the people they wanted to sit with.

  The jocks sat with the jocks.
  The stoners sat with the stoners.
  The nerds sat with the nerds.

  Some were welcome in more than one group.

  Creation resides in, and can only be expressed by, an individual.

  Once you move beyond the pack-concept of "safety of the crowd," you realize the only valid "cohesion" is that which exists between the individual and eternity.

• 
  Gloria Garfunkel

  Mar 28, 10:35pm

  Glad you had the nerve to actually address the issue. Everything you say is true, but it's only part of the truth. Enough to just leave it alone here. Thanks.

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 28, 11:04pm

  *sigh*

• 
  Joani Reese

  Mar 28, 11:25pm

  I blame it on Marcus.

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 28, 11:30pm

  Yeah! Let's blame Marcus!

  I'm just kidding, I <3 Marcus. But he probably wouldn't mind if we made him the sacrificial lamb to our self doubts and insecurities. Or is that a scapegoat I'm thinking of? Either way.

• 
  Sally Houtman

  Mar 29, 12:41am

  Well...if this ain't the Rasputin of Forum threads.

• 
  Sally Houtman

  Mar 29, 12:43am

  And if anyone pastes in a link to a Boney M song, I swear...I will kill them...

  again

  and again

  and again.

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 29, 12:44am

  Take off and nuke it from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

  (sorry Gloria)

• 
  Dolemite

  Mar 29, 12:53am

  But could Rasputin have foreseen this?

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7Kq78G2nxA&feature=youtube_gdata_player

• 
  Sally Houtman

  Mar 29, 01:08am

  Wow, things in America HAVE changed since I left...

  But do they still play Boney M?

• 
  Dolemite

  Mar 29, 01:11am

  I NEVER heard that song, group.

  Was it a hit?

• 
  Sally Houtman

  Mar 29, 01:17am

  Okay, you FORCED me to do this. So kill me. Repeatedly. And yes, sadly, it was a hit.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6P_nitWCRc

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Mar 29, 01:23am

  Still not saying a mumbling word.

• 
  Joani Reese

  Mar 29, 01:23am

  ...and did you want to say where we should send the body or should we just do with it what we will?

• 
  Sally Houtman

  Mar 29, 01:26am

  Oh, heck. The prom king and queen just showed up.

  This is the BEST thread ever!

• 
  Sally Jayne Heymann

  Mar 29, 01:32am

  OMG, all I can say is WTF?

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 29, 09:37am

  I actually have no idea what is going on. Unclear who is prom royalty or what information is being conveyed in secret notes. Secretly suspect neither is of earth-shattering importance. (This is much like my actual high school experience.)

  The thread title is unfortunate in that it doesn't convey that Gloria is (or was, anyway) looking for people to join her in an activity rather than setting us up to chase our tails in YADAHOPSUF. (Yet Another Discussion About How Other People Should Use Fictionaut.)

  Not sure how we got here from original topic, but here we are.

  So, ignoring all the stuff that I do not understand, I would say "yeah," to what Susan and Crime Dawg said.

  Pizza and weird porn in the word bunker. (Sorry, Susan ate all the Vicodin when no one was looking.)

• 
  Susan Gibb

  Mar 29, 12:12pm

  Huh? Wazzup?

• 
  Sam Rasnake

  Mar 29, 02:12pm

  I think Vince Bell said it best and he - as Hank Williams would say if he could type - said it a long time ago:

  "The train's in Kansas City.
  New York's a parking lot.
  You can tell where I am
  by where I'm not."

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Mar 29, 04:03pm

  my final word:

  mayonnaise

• 
  Dolemite

  Mar 29, 04:09pm

  plagiarism!

• 
  Dolemite

  Mar 29, 04:17pm

  Unless you didn't have to look up the correct spelling of mainaze, in which case you get a pass. This time...

  --RB

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Mar 29, 04:21pm

  Dint have to look it up... got my copy of Trout Fishing in America rightchere on the desk. So there!

  Now THAT'S my last word...

  or THIS.

• 
  James Lloyd Davis

  Mar 29, 04:21pm

  Yeah... THIS

• Frankie Saxx

  Mar 29, 05:15pm

  NO U

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