Thursday, March 6, 2014

What Do You Want to See?

In case you missed my comment on the previous post, it has not gone unnoticed that comments and participation have gotten pretty light around here.  Of course I can accept a lot of the blame for that, because if there isn't much content, people stop dropping by and tend to forget.  I realized that the level of interest seems to move cyclically, and last year we had a similar lull in early winter, though it was revived by a slew of Valentine's Day stories.  So, I figured that was the easiest way to get things going again and it saved me the trouble of actually having to do anything on my own aside from simply re-posting stories that were submitted.  But that tactic seems to have failed as I don't think we've seen so few comments on posts since the blog started and hardly anyone knew it existed.  Which is also frustrating because I know that the traffic is actually still quite high, so a lot of people are visiting but not commenting.  I understand that sometimes you just don't know what to say and given the nature of the challenge/stories that were written, there may not be much more to say aside from, "That was sweet!"  Or, "I liked it!"  But trust me, sometimes it's nice to get any reassurance that someone read it and liked it, otherwise it's like playing music for an empty room. 

So, I'm wondering what, if anything, you guys want to see here.  I said in my comment, it's fun to have someplace to come to and talk about these things but sometimes it feels like throwing a party that nobody actually shows up to.  I don't mind going to the trouble if there is going to be some participation and mutual enjoyment here, but without any contributions from anyone else, it seems sort of pointless.  I'll probably move away from posting stories/challenges for the most part, unless it is some sort of special project like the joint story was, or if I feel like posting something of my own because hey, it's my blog ;).  But the pattern seems to be that people don't comment on them, and may or may not be reading them.  And most of you wind up simultaneously posting your stories on ff.net and I'm going to just go ahead and assume that readers of Han and Leia stories on ff.net and readers of the blog here have a 100% overlap.  Think of it like if your friend emails you a picture, but you already saw it and commented on it on facebook.  Then they get upset that you didn't say anything about the picture they emailed you, and you're like... but I already saw it and told you I liked it on facebook!  It's just redundant.

I tried to get some conversation going before about whether or not Leia would marry for the Rebellion, and we got more comments than usual around here, but still not quite what it used to be.  I've had some thoughts about going back to discussing things about writing in general, so maybe that would be of some interest to some of you, but I'm not sure.  I'm also still holding out some hope that maybe at some point we will finally get some confirmation about who is going to be in this new movie and what it is going to be about.  Especially if Han and Leia are going to be in it, I would expect that to spark some more interest.  Possibly even if they aren't, though I'll admit that I'm going to be incredibly disappointed if they aren't.  I mean, I'd have been disappointed either way, but I'd be especially disappointed if they'd been stringing us along since the entire thing was announced like a year-and-a-half ago, making us think that they were going to be in it.  I'd have long since come to terms with it if they had told us back then! 

Anyway, let me know if you guys have any ideas of what you want to see here and what you think you or other people might enjoy discussing.  Again, the challenges were a fun distraction, but ultimately posting stories here isn't getting much recognition.  And if you're bored and over it, you can say that, too.  If you want more topics but don't have any ideas, that's ok, too.  Just say something.  I know you're out there, I can see your page hits.

38 comments:

  1. Since the discussion topics always seem pretty popular then it would be fun to have a few more of those perhaps? Maybe even some Episode 7 themed ones which I'm sure will get people talking and speculating. Discussions always seem to draw people out of the woodwork, and it's fun when a lot of people are chatting.

    Really hoping things pick up again, and I'm hoping the new movie will reignite some interest and help things along.

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  2. That's the picture I was talking about!

    As far as what people want to talk about, I think sometimes the issue isn't _what_ but _how_. I tend to get interested in things from a feminist/critical perspective that's more likely to question why the narrative is the way it is. Sometimes that leads to interesting discussions, and sometimes it can derail things. I know Zyra likes to keep things centered around the topic at hand, though, so I do make an effort to respect that.

    One thing I always enjoy hearing about is other fanfic writers and why/how they practice their craft. Ditto for fandom in general. So maybe posts that pose specific questions? Like here's one: who in "real life" knows about your writing?

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  3. So... let me just say that picture is one of my favorites. It's one of those pictures that just begs for a story to go along with it. I haven't come up with it yet, but it's in there somewhere.
    As for the question at hand, what would be interesting to me to hear about? Maybe a topic about writing in general, coming from someone who has no writing 'training' per se, it would be interesting to hear how others approach writing (when the mood strikes, write everyday, etc). Also, I like the idea about who in 'real life' knows about your writing AND who in your 'real life' has read your stories and what do they think of this hobby. Also, how long does it generally take someone to write a story. And the other thing that just popped into my head... WHY do we write these stories. What do we get out of doing this?
    Hope that this helps generate discussion.

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  4. As a relative newcomer, I feel kind of funny about suggesting directions for this blog as I'm still trying to catch up on the archived topics here. Also, I'm sometimes away for weeks at a time (summer especially) and I'd hate to suggest stuff and then not be around to contribute.

    But I will echo that I'd love to discuss the writing process and how it works for different writers. I'd enjoy discussions on the specifics of crafting a story, as well as discussions on fandom culture in general.

    I really would like to see this place continue to be active.

    Also want to chime in that this is one of my favourite "behind the scenes" photos!

    - Sabacc Gal

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  5. Isn't that a great picture? Behind the scenes of the holiday special, believe it or not. Therefore, they were probably high out of their minds on... something.

    In the past we did a lot more posts about writing itself. Maybe I'll try and bring some of those back.

    New or old, I don't really care who gives suggestions. If you're a fan who wants to be a regular reader/participant, I'd be interested in your ideas. Or even just a comment that says, hey, I'm still here and I like it.

    The whole point is to get people talking and commiserating. If you just read and say nothing, and everyone reads and says nothing, well, it's not really much fun. I'd really encourage anyone to join in on the discussion. It's all anonymous, feel free to contribute! Or any of our old contributers. I was looking at some old posts from a year or so ago and saw so many names of people who used to comment all the time who have vanished.

    So, again, you don't need to have suggestions, just letting us know you're still here and reading would be helpful.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. Now I feel like your last sentence is written for my kind of readers. :-)

      I really enjoy dropping by and reading your blog! Honestly it never occurred to me that a simple sentence like that satisfactory enough for a writer and can give inspiration.
      Most of the time I am simply awfully lazy translating my thoughts to post a replay.

      I like your blog not just for what it is about but it helps me to practice my English.

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  6. Yes, love that pic too. It could actually be one of the only decent things to come out of that horror show. I always imagine she's totally entranced by him and is thinking "Holy crap, he's so hot!" ;)

    I would also welcome discussion topics on writing, think they would be helpful to all us writers. Particularly talking about things like overcoming writers block and other issues that pop up during the writing process.

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    1. Lol. Almost like staring at the sun probably. You sure she isn't thinking "Hmmm, I wonder if there's a closet near here we can drag each other into?" That's what she should be thinking. ;)

      You're not bringing that topic of writers block up for me are you? :) Woukd be a good one.

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    2. Lol, nice one. So she's actually thinking "Holy crap, he's so hot....we totally need to find a closet!" Yeah, I can buy that :)

      And yes, absolutely on the writers block ;) But I think I would also benefit greatly from that topic.

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    3. I'd be giggling like crazy and thinking hee hee, I've seen him naked. ;)

      Cool. :) It is a good idea.

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  7. Hey there,

    I am not a writer, so I cannot give any suggestions there, but I am reading! I don't know if anybody else is like this, but I am an ardent fan of H/L fiction ... But at least lately, I have been hyper-focused on pre-ROTJ era fanfic. So even though I appreciate the writers' efforts and dedication, I haven't been reading or commenting on marriage/family stories. Now I admit that my interests will probably change, and i will come back to these family stories later.

    In any case, I hope you all keep writing. The stories are really fun to read.

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    1. Thanks for the comment, Liz. That is certainly a valid reason and something I wouldn't have otherwise thought of. Which is why I'm glad you brought it up! I'm still reluctant to turn this into a venue for stories, except occasionally, again because really no matter what they don't get much feedback, and there are other places to put them up.

      And of course I don't expect everyone to like every story that gets posted. And it's not particularly helpful to chime in just to say that you don't care for stories set in that era or whatever, so I don't blame you for not commenting. It's good to get a broader sense of what is going on here.

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    2. Hi
      Like Liz, I'm not a writer but an avid Han and Leia fanfiction reader. My favorite stories are usually anything in the pre-ROTJ era too (missing moments, AU in that era, ...) and there hasn't been much of those lately. Another reason for my lack of comments is that English is not my mother tongue (I read it well but it's more difficult to write it...) I used to write little comments of my appreciation when you posted the joint story but for as much as I like to read your comments on various subjects (upcoming star wars movies, theories,gossips, ideas for new stories, etc.) I'm always reluctant to post a comment myself. Maybe I should try harder to comment and stop worrying about being judge for my various writing mistakes. I just wanted to tell you, Zyra and Push, I much I like dropping by this blog. It's fun to know that I'm not the only one still hook to these great characters.

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  8. Discussion topics are always fun, and even if we don't have a lot of information to go on, it would be irresponsible not to speculate. The real issue is momentum--the stories are great, and it was nice to see everyone on track, but I think if we're to gain momentum, it needs updating more often. I understand that this is hard, especially with work/family/pick your demand, but I think just putting stuff up more often is how momentum is gained.

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  9. I don't think the postings necessarily have to be about big things. A photo, a quote, gossip, speculating where the couple went on their honeymoon, what their kids think of them, etc.

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  10. I like the idea of posts surrounding writing. What are people's process for writing. Why we write is an interesting question. How to edit and not drive yourself crazy in the process.

    I do miss the book reviews. I think that set up some nice discussions on the characters and how they are portrayed. Maybe don't need to do all of the EU, but just books that are interesting from a Han/Leia perspective. Razor's Edge would be a good candidate. I actually liked the would Leia marry for the Rebellion question. Before ESB is such an unexplored time period and I'm curious how they were and what happened during that time. How close did Han and Leia get during that timeframe? We know they had to, but just how close was it?

    I did like reviews of things I haven't seen yet, like the comics. It helped me find some things that I enjoyed, but normally wouldn't get.

    So almost anything about writing, SW, or writing SW. :)

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    1. I'm on board with the writing discussions. I like hearing everyone's process, practice and perspective. I can describe easily how I do it professionally, but fiction writing is very different and I'm not sure I've nailed a process down.

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  11. Weekly visitor and very bad about commenting. My favorite part of this blog is the pro-fic book reviews. Just finished Honor Among Thieves. Can't wait to hear what others thought. It's relatively new so I will refrain from spoilers. I'll just say I enjoyed it because the star of the show was our lovable scoundrel. :))

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  12. I'm another bad poster. Just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy this blog and appreciate it. I just find writing- any writing...commenting, feedback...to be extremely difficult and nervewracking. I made a New Years resolution to be a better fic reviewer, but so far it's been a struggle. In awe of anyone who has the guts to write fanfic, let alone have other eyes read it!
    Thanks for your hard work in maintaining this blog, Zyra and Push.

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  13. Thanks for the comments, guys. And I must say, as has mostly been the case anytime you've outed yourselves, I never would've guessed you non-native English speakers were writing in a second language. There are plenty of people who write in English as a first language who don't have as good a grasp on it as you do ;)

    Someone mentioned book reviews, and that is something I'd like to eventually get back to. It is a major undertaking though, and the thought of it is more than slightly overwhelming so it will require some motivation but at some point I'd at least like to get us through the NJO, and then go back and do these other books like Razor's Edge, which I also happen to be reading right now.

    Keep the comments coming!

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    1. Oh, yeah, the book reviews are a big lot to take on. And maybe we can be selective there instead of reviewing every book.

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    2. I support doing book reviews. I could maybe help out since I have to get motivated to catch up on reading existing Star Wars books before the new movie blows away the existing Expanded Universe (if that's what happens). Also maybe suggestions on Dark Horse Comics that might be especially interesting to pick up before they lose the rights to the Star Wars comics to Marvel and their books might not be easily available. Discusssion will pick up with more information coming along about the new movie especially since it sounds like Harrison Ford will have more involvement than many people first thought when the new movies were announced.

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    3. Artoo23, check out the "The Lesser Known EU" tag on the right. We have reviews of quite a few comics on here if you're interested.

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    4. The book reviews so far have been amazing, but very much in depth- I can just imagine what a daunting task they must be to write! They needn't be...even just a general overview, or comments on a favourite chapter or passage, would be great.

      I don't know if it's possible with blogspot, but oftentimes I'm wracking my brain for a particular fic or picture or just a general question I'd like to ask, some way of doing that would be great. Maybe this is the kind of thing that would be better suited to NP, though...

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  14. I'm here... but I've been travelling for work and only had the work laptop.. so no "off" sites.

    Anyway... I think I've posted this before (probably at Nerfhearder's)... I hold back on commenting on stories because I know that most fanfic writers do not want the feedback I'm most likely to give them. As an editor, I rarely give feedback of "good job"... or "loved it"... and I feel out of my element doing so.

    So while I know you all want to know we read, I hold back posting on the stories. Sometimes I push myself to give a quick "I enjoyed it". I'm more likely to post on discussion threads. So when it's lots of stories, I'm quieter.

    As for what to start... the "what if" or "why do you think" questions are always good for both discussion and plot bunny ideas.

    Why do you think Han teased Leia merciliously? Was he behaving like a love struck teen? Was he trying to get back at her for being high and mighty (and when did Leia do that? Was he trying to help her - ie be a person she could let loose at so she didn't stress out? etc...

    things about the why's and what if's are always fun discussions. And I liked it when others had different opinions and were willing to be open about them.

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    1. I like those what ifs. Good ones.

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    2. I think it would be interesting to hear what an editor would comment on. Not necessarily a specific story per se. But what are the types of things editors look at, etc. Maybe another topic would be what an editor/beta reader tends to look for in a story.

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    3. I like that idea. Both the editor and the beta reader. Just a general what to look for when editing might be cool.

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  15. The teasing Leia thing….I always kinda thought of it as like the kid on the playground pulling the girl's braid to get her attention. You know, a negative reaction was better than no reaction at all. ;)

    (And now I will wait and see if this comment actually posts….)

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  16. I check this blog and ff.net daily, but this is my first post at either website. Yes, I feel a bit sheepish and more than a little guilty for enjoying the content without contributing myself, but there are a couple reasons behind my lack of participation

    First and foremost, my online anonymity is important to me. I primarily browse on my mobile and can't figure out how to anonymously post from the Blogspot mobile interface, and I'm scared to even attempt to do so for fear of failing.

    Second, I enjoy the stories that are posted here but "I like it!" hardly feels worthy of a comment. Maybe that type of short comment works on ff.net, but this site seems to be geared towards longform comments. I just don't have that kind of feedback for most of the stories. Sometimes a good discussion emerges from one of the stories, and I find myself wanting to share my thoughts, but the online anonymity factor trumps that desire.

    The cross-publishing on ff.net doesn't bother me, but it does sometimes confuse me and sometimes feels redundant. What makes a story "HanLeiaFanFicWriters material"? Is it simply the H/L nature of the story? If so, then that seems redundant. There are series out there that are partially here and posted in full on ff.net, and I could understand if a specific story or story element in one was directly prompted by a challenge or discussion here, that it should be published here. But those connections need to be called attention to, for disambiguation as much as highlighting potential and specific discussion points for comments.

    As for what I would like to see (and thanks for asking!) and what's likely to get me participating in comments: 1) Discussion topics; 2) Writing challenges; 3) WIP stories. And more frequent updates! (As other have mentioned, these needn't be significant updates. I really don't care whether a post is 5000 words or 50 words. Fresh content is fresh content).

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  17. Good comments, everyone.

    I do want to address the "redundancy" of posting on here and ff.net. I haven't made a habit of telling other people what to do with their stories. The intent of the stories posted here was usually challenges or something inspired by a discussion we had, or we had missing moments on the book reviews. There aren't any "official" guidelines, but that and the joint story made up most of the "story" stuff that was posted here. For myself, I have posted things I've written for challenges here on ff.net, but I only usually post them over there a few months after I post them here. For me personally, it seems pointless to do both at the same time since I can just about guarantee most people reading there are reading here and nobody needs to read a story twice nor feel the need to comment in not one but two places. After a few months it's more of a reminder, and I like having my stuff archived in a very organized manner over there. So that's why I do put it there eventually, but I usually wait quite a while before finally putting it over there.

    I can understand having a hard time too if editing is not your thing. If any of you were involved in Nerfherder's Playground, there was a much more "workshop" attitude over there, where you wouldn't just post the story, but people would offer constructive criticism. It helped me tremendously as a writer and it was usually well received because most people who posted there understood the intent. But I know a lot of people don't want that, and I'm not sure that would really be the intent here. I'd actually say that it might not be a bad idea for anyone interested in that sort of thing to go back to NHP. It rarely gets posts anymore, but if you collectively decide to start using that venue I'm sure it would pick up again.

    But either way, it's becoming clearer that this isn't the best place to post stories, unless maybe we come up with a really good challenge or something.

    Anyway, definitely some good ideas!

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    1. Perhaps we could leverage the Playground for challenges? Or ff.net? Just a thought. The Playground might be cool cause then we could at least put them all in one place.

      The Speedo was one darn good challenge. :) I liked that one.

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    2. The Speedo challenge was a rare exception. It worked, we've never had more submissions, the photos to go with the entries were excellent (and it's kind of amazing that we have that many photos of him like that, isn't it?) And I also probably won't/wouldn't post that particular story of mine on ff.net since it hardly qualifies as a "story" even though it was a fun, silly thing to write.

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    3. I guess Harrison in a speedo is very....inspirational. ;) I would post it, but that's just me. I'm actually working on expanding mine to not fade to black since there were so many complaints about stories ending too early.

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  18. Wow, this post alone got plenty of comments! But don't stop posting on the blog. Even just a few pictures (like the one above which I love), as well as speculation. I'd also like to see some book reviews posted, like the recent COPL one which I really enjoyed. And more challenges would be fun too!

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  19. To echo someone else's comment above, I'd love to discuss "Honor Among Thieves", and soon! For me, I'm most likely to participate in a book discussion in the weeks immediately following its release, while it's fresh in my mind and I'm most excited about it, rather than a year from now when I'd have to make time to re-read it to do it any kind of justice.

    Sorry about the anonymous posting. I'm still puzzling over how to sign in with my yahoo account.

    - Sabacc Gal

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