"FFF E-zine", Opinions?

[Darien Shields]

Err, I mentioned the idea in "RIP Fanfiction", and while some people showed interest nobody stated (stated... some of you might have meant you wanted to, but I didn't see that) interest in running, so I decided to take the initiative and get to work until someone stops me. So here we are.

Anyone who wants to stop me, or if anyone's crazy enough to help me (I need good writers and seasoned TPMers as 'article writers'), reply, and if you have any ideas for the 'zine, feel free to say.

Edit: Before you ask to get your fic in Spotlight or whatever, I'm choosing for the 'Beta' (again, until someone stops me), and Guilty By Design is the Under-Appreciated. I'm unsure of a regular spotlight. Maybe Weak Might, or a new fic by Shadowed Mewtwo... unless she was lying about writing another one...

[Andrew]

What are some ideas you dudes have? Is this really a members driven Fanfic News/Public Intrest thing.

Have an intervew section

Fic of the week

Writing Tips...

Uh I dunno

[Darien Shields]

Weird... you replied while I was making the poll...
But more importantly, I screwed up the poll, the last option should be "Random Articles".

Sorry! (I can't seem to edit the options)

Edit: BTW, I voted for all of 'em 'cepher "No!" myself, so that I could view the poll, and I thought it might help me fix it... no luck there -_-;

[Chris 2.1]

I think this sounds great. I don't think an UU fanfic should just get the spotlight - the 'editors' should just try and find a fic they either have/haven't read, read a couple chappies and give a small review at the bottom. Sounds good.

Maybe each zine could have spotlight on a current fic, as well as an interview with the writer? That could help attract audiences.

Writing tips could work, too, and a readers poll could also make it much more audience-involved. Maybe 'favourite genre' or something.

I like the idea of putting the Bimonthly Fanfic Contests in the Ezine, too.

[The Decapitated Mole]

I'll help if ya want. I can write sensical things if I want to. ...Sometimes. ...Maybe.

See? That was almost coherrent!

But anywho, I voted for FF Spotlight, UU Fic spotlight[I wonder why that could be *coughreadmyficcough*], Reviews, Interviews, Contests, and random articles. That's my two cents. Have fun, and let me know if there's anything I can help with.

o_0
jimm

[mistysakura]

I did state interest! Anyway, I reckon most of the stuff in the poll is cool, but I disagree with putting the contests and reviews into the e-zine, cause I think a separate topic for them would actually be more active. Archive Spotlight's a bit strange too, considering there aren't that many fics in the archive (if that's what you meant.) I like the other spotlights and stuff though.

[PancaKe]

You know what would make it interesting also, having people submit articles. because that way tis also interactive because its not just a member run fanfic news. *shrugs* You know what i mean?

I havent shown much interst in my posts cuz i didnt know what an e-zine was before - but now Iknow, I am interested andIll help out too if yew like.

BTW ignore my pm. i sent it before seeing the others post here.

and btw yeah its granted.

**PancaKe||

[Darien Shields]

Muahhahaaahahahaa!

Err, I mean... Excellent. Excellent. All goes according to plan. And my plan is not sinister. Not at all.

Anyway, I forgot things I had thought of before, but now they resurface, and I shall say 'dem. Okay, the contest thing, the winners could be printed in the E-zine aswell as the regular contest post. This way you keep the contest running and generating its own posts and popularity, but anyone too lazy to look for entries will be able to look 'em up in the E-zine. That sound better?

Article Submission sounds interesting, but I like the idea of having regular writers. But both could work. Oh, anyone who wanted to help can write articles if they want (like writer tips, and stuff like that), while I figure out what needs done.

I'm hoping to work in unison with the FFRO (in a similar way to working in unison with the contests), if Gav's all for it (and if the contest runners are for it), but have yet to hear from him. If he doesn't like that idea (which would be understandable), the E-ziney people could do reviews ourselves, which wouldn't be too hard.

As for Archive Spotlight- there's plenty in the Archive, you just have to say "Show All Posts Since: The Beginning." I like the idea because I don't think anybody appreciates the archived fics anymore. I read Kaya for the FFRO and before I started reading Monica's Army (because I wanted to read Monica's Revolution... never got very far with either.) Plus with an Archived fic you get more full reviews and stuff.

Also, the UU Spotlight would run at the same time as the regular Spotlight. My plan was to run Reg and UU, and then if there was no Regular Spotlight fic (I think it's more likely there will be no Reg. fic than no UU fic) run Archive Spotlight instead.

Phewph... My memory's degrading, and if I don't stop soon I'm gonna start repeating what I said before, so I'll cut this short. *rubs temples* the people interested in helping were; the Decapitated Mole, Misty Sakura, and PancaKe, right? Sorry if I forgot anyone, or included people I shouldn't have.

Thanks for all the interest, and I'll have more finalised ideas up soon.

[Dragonfree]

I voted all of them, the more that's in it, the better.

[Iveechan]

Just wondering Darien, did you ever finish reading Guilty? It seems kind of odd that you'd want to spotlight it if you never finished it.

[mr_pikachu]

I'd be more than willing to help, but I'll be somewhat tied down with school and the FFRO. When I can, though, I'd love to contribute. This sounds like a great idea to liven up Fanfic.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw a few ideas out there...

1. Fanfic Advice Column - This column would consist of the columnist taking a PM or two from fellow writer(s) on the boards. These PM(s) would address concerns that the writers have about their fics, or the forum in general. Then, the columnist would give advice, hence the name.

2. Writing Tips Column - This would be a column with tips that could be more generally applied to writing, fanfiction, or at the very narrowest an individual genre dealt with frequently in Fanfic (trainer fic, shipping, etc).

3. Rotation Column(s) - I don't have a specific topic for this, but it would work by setting up an order (rotation) for several columnists who might not have time to post regular columns. Or, alternatively, there could be a topic designated for each issue, and anyone could submit an article of his/her own. Then, the best one would be selected by a head organizer, or maybe the previous issue's columnist (for that column only, of course).

Well, there's my two cents. I'm more than happy to help when I can. I'm sure this will go well, and I can't wait for the E-zine to start!

[PancaKe]

i really like the idea of the subject and just submit articles regarding that. Its an awesome idea!!!

**PancaKe||

[Darien Shields]

Mr. P you're added to 'the list'.

Those column ideas sound interesting, but I'm worried that they might become stagnant very quickly. How many writing tips can you think of- how much advice is there for writing fan fics? I don't know, but I've just thought of them as a rather limited concept.

Urk, I left the computer without finishing a post... where was I?

Oh, right, well, work for the first issue's comin' along. There's no Poetry Contest ATM is there? Well, I had a lil' idea for a contest that we could run in the mean time, if anyone's interested. It's a short lil' story about the origin of pokemon, aim for 1000 words (I'll mark it down if its bellow 800 or above 1200. Err, if everyone is far above or bellow this I'll modify my wordcount to fit.) It's just like a legend, y'know, how things came to be. It could be all mythical, like "and then Mew bled, and its deep blue blood covered the earth and created the sea, which nurtured life", something like that, you know, it doesn't have to have a factual basis. PM me any entries, or if my PM box is full e-mail me at 'genesis@darienshields.com'.

As for all the peeps who have offered help, well, these are things I should do myself, but y'know, if you're eagre, and can get to them before me... This is effectively my "FFF Ezine" (FFF = Fan Fic Forum) To Do List:

1. Kill all Humans.
Err, wrong list.
1. Review Guilty by Design.
2. Get Regular Spotlight Fic. I've asked Luper if he's alright with LTL (was it LTL...? It was something I don't read, that he writes, and looks popular ^_^; ) but he hasn't got back to me. Has anyone seen Luper?
3. Interview Spotlighted Author
4. Review Spotlighted Fic
5. Make Some Articles/Columns.

You have your orders men! By 6:00am the Human Race will be but a short chapter in the history books. Good luck, and Nod's Speed.

[mistysakura]

Is this going to be a fortnightly, a monthly or what? Anyway, I'll take the Guilty review if the FFRO isn't up by whenever this is meant to be due. Expect it around Friday.

[mr_pikachu]

As for columns/articles, should we PM them to you to post, or should we just post them ourselves in the thread? And no, I'm not referring to the contest, since you've already mentioned how to submit those entries.

[Darien Shields]

Firstly, it's a monthly, for the time being.

Secondly, PM me any work, I'll collate it into the E-zine.

On a different note I thought some sort of rant column or something might be a little fresh. As many of you are aware I'm on a tyrade about the terrible leniency on criticism, and I think that I could write some capital rants if anyone's interested in listenning to my ramblings.

No? Just a thought.

But I like the idea of more diary-type-columns, you know, thick with opinions and views, that sort of thing.

[mistysakura]

Ohh yeah, I forgot to ask: these reviews for the spotlight, are they meant to be FFRO-style, with a mark for each category and explanations, or like those you see in the news, with a synopsis and analysis of the qualities of the fic that make it worh reading (or not)?

[Captain Pringle]

Not too sure about the rant column (I guess if done tastefully, it could be ok), but all of the ideas listed in the actual poll sound great to me. And FFRO-style should work fine for the reviews; either that, or just a written review with no actual point system (this would give people an idea of how good each fic is, without reducing each fic's worth to a numerical value).

[Darien Shields]

I was thinking FFRO style, but Luper's yet to give me the okay for that (I think it's his system, so I don't really want to use it without permission), so in the mean time a pointless (or perhaps just with an overall /10 mark after your textual review) system will do. Err, by "pointless" I mean without points, not without a purpose.

Meh, too tired to go into more depth. Will that suffice?

[The Decapitated Mole]

Yeah, I think I volunteered to do... something... and since everything else looks like bunches of work, I'll write an article about... something...

You'll get it soon, Darien!

o_0
jimm

[Gavin Luper]

Sounds fine to me, sorry I took so long ... life has been full-on lately. But by FFRO style, do you mean doing new reviews, or using the latest ones done by the raters? Cause I think the latter would be better; the raters wouldn't have their thunder stolen that way.

Speaking of which, I'll just say that I'll be opening the FFRO this weekend, so for all those raters who've been waiting ... hold your breath!

Anyways, this sounds good to me.

Cheers!

[mistysakura]

By FFRO style pI meant using the FFRO point system. If FFRO's opening this weekend, may as well hand the job over to FFRO. I'll wait to see if I'm in. (Rereading Guilty's enjoyable though.)

[PancaKe]

Rant column = good so long as it doens't turn into flaming.

I like the whole idea of things like this though. Maybe you could have a theme going with the whole thing, maybe a fic genre or something - and things such as rants/reviews/spotlights/etc could go along with the theme *shrugs*

[Tainted]

Rant column = good so long as it doens't turn into flaming.

I like the whole idea of things like this though. Maybe you could have a theme going with the whole thing, maybe a fic genre or something - and things such as rants/reviews/spotlights/etc could go along with the theme *shrugs*

The only thing I see wrong with the genre idea is that, well, as far as I know TPM isn't full of many genre's unless you really want to break the genre's down.
Like, for example, instead of a pokemon genre, a trainer fic genre, a pokemon POV genre, etc.

For any genre's out of pokemon, well, we're a little screwed. We might have two fantasy's at the most, a couple Yu-Gi-Oh's, etc.

So, unless the genre's will be really broken down, it just won't work, because after a couple of issues you'll have already run out of genre's to use. Great idea though.

Adieu,
Zak Hunter

[Darien Shields]

Whey! Luper's back!

Well, to clarify, my original idea was to work in collaboration with the FFRO, the spotlights would in effect showcase one of their Reviews (and link back to the FFRO), done by one of the FFRO members. However, I envisioned flaws.
1) Gav' mentioned to me that he didn't want to re-review things that often, and would have preferred to review things only once their finished. Since Archive Spotlight's less thrilling, I was unsure.
2) The more I thought about it the worse it sounded for the FFRO. It sounded to me like we'd just be stealing their stuff and leaving them out in the cold.
3) The Spotlights would either have to be things that the FFRO had reviewed, or the FFEEz (is that a legitemate abbreviation? (and I meant lower case "z")) would have to request that the FFRO review certain things, and I didn't want to make too many demands on them...

So those are my concerns (I guess I'll leave Gav' to answer them...), if it is decided that these two can not work in perfect unison, then it'll simply mean that we'll have to Review under our own steam (several members of FFFEz staff are also FFRO staff anyway, right?)

The genre theme's nice, but Skullfire brings up a good point, pokemon genres are basicly "Trainer" and "Pokemon Perspective." Perhaps we should have some sort of fic drive, like, a contest for Horror Pokemon Stories, or something like that.

As for the Rant, I didn't expect if to digress into flaming (although the slightest bash may be made against some people), but be more... topical.

Anyway, my attention is drawn elsewhere.

[mr_pikachu]

You mentioned that some of the FFEEz staff are FFRO reviewers. Has Gavin announced who made the cut? I sure haven't found out anything... *twiddles thumbs nervously*

I guess I'll write an article, since I haven't even started Guilty, and the spotlight idea isn't looking too safe at the moment, either. Meh.


P.S. Woohoo! The six choices I voted for have the most votes of any of them! *does happy dance*

[Chris 2.1]

I'd willingly contribute in any way, but maybe in a couple weeks - I'm weighed down with school work SO BAD at the moment.

[PancaKe]

When i mentioned like, genres n stuff I sort of meant lke, have each zine themed i guess *shrugs* Like, have one based on romance n stuff and then have like a shipping colum for that thing, and a review on a romance fic etc. And then have another on i dont know - paragraphs and then have a fic in spotlight with great paragraphs. ^^;;

[Dragonfree]

Hmm... possible genres:

One-shots
Romance
Trainer fics
Pokémon POV
Other Pokémon
Non-Pokémon

There, six categories.

[PancaKe]

So, do you know what's going on with it? And when the first one will be coming out?

[Darien Shields]

What? Where? Who? When? How? High?

Oh man, I'm tired...

I've been palying Ragnarok Online pretty solidly for the better part of the week and haven't even checked in... -_-; My bad, sorry.

I've had a few contributions, but not the reviews, due to the obvious complications. I'm off to see about them in a minute. It looks like The E-zine won't be ready for the deadline of July 1st, but I think we'll be able to put it together before August (If I don't you have permission to beast me senseless ^_^; ), and then try and stick to the 1st of the month dates.

I don't remember if I said this, but I thought it'd be a cool idea if we held short fic competitions (or even just starting fic competitions, I dunno) in the months alternating between the Poetry contest. I thought it'd be an idea to expand the genre barrier, i.e. Horror competition, Detective... I dunno, I want to see more Pokemon stories with those genres. We could even run a sorta startup competition one month, then two months later run a competition on whatever ones kept going? I dunno, it's just an idea.

[The Decapitated Mole]

I was thinking the same thing, I was going to suggest it, I think, but then I didn't. Hmm.

Anyway, yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Have different genre short story competitions each alternating month that it is done. Maybe?

o_0
jimm

[Chris 2.1]

Maybe I could host the writing/poetry contests as part of the E-zine? I certainly wouldn't mind. The winners could be posted in FF News, too, incase people dont read the E-zine...but why would they not read it?

[PancaKe]

You know what would also be pretty funky? Have a continuing story, and have a chapter submitted every month to continue onwards. BTW - PM me if you need any help at all and I'll help with it.

[mr_pikachu]

Ingenious. Sort of like a chain fic, but with plenty of time to write a high-quality piece. I'd be more than willing to take part in that.

[Captain Pringle]

Yeah, that continuing story idea sounds like a keeper!

[mistysakura]

Chain story = good. It'll be really cool, cause it'll be a huge collaboration and stuff, but it also destroys your normal chain fic flaw of quantity over quality. This sounds good.

[Darien Shields]

I'm being forced to Tidy my Room, ATM, but I'll start work on the E-zine again tommorrow, I expect it to go out on Tuesday.

Chain Fic sounds interesting, I had a think, and thought of this;

Com-pe-ti-tion!

A Competition will be thrown into the first issue of the E-zine to write a first chapter of yon story. Runners up will carry it on, until they've all done a chapter, then the cycle repeats. And on occaision (if a writer cops out, or the cycle becomes stagnant) there can be filler competitions for a one-off writer. What think you?

Anyway, (I do so love competitions), we need Judges! Hrm, how many? Five, Five sounds good. Five and a Reserve, so that the judges can enter and the Reserve can judge them (so, the five judges would give their results on a fic, if one of the judges had writen the fic, they wouldn't judge it- the Reserve would.) Ho-hum, does that sound good? I'm gonna consider being a judge myself, just because... I like Judging.

So, if you want to be a judge volunteer. I'm gonna just pick judges (if I had to make a competition to elect judges, we'd never get anywhere) from volunteers. There are some people I particularly would like to see as Judges, I might ask them if they don't volunteer.

Well, I've waffled on for quite long enough now, so I'll leave you to contemplate my words.

Edit: PS: I'll be discussing the nature of the fic with the judges. Suggestions would be good though. I can't even decide whether it should be a trainer fic or what!

[The Decapitated Mole]

Yea, that idea sounds gr8. I'll be a judge for teh contest if that's alright, but I'm also gonna enter, so be warned.

o_0
jimm

[mistysakura]

Judging's fun. Good idea, and I might consider entering the actual competition too...