The Fanfiction Forum E-zine ~ January 2010
Good day, fellow fanficcers!
The last E-zine was a tremendous success, so we’re going to keep the newsroom format for publication! As before, this e-zine will be a more member-written publication than those of the past. The editor (me, in this case) will be responsible for shaping the ezine and running it all smoothly, as in a newsroom, while delegating the responsibility of writing (most of) the articles to the members (reporters).
So, as editor for January, here’s my blueprint of this month’s edition. The order of articles hasn’t been decided yet – we can probably discuss that together.
What I need is contributors to find a column or article that they’d like to write, and take it on board and start putting it together!
The good thing about having a contributor-based system is that we can all work together in bringing the e-zine to life: we can discuss issues as we see them. If you guys disagree with something, or want to see something altered or changed, we can talk about it and try it a number of ways. Let’s make this like a newsroom, where we talk and interact and help each other out. This blueprint is basically in line with what was discussed in the e-zine development thread, but obviously we can keep discussing this as time goes on (while keeping an eye on the deadline, obviously).
Here is a rough layout of the articles I’d like to see this month. The colored section beside each heading refers to who has committed to writing that column, or if it is still open to be committed to. Red tags means the article is still open to be taken; gold ones have already been taken by a member, and green ones are open to all members to submit simultaneously.
1. News. OPEN (Houndoom_Lover, PancaKe)
The journalistic approach seems to work well. A lot of things have been happening lately, both in Fanfic and around all of TPM. By the end of the month the Secret Santas will be complete, we should have a new Hall of Fame inductee, and the Golden Pen Awards will be underway. Elsewhere, Mt. Moon and the Fanfic News forums are now in full swing.
2. Interview. OPEN
Gabi, should we expect another interview from you this month?
3. Top Five Moments (or something else?) of a Fanfic Character. Samchu
Basically, approach the author of a fic and ask them a handful of questions (no more than half a dozen or so, I reckon), to which he/she will reply in the voice of the character in question. Fic and character choice are up to you, as are the questions. It doesn’t have to be top five moments, so it can be any question – just keep them tasteful, people. To whoever takes this: if you want to make a public poll first and ask people what questions they want to ask the character you’ve chosen (or who they want to be chosen, as another poll), you can feel free to do so – it may engage the readership more. But there’s no obligation to do this – if you want to make the decisions yourself, I trust your judgment. Who wants this one?
4. Author’s teasers of future chapters/storylines. OPEN TO ALL
This is open to EVERYONE. If you’re writing a fic, you can submit a short teaser (each month) of no more than 200 words to be run in the e-zine. All teasers will be run, so if you want to promote the next chapter or story arc in your fic, this is your chance. As there’s nothing required other than collating these, I’ll take this one, so everyone, send me your teasers ASAP!
5. Writing competition. OPEN
There’s been the suggestion that we have a writing competition in the e-zine, and I love this idea. The winning piece will be published in February’s issue. So what we need is someone (or a group of someones) to brainstorm a topic for the competition, and what kinds of rules it will have in place. Also, if you guys could locate a judge or two (yourselves, if you wish) to judge the pieces, that would be terrific. Who wants to run this one (more than one member possible)?
6. Best Line of the Month. Pichu Luver
As before, it would be great for someone (preferably someone who reads widely) to collect for him/herself some of the funniest, most poignant or most memorable lines – the best – that have appeared in fics, poems and one shots during November, and make a shortlist of the best lines this month. Other members can also PM their suggestions of the best lines to the member who takes this column on board. After that, I guess a poll would be in order (what do you guys think?) or the person who takes this could just chose their favourite; I think I’d lean toward a poll being taken so we can verifiably make this a forum-wide kind of decision. Who wants this one? Someone who reads a lot would be ideal. 
7. A fic or poem spotlight. Kyuuketsuki
It would be great to have a nice review/discussion of a new or underappreciated fic or poem or one-shot. It can be formal or casual, and interviews with the author will only serve to enrich the spotlight. Who wants this one?
8. TOP FIVE with various writers. mr_pikachu
Basically, this segment involves profiling a different writer each month on their top five writing habits, writing places, favourite words, favourite books, favourite albums to listen to while writing, etc. I’ll take it this month as I’m keen to try it.
9. Fic backstories. OPEN TO ALL
This would be a section where the author would take us through some deeper details of their fic – for example, a detailed description of a setting or a character’s backstory, or a scrapped plot arc – that were too extraneous to appear in the fic itself. If YOU would like to tell us a bit about an aspect of YOUR fic’s backstory, write it up and PM it to me. No minimum word limit, but let’s keep it under, say, 1500 words max. (We can negotiate this.) The more the merrier; anyone can submit.
10. Feature articles. OPEN
Some potential ideas for feature articles:
- Time Management: Balancing writing and "real life" - OPEN
- Why write fanfiction? - classy_cat18
- Constructive Criticism - OPEN
- The writing process, from A to Fin - OPEN
- Writing fiction 101 - Samchu
- Writing Horror, how to get the suspense across without being repetitive (suggested by Mew Master) - OPEN
- Descriptions of animals and humans, a question of anatomy (suggested by Mew Master) - OPEN
We now have a host of regular column ideas, but what would be great would be new and interesting feature articles on various aspects of fanficcing, writing, reading, reviewing, editing, planning, getting time to write, etc. If you have an idea for a feature, post here and let us know, and get writing! It would be great to see your ideas in print!
11. New Year, New Title. => Should we do anything special to introduce the newly christened e-zine? mr_pikachu
If you want to contribute and write one of the columns above, post here to say which one you’d like to take. You can ask for more info/guidance if anything’s unclear, or you can discuss your ideas here with the editor, other contributors and other members first before going out and writing it. Totally up to you.
When your piece is finished and proofread, PM it to me.
I know there are loads of you who are actively keen on contributing and also loads of you who are hanging back in the shadows wondering whether you should step forward or not, so I’ll just say I hope to see you all here in the newsroom!
-mr_pikachu 
Re: The Newsroom: E-zine call for contributors!
Originally Posted by mr_pikachu
Thank you Saffire Persian. (Complete list coming soon)
