[identity profile] ladyprydian.livejournal.com

Have a question that's not answered here? Leave us a note on the ask-a-mod post

How do I nominate a fic?
You nominate a fic by commenting in the nomination thread for the stream/genre. Nomination posts will look like this:Nomination Thread: [Stream/Genre name]

At the beginning of each round we will make a number of posts like this. All you need to do is comment with the fic you want to nominat.e Please provide as much information as you can such as:

Title
Author
Link [follow these instructions on how to add a link in LJ]



To avoid duplication, please also check the thread to ensure that you are not nominating a fic that is already listed

How do I get to lead a discussion?

All you have to do is to tell the world that you want to! Discussion leaders volunteer to lead conversations about a particular fic, rather than making a blanket offer. You can express your interest during the nominations period, either by nominating a new story or seconding an extant nomination.  Be sure to mention, in your comment, that you are interested in leading. If there is a need, we will make a post asking for discussion leaders.


Boy, I really love this story. I can't wait to squee about it with other people.  I'm good to go, right?

Not really, no. The discussion leader's job is to make room for the full range of responses, and not everybody is going to love the story.  As far as we're concerned, that kind of disagreement isn't a problem, it's an opportunity for everyone to learn more about how the fic is working: why it is affecting different readers in different ways, or even seems to be saying different things to different readers, or seems convincing or in-character to only some of its audience.

You don't have to defend the fic against every criticism somebody raises; in fact - although you are of course welcome to respond, and to offer your own interpretation - it's important to us that everyone knows (and feels) that they are allowed to criticize the stories.  We don't welcome fic-bashing (or author-bashing, or character-bashing) but this kind of productive criticism - aimed at reaching a better understanding of the story - is our lifeblood as a community.

If you don't think you would feel comfortable leading a discussion on these terms, you may not want to be a discussion leader for this comm.


What should I talk about in my opening discussion post?

Talk about the things that drove you to nominate (or second) the story in the first place! You can start with your own reactions: what did you love? What did you find interesting? What did you find confusing, or frustrating, or left you wishing something had been different? Secondly, you can raise questions to help get underneath your reactions: what are the attributes or aspects of the story that elicited those reactions from you? What other things (e.g. particular views of of the characters, understanding of the fic's genre) has to be in place, do you think, for the story to elicit that response? How does the story conform to, or differ from, the patterns laid down by other fics of this kind?

if you would like more guidance in developing your opening post, you can contact the mods. We can hlep you get started. We can also throw around some ideas with you, if we're familiar with the story.



When the time comes for me to start the discussion, how do I make the post?

When you do post to the comm, please use Discussion Post: [Title of fic] as the subject.  Please use the following header at the top before starting your discussion:
Title:
Author:
Rating:
Warnings:
Links:
Author's Summary:


A bit of introductory matter: your own expansion of the author's summary, some words about what makes this story wonderful, and/or interesting, and/or problematic.

***LJ CUT***

The bulk of your discussion should go below a cut, so as not to swamp people's feeds.

comments: In the past, many of our discussion leaders have organized the conversation by "threading" comments: that is, they have created comment on the original post for each of the different major areans of discussion that they take to be importnat. For some longer fics, discussion leaders have also created comments for different parts of the story. We do not require that you use this method to organize discussion, but we do recommend it.

Also, please tag your post with the round number (e.g. "round 2") and with the name of the stream. Please DO NOT tag it with other streams or genres, even if you think the fic could be classified that way.

FAQ Page

Nov. 4th, 2015 07:15 pm
[identity profile] ladyprydian.livejournal.com

This FAQ will no doubt grow, and undergo minor adjustments, as the community finds its feet. If you have a question or a concern that you don't see addressed here, leave us a comment on the Ask-A-Mod post, or drop a message.



How do I join? Do I need to wait for approval before joining a conversation?

Joining is super easy!  Just hover your mouse above that little icon next to the group name, and when the textbox appears, click "Join Community".  (You'll also want to click on "watch community" to add it to your friends list.)  There's no queue or further approval needed before you join the fun!


Why are there so many discussion streams? How can I find the conversations I want?

We run about 6-7 streams per round, based on a much longer list of possible genres and pairings.  We try to mix them up from round to round in order to keep things interesting and fresh. You can always find links to current nomination threads or the discussion calendar in the sticky post (will go up soon), or go to our main journal page and check the sidebar for links to recent conversations.



How did you choose the streams that we have? There are important things that are missing, and then there’s this other category I don’t think should even be here.

Current streams were chosen with a) great angst, consternation and regret and b) a very clear intention to leave them open to revision. The mods had to pick some things to get started with, and we tried to pick streams that reflected what’s being written, but we are thinking of these categories – and we hope you will, too – as a kind of working template.


Far from being set in stone, these different streams are intended to be a way to get us started, to help us figure out, as a community, what kinds of stories people are most interested in discussing, and what kinds of divisions are most helpful. So even if you're not keen on the current arrangement, we ask that you give them a shot for these first few weeks.  The mods are hoping that, once we've all had a chance to try them on for size, we will all be better equipped to revise the streams to suit our needs as a community.


If a fic fits into more than one nomination thread feel free to nominate in those that apply.

Who chooses the stories that we read?

The entire community does! We have a nomination-based system, described in detail here.


We're also intitiating a Leader's Choice stream, in which a single member is given free reign to bring up a fic of their choice for discussion, with no prior voting or nomination procedure.  We're still figuring out the best way of doing this (because it does leave the issue of how to choose the leader), but hopefully this will help us highlight and discuss wonderful fics that might not normally make it past the voting stage.


I'm an author, can I nominate myself?
Sure, why not.

If you do please note that if your fic is selected for discussion and you nominated it, another community member will run the discussion. Authors, as per our Author participation policy please wait 48 hrs. before joining a discussion that is about your own fic.

How do the discussions happen?

On the day that discussion is scheduled to start, one person – either the person who originally nominated the fic or some other enthusiasts for the story – will make a post describing some of the noteworthy things about the fic and raising some questions for discussion. After that, everyone in the community will be able to join in, by commenting on that original post. Folks should feel free either to respond directly to points raised in the initial post, or to bring up some other aspect of the story.


The conversations will be lightly moderated, to ensure that nobody is being savage in their criticism or hostile toward other participants.


Please read (or at least skim) the extant comments before commenting yourself, so that you can situate your contribution as a response to others who may have already taken up the topic you want to talk about.



Why is there only one post per week? I want to talk about more stories than that!

We are delighted to hear that! We are limiting things to one new conversation a week for this initial phase only, while we try to get our protocols in place; but our plan for the long term is to have several conversations going at once. (Keep in mind that you can continue to discuss a story even after another conversation has been launched!)



I volunteered to open the discussion for [nominated fic]. When and how should I post?

If you’re unsure when to post, check the calendar to find out which week your fic is scheduled to go live.


Presumably, you’re already familiar with the fic (if you nominated it), so before you post, spend some time coming up with discussion questions/comments for any aspects of the story you would like to discuss. If you'd like some help with this, drop the mods a note, and we will send you a general template for writing a launch post and coming up with questions. You may find it helpful to use the category designation (e.g. angst, Mystrade, crossover) as a starting point, but please don't feel limited to that: you can approach the story from any angle you find interesting!


When you do post to the comm, please use Discussion Post: [Title of fic] as the subject.  Please use the following header at the top before starting your discussion:

Title:

Author:

Rating:

Warnings:

Links:

Summary: (you can use the author's summary, or add your own if you prefer)

*

Discussion: (Please use an LJ-cut for the majority of the discussion; you can leave a paragraph or two above the cut if you want.)



This is an awfully long FAQ.

Yes, we are aware this is very detailed! Because there aren't a lot of precedents for this kind of in-depth discussion community in fandom, we're trying both to be as transparent as possible and to leave things open to revision, so we can re-calibrate as as we go along. We’re glad to have all of you around right now to take part in this initial stage as we figure out how to make this a lively, welcoming and satisfying place for discussion, and we hope you'll join us in the efforts to tinker and adjust until we find a comfortable stasis.


If you're feeling overwhelmed or intimidated, here are some things to keep in mind:



  • As long as you're not attacking anybody or being rude, there's no wrong way to post.


  • The mods are very happy to hear from you! If you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, you can leave a comment on the Ask-A-Mod post; alternately, you can message the main mod account, and you will receive a response within a few days. If for whatever reason you’re uncomfortable messaging all three of us, you’re welcome to message any one of us directly and we will handle it discreetly.


  • Finally, please remember that, at its root, this community is for you. We're trying to juggle a lot of details, but the focus of our entire existence as a community is based on expressing our love for Sherlock, interacting with fandom (perhaps in ways that can be somewhat difficult to find online), appreciating the hard work and dedication fanfiction authors put forth, and enjoy great stories. We hope to avoid getting bogged down in details to be able to create an organized space for discussion.


    FAQ page adapted from the [livejournal.com profile] reading221b community FAQ


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