Timewaster's Guide Archive
Local Authors => Reading Excuses => Topic started by: Silk on December 17, 2008, 07:45:39 AM
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You know, with submissions staggered as they are, (which will probably be something of an issue even if we start submitting more often or whatever we ultimately decide on) I wonder, for the people doing a chapter of their novels every time, should they do a brief recap of what went before? Like, a short paragraph? Or even just include the last paragraph of what they wrote before? I find I'm having just a wee bit of trouble getting back into second chapters.
What do you guys think? Too much work? Not useful enough to bother? Anything else?
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Well, I'm saying this before I've actually started reading round #2. But I've just been collecting each person's material in their own folder so that if I need to refer back to a previous section I can. And unless otherwise marked I'm making sure I date the files. That way if there are any resubmissions I can tell which was from when.
Now that's all just organizational stuff. It may be quite different once I start reading, or once round #3, 4 & 6 arrive.
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I agree with Raethe. I think we should give a short synopsis of what happened in the previous chapter. This will be very helpful. Like Karl, I am organized, but I personally don't want to go back and find old submissions and re-read the ending. Another benefit to this would be if we were to say...rearrange our story based on feedback given earlier, we can just write a paragraph explaining what has been changed so that the new submission makes sense. (I plan on doing this based on feedback I have received). Hope that makes sense.
Oooooo another good reason! I have tried to read all the submissions, but am guilty of not getting to one or another. In the case I miss one submission, but want to critique a new one submitted, the introductory paragraph would be way beneficial because I had not read the last chapter.
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Yeah, it would have been helpful for those of us that missed the first round...and I don't think it would be that hard to do, based on my own chapters. I'm all for it. :)
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It couldn't hurt.
I think there should be a topic where people can request stuff that was submitted, so people like Frog don't miss out on the awesomeness :P
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Instead of clogging this site with even more threads, maybe we can just email the submitter if we want a copy of their previous work. What do you think?
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I think a little summary paragraph is a good idea. I also think M's idea about e-mailing the submitter for a copy is good too....At least right now, when it's easy to tell who submitted on the first. If we really do move onto Avalon's idea, then that will get a little more difficult to accomplish....
Speaking of which, are we trying out Avalon's idea now? So should we be signing up to submit next Monday? Or are we keeping it as Saturday? Or what? I can't remember what we decided on...assuming we decided on anything...
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Don't worry lw, we're all just drifting through RE dazed and confused at the moment. And a short recap couldn't hurt. Copying and pasting from one document to and another can accomplish that much.
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Don't worry lw, we're all just drifting through RE dazed and confused at the moment.
Heh. This gives me an awesome visual....and now I can't stop laughing. It's not even all that funny, yet...for some reason, I find it hilarious.
And yeah, copy/pasting really isn't that hard. Ctrl C, Ctrl V, and it's done. I love short-cut keys....
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Well I think I'm going to be the dissenting vote here. I've got enough to do without adding to it, but... whatever is decided is fine by me.
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I think the idea of adding a brief synopsis is fairly sound. I know I haven't crited anyone yet but just reading all of the submissions from the first to second dates its hard to keep track of them all and what is happening. I think it would help get the reader back into the correct story before continuing on. Just my two cents.
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It would be not unlike writing a log line when submitting to a publisher. Can't hurt.
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As of now, voting seems to be almost unanimous. So... what format do we want to agree on, if any?
3-4 lines?
A paragraph?
Or just sending out all previous submissions along with the new one?
Anyone else have a different idea?
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Well, purely with my situation, I will send out the first half of the chapter when I send off the second. That seems like a much more intuitive way of doing it for me.
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I think a synopsis is a great idea and I plan to do one for any future submissions, but I don't think we should by any means require it.
I definitely wouldn't want to send out all previous submissions unless someone specifically asks for it.