horky
Materia Dealer
She's a brick house
Posts: 63
|
Post by horky on Jan 29, 2009 2:01:08 GMT
T. Costa, you said above something about including judges comments in the help section for winning fics. I was wondering if maybe we could extend that to people that have also been nominated, not necessarily made public (I don't know how people feel about that), but I know that I would've liked to seen any comments from judges, especially those that look at stories in an unbiased viewpoint. And not necessarily all comments, just a few, to the writers for their sake.
But that's just a thought. XP
|
|
|
Post by T. Costa on Jan 29, 2009 2:13:19 GMT
I would have to look into it, but it may be possible to restrict people's posts to one board until they make a second post. I kind of like this idea, actually.
Horky - I don't know, it would depend on a lot of things. Pied has all of the info from the first ones, too, I think. O.o
|
|
|
Post by NRGburst on Jan 29, 2009 7:11:35 GMT
T. Costa, you said above something about including judges comments in the help section for winning fics. I was wondering if maybe we could extend that to people that have also been nominated, not necessarily made public (I don't know how people feel about that), but I know that I would've liked to seen any comments from judges, especially those that look at stories in an unbiased viewpoint. And not necessarily all comments, just a few, to the writers for their sake. But that's just a thought. XP Actually, since I told Pied this, I'm claiming credit for the idea. I really WANTED to know what was so wonderful about the winning fics, and yet the little nomination blurbs had disappeared. And shouldn't the winning fic get a little pimping? I also think there should be a little more transparency in the judging process- it's all shrouded in mystery, isn't it? So here is the process. Admin/Execs, feel free to alter this if I'm giving away too much or have made an error somewhere, but I think it makes everything seem more fair if you know HOW it's being done. 1. Three judges are assigned to each category and they read the entirety of the fics in their assigned categories. Judges are not allowed to judge categories they are nominated in. If the fic is a WIP, they read up to the last chapter that was posted when nominations closed. All fics are scored according to: Grammar, spelling and punctuation Style Structure, pacing and flow Plot/Theme Characterization Canon consistency (or Setting if the fic is AU/Crossover) Originality Category Fulfillment 2. Judges send their lists of scores to the Admin. The Admin compiles the scores and makes the shortlists. 3. Shortlists are announced and Judges start debating on the merits (and demerits) of the shortlisted fics in their categories in the judging threads. This is where any such comments would probably be pulled from, so any fic that didn't score high enough to make the shortlists would probably not have any comments at all. So I think comments on all nominations sounds like asking a lot- we don't send them in, even. 4. Judges come to a decision and finalize it in the threads. The winners are announced once all debate is finished. I hope that makes the process clearer. I'm sure not knowing makes people wonder if judges are biased, etc. As for the other point: I don't know about being forced to post in a Newbie thread first. I know when I joined, I did it to "stick my oar" into the interesting debates in other parts of the forum, not to introduce myself after coming out of lurkdom. Although I did make a proper newbie thread because that's just manners. Being restricted to it though? Isn't that the whole "free speech" thing coming up again?
|
|
horky
Materia Dealer
She's a brick house
Posts: 63
|
Post by horky on Jan 29, 2009 7:20:01 GMT
Now that you point that out I can totally see the massive effort it would take to comment on every nomination, and I wasn't sure at all of any process of judging, so that helps. I just know that I had maybe five stories nominated last year, and I maybe got one review from a judge or someone from this site who actually saw one of the stories on my fanfic site that was more of a critque based review.
But then again, any sort of comments from the judges would help give a better idea of what makes a story special, and better, so I think even if it is just comments of the winning stories, it would help a lot of authors.
|
|
|
Post by T. Costa on Jan 29, 2009 7:34:29 GMT
That's where the writing tips section of the site will come in, I think. The awards don't exist to help people with their fiction - although that's sort of a side issue - but to REWARD people who took the initiative to not suck, lol. And judging can take a lot of effort, so I don't blame the judges in question for not having the time to review every story. I certainly won't, that's for sure. O.o
I did bring this up to NRG in conversation, which is that I know that some of the nominated fics I just flat-out do not like - composition, spelling, etc. I will probably not be super-nice about them should they make it to the shortlisting phase, and those sorts of comments I wouldn't really want made public because it's part of a private debate. The positives about any winning stories, I am fine with. The stories that didn't win, I wouldn't really want my comments made public, just in case. I have a right to my opinion and to express it, but since I'll be doing literary critique with my fellow judges (dangit, I think my J button is going out....that's the second time I've missed it and had to go back and fix it), I'm probably going to be as blunt as possible to get my point across, you know? These are things I probably wouldn't make public and would rant about to my friends and fellow writers, but NOT say to the author, out of kindness or respect or whatnot.
Basically, the debate and writing parts of this forum is where constructive criticism goes. The site itself should be positive in nature. My opinion.
Although to be just a bit negative, I will probably include a section in the writing tips area about accepting criticism and developing a thick literary skin. As you all know, writing is not all "ZOMG THIS IS SO GOOD WRITE MORE," and you also know my opinion about how one should deal with such criticisms. ^_^
|
|
|
Post by NRGburst on Jan 29, 2009 8:00:45 GMT
The awards exist... to REWARD people who took the initiative to not suck LOL I <3 you, you know that? Agreed. I'm not reviewing any fic I judge, actually. I think it's opens up a whole host of problems besides being indiscreet about which categories I'm doing. I'd hate to get a pile of angry PMs about how some author didn't win because my OTP wasn't the same as the fic's, or conversely how they were misled to think that they were going to win because I said something nice. As Tasha said, we have other places on the forum to talk about improving our writing. I actually joined the site because of the stuff in Tifa's Office.
|
|
piratesrox
SOLDIER Third Class
The use of words expressing more than that of their literal intention! Now that. Is. Irony.
Posts: 712
|
Post by piratesrox on Jan 29, 2009 20:39:26 GMT
A pit. I cba to read every post, so I dunno if it's been menioned. But I want one. And fill it with play balls. Then we'll have a ball pit. And it shall be mine. And I shall live in it.
And all will be well.
|
|
|
Post by T. Costa on Jan 29, 2009 20:53:18 GMT
I have been wanting to discuss the Pit idea with Woodster but I keep forgetting. I'll bring it up next time we're on MSN together and we'll discuss it with the other admins.
Edit: Pen and La reminded me of this, but another idea for the site that I had was one I got from Mugglenet Fanfiction, wherein we could dub full stories of decent-quality FF7 fanfic and offer it for download in audiobook format. Obviously it would be a decent while after the site is up and running, and we get everything else sorted out, but I kind of like the idea. My husband would LOVE to read fanfiction, except that he has severe dyslexia and reading is really hard for him. I know a lot of people who say the same thing. I think it's a hugely untapped "market," so to speak, and would possibly bring a lot of traffic to the site. Thoughts?
|
|
|
Post by T. Costa on Jan 31, 2009 20:39:05 GMT
Sorry to double-post, but I wanted to bump the thread a bit so everyone will know what's going on. I got a new DSL modem which fixed all of the problems I was having with the uploads to the site. I am, as we speak, uploading wordpress and hopefully genesisawards.net will have a test page with slowly-updating content within the next few hours!
|
|
Kisara Strife
Turk
AVALANCHE Rebel
Because he can't be dead ... T_T
Posts: 2,576
|
Post by Kisara Strife on Jan 31, 2009 21:12:23 GMT
Sounding good Costa! ;D can I ask again; the whole ,oving this isn't happening until after the awards, right?
|
|
|
Post by T. Costa on Jan 31, 2009 21:34:24 GMT
Nope, it's gonna happen before. The deal is to move as much info over as possible in regards to the awards so that we don't have too much confusion.
|
|
Kisara Strife
Turk
AVALANCHE Rebel
Because he can't be dead ... T_T
Posts: 2,576
|
Post by Kisara Strife on Jan 31, 2009 21:41:30 GMT
Oh, see this is where I fall behind, lol! Any ideas for skins or colour schemes?
|
|
|
Post by T. Costa on Jan 31, 2009 21:47:46 GMT
Oddly enough, I'm actually looking through a bunch of skins right now. I'm planning on uploading a bunch of 'em and having one default, but letting people choose which skin they want to use. If anyone wants to input, they can check out the layouts site on simplemachineforums' site, which is here: custom.simplemachines.org/themes/I can't guarantee I'll use what you want, because it all depends with what works with the version of the boards we have and whether it screws anything up, but I can try! Edit: If you're talking about skins for the site, my friend Hannah will be designing it for us custom as soon as she gets her internet back on the 7th. She's a professional graphic artist and is doing this for us as a favor.
|
|
|
Post by Youko-Kokuryuuha on Feb 1, 2009 2:56:05 GMT
Shweeeeets. :D
I'm excited that the move is so soon. (I CALL DIBS ON THE USERNAME KOKY!!)
In other breaking news, I have a suggestion. About the judging.
You know how we rate each category on a scale of 10/15/20? Yeah, well, I feel like the scoring's a bit ambiguous. I mean, there really isn't a set rubric as to what qualifies as what on the scaling, and it's left to the open interpretation of the judge to decide.
Naturally, each judge will score differently, but it's a bit of a problem when one judge's standards for a 6 or something differs from the others, no? All we've really got to go on is that 0 sucks and 10/15/20 rules. That's about it.
So yeah, I think a rubric would be helpful. Just a thought I've been chewin' over.
|
|
|
Post by T. Costa on Feb 1, 2009 4:27:21 GMT
Koki, I think this is something you might want to bring up with Sai and Woodster personally, as I don't have that much of a say in it (although definite input!). Right now we'd probably go with what we have now, because we're planning on streamlining a bit of the process for the next awards. I can't say that for sure, though. Talk to Sai and Woodster? Edit: I have some basic stuff going with the site infrastructure now. No info is up because I need to discuss it with the other admin-types, and this is a temporary layout until Hannah gets up and running, but: genesisawards.net/
|
|