InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "that's what she said"

Britin (_alicesprings) wrote in qaf_commentary,
@ 2008-08-23 15:51:00

Just an Idea.
So, I was inspired by Julad's DVD commentary of her fic The Importance of Being Brian, HERE, and thought I'd make this community for authors to share their thoughts on their fics.

I'm not entirely sure how it's going to work, or even if there's any interest, so speak up and share your ideas!

As you can see from the example linked to above, the idea is for an author (and their beta if so inclined) to do a "DVD commentary" for one of their fics. It wouldn't have to be quite so detailed as the one above, (although that was awesome!) but should offer some insight into the fic and why the author wrote it the way they wrote it.

Obviously, an author has to be willing to take part, so I guess there should be a sign-up post. But I also think people should be able to have a say in which fics they want to see "commentaried" so maybe there should be a suggestion post too?

Any other thoughts? Please share them!

(Post a new comment)

jule1122
2008-08-23 06:53 am UTC (link)

I think it is a fabulous idea. A lot of times when I leave detailed feedback I'm really hoping the author will respond in a way that gives me insight into some of the choices they made or how they came up with an idea. Also, when I put some short author's notes after my last challenge fics, I got a very positive response.

Maybe once you have a list of interested authors, you could have a post where people suggest which fic they would want them to do commentary on. I think it will still be up to the author, but that would give them an idea if their is interest in a particular fic.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	_alicesprings 2008-08-23 08:24 am UTC (link)
	Also, when I put some short author's notes after my last challenge fics, I got a very positive response. Yeah I was really interested in hearing your thoughts then. And of course, in the future too hopefully. Thanks for the feedback! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

noteverything
2008-09-01 11:25 pm UTC (link)

I agree with everything Jule said here. LOVE the idea (sorry I missed it when you posted!) and I am one of those that commented how much I loved it when she did it.

I love, love when people leave detailed comments on my stuff, even though it's usually drabbles. It helps me know what works for my writing. I also love when writers "reveal" their process to me. It's just fascinating.

(Reply to this) (Parent)

secretsolitaire
2008-08-23 08:12 am UTC (link)

Ooh, good idea. As a reader I always enjoy when authors post this sort of thing. To get things started, maybe you (and others) could post DVD commentaries from the past -- I know the author of Worth the Fight (can't remember her name off the top of my head) did at least one DVD commentary for one of her stories.

Also, not sure if you want to go in this direction or not, but there's a comm on LJ that's set up for readers to do DVD commentaries as they read a particular story. I'm pretty sure someone did commentary for one of mclachlan's fics (aha: http://community.livejournal.com/dvd_commentary/39393.html). Obviously that's a sort of different kettle of fish than an author analyzing her own work, and you'd have to set up some sort of author permission system, but it might be worth considering.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

_alicesprings
2008-08-23 08:29 am UTC (link)

Worth the Fight is one of my all-time fave fics! I didnt realise she had done DVD commentary too, I'll have to try and dig it up.

Also, not sure if you want to go in this direction or not, but there's a comm on LJ that's set up for readers to do DVD commentaries as they read a particular story.

Yeah I came across that community today (when I was trying to use the name dvd_commentary and it was already taken, lol!). That's not something I want to have in this comm. I would prefer to keep it to the authors commentating on their own fics, in order to actually gain insight straight from the horse's mouth. I'll leave the fangirling of particular fics to the Reading Club in qaf_coffeeclub and people's own personal recs.

Thanks for the feedback!

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	secretsolitaire 2008-08-23 08:53 am UTC (link)
	Here's the DVD commentary -- it's for another of her fics, The Language of Our Silences: http://lookingglass.thelightgetsin.com/languagecommentary.html. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_alicesprings 2008-08-23 08:56 am UTC (link)
	Thank you!! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	passing_through 2008-08-23 06:00 pm UTC (link)
	What a unique idea for a community. I had no idea that authors (or readers) did this for fics. A suggestion post sounds good. I hope you get a lot of authors to participate. I'm joining :) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	_alicesprings 2008-08-23 07:30 pm UTC (link)
	Cool. I hope you'll participate too! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	notreallyme10 2008-08-24 08:15 pm UTC (link)
	Hey! I'm still away but I wanted to pop in a say that I love this idea. I look forward to seeing where it goes! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	_alicesprings 2008-08-24 08:17 pm UTC (link)
	Awesome! Hope you're enjoying your time away. Hope the writing is going well! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	notreallyme10 2008-08-24 08:25 pm UTC (link)
	The time away has been great... but it is a few hours away from ending :( I haven't had any time to write at all. But hopefully that is a good thing because I have been thinking about it a lot. I have a long plane ride in front of me so I might tackle some of it in the air :) I'm very excited that you are starting this new community, it should be interesting! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_alicesprings 2008-08-24 08:30 pm UTC (link)
	Sounds good, I think about writing fics a lot when I have a long drive ahead of me. Not that you should take writing advice from me, cos I suck, lol! Travel safe! Glad you're excited about the comm. I hope you'll take part! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

notreallyme10
2008-08-24 08:55 pm UTC (link)

Not that you should take writing advice from me, cos I suck, lol!

Poor deluded little AS... :) It is a super long flight... but it is over night so I don't know if my mind will be working well enough to write. But I'm hoping!

I hope you'll take part!

I need to read over the example you gave because I don't have a clear idea of what it will entail... at the VERY least I look forward to reading what others have to share.

OK I really am off now. Hopefully you will be hearing from me sometime this week with something new!

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	_alicesprings 2008-08-24 09:12 pm UTC (link)
	Pfft I know good fic when I see it, and mine ain't it for the most part. But yours is and that's why I like being your beta :) Okay, well safe flight anyway, writing or not, and I'll chat to you next week! (Reply to this) (Parent)

notreallyme10
2008-08-30 01:20 am UTC (link)

I finally just made time to read the example you gave by Julad... honestly I didn't read the entire thing, because it is really late here :) But I think I have more of idea of what you are looking for now.

Seems like a great idea and I would be really excited to read these. I wonder if there is any way you could somehow work this in with fanfic reading club... like when a story is being read and discussed there then ask the author to follow up by doing this. You could even hit up past authors... Or you could post a story at retread and then ask the author to do a post here a few days later...

Might help make people feel more comfortable doing it if they are invited plus it could get the ball rolling.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

_alicesprings
2008-09-04 07:30 am UTC (link)

Teaming it with the fanfic reading club is a good idea but frankly, I couldn't be bothered! I know that sounds bad but I'm done with actively running communities as I think everyone knows by now.

I'll happily set up an original schedule if people want it (although not too many even seem interested) but I thnk I'll leave it up to others to post/contact authors they'd like to see.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	notreallyme10 2008-09-04 09:19 am UTC (link)
	Lol! Fair enough :) (Reply to this) (Parent)