Bigbang Poll-y Question post...

[ht_murray]

I'm actually editing our bigbang fic. Yay! :S Anyway, as I go about it, I like to break it down into nice, beta-sized chunks that I think will approximately be the actual post-sized installment. As I'm looking at this fic, trying to find a place that's both at least a little hooky to get the reader to click on the "Next" link and also at a decent spot to make a good-sized post, I'm reminded of a post I read just after Dreamwidth started out in which a reader was lamenting the fact that people posting on Dreamwidth and cross-posting to Livejournal still had to break down their stories into little bits in order to fit in a Livejournal post, even though you can apparently fit 50000 words in a Dreamwidth post.

So, now I'm thinking. I haven't really asked my cowriter about this, so this might all be moot and come with a giant Hell to the NO stamped across it. But here's what I'm thinking. So far, our bigbang draft is 27000 words, with all my clumsy editing notes in it. And I'm thinking with all the rewriting it could easily cross 30000 and if I'm really inspired with the backstory could actually hit 40 or 50 by the August 12 postdate. I could theoretically post the whole thing on Dreamwidth in one post and link back to it here.

Problem is, most of the readers are primarily on LJ. So, I'd want to have comments only on LJ. I could do that by a)putting the comment link in manually and linking it back to a comment page on LJ or b)posting the last bit of story on Livejournal and having people comment there. All of this depends on what readers prefer. I kinda like stories that are broken up into parts, because it gives me a good place to take a pee break and not have to find where I left off. But I guess some people actually hate that. So, here's where you can tell me what you think.

Also, I'm in the middle of compiling a soundtrack, which is constantly evolving as I rework scenes and see the tone change. Ever since I first discovered mp3 player widgets I've wanted to experiment with putting songs into the story that way, so the reader could play the song I'm actually hearing in my head as the scene unfolds. Only problem is, those widgets take up a lot of character space, so drastically decrease your available space for words. So, I don't think I'd do it on LJ. But maybe on dreamwidth? I haven't actually checked to see if those things even work on Dreamwidth so that might be a lost cause anyway. But the major drawback I see is that not everyone reads at the same speed, so they'd have to be able to shut the stupid thing off if they are reading along and come to the next widget before the last one is finished playing or the widgets would have to be spaced out quite a bit to assure there's no overlap. Some people just like to download and listen to the songs whenever they want to, but that doesn't always end up being the way I envisioned it when I wrote it, and well, it's illegal, ya know? I feel a twinge of guilt, yes I do.

So, um, there's a question about that, too.

Hopefully the polly thing works, if not just a quick opinion dump about word length and fic music would help me out a lot. I'm about to unplug from the internet and go somewhere less distracting to write. Sorry for the spammage. :P



[Poll #1409834]

Comments

[kjfri.livejournal.com]

Can I read it on Dreamwidth through the lj link if I don't have a dw account? that would bum me out if I couldn't after all the promises not to leave lj behind and now you've seen the shiny and are all mesmerized by it...I see the tumbleweeds getting ready to roll through lj-land.

Anywho, my opinion is to have it broken into chunks anyway, that way it's easier for me to scroll to a) where I left off, if I can't read it in one sitting and b) get to parts I like to reread for bonus whumpage or angst. I don't listen to music while I read so I can't comment on that aspect. Good luck!

[ysbail.livejournal.com]

I loved how Felisblanco had the music embedded in 'The Doors of Time' ... love that idea muchly - but downloads are also great.

As for posting one huge post? Well, I hate having to find my place if I've had to leave the computer for a while.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Yes! Exactly. I was contemplating doing something like that for awhile, but thought since I hadn't seen any fics posted that way, it might be taboo or showboaty or something. When I saw she'd done it, I was like SOOOOOOO it's okay then. And I liked it a lot.

Possibly that's the way to do it, then. Have the widgets AND the download.

Still makes me feel weird about the pirating. People would prolly be pissed if I made the download link friends only. :S

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Oh you can definitely still read on Dreamwidth without a dreamwidth account unless it's a locked post.

And don't imagine me leaving ever. I don't really like Dreamwidth and haven't done ANYTHING with my account there, but that one post about people not taking advantage of the longer post length had me wondering whether people actually would prefer a whole fic posted in one post.

Like I said, I actually like having my pee breaks written in. LOL.

[chocca2.livejournal.com]

For me I need those bite size pieces and like you say slotted in pee breaks lol

I'd prefer if it were over here on lj, I'm okay with dreamwidth and cross posts but just for familiarity and popularity my vote is to have the hub/comments etc here =)

Oh and the music: I love listening to music, but I know some like to read in silence *makes yawning motion* lol kidding, i like this idea: is best posted as widgets which can be clicked to play or not.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Exactly, I'm so with you.

I'm thinking, since there's a master post to the bigbang community anyway, we could theoretically do both. One giant post on Dreamwidth with the last bit and comments all on LJ in one spot, and smaller, linked posts on LJ. It's actually just one more post and an extra link to make. Not a big deal at all. I might also upload a .pdf, but people tend to take those without ever commenting, so I'd wait a few weeks. LOL.

[chemm80]

Here's the thing: I'm not really getting into Dreamwidth, because it takes all my spare time to keep up with one journal. I suppose if all my good buddies start spending all their time there, I'll have to, but I'm still trying to hold out. I've tried to read a couple of things over there, but can't really be bothered with figuring out how to comment, etc.

Here's another thing: I like stories posted in parts, so I can break up the read if I need to, but only if I can comment on each section. It's too much of a pain to copy and paste the parts I liked if I have to drag it all to the ending comments section.

Stop looking at me like that. I need to be thorough, okay? Anything less pings my OCD. :D And makes me feel guilty for being a crappy commenter.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

LOL, well, if I do a post on Dreamwidth, it won't be any different for readers on LJ than if I posted a link in a community that goes back to my journal instead of the community itself. It'd just be that it's a journal outside of LJ and the comment link would still go to LJ. It would still be crossposted on LJ in all the usual places. Just the links would go somewhere else.

I'm also not into Dreamwidth at all. I have an account and haven't done anything with it at all. But if someone wants a story posted all in one post, then that's the place to do it.

From reading the comments and the poll, I think I'll have to be doing two posts. *nods* I guess if we have the resources to do so, then it can't hurt. :P

But there will still only be comments allowed on the last part... maybe. I just hate when you allow comments on every part of the story, then people comment on the first one or two but not the ending. Then I just feel like I lost them. I'd rather not know they ever started reading if that's the case. :S

[sams1ra.livejournal.com]

Personally, I keep forgetting to even check my DW account... 0_o
But anyways, I think, for me, anything above 5000 words is too much for one post. I rarely get the time to read it all at once, and I know that if I stop, there's a chance I won't go back to it.
Plus, I heart evol cliffies. But I'm just twisted that way...

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

LOL, well you wouldn't have to check your Dreamwidth account.It'd be crossposted on LJ the same as stories are now. Just the link would take you to a Dreamwidth page, and the comment link would bring you back to LJ.

But I feel you. I don't even know if I've been on Dreamwidth since I got this computer. I might have forgotten all my log in information. LOL.

[chase-acow.livejournal.com]

I think I'm just going to post my BB to both places and let people comment where ever they want. That way if they want longer posts they can read at DW and if they don't they can read at LJ. I'll probably also link both of my final posts to each other that way if someone is reading on DW but they want to comment on LJ, that's just a click away. I'll also be posting the fic in a pdf if people would prefer to download it that way and read it later. I am all about accessibility these days. : )

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that sounds like exactly what I plan to do. Though, I'm probably gonna hold back the .pdf for awhile, because people tend to snag those and then run off without ever commenting. I don't wanna be greedy, but these things are a lot of work, ya know?

ETA: I started a comm on Dreamwidth just for this fic. LOL. I didn't want to post it in my Dreamwidth journal, since the only reason I got the account was to have a journal outside of fandom. But if people like having the big fics all in one post, I might do that for all my big fics. Assuming fandom doesn't force me to spork myself to death instead.

[jane-eyre.livejournal.com]

I like the stories posted in one entry. However, I have Firefox set to reopen the tabs that I had opened when I exited it, so I can pick up where I left off with a story. If Firefox wasn't set like that I could understand not wanting it in one post.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Ooh, I love that about firefox, too. I have about three fics opened in mine at home, too, and I might never read them, but if I do, they're right there. LOL.

I just remember this one chick specifically being upset that peole could post 50000 words in a post and were still only posting about 10 or 11000, so she had to chase the links. I guess she doesn't actually read sitting at her computer, and just copies them into one file or something. I dunno. I kinda like to leave them where they are. Hee!

[ewanspotter.livejournal.com]

I think the chapter thing, for me anyway, just depends. One one hand, unless someone is an amazing established write I'm familiar with, I'm not going to read 32 chapters of their story (especially when it looks like it might not end). But at the same time, if I'm reading a story and scrolling for two hours, that's a bit too much as well. So it's a balance.

[tru-faith-lost.livejournal.com]

Ah, well the thing about bigbang is the story has to be at least twenty thousand words, and you have to post it all at once. So, the only question is how many bits do you break it into. Some say as few as possible. Some say enough that they can savor it for awhile. But with the sheer number of bigbangs posting this summer, I don't think anyone will be savoring, LOL.

[ewanspotter.livejournal.com]

Well, at least with Bigbang that's understandable. I don't know, at 30,000, three parts? Maybe four if you want to add author's notes, extra stuff at the beginning or end.