Story Prejudice?
Thu, 2007-09-27 23:03
#1
Story Prejudice?
This has probably been brought up before-I think i can vaguely recall something similar-but do poems get more attention than stories? It could just be me, but those who do more poetry than anything appear to be those that get cherry-picked over those who do prose, particularly multi-chapter like i do.
Of course, it is probably because my Apple of Discord series is just terrible, and there is the obvious observation that poetry is both easier and quicker to read. Places like DeviantArt and FictionPress are just the same.
So just wondering really.
Kropotkin38
There seem to be a lot more poets on here than short story writers so maybe the preponderance of verse has something to do with the skew in cherry picking if there is one.
Poems and short stories are very different things indeed and I don't really see how one can compare the one with the other directly like-for-like. Also the cherry-picking system cannot but be highly subjective.
In general I think I would like to see more discussion of writing on here than there is and I look forward to the rating system coming into service. Having said that relationships between writers can be problematic as often as they are supportive.
passerby
Could it be that poems and snappy little pieces make more of an instant impact than longer stories? I'm fairly new to this site and tend to read everything that comes on each day. I'm pretty fascinated! But I have to confess that I sometimes give up on a story whereas I'll generally persevere to the end of a poem which can be scanned quite quickly. Whoops, 'persevere' - that sounds like reading the stuff on here is a hardship - it's not! But obviously some appeals more than others.
Subjectivity rules :)
Margharita
I would like to see more use made of the comments box under individual stories - I don't use these because I'm not sure anyone reads them! Sometimes I would like to leave feedback without flagging it up on a forum.
I think the greater number of poems posted probably accounts for the apparent imbalance in cherries. For general readers, it is sadly true that it is physically harder to concentrate on a long piece on the screen. I tend to read these pieces in short chunks (including Apple of Discord, which is definitely NOT terrible! I've enjoyed it.) but this does disrupt the flow of the piece.
Short story writers always have to accept that they have to hook their readers in with the first couple of paragraphs, otherwise they're gone for good. Unfortunately, this is even more the case when people are reading from a screen.
tcook
As the chief cherry picker I guess it's up to me to answer this.
I am a story writer, not a poet - and I always feel that I am too prejudiced towards story writers! I cherry the pieces that really get to me, that are well written (in whatever genre) and that I feel are truly good. I also cherry pieces where a writer I have to know through their work on here has significantly improved. I think that we do have a very talented bunch of poets on ABCtales and I guess that sometimes that shows in the numbers of cherries awarded.
I must stress that I am always available to re-consider any piece that a member feels has been overlooked for a cherry. Just post it on here and flag it up - it will be read again and if a cherry is not awarded then I will try to give a reason.
Cherry picking is inevitably subjective. I know that I sometimes give a cherry to a piece that is 'good' after reading a heap of pretty poor pieces whilst it may not have got one after reading three or four excellent pieces in a row. I try to maintain a balance but would be the last to say that my judgement is absolute. Just get back to me on here or by email and I am always willing to listen and re-consider.
passerby
I like Margharita's idea of using the comments box under individual stories. It'd be great if more use could be made of these. For the past few months I've had an anonymous diary blog where people leave comments - not to do with style of writing, though, more to do with content. I love hearing from people you've struck a chord with - it's fun and encouraging.
tcook
Do use them - that's what they are there for! A lot of people prefer to receive comments on this forum so that everyone can join in - but if it's easier to use the comments boxes then please feel free to do so!
johnshade
I think the problem is that comment boxes only appear under collections and not under individual stories. I rarely look at collections and I suspect a lot of other people don't either. I'd like to just be able to read a story, record my thoughts on it and leave. By the way, is there any kind of notification when someone leaves you a comment? Otherwise you'd have to click on all your stories/collections to find out.
One last whinge while I'm on a roll... could someone (Tony) fix it so the reads counter only increases when someone other than the author clicks on a piece? Every time you edit and resubmit a story (something I do a lot) two reads get added on... I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only one reading what I'm writing!
tcook
You certainly are not! I will point up this post to the wonderful Mike Dixon and see if he can sort out this little glitch. Thanks.
_jacobea_
Kropotkin38-I can definately agree with there being more poetry, as most i click and read are. It is probably easier to write them, saying that, because prose you need a fair bit of sit-down time.
passerby-I agree with that too. I at least find you have to be really selective with the language in poetry, thus wording it much more quickly than in a story. Again, the poetry is often quicker to read too, unless you are one of those lucky speed readers.
Margharita-I often check if any has commented, although only once a week or so, and i can sympathise with reading from a screen as well, be it the eye strain or loss of mouse-control.
tcook-personally i am very surprised that any of my stuff is worthy of a cherry-pick! It is like passerby said-poetry is also easier and quicker to read, and therefore much easier to award than slogging through some great seven page chapter. I know that if i were in yourposition i would have buggered off after the first handful.
johnshade-sites like DeviantArt have have a system whereby you log in and there is a tally of how many messages you have gotten that day at the top. It is probably a bit fiddly to make, but that sort of thing is very nice and encouring.
johnshade
Sorry to keep banging on about this, but I think it needs to be clarified. Only some people get comment boxes below their stories (editors maybe? e.g. markbrown has them). The rest of us don't. I've searched the account settings pretty thoroughly and I can't find any way to turn them on. I think the sensible option (used by virtually every other site with user generated content) would be enable comments by default for all users and give them options to turn them off/block certain people etc if they so desire. flickr is a good example of how to do it. Then the forums would be for general discussions about the site, literature, the weather etc. and the feedback that everyone keeps clamouring for would appear where it belongs - next to their stories.
Maybe the forum based approach is a leftover from when the site was a lot smaller? From what I can tell, it's big and growing fast. Imagine flickr or youtube with all the comments on one central forum... nasty.
tcook
Fair enough - Mike Dixon will reply shortly!
mikedixon
Hello hello ...
OK - comments are turned on and off on a per post/poem/story basis, currently I think only admin users can enable them - but i will confirm this.
If everyone would like comments then I don't see why we couldn't turn them on for everything by default - we could maybe run it for a it as a trial period and see what people think?
I have to run for my tea now, but will deal with this tonight/tommorrow.
Cheers,
Mike