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Msg# 3227

proposed FAQ revision - categorization Posted by Marta January 01, 2005 - 16:56:58 Topic ID# 3227
Hey guys,

I was talking to Tanaqui about some confusion we both had over this
year's categorization scheme. Based on that conversation, here's what
I hope is a more thorough FAQ on that subject. Ainae, would you like
to post it to the website?

(Some of the particulars might need to be tweaked, based on what we
decide in this post mortem.)

*****

Q: What are the categories? How are they organized?

Categories can be divided into three kinds:

- Races & Places: Men, Elves, Hobbits, Orcs, Rohan, Numenor
- Genre: Humor, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Horror, Mystery, Crossovers
- Time/Books: _The Silmarillion_, _The Hobbit_, _The Lord of the Rings

Within each category, there may be subcategories. Some apply to all
categories, such as poetry and drabble, while other subcategories
apply to particular categories, such as pairings for Romance. Awards
are made in each subcategory, but there are no "overall" winners for
a whole category or set of categories chosen from amongst the winners
of the subcategories.

Q: What about subcategories?

There are several mandatory categories. If the piece you are
nominating is a WIP, a poem, or a drabble, you need to note that in
the subcategories spot on the application. All of these pieces will
only run against other WIPs, poems, or drabbles.

Beyond that, the awards organizers have the discretion to create
subcategories where there are many stories in a particular category
and a significant number are similar in some way. For example, last
year "Romance" was divided into several subcategories based on
pairings -- i.e., Rivendell, featuring Haldir, Faramir/Eowyn, etc.
While most of the subcategories are created by the awards staff,
based on their overview of all stories nominated, please feel free to
suggest other subcategories than the mandatory ones on your
nomination form if you feel a piece would do well in a particular
subcategory.

Q: But my story is a romance about elves during _The Hobbit_. Can it
go in all three categories?

No. Each piece can only be nominated in one category. So when writing
your nomination, sit down and think about the story. Why do you like
it so much? Is it because it is a romance? Or because it provides an
interesting perspective on events of _The Hobbit_? Or because it
offers some insight into Elvish culture? If you're not sure, ask the
author. (We'll also check with the author to make sure he or she
agrees with your categorization.) But whatever you decide, each story
can go in one and only one category. The main category acts as a
catch-all for any stories which do not fit into one of the
subcategories.

Q: I've heard some talk about categories or subcategories being
viable. What does this mean?

For a category or subcategory to be viable, it must include at least
five stories by at least two authors. This usually isn't a problem
for the main categories, but ensuring that viable subcategories are
created can take some work. Let's look at the situation where there
are only three poems nominated in the subcategory _The
Silmarillion_/Poetry. One of two things can happen:

(1) Those three poems will be moved to other subcategories, based on
the nominators' second and third choices for categorisation. Perhaps
some of them could be moved to Elves/Poetry, for example.

(2) Poems may be moved in from other categories (such as
Elves/Poetry, for instance) to reach the 5 stories x 2 authors
minimum for the _The Silmarillion_/Poetry subcategory.

In either case, pieces will have to be moved from the nominators' (or
authors') first choice to create viable categories. The aim of the 5
x 2 minimum is to ensure a reasonable level of competition in all
categories with no walkovers.

Q: I won the "Luthien and Beren" award but my story is about Sam and
Rosie. What does this mean?

The names of the awards are just titles, themed appropriately to the
overall category. They don't necessarily reflect the content of the
stories that win them. The stories that get the highest number of
votes in the romance category or any and each of its subcategories
win the "Luthien and Beren" award, regardless of their content.
Awards in all other categories have similarly themed titles.

Q: Do subcategories also get their own awards?

Yes. First, second, and third prizes will be awarded in the
subcategories as well as the main categories. These winners will have
the right to use versions of the same banners as their counterparts
in the main categories which have been tailored to reflect the
particular subcategory.

*****

Marta

Msg# 3229

Re: proposed FAQ revision - categorization Posted by Ainaechoiriel January 01, 2005 - 22:11:31 Topic ID# 3227
Thanks. It will require a little bit of revision to account for authors
picking their own categories, but otherwise it's great. I'll add it to the
Q & A.

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Marta [mailto:MartaL0712@netscape.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 4:57 PM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MEFAwards] proposed FAQ revision - categorization



Hey guys,

I was talking to Tanaqui about some confusion we both had over this year's
categorization scheme. Based on that conversation, here's what I hope is a
more thorough FAQ on that subject. Ainae, would you like to post it to the
website?

(Some of the particulars might need to be tweaked, based on what we decide
in this post mortem.)

*****

Q: What are the categories? How are they organized?

Categories can be divided into three kinds:

- Races & Places: Men, Elves, Hobbits, Orcs, Rohan, Numenor
- Genre: Humor, Adventure, Drama, Romance, Horror, Mystery, Crossovers
- Time/Books: _The Silmarillion_, _The Hobbit_, _The Lord of the Rings

Within each category, there may be subcategories. Some apply to all
categories, such as poetry and drabble, while other subcategories apply to
particular categories, such as pairings for Romance. Awards are made in each
subcategory, but there are no "overall" winners for a whole category or set
of categories chosen from amongst the winners of the subcategories.

Q: What about subcategories?

There are several mandatory categories. If the piece you are nominating is a
WIP, a poem, or a drabble, you need to note that in the subcategories spot
on the application. All of these pieces will only run against other WIPs,
poems, or drabbles.

Beyond that, the awards organizers have the discretion to create
subcategories where there are many stories in a particular category and a
significant number are similar in some way. For example, last year "Romance"
was divided into several subcategories based on pairings -- i.e., Rivendell,
featuring Haldir, Faramir/Eowyn, etc.
While most of the subcategories are created by the awards staff, based on
their overview of all stories nominated, please feel free to suggest other
subcategories than the mandatory ones on your nomination form if you feel a
piece would do well in a particular subcategory.

Q: But my story is a romance about elves during _The Hobbit_. Can it go in
all three categories?

No. Each piece can only be nominated in one category. So when writing your
nomination, sit down and think about the story. Why do you like it so much?
Is it because it is a romance? Or because it provides an interesting
perspective on events of _The Hobbit_? Or because it offers some insight
into Elvish culture? If you're not sure, ask the author. (We'll also check
with the author to make sure he or she agrees with your categorization.) But
whatever you decide, each story can go in one and only one category. The
main category acts as a catch-all for any stories which do not fit into one
of the subcategories.

Q: I've heard some talk about categories or subcategories being viable. What
does this mean?

For a category or subcategory to be viable, it must include at least five
stories by at least two authors. This usually isn't a problem for the main
categories, but ensuring that viable subcategories are created can take some
work. Let's look at the situation where there are only three poems nominated
in the subcategory _The Silmarillion_/Poetry. One of two things can happen:

(1) Those three poems will be moved to other subcategories, based on the
nominators' second and third choices for categorisation. Perhaps some of
them could be moved to Elves/Poetry, for example.

(2) Poems may be moved in from other categories (such as Elves/Poetry, for
instance) to reach the 5 stories x 2 authors minimum for the _The
Silmarillion_/Poetry subcategory.

In either case, pieces will have to be moved from the nominators' (or
authors') first choice to create viable categories. The aim of the 5 x 2
minimum is to ensure a reasonable level of competition in all categories
with no walkovers.

Q: I won the "Luthien and Beren" award but my story is about Sam and Rosie.
What does this mean?

The names of the awards are just titles, themed appropriately to the overall
category. They don't necessarily reflect the content of the stories that win
them. The stories that get the highest number of votes in the romance
category or any and each of its subcategories win the "Luthien and Beren"
award, regardless of their content.
Awards in all other categories have similarly themed titles.

Q: Do subcategories also get their own awards?

Yes. First, second, and third prizes will be awarded in the subcategories as
well as the main categories. These winners will have the right to use
versions of the same banners as their counterparts in the main categories
which have been tailored to reflect the particular subcategory.

*****

Marta






Yahoo! Groups Links

Msg# 3232

Re: proposed FAQ revision - categorization Posted by Marta January 01, 2005 - 23:01:01 Topic ID# 3227
--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Ainaechoiriel" <mefaadmin@e...>
wrote:
> Thanks. It will require a little bit of revision to account for
authors
> picking their own categories, but otherwise it's great. I'll add
it to the
> Q & A.
>

I've been trying to keep up with the post-mort, but I'm sure I've
missed some of what's been decided. Feel free to revise as you see
fit.

The FAQs were pretty good this year, especially for the first year,
but I think there's a lot of room for improvement. If you like I can
write up more on other topics that I think would be good to address.
But I think I should wait until I know just how nomination and voting
will work (which will depend I think on whether we're computerized or
not). That is, if you'd like for me to.

Marta

Msg# 3234

Re: proposed FAQ revision - categorization Posted by Ainaechoiriel January 01, 2005 - 23:06:44 Topic ID# 3227
Sure. I've borrowed a silly thing from ASC. The FAQ isn't so much a FAQ as
a set of rules. The Q & A is more of a true FAQ. Should I change the
names?

--Ainaechoiriel
MEFA Admin and Founder

"This evil cannot be concealed by the power of the Elves," Elrond said, "for
it is Windows-compatible, and freeware at that." --H.F.

http://gabrielle.sytes.net/mefa The Middle-Earth Fanfiction Awards
Blog: http://www.ainaechoiriel.blogspot.com



-----Original Message-----
From: Marta [mailto:MartaL0712@netscape.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 11:01 PM
To: MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [MEFAwards] Re: proposed FAQ revision - categorization



--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "Ainaechoiriel" <mefaadmin@e...>
wrote:
> Thanks. It will require a little bit of revision to account for
authors
> picking their own categories, but otherwise it's great. I'll add
it to the
> Q & A.
>

I've been trying to keep up with the post-mort, but I'm sure I've missed
some of what's been decided. Feel free to revise as you see fit.

The FAQs were pretty good this year, especially for the first year, but I
think there's a lot of room for improvement. If you like I can write up more
on other topics that I think would be good to address.
But I think I should wait until I know just how nomination and voting will
work (which will depend I think on whether we're computerized or not). That
is, if you'd like for me to.

Marta






Yahoo! Groups Links

Msg# 3238

Re: proposed FAQ revision - categorization Posted by Naresha January 02, 2005 - 5:58:43 Topic ID# 3227
Might be an idea - avoid any confusion on the subject!

Ainaechoiriel <mefaadmin@earthlink.net> wrote:Sure. I've borrowed a silly thing from ASC. The FAQ isn't so much a FAQ as
a set of rules. The Q & A is more of a true FAQ. Should I change the
names?


~To forgive calls upon our love, to forget calls upon our strength~

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