Yahoo Forum Archive

My WIP "Flowers of Nimloth" (Category Drama:Incomplete) is now
finished. What do I need to do next? Thanks!

PS: I'll probably only be able to get online a few days a week for the
next several weeks, so forgive me if I don't reply immediately :)

Hi geek_chick,

Congratulations! Finishing a WIP is always a big event.

You have done everything you need to do by posting about it here. Let me
discuss with the other categorizers where we'll be reassigning your
story, but it will be in a subcategory for completed stories in the
Drama main category. I'll post here when we've made a decision.

If there are any other authors reading this with WIPs entered: if you
finish before the end of December, please let us know. You can post here
or email me privately at mefasupport(at)gmail(dot)com. And I'll do the
same thing we're doing with geek_chick's story. I'm also happy to change
story information, for instance if you need to change your story length
or rating at any point. Just let me know.

Marta

geek_chick01 wrote:

>
>
> My WIP "Flowers of Nimloth" (Category Drama:Incomplete) is now
> finished. What do I need to do next? Thanks!
>
> PS: I'll probably only be able to get online a few days a week for the
> next several weeks, so forgive me if I don't reply immediately :)
>

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "geek_chick01" <geek_chick01@...> wrote:

>
> My WIP "Flowers of Nimloth" (Category Drama:Incomplete) is now
> finished. What do I need to do next? Thanks!
>
> PS: I'll probably only be able to get online a few days a week for the
> next several weeks, so forgive me if I don't reply immediately :)
>

Hi Geek Chick,

I have spoken with the other categorizers, and we would like to place
it in the subcategory "Genres: Drama: Second Age or Earlier". This
means it would compete against the following stories:

Finding a Way (496): Elfique
From Evil to Sorrow (781): Elfique
Lost love (516): Ellynn
Father and Son (718): Istarnie
The Rose in the Fisted Glove (240): Jael
Bonfires of Trust, Flashfloods of Pain (413): Klose
The Last Temptation (264): Maeve Riannon
It Gives a Lovely Light (338): Oshun

As the name suggests they're all set in the second age or earlier, and
based on your summary it sounds like your story would fit there. Would
this be okay with you?

Marta

In a message dated 8/9/2007 2:21:35 PM Eastern Standard Time,
melayton@gmail.com writes:

This
means it would compete against the following stories:

Finding a Way (496): Elfique
From Evil to Sorrow (781): Elfique
Lost love (516): Ellynn
Father and Son (718): Istarnie
The Rose in the Fisted Glove (240): Jael
Bonfires of Trust, Flashfloods of Pain (413): Klose
The Last Temptation (264): Maeve Riannon
It Gives a Lovely Light (338): Oshun



Darn! Can I object that MY story is competing against too many other stories
that I really wanted to push for Firsts! OK. Just kidding, but I do have the
worst luck with the categorization.

Oshun



************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new AOL at
http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Oshun,

> Darn! Can I object that MY story is competing against too many other
> stories
> that I really wanted to push for Firsts! OK. Just kidding, but I do have
> the
> worst luck with the categorization.
>

LOL! I know that feeling all too well--I categorize things without
really looking at where my stories are and more than once I've seen my
story has ended up in a really competitive subcategory. I'm sure you'res
will do well, though.

One good thing about this year is that the way we're assigning honorable
mentions actually doesn't depend at all on what category you're in. We
calculate the average number of points per story across the whole
awards, and if your story gets more than that average but you don't win
first, second, or third place, you get an honorable mention. So whether
you get an honorable mention or not won't depend the other stories in
your subcategory.

Which isn't the same thing as winning an award, but it's something. :-)

Marta

I'll keep that in mind as I continue working on "The Tenant from
Staddle," which could be done by then. I keep adding chapters.
Bonnie L. Sherrell
Teacher at Large

"Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." LOTR

"Don't go where I can't follow."

I mourn for this nation.

Bonnie L. Sherrell wrote:

>
>
> I'll keep that in mind as I continue working on "The Tenant from
> Staddle," which could be done by then. I keep adding chapters.
> Bonnie L. Sherrell
> Teacher at Large
>

Good luck with that! If you finish it, you know where to find me.

Marta

That does look like a competitive category! But that is fine if that's how things work out! :)

Regarding length, fanfiction.net says this story is 57,000 words which if I remember correctly is a "Novel" according to MEFA. But I personally have thought of this story more as a novella than a true novel, since it doesn't really have the scope of what I would consider a novel. But you can call it a novel if you want the reviewers to have a more accurate idea of its length!

Jennifer (geek_chick)

aure_enteluva <melayton@gmail.com> wrote:

--- In MEFAwards@yahoogroups.com, "geek_chick01" <geek_chick01@...> wrote:
>
> My WIP "Flowers of Nimloth" (Category Drama:Incomplete) is now
> finished. What do I need to do next? Thanks!
>
> PS: I'll probably only be able to get online a few days a week for the
> next several weeks, so forgive me if I don't reply immediately :)
>

Hi Geek Chick,

I have spoken with the other categorizers, and we would like to place
it in the subcategory "Genres: Drama: Second Age or Earlier". This
means it would compete against the following stories:

Finding a Way (496): Elfique
From Evil to Sorrow (781): Elfique
Lost love (516): Ellynn
Father and Son (718): Istarnie
The Rose in the Fisted Glove (240): Jael
Bonfires of Trust, Flashfloods of Pain (413): Klose
The Last Temptation (264): Maeve Riannon
It Gives a Lovely Light (338): Oshun

As the name suggests they're all set in the second age or earlier, and
based on your summary it sounds like your story would fit there. Would
this be okay with you?

Marta








---------------------------------
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Yahoo! Answers - Check it out.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Geek Chick,

> That does look like a competitive category! But that is fine if that's
> how things work out! :)
>

I'll admit I don't read a lot of stories from this time period, but I
know that a lot of the subcategories *I'm* in feel more competitive than
they have in the past. I think that happens because since each person
can only nominate twenty stories, people get smart about what they
nominate. So there aren't a lot of pieces being nominated that are OK
but not great. Which means that when it comes to categorize, you're
going to get more REALLY good pieces in each subcategory. I do think
pieces about the earlier ages will do better than if they're pitted
against stories set during the War of the Ring (which in my experience
tends to have a bigger, or at least different, readership).

That said - I don't really want to start shuffling stories based on how
good we think the other stories in the subcat are. That's just asking
for trouble! :-) Because I can't be familiar with every story so I may
underestimate how competitive a certain subcategory is, which wouldn't
be fair to the authors in that subcategory. Instead, I and the other
volunteers don't even consider how good we think certain stories are.
There are lots of things we consider, but the quality of the stories
nominated isn't one of them. :-)

Oh, and one other thing -- don't forget that honorable mentions are in a
way the great leveller. If your story gets an above-average number of
points, you're guaranteed at least an honorable mention. Every story
that's above-average but doesn't place in its subcategory is listed as
an honorable mention. And obviously we'd all prefer to win, but you can
still get recognized if your story is good but ends up in a "hard"
subcategory.

Shall shut up now. :-) I don't want to bore you with all the reasons
I've thought about on this issue. If you're okay with it, I think I'll
leave your story in the subcategory I mentioned.

> Regarding length, fanfiction.net says this story is 57,000 words which
> if I remember correctly is a "Novel" according to MEFA. But I personally
> have thought of this story more as a novella than a true novel, since it
> doesn't really have the scope of what I would consider a novel. But you
> can call it a novel if you want the reviewers to have a more accurate
> idea of its length!
>

The name novel is a little misleading. According to our guidelines it's
anything longer than 40,000 words, so I think you'll find a lot of
novella-esque stories actually labelled as novels. I do think it would
be best to change the story length to novel, so reviewers aren't surprised.

If you like, I can include a note in the summary. Something like:

"This story is around 57,000 words in length. I have given it the story
type "novel" in accordance with MEFA guidelines, although I think the
form is more similar to a novella than what many people think of as novel."

Would you like me to add something like that? (The "I" in what I am
proposing would sound like it was coming from you the author. I hope.)

Marta

Oh, I totally understand how you categorize stories! Choosing something like time periods or main characters is really the only way to categorize them objectively. If you start trying to consider how "good" or "competitive" the stories are, then by categorizing them you are already judging them -- but you really only want the stories judged by the reviews! And I agree that stories about the War of the Ring would have a bigger audience -- before I read the Silmarillion, that was the only kind of fan fiction that I read!

Regarding length, now that I think of it I don't think you really need to add a note to the summary. You're right, I bet there are a lot of other novella stories categorized as a novel since the cutoff is 40,000 words! If someone is concerned about the length of my story, they can always go to the website, see how many chapters and words my story has, and then decide whether they want to read it :)

Thanks for all your help and explanations! :)

Jennifer (geek_chick)

Marta <melayton@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Geek Chick,

> That does look like a competitive category! But that is fine if that's
> how things work out! :)
>

I'll admit I don't read a lot of stories from this time period, but I
know that a lot of the subcategories *I'm* in feel more competitive than
they have in the past. I think that happens because since each person
can only nominate twenty stories, people get smart about what they
nominate. So there aren't a lot of pieces being nominated that are OK
but not great. Which means that when it comes to categorize, you're
going to get more REALLY good pieces in each subcategory. I do think
pieces about the earlier ages will do better than if they're pitted
against stories set during the War of the Ring (which in my experience
tends to have a bigger, or at least different, readership).

That said - I don't really want to start shuffling stories based on how
good we think the other stories in the subcat are. That's just asking
for trouble! :-) Because I can't be familiar with every story so I may
underestimate how competitive a certain subcategory is, which wouldn't
be fair to the authors in that subcategory. Instead, I and the other
volunteers don't even consider how good we think certain stories are.
There are lots of things we consider, but the quality of the stories
nominated isn't one of them. :-)

Oh, and one other thing -- don't forget that honorable mentions are in a
way the great leveller. If your story gets an above-average number of
points, you're guaranteed at least an honorable mention. Every story
that's above-average but doesn't place in its subcategory is listed as
an honorable mention. And obviously we'd all prefer to win, but you can
still get recognized if your story is good but ends up in a "hard"
subcategory.

Shall shut up now. :-) I don't want to bore you with all the reasons
I've thought about on this issue. If you're okay with it, I think I'll
leave your story in the subcategory I mentioned.

> Regarding length, fanfiction.net says this story is 57,000 words which
> if I remember correctly is a "Novel" according to MEFA. But I personally
> have thought of this story more as a novella than a true novel, since it
> doesn't really have the scope of what I would consider a novel. But you
> can call it a novel if you want the reviewers to have a more accurate
> idea of its length!
>

The name novel is a little misleading. According to our guidelines it's
anything longer than 40,000 words, so I think you'll find a lot of
novella-esque stories actually labelled as novels. I do think it would
be best to change the story length to novel, so reviewers aren't surprised.

If you like, I can include a note in the summary. Something like:

"This story is around 57,000 words in length. I have given it the story
type "novel" in accordance with MEFA guidelines, although I think the
form is more similar to a novella than what many people think of as novel."

Would you like me to add something like that? (The "I" in what I am
proposing would sound like it was coming from you the author. I hope.)

Marta







---------------------------------
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Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Jennifer,

> Regarding length, now that I think of it I don't think you really need
> to add a note to the summary. You're right, I bet there are a lot of
> other novella stories categorized as a novel since the cutoff is 40,000
> words! If someone is concerned about the length of my story, they can
> always go to the website, see how many chapters and words my story has,
> and then decide whether they want to read it :)
>

Yep, it is not too hard to find out the exact length. If you're happy
without the note in the summary, I don't think it's really necessary -
but I did want to give you that option if you wanted it. :-)

I'll go change the length and story type right now, so it looks like the
story is completed and that it is the novel (>40,000 words) length.

Marta