Drabble Section?

[Alelou]

Does anyone other than me wish drabbles had their own section?

[justTripn]

Personally, I think something that short should just be posted in a thread.

[Aquarius]

Oh, I don't know, ladies. Looks like the Boss Man is okay with it. He just commented favorably on one.

[justTripn]

Which is why I said "personally." It is my personal opinion. We have a separate section for poetry. We should have a separate section for drabbles. I think.

[WarpGirl]

I think it might be a good idea. But then I'm always for better organization.

[Brandyjane]

I would be more likely to submit drabble if it had its own section.

[Aquarius]

I'm all for being organized--but there's another side to that coin. There comes a time when things get too divided, too nit-picky, and you have a front page with just too much stuff and people become overwhelmed. And then where do you start drawing lines. Drabbles are 100 words; what about fics that are 120 words? Etc.

And at that point, then we should give fics that are past a certain word/page count *their* own section, for the convenience of the people who don't have the time/motivation/patience to read something that's "too long."

Being that this is a TnT site, the bulk of our offerings should go in the main TnT secion. The other sections are just there as an ancillary service so that members/readers can find (or avoid) things that are:

* Not TnT in nature
* Poetry
* Adult in content

The drabbles currently fit the criteria to go in the main section. They:

* Are TnT (so far, but there are other sections if they're not)
* Not poetry
* Suitable for general audiences--so far--but we already have Decon for that if they're not.

Furthermore, the sections outside the the main TnT area get less traffic and less comments. So, the drabbles would automatically be condemned to less attention, so as in brandyjane's example, if she's more willing to submit a drabble if there's a separate drabble section, she's basically guaranteeing herself less reads and less comments. As things are, people are just finding them and they seem to be enjoying them--Honeybee's french fries one even led to a lively impromptu cultural exchange discussion. So I really don't see how anyone loses *there*.

Making a point, staying in character, and having something interesting to say isn't as easy as it seems when you only have 100 words to do it. A well-executed drabble can make our day just as easily (if not more quickly!) than a longer fic, and a poorly-executed one can suck just as badly as a longer story that isn't well-told (except you don't have long to wait to see if it gets any better!). Just like with any fic, if you open it up and it doesn't seem like your kind of thing after a glance, then navigate away and find something else to read just like you would any other thing.

Honestly, I think making an issue over word count is making a big deal about nothing.

[Alelou]

By that argument, we should abolish ALL sections and lump them all together, which is perhaps worth making an argument for, but I assume we came up with different sections for a reason. Maybe labeling stories by genre and putting them all up on the homepage at once would make more sense than having different sections, since as we have noted the less popular sections tend to run the same stories for ever and ever.

Speaking only for myself, I usually find drabbles irritating when I'm looking for an actual developed story. I'd prefer to have them in a section where I can go when I'm in the mood for a bon bon. I would consider it an attractive section, for example, when I'm browsing on my phone instead of a computer.

[justTripn]

Stories at the top of the page get the most attention. Period. It's not rationale, but it's true. So if someone writes a story that takes two weeks or two months and then it is topped by a poem or drabble, the author of the longer story gets annoyed. In the past I have placed extremely short stories in with the poems. I have written a 100-word "story" myself, which I am proud of, but I would only officially post it in a drabble or poem section. It already had its day in the sun, back in the thread where I first posted it, but maybe the new people would want to see it, so I would welcome a Drabble section.

[WarpGirl]

Stories at the top of the page get the most attention. Period. It's not rationale, but it's true. So if someone writes a story that takes two weeks or two months and then it is topped by a poem or drabble, the author of the longer story gets annoyed. In the past I have placed extremely short stories in with the poems. I have written a 100-word "story" myself, which I am proud of, but I would only officially post it in a drabble or poem section. It already had its day in the sun, back in the thread where I first posted it, but maybe the new people would want to see it, so I would welcome a Drabble section.

Amen! My last chapter was 35 pages of blood sweat and tears. And while I don't think I'll do something like that again, it's kind of bumming me out that it's almost at the bottom and soon will be moved off the front page entirely. I like drabbles, I adored Misplaced's Comback! But I find that little drabbles cluttering up space in the "story" section to be a bad idea. And not just for me, there are other stories better than mine that got pushed off too quickly.

[Brandyjane]

That's why I haven't submitted a drabble yet. I don't want to push a longer story off the front page. By the way, I have really, really enjoyed the few short pieces that have been submitted lately. They're the perfect thing for me to read when I just have a couple of minutes to spare, and I'm glad people have started posting more of them.

[Linda]

I vote for a drabble section. The drabbles in the main TnT section will push longer stories off too quickly. The main section, for me, is already overwhelming with all the shorter fiction mixed in with the multi-part fiction and longer single chapter fics. I get overwlemed easily I guess. That is why I don't follow many multi-part stories at one time because I loose track of all the plots. And I like the other sections besides the TnT main. Most of the things I write are in the "other" sections. And whenever I have time to read, I look in all the sections to see what is new. So more sections would help me rather than hinder.

[WarpGirl]

You know Linda those are also good points. I thought HoT was pretty cool with the way it was organized. My favorite site for fic organization is The National Library an Archive of West Wing fic. That place is like a library for real.

[Aquarius]

I'm sorry, but I can't see myself blaming another author's submission if I'm displeased with the amount of attention my story is getting. If my reviews are lacking, I'm gonna look first at the story. If it passes muster with the toughest critics I can find, then I'm gonna assume it was something I said or did--because face it, if someone's a jerk to me, I'm not gonna read their story, either. Yes, I have other reasons for not reading stories--time being the biggest one these days--but when it's my story, I'm looking at my own karma before I'm pointing at someone else's submission.

It's not like we've loaded up the archive with drabbles. We've put up--what? Four? Five? And everything still stays on the front page for a month; nothing gets "pushed off" until time is up. If you have a good reputation, you'll get the reads and reviews any way--assuming you've maintained your standard of quality. If you're new, people will check you out, out of curiosity, but it's good to remember that reputations take time to build. I just don't buy that other people's stories or the length of them are an excuse.

And to judge something as being "more worthy" based on the amount of time it took to write? Sorry--it's skill, not time. Someone could spend an entire year on something and still end up with a piece that's mediocre at best--or worse. And chances are the reviews (or lack of them) are going to reflect that. Time is not a barometer for whether or not it deserves attention. The finished product is, whatever its length.

Elessar is going to do whatever he wants whatever we "vote"--and rightly so, he's gonna do what he thinks is best. Regardless, I don't think it's anything to get bent out of shape about. But that's just me.

[WarpGirl]

Okay, I don't see the sense in not reading someone's stories simply because you don't like who the author is... Particularly if they are a good author. I read people's stuff when I don't particularly care for them personally. But yes it is annoying if you work weeks, months, maybe a year on something only to get it knocked down by a drabble that takes a very short time to write. Nobody said that drabbles shouldn't be submitted, and yes it is Elessar's call on how he wants things done around here, he pays for it! And in my book he can tell us all to go to blazes anytime he wants too. That said, people who would like a little more organization, or who think drabbles should stay in threads have a perfectly valid point as well.