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Subj: So good that I'm tempted to actually write it. Posted: Sun Nov 11, 2012 at 09:06:28 am EST (Viewed 2 times) | Reply Subj: Was it now? Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2012 at 11:13:05 pm EST (Viewed 933 times) | ||||||
Quote: And I don't know why posters suddenly went AWOL, but I kind of feel like I share the blame for it. I've been exploring new writing styles, and in doing so my stories started to get longer, meaning they take longer to post. And I've been getting less and less brave with making changes to PVB chars, which means I've been posting stories that not many people here read. So I guess I haven't exactly been solving the problem.I've held for a long time that a shared community of this kind needs at least eight active posters who'll read and respond to everything. Without that feedback the unique selling points of such a place are lost. We've been below that number for quite some time and the momemuntum can't carry on forever. I don't think you should feel to blame. People's lives change and they move on. Internet posting is a young man's game, or at least a single man's game. Many writers founder in their calling when they're overwhelmed with the more urgent demands of work and family. Communities like the PVB have their time and then folks move on. That said, there's clearly a lot of affection for the old place from some alumni, and even a vague intention from some to return some day. I don't think it's time to sell up and walk away unless the costs of maintainance become prohibitive in time or cash. I'm always pleased to review whatever collaborators here present, however intermittently that might be. This site is still my homepage. Regarding your work, I think you're right to shift the focus away from characters whose posters no longer have an active stake in shared stories, towards a Jason-verse of your own. Your natural tendencies to introduce shocking turnarounds and sudden changes is best suited to an environment and characters you can fully control. No-one can justifiably accuse you of abusing characters that you have created (except in a narrative sense, where they can be abused as dramatically as possible). I think your stories and style have matured; too much Parodyverse pandering would now water them down and weaken them. Quote: Quote: Given dwindling responses and mounting pressure of other work I "parked" the writing part way through #349, though the HH Homepage actually even lists the intended chapter titles up to #350 and my plots were drawn up past #360 (which, given the way my stories tend to proliferate, meant I was good to go as far as #380 easy).Quote: I need to stop writing so many stories at once, and just finish one or two of them.  I keep telling writers that the ability to finish stories is one of the key literary skills - or disciplines. And it feels so good! Quote: Quote: I do have one major story that I full intend to finish when the mood takes me, and that's the Herringcarp Gothic serial. I'd have done it this Hallowe'en but I didn't get the run up time to get into a dark enough mental place.Quote: Easy to fix. Watch the American election coverage.I gather from the news that this has now been resolved. Quote: Quote: I can't imagine how it must be to live somewhere where even your home is threatened with destruction by random weather phenomenon.Quote: It's all about preparation. You get about 5 days' notice to make sure you have enough food and water. And most of those storms only cause minor inconvenience for a few days - a really powerful one is extremely rare. Sandy was not very powerful at all, it just hit an area that was not prepared for it. And to be honest, New Englanders are stubborn and think they know better, which means they didn't bother to prepare.One of my correspondents had around 70 longboxes of silver age comic books in a hired storage space in New York. The floods got them. He isn't insured. | |||||||
