ezlo
New Member
Posts: 36
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Post by ezlo on Oct 8, 2007 10:44:29 GMT -5
Sorry I haven't been visiting guys. I just started attending Philadelphia Biblical University earlier last month and the workload doesn't allow me for a lot of time. Another thing that kept me from coming was possibly the lack of responses to posts that I made.
Perhaps the site and forums should be advertised a little more? I don't even know if they are at all.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Oct 8, 2007 11:05:17 GMT -5
Sorry about the lack of responses, Ezlo. I promise, it was nothing personal! You were not singled out for that treatment. It's just a result of having fewer people here regularly than we'd like, I think. But please accept my apology and do weigh in on whether or not you think The Anomaly should stay open.
Jeff
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Post by Khiya on Oct 8, 2007 13:23:52 GMT -5
Well, I haven't been posting lately since my creativity's gone into a dive and my workload's been catching up with me, but I've definitely been lurking. Even if a post doesn't get many replies, I think it certainly gets read and people are either too lazy (like me, I regretfully confess) or too shy to reply to it. It would still be a big disappointment to close the site down. I love remembering that I can swing by and snoop through all the posts before I have to start my work. So long live the Anomaly! Maybe the possibility of shutting it down will jump start people into posting more.
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Hisart
New Member
"His talent, Hisart, His way"
Posts: 12
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Post by Hisart on Oct 8, 2007 13:34:27 GMT -5
That sounds like a winning idea, Aye.
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Post by The Blue Collared Philosopher on Oct 8, 2007 17:00:13 GMT -5
Hm, well, i don't want the Anomaly to shut down, and i must confess i haven't been around lately, but that was due to VERY important matters. And some of these matters were between life and death. And, well, i hope to be around more as these matters start to clear up.
Jeff, i know it has probably been discouraging for you to see so few people active in the Anomaly, but it has been a blessing for me and hope it is alive for many more years.
P.S. khiya made a good point that people might start posting now that the idea of shutting down is now an option.
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Post by sparrow on Oct 8, 2007 18:07:47 GMT -5
>Maybe the possibility of shutting it down will jump start people into posting more. < Good point Khiya. This site may get some newbies too as word gets out about Marcher Lord Press. That's how I found you. The path was->google speculative Christian fiction, look at one of the websites (I forget which), read the announcement of MLP opening, follow link to MLP, then from that to Where the Map Ends. Then of course I had to check out the forum. So MLP will definitely add more internet exposure. And obviously count my yes vote for staying here. I hope you get volunteers, Jeff. I don't think I've been around long enough or know enough about a site like this to offer help just yet. But I can add my 2 cents now and then to keep the conversation going.
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Post by Kristen on Oct 8, 2007 18:29:10 GMT -5
Aye.
Coasting may not sound like a great option, but it's better than shutting down and then trying to restart later after MLP gets off the ground. I haven't participated in the collaborative fiction project, but I appreciate having a place to discuss writing techniques and such.
The Wiki suggestion is thought-provoking, but I think we'd need more people and a clearer goal to make it work. I move we table that matter for future consideration.
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Post by mongoose on Oct 9, 2007 2:56:48 GMT -5
I vote we keep it open. No comments on why I post or do not post, as I don't see the relevance. Do you remove books from the Library because too few people read them? From the bookstore, perhaps, and more's the pitty. But I hope you don't remove them from the library, and in the 21st century, from the web.
I came here, and will continue to come here in the future, for two or three purposes: 1. To associate with other writers when I want more stimulation, between novels, than I can get from role playing forums frequented by high schoolers (though some of them are surprisingly good) 2. To learn about writing techniques, for which function I use this place as I would a decent reference book. It stays closed on my shelf till I need it, then I flip through it for the answers I'm after until I find them. 3. To role play, or participate in collaborative fiction projects with writers of similar caliber to myself (more or less).
1 has worked well in these forums when other people posted, which obviously wasn't all the time. But that's fine with me. Is it costing you anything to leave it up for those times when enough of us run out of reading and writing to do elsewhere?
2 has continued to work well, and I'd vote it stay up for this reason alone, as a resource.
3 flopped for two reasons, IMHO: A. Initially too much direction and limitation on what we would do. It had to be a 3 act structure, one act/month or 2 months, characters and plot outline set ahead of time, etc. But then in the three or four posts that WERE written, there were significant incongruencies. B. When the 2nd collaborative fiction project took off, it looked awesome. I don't know where the idea of the shape shifting dragons came from, but it was cool! The problem was that it went way too quickly for me to keep up. Apparently it's not moving so quickly anymore, but is it feasible for someone new to join, at this point? And is there any assurance of character integrity? I grow somewhat attached. Kihn does certain things, and not others. Talks a certain way. Leads by certain techniques. Other people tend to miss who he is, and thus butcher his character when they try to write him.
I don't know if I'm alone in these things, in which case it's just one more vote. But just in-case others are likewise inclined, I've been looking, for years, for a collaborative fiction project with staying power because one or two people had a long range plot idea that they leaked just fast enough to keep the rest of us interested, many of the leaks happening in-character. It was like reading a good suspense novel wherein you got to write the part of a supporting character, who might even sway the plot along the way. Oh, I switched from speculating about what I've hoped to find, to speaking of what was, because I did find it, and participated in it for several years (5 or 6, I think). I want to do that again, developing my PC over that time, as well as his relationships with the other PCs, moving toward a climax as yet unknown by most of the PCs, and even by the writers, though the leaders would hint at it more and more over time. I want something where I can write long and detailed posts as part of the story, the part from my PC's perspective, without losing people who can only handle a few short paragraphs of dialogue or action. I want to be able to post about one of those per week, counting on the other three - six writers to also post once a week (give or take) so that I'd have something new, interesting, and relevant to read about every day or so, and the story would progress at a sustainable rate.
If the Anomaly isn't the place for that, it's not the place for that, and I wouldn't try to force it into a role it doesn't fit, nor would I recommend it. But if that's something the others here like the sound of, I know it can work, and we have plenty of ideas in the genres are that we could use as starting points for described story.
Regardless of whether or not I can use the anomaly for this kind of a story, as I've said, I would like it to remain operational so I can come to read material from those who come here, and so I can refer to it when I have questions about technique and such.
Thanks for reading, and may God bless y'all regardless.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Oct 9, 2007 10:07:30 GMT -5
These are great comments. And I'm so glad to see familiar names back on the board--and all our new family members besides.
I would say the Ayes have it then. Hooray!
The next step is for 2-5 of our regulars to volunteer to take on an administrative role. Who's ready to lead The Anomaly into the future?
Jeff
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Post by J Jack on Oct 9, 2007 14:08:41 GMT -5
If you all allow me I will take a small time role to do what I can. I have not made it on often, but I get on enough to do some small admin work if it'll keep the anomaly up and running.
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Post by J Jack on Oct 9, 2007 14:10:35 GMT -5
A thought, how about a clean sweep? Something to get rid of old topics that sit and sit and only gather dust? Maybe a fresh start, new page, colors, etc etc so that it gets that new website smell. Just a thought.
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Post by Khiya on Oct 9, 2007 17:26:31 GMT -5
Well said, mongoose
I like sabre's idea of somehow "binning" the older posts that have died out. Would there be a way to send them off somehow if they haven't been written in for a month or so, but not so far that they can't be brought back up?
Jeff, I know almost nothing about web page upkeep, but I'd love to get involved if there's anything I can do.
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Post by Christian Soldier on Oct 9, 2007 17:40:11 GMT -5
My time is limited, but I'd be willing to help out where needed.
And I agree with sabre3030, but only to a point. We need to restructure ... again. The way it is now worked for a while, but I seriously think the 'homeworld needs to shift to a single board.
I'd recommend a formal vote before removing anything else. I don't know about gredruin, but I still plan to work on the collab.
Now, here's another idea. What if we were to have a workshop. One hosted by the anomaly. Here's how I thought it could work, you guys tell me what you think:
To start off with, we would pick several topics to focus on. Character developement, plot structure, and so on. For each one, a volunteer would step forward to lead and to grade, or we could form a panel that oversees the whole thing. Perhaps we could even try and invite a couple of published authors to participate. The end of the workshop would leave each participant with a completed short story that he/she wrote under the panel's guidance.
We could even incorperate the wiki idea here. Each participant could upload each step along the way, allowing others to see how they do it and adapt their own where necessary. This would prevent us from cluttering the forums with a ton of posts that all look similar. Critiques could be given via E-mail, forum, Chat(ie: Instant messanger, or proboard's chat service), or even phone.
So, what do you guys think? Such an undertaking won't even be possible for many weeks or months, and will require extensive planning just to get it started. I would plan such an event to start in the spring or summer, but we could start advertising it after Christmas to gain support.
So there's my $0.37 worth. What say the rest of you? Call me an optimist, but I still see a bright future for this place.
God Bless - CS
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Post by J Jack on Oct 9, 2007 21:06:28 GMT -5
I like it.
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Post by Jeff Gerke on Oct 10, 2007 14:16:04 GMT -5
Announcing our new administrator team (in alphabetical order):
Christian Soldier khiya pixydust sabre3030 teskas
Plus I'll stay on as an admin, too.
Thank you to everyone for helping us through the process. With new leadership and the fresh ideas these new admins--and all the rest of us--can bring to The Anomaly, the future looks bright indeed.
Jeff
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