Featured Pictures section -- stories too?

[Black_Breeze]

Is there a reason why stories can't be in the featured section of the main page? Because the art of fanart-central isn't limited to pictures, this site offers writing as well. I think it would be nice if we featured some writers here, who deserve some recognition.

[Trinity_Fire]

Yeah, I agree! We should definately get some featured stories up, though indeed, they'll be a lot harder to find/judge, as you'd have to read the entire story. ^^;
But it'd be swell.
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[Black_Breeze]

Ha, that's true, I guess it would be sort of a hassle for the judges. ^^;

[EMR]

Still, there are some stories that deserve recognition. Maybe there is a different method to find featured stories that would work better.

[EMR]

Still, there are some stories that deserve recognition. Maybe there is a different method to find featured stories that would work better.

[PhunkYMunkY]

I'll suggest it formerly to the admin.

[cstdenis]

I see the suggestion.

It has not been done because:
1. FAC is primarily an art site.
2. They are more dificult to choose.
3. harder to show off nicely (No thumbnails) and no nice place to put the list in the current layout.


It may appear sometime in the future.

[PhunkYMunkY]

I was going to suggest something a little different and more substantial... but if all goes to plan, I may not need to.

[Black_Breeze]

Ah, I see. Well, thank you for the info. ^^

[AriaGunnir]

Well, just being a devil's advocate here...

What if someone wanted to "submit" something for voting (I guess that would mean an American Idol-style contest) or there could be a different set of judges appointed/nominated for each contest (long-time writers/admin folk for each contest); then whichever story got the highest vote from either the peeps of FAC or the judeges it would have a link on the main FAC page with the pictures. You don't really need a thumbnail, just a link...

What if Admin assigned a special Forum Topic for this very reason and every three months or ever six months, or heck, once a year (whatever) people who wanted to could submit entries for the populace to vote on (this could be advertised with a direct link from the main HomePage)... Instead of having to read a million pages, the rules of the writing could limit the amount of words and the contest could be a SHORT story, not a novella (1000, 5000 words, etc)... The judges or voting time could have a month or whatever was considered a reasonable amount of time it took to determine the outcome of the contest.

If it was 4 judges and there were say a hundred entries, they would divide the entries into 25 each to read: they would first do a weeding out -- anything with spelling, grammatical errors, etc would be put aside automatically. Then they would read through the remaining stories, and then pick, say the top 5 that they like and then confer with each other on the final 20 that were remaining and pick from those which would be the first, second, third and honourable mention.... This is just a suggestion, mind you.

Of course there would be standards... Rules could include proper grammar, spelling, etc... If there was no editing or flow in the story, it would not be considered (you know, sort of like the RPG Workshop Rules)...

I dunno, whataya figure... If one puts one's mind to something, one could probably accomplish it... A contest held once or twice a year would give plenty of time for potential writers to edit and try out their stories with others, and limits put on the length could make it easier.
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[Battou]

Not being a writer I don't know how the story submition works so this is no more than an idea but.



About the thumbs issue, maybe a cover option may be an idea. A small image say 82 X 114 px that can be uploaded with the story to serve as the thumbnail. It would be the writers responsibility to provide it, whether they draw it them selves or request it of one of the many artists here. I think having to have a cover to be eligible for a feature would be a reasonably small price to pay for it. It would sort of help narrow down the field a bit for those who would be judging them.
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[Throttle]

The admin might put something like that if the site was not Fanart Central but Fan[color=red]fic[/color] central.

FAC is primarily an art site, get used to it.
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[Trinity_Fire]

Hey, writing is kind of like a form of art. To me, I simply think of 'art' as something original and creative done on your free time (or not, for some people) and there's nothing wrong with writing as a form of self-expression.

But Battou, I doubt that a 'cover image' will work too well. I mean, an artist's skills really has nothing to do with a writer's skills, whether hired or self-done. It brings to mind the saying, 'Don't judge a book by its cover,' which only too often proves itself true. :)
Fictions are just better left without illustrations in my opinion, as that's the point of the story; to paint the tale and the image through words and words alone.

Anyway, like denis says, this really will be something difficult to implement. And it'll take a huge amount of time to review stories and all that. I don't really mind it the way it is right now, because stories show up on the main page, and they are given a section in our galleries. That's good enough for now, I suppose. ;)
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[Battou]

[quote="Trinity_Fire"]But Battou, I doubt that a 'cover image' will work too well. I mean, an artist's skills really has nothing to do with a writer's skills, whether hired or self-done. It brings to mind the saying, 'Don't judge a book by its cover,' which only too often proves itself true.
Fictions are just better left without illustrations in my opinion, as that's the point of the story; to paint the tale and the image through words and words alone.

Anyway, like denis says, this really will be something difficult to implement. And it'll take a huge amount of time to review stories and all that. I don't really mind it the way it is right now, because stories show up on the main page, and they are given a section in our galleries. That's good enough for now, I suppose. [/quote]

I had that saying in mind when I made that post and I think you may have miss-interpreted what I was saying a little bit. I anticipated that but was unable to put a counter measure into words.

Where I was going on the aspect of narrowing the field was more along the lines of having a cover open the possibility of review, those with out go with out. A bit of a double edged sword that way however, wile those who would be reviewing the stories would have a smaller pile of fan fics to read, some of those who are skilled writers would be overlooked as far as a feature goes by not having one, as well as a bunch of shty writers slapping a cover on to something in the hopes of getting noticed.

For those who really care wether their work gets the opertunity to be featured or not, it's not much to ask I feel. Even then a cover Image does not need to be to detailed, It could literally be nothing more than a box with the title in it. My suggestion was geared more towards generating a thumbnail than anything else. The review aspect was a foreseeable possibility side effect.



Personally as far as me and fan fics go Don't write'em, Don't read'em, Don't need'em, but that's just me, so naturally I don't mind the way it is now as well. I only make the suggestion because the topic continues to come up and the idea crossed my mind.
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[AriaGunnir]

Whether one chose to just put a link, or a thumbnail with the title in it, or had a contest for illustrations for the story including the thumbnail for the title....

I still get the impression that no one would want to go thru with the actual reading/judging of all the submissions... I think I will test out a smaller version of this in a thread somewhere... If it seems like I am swamped with submissions for this small test, then I would totally not recommend it, but if I only get what I expect, perhaps I can make a bid for heading something on a larger scale if I can get the cooperation of others to assist me.

I'll keep you all posted! LOL
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[Trinity_Fire]

Well, Battou, I really don't think thumbnails are required. We've already got a set summary for every story we write, and along with proper categories, ratings, and details like that, I think it's pretty much covered. Writing was never meant to need an illustrated cover, and I'd prefer just a page of text than random pictures whose authenticity is questionable. Maybe I'm restating myself, but your point is a little blurry and I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean.

Either way, fanfics are pretty nice the way they are now. If there's anything I would like to see, it'd probably not go any further than perhaps an artist's personal-choice of a featured story along with featured illustration, since it's much easier to judge that way. ;)
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