Taming the Muse

Polls, Voting and other things....

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 21:02:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Voting

It was pretty clear that overwhelmingly people would like to do away with the polls in favor of something else. Our members do seem to like that we cover any fandom and would like the poll, or it's replacement, to help them write better.

So, until further notice, polls are suspended. As we haven't had them for two weeks, I'm sure no one is shocked.

Most people agree that comments are the way to go with concrit, instead of an anonymous low vote. We received several good ideas and will be mulling over the best way to implement the suggestions.

Other News

In other news, to spice the community up a little bit, we're going to be implementing two new features. One will be an optional monthly challenge and the other will be the addition of two new types of prompts - 'Pictures' and 'Finish the Phrase'.

1) Monthly Challenges - These will be challenges that overlay the weekly challenges. They'll be issued on the first of the month with a deadline of midnight on the last day of the month. They don't count as part of your standings, and will have specific rules that you will need to follow - ex: 'original fiction.' These will be totally optional and can be used on top of your weekly entry as long as you've met all the requirements of both challenges. The idea is to help you stretch your wings and challenge your muse even further. For Example:

On the first of the month, we post the Monthly Challenge '1000 + word original short story told from first person POV.' You will have until the last day of the month to post your entry.

If you get an idea for a story, you can post it any time during the month and simply tag it with your author name and the challenge tag and you're done.

-OR-

If on Sunday of week 4, the prompt 'Blueblood' comes up and you realize you can work into your monthly challenge piece, you can enter it for both. When you post your 'Blueblood' entry, you would need to:

Tag your entry for both the weekly prompt and the monthly challenge as well as your author name.
Make sure it was an original fic.
Over 1000 words (instead of the usual 500).
Contained the word 'Blueblood'.
Be posted by midnight on the 30th of the month - even if the 30th is a Wednesday.

We're going to start these in December. Depending on the turnout, we may do banners at the end of the month for those who participated.
As these aren't part of the standings, anyone can participate at any time: new authors, old ones who've dropped out, or ones currently doing a run. The more the merrier.

2) We're going to be adding two additional types of prompts into the prompt generator. One will be pictures, the other will be 'finish the phrase.'

Pictures - The prompt will be similar to the following.

Farmhouse

You'll be given an image, along with a word. As with the prompts we currently have, it will be up to you how you use it. You can choose to write about the image, refer to it in passing as a photo or painting on the wall in your story, or simply incorporate the word that accompanies it. If you know someone who can manip, you can have the image altered to suit your needs.

We will be very broad about what we accept for these type of prompts because the idea is to spur your imagination. If you're nervous about your interpretation of the prompt, you can always bold it or call it out somehow in your post to get feedback.

All of the following would be accepted as valid uses of the prompt:

His eyes were an unusual shade gray, like the sky after an electrical storm.

Bored, Jared began to flip through the thick book on the coffee table - New England Farmhouses.

The realtor strode away, chattering rapidly on her cell phone, allowing Armand to study the structure in earnest. The brick was solid enough, but the roof looked like it had seen better days.

Finish the Phrase -

For this type of prompt, you'll be given the beginning of a common phrase and you will get to be creative with the ending. Here are three example phrases -

you can catch more flies with honey than with...

all work and no play makes....

absence makes the heart....

So you could do the following -

you can catch more flies with honey than with...asbestos

all work and no play makes....me cranky

absence makes the heart....shrivel up and die

We'll be limited to English phrases, however, if you have a common saying in your part of the world that you can translate into English (or one that's not specifically American) - feel free to pass it on to us.

For both of these type of prompts, we would enter our selections into the prompt generator and allow them to come up randomly, as we do other prompts.

Hopefully, these changes will all be positive for the community and help it grow.

So any questions? Comments?

~tamingmods (calypso)

comments

On Polls and Voting...

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 22:18:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Ok...so I've felt this way for a long time. I kind of let it go as this was one of the main features of the comm, but seeing as now that we're having trouble keeping up with the polls (not to mention how time consuming they are to assemble) I wanted to do some research.

I've gone back and checked the last 10 weeks, and my feeling is that the polls don't do much.

Here are the numbers. For the dates listed, I logged the max number of votes that any single story got and here they are:

24-Aug	2
31-Aug	2
7-Sep	2
14-Sep	1
22-Sep	2
28-Sep	2
6-Oct	2
13-Oct	2
21-Oct	3
26-Oct	3
2-Nov	1

Every week there are quite a few stories (sometimes more than half) that don't get votes at all.

Based upon that, I don't feel that the polls are being that useful to our authors. I think, if this is a feature the members would like to keep, we should probably redefine their purpose.

Are we trying to help authors improve?
Are they for identifying writers that don't meet the minimum threshold?
Something else?

As members what would you like to get out of the polls? And what would make you vote?

~tamingmods (calypso)

comments

Voting!

Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:51:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Here's the poll.

Voting standards can be found here. 7 is average, and 10 is 'Wow, this person should be published!' Also, as a reminder, you only have to vote for the stories you've read. You can also 'add' to your vote, so if you vote for Person A on Monday, you can go back into the poll and select the link 'Fill out poll' and vote for Person B on Tuesday.

Please note that entries may be f-locked. If you would like permission to view them, please don’t hesitate to request it from the author, but it is at their discretion to add you to the filter or not.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

~calypso

And here we go…

( Voting! )

comments

Voting!

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 20:13:00 GMT

Voting!

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 23:46:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Sorry for the lateness of the post. Last minute quick change in the pitching rotation. =)

Hopefully, I got everyone. I checked it twice.

You guys have a good evening!

~tamingmods (calypso)

Here's the poll.

Voting standards can be found here. 7 is average, and 10 is 'Wow, this person should be published!' Also, as a reminder, you only have to vote for the stories you've read. You can also 'add' to your vote, so if you vote for Person A on Monday, you can go back into the poll and select the link 'Fill out poll' and vote for Person B on Tuesday.

Please note that entries may be f-locked. If you would like permission to view them, please don’t hesitate to request it from the author, but it is at their discretion to add you to the filter or not.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

~calypso

And here we go…

( Voting! )

comments

Voting!

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:22:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

I apologize again for the late post on this, but here's this weeks poll.

Voting standards can be found here. 7 is average, and 10 is 'Wow, this person should be published!' Also, as a reminder, you only have to vote for the stories you've read. You can also 'add' to your vote, so if you vote for Person A on Monday, you can go back into the poll and select the link 'Fill out poll' and vote for Person B on Tuesday.

Please note that entries may be f-locked. If you would like permission to view them, please don’t hesitate to request it from the author, but it is at their discretion to add you to the filter or not.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

~calypso

And here we go…

( Voting! )

comments

Voting for Week #115

Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:25:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

7 is the average, 10 is OMGMUSTREADMORE. Please vote for grammar; if you think it looks okay, give it an 8. PLEASE VOTE. This is very important to the writers! If you want people to vote for you, please vote for them!!

Some of the posts are f-locked; this is okay by the mods. If you'd like to read the stories, ask the author; most are more than willing to let you in to read them. ^_^

As always, if you have questions, please feel free to ask; there are no stupid questions here!

( Voting for Week #115 )

~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 23:03:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

So sorry for the late post on this. Here's the poll.

Voting standards can be found here. 7 is average, and 10 is 'Wow, this person should be published!' Also, as a reminder, you only have to vote for the stories you've read. You can also 'add' to your vote, so if you vote for Person A on Monday, you can go back into the poll and select the link 'Fill out poll' and vote for Person B on Tuesday.

Please note that entries may be f-locked. If you would like permission to view them, please don’t hesitate to request it from the author, but it is at their discretion to add you to the filter or not.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

~calypso

And here we go…

( Voting! )

comments

Voting for Week #113

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:48:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Week #113! Woot!

7 is the average, 10 is "OMGMUSTREADMORE!". Some of the entries may be f-locked, but this is completely a-okay with the mods. If you'd like to read it, just ask the author; most of the time, they won't have a problem with it. Series are denoted (in these).

Please vote for GRAMMAR! It means a lot to the authors, trust me.

( Voting! )

~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:43:00 GMT

Voting for Week #111

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 22:36:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

7 is the average, 10 is OMGIWANNAREADMORE! Please vote for grammar: it does make a difference. Voting only takes a second!

Some of the entries are f-locked; this is completely okay with the mods. If you'd like to read the fiction, simply ask the author: most are completely okay with letting you read!

And here we go…

( Voting! )

~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:49:00 GMT

Voting for week #109

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:36:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Everyone, please vote, it means a lot to the authors, trust me. It only takes a moment; why not brighten a writer's day?

7 is the average, 10 is if you want to read more of the author's writings/eagerly awaiting the next chapter. Please vote for grammar; it means quite a bit. Remember, you don't have to vote for everything: just the fics you've read. Some of the posts may be f-locked. This has been deemed all right with the mods; if you'd really like to read the fic, simply ask the author for permission. Most are willing to grant it.

And here we go…

( Voting! )

comments

Voting!

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:47:00 GMT

Voting for week #107

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:54:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

5 is below the average, 7 is the average, and 10 is OMGILOVETHIS! PLEASE vote for grammar; this DOES matter! Some of the posts are f-locked by the authors; this is completely okay with the mods. If you'd like to read it, feel free to ask the authors to let you in. Most are completely fine with it.

Series are denoted (in these).

( Voting! )

~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 22:40:00 GMT

Voting for week #105

Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:56:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

5 is below the average, 7 is the average, 10 is ZOMGAWESOME!! PLEASE vote for grammar; if you can't see anything wrong with the entry yourself, grammar-wise, give it an 8? Some of the posts are f-locked; this is totally cool with the mods. Series are denoted (in these).

Um...know I'm probably missing something, rules wise, but brain isn't functioning right now; sorry! Let me know if there's any questions, but otherwise than that, you guys know the drill.

( Voting! )

~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 14:57:00 GMT

Voting for Week #103

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:40:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Day late on this; sorry for all who were kept waiting.

7 is the average, 10 is OMGILOVETHIS. PLEASE do Grammar; even if you feel uncomfortable with this topic, if there's little to no mistakes as far as you can see, post it at an 8 or a 9. You don't have to vote for the fics you haven't read. Some of the fics are f-locked; this is A-OK with the mods.

Series are denoted (in these).

And here we go…

( Voting! )

~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:41:00 GMT

Voting for Week 101

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:49:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

Oh god guys, I'm so sorry! I thought I'd posted this! *headdesk*

7 is the average, 10 is WOWMUSTREADMORE. Some of the posts are locked; this is cool with the mods. Please vote for grammar, too! This is important as well! Series are denoted (in these).

And here we go…

( Voting! )

~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 21:07:00 GMT

Voting for week #99

Sun, 15 Jun 2008 21:25:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

7 is the average, 10 is "I need to read more by this person STAT." PLEASE vote for grammar; if you can't see any huge mistakes, give it an 8 at least? Some of the entries are locked by the authors; this is okay with the mods. If you'd like to read the fic, ask the author for permission to be added to their f-list; most don't mind. Series are denoted (in these). And here we go… ( Voting! ) ~Nebula

comments

Voting!

Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Voting for Week #97 - Prompt Delirious

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 16:54:00 GMT

Posted by: tamingmods.livejournal.com

7 is the average, 10 is the OMGWOW. PLEASE vote for grammar! If you don't see any mistakes, then give it at least an 8 or a 9. Some of the posts may be f-locked; this is totally A-OK with the mods. Ask, and most of the writers here are more than willing to let you in on the filter to read their fics.

Series are denoted (in these).

And here we go…

( Voting! )

~Nebula

comments