So, I was sort of wondering... is there a particular website anyone would recommend for posting unfinished or in-progress fanfiction pieces? I mean, if it's really unpolished, very subject to change and just not ready to be posted on a website that makes it difficult to edit posts, is there a decent place where such a story could be posted and easily edited or revised and receive casual feedback and suggestions?

It's hard sometimes especially to judge your own writing well, and nice to get help from others in seeing your errors and weaknesses, but I typically find that once I've posted it online, I feel sort of like that's it. No more. Done. It's dead. I never want to look at it again.

I would really like it if I could find a place that didn't seem so official and was made specifically for unpolished work because then maybe I could take in constructive criticism a little more easily and gradually mold my stories with a little less pressure than usual, without feeling that posting means something final.

I don't know if this is making any sense to anybody, but if so, I'm just curious if there are any suggestions. :ph43r:

Well, I'm afraid I can't be of too much help because I'm so sorely out of the fanfic loop (JM and ff.net are the only places to post writing that I go to, and the other fanfic place I visit is definitely NOT what you are going for here).

That said, I'd say check livejournal or some similar site and see if you can find a community for that kind of writing. There are communities for everything there - and if there isn't one, why not start one yourself?

Also, I am sure we would all be happy to read your in-progress works if you were to post them here. :3

Livejournal, eh? Yea, they do have pretty much everything...

I definitely wouldn't have the oomph to start my own thing. I'm just way too lazy. :rolleyes:

And this site did sort of occur to me as a possibility, but I really wasn't sure how in particular Cassandra would feel about that. I wouldn't want to deter from the initial focus of the community. Hum. That might be interesting, though, for peoples to just post ideas and in-progress works at liberty in this forum. It's a pretty good setup for quick editing, too.

We shall see. ^_^

Actually, I've been thinking about adding more to this site than just the drabble contest. I'd been thinking along the lines of a fic exchange, but you're all more than welcome to post ideas, in-progress works, pieces you'd like feedback on or help with, etc.

Haha, you do talk a lot about fic exchanges, so maybe add that aspect of the site now that the drabble stuff seems to have taken off a bit more? It might be fun. :3

Well, yes... I've babbled about them a lot to you... It seems I'm quite addicted to them in another fandom. But I'm not sure how others in this fandom would feel about the idea. If people are interested, we can certainly discuss adding one here.

What exactly is a fic exchange?

The ones I participate in are fairly straightforward.

A few days before the beginning of the month, a post is made taking requests for fics (typically this is a list of three or four characters or pairings, acceptable fic ratings, and preferred genres). Anyone can make a request, provided that they are also willing to fulfill whichever request they are given.

After the deadline, the moderator takes all the requests, mixes them up, assigns them to a different person that made a request, and sends out private messages to each participant detailing which fic they will be writing. Then, generally, the participants have until the end of the month to write a story of 1,000 words or more (that meets the specifications of the request) for the person whose request they are fulfilling. In theory, each person writes a fic and each person receives a fic, thus "fic exchange".

So for example if we have person A, B, and C who made story requests... person A could write a fic for B, who writes for C, who in turn writes for A.

A big part of the fun (for me, anyway) is not knowing who is going to write your story or exactly what it's going to turn out like. The main drawback is that sometimes life or writer's block intervenes and you don't get your fic at all.

I'm still waiting on a fic (though by now I honestly doubt I'll ever get it) that someone was supposed to write for me for October 2007... :lol:

Fic Exchange sounds fun! I'm game to try if anyone else is! Should be a good way to get some writing out of me! :)

Unfortunately, I'll have to sit a fic exchange out. I don't seem to be able to write anything with any amount of quality that's over 500 words. That's when my brain starts to work. XD

See, I'd put you in charge of mixing up the requests, Aural Vampire. That way I could participate in the actual writing. :ph43r:

If you want, I'll gladly do that. Then I can contribute in some way, even if it's not in actually writing anything. XD That might actually work out better than anything.

Sounds pretty cool to me! B) Though it'll definitely be hard...