Lois & Clark Forums Forums Fan Fiction Fanfic Related Kerth Nominating Questions

They think appears to be the operative words here. How about, instead of thinking that they know what readers want - just post and see?

If you never post, well it's just a self-fulfilling prophecy, isn't it?

Go on - they might just surprise you.

LabRat

Hazel

LOL LabRat:
Yes, we don't want to give the muses ideas!!!
Oh, M.L., I can't believe you have stories you haven't posted!! For shame, for shame. You have such great stories. And Chris, I definitely liked your A-plot in Extraordinary Man II.
I like A-plot and I like B-plot in about any mixture. I like Yvonne's idea of a Venn Diagram of Drama and Relationship where there is an overlaping area. I'm probably happiest reading in that area. I love Nan's A driven stories too.
I'm more inclined to write stories I'd like to read and not worry about categories.
Remember, feedback though appreciated, isn't really a good measure of how much readers enjoy your stories because a lot of readers don't give feedback.

Artemis

LOL, Yvonne!

I wanted to say that it doesn't much matter what we think as individuals - it comes down to what KComm put in the category descriptions.

But of course, KComm doesn't have any control over what people nominate where... so some people, such as Carol, will nominate stories according to the category descriptions; other people, such as you and Lynn, will nominate according to their interpretations of the category names; and the really obsti^H^H^H^H^H^H diffic^H^H^H^H^H^H^H opinio^H^H^H^H^H^H^H dogmatic people like me will nominate the stories where they think they should go even if neither the category names or descriptions really match up... like good revelation scenes rather than good fics which happen to have revelations in them, in the Revelation categories.

Ah well - it'll all come out in the wash in the end, and with a bit of luck all the best stories will win something!

Mere

Okay, I've given this some thought and I've come to the following conclusions:

First, I'll generally write stories because I want to write them, rather than because I think they will fit neatly into a particular fanfic niche. (I certainly didn't have a niche in mind when I wrote A Match Made In Chicago; in fact, I was waiting for the tomatoes to come flying in my direction, given the subject matter! ) In other words, I let inspiration dictate what I write.

Second, I do think how much enthusiasm I can muster for a WIP is influenced by my (possibly wrong) perceptions of what will be popular with readers. For short stories, this is probably less of a concern in so far as there is relatively little time and effort involved in putting them down on paper.

Longer stories, though, require a lot of planning and effort. (Not that I've written that many... but this might explain why.) If I doubt there is a readership out there, I might be tempted not to embark on / complete such a major project. Alternatively, I might stall part way through.

My perceptions of what is popular, however, is only one factor in determining what or how I write, and I don't think that it is the major one. A story has to 'grab' me enough for me to be bothered to finish it. It depends on my mood and what RL is up to, too. Plus, I have a dreadful habit of flitting from one idea to another. I wish that I could focus more on just one project and wrestle it into submission before starting on the next... but it doesn't work that way!

Changing tack slightly:

Thank you to Paul and Artemis for words of support!

Paul: I hear what you are saying about 'no such thing as a runner up', and, giving all the reading that I've been doing over the last few weeks, I do appreciate that Kerth competition is very stiff. The fact remains, I've never yet mananged to win a Kerth, and that year on year 'failure' does sap at my morale! I try not to let it, but it happens. I wonder how many other people in a similar position feel the same way. (Sorry for the whinge, guys.)

Artemis: thank you for saying that you liked EMII's A Plot. I needed to hear that. Believe me, I did.

Chris

I feel guilty for not giving more feedback!! Truth be told, if I've dl from the Archive I'm unlikely to give feedback. If I'm reading in parts from the MBs, I'll probably chime in a FDK thread with "Way to go!" It depends on how RL is doing. I reread EMI, BTW to get me ready to read EMII.
Anyway, be sure to keep writing. You have a solid talent.
r/
Artemis

Chris, there is definitely a difference between winning and not winning, I'll grant you that. I've won once. Which, I have to say, is one more than I ever expected I'd win. Being nominated for the first time was a huge thrill, but winning, even for a "minor" category like Super Short, was amazing. I'd actually had a speech prepared in my head, just in case it did happen, but was so taken aback that it was literally days before I remembered what I'd planned to say.

I can understand your disapointment, too. I had expected to pick up an Alt-Kerth (are we ever going to have those again, BTW?), and even though I had a lot of fun participating, I have to admit I was, well, disappointed that, despite several nominations, I didn't win a single category.

I also remember being disappointed when the first Kerths came along and all my stories were eligible and I didn't pick up a single nomination.

The next year was even more frustrating because of a single story, arguably my best story to date. It was a Spider-man crossover, and it had taken me months to write. It was my first real B-plot, it had something like a real A-plot, and to this day, it remains the only story I've written myself to ever break 100k. At the time I wrote it, the archive was offering a BR referral service. I took them up on it, but my BR got involved with RL issues and took a year to get back to me. By then, another story had been submitted with the title I'd been intending to use. So I came up with a new title and sent the story in, only to discover that the system of GEs had been established. The story was reviewed again (this time by my first GE, some woman from the UK by the name of Wendy...) and then uploaded (in that batch that took the archive's total over 1000). I was, by then, pretty proud of it, and I'd put a lot of effort into it. For the second Kerths, though, the category of "Best Fanboy" story (where I'd thought it would have the best chance) was abolished. My story wasn't nominated at all, but, to my surprise, another Spider-man crossover did get the nod... the one that had taken my title!

So, anyway.. what was my point? Oh, right. I've been through frustration and disappointment and I can sympathize. I've won once, and I realize what that can mean. I still hold, however, that just being nominated is a big deal, all the more so when it happens regularly.

So, let's take a look at your situation. You have 21 stories on the archive. 5 of those are eligible this year. Of the remaining 16, 11 have been nominated. With your nomination for Best New Author, that makes 12. That is absolutely amazing. Do you realize how many authors can claim anything like that (by total or percentage)? No more than a handful, I assure you. Do you have any idea how many have never even been nominated?

Okay, yeah. Winning would be very cool. It's always something to hope for. Hoping a dozen times only to see it not happen can be frustrating and disappointing, sure. You've still got one of the best track records around, one that I'm sure plenty of good writers would envy. It's all in how you look at it, Chris.

Anyway, that's enough rambling out of me for now. What I'm trying to say is that I think you're a darned good writer, and obviously there are plenty of FoLCs who would agree. So, keep writing, and don't let that very fierce and very slim margin between nomination and winning get you down.

Paul

Thank you, Paul. Now I feel very, um, but oddly better, too.

Chris

At one time I held the 'Susan Lucci' title of L&C fandom of the most nominations without a win. I quite possibly still do. (Not the most nominations, mind you, but just the most without a win). Now this is a title I'm perversely proud of... BUT Chris has been right on my tail for some time, so...

I think it's time to give that gal a Kerth. After all, she is an excellant writer and has written many Kerth worthy efforts. So lets get in there and vote for Chris.

Tank (who thinks he maybe should have waited until the nominations to start his cheerleading for Ms. Carr)

Catching up here and also frantically trying to get my nominations together. But, having read through all the replies and also checked the quizzes, it looks like I'm probably the only person who takes the Kerth category descriptors literally!
So have concluded I too can ignore them except for the length requirements. That should makes nominating easier.
Second Tank's cheer for Chris and adding one for him too.

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