Yeah, if we could stop arguing in circles, it'd go even better, but you know how it is.
I don't know. When I posted about this in the FFL way back when, I thought a lot of the problems had pretty straightforward solutions.
First off, we had to get the FFLers to stop sitting on their thumbs and start reviewing.
That turned into an argument about what quality meant and how to get people active when, really, there's nothing we can do except, you know, review as often as possible. No excuses except "real life sucks." Just actual attempts at reaching out to people instead of talking about Sentrets with flamethrowers all the time. (/hypocrisy)
Admittedly, it's getting harder and harder to actually sit down and write the reviewing guide. (One that's meant to be for the vets, if only just to sit down and say, "Yes, you
can actually write a review that's only a paragraph long so long as you don't be an idiot about it.") I'd entrust the job to someone else so long as we're clear on what the definition of reviewing actually
is. This is somehow another problem that we've been going back and forth about (because most FFLers apparently thought good review = rip the thing apart). However, this is something I tried to say in the first part of the last guide, so I don't know. Maybe I should just stop complaining and actually finish it, but thoughts on this bit?
Second, we had to up the quality of fanfic in the main forum, which would have been solvable once the first problem was resolved. As was pointed out many times before, no one reads the stickies. Breezy even said it best: that the rules will be enforced by the regular members if the regular members actually went out and did something. So, yeah, the rules are fine as-is. It's good that the guides have been booted out, though, because there
are a few kids out there who use them for advice and inadvertently end up with misinformation. (I stand by my opinion that the link list will definitely serve as enough in terms of guides. It'll at least be there if people want it.)
Third, the FFL. We can't decide what to do about it. The entire problem, though, is the fact that it's too closed-off, and this is solvable just by asking the newbies whether or not a new FFL (read: something that talks about fanfics and connects writers with one another without drowning discussion in disjointed bold topics and inside jokes up the wazoo) would attract them or what they'd like to see in a general catch-all topic for writers. The question doesn't even have to be solicitation-like. It can just start off as a simple conversation that gradually eases into the question about the FFL. Like, "Hi. I've seen you around the FF&W. You seem like a cool person I want to get to know."
Really, the key issue here is
communication. Ironic, but yes, that's all. The FFLers have to reach out to the newbies, one way or another. That's why Project Max Revive got started, and that's why I really do encourage you kids to go out and VM kids. You're not there to solicit information, and you're not here to argue about the little things that won't solve the key problems around here. You're just doing it because there's a ton of new authors out there who are either scared to post or who could use help, and the only way to get them to come out of their shells or feel comfortable with
asking for help is by reaching out to them and talking to them to figure out
how to make the FF&W an
actual community again.
Or, in shorter terms, what really makes me feel like this is one massive wallbanger in my book is the fact that somehow, the point of the project got lost in translation. Kids, when you go to the other thread or whenever you suggest something, please keep in mind that the entire shebang is meant to bridge the gap between us (the vets) and them (the newbies). There's some very simple answers that we're missing because we keep going back and forth about the little things instead of asking the right people what's up.
Or maybe you kids knew that, and I'm being redundant. I don't know. I'm just voicing why I'm feeling frustrated over all the back-and-forth shenanigans. *shrug*