You could have just PM'd me to let me know that you have a question with anything in my section. I really don't check every section these days, so I never would have noticed this thread unless Bay never recently posted in it just at the time I decided to check the forums.
My saying that your fic is "too short" is simply a quicker way for me to say that there needs to be more everything in your fic. I didn't say that you need more narration/description/proper grammar/what have you since you've had reviewers already do that for you.
No, length is not the issue. But I figured that since I hang with a crowd who knows that length does not equal quality, that there are short fics that are good, I guess I just simply forgot in my rush that not everyone is as experienced as the people I typically deal with.
But then again, your fic could be considered on the short side, since there was a lot of things you could have added to meet the standards of the section. Like proper grammar for starters. And even if you had just properly spaced your paragraphs instead of sticking multiple paragraphs into one, then your fic wouldn't have been closed for lack of quality
and lack of length.
I don't close short fics just because they're short. Length rules are simply stupid, since they limit creativity. There are proper story formats where the writer only has 100 words to tell a story. That's a particular format that your chapter and prologue does not fit into, however. There was a lot more that could have been said in each one to set the scene and entice the reader to continue on. I read over carefully each fic/post in the thread before I decide on any action for the thread to uphold the rules that I wrote. If your fic did meet the quality standards, then it wouldn't have been closed even if it was only 138 words.
And those short stories in that format that I mentioned (they're known as drabbles) do take time to write. I know authors who write drabbles that take them weeks to get the appropriate 100 words. And it shows. But reading over your thread, I didn't see a lot of effort put into it (that, I stress,
I could see), and it looked like you quickly wrote your chapter and prologue into the post box and considered it done. I mean, you didn't really even have much of an idea which point of view you wanted to write in, and used an author's note in the middle of the narration (which you should Never Do) to explain the random point of view switch. (And it was kind of a "meh" explanation.) And your prologue and chapter could have been combined, because your prologue doesn't fit the definition of what a prologue is. (It is typically a scene that takes place before the main storyline to set up the plot and entice the reader.) Yours takes place at the exact same time at the exact same place with the exact same characters doing the exact same thing that they do in the chapter. The prologue doesn't add much to the story and isn't necessary, something that could have been picked up if you took the time to read over your story before you posted it.
There's just a lot missing in your story that I simply did not have the time to go over. When I do review, I try to be a thorough as I can. Moderating threads happens more often than the chances I have to sit down and actually review, so I tend to be quick when I do close a thread.
The next time that you do have a question, I would appreciate it if you actually asked me in a one-on-one PM. Not only so that you can get the answer quickly from the person that you do need the answer from and so that I can actually see the question, but also because I do not appreciate bad-mouthing of my actions behind my back. At least confront me about it, and I'd be willing to help you. Otherwise, as I said, you never would have gotten an answer if someone that I know hadn't posted just as I signed on. And that's not something that happens often.
Too long; didn't read:
It'd probably take me five minutes to write that much, that's why it was closed.
This.
And that took all my time for the forums for now. Yay.
