scrape_r_rational/data/cache2/5get0u.md

[META] Proposal: Weekly writing skills thread

• Author: u/DataPacRat Amateur Immortalist*

• URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/5get0u/meta_proposal_weekly_writing_skills_thread/

• Score: 21

• Created: 2016-12-04T09:59:11

Post:

So far, we have Monday General Rationality Threads, Wednesday Worldbuilding Threads, Friday Off-Topic Threads, and Saturday Munchkinry Threads. I'd like to propose a new weekly thread, dedicated to rational(ist) writers trying to improve all their authorial skills other than worldbuilding.

As a specific example, I was wondering whether it would be worth starting a new thread for coming up with a better title for my in-progress novel, or if one of the existing weekly threads covered it. Ditto for designing a cover for it. Ditto for asking for any advice on what English-lit skills I might be able to use to better express the themes of the book. Ditto for a conversation on marketing ebooks, free vs paid, how to maintain enthusiasm for the several months a non-NaNoWriMo novel takes, how to attract beta readers, and pretty much any other skill that might be covered in one of the subreddits linked to from here, as specifically applicable to /r/rational stories.

So: Does this sound like the sort of regular thread that would benefit /r/rational's membership?

Comments:

u/gods_fear_me [+9] The Culture (an hour later)

Sounds good. You need to post it yourself for a couple of months and depending on the reception and participation, mods may make it official.

Source: I started the Saturday Munchkinry Thread this way.

u/mack2028 [+5] (16 minutes later)

Seems like a cool idea to me.

u/MonstrousBird [+5] (2 hours later)

If there was one I would certainly participate

u/AmeteurOpinions [+4] Finally, everyone was working together. (6 hours later)

You're going to need some mechanism to handle people continuously arguing about some styles being better than others, but besides that I see no problem with this.

u/MagicWeasel [+3] Cheela Astronaut (19 hours later)

I would love this, I am full of questions like the ones you mentioned and it's only going to get worse as I start writing in earnest in January. I would love somewhere to put them and I think an extra thread would be excellent and really encourage people to post.

I know I posted similar sort of questions on a I think friday offtopic thread recently, because that seemed like the best place to put it at the time.

I also think they're questions I might be able to contribute answers to (my own perceived lack of expertise notwithstanding), whereas munchkinry and worldbuilding are not ones I feel I can contribute answers to as much as my brain doesn't work that way.

So I feel when I post questions and get answers on say a Worldbuilding thread, I've got nowhere I can really help in return!

u/eaglejarl [+3] (a day later)

What about this would be relevant to rational fiction in particular? There are a ton of good resources for general writing, but I'm unclear why you want to do it here.

I'm also unclear that there's a need -- general writing advice can be had many places, and specific things like choosing a better title could be handled either in a "weekly off topic" thread, or in the discussion of one of your chapters, or in the "not rational fiction" thread that you're allowed to post after releasing a chapter.

I don't really mind if it happens, but it seems unrelated to the topic of the sub. What am I missing?

u/MagicWeasel [+4] Cheela Astronaut (a day later)

In a rational fiction subreddit, I see Worldbuilding and Writing Skills as kind of complementary: the worldbuilding is the "rational" part, and the writing is the "fiction" part. Plus, I recently put an excerpt of one of my stories on a Friday thread and got a great comment giving me feedback about how the way the character was acting didn't seem rational/realistic (and I've fixed it).

Probably I'd get the same sort of advice from a writing skills subreddit, but I feel like I'm part of the community here (even if I'm not a prolific poster), so I would feel comfortable approaching this subreddit for advice because although I'm not a top contributor, I do contribute, whereas posting into a writing tips subreddit would make me feel like I was taking advantage of peoples' time and efforts and not planning on giving anything in return.

u/eaglejarl [+2] (a day later)

Okay, fair points; I withdraw my objection. I think you're right that a more familiar community could encourage people to post and thereby improve.

u/DataPacRat [+2] Amateur Immortalist (a day later)

general writing advice

Every genre has its own specific tricks and needs; a budding science-fiction authour sometimes needs advice on how to make an alien's speech sound more alien in a particular way, or how to figure out which sorts of background details enhance the theme they're trying to build. A horror writer might ask for tips on how to build tension when the glowing eyes are staring through the mist.

As for rational and rationalist fiction - well, just take a look at the trope list, and consider how many ways there might be to actually implement any of them that any given authour might not know, or the possibilities that might allow a rational story to be turned into a rational/ist/ one.

Maybe I'm overestimating how many other people would find value in such a thread; but I think it's worth at least trying, and finding out.

u/eaglejarl [+1] (a day later)

Okay, those are good points; I'm convinced. Thanks for the clear answer.

u/PeridexisErrant [+1] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (23 hours later)

Paging uh, everyone - u/DataPacRat u/eaturbrainz u/gods_fear_me u/xamueljones u/callmebrotherg

As regards starting a regular thread, our practice so far is that the proposer runs it manually each week. If it's consistently popular for two months or so, we make it official.

We can address the question of merging or suspending older threads when it becomes an issue; my sense is that right now would be premature.

u/DataPacRat [+1] Amateur Immortalist (a day later)

As I understand the recommended procedure: I should try posting a Weekly Writing Skills thread myself (or find someone willing to do it), for at least two months, after which the mods may decide to automate it, merge it with another Weekly thread, or make other changes. I'm willing to give this a shot.

1. Which day of the week? I'll propose Sunday, as being opposite Wednesday World-building, it'll spread the writing-advice threads as widely as possible.
2. I'm willing to do the posting; but as a FYI, I have non-24-hour sleep/wake phase disorder (as has since been popularized in HPMOR, though I lack a time-turner), so if anyone else is willing to volunteer, I would take that as a kindness.
3. I can throw together some flufftext to describe the thread when it's posted. Anyone want to suggest anything in particular that should be included?

If nobody replies to this - then I'll just do the thing myself, next Sunday, and see what happens. :)

u/Lc-Sao-Alt [+2] (a day later)

If you wish to open up for other people to post the thread, begin by setting up a precise schedule. A weekday, and a specific hour, in UTC. Then, anyone can post the thread if-and-only-if they find it has not been posted at this particular time.

u/PeridexisErrant [+1] put aside fear for courage, and death for life (a day later)

Yep, that's it!

u/xamueljones [+1] My arch-enemy is entropy (a day later)

Sure, I can handle the posting if you don't mind writing the text for me. I don't usually like trying to write announcements.

For timing, would Sunday at 10 am work?

u/DataPacRat [+1] Amateur Immortalist (a day later)

writing the text

I don't mind at all. I'll go over some existing regular threads, here and elsewhere, and should have a first draft by, say, Wednesday.

For timing, would Sunday at 10 am work?

Which time zone? Eastern, Pacific, Greenwich?

Come to think of it, whatever your answer is, then yes, it should work. :)

And I thank you in advance for doing this. :)

u/xamueljones [+1] My arch-enemy is entropy (a day later)

I'm Pacific and no problem!

u/DataPacRat [+2] Amateur Immortalist (4 days later)

I'm sorry that I missed my promised Wednesday deadline, but here's a slightly-late first draft for consideration:

[D] Sunday Writing Skills Thread

Welcome to the Sunday thread for discussions on writing skills!

Every genre has its own specific tricks and needs, and rational and rationalist stories are no exception. Do you want to discuss with your community of fellow /r/ratfic fans...

• Advice on how to more effectively apply any of the tropes?
• How to turn a rational story into a rationalist one?
• Get feedback about a story's characters, themes, plot progression, prosidy, and other English-lit topics?
• Considering issues outside the story's plain text, such as titles, cover design, included imagery, or typography?
• Or generally gab about the problems of being a writer, such as maintaining focus, attracting and managing beta-readers, marketing, making it free or paid, and long-term community-building?

Then comment below!

Setting design should probably go in the Wednesday Worldbuilding thread.

u/xamueljones [+1] My arch-enemy is entropy (4 days later)

I don't see any issues with the announcement except the part where you typed /r/ratfic since no such subreddit actually exists. I'll just replace it with /r/rational.

I plan on posting as a comment questions about the best way to explain the scientific method in a story for the very first thread.

Thanks for writing up the announcement for me!

u/xamueljones [+4] My arch-enemy is entropy (7 hours later)

World building's pretty broad and we do get some comments on the Wednesday threads, but there aren't that many top level comments. For example, there was only 6 top level comments in the most recent thread.

Why not fold the world building and your suggestion into one thread, Wednesday Writing Thread: where anyone can ask any question relating to writing in general or their story specifically?

u/DataPacRat [+3] Amateur Immortalist (9 hours later)

This seems to be a better starting approach than my initial suggestion. Is there someone I should directly message with the proposal?

u/xamueljones [+3] My arch-enemy is entropy (9 hours later)

It should be the mods who decide on something like this.

Paging /u/eaturbrainz, /u/PeridexisErrant, and /u/alexanderwales!

u/None [+3] (14 hours later)

I'm in support.

u/callmebrotherg [+2] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae (11 hours later)

Personally I'm leery of dilution. Folding Weekly Writing Tips into Weekly Worldbuilding is easier than separating them after the fact.

u/None [+2] (5 hours later)

[removed]

u/callmebrotherg [+1] now posting as /u/callmesalticidae (11 hours later)

Why not co-opt /r/rational for general rationality discussion instead of keeping it sequestered to a single thread each week? Why not co-opt WW for the munchkin stuff?

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