scrape_r_rational/data/cache/5get0u.md

[META] Proposal: Weekly writing skills thread

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:

  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:

  Seems like a cool idea to me.
  

• u/MonstrousBird:

  If there was one I would certainly participate
  

• u/AmeteurOpinions:

  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:

  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:

  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:

    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:

      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:

    > 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](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RationalFic), 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/xamueljones:

  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:

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

    • u/xamueljones:

      It should be the mods who decide on something like this.
      
      Paging /u/eaturbrainz, /u/PeridexisErrant, and /u/alexanderwales!
      

      • u/None:

        I'm in support.
        

    • u/callmebrotherg:

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

• u/appropriate-username:

  Why not co-opt the worldbuilding thread for this?
  

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