November Activities 2010

[jenny b]

Our featured author for November is Hannah/h_vic!

Her author’s page can be found here.

Remember:

• You must review the featured author for it to count as your monthly activity requirement.
• Post the link to your review here - you may also post it in the November review thread for credit as a review.
• Questions in this thread are not part of the monthly requirement, but they are greatly encouraged. Also, they must have something to do with the subject of writing.

[jenny b]

Your challenge: Revolution!

Catch: It can't be about the second wizarding war.

Rules/Guidelines:

• Drabble can be between 250-800 words.
• Content should not be any higher than a 3rd-5th Years rating.
• All content that would require a warning on the MNFF Archive should be labelled appropriately.
• This thread is for responses only. If you have a question, PM me.
• Responses must be posted by November 30th.
• Please post using this format:
  

  Title:
  Word Count:

• As with all activities within the SPEW forum, this challenge is open only to SPEW members.

[jenny b]

How do you think the world of literature has changed because of technology and the internet? Has it enhanced it? Are people reading more because of the internet, or less? Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

Consider things like fanfiction (obviously), online publishing, blogging, ebooks, NaNoWriMo, and whatever else you can think of that I've forgotten.

Like usual, it's very broad; I want to see where you go with this. Everything above is just a guide.

[ToBeOrNotToBeAGryffindor]

Haha, I would so review you again, but that isn't quite possible at the moment. I seem to have read/reviewed all your stories already. Here is a review for Offerings in the Darkness that I was saving for this month.

Now, I'll ask some questions which I'm fairly certain we've discussed at some point on AIM, but maybe I can inspire some fresh ideas.

In your stories, there is a prevalent moodiness/darkness to your writing, but outside of MNFF, you are quite upbeat. How might you categorise this disparity?


Okay, you have a fascination with candles. Pour quoi?


How has your post-secondary education (uni) played a role in your writing?


You have mentioned that VV's In the Eyes of Others changed how you felt about Severus Snape, hence making him your favourite character. Who was your favourite character before that?


When writing about Severus, some... people like to portray him as an angsty, emo, sex god who doesn't know how hawt he is (airline sick bag, please). You manage to keep him canon, yet have the ability to write him in so many different situations. How did you come by such a deep understanding of his character?


You have a fixation with rarepairs that I have only lately come to realise that I share. Where did that come from? Which rarepair is your favourite (though I think I know the answer)?


You and I share a love of Katie/Oliver as a pairing. Why was this such a natural leap for us to make, instead of the indomitable Mr Wood falling for a girl his own age (OC) or one closer to his age (Alicia, perhaps)?


That's all I've got. If I think of anything else, I'll either edit this post or just harangue you on AIM. <3 you.

[CoolCatElly]

Here is my review for He Left.

Some questions for *Hannah*

You obviously like Other Pairings! Which is your favourite and why?

What would you say is your niche, your comfort zone in fanfiction?

What's the furthest you've ever stepped outside of it? Have you ever been tempted to just write something completely different.

Your Spew Spooky Swap was amazing to read. You seem to really have a way with creating a certain mood and tone. Where do you go to for more emotive scenes? Do you do anything like listen to music etc.?

In general, are you a canon or non-canon girl? What is your favourite canon pairing or moment?

If you could chose, would you like a prequel or sequel?


That's all for now dear <3

[Kerichi]

Hi Hannah, I reviewed Hard Loss. The others have asked so many good questions, all I can think of is: what book(s) are you currently reading, and if you had a rainy day and a library at your disposal, what book would you like to read (or reread)?

[Vorona]

Obviously, the internet has made a huge difference in our lives, from literature to retail. I think the biggest difference it's made is the potential for everyone to express their opinions, whether on blogs, on forums, or through e-mail, not to mention personal websites. In that way, it's a big equalizer, but on the other hand, there are still obvious giants in the land of the internet. Google, yahoo, and AT&T have managed to make themselves into managers of all this information. That said, there is still almost an infinite amount of information online, published by people all over the globe. This access to personal expression has made people into writers, at least in some capacity, who maybe would never have been writers otherwise.

And when you've written something, you want people to read it. Anyone who's spent any time on the internet knows the importance of networking. Networking requires that people who want readers become readers themselves. They read other people's works, and then those people read theirs. Comments allow other people to find others with similar ideas. So overall, I think people are reading and writing a lot more because of the internet. That said, they're not reading the same kinds of things they read before the internet became so widespread.

I think the average percentage of people who are "readers" -- that is, people who read fiction for fun -- is still the same. The difference is that more of the non-readers are reading other things like forums and how-to articles on the internet. They get their news on the internet. They find recipes on the internet. All of this requires reading, but it's not the same kind of reading that "readers" read.

For non-readers, this is a huge advantage, because reading is so important in today's world, and the internet gives them a more enjoyable method of practicing reading. It's not just stuffy old books anymore, but communication from friends over e-mail or funny blogs written by strangers. For readers, though, there is a problem. It's easy to get sucked into reading forums and e-mail and things that aren't books or fiction. Personally, I find it hard to read books on a computer because of the glare, so I still read paper books. But I spend a lot of time on the computer, time I probably would have spent reading books if I didn't have access to the internet. So, that's one disadvantage. An advantage for readers, though, is the existence of fan fiction. Fan fiction, unless you're talking about Star Trek or other fandoms that have an actual book series, is by nature unpublishable in standard format. Having sites like Mugglenet allows fan fiction to be available. This helps writers develop, also, because it can be used as a stepping stone to more official publication, particularly sites like Mugglenet that have a validation process. It's easier to send work out to be potentially (and likely) rejected, if you've already gone through an easier version of that process with fan fiction. Having more writers be able to share their fan fiction gives readers the option of reading it, too.

Finally, although the main discussion here has been about the internet so far, I think another intriguing technology is e-readers, like the Kindle, Nook, and Sony reader. These are a huge advantage to readers because it allows them to only have to carry one small, light object on vacation, yet still have access to hundreds of books. I'm hoping to get an e-reader for Christmas or, if not, then sometime after Christmas, so that I have more portable books.

My main thought through all of this, though, is that reading and literature will not die. People always worry that video games and movies will take over, but if they were going to replace books, no one would have even invented e-readers. Books and literature will continue because there's just something about telling a story and reading it, something about turning the experience into language, that moves people.

[inspirations]

Review. And forgive me for not adding any more questions, but you've probably got enough to be getting on with.

[h_vic]

That's a really interesting distinction between what "readers" and "non-readers" read online and how the internet gets the "non-readers" reading other things. I'd not thought of it like that before.

I wonder though if sometimes all the other things available online does reduce the amount of fiction that "readers" read, because I think a lot of "readers" read that other stuff too. I know I end up reading quite a lot online generally (fanfic, blogs, news etc), and to be honest, the time I spend doing that is probably time that, prior to the internet, I would have spent reading a book. That's not to say that I don't read books any more, of course I do, but I think I probably spend less time reading novels than I did say 10-15 years ago.

I do wonder too if that very equalising nature of the internet, whilst brilliant in terms of making writing and expressing their thoughts an accessible activity for everyone, does have somewhat of a damaging effect on the quality of writing and language. Obviously, whilst there is also great stuff out there, there is also, by the very nature of user-generated content, a lot of poorly structured and grammatically disastrous examples of bad writing on the internet, to which people are so often exposed that it becomes the norm for them. When our main contact with the written word was through published works, there was a basic level of quality assurance and people were constantly exposed to good examples of spelling, punctuation etc, that would have acted as good modelling and constant reminders of how it should be done. Now however, I would guess that the primary exposure that a lot of people have to the written word is via the internet and a lot of what they see may be very poorly written so that they begin to see that as normal and acceptable, and it becomes self-perpetuating.

When it comes to ebooks, I'm still on the fence. I think they have their place, but I'm not sure I can ever see them totally replacing paper and ink. They are wonderful for convenience when travelling, but I don't think I'd ever relax in quite the same way curled up on the sofa with an electronic device as with a book. There's something more to book than just the contents - I'd miss the feel of the paper and the smell for example. Also, I like to read in the bath and that would be a really bad plan with an ebook!

In the past, I've downloaded audiobooks to listen to when commuting, and I have a slightly strange relationship with audiobooks - I have to choose a book that would interest me obviously but it also has to be something that I wouldn't feel that I'd have lost something by not actually reading it. I think my relationship with ebooks would be very similar.

[lucca4]

Here is my review for He Left. I cannot think of any original questions, I'm sorry!

xx Ariana