Thanks, BG! I'm actually thinking about posting it once we get on the new boards--which, it turns out, may not be quite as soon as we thought a few days ago. I guess I just felt that you and Traknar were being a bit...dismissive. (Especially since I tried to carry on conversation with both of you about other stuff, but the only thing you two said was about the trailer thing, making me feel pretty dumb.) With the combination of it being my first attempt at a trailer, my first real foray into fanfic at all, and my first post in this thread--all of those firsts coming together have admittedly made me feel a bit, well, defensive, and not as welcome. I guess I figured this thread was more of a safe space to talk about our work? I don't know.
Aw, everyone's always welcome, but a lot of times on the internet people use "shorthand" - or "hit and run posting." Then, too, it's not always clear who's been around the boards a while and who's not, and some (of us) posters can be rather abrupt when posting with others we've known for a while - it's just the nature of the internet.
Sorry, Rew, I have the attention span of an ADD gnat sometimes. I also apparently have rheumatoid arthritis in my hands and sometimes I just don't type out long responses. Since I'm in the middle of writing a book, my hands get tired real fast.
Rew-- I've learned from my time on the boards that it is really hard to get the intent out of words on the screen. When we're having conversations with people in person, you can see their facial expressions and hear in their voice things like sarcasm. But we don't get that online, so it is easy to misunderstand or get hurt feelings... especially when we're talking about our fanfic babies. I know I have, and I know everyone else here has... so welcome to the club! I hope that this situation has been cleared up and that you feel brave enough to let your fanfic and trailers see the sunlight. That first ficlet is always the hardest to share. I still remember my first ficlet, with the terrible formatting and the itty bitty updates and all my butterflies, and my "master," Bale... Where's a blushing smiley when we need it? I hope you'll still take that same big step that we all did, since once you get the fanfic bug, it won't let you go. Don't make me nag. Because I'm really good at that.
Yes, posting that first fanfic can be very scary... I know it took a lot of coaxing from my Master before I posted. As others have said, the internet makes understanding people hard, but also just the nature of such a thread as a social thread. The thing about posting in a social thread is that there is sometimes a lot going on and being said; sometimes one thing you say gets picked up and people will make a comment and sometimes nothing at all, it's the chaotic nature of a bunch of people talking about a bunch of random things. Being new in a place that seems like everyone knows everyone else (which, though it may seem that way, it's really not the case) can be really hard, but just keep coming in and talking and in no time you'll feel like you've been here forever! On a random note, had an interesting day at work yesterday. We had a disaster drill where we had to evacuate ICU patients (of the fake, volunteer variety) vertically down the stairs to a safe point. I had pack up any equipment my patients would need from me and decide which patients got a travel vent and which ones had to be manually ventilated. We then loaded the patient onto a sled and then had to go down the stairs with them. Because there was only one respiratory therapist and three 'ventilated patients' I sent the first two down and went with the last one. Because, at this point it was getting late (the drill started later than planned) my team only went down one floor of stairs and then got to take the elevator down; the other teams had to go down 13 floors. I'm probably the only crazy person that thought the whole thing was fun and I was actually disappointed we didn't get to do all the way down!
V_S: Thanks. Yeah, I guess it's sometimes hard for me to understand "hit-and-run" posting because I'm either way too thorough and a post an entire monologue--or I don't have anything to contribute at all. I always feel like if I'm going to reply in a thread, I have to reply to everybody (this post is an example of that actually, heh). Dana: It's alright. I wasn't really look for a long response, per se either. Sorry if I gave that impression. Sorry to hear about your hands too--I didn't know you had that. What happened, if you don't mind my asking? Luna: In all honesty (and in retrospect), it wasn't so much I was worried about my fic or even the trailer thing. I think it was just this thread, the community feel. I'm fairly confident in the fic itself, I've put a lot into it, and as I mentioned before, I'm also mostly satisfied with the trailer. I guess it was just the reception here after my first two posts was frostier than I expected. I thought that I'd fit in here hand-in-glove. Back when these temp boards first went up, I started posting in the Move-a-palooza thread, and immediately fit in. People replied, made me feel welcome, I joined in with conversations and vice versa (@mavjade might remember, since she was one of the ones who made me feel so welcome there). It was great. I assumed the same thing would happen here, and it didn't--well, not at first. But I feel that's been mostly amended by now! Thanks, guys. Mav: Yeah, I sometimes struggle with social threads for that reason--I have this issue (maybe even a disorder? I'm not sure) where I feel ignored and slighted very easily. And it's especially bad in brand new environments where I don't already know the community. I sort of dove in here without thinking about that. It's funny, really--the fic I'm writing will actually be hosted off-site. There's no viable forum there, so I figured I'd just chat about my experience with it here. (After it's done, I do have a SW fanfic series in the works that I will post on the new boards, which by that point should have long since come into being.) Wild story about the drill. Going down those stairs does sound like fun--especially if you're on a stretcher! Now what did your "patient" think about this? (Also, I have to ask: Are you "Gabri Jade" from the old boards? If not, has she registered at these temp boards? I recently realized I haven't seen her username around in quite a while.)
Don't get me wrong, I wasn't dismissing your trailer, as even trailers take lots of work to create. I've seen book commercials that have some very nice cinematography, but I wonder why one goes through all the trouble to make part of a movie for a book. It doesn't make sense to me. With books, (and graphic audio), the movie is in your mind. You create the characters' looks, the settings, the sound and special effects (well, not so much for graphic audio, but you still create all the visuals). When there is a trailer, it feels as if it does the visual work for you. Suddenly, how you originally pictured that character to look doesn't match up. That and... I simply don't get it. I mean, I appreciate a good trailer as they're neat to watch and they take lots of time to put together. I just never understood why one does this for a book.
I have had those drills and wearing my BA and fatigues had me after the drill without a dry piece of clothes on my body. And yes I once was a volunteer patient strapped on a stretcher and getting carried by my mates through a maze. Rew; waiting to see your story and welcome here
A local Boy Scout troop was doing disaster drills and my dad covered it for the papers. I volunteered both to help haul "victims" to a safe location and to be a "victim." It was fun. I wanna do more stuff like that.
Thanks. It looks like I have Lupus, and RA is one of the symptoms. I've had problems with the left hand for about a year, and the right hand's just barely started in on the fun. I have a fraction of the strength I used to in my left hand, so it's fortunate that I'm right handed and that one has, so far, been mostly unaffected. I have to take frequent breaks when typing, largely because my fingers start twitching and throbbing and I have to rest them. I tend to, these days, type out the bare minimum of a response unless I need a longer post, like this one. It sucks. I've done makeup work for several mock disasters. That's where the real fun is!
Eep, lupus... Have you tried hand exercises? Or a different typing method? I type with only two fingers, one on each hand. It may take some getting used to, to hover over the keyboard and peck at the keys in rapid succession, but it may help ease some of the pain.
Exercises haven't helped. My hand twitches, spasms, goes numb, I get stabbing pains from my wrist through my fingers. It's similar to carpal tunnel, but I did nerve testing back in August that determined it isn't carpal tunnel. And while typing does aggravate it, it's not so much the typing as it is the using my hand. It's taken my typing speed from 85wpm to 65wpm. LOL
Trak: That makes more sense, thanks for explaining. Yeah, as I was writing the trailer, the stray thought occurred to me that this was a genre difference (since a book-life fic won't use things like music or camera angles). In point of fact, I never would've really thought to try it if I hadn't been inspired by our very own YodaKenobi, who's put together some trailers for his fics in the past that have completely blown me (and numerous others) away. They're definitely not for everybody, but it was fun and challenging in its own way. It stretched me as a writer. Also, it depends on your genre. I find trailers tend to work better for more action-oriented things (I'm guessing it'd be harder for stuff like romantic fics, though still possible). EB: Thanks! Yeah, it's going to be hosted off-site at thepottergames.com (it's a HP choose-your-adventure fic, with crossover elements from The Hunger Games, etc.). We're just deciding on when right now. There's not much of a forum over there, thus I've started talking about it here. After it's done, though, I do have a SW fic series in mind for these boards. Dana: Oy, that sucks! I suck as a talker (i.e. on the phone, etc.), so typing is pretty much how I communicate. I couldn't imagine having hand issues affecting that. Perhaps try the two-finger method TrakNar suggested? Although I think I may not be too far behind. My hands are fine with typing, but for some reason after using scissors, my thumb and index finger start shaking for about an hour afterword. Hopefully not a portent of the future! Yobi: Really? You use fic trailers? I'd have never suspected! But yeah, I can't count how many times I went through the Deathly Hallows Part 2 trailer on YouTube in order to get mine just right.
Ever seen the Literal Deathly Hallows trailer parody, Rew? It's hilarious! I would love to make a teaser trailer for the story I'm writing currently. I just don't know how, because I would use art from the books and movies to do it, but it's an OC centric story and my drawing skills are none-existant. Can anyone give me some tips?
