I want to test the Fan Fic I'm writing. I just don't know how to go about it.

Do I post it on the forum? Or would I post a 'raw' copy on the site and see what people think?

Edit:By raw, I mean lacking in detail. Basic story structure, with little description.

It has been a while since I worked on it and I'm at 71 word doc pages, but I need a bit of a boost. So I thought, why not give it a test go before I edit it and continue. If it does at least OKAY and has a person or two become interested, then I'll feel more confident with continuing and developing.

Edit: And when I say "before I edit it", I'm not talking about grammar. I'm talking about adding or taking away bits of the story itself to either improve or take away a something that might not need to be there.

I'm not asking to be scolded on poor grammar. I was merely asking if I should or shouldn't post something. And rather, to the forum or to the site. Now I know my answer, and choose to do neither and this issue is considered RESOLVED to me.

Thank you.

What do you mean by raw?

And well... I would say... give it a go! Why not? Or... you could come to chat, since there are a few of us there... and try little pieces. I would read

By Raw, I just mean unedited, and not guaranteed to be the FINAL version of the clip or chapter.

Lol It's nice to know one would read already.

Here at Dokuga, we don't encourage "test fics" being posted. We assume that people posting have at least a reasonable expectation of working on the story... and that what is posted will conform to our rules for appearance - grammar, spelling, punctuation, and all the other things that make stories readable - to the best of the writer's ability.

In addition, there are the rules governing 'review demands.' When one posts something like a "test fic," and bills it as such, one is essentially demanding that readers leave their impressions if they want to see the story continue. That isn't allowed on our site. We expect our authors to either continue a story or not based on how THEY, the author, feel about the story, without the expectation that readers will review.

Our site was founded by a woman who felt that the trend on other sites, that of authors posting little 'trial balloons' like this, was not fair to the readers. When people come to Dokuga, we believe it is for the enjoyment of reading stories about their favorite pairing and would hope that our authors post with the intention of catering to those readers.

I, personally, don't feel that posting something unedited or "raw" would be a good idea, since it would, most likely, run afoul of our rules in some regard. I also don't feel it would be fair to the readers to post something like this where the readers would know that continuation was predicated on their input. As I said, *I* believe it would be a violation of our rule against review demands, frankly.

Please take some time to thoroughly read our rules and the author's tutorials under the "Fanfiction Help" section of the forum. If, after making sure you understand where the site is coming from, you feel you can work within that framework, then feel free to post. Just, please, do not tell your readers that it's "only a test," or that you won't continue if you don't get the feedback you think you need.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact any of the Administrators.

~~Wiccan~~

All right. I'll refrain from breaking your rules. Sorry for the inconvenience, and I'll just keep it to myself to save from a problem.

sapphira_DoG wrote:
All right. I'll refrain from breaking your rules. Sorry for the inconvenience, and I'll just keep it to myself to save from a problem.

I don't think that's what I said, or intended, I was just concerned that you would be posting something that would potentially breach the rules, leading to warning notices from the Admins. Again, I believe I strongly encouraged you to read our rules to see if what you intended truly would have been a breach, and gave you a couple of examples of rules to be aware of.

My apologies if I offended by attempting to ward off any possible problems.

~~Wiccan~~

As stated in my original post, I asked and I quote:

"Do I post it on the forum? Or would I post a 'raw' copy on the site and see what people think?"

And continued on to state I was unsure on where to go from there. Could I have worded it better? Most likely. I'm not exactly fishing for comments and reviews from viewers, only to get their hopes up should I not finish it. Where I said:

"So I thought, why not give it a test go before I edit it and continue. If it does at least OKAY and has a person or two become interested, then I'll feel more confident with continuing and developing.

I feel that can apply to BOTH of the questions. People ask for fanfic help all the time, which I am/was trying to do, since I've posted with ideas in this section before and received help and opinions.

So the way my question was responded to by yourself was indeed a little offensive to me simply because you latched on to ONE comment and berated me on the rules, instead of helping or suggesting an alternative.

My advice: don't post it until it is finished. Don't post it until you have reviewed it yourself at least three times. Don't post it until you have found a beta(grab one from ff.net if nowhere else, they maintain a list of them.) Never post anything until you have finished your work and have concluded that from start to finish you have accounted for everything possible.

Then review it once more before posting.

SonofZhon wrote:
My advice: don't post it until it is finished. Don't post it until you have reviewed it yourself at least three times. Don't post it until you have found a beta(grab one from ff.net if nowhere else, they maintain a list of them.) Never post anything until you have finished your work and have concluded that from start to finish you have accounted for everything possible.

Then review it once more before posting.


Thank you. I'll just keep working on it in secret then. 71 PAGES, 6 chapters out of an estimated 30+....Long way to go, anyway.

Even if you did put the story up on the site if things didn't go the way you wanted you could always delete or edit it. I've done that myself. But you really should check for mistakes BEFORE you post your stories or people WILL complain about the mistakes you've made. I know because they've done it to me. It's no big deal to fix your mistakes if someone points them out to you. Well as long as they aren't being rude.

Yes, I've seen when some have been rude. Once over There, Their, and They're. Generally I'm constantly correcting if I see it, so I wouldn't be worried too much about grammatical errors, but more so with the rawness of the content and detail of the story. Like the first draft you write. It's simple, and clean. Then as you go through it again, you feel like you need to bulk it up. So that blue flower you mentioned is no longer JUST blue, but the way the sun hits it reveals the lighter shades at the base of the petals, where it crowns the dark green steam with its crisp, young leaves.

Technically you should be re-reading your own writing, finding the flaws, and rewriting as you go. Releasing work for others to read without taking the basic initiative to proof your own work beforehand shows laziness.

Why should people read your stuff if you don't read it yourself?

Secondly, your readers are not living spell-checkers. Doing yourself and them a favour by spell-checking, and self-proofing your own work, or even running it through a Beta will make them love you. Literally. There is nothing worse than reading through a great story only to drown in a lake of poor punctuation and to trip over hurdles of spelling mistakes.

Your readers aren't running the Olympics. They're reading a ficlet. It's best that you try and make it easier for them to get beyond those first few words so that they continue reading. The more difficult you make it, the sooner you'll lose readers.

If you want honest feedback on the storyline, characterisation, and plot than you might be in for a long wait too. Readers, unless they want to critique in depth, will not give you that kind of feedback. Some will go out of their way, kindly or rudely, and others will give you a short 'Great Ficlet! Loved it! Update soon!'.

You'll get more of the latter than the former most of the time.

Great Ego-boosts, but on the technical side it won't point out flaws with your writing, and show you how to improve.

If you want honest feedback you'd be best to work through a very patient friend or Beta that's willing to read through your stuff. They're more likely to be honest.

Rude feedback, called 'Flames', should be ignored outright.

Contact an Admin immediately, point them to the offending comment, and let them take care of it.

Do not engage in Flame Wars, as you'll likely find yourself being in breach of Dokuga's rules, OR, the rules of another fanfiction archive, where you've posted your work.

~ Pyre

If you want honest feedback you'd be best to work through a very patient friend or Beta that's willing to read through your stuff. They're more likely to be honest.

I think that's the best way to go about things. Honestly speaking, whenever I am unsure about a story topic I approach my friends first and talk things out with them until I feel comfortable. Then, if I'm still really unsure, I type up a plot summary and find a beta. Betas are really helpful in that, if you find one who willingly wants to work with you, they'll tell you if there's spelling mistakes, plot mistakes, or address any other concerns you have with the story.

P.S. Truthfully, as an author, I don't particularly care that much if people like my story or not. If they do, obviously it makes me happy and I smile all day. If they don't- yes it does disappoint me but I learn from the mistakes or just move on.