You know...

[leethet]

...something just occurred to me in light of the flood of vignettes that seem to be out there ... is it going to become the preferred style of online fic-writing, and are the longer stories I must assume someone's writing somewhere all reserved for zines?
That would be a bummer. I like long stuff, and I liked it being free. :)

Comments

[kelliem.livejournal.com]

I don't think you need to worry. The problem is that longer stories are longer in more ways than page length. They take longer to write so they show up less frequently.

[dinahmt.livejournal.com]

That would be a bummer. I like long stuff, and I liked it being free

I agree with you Lee - vignettes are nice but there's nothing to read a good wallow in a long story.

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

I'm writing a long story - as kellie says, it just takes longer - and it would never cross my mind to put it in a zine. It's online all the way for me.

[bluster.livejournal.com]

As much as I love the various flash fiction communities I have to admit they also drive me crazy. Far too often I just start to get into a story and it's done. Argh! I love longer, meatier stories, and I definitely worry that people are writing the shorter things instead of working on longer pieces. Of course, it's not as if I've had a lot of time to read lately, but it's the point of it all.

I also totally agree that it would be a bummer if the good longer stuff being written ends up in zines. I like zines, but I love opening my browser and finding someone's posted a new story.

And not to be a nag, but are you writing? I think the world needs a new (long) story by Lee the T. :-D

[princessgolux.livejournal.com]

Gotta sing with the chorus here.

I really love writing the longer stories too, but they do take a whiley to get done.

I've discovered that there are some writers out there who are fantastic at the art of WIPs. I hae tried this ::wince:: and I kind of suck at it. But some people out there are really good. They post regularly and keep a steady pace. Those authors have become a good waystation for me between longer pieces. I don't know if there's anyone doing this in MfU or not, but that might be a happy medium for you.

:)pg

Hmm

[veronicaluv.livejournal.com]

You know, despite recent evidence to the contrary, I'm currently anti-vignette as far as my own projects are concerned. I've never mastered the art of the snippet or the drabble (although I have written some under extreme - er - duress). The LJ fic mindset is like eating potato chips - you eat a couple, they're tasty, you want more - but pretty soon you're reduced to eating Pringles. Then everyone sees you eating Pringles and all they do is give you more, when what you really want is prime rib.

As for zines - 99% of my fanfiction writing (including all MFU) will always be online at aithine's archive. Rarely will I post directly to the LJ anymore, just because of the Pringle Syndrome; I'm selfish enough to want my stories to be considered something other than just a days' worth of empty calories, delicious though they may be at the time *g*.

Short and Sweet & Free?

[tgabrielle.livejournal.com]

I used to think people wrote vignettes to get free zines but apparently there is more to the motivation than trib copies. Does anyone prefer short pieces? I don't think it's a trend really but there seems a lot of it lately and the lists and LJ perhaps foster the quick fix, so to speak. Where is the longer stuff? The only new MFU slash zine I'm aware of is RS (7 or 8?), so it's not going to print. Jan, Di, Clare and (sorta) I are plugging (plug, plug) away at the Incognito online zine. Both Di and my stories are long.

And I assume many of us (Lee, Nat etc) have longer stories in the works. They'll all probably come out at the same time and create a counter-trend.

[cousinnat.livejournal.com]

I do have a longer story in the works, but it's been in those works for a LONG time, and I don't feel inclined to finish it right now even though I occasionally add a paragraph or two. (Real Life is too busy.) On the other hand, I LOVE to write vignettes. I think they come out of an emotional need to connect with Napoleon and Illya for a couple of hours (and the need to get them to connect with each other). Vignettes are cathartic. I force them on my friends with "what do you think of this?" and they're polite and say "very nice" and then I put them in a file and that's that. Describing them as junk food is quite appropriate.

Nat