FairySlayer

Just so you know I too appreciate all of the work you've taken on to keep AFFN alive and running smoothly, especially on top of the tremendous database work you were already doing. Hopefully things will start running a lot more smoothly, and it sounds like you've made great progress over the old way. With any luck or justice in the universe you can actually have some time to yourself again. Thanks for everything!

So hexadecimal isn't allowed? There's even some Roman numerals on the first page (plus numbers seem to jump around), so what rules do I need to know about? And by the way: 8344

Okay, then that's what I'll do the next time I update or add anything.

I like the idea. It's better to get a taste of what you're getting into beforehand. It's a pain to go through a registration process for something only to find out it's not what you thought or simply not your thing. If it's open then guests will be more likely to check it out, and more likely to eventually sign up, I would think. Of course, then I'd be tempted to open a new thread in "Promote a Story!" for every story I post and then put a link at the tail of the story itself. (Tempted doesn't mean that I would, meek person that I am, but there is at least one review I wish I could have responded to in detail.)

First off, sorry for the thread necromancy. If people are still interested in a chat option — one which does not use any of AFF's resources — there is one decent solution: I've installed pjIRC on a free hosting site and preconfigured it to connect users to a channel on DALnet. pjIRC uses Java, so the IRC client runs on the users' systems, not the web server. (Again, it's completely separate from AFF.net's servers.) The script was all put together for another forum's chat, but the owner was nice enough to give me a copy; the rest is free, time-tested software. It was easy. Of course, people can connect with their own IRC clients instead. The details are on the startup page, before anything Java stuff gets loaded. As of now, that page bills the channel as being unofficial just so I wouldn't accidentally step on anyone's toes. DemonGoddess, if you want more information or to take a peek then PM or e-mail me and I'll give you the details. Of course, you will have as much control and ownership as you desire, even if it takes me out of the loop entirely. At the very least you may want to make changes before it goes live, if it does at all. For now it'll stay "closed." However, if it sits well with you and the other powers that be, and there's still interest, I'll post the details in a . Oh! If this topic has been superseded and there is already a live chat for us then please let me know.

All of you are so right. When I started writing fanfic I craved reviews more than anything. Now I think I got into erotic fanfiction only because it was, or seemed like, an easy way to get more attention. "Unfortunately" I started writing more plot-driven stories and the folks on the other sites didn't pay attention anymore. I mostly stopped writing for a long time because the plethora of "Dick in Jane" stories seemed to get a lot of feedback while mine were barely noticed. Now I've learned to write what I want and do it mostly for myself (and, yes, a recent request by a long-time friend). It's much easier for me to sit down with a notepad or in front of the screen and say to myself, "What will be good?" instead of, "What will make people like me?" But of course, I'm always interested in what I could do better. Thanks for sharing, everyone. Now I feel even better.

I would like to post an "Invader Zim" story that, unfortunately, is in "screenplay format" (a streamlined form of script format). It was started that way by someone else and he soon asked me to help; then the story was turned over to me completely. (It's at least 80% my work, but I'll credit him too.) If having it in that format will instantly turn people away from reading it then I'd rather add rewriting it to my list of projects, but that would not happen for quite a while. However, if most people don't mind that format then I'd just post it as-is. Please let me know what you think. Here is an example of the format: Actually, now that I look at it again it's a bit fast & loose even for "screenplay format." Still, I'd like to know how tolerable non-prose formats are.

I agree completely that it's frustrating. The lack of these "important details" reminds me of the characters in "The Truman Show" (1998) complaining that whenever things "get good" they always cut to a scene of the curtains blowing in the wind. (In the "Twilight Zone" episode with the same premise it was mentioned that their lovemaking was carried only on the adult cable channels late at night.) After readers wade through my writing to reach the sexual content they should be rewarded with the same detail for the foreplay and various acts too.

Everyone's already said why (a long time ago too), but the problem is so frustrating that I'm compelled to say how much it irritates me too! I'm still finding mistakes in stories from years ago, even if they'd been proofread by others and reviewed since. Until a year ago a friend and I were each other's proofreader — editors really, since we'd trade detailed notes and take some ownership. Sadly, she was kidnapped by real life and I haven't found anyone else. (Those who've offered to take over for her either don't know about the "adult" aspect of my writing or don't know about proper punctuation. Yes, I'm living dangerously now.) Even having a proofreader isn't perfect because after proofreading someone else's work twice it becomes harder to catch that author's mistakes. Like with our own stories, our brains tell us, "Yeah yeah yeah I saw that already!" Whether or not I have a proofreader, when I believe a piece is ready to post I just walk away. Like Daye mentioned, for at least a few days (usually a week) I don't look at or think about it. Only then can i see most of the glaring mistakes, though still too few of the smaller ones. If it looks like my previous pass sucked then I'll finish and wait again. Eventually I would send it for proofreading and, yet again, not even look at it until she returned the marked-up copy. (People changing their stories while I'm proofreading them is my biggest pet peeve.) But crimminy! One time I re-read and fixed a story that I hadn't looked at for over a year; then two years after that I read it again and found more real mistakes. (I'm not counting things I would have done differently or better.) _C_, you're hardcore! A printer (with a scanner too) is high on my list of things to lust after, but I simply don't have space for even a small one. On the other hand, the last time I tried printing a markup copy of something at the library their print server refused to release the job for ten minutes, so maybe the terror factor will push me over the edge to get one. brohne, I may give "backwards reading" a try for finding typos, but if I keep seeing "Worship Satan!" then I'll have to give it up.