2012 Fanfiction Awards - planning thread

[Azurus]

I know that people like Knightfall are passionate and could very well contribute excellent points (especially because they have insight into the genre), but for whatever reason, they're shy about doing so right now beyond "PMD is totally something different." So the first problem is that I'd like to state for the record that I'm not the voice for your side; I'm just painting the targets on points so everyone else can be awesome people (and not shy).

I think what you mentioned here about being shy is correct, I myself, unsure of how to respond would likely botch the argument because I'm not so great at wording things the way I want to be said, so providing an excuse/reason/point to prove why PMD fics should be it's own genre is really difficult for me and probably a few others.

All I can say is something that was already said and I don't think people quoting other people and just leaving posts saying "This" is going to help anyone on either side win this argument and it would be better to say nothing at all. I'm not sure if I am making sense myself right now but I hope you guys understand what I'm trying to say.

In addition, the people who aren't writing PMD fics gain nothing from arguing why there should be a PMD category and won't speak up so it only seems the people who do care (The authors of PMD fics and the people interested in a fair discussion) are just complaining because there isn't a category for their story or just want to argue for the sake of arguing when that's simply not the case.

I don't know what else to add other than I hope and pray that the category is created with the proper thought and reasoning behind it, being that they simply cannot be appropriately classified as anything else without treading treading 4 other genres as it stands now.

Again I hope I didn't shoot this argument down because I didn't explain well enough, it's just that there is not much else to say beyond what has been said, or so I feel.


*ninjad* twice. disregard or read or whatever. Yay it won.

[The Great Butler]

I believe I brought this up last year, and I can't remember if it was implemented or already used as a matter of principle, but here it is:

For the fic moments awards, nominees in those categories should only be able to come from chapters posted in the past year. So, if a chapter was posted in November last year with a particularly good quote, it is not eligible for the best quote award, though a quote from March would be.

I think we used this, but if we didn't, we should.

Also, I was wondering, is there a cap on the amount of times a fic can be nominated for those categories? Like, a journey fic is going to have several good heartwrenching/warming moments, if the author knows their stuff, and a fic that's supposed to be a comedy, like Missingno Master.'s work will have many funny moments. So is there a limit to this, or is it strictly limited to how many times/moments are nominated?

I think this warrants discussion.

So what new genres would you guys like to see?

[Feralninja]

Well, after thinking about the latter point in the post above, does one "moment" per fic seem too stringent? I think that 1-3 might be our cap, lest we have a much-too saturated category.

[Brutaka]

I think two quotes should be the maximum, though I'm not sure how that part of the awards usually go. Is there usually an overflow from one fic? Or do people seem laid back about it anyways?

[The Great Butler]

I think two quotes should be the maximum, though I'm not sure how that part of the awards usually go. Is there usually an overflow from one fic? Or do people seem laid back about it anyways?

I don't think I remember any such problems before, but I do think that this will be a useful idea to implement, especially if we do decide to begin revising categories. Maybe it might be a useful thing to use in places other than scene categories.

But yeah, two is a good number, I think? Yes/no?

As for category revision, what did we have so far? Drama, and what else?

[Ememew]

Two seems OK to me, but I've never done anything with the awards planning before this time.

Would crossover fics (involving 2 or more fandoms) count as a category? Or are there even enough of them for it to matter? (Mostly asking out of curiosity.)

[The Great Butler]

Two seems OK to me, but I've never done anything with the awards planning before this time.

Let's run with two for now.

Would crossover fics (involving 2 or more fandoms) count as a category? Or are there even enough of them for it to matter? (Mostly asking out of curiosity.)

I would say that crossover would be a defined genre itself. But, I can't fully answer your question of if there are enough of them. From what I've seen, there are only a couple, but I've not seen everything.

[Sid87]

I'm assuming "Trainer Fics" is supposed to encompass a broad array of stories. I'm assuming that would cover stories that are just action-oriented, gym battles/championship-oriented, personal quest-oriented, etc. Am I right?

[Shadow Lucario]

I'm assuming "Trainer Fics" is supposed to encompass a broad array of stories. I'm assuming that would cover stories that are just action-oriented, gym battles/championship-oriented, personal quest-oriented, etc. Am I right?

You are correct. Any fic that includes Trainers would be up for nomination.

[Feralninja]

I'm assuming "Trainer Fics" is supposed to encompass a broad array of stories. I'm assuming that would cover stories that are just action-oriented, gym battles/championship-oriented, personal quest-oriented, etc. Am I right?

It would also count for fics that are shorter in length, like a one shot, but told from the POV of a trainer. The reason it's called trainer fic and not journey fic is because... it's like the square/rectangle deal. I think we can safely say that all (non-PMD) journey fics are trainer fics, but not all trainer fics are journey fics.

[JX Valentine]

I think we can safely say that all (non-PMD) journey fics are trainer fics, but not all trainer fics are journey fics.

Vice-versa actually. All trainer fics are non-PMD journey fics, but not all non-PMD journey fics are trainer fics. It's entirely possible to have a journey fic that isn't about a trainer or a Pokémon in the PMD universe. (You could write one about a researcher, for example, depending on their reason for going on a journey. Not that I would have ever tried.) It's just that not that many people write a story like that... for whatever reason.

But anyway, pretty much as Shadow Lucario said, the main requisite for having a trainer fic is that it needs to focus on a trainer. As a result, it really could be a lot of different kinds of story so long as in the end, it's about being a trainer on some level.

[Sid87]

That seems really kind of...I dunno. Unbalanced, maybe? Because how many stories are going to be considered "Horror" or "Sci-Fi" or one of the other genres? Not that many. But a TON of stories that aren't really all that similar are going to get lumped together as "Trainer Fics".

Why not separate that out in the sub-genre awards? Gym Challenge fics? Personal Quest/Adventure fics?

[The Great Butler]

I want to extend an apology if I stepped on anyone's toes during the unfortunately intense argument over the Mystery Dungeon category. It wasn't my intent to cause as much controversy as I ended up causing, so for that, I apologize.

That seems really kind of...I dunno. Unbalanced, maybe? Because how many stories are going to be considered "Horror" or "Sci-Fi" or one of the other genres? Not that many. But a TON of stories that aren't really all that similar are going to get lumped together as "Trainer Fics".

Why not separate that out in the sub-genre awards? Gym Challenge fics? Personal Quest/Adventure fics?

I think you'd be subdividing the pool into too many narrower categories. Best Trainer Fic is almost like an extra category, in a sense; you can have Horror or Sci-Fi or whichever other category covered by a Trainer fic. Conversely, being a Trainer fic does not necessarily preclude a story from qualifying for other categories as well. Genres aren't strict, you can 'blend' them without incident.

That said, though, I'm working on putting together a list of genres so we can have a more in-depth discussion of the idea raised earlier for a revamp of the genre awards section, but I'm having a little trouble. Drama was one, so I'm thinking to add things like Comedy, Science Fiction, Horror, Tragedy, Romance and so on. I'm not confident in the things I'm picking out, though, so I would very much like to hear from others about the list.

[Feralninja]

That seems really kind of...I dunno. Unbalanced, maybe? Because how many stories are going to be considered "Horror" or "Sci-Fi" or one of the other genres? Not that many. But a TON of stories that aren't really all that similar are going to get lumped together as "Trainer Fics".

Why not separate that out in the sub-genre awards? Gym Challenge fics? Personal Quest/Adventure fics?

It would be a little bit too much like splitting hairs. The furthest I think we could ever take this would be "Journey Fics" and then "Other Trainer Fics" (do note that I am not proposing these categories, merely saying that these are two of the most viable umbrellas).

Though my journey fic does have many elements of a fantasy story (a growing awareness of magic, and several different magical systems pulled from my original fantasy, for example), I'd never codify it as such. So, some people who write a story that has aspects of sci fi or horror might feel that it falls more under a different category and be totally okay with it not being in the other genre category.

[The Great Butler]

Well, with a month left to go, I think this is what's left to do:

-Status of "Best Crossover Fic" as a genre award?

-Status of "Best Trainer Fic?" Keep it or divide it up?

-Revision of genre list, ie: Drama, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Horror, Tragedy etc?

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

Huh, I was going to suggest a "best side games based fic" category to temper the PMD debate but then I saw that there wasn't a "game based fic" category to begin with. For some reason I thought there was. Didn't there used to be? Because I was also going to suggest a manga-based category...

Man I'd better work on Obsession if I'm going to qualify for this year's awards. Can't believe it's been over a year since I put out a chapter.

[The Great Butler]

Huh, I was going to suggest a "best side games based fic" category to temper the PMD debate but then I saw that there wasn't a "game based fic" category to begin with. For some reason I thought there was. Didn't there used to be? Because I was also going to suggest a manga-based category...

Game-Based Fics, huh?

I'm kind of intrigued by that idea, actually. I don't personally remember it existing before, but don't quote me on that.

So what do you guys think, is "Best Game-Based Fic" a good one?

Regarding the "Best Manga-Based Fic" category... I like the idea, but is there really enough activity with manga-based fics to justify it? I might just be unaware of it, so please correct me if I am.

[ShadedSkies]

Regarding the "Best Manga-Based Fic" category... I like the idea, but is there really enough activity with manga-based fics to justify it? I might just be unaware of it, so please correct me if I am.

Not that I can tell, which is a shame. This would make it really easy to nab that award, though!

Game-Based Fics, huh?

I'm kind of intrigued by that idea, actually. I don't personally remember it existing before, but don't quote me on that.

So what do you guys think, is "Best Game-Based Fic" a good one?

Sounds really good, but maybe "best side games based fic" is still for the better? The anime and main line of games still have the same setting and structure, while the spinoffs really are nothing like either. I would personally find it difficult to determine whether a fic not focusing on Ash was based on the games or the anime.

[The Great Butler]

Sounds really good, but maybe "best side games based fic" is still for the better? The anime and main line of games still have the same setting and structure, while the spinoffs really are nothing like either. I would personally find it difficult to determine whether a fic not focusing on Ash was based on the games or the anime.

Hmm, now that I think about it, you have a good point with "Best Side Game-Based Fic." I think it's a little more inclusive, but again, I'll leave it open for comment.

[Brutaka]

Hmm, now that I think about it, you have a good point with "Best Side Game-Based Fic." I think it's a little more inclusive, but again, I'll leave it open for comment.

I'm betting that the popularity of side game fics would be equal to main fics, even with the uprising of PMD fics. So I wouldn't really have too much of a conniption about it...
Though I think "Best Spinoff-Based Fic" would be a smarter title.