Comments on: What Is Webfiction?

By: Some Fiction Promotion Links – Story Hack

Some Fiction Promotion Links – Story Hack — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:55:57 +0000

[...] I recently came across this post over at ErgoFiction: What is web fiction? [...]

By: A Simple Explanation – Novelr - Making People Read

A Simple Explanation – Novelr - Making People Read — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 15:39:25 +0000

[...] feel free to start a discussion in the comments below. (Note: you may want to read Jan Oda’s excellent primer on web fiction definitions before you do so). My position, however, is simple. I believe that if a [...]

By: piers_hollott

piers_hollott — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 01:19:26 +0000

Okay, I'm only going to say this one time, and then I will stop: “toenail” is just a different spelling of “elation”.

By: Jan Oda

Jan Oda — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:36:21 +0000

We can start with something easy for training. Like toenails or something.

By: piers_hollott

piers_hollott — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:21:12 +0000

Will we actually be required to sell kidneys?

By: Jan Oda

Jan Oda — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 23:47:39 +0000

I hadn't planned on one, because I thought I'd made it clear in the about section :(http://www.ergofiction.com/about/) and in the introduction post of December First

I quote: "You are looking at it!! Ergofiction.com aims to be a magazine (or more accurately, a cross between a blog and a magazine) for readers of web-fiction. What we love about it, what we hate about it, what we read when we have a bad day, what we secretely read late at night, everything has it’s place on the magazine. How we like to support our favorite authors, what marketing ticks us off, and who we would sell a kidney for if they didn’t have enough money to keep on writing. A magazine where readers can discuss their favorite villains, their most hated couples and their most wanted violent endings."

I'll probably elaborate more on this in the manifest, but I didn't think it needed its own post.

We haven't really started luring the readers in, we'll start that once we're comfortably out of Beta Mode.

By: piers_hollott

piers_hollott — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:59:19 +0000

I said this elsewhere on this site, but during "manifestation", I think it is a good idea to be repetitive - this is my definition, which I will defend, but with which you needn't agree:

Web Fiction is fiction on the web. period. If I write a short story and no one ever reads it, that is web fiction.

When a group of people form a community around a work of fiction online, this is Web Literature. Two things are packed into this definition - it is uncanonical, so it is not "literature" in the Harold Bloom sense; and the community is formed online - the fiction need not be, at least by my definition, so that I would classify #InfSum as Web Literature. If for no other reason than that I believe if someone is prepared to spend their summer reading 50 pages of endnotes, they deserve to be part of the weblit community.

Please agree or disagree.

p.s. I love the name ErgoFiction! I have also heard the term "interstitial" fiction used to good effect.

By: piers_hollott

piers_hollott — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:37:51 +0000

It seems to me that an important facet of the web-fiction, from a writer perspective is the way that online community and delivery facilitate the processes of both creation and distribution. I was never really involved in fanfic, and I understand "weblit" as an attempt to differentiate from assorted fic communities, however I will say this: fanfic leverages community, delivery and the DIY approach amazingly well. I mean, it's unfortunate that a lot of fanfic is puerile or terrible, but this really just emphasizes that along with revolutionization of distribution channels, some system of recommendation is advantageous in any online setting.

I really like MeiLin's statement about WebLit.Us existing solely for exchange of ideas amongst writers, though readers are welcome. I have a feeling that any readers who stray there will rapidly become zombified into writers themselves, and this absolutely supports the DIY approach of which I am speaking. Online publishing carries a stigma in part because traditional publishers have taken on the burden of marketing, promotion and distribution, so that writers doing this for themselves appear to be either trying too hard or working for free; fanfic definitely gets too gushy for my liking, because it constantly operates in a promotive mode.

This will change.

Jan, are you planning an article addressing ErgoFiction's intended audience as part of your manifest?

By: MeiLin Miranda

MeiLin Miranda — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:36:46 +0000

It's true, I do–mainly from nonfiction, though the fiction is delivering more and more. I'm sorry I took offense. My name's on WebLit.Us, and I suppose that makes me tetchy. :)

By: Jan Oda

Jan Oda — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 02:29:44 +0000

Dear writing people. We were discussing definitions more than the reasons behind the terms. To quote myself:
“To make it even harder, not everyone uses the same term. There has been quite a lot of discussion on the subject, and I don’t want to get into that here.”
Everybody can use what they want, as long as it's clear what they meant by it. I also figure, that the more definitions are in public, the less the connection with fan-fiction will be made