August News Roundup

Some Interesting News Bits happening in the Blog Fiction World. Some old, some recent, all of it was news to me in the last month.

Novelr taking a semi-break
Eli James has let us know of a planned "study break" until December. Unfortunately, that means a lot fewer posts. The online fiction community never seems quite right when we're deprived of Eli's insight.

Pages Unbound is closing down.
In a sad move, Pages Unbound is shutting down. Alexandra Erin didn't have enough time to run the review site and forums. Pages Unbound was a busy, well frequented site, and a great resource for finding quality fiction online. It's absence will leave a huge gap and need. Fortunately, another site has risen to fill that need. Which brings us to the next news bit...

Web Fiction Guide now has forums
In response to the loss of Pages Unbound, the editors at Web Fiction Guide installed a forum. The forum isn't Blog Fiction centric, but covers all online fiction which include Blog Fiction.

Seeing Blog Fiction published
This is really old news, but Undead Man Blogging is working on getting published. Still waiting to hear about Star Islanders being published.

New Blog Fiction
I found 2 new blog fiction sites: Death's Blog which is still active, and BlogPaige which is not.

Unknown Ship, Unknown Planet gone.
Unknown Ship, Unknown Planet has done a disappearing act. One that would make "Life in Bear Country" jealous.

Unannounced Leaves
Unfortunately, there are a lot of blog fiction sites that seem to be taking unannounced leaves.
A while ago, Fleet Commander teased us with a possible comeback. Unfortunately it didn't materialize.
The three Super Hero blogs, of Leroy and Enigma have not had a post since July 8th. Hopefully they weren't defeated by a super villain. Terra is still blogging sporadically.
Peep this Diary also teased us with a comeback. With only 2 posts back in early July and none since, it may have been premature to call it a comeback.

What was news to you this past month?

Blog Fiction Defined

As the chart below shows, my definition of Blog Fiction has narrowed again. I think it is a definition that makes sense and now has a flowchart to help determine if something is "blog fiction". I think that this definition makes sense and keeps the sense that blog fiction is fiction based on the blogging format.

Blog Fiction: (noun) Serialized literature published to a blog that is written in a diary format. Often, but not necessarily, the fictional writer of the blog will interact with its readers.

Looking below, I have compiled a list of the different characteristics and possible iterations of those characteristics. To follow the chart to see where your blog(or any blog with fictional content) lands is easy. Start at the top node. At each node determine which characteristic better describes your blog. If it's an "ebook" go one way, if it's a "serial" go the other. Written as a diary go one way and if not go the other. Keep going until you get to an end point. If the endpoint is orange, then it means the blog is "Blog Fiction". If it is green then it means it's not only "blog fiction", but a "Blog Novel" as well. If no color, then it is something else. I'll be looking forward to all of your comments and thoughts.



Text vs Multimedia
This is the first choice on the chart. Is the fiction in the form of text, music, pictures, or video. If it's text, keep going. If it's anything else, then it's not blog fiction and you can stop. Of course, with the internet any blog can contain all of these elements. To figure out which way to go, figure out which is the primary story driving element. For instance, a blog could be primarily text with a couple pictures thrown into each post, and an occasional video. However, as long as text is driving most of the narration, it is a textual blog and should follow that route.

ebook vs. Serial
This will be the next question. If the entire narrative is delivered and\or written (Update: See Comments for the reasoning behind this phrase being struck) at once, then it's an eBook. It might be published on a blog, but it's still an eBook.

Diary Format Vs. Non Diary
Is the text written like somebodies blog or diary. An entry doesn't have to start out with "Dear Diary" to be considered diary format. However, time and actions will occur between each entry. To be considered a diary format, there should be some indication of how much time has elapsed between each post.

One Author Vs. Many
This should be obvious.

Narrative Vs. Character
I touched on this before. However I wanted to expand on this because I think it's an important characteristic. A Narrative Diary means that you can actual experience a story from the viewpoint of one of the character's diaries. A "Character" diary just gives us insight into a character's thoughts and opinions. It would not include a plot arc in it's posts. Blogs that would be "Character" diaries would be "Fake" blogs like "Fake Steve Jobs" or the blogs at NewsGroper. Also some blogs that are based on an existing character from a movie or blog or narrative blog fiction.

One Character's Diary Vs. Multiple Characters' Diary
Another characteristic that shouldn't require much explanation. Can the readers read more than one of the character's diaries. If yes, then it's "multiple". If there is only one character keeping a diary that we can read, it is "Only one".

There is a one subtle thing to note. If a site has lots of diaries, but all of them are character diaries, I consider each to be their own separate diary to be considered by itself, not a collection of "Multiple" diaries. The reasoning here is that if none of them are narrative than there is no reason you would need to study them together. Each blog could be analyzed and read in a vacuum and it would have no effect on your understanding. A site like Newsgroper is what I'm thinking of when I talk about this exception.

Blog Aware Vs. Non Blog Aware
"Does the fictional person writing the diary interact with his readers?" What it means is, does the person writing the diary acknowledge that it is being written on a blog. Hence, "blog aware". Or could the whole thing very well be transcribed from a personal diary - "non blog aware".

In either case, I consider both to be Blog Fiction. I admit that a strong argument could be made that even though a writing is written in a diary format, published online as a serial, if it isn't "blog aware" then it's not blog fiction. The argument has a point. Once there are thousands of quality blog fiction sites I will revisit my decision.

Hazy-Time Vs. Real-Time
The distinction is simple. Is one day for the reader one day for the character writing the diary? So if the character doesn't post for an entire week, then that character will have to account for a week's worth of story. Or does the character's story unfold at a different pace than the reader. In that case then the character indicates how much time has passed since the last post.

General Collaberation Vs. Role Play
If there is more than one author, how do they collaborate? Obviously, if there is only one character's diary they would just do a general collaboration as you would in any format. However what if there are multiple diaries, do they all work on multiple characters, or does each one take on just one character?

Blog Fiction Classification Chart Take2

Nothing about this chart has changed. Just hopefully a little less confusing. Just click the picture below to see the larger-readable chart.

Blog Fiction Classification Chart Draft

I've completed the rough draft of my attempt to chart out online fiction and where blog fiction belongs on it. The different properties are listed on a previous post. The first branch determines if the blog uses text or multimedia for it's primary outfit. If it's not text, then it's out of my league.

One other thing to note. I use the phrases "blog aware" and "non blog aware". I combined the properties "Interaction" and "non-story interaction" since they were describing the same thing. And that was "Does the fictional person writing the diary interact with his readers?" What it means is, does the person writing the diary acknowledge that it is being written on a blog. Hence, "blog aware". Or could the whole thing very well be transcribed from a personal diary - "non blog aware".

Please leave any comments and suggestions about the chart. As long as there aren't any major changes resulting from my reader's observations, I'll be posting a color-coded chart either tomorrow or monday. The colors will indicate which makes sense to me to call blog fiction. Also, which makes sense to call something else.

Performance Writing

No, the title to my post is not referring to an Olympic sport that I'd like to see. I'm referring to the fact that writing blog fiction is just as much a performance as it is writing. Sure you have all the traditional writing elements to worry about: plot, character arc, pacing, etc... But with Blog Fiction there is an added curve ball. Depending on your format, comments and others' blog posts(if more than one author) could throw a writer's best laid plans under the bus.

Over in the forums I responded to a post asking what people like about Blog Fiction. One thing I mentioned was,

Multiple authors working on the same story blending the distinction between writing and performing.

After doing some thinking, I now realize what a dumb thing that was to say. A blog fiction does not need multiple characters or authors to blend the distinction between writing and a performance. Even a standard blog fiction(one diary, one character) enters performance the moment they allow comments. Two examples of just that happening.

Last week it looked like the writer's over at Giant Girl Rampages tried to get their audience to help the main character, Melly, figure out Dr. Crisp's code talk. The diary made it clear that Melly was not getting something that was quite clear to the audience.

"Strictly closed. The only way a person might hear what's going on would be if they happened to be located 18 feet off the ground, just outside that open window." It was like he was speaking in code, I thought, but I was just too tired to figure out the message.

"I have a math exam for you, Melly," he said, handing me a few sheets of paper. "I'll be by later to pick up your answers, on my way to the school board meeting, in my big empty truck."

I took the papers and nodded. I wanted to ask Doc if he'd come up with a way for me to attend the meeting, like he said, but I'm sure he'd have told me about it if he had.

Fortunately, an astute reader helped Melly out. She then stowed away in the van so that the story could continue. I'm not really sure what the writer's would've done if none of it's readers helped Melly figure out Dr. Crisp's "code". Would they have had Melly miss the board meeting? Or would some deus ex machina fallen out of the sky and clonk her on the head allowing her to decipher Dr. Crisp's "code". I'm not sure what they would've done, but the point is, they had to plan for it.

Jason X over at the User Pool has some very engaged readers and commenters. Some have even taken to giving Jason advice on helping him out of some of his predicaments. Advice that Jason has been known to incorporate into his story. Well, reading through is archives, I do believe that one of his more observant readers nearly ruined a clever storyline for him.

[Warning: Spoiler Alert!]
In the story, Jason thinks he's being framed for a murder. He reveals this in a Friday post. The names of characters and some of the circumstances are very similar to the movie, Basic Instinct. There are no further posts until tuesday. On that day it's revealed that someone was using the Basic Instinct plot to play a practical joke on Jason, but not before Jason really twists in the wind with stress and worry that he's about to get arrested.

Here's the problem. Back on friday one of his more astute readers commented on the similarities between his situation and Basic Instinct. As smart as the character is, after reading that comment he should've been able to figure out that it was a practical joke. Also, it kind of ruined the suspense for the readers who never saw, or don't remember the details of Basic Instinct (like moi). We were able to realize something is up. So, at best, the innocent comment ruined the suspense, and at worse, caused a small plot hole. Jason did acknowledge the comment in the tuesday post, but the story didn't seem to be affected by it. (My guess is that he already had the post written and didn't have time to rewrite the whole thing and just allowed the small plot hole)

Those two examples were enough for me to realize that almost all blog fiction is a written performance, not just the multiple character\author blogs. In both cases the writer's have had to react to their readers in some way. It would seem that all blog fiction blends the distinction between writing and performing if they allow, and respond to, comments.

Laptop alternatives

Well, the honeymoon is over. I'm back to work and now, and back to blogging. I'm catching up on all the active blogs like Wilf's, big melly, and fate's acquittal, etc. etc. All of which I was already behind on before I'd even left. It was nice to see that the forums were used somewhat while I was gone. Gotta build a community after all. I have to admit as much fun as the wedding and honeymoon were, I missed blogging somewhat. (didn't miss work one iota, however)

I did some reading while I was gone. I read the first half of the first book of Isaac Asimov's Foundation Novels. It is awesome and I can't believe that I ever posed as a scifi fan before reading it - Highly recommended. I also finished a novel that I'd started a while ago, Jack McDevit's Odyssey which is the penultimate novel in his Academy series of books. I don't think I'll be picking up any of the prequels or sequels - not recommended.

While reading blog fiction is fun, it's nice to once in a while take a break and read some dead tree published books. Betsy Friedrich mentioned the same thing in the conclusion of her thesis(pdf). After reading all that text on a screen it was a welcomed diversion to open up a book and read it on her bed. Reading all that text on screen can get wearing. Here are some other advantages books have over reading online with a laptop.

A book is more portable than a laptop
A book doesn't require a recharge
A book can go places a laptop cannot, like a beach or direct sunlight.
If on a flight, I can read a book during takeoff or landing. I'd get thrown off the flight if I left my laptop on.
A book is easier to hold than a laptop

I think one thing that might be holding back online fiction and blog fiction is a device to read it that's better than a laptop. Sure, if you want to leave comments and such, a laptop is more suitable, but if you're laying out on the beach, or sitting in bed, a laptop is not easy or convenient. While impressed with the leaps Amazon's Kindle has made, I'm not fully convinced that that is the device that people would use to read blog fiction - not when it's charging you monthly fees to read something you can get for free on your laptop. (although, I must admit that it's features could usher in the era of e-books)

A more suitable device for reading online fiction is something that is needed. Spending a week reading books instead of laptops has made this need obvious. I'll be searching the internet and watching the news reports. I'd also be interested in hearing some of your thoughts on laptop alternatives.

It's good to be back!

Other Sites to Check out

By the time you read this I'll be married and half way to Mexico. For the next 6 nights, 7 days I won't be anywhere near a computer or cell phone. I'm taking a leap of faith that everything goes well. So, this definitely won't be updated for a week and I won't even be in the forums.

In the meantime, You may want to check out some these other sites.

Making Melly Mills
This is the "making of" site for the people that bring us the Giant Girl Rampages Blog Fiction. You can find news and commentary there. They also discuss online fiction, things that they're trying. It's a good source of information for someone who wants to see just what it takes to write and publish a "blog novel".

Novelr
Novelr writes about "blooks" in general. He always has interesting insights in the online fiction genre. There's also helpful tips for internet authors. Go check it out, you won't waste your time.

Pages Unbound
More than just a directory of web novels, it is a gathering place for readers. You can rate and review your favorite web fiction. You can also find web fiction sites.

Blog Fiction Forums
Also check out the Blog Fiction forums. Hear from a few other Blog Fiction authors. Ask questions, answer others' questions, or just hang out. The forums were set up for you, the Blog Fiction community.

Finally, I'd like to say thanks for all the congratulations and good lucks comments. If any of you would like to give me a wedding gift, I have a request. As your wedding present to me, find one of your favorite blog fiction sites, whether it's active or not, and send the author a fan letter. In it be sure to tell them how much you enjoyed it and why. It can be delivered via email, or just a long comment on their site.

You would be amazed how much of a morale boost it is for an author- who might be feeling discouraged- to get fan mail. It's invigorating to know that, not only are you being read, but it's being enjoyed. Nothing would please me more than to come back from Mexico and find a more energized community of blog fiction writers.

See you all in a week!

Classifying Blog Fiction

Something that I've been struggling with is how to define "Blog Fiction". But something occurred to me. Creating a word and then trying to define it is completely backwards. First you develop a concept, and then you name it.

Therefore, let's start with the most broad definition possible of "Blog Fiction":

Any site that uses blog software to publish fiction to the internet.

Now that I have a broad definition. I'll list all of the different characteristics I've seen on these fiction blogs. Once we have a list of characteristics, then it will make sense to give a name to blogs that have certain characteristics in common. Once I've done that, We can then compare my work to the work done by others(see Blog Fiction Typology). So first, the different characteristics of blogs with fiction.

Written word, Multimedia, both
Using my broad definition, a blog that posts fictional movies would be considered. Same thing is true if it posted podcasts. So first characteristic is whether or not the story is told primarily through the written word or multimedia(audio and video). Obviously there will be those that use both. In that case I'd just classify it under whichever one is the primary device.

Diary Format Vs. Non Diary Format
Does the blog tell it's story using the format of someone's diary, or does it use a more traditional 1st, or 3rd person point of view.

Serial
Is the story delivered all at once, or is it delivered a bit at a time. I.E. A Serial story vs and ebook.

Number of Character Diaries
If the story is written in "diary" format, how many character's diaries are we able to read? I think just "one" or "more than one" will be sufficient for classifying.

Interaction
If there are more than one character's in the story, How do they interact? Only through the story, or do they leave "in character" comments on each other's blog\postings.

Number of Authors
How many people are involved in the project. Again, is it all one author, or more one?

Author Collaboration
If there are more than one authors, how do they collaborate? Do they all work on a single character or multiple characters, or does each one take on just one character.

Non "Story" interaction
Does the character interact with the outside world outside of their diary? For instance, does the author or the character, respond to comments. Other examples might be, does the character visit other blogs and leave comments.

Real-Time vs. Hazy Timeline
This is something that the GGCT and I have been discussing. I won't go into the advantages and disadvantages of either one. The distinction is simple. Is one day for the reader one day for the character writing the diary? So if the character doesn't post for an entire week, then that character will have to account for a week's worth of story. Or does the character's story unfold at a different pace than the reader. In that case then the character indicates how much time has passed since the last post.

Narrative Vs. Character
This characteristic is a little harder to define. A narrative would be where the blog story could stand alone and still be a complete story. A character blog would be a blog where a character from another story lends their perspective, but depends on an outside source. That outside source could be a book, movie, tv show, or even a narrative blog fiction.

Now that I have a list of all the characteristics of a Blog with fictional content, I can make a chart or graph laying out all the different possible combinations. Then we can all discuss the different nomenclature. Unfortunately, this will likely have to wait until after my honeymoon. In the meantime, are there any other characteristics that I missed that should be included? If so, let me know in the comments.