Ficly

Delinquency to Vacancy

The site has a pesky feature, the fact that it displays how long the blog post has been up. To most of you that likely means very little, but since I’m responsible for said blog posts it’s a bit of a thorn for me. If you hadn’t noticed, that last one sat up there for a while.

First, I’d like to apologize for that.

Second, I’d like to explain it. I can’t, so we’ll move on to number 3.

Third, I’d like to rectify that. Due to circumstances largely outside of my control I will no longer be able to serve as the ‘Blogger in Residence’, an entirely made up title. The goal has been that I post something to spur discussion, improve writing by way of instruction, or in some way help stir the collective creative juices. I’ve loved every minute and may do it again if allowed by the whimsy of fate and those in control of the site.

In the meantime, we need to fill the position! Oh my goodness, we need a voice, a spokesman, a guru, or whatnot. We have discussed a few options, but I want to kick it out to the community. Let us know what you think, both in terms of what you’d like to see in the blog and who might fill that role. Are you bold enough to put your own name forth? Are you cheeky enough to put your friend’s name forward? Do you know a more seasoned or professional writer who might like to do that role?

The floor is yours, ficlyteers. Sound off.

Your Most Humble Obedient Servant,

Dr Tim
(aka THX0477)

27 comments Posted 2011-04-20 Author: THX 0477

Comments

  • Sir Bic

    I would like to nominate – Mistress Elshanor of Hawk Manor – so much so that she is willing and able to do it.

  • BARomero

    Why not rotate the job amongst the more senior members? That way we’ll get a variety of perspectives on writing?

  • Tad Winslow

    I like both ideas.

    @Baramero
    A rotation could be fun. I think it would be wise to designate someone as the no. 1 option though. In case someone flakes out or shirks on the task the responsibility would then shift to the designated blogger— as a safety plan. We could have a president succession plan…

    President— Elsha
    The Vice President— ________
    Speaker of the House—_________
    President pro tempore of the Senate—_______

    1. Secretary of State—_________
    2. Secretary of the Treasury—__________
    3. Secretary of Defense—__________
    4. Attorney General—__________

    And so forth, hehe

  • August Rode

    @BARomero: “More senior members”? Ficly.com’s 2nd anniversary is less than a month away. That makes almost everyone one of the more senior members!

  • Kihd

    I agree. Elsha is unbiased, fair, and has a broad range of thinking, so it seems. :)

    I also want to say that I will miss your blog posts, THX. I always thought that they were interesting.

  • BARomero

    @August: Fair enough. I tend to forget sometimes that Ficly and Ficlets are not the same site. More active members, then?

  • Kihd

    What about the people who made the transition from Ficlets to Ficly? That means that they must be committed, haha. I think that those people should get first dibs on the position of their choice, or whatever you want to call it.

  • ElshaHawk (LoA)

    I vote a rotation, but that means coordinating topics, to a degree, as well as dates. If writing a series on here with a few others is any indication, it will take a village! Often, life gets in the way when it is our turn to write. This is just as true for a single blogger, like our beloved THX, as it is for a group.
    P.S. I am truly humbled. Besides being less eloquent than the Grand Master of LoA, you still voted me worthy of reaching for his crown.

  • Kevin Lawver

    I think a rotation is fine. I think picking one person is fine. Fair warning… whoever takes over gets to use a really horrible posting interface. Whoever it is, it has to be someone comfortable using my half-done blog monster.

  • Tad Winslow

    Sorry for butchering your name, BARomero. No disrespect intended. Just a lazy disregard for detail on my part.

    I second Kihd. Your posts will be missed Dr. Tim, and thank you for the service.

  • H.S. Wift

    I like the idea of having a rotation. I’m not too keen on the idea of being biased towards senior members or ficlets vets however, as it would also help to get the perspective of newer minds. Maybe something akin to a sign-up roster would help, where someone ’dibbs’es the next turn so to speak. Of course, there’d have to be a system that stops them from writing their post too early, as the previous blog would need fair chance to be read.

    Going off-topic, Kihd: What is up with your pic? It’s seriously wierd, and not the good kind. No offence intended, but why did you decide to go with that pic over all of the other very small, square photographs of yourself thaat must be floating around your computer’s documents folder?

  • Kihd

    That is my baby sister, thanks. She wanted that picture. And she is “weird” in the most special way. No offense taken.

  • Sir Bic

    I would like to enter H. S. Wift’s name on the ballot as a second candidate for the office of – ‘Blogger in Residence’.

  • Eloquent Mess {(LoA)}

    I’m the eccentric distant relative that people only occasionally mutter about under their breath, in dark corners, in conspiratorial tones, hoping that nobody else in the room noticed them discussing old what’s-his-face.

    Who, him? No, I was talking about Dave, the successful one. I would never talk about… well, you know.

    That’s me. Don’t even consider nominating me. I’ll probably end up taking Kevin’s blog monster and feeding it french fries and moose droppings and taking it on walks through Central Park, terrorizing kids and homeless people. I might replace this blog with an empty ant farm called “wasted potential.” It will win many modern art awards, but it won’t contribute anything useful to the site.

    Like my old roommate.

    But that’s neither here nor there.

  • Sir Bic

    You gave me an idea, EM!

    Perhaps the Doc or Kevin could create a “Blog Monster” challenge. Anyone wishing to take part in the blogging side of Ficly, would enter a story about “how to slay a blog monster”.

    A winner could be chosen by the tally of votes from the Challenge comment thread. The champion challenger would then be given the honor of being the resident blogger.

    After that person publishes their blog post, they will start another Challenge in search of the next blogger to be!

    Just an idea. But what do ya’ll think?

  • Eloquent Mess {(LoA)}

    Hmmm… Sounds fun. As long as everyone’s reliable enough to write a new contest AND a couple (or a few) blog entries. :-) That way nobody gets bored with it and it’s always exciting!

  • Eloquent Mess {(LoA)}

    BTW… The easiest way to kill a blog monster is to distract it with a time-sucker (like reddit.com or any other site that eats up all your time) and then pull the server’s plug while it’s unawares.

  • Sir Bic

    OK, no more Mr. Nice Knight:

    I want to be the resident blogger. – There, I said it.

    Who wants to be the blogger too? Forget the humble formalities; they haven’t gotten us anywhere, just tell us all – what you want to do.

    You want to blog? Then say you want to blog. We don’t need any more niceties, we need blog entries! We need bloggers! You want to blog? Say you want to blog – say what you want to blog about!

    I want to blog about “The Challenge of Challenges”, how we can make our challenges less demanding and more appealing. I want to blog “Give and Ye Shall Receive”, a post about how we all love to get comments, so we should want to give just as much in return.

    You think you can blog better than me? Tell me so. – Then I’ll vote for you, and you can do it. []o)

    Let’s get this party started!

    Ficly or die.

  • Tad Winslow

    I agree. Not with the challenge idea. But with announcing candidacy. First things first. No one can be nominated if they aren’t running for president, ahem, REsident blogger. We need to know who is interested!

    If you’d like to be considered for this illustrious position please tell us!

    So far Sir-Bic is officially on the ballot.

    Anyone else got the brass buttons? ;)

  • Tad Winslow

    I’m always messing up people’s names. I meant Sir Bic widdout da hyphen of course. Shame on me.

  • H.S. Wift

    I guess I wouldn’t mind being blogger-in-chief or whatnot. I’m not too aggressive in my campaign though, so if someone really wants it, please don’t put me in the power seat when there are more deperate candidates.

    @Tad, you’re going to pun hell!

    http://www.squidi.net/comic/junkyard/img/punhell.png

  • 32 Squared

    Why can’t we make this a brick and mortar event? I know of two coffee houses here in Phoenix who would love to host a Ficly night.
    I also think we need to focus more on editing. We could come up with universal Ficly proofreading marks. There are too many bad ratings or no ratings because the reader does not like the content; content or subject matter has nothing to do with excellent writing. Personal preferences should have nothing to do with rating a story.
    I’m saying this because I will use comments left by individuals as a reason to vote them in. No writer is going to grow or stay on this site if someone tells them they don’t like their story because of the subject matter while ignoring the writers decent writing style.
    There’s my two cents on the table.

  • Tad Winslow

    @H.S. Wift
    Haha. Love it. And I’m a fan of Dante’s Inferno as hell… erm, as well. ;)

  • Sir Bic

    32 Squared, you’ve brought up some valid concerns.

    The ‘brick and mortar’ meeting might not work so easily, since most of us are not residence to the city of a fiery bird that rises from the ashes.

    You’re right; editing is a good thing to focus on. A considerate comment from a trusted friend is always appreciated. Most of us here are writers, not editors, so it might be better if our editing each other be subdued.

    Ratings and commenting are encouraged but not required. The forth law in the land of Ficly is: Respect the Art, Even if You Don’t Like It. This edict states, ‘You can be honest without being brutal. You can be critical without being emotionless.’ Personal preference has just as much to do with rating a story, as it does with picking out which stories to read. Good or bad a rating should mean something to the writer, sadly most ratings only tell a reader if something is worth reading.

    …

  • Sir Bic

    …

    Dr. Tim our illustrious ‘blogger-in-chief’ has addressed the issue of Lowering the Brows here: http://ficly.com/blog/lowering-the-brows. We all do well from heading his advice. All those who wish, should feel welcome to stay and grow in the affable land of Ficly!

    To do your bidding,
    Sir Bic

  • 32 Squared

    Why not change the date format? Either the date followed by an updated date, or an updated date based on the last comment posting? “The site has a pesky feature, the fact that it displays how long the blog post has been up. To most of you that likely means very little, but since I’m responsible for said blog posts it’s a bit of a thorn for me. If you hadn’t noticed, that last one sat up there for a while”.

  • Lighty

    This appears to have been dropped for the time being…

    A rotation was mentioned earlier, which seems the best way if we’re choosing from the community. Let as many voices as want to be heard, be allowed to speak. This also means there is less pressure on any one single person, this is a past-time and a joy, not work. Being biased towards “senior members” will win you no love, by the by, and the distinction would be very hard to draw. Active, maybe, but it’s still shaky ground.

    A sign-up list, if an automatic one could be created, would be the best thing, I think. Then if someone has a one-off topic they want to talk about, or feels they could regularly give ideas, they can. Of course, this plan would still need moderating, overseeing if you will.

    So nominating one person for that, if THX wants to stop completely, could still be done.

    Onto personal opinion now; for that position, I could see Elsha doing so spectacularly.