Comments | rthstewart: Narnia writers, do you know where your stories are?

rthstewart

Narnia writers, do you know where your stories are?

Oct 12, 2011 22:48

lady_songsmith drew my attention to something today and has just posted about it here. A new blogger, Narnian Caparison, is blogging about Narnia, reccing her favorite fics, providing nice links to those works and discussion, and also compiling the stories into downloadable pdf "books." Further, the blogger states: Stories may have been edited for spelling, ( Read more... )

fair use, narnia, fan fic, feel the f-list love

Comments 102

snacky October 13 2011, 03:07:03 UTC

I did leave a comment suggesting it's better to ask permission before offering someone's work for download, and that it's frowned on in fandom to edit other people's work without their okay.

Like I said to you, I am not particularly bothered by the inclusion of my story in a file for download (these things happen all the time), but I do get a little twitchy at the editing bit.

cofax7 October 13 2011, 05:47:10 UTC

Yeah, I did note that only the first three compilations have the PDF option--the rest of them link directly to the FFN sites. So she's only edited fewer than half (if she did it at all).

But as you say, it's just not done that way.

snitchnipped October 13 2011, 03:53:59 UTC

Hmmm, that's crazy about the editing stories... correcting spelling and punctuation seems innocent enough, but sometimes, especially under the "grammar" umbrella, a lot of it can be an intentional artistic choice. (Says someone who abuses ellipses.) And don't get me started on "clarity"...

And boo to being beaten over the head. How about this: you're doing it perfectly right and you're making (at least) me most comfortable with where you're taking the stories! Just keep doing what you've been doing and have aimed to do all along... it hasn't failed you yet!

rthstewart October 13 2011, 12:29:15 UTC

Based on what edenfalling found in the first pdf's, it goes even beyond cosmetic editing to removal of italics and author's notes. I think she's well-meaning, but that goes too far.

edenfalling October 13 2011, 04:04:17 UTC

I... you know, there are a couple of my Harry Potter and Naruto stories out on the internet on websites where I have no control over them -- I can't edit them or anything -- but the people who run those sites asked me for permission before they posted the fics. I was never asked about these pdf files. That does not make me happy.

From a quick glance over the three of my stories in her Book 1, I don't think she's changed my phrasing or punctuation. What she HAS done is remove all my italics. I think she has removed everybody's italics, in fact. This seems to be a stylistic quirk of hers, since she's clearly perfectly capable of putting all author names in italics right under the story titles. (Dammit, I already remove at least a third of my italics between rough and final drafts. Any that survive the winnowing are there for a reason. *sulks*)

She has also removed all author's notes, which means the stories are presented completely without context. That upsets me even more than the loss of my italics.

snitchnipped October 13 2011, 04:09:58 UTC

Hmmm. Italics-removal would make me quite upset, considering I am extremely deliberate in when/how I use them. It could be a copy/paste issue in which they just get lost and forgotten... not that that is an excuse.

rthstewart October 13 2011, 12:33:17 UTC

According to edenfalling the italics are present in some of the beginning titles, so she went in and removed them? Or, maybe her interface stripped them out and then she went in and added them back in in the title? That doesn't explain the loss of the author's notes, though.

rthstewart October 13 2011, 12:31:38 UTC

I think she's well-meaning, and she does have good taste, but yes, the removal of the italics and a/n is not cool at all. She may not like them, but that's not really her place. If being listed on her site means giving her control to make editorial changes, fine, but the author should, as a matter of politeness, have a say in it.

Thread 8

be_themoon October 13 2011, 04:23:02 UTC

I'm sorry things are rough for you right. Lots and lots of hugs for you, and if you ever want to talk I'm around. <33333

rthstewart October 13 2011, 12:37:10 UTC

thanks, but there's nothing for it. I'm getting a lot of thundering, disapproving silence, "You're doing it wrong," and "Liked it, BUT...." and words like pathetic, out of character, and gratuitous, "Lewis would not approve," "I had to skip that part," "I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything," and the like. The "idiot" is reserved for RL and I've been hearing a lot of that, too.

cofax7 October 13 2011, 14:08:14 UTC

Pathetic?

Pfffft. Bah on them. That's just someone trying to get some digs in on you.

(The comment has been removed)

rthstewart October 13 2011, 12:40:22 UTC

Based on what edenfalling found out, she either deliberately or as a result of the interface, stripped out italics and author's notes. songsmith pointed out also that given the idea of collecting works into a single pdf, downloadable file, you immediately create yet another barrier to leaving feedback. She encourages everyone to leave feedback and I don't know "who" she is as there's no moniker or handle, but hers isn't a name I recognize and I doubt she's left any FB for the stories she's compiling and reccing.