So, a couple weeks back I found out that one of my coworkers is an avid reader of Harry Potter fanfic. She and I have traded some emails, and she's promised me a rundown on what she's already read from a list of recommendations I made for her, and what she hasn't.
I very deliberately left Drunkard's Walk VIII off that list, partly from modesty and partly from not wanting to point her at a stalled story that will be some years yet before completion. However, last week I reread all of the released chapters from the perspective of a first-time reader of anything in the Walk and realized -- I bobbled Doug's introduction. DW8 completely assumes you already know who Doug is and what he's about. It doesn't even give as much info -- or hints -- as DW2 had at the same point in its story, and in DW2 I was very deliberately playing a tease-and-tidbit game with Doug's backstory. DW8, though, reveals almost nothing.
I'm thinking I have to change that, if only to make the story more accessible to those coming to the Walk for the first time through it. So I'll be adding little bits here and there -- nothing huge or dramatic (I think), but definitely informative. And I'm starting a thread about it because I want to start a bit of a debate about the mistake, as I see it. And I admit, if anyone comes up with a good idea that I can use, I'm definitely going to steal it. And also just to alert people to the mistake so folks will be aware, and call me on it if I do it again.
I very deliberately left Drunkard's Walk VIII off that list, partly from modesty and partly from not wanting to point her at a stalled story that will be some years yet before completion. However, last week I reread all of the released chapters from the perspective of a first-time reader of anything in the Walk and realized -- I bobbled Doug's introduction. DW8 completely assumes you already know who Doug is and what he's about. It doesn't even give as much info -- or hints -- as DW2 had at the same point in its story, and in DW2 I was very deliberately playing a tease-and-tidbit game with Doug's backstory. DW8, though, reveals almost nothing.
I'm thinking I have to change that, if only to make the story more accessible to those coming to the Walk for the first time through it. So I'll be adding little bits here and there -- nothing huge or dramatic (I think), but definitely informative. And I'm starting a thread about it because I want to start a bit of a debate about the mistake, as I see it. And I admit, if anyone comes up with a good idea that I can use, I'm definitely going to steal it. And also just to alert people to the mistake so folks will be aware, and call me on it if I do it again.
-- Bob
I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber. I have been
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....
I have been Roland, Beowulf, Achilles, Gilgamesh, Clark Kent, Mary Sue, DJ Croft, Skysaber. I have been
called a hundred names and will be called a thousand more before the sun grows dim and cold....