Story Notes Scream Newbie!

[NOIRTRASH]

Let the story be your argument.

 

[PuckIt]

Sorry, Trashy, but this one I'm going to have to call you on. It depends on what the note is.

Editor thanks and "dedications" and crap (and I guess the preemptive "this is not the porn you are looking for" considering the venue and idiots that still don't seem to grasp the rules after all this time) are fine and pretty much traditional to toss in the front right after the title page.

On the other hand, you may have a valid point when authors (even ones on the NYT Bestseller lists) plop in a "Preface" or "Forward" or the slightly better "Afterword" that is damn near an abstract of EVERYTHING in the story. Or worse, reads like an apology for writing it.

*sigh* Never mind. I see what you did there. Carry on.

 

[oggbashan]

My 'notes' are my copyright notice and the standard fiction disclaimer.

They don't work. My stories still get stolen with the copyright notice attached, and some readers don't understand the concept of fiction...

 

[sr71plt]

The inspiration for the story might be a separate, interesting story. I usually like to get into those in separate discussions, but I think there sometimes is an enriching note on a story that isn't part of the content of the story.

 

[LIVINRFANTASIES]

Denny

Let the story be your argument.

Are all of these short posts lately your newbie showing?

 

[PuckIt]

Are all of these short posts lately your newbie showing?

Heh! Good one.

But, nah. He's done this for... uh... almost a decade I guess since I first encountered him under another name. He gets bored and gets a burr under his saddle and tosses out something minimalist and obscure to get people started discussing it.

And then he opens his trench coat and flashes everybody what he was really driving at.

I just like to occasionally poke the badger by trying to steal his thunder early if I can catch it in the first response or two.

(you can tell when I manage because he wanders off and starts a different thread)

 

[rescatooor]

I don't see anything particularly newbie about story notes. It's their decision and it looks like a common enough practice. Not a fan of it myself but I try not to judge.

 

[LIVINRFANTASIES]

Denny

Heh! Good one.
But, nah. He's done this for... uh... almost a decade I guess since I first encountered him under another name. He gets bored and gets a burr under his saddle and tosses out something minimalist and obscure to get people started discussing it.
And then he opens his trench coat and flashes everybody what he was really driving at.
just like to occasionally poke the badger by trying to steal his thunder early if I can catch it in the first response or two.
(you can tell when I manage because he wanders off and starts a different thread)

The scary part is we used to live less than 120 miles from him. Thinking of J with his trenchcoat open is mind boggling.

I don't see anything particularly newbie about story notes. It's their decision and it looks like a common enough practice. Not a fan of it myself but I try not to judge.

In many of our stories I add an introductory note explaining some things for those readers who skip earlier stories. In a sense most are a sort of a serial diary.

 

[49greg]

My 'notes' are my copyright notice and the standard fiction disclaimer.

They don't work. My stories still get stolen with the copyright notice attached, and some readers don't understand the concept of fiction...

Same here. All of what Ogg said.

 

[sr71plt]

and some readers don't understand the concept of fiction...

Which includes not understanding that "making an argument" isn't a necessary element of a short story.

 

[ElectricBlue]

I think there sometimes is an enriching note on a story that isn't part of the content of the story.

Agree. The one time I put an explanatory comment ahead of a story, I was actually contacted by the person I mentioned (an anon commentator to another story), and the story is now substantially improved as a consequence of her advice. She got a cameo in a subsequent chapter, as a thank you.