DOBBY! Or Bean.

I should apply myself to Community. Jelton! Brannie! Brang! Trabed! Anabroy! Sheff! Abiers! Pieritta!

This interview with Lev Grossman might have been linked before, but I just saw it today so I wanted to share. It's from August, and talks specifically about fan fiction.

I am currently in awe of writers who can write a short story, who can take an idea and distill it to its sum parts.

I don't understand it, I don't get the why of it, how they choose to pick a certain point in time and are able to end it in a timely manner.

I am working on my own story, and despair of anyone wanting to stick through the enormity of it. I just can't comprehend a neat and tidy short story. That's got to be so much self control and foresight and self-editing.

My hat is off to you.

Ha! I looked at the start of my Rolling Calf fic again and I have no idea how it got so long or how to fix it.

And then I looked at the "drabble" (I'm a traditionalist, drabbles are only 100 words) I wrote during it, and it's so much more pleasing to me. I'd rather write short than long, but it's not like I'm going to publish the short story, because I get so disappointed with low word counts when I'm reading.

I know everyone does not like RPF, but the Third Monday challenge revealed today and I can't say enough good things about what I got. Jon Stewart/Anthony Weiner [link] My own story(About Keith and Rachel, natch) [link]

Is there a way, on AO3, to leave a note for a writer that's not a public comment? I keep hitting "If you're interlacing your metacarpals, something has gone horribly wrong. I think you mean phalanges." "No, violin fingerings are done with the left hand." kinds of technical knowledge things that I feel bad putting out there in front of everyone.

No, Debetesse, although if you can track down the writer on LJ/DW you might be able to send them an email or PM.

I poked around for all of three minutes, and, geez, you're right, there doesn't seem to be a way to convey a private message to an author short of "pssst, this is my email, I'd like to discuss your fic with you" or even "loved your fic! But there's a few discrepancies that if you're willing to talk about, here's my email for the entire website to see!".

Because, even though I suck at giving feedback to fics, if there's some typos or whatnot that seriously bugs, I don't feel that's something I need to point out in general comments for all to see.

Maybe the site can fix that in the future with enough feedback? I don't know the landscape of fic archive sites well. But I know the discontent is there in LJ and several of my favourite authors have left for AO3 or Dreamwidth.

Fanfiction.net. It's the only way to be sure.