The Future of Sherlock60

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

We're heading towards the end of Round 4 and thesmallhobbit and I thought it might be a good idea to put up a discussion post about sherlock60's future. We definitely want it to have a future but we also think it’s time to give it a revamp.

So, I’m going to list some points here and whether you’re already been posting, you’ve just been reading along or you’ve been considering joining in, if you’re interested in what’s going to be happening in the comm after we come to the end of this round, we’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions.


1. Canon Discussion Post: I have been involved in some very interesting discussions over the years but it has to be said this post gets the least attention out of the various comm activities, and a lot of discussions about the week’s story often happen naturally under the 60s and on the poetry page anyway.

So, thesmallhobbit has come up with an excellent suggestion to rejig the discussion post. Instead of discussing the week’s story directly we could pick a theme connected to the story. For example, with BLUE we could look at the Victorian Christmas, for SPEC we could look at exotic animals in canon, for SOLI we could look at the craze for bicycles, and so on.

How do you feel about this? Is there something else you’d like to do instead?


2. Poetry Page: We both want to keep Mrs. Hudson’s poetry page. It’s turned out to be quite popular and a lot of fun. But even though I have consulted with Mrs. Hudson (^^”), I must admit I haven’t actually come up with any thoughts regarding revamping it.

Is there anything you’d like changed or added? Anything in particular you’d like to try regarding poetry?


3. Reading Schedule: So far we’ve had R1: alphabetical order, R2: Baring-Gould chronological order, R3: the ones thesmallhobbit needed to do, the ones scfrankles needed to do, followed by the ones scfrankles had already done (er, this is probably not one to repeat...), R4: published order.

Is there a particular order you’d like to go in for Round 5—either a new order or repeating one we’ve had before?


4. Any other thoughts and suggestions?



As well as discussing sherlock60, there’s something else we’d like to talk about.

thesmallhobbit and I are planning on setting up a sister comm, for all forms of microfiction. Or rather a little brother comm: it’s going to be called Holmes Minor (holmes_minor), the subtitle being: a playground for little fics and poetry.

This comm would still be dedicated to the ACD Sherlock Holmes ‘verse but we wouldn’t be concentrating on individual ACD stories—we’d just be writing in the ACD Holmes ‘verse in general. And all kinds of microfiction would be welcome, not just 60s. Forms like 6 word stories, 55s, drabbles, double drabbles and 221Bs. Or just anything that had a word count up to 500 words. And as it says in the subtitle, poetry would be welcome too. Our initial idea is that we might have monthly prompts.

Would you be interested in joining us in this new comm?

Comments

[godsdaisiechain.livejournal.com]

I have not been a super frequent contributor but here are thoughts.

Overall: Yeah you for doing this. It's fabulous.

1. I think that the canon discussions don't do justice to the amount of time and effort that you clearly put into setting them up. The theme idea sounds great to me. Much less work to set up and probably equal opportunity for comment (or maybe more as it's hard to respond to every one of the excellent points you raise).

2. I love looking at the poetry page, but I am bad at poetry because writing it muddles my brain.

3. Schedule. I wandered in during S3, I think. It was fine for me because of the muddled brain (see point 2) ... but I struggled with the novel weeks... it's a lot of reading and I tend to get bogged down in the cool Victorian details--because they are fascinating--so maybe spreading out the novels a bit more and taking a closer look at one theme in a chapter?

I love the idea of the little sibling comm.... would these be linked in some way? Maybe a sort of 'parent' page so people can find everything?

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

All sorts of poetry is welcome, so even if you don't feel particularly confident it doesn't matter. Some of mine are decidedly dodgy. And there's always the opportunity to write a 221B, first line two words, second line two words, third line one word, last line one word beginning with B.

I'm sure we could spread the novels out a bit - I think we all tend to pick on one aspect of the story when writing our 60, when there's plenty to choose from.

Delighted you like the idea of the sibling comm.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

1. Glad you like Small Hobbit's suggestion of themes for the discussion post. I think it'll work well ^^ (And thank you for the kind words about the current discussion posts ^^)

2. I echo Small Hobbit's point about all sorts of poetry being welcome. I think the joy of the poetry page is that it's so informal. Some of us are poets, some of us aren't - I'm certainly not a poet myself. But it doesn't matter because we're just putting the poems in the comments - we're not actually posting them. And they lead to some interesting little conversations about the story itself.

3. Yes, R4 was a bit muddled all told ^^ At the outset Small Hobbit and I weren't quite sure if we were just running the comm to give me a chance to finish all my 60s, or if we were running it permanently.

Spreading the novels out might be a good idea - maybe STUD over 2 weeks, SIGN over 3, and HOUN and VALL over 3 or 4? And making sure they aren't next to each other in the schedule.

Glad you're keen on the idea of the new comm ^^ Re the link: I haven't spoken to Small Hobbit about this but I assume we would just mention Holmes Minor on sherlock60's profile page and vice versa.

[okapi1895.livejournal.com]

1. I support the theme idea instead of the discussion page.
2. Do you know what kind of poem you're going to be doing before Sunday? I'm not talking about having an example or one already done, just the name of the type of poem. If it's too much stress or work, then just forget about it, but if you know by Thursday what you're going to do, just maybe mention it in the reminder.
3. I'm of no opinion except I don't want to do the reverse of what we just did so that we go back over the recent ones.
I'm on board for the minor comm.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I think that's a great idea about specifying the kind of poem in advance - although since that's Frankles department I'm not really in a position to say anything. It would certainly help those who wanted to try out the 'poem of the week' - those of us who stare vaguely at the story and then think 'that'll fit' will carry on as we always have.

Delighted you like the idea of the minor comm.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

1. Another vote for the themes! ^^

2. I don't always know the poetry form by Thursday, I must admit. Sometimes I find a form early in the week; sometimes it's Saturday before I settle on one.

But giving members warning of the form in the Thursday intro post is an excellent idea. I won't commit myself completely yet, but I will say for the moment that from now on, if I know for certain what form I'm using on Sunday, I will mention in the intro. Hopefully I will then get into the routine of definitely finding a suitable form early in the week.

3. That's a very good point - whatever order we pick, we don't want to be immediately going over recent stories.

And very pleased you'll be with us in the new comm ^_^

[laurose8.livejournal.com]

I'd certainly be glad to be allowed into your new comm - ooh, shiny!

suggestion only: the B-G order strikes me as a good one, and if you know of any disagreements against his order, you could rearrange to suit them, and have (Reformed) in brackets.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

You will be very welcome at the new comm. Lots of shiny to play with.

Reformed B-G sounds like a good idea - that way it will be a while before we reach the stories we've just done.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

It is exciting - the thought of a shiny new comm ^_^

The B-G order might be an interesting one to revisit. Small Hobbit has done it all the way through but I joined the comm towards the end of that schedule. And the rest of the regulars won't have done it at all of course.

I do know of another timeline (http://www.sherlockpeoria.net/Who_is_Sherlock/SherlockTimeline.html) on Sherlock Peoria - by Brad Keefauver. It's radically different to the B-G one in places. It might be worth trying that one instead.

[garonne.livejournal.com]

I haven't been a contributor here at all, only a reader, so I'm not at all qualified to comment! I'm sure I'll enjoy reading the next round of fic and poetry, whatever form it takes.

What I will say is that I love the idea of discussing themes related to each story.

(By the way, I read a lot of non-fiction about the Victorian era, and I could probably come up with a few quick "Did you know?"-type interesting facts about various themes for getting the discussion started, if that can be useful at all? If not, or if you've already got a different format in mind, then never mind!)

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Everyone's qualified to comment! We're very happy to have readers as well as writers. I'm delighted you like the idea of discussing themes - it does seem to be a popular suggestion.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

We really want as many people as possible to comment - anyone who has an interest in the comm ^_^

By the way, I read a lot of non-fiction about the Victorian era, and I could probably come up with a few quick "Did you know?"-type interesting facts about various themes for getting the discussion started, if that can be useful at all?

That sounds absolutely wonderful ^_^ Small Hobbit and I hadn't come up with anything definite regarding using the themes yet. I was thinking of maybe finding pictures and articles I could link to, and doing a bit of research so I could write a paragraph or two. But your format sounds perfect.

How would you want to work it? I take it you wouldn't want to do every theme, every week.

I was planning on choosing the themes week by week in consultation with Small Hobbit but would you prefer us to come up with a few themes in advance before we start Round 5? Or would you like to suggest the themes that interest you and we could meet you halfway and try and match them to stories? Or perhaps I could send you the weekly theme a week or fortnight ahead, and any that took your fancy you could do some facts for?

Incidentally, Small Hobbit and I would always take the final responsibility for producing a discussion post - there would be no pressure on you to come up with something. If you don't mind, perhaps we could pinch your "Did you know?" format for all the discussion posts - whether you're supplying the facts that week or not?

[alafaye]

I would love to have themes; much as I love the era, I lack knowledge about it.

I'm new to reading all the stories -- only joined in this round -- and it's finally gotten me to read them (I've had the collected editions for only a few years now...) I'd love to read them in their chronological order, but I'll read them in whatever order is voted for.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Another vote for themes! ^_^ ...much as I love the era, I lack knowledge about it. And I know what you mean - I'm still learning all kinds of things about the Victorian era ^^"

I think we may have to have another post to discuss the order for Round 5 - a poll might be a good idea. The Brad Keefauver chronological order is interesting but a bit odd in places. And, well, the Baring-Gould has its oddities too but I'm mainly worried that we'd have VALL and then 3 stories later we'd have SIGN, immediately followed by HOUN. But that might be OK with everyone if we take a bit longer to read the individual novels, rather than try to get through each one in a fortnight.

[tweedisgood.livejournal.com]

Worn out the 60 for 60 format myself, but would be interested in the microfiction comm.

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Hooray! Look forward to seeing you there.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

I'm so thrilled that you're interested in Holmes Minor ^_^

[debriswoman]

Hi...many thanks for your detailed post

1/ please add my vote to the themes notion.

2/delighted that you wish to keep the poetry page...not sure how to revamp.... It seems to work well as it is.

3/ no major thoughts on schedule, beyond what has been suggested already.

4/ I would be interested in Holmes Minor...would suit my usual length and style of fics, appreciate poetry being included...you are working very hard here...and I can think of a few others who might actively participate.

Thanks for this, and the effort, thought and time expended so far:-)

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

The suggestion of discussing themes seems very popular, so I imagine we'll be going with it. And I'm sure the poetry page will remain much as it is, we were curious to see if anyone had any particular suggestions - we'll no doubt repeat the forms, rather than continue to find new ones.

Delighted you'll be joining us at the new comm. Do please spread the word when it's launched.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Thanks for commenting - obviously your opinions are pretty important to us ^^"

1. Like Small Hobbit said - it looks like we're probably going with the themes! ^^

2. Again, like SH says - I'll probably revisit some forms, though I wouldn't like to rule out finding some new ones too ^^ But there are some forms I'd really like to have another go at myself - and I wouldn't necessarily have to use the same forms for the same stories. And maybe I could come up with some optional extra little challenges on top of using the week's form.

3. Some kind of chronological order looks like it might be a good idea. But we don't have to decide yet.

4. I'm so pleased you like the sound of Holmes Minor ^_^ We thought it was time we expanded our horizons a bit.

...would suit my usual length and style of fics, appreciate poetry being included... It's funny - a few years ago when I was concentrating mainly on six word stories, I was greatly resistant to them being referred to as "poems". I always insisted they were prose. But now I am aware there is a great deal of common ground between microfiction and poetry - I think they go together naturally.

I can think of a few others who might actively participate. We're really hoping that the comm appeals to as many people as possible ^_^

[gardnerhill.livejournal.com]

I've been having a blast doing these, and appreciate your hard work.

Any change that makes this easier for you will be gratefully accepted.

And count me in on a new comm!

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

We're delighted you're enjoying taking part - and equally delighted you will be joining our new comm.

[scfrankles.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much for your kind words - it's really been a thrill having a writer of your calibre participating. And like Small Hobbit, I'm so pleased you'll be joining us at Holmes Minor ^_^

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Hello! Firstly, congratulations on the exciting new plans for this and your new sister comm, and thank you so much for creating such a fun and friendly place to share love for the canon stories! I've had a lovely time this year dropping by to enjoy everyone's creations <3

Regarding the questions you are soliciting feedback about, I don't have a lot to add, but I guess I will be the lone voice to say: I will miss the discussion posts :) Maybe once you switch to the theme posts, it might be worth adding a line at the bottom saying something like: "If you'd like to discuss the Doyle story or any related aspects outside this week's theme, feel free to post your thoughts"? That would spare you the need to come up with discussion questions related to the story, but if someone has a reaction, thought, theory, fic rec, 'my favorite adaptation of this was X,' or any other contribution, the thread could still be open for that?

I agree that the poetry page doesn't need revamping, but if you'd like, it might be fun to find an existing poem out there each week that plays into the themes or characters of the ACD story. I would be happy to volunteer to search around for poems to contribute, if that sounds fun.

Hope you have a lovely week!

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

I'm delighted you enjoy dropping in to this comm and hope you will continue to do so, as well as visiting our new comm.

I'm sure it would be possible to include comments on the particular story in the new style discussion post. Since the themes should tie in with the story this should be no problem.

The poetry page is the responsibility of my esteemed co-mod and Mrs Hudson, so I shall leave that to them, but I do like your suggestion.