How to conduct this discussion with Kevin

[administrator]

I just have a question to you all.

What do you prefer in terms of having an author here on the forum:

1. Just having one topic in a continuous stream of questions and answers, or

2. Having different people opening different topics.

Personally I think #1 works better as Kevin won't have to jump around between different topics, but I am not sure what the preferences are.

Please let me know.

Peter

[LaurieG]

I'm not keen on limiting us to only one topic, but I also don't know how you would keep multiple topics from becoming too unmanageable. Maybe you could give us a few topics and their guide words, such as Submitting, Work Habits, Characterization. (I'm not suggesting these topics, though they would be interesting, I'm just using them as an example.) Then each question and answer would open with the guide word so we knew which thread Kevin was answering.

That's one idea.

[Zaragon]

Hard to say before we get a sense of how many people will show up. If we’re assuming that it will be mostly forum regulars, I might prefer one thread, but if as many more show up, a single thread will get clogged quickly. So I think I’m going for option 2, perhaps with an added note for everyone to see whether a question would fit in an existing topic before posting, if necessary.

[BrennanHarvey]

I just have a question to you all.

What do you prefer in terms of having an author here on the forum:
1. Just having one topic in a continuous stream of questions and answers, or
2. Having different people opening different topics.

I also would prefer #1. K.D. mentioned quite a few times that she missed questions. I can't help but think format #2 had something to do with that.

I will, however, miss the segregation of topics in the folder. But if it makes our guest's time here easier, I'm willing to put up with that.

[administrator]

Thanks, guys.

Maybe we can have one MAIN topic and then allow a maximum of 5 other topics (obviously that's just an arbitrary number) in order to keep it manageable.

I'm about to announce it to all the WOTF newsletter subscribers as well, so I think we'll have a bigger crowd!

Probably need to think about it a bit more.

Peter

[jloonam]

Meeting with an author online is little different than in person, as far as the purposes and exchanges go. I think the writers' conference model might be worth considering. Essentially, one area of a conference is a presentation by the author, informal or formal. The other is the question and answer period. In an online conference, I perceive the presentation thread being a prompt for discussion of the main topic. A rubric for participation in that thread might then be stay on the author's topic, no digressions. A second thread might be an open forum for questions, digressions allowed.

[administrator]

Thanks everybody for their input.

From this I got an idea, that might work for this discussion. It goes back to what Laurie suggested on having a few main themes that are being discussed and what John said about having one MAIN thread.

What, if we had 5 threads, of which one is the MAIN thread with general Q&A and then we have 4 others which cover certain subjects specifically.

Here is a suggestion:

1. General Questions & Answers
2. Work Habit
3. Characterization
4. Submitting to the Contest
5. Building a plot

We just stick to these 5 threads. We can still change out any between #2-5. Now is the time. Let me know.

Peter

[jloonam]

The sole queries I've prepared derive from what I've been struggling with over the last several months. Who's your target audience and what techniques do you use to establish reader resonance? So I guess it'll compete for attention in the general Q & A thread. Notwithstanding, I'm content with the proposed protocols.

[The Writer]

I second.

[LaurieG]

Yes, I like this format and the topics.

[Zaragon]

Sounds good.

I haven't seen the WotF newsletter in a while, though, and the 24th is coming up soon.

[administrator]

Simon,

I am onto it. I'll come out shortly and yes, I have been very tied up on other projects. My apologies, really.

Peter