In which ratherastory worries about inconsequential things

[ratherastory]

So I realized that I have 37 SPN stories of varying lengths in my Master List up at the top of my LJ, and it's starting to get a bit unwieldy, especially since I have eight more stories lined up to be posted soonish (and others that I'm not counting yet).

As a result, I am thinking of trying to reorganize said list to be a bit more reader-friendly, so that people stopping by can get an idea of what they're getting into.

That being said, I am now waffling, because indecision is a way of life for me. So I am appealing to you, readers of this LJ, to weigh in with your opinion on what you like to see in Master Lists: what works for you, what sends you screaming into the night.

Help?

[Poll #1603212]

Comments

[saschi212.livejournal.com]

...But I do like to know those things still: long and short fic, season, and genre. Like the way you have it now but maybe with the length of the story listed as well? Really, though, the list is perfectly navigable as it is :)

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Hm.

I could definitely post wordcounts and such. Maybe just re-format the list a bit with a shortened version of each fic's header information.

Thanks for the input!

[roque-clasique.livejournal.com]

DAMN WOMAN THASSA LOTTA FIC.

Anyway -- I have a pretty disorganized list myself, but one thing I just did that I thought was a good idea, is I starred about 6 or 7 fics as "starter fics" for people first coming to my LJ. The ones I thought were best or most fun to read or whatever. Because for me the scariest thing is reading one story by an author, enjoying it, and then going to the LJ and being totally overwhelmed by fic and not knowing where the heck to start.

Other than that... I have no idea.

[primrose-1.livejournal.com]

OO! I like this idea. Otherwise, I have no other input to add. I can't organize my desk.

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

A lot of the fic is short: between 1,000 and 10,000 words. So it's not THAT much. I only have a handful of stories that come even close to being as long as the Drive 'Verse ones, for instance. Apparently my strength lies in short fiction.

I like your idea of "starter fic," but I'll be damned if I can think of which ones that would be. I'll have to give it some thought. Or maybe I'll be lazy and post another poll. ;)

[fuflowers.livejournal.com]

I like this idea, too!

One thing that always flusters me: finding an author/story that really pulls me in and then not knowing where to start once I find the master list...especially if one fic sets another up, intentionally or no, or plays on something that happened in a previous fic.

Also, I like to know, if it applies, where in the SPN "timeline" a story falls, or if it does.

[morganoconner.livejournal.com]

Heh. I don't feel qualified to answer this poll. I've tried every which way to keep my list organized, and it never...quite...works. I'm always unhappy with it one way or another, LOL.

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

I really like your summaries - they are often chatty and very helpful in setting expectations!

I also really like how roque_clasique has starred some of her 'classics' for the newbies. You have so many, too. It would be nice to know which you'd pick out as favorites.

What I really wish you might add is a word count category. Personally, I categorize my favorites in word count categories of <1.5K, 1.5-5K, 5K-10K, 10K-20K, and 20K+. Because when I'm looking for something to read, or re-read, I can ballpark how much time I have available to invest and can choose appropriately. But I wouldn't sort them on your master list that way - just include that data with the summaries.

Unsorted still works for me. Or sorted by posting date. (Is that how they appear now? In which case, identifying if newest ones are at the beginning or at the end is always helpful.)

Or consider creating a delicious.com list and tag them there?

Geek alert: I'm still working on my delicious.com favorites, and I have tags for word count, season posted, season story is set (with episode if specific), author, type of h/c (leg, blind, amnesia, dying, etc.), MOTW=, type= (AU, humor, etc.) and keyword=. Keyword= is any key word that will help me find it in a pinch. Like 'curtainfic' or 'apocalypse' or 'myTop10' or 'Xmas', etc.

I once wanted to find a favorite story where a book was damaged and this was a critical aspect of the story, so I checked my bookmarks for hurt=book, and sure enough - it was right there!

[dante-s-hell.livejournal.com]

This is a great idea. It sounds so well organized on Delicious. I guess you could just post a link to your Delicious account and people could sort it out from there.

I never thought of adding a word count, but you're right. It helps to manage your reading time.

Again, this sounds great.

[lavinialavender.livejournal.com]

As someone who loves perusing master lists of fic, no matter how you organize it, I really recommend listing the pairing (or fact that it's gen) along with the word count by every fic. Summaries (like you already have) are very handy too, so don't eliminate those. :)

[tifaching.livejournal.com]

I have my excessively unwieldy masterlist classified by genre, because those are the lists I find most helpful when I'm looking through somebody else's journal. I like the word count idea, it'd be good know going in how long the story is.

That being said, I like your list the way it is. It's simple, but the summaries rock and it's easy to navigate.

[dante-s-hell.livejournal.com]

It's great you offer summaries. That's something I don't do and I probably should. I also like the idea of word count because while I deal mostly in short fic, I seem to be writing longer ones lately.

Genre is a good idea, too. I definitely divide mine by slash and gen.

But isn't this a nice problem to have? You're quite prolific. You should be very proud.

[werty30.livejournal.com]

Separating by show seasons sounds best to me, and I`ve got a couple ideas for separating by genre/topic. Easiest: just write hurt/comfort above the list. Reader-friendly: hurt!Sam, hurt!Dean, etc. Quite a few people have a preferred "hurtee". Newsletter style: gen, slash, het. Hardcore: by type of inflicted pain. Torture, illness, so on.

[calamitycrow.livejournal.com]

not sure if you are interested? but this kitty can tell how to code your page so people can skip through sections if that helps?

my human's fic list is here, and thats how I broke it up a little to make it easier to navigate?

http://calamitycrow.dreamwidth.org/535.html?#cutid1

[ratherastory.livejournal.com]

Oh my God, YES PLEASE, KITTY!

I have been struggling forever to figure out the whole "skip" thing. I found a tutorial online but it may as well be in Greek. :P

[calamitycrow.livejournal.com]

just sent you a PM. :D tell this kitty if that's what you need? Or do I need to worry it some more?