On Mon, Feb 09, 1998 at 01:04:46PM -0800, Free mage wrote:

As most readers don't read all fanfics, the votes are likely to be 

skewed

toward popular series. Good fics based on obscure or unpopular animes 

are

likely to be overlooked -- and we'd have to endure another round of
complaints about it. :-P

Right on the money.  That's why this award made more sense, as does the 
suggested Non-Ranma award, to eliminate that bias.

 
Except that they don't.  

The "best overall fanfic" award would be horribly biased towards fanfics
based on popular series, and, for the "non-Ranma" award, some other series
will become a "virtual Ranma", so to speak.  (I suspect it would be Sailor 
Moon, somehow.)
 

Here's a modest suggestion: Let's just agree to eliminate ALL the 

awards.

Let's stop vying over whose fic is better than whose, and get on with 

the

business of trying to make ALL of our fics the best they can be.

Hmmmm...I see your point, but....  

   The awards do serve a valid purpose.  Highlighting examples of 
excellence can provide a valuable roadmap to starting authors.  While I 
can understand the "make ALL of our fics the best they can be" attitude, 
in practical terms, I find it unpragmatic.  The awards provide the FF 
community with the opportunity to say, "Here is what we are looking 
for."

Several points here:

- What do these awards measure?  Do they measure merit, or popularity? 
Popularity is not necessarily a good indication of merit.  In fact, if the
typical network television fare is any indication, popularity is often
_inversely_ proportional to merit.  So, was Hearts of Ice really the best
fanfic of 1997?  I think that these awards only qualify us to say maybe.

- I question whether slavishly following the desires of the fanfic reading
community is any way to achieve excellence.  I point again to the typical
network-TV drivel...
 

Now, to prevent my being misunderstood, I want to make it clear that I 
am NOT suggesting that writers "ape" the style of the winning authors.  

I should _hope_ not... :)

However, reading fics like those that won this competition can help give 
an author an understanding of how a work "feels" when it's working.

This may be true, but good fics are generally praised in forums like the
FFML anyways.  There seems to be little need for awards.

(Hey!  I'm actually agreeing with Gary.  Something must be seriously wrong
here... :) 

-- 

- Sean Connor (sec@frodo.com)

	Tao doesn't make a fuss, and gets things done.
	If only politicians were able to do this,
	all would be well by itself.

		-Tao te Ching, Verse 37