Area 51 » Professional

123

followers

Announcements

I'd like to lose "Book lovers" from the audience. It confuses the target subject matter and will lead to noise. – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:52

Because the questions that book lovers ask compared to those that authors/writers ask are completely different. One is about the creation of new written work, the other is about the appreciation of existing work. Just scan the questions suggested so far and its clear that the ones that one might expect book lovers to ask are being pushed aside. – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:59

... if you are not familiar with the SE Q&A Engine (judging by your profile) you will be surprised on how well it works at separating subjects. On stackoverflow, there are millions of programmers, and it's very easy to track and participate in those languages or topics you're interested in! Stick around and find out! @dori – juanformoso Jun 16 '10 at 23:20

show 21 more announcements

55 Example Questions (8 closed)

active newest votes

up vote 21 down vote

added by MGOwen Jun 17 '10 at 2:40

up vote 20 down vote

added by juanformoso Jun 2 '10 at 0:18

This is yes/no; the rephrased "what online guides can help me get started writing?" may be too open-ended, but I'd tentatively accept it. – Roger Pate Jun 2 '10 at 18:22

@Roger, same with any question generally starting with Is there..., Are there.... – IAbstract Jun 6 '10 at 14:39

@dbo: And I'd edit all of them to actually ask what they really wanted to ask, if I had infinite time. (E.g. "what online guides can help me get started writing?") It makes a much better example, doesn't it? – Roger Pate Jun 6 '10 at 15:35

up vote 20 down vote

added by IAbstract Jun 3 '10 at 2:19

up vote 19 down vote

added by Rog Jun 2 '10 at 0:20

On-topic, though I think it would make a much better question (and be less of a poll) as "How can I self-publish and sell a short run of hardcopy books?" – Roger Pate Jun 5 '10 at 12:33

This is the highest-rated business of publishing question here. It's on topic, but I'm in two minds about whether this is core or incidental. Cf. area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/5093/… – Charles Stewart Jun 10 '10 at 13:38

up vote 19 down vote

added by Rog Jun 2 '10 at 0:21

up vote 17 down vote

added by justkt Jun 3 '10 at 13:09

Ideally it should be international magazines – juanformoso Jun 6 '10 at 14:07

I think you shouldn't waste one question with a particular case of this general one (now that they are very limited), they are both on topic (although the Texas one a bit too localized for my taste), but you should explore some other topic (imho) – juanformoso Jun 6 '10 at 14:39

@Juan: I'm inclined to agree with you, my (now deleted) question doesn't add enough distinction. – Roger Pate Jun 9 '10 at 18:57

up vote 15 down vote

added by J. Pablo Fernández Jun 19 '10 at 23:50

I think many aspiring writers (and established writers) run into this and getting input from various people would be great. – mbowles Jun 21 '10 at 11:39

up vote 7 down vote

added by Jim Jun 18 '10 at 23:28

up vote 7 down vote

added by Gordon Gustafson Jun 22 '10 at 22:41

up vote 5 down vote

added by Jim Jun 18 '10 at 23:24

NaGE: Weaker, more complex sibling of area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1623/writing/… – Charles Stewart Jul 1 '10 at 15:17

up vote 4 down vote

added by Jim Jun 18 '10 at 23:31

up vote 3 down vote

added by Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 19:43

While I agree that this site should provide such help, I am worried that leaving something as vague as this on-topic will result in a large number of questions with similar and nature undescriptive titles. – Emory Bell Jun 26 '10 at 15:26

up vote 3 down vote

added by JSBձոգչ Jun 16 '10 at 19:55

up vote 3 down vote

added by Jim Jun 18 '10 at 23:25

up vote 3 down vote

added by MatthewMartin Jun 24 '10 at 2:15

up vote 2 down vote

added by Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 19:40

Why isn't that a good example? – Aaron Digulla Jun 16 '10 at 21:10

up vote 2 down vote

added by Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 19:44

I guess the person who gets to post that question will collect more points in any category than anyone else :-) Maybe the site admin should post it beforehand and then disable visit counts, votes, and everything else or he'll end up like John Skeet II ;-) – Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 19:45

up vote 2 down vote

added by Charles Stewart Jun 15 '10 at 10:05

Isn't this part of the writing process and entirely suitable for professional authors and editors? Use of tools in ways specific to "writing professions" should be on-topic, just like many questions about programming-specific uses of IDEs and text editors are on-topic at SO. – Roger Pate Jun 15 '10 at 19:35

I agree. This is perfectly on-topic for this site, and should be marked as such. IMHO After Writing is redundant with this proposal (and this one has much more momentum). – JSBձոգչ Jun 17 '10 at 1:19

up vote 2 down vote

added by Jonathan Campbell Jun 17 '10 at 3:36

up vote 2 down vote

added by Jim Jun 18 '10 at 23:27

up vote 2 down vote

added by Preets Jul 1 '10 at 9:51

+1 Excellent question. – Charles Stewart Jul 1 '10 at 15:13

up vote 2 down vote

added by Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 14:20

up vote 1 down vote

added by justkt Jun 3 '10 at 13:09

subjective, but appropriate for community wiki. Answers would be filled with some of the greatest story openings ever, something I would consider to be constructive to an aspiring writer. – Mike Sherov Jun 3 '10 at 22:55

Too open-ended, would result in several hundred answers, which really isn't very useful to anyone. Nearly a poll question ("What's your favorite first line?"). Would be done much better in a different medium than Q&A. – Roger Pate Jun 5 '10 at 12:21

I think it would be better to ask what styles and techniques have been used. You're also asking that every entry be properly referenced. – IAbstract Jun 6 '10 at 14:29

Edited as @dboarman-FissureStudios suggested (I think) – justkt Jun 7 '10 at 12:15

sounds from the comments like most people think this is "not a good example" even though they voted "great on-topic example" – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:54

show 2 more improvement suggestions

up vote 1 down vote

added by Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 18:40

	I think this is on topic (no votes left) – juanformoso Jun 13 '10 at 19:30
	It'll have to one that uses live people because the others are rarely good... – Gordon Gustafson Jun 22 '10 at 22:38

up vote 1 down vote

added by MGOwen Jun 17 '10 at 2:41

up vote 1 down vote

added by Jonathan Campbell Jun 17 '10 at 3:43

I'd imagine it's because he/she wants to have full page art on every other page. – Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 14:27

up vote 1 down vote

added by Jonathan Campbell Jun 17 '10 at 3:44

up vote 1 down vote

added by Gordon Gustafson Jun 29 '10 at 20:37

up vote 1 down vote

added by George Stocker Jun 30 '10 at 19:22

	Hi! I would recommend not adding new questions and voting on the most voted one. We are only 2 on-topic questions away from commitment! – juanformoso Jun 30 '10 at 19:33
	@Juan: Only one now, but I really like only 2 of the qns with 15+ up votes. Maybe it's not such a bad thing to spend a bit longer in the definition phase, and allow more of the less up-voted qns a chance to trickle up. The proposal is still attracting new members: 4 more in the last 24hrs. – Charles Stewart Jul 1 '10 at 15:24
	@Charles, yes, I don't see anything wrong with that, you're right... keep in mind though, that the real definition of the site happens in the beta, and all questions are viewable in the commitment phase – juanformoso Jul 1 '10 at 15:33

up vote 1 down vote

added by Preets Jul 1 '10 at 9:48

Sounds like a good on-topic to me. Any reason someone voted NaGE? – MGOwen Jul 2 '10 at 5:00

up vote 0 down vote

added by juanformoso Jun 2 '10 at 0:15

closed as off topic by Maxim Zaslavsky, Jeff Yates, Robert Cartaino, Aaron Digulla, Gelatin Jun 16 '10 at 15:22

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

I don't think I want to see everyone's opinion on Stephen King's best books, but if the question was "What books has Stephen King written?", then I'd say it belongs. – Roger Pate Jun 7 '10 at 0:55

Well, what books he has written is easy to find. I wouldn't rule out a little discussion but that's just my opinion @rog – juanformoso Jun 7 '10 at 1:27

But shouldn't that discussion be individual questions about a specific book ("How did [character development] achieve [whatever] in [King's Carrie ]?" is more specific) or be lightly done in comments? Extremely broad discussion questions shouldn't belong, I think. @jua – Roger Pate Jun 7 '10 at 19:02

I would make this on-topic, esp. if the question were What are some of his/her books? - I have no votes left. – IAbstract Jun 7 '10 at 22:59

@dbo: That's the difference I tried to point out, "What are [author's] books?" vs "What are [author's] best books?" I'd also vote on-topic for the former, yet off-topic on the latter and this question. I don't think you can easily edit one into the other: if someone includes "best", they probably mean it and are off-topic as extremely broad discussion. – Roger Pate Jun 7 '10 at 23:02

show 1 more improvement suggestion

up vote 0 down vote

added by Rog Jun 2 '10 at 0:21

closed as off topic by Maxim Zaslavsky, Jeff Yates, Charles Stewart, Robert Cartaino, Aaron Digulla Jun 13 '10 at 18:35

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

	This seems more suitable to book makers than writers. Off topic. – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:56
	This would be within scope for After Writing, area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/5093/… – Charles Stewart Jun 15 '10 at 9:39
	This proposal would cover "after" writing, it hasn't an scope defined, it's for writing in all its stages – juanformoso Jun 15 '10 at 11:11
	@Juan: Book-binding is not something writers usually do, or need to have knowledge of. Do you take writing to be anything to do with the making things that are later read? – Charles Stewart Jun 15 '10 at 11:42
	@charles, perhaps you're right and I'm missing something. Who does the binding in the process of making a book? (by "process" I mean from having the idea, to writing, to selling/distributing it). I ask because I don't know... – juanformoso Jun 15 '10 at 13:15

up vote 0 down vote

added by Artemis Jun 28 '10 at 0:53

	Are you getting at what books about the process of writing, or books to inspire/inform you by example? – JohnFx Jun 28 '10 at 16:04
	Agreed, redo this question clarifying whether it's books about writing or examples of good books within the target genre – MGOwen Jun 29 '10 at 1:18

up vote 0 down vote

added by David Thornley Jun 29 '10 at 4:42

I hope you're not generating your plots with software. – JSBձոգչ Jun 29 '10 at 15:34

@JS Bangs: I think he means tools for organizing plots, not software that creates random (or otherwise) plots. – Randolpho Jun 29 '10 at 17:36

up vote 0 down vote

added by Gordon Gustafson Jun 29 '10 at 20:33

up vote 0 down vote

added by way0utwest Jun 29 '10 at 22:23

up vote 0 down vote

added by Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 14:25

	NaGE: Weaker sibling of area51.stackexchange.com/proposals/1623/writing/… – Charles Stewart Jul 1 '10 at 15:25
	@Charles Stewart: I completely disagree. In one you're talking about the relative merits of first person as a narrative device (which is horribly broad), and in the other you're talking about the mechanics of writing in a voice other than your own. – Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 21:54
	I wouldn't call it NaGE, just don't vote on it, but it's on subject I think – juanformoso Jul 1 '10 at 23:33
	@Sat: "Horribly broad" - would you go so far as to NaGE the sibling example? No one has, I note. @Juan: I'm fairly ruthless about overlapping questions. Only the fittest should survive. – Charles Stewart Jul 2 '10 at 3:28
	I agree with that puppy over there. This is a totally different question. – MGOwen Jul 2 '10 at 5:03

show 1 more improvement suggestion

up vote 0 down vote

added by Satanicpuppy Jul 1 '10 at 14:26

up vote -1 down vote

added by juanformoso Jun 2 '10 at 0:13

closed as off topic by Charles Stewart, Jeff Yates, JohnFx, David Thornley, Walter Mundt Jun 25 '10 at 16:12

This question does not relate to the topic of the proposal.
It was closed as part of an automated migration of off-topic to close votes on September 29, 2011.

up vote -1 down vote

added by juanformoso Jun 2 '10 at 0:23

This is too subjective and argumentative: not a good example – Jeff Yates Jun 10 '10 at 12:53

+1, I can imagine good answers like links to research or other useful info. Subjective or argumentative answers would just be down-voted as usual. – MGOwen Jun 17 '10 at 2:39