I'm not sure what caused it to die, but the thing that drove me away (far before the stories stopped coming) was the one-upmanship that kept happening.
Granted this most likely wasn't intentional, And I have a hard time seeing how IFF can solve this problem. So let me lay it out as best I can.
Each writer enjoys the story so far and wants to improve on it. The problem is that without a grand overarching plot nailed down ahead of time* it is very hard to keep the flow of a story going. There are parts that need to be cool-down sections (either emotional, action, or plot wise) you can't constantly build and build without breaking something.
And that something almost always tented to be my enjoyment of the story.
For a perfect example of this see: Magical Girl Hunters, it starts out as a very entertaining take on the classical magical girl trope and ends up places that most ranma fanfics don't reach.
I realize that nailing down a Grand Overarching Storyline goes against a lot of what IFF is about. But time and time again I started a reading a story there only to totally lose interest around chapter 35 as it spiraled out of control.
The only possible solution I could see (and i have no idea if this is currently in place or not) would be to have an upcoming-author only section of the site where plot lines could be discussed and hashed out ahead of time. The validity of this idea is untested due to inexperience in
large group writing projects.
* See eyrie productions for a totally gonzo approach to this, They have things planned out so far in advance that references made in SotS:part 1 don't really hit home until part 4. This is not saying that everyone needs to plan this far in advance, just that great things can come from doing so.-Terry
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"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
Granted this most likely wasn't intentional, And I have a hard time seeing how IFF can solve this problem. So let me lay it out as best I can.
Each writer enjoys the story so far and wants to improve on it. The problem is that without a grand overarching plot nailed down ahead of time* it is very hard to keep the flow of a story going. There are parts that need to be cool-down sections (either emotional, action, or plot wise) you can't constantly build and build without breaking something.
And that something almost always tented to be my enjoyment of the story.
For a perfect example of this see: Magical Girl Hunters, it starts out as a very entertaining take on the classical magical girl trope and ends up places that most ranma fanfics don't reach.
I realize that nailing down a Grand Overarching Storyline goes against a lot of what IFF is about. But time and time again I started a reading a story there only to totally lose interest around chapter 35 as it spiraled out of control.
The only possible solution I could see (and i have no idea if this is currently in place or not) would be to have an upcoming-author only section of the site where plot lines could be discussed and hashed out ahead of time. The validity of this idea is untested due to inexperience in
large group writing projects.
* See eyrie productions for a totally gonzo approach to this, They have things planned out so far in advance that references made in SotS:part 1 don't really hit home until part 4. This is not saying that everyone needs to plan this far in advance, just that great things can come from doing so.-Terry
------
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint Exupery
The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself?
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy