Went down poorly on the ML Shall I post it here? I will, this time, add warnings.

tengu, i enjoyed reading it and couldn't really tell what the complaints were about. can you please enlighten me on what caused offense, either here or msg me privately. i was however looking forward on you following on from the fallout of the eagles deflowering and his love for the swan

Thats a very long list.... Members of `Bird Go` commented carefully. I suggest you have a read Other people said they like it...your not the only one. Your right, though, there is more....and its dark

The problem was that it went into everyone's mailbox. The ML is a Mailing List. As in, the contents go to email boxes, which might be read at work or public libraries or other places. Some employers (including the one my father worked) will talk to you nicely, then remove internet access. If it happens again, it's your job. Public libraries have big signs up -- don't read controversial material or you lose access. It has nothing at all to do with whether the members liked the fic or not. There's a lot that I like to read that would not be allowed at the library or at work. Some sites and lists are not all-ages. Members know not to check them while at work or the library. The ML is quite clear that it's an all-ages group. Safe to read anywhere. The ML still lets you share controversial material. You post it to the files and advertise it, with warnings, to the list. That way, it's the reader's choice to wait until they're in a better location before downloading the file and reading it. Cricket (aka Sandy)

I forgot that, didnt I?

well i hope your not going to keep us in suspense, like you said it was enjoyed by quite a few. I can understand the reasoning behind some of the complaints if they were to be seen by underage eyes i guess, its not something i actively think about, but never minding that, even when i am at work and occassionally check emails i don't ever READ any of my digests at work, it simply would take up to much productive time for my employer and that would be something they could complain about in my mind. I only monitor my emails to see if there is anything that urgently needs my viewing, ie a family email. Personal is for personal time. Am i the only one with this attitude or do you all have permissable access to internet at your jobs?

`Work`? Whats that? I think my mother would have let me read it, since it was humour (and her sense of humour was very like mine) but she was often a very prudish person and no doubt would have done her nut over a lot of the adult fic we write

i know what you mean.... god help society if my mother or even my father read some of the black lace books i own, i got enough of a lecture for having the video "Nine and a half Weeks", they deemed it, after watching it of course, as degrading to women......they watched it before i even had... Or help it even more if they ever read the story i just posted in the rubber room.....hehehhehe, with required warnings even though i have posted it in the 'safest" place in here

Lots of folks check their personal email at work, especially at noon hour or over supper if they're staying late. It's a perk. Hubby has a few email addresses. One for his nagging wife and other friends. One for customers and coworkers. One for business-related news groups (which they're encouraged to check while at work; one group often saves him hours, and his company expects him to return the favour by helping others on that board), and one for fun stuff. Dad's coworker got a nice note from MIS about his browsing; turns out "inflatable" from "inflatable rafts" tripped a flag. Doesn't matter whether he read it or not; it went through the company's system to reach his desk. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed.

i guess in office type jobs it may be more alloweable. I just know that at my place of work, a car dealership, until recently i had to use a back door to access internet explorer as it wasn't a listed program but with a windows update tag i was able to But even then i've had to ask if i can use it when my home connection was down just so i could do my banking.. some people have all the luck

Im giving up on fic writing anyway

It's your decision, but I thought that I'd mention that a great deal of famous authors are shot down before getting published. Look at Dr. Seuss. It took a ridiculous amount of rejections before he was finally accepted. Publishers thought his writing was terrible. The whole episode with the ML is that people were afraid of it getting checked when it went through the system at their places of employment (and yes, it can be read even if the employee doesn't read it). Usually this is an easy problem to solve: don't check personal e-mail at work. Don't have it sent to that address. But the ML is supposed to be work friendly (in that if it's checked for offensive things, it won't be found). That's why in the rules for the list, they ask that anything that could be possibly found to be offensive to employers, not the readers, be placed in the files section and a notice, complete with warning, posted in the messages section. People most likely complained about this procedure not being followed, not the story itself. Unfortunately for you, it boiled the entire issue of the story down to procedure, not the story itself. The next portion has spoilers concerning the story, so if you haven't read it yet, you are warned! Now, I'm not a very good creative writer. Anything I *do* write is kept to myself. I will say, however, that your story has a *lot* of potential, in my opinion. I think the main thing it needs is some fleshing out. Give more details in various circumstances - like the whole situation with Anderson. Instead of just telling us that he surrendered and wouldn't tell G-Force why, give us that information in the form of a couple of scenes. The surrendering could be a prologue in its entirety. The team's confrontation with him could be an entire chapter. They don't have to be *that* long, but that's how much they could be fleshed out. Pretty much every scene could be fleshed out a little. That doesn't mean it needs to be graphic, but it could have a bit more to it. I think that's the whole of the issue others had with it, simplified. I know one of the problems in my writing is that I expect the audience to be able to read my mind as to what's fully going on. I have to force myself to show the whole of the situation - what the characters are feeling, reactions to events, events themselves. But never give up on something you love just because of difficulties with other people. Ask yourself if you enjoy it. Do you like the story? Are you satisfied with your works (even if you feel they need a little work, what story doesn't?)? Do you feel the need, the urge to continue writing? I don't think your inner muse will let you give up like that if you do. I write for myself. I don't have to worry as much about fleshing out my stories. But if I ever were to show them to an audience, I'd feel the need to work on them quite a bit. Because they are my stories, I *know* what I mean when I write them. That doesn't necessarily mean that I portray that meaning its entirety. Anyways, don't quit just because of a few hang-ups. If this is something you enjoy, GO for it. If you think it's fanfic in itself that's hanging you up, try inventing your own characters and worlds. I personally think you'd do a great job at that. It's also fun because *you* decide the rules. It's also harder because you have to explain that much more. Either fanfic or original works, though, I think you should continue. Writing is an ever-progressing art. It goes through many stages as a story is written and re-written. Don't give up.

please don't leave the story hanging......you mentioned that there was more.......and that it was darker i haven't been on mailing list for a bit while i was sorting out computer probs, i have over 1000 email digests to get through from various lists. I'm sure most of us appreciate the works of those that can and do write fanfic as it allows us all the possibilty of fleshing out our favourite characters, its one thing to have the imagination to wonder how a particular character might react in any given situation but not all of us can write it down in a way that others will understand.