Green Room - Week 28 - Day 7

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I was starting to write today's Green Room when I noticed that I had a message in my LJ inbox.

After some of the messages I've been receiving lately, I was a bit on the "Oh no, what's going on NOW" about it. But I decided to check it out first.

You know, just in case it was something that wanted to address.

As it turns out - it was.

But not in the way I was fearing.

It was from someone who had found their way to Idol, and back to Livejournal in general, via a friend's suggestion that she check out the quality of writing and the community we have here.

It's one thing to *know* and be able to see it happening, over the course of weeks. But those emails always manage to make my day better.

So keep up the good work everyone!

***
Speaking of "keeping up the good work" - there is a poll happening right now! http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/806700.html

It closes *tonight* and based on the vote totals from the past couple of weeks vs what have been cast so far, and factoring in how many people usually wait until the last day to cast their final ballots - there is currently *no one* who is "safe". (a couple "unlikely" but still within that average vote margin)

Which means that if there is someone who has written something you want people to check out - now is the time to tell them about it! Make the case for why folks need to read this (or re-read it) NOW!

Comments

[n3m3sis42.livejournal.com]

Frist?

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

Damn, wrong account.

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

BUT YOUR PRETTY PURPLE HAAAAAAIR. :3

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

I think I'm getting silver streaks in the front before I come uppppp. Maybe.

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

Ooooooh.

We need to Do All The Things when you come up. Meaning: Let's hang out Panera Bread after lunch time hours until they close. ;) Or something.

It's too bad it'll be too cold/potentially snowy to go to Battery Park and write. The Delaware River can look pretty sparkly from my favorite park bench. :3

[n3m3sis43.livejournal.com]

We definitely need to Do All The Things. There really need to be more seasons that don't involve disgustingly hot or stoopid cold. Why don't we have more of those?

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

Thing is, we just seemed to pick the "stupid cold" and "stupid hot" seasons for visiting. xD BECAUSE WAITING A FEW MORE MONTHS FOR SPRING/FALL JUST NEVER WORKS OUT.

At least August in DE isn't as awful as August in GA?

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

I wanna Do All The Things too, but I'm down here in Kentucky. Pfui.

[ellakite.livejournal.com]

You're dead to me?

have a cookie.

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

Poor Gary. Shenanigans have begun, haven't they? ;)

Still kind of avoiding looking at the poll. Kind of.

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

I said this in yesterday's post, but I'll repeat myself here.

The situation is: People are only voting for their friend.

It's not a new situation. It's not an unexpected situation.

It's a situation that has come up every season, and every season there are checks and balances to keep it from getting too far out of hand.

But there are people who are upset by this happening and they are expressing themselves. Which is good.

Which means it is time for reminders to folks of "Hey, I know you can't really make people sit down and read other people's work - but make an effort to reminder them that they should *for their own benefit, and yours".

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, okay.

And really, I don't expect any different, when I ask my flist for votes -- though I generally haven't pimped myself, all season. And I very much am willing to just be like HEY GUYS READ THIS AWESOME STUFF MY FRIENDS ARE GENERATING IN THIS COMPETITION.

Like I did on tumblr the other day. :3 Though I don't think anyone clicked the link, hah. I'm still easing back into being active on some of my other social media sites. =p LJ and facebook gets most of my attention.

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Pretty much that's all you can do. You can make the message as varied and targeted as possible - I include a list of names of people whose work I consistently enjoy each week when I send out my little "I wrote another story, yay" email, and if I've had time to read ahead I'll often include a link to a specific thing I think those folks will enjoy, but you can't control what other people are going to do. You can only make it so that it's easy for them to do the right thing, and impress on them that it's more interesting and fun for them, probably, to go and read even a random sampling of stuff so they can see other perspectives on the prompts in a given week. Just clicking on a clicky box next to a name you know is an easy way to show support, but it's not very engaging, unfortunately. :/

[medleymisty.livejournal.com]

I do read everyone, but I will admit that I tend to vote for my friends.

In my case though - I make friends with people whose writing I like. So over time that becomes usually voting for my friends, but it started as voting for people whose writing I liked the most.

I am quite willing to vote for people who I'm not friends with yet if I find I like their writing, and then over time I will make them my friend too. :)

the Unofficial LJI Book Exchange

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Sign-ups are open, right over here (http://lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com/78380.html)! If you want to get and give a book in the mail, just let me know!

Re: the Unofficial LJI Book Exchange

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

YAY! I have signed up! W00t! :)

Re: the Unofficial LJI Book Exchange

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Woohoo! I'll probably stagger the sign-ups for the various kinds of things. Books this week, maybe music or another small gift exchange (secret santa in the appropriate season!) next week...

Re: the Unofficial LJI Book Exchange

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'm definitely interested in the Secret Santa one, too. It needs the be the next one up, because it's only just over a month until Christmas. :)

Re: the Unofficial LJI Book Exchange

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Thanks for stressing the "unofficial" part. :D

Re: the Unofficial LJI Book Exchange

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Oh, not a problem! I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. And hey, since it's unofficial, you could play along too... ;)

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed jem0000000's piece this week - the voice was fabulous.
dmousey's critical, hard look at depression was like a slap in the face - in a good way, honest!
I really, really, really loved alephz's story this week. It's going to have me thinking thinky thoughts for quite some time.

There's more (there are always more) but when I try to answer the question "what do I want folks to go read or re-read right NOW" those are the things that spring immediately to mind!

[theun4givables.livejournal.com]

Adding yachiru's piece to this already pretty awesome list, same with rattsu's. I mean, damn.

And I'm not just agreeing with my mom's piece because she's my mom. It's because that piece hit hard in so few words. :)

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Oh HELL yes to both of those - they were both superb!

[dmousey.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the shout out! I appreciate it greatly! :)

[jem0000000.livejournal.com]

Aw, thank you! :)

[clauderainsrm.livejournal.com]

Someone was just asking about the Patreon link - so here it is: http://www.patreon.com/user?u=70027


A couple of questions:

- What are some things that might make you want to sign up as a Patron for Idol? (some possible incentives). Note: This doesn't include those who simply aren't able to, believe me, I know)

- Anyone interested in working with me in putting together a video of why folks should support Idol? (I have absolutely no experience, just some ideas of things that should be included. :D)

[lrig-rorrim.livejournal.com]

Hrm... I wonder if structuring some of the bonus content as "behind the scenes" stuff with you and the contestants would work? Perhaps you could put out an exclusive-for-patrons monthly interview with a former winner or a small group of current contestants (the top ten vote getters in a given poll? something?) (this would require our participation, but hey, I'm game), or a Q & A session with you about the milestones for the season or... I don't know. I'm just throwing out ideas here and seeing if anything sticks. Perhaps a prize draw for icons, or for some secret power, if you pledge a certain amount?

Edit: the advantage of some of this stuff is that you can queue it up ahead of time, have pre-planned questions, do an interview and save it, that sort of thing. Some of the patreon incentives I've seen include monthly short skype sessions with someone, discussions and brainstorming for upcoming projects, being named 'victim' in a fictional universe (you might be able to do something with that... heh), having something weird named after the patron... stuff like that.

[roina-arwen.livejournal.com]

Finally done reading and voting! A few other favorites besides the ones already mentioned were bleodswean, crackpotpie, and i_17bingo tickled my geeky funnybone. :)