March Meta Matters Challenge, First Writing Prompt!

[yourlibrarian]

Hello everyone! It's check-in time again to see how we're all getting along with our meta importing.

Comment below with any of the following:

1) Are you having internal debates about what content you're considering moving versus not copying over?
2) Are you having any problems moving your meta?

It's also time for your first writing prompt! Can you write some new meta based on old meta you've come across? This could be:

* an update to what you wrote before
* current you is arguing with former you about your ideas
* taking the same idea and applying it to a different fandom
* expressing some of the same ideas in a different format

Whatever approach you take, see if an older work you've been rehousing can be a jumping off point for a new work.

Writing new meta this month is optional. If you do write something though, share a link to it in a future check-in post!

Comments

[yourlibrarian]

So, I rewrote my first meta post over at AO3 and was delighted to get some comments as well as kudos :)

In reviewing another month of posts, I came across something I was iffy about. I had done transcripts to a number of con panels over the years, both for fandom specific cons and for Writercon. But while it's certainly fandom oriented and a form of fan labor, it's not meta because I'm not discussing any of that content.

I also came across a concert review and, after a few minutes, realized it was not different than reviewing a TV episode. So I'm going to tidy it up and get that posted, perhaps later today.

[snickfic]

I'm interested to hear that you've decided to post a concert review, because I have a big long review of an album from last year that I was trying to decide whether or not to post. On one hand, it was written with fannish love; on the other hand, it doesn't feel like it exists in the same fannish space as discussion of a TV show - I guess because there's no narrative involved?

On the whole, I feel like I lean towards not crossposting things I'm not sure about. Like, if it's less than 500 words, it feels unlikely anyone would want to read it. If it's dealing with a technical aspect of the work instead of a narrative aspect (I have a post about splash pages in a particular comic), then it doesn't feel like meta, quite, either. IDK.

On the other hand, I'm seriously considering posting a themed set of fic recs - it's about 40 recs with extensive commentary, so it feels plenty substantive, but maybe not appropriate? IDK. I have a lot more angst about "what counts as meta" than I thought I would. 😂

[yourlibrarian]

If it's dealing with a technical aspect of the work instead of a narrative aspect (I have a post about splash pages in a particular comic), then it doesn't feel like meta, quite, either.

Oh, I have to completely disagree on this one. I remember that in SPN fandom, for example, there was a community set up exactly to host posts about the technical side of the show, such as lighting or cinematography, set decoration and costuming. I would certainly say that anything that's analytical is a meta piece.

That's why I decided against the con panel transcripts, because while I imagine I included some asides in different parts, they were really just reporting who said what.

And I suspect part of why I hesitated at first regarding the concert review was because I haven't been in a music fandom for some time. But once I started to read through the post I realized it wasn't that different. Although I don't think I posted album reviews at my LJ I definitely wrote them in years past, and have been thinking about posting those as well as I believe I have them saved in a folder somewhere.

And it's funny you should mention themed recs because I just wrote up a new meta post yesterday night which I planned to transfer to AO3 today. I was thinking of using it as the first chapter to a series of vid rec posts which discussed how they serve as commentary on the canon.

[wheatear]

1) Yes, there's some stuff that's a bit too idiosyncratic or just plain old and out of date so I don't think it's worth copying over.
2) Not so far! It's all going pretty smoothly.

Also I didn't realize this was going to be the first writing prompt but coincidentally this is exactly what I did with the meta I posted today about the problem with special protagonists. I originally wrote about this topic in 2013 but the examples are old so I scrapped most of it and wrote something new based on the season 12 finale of Doctor Who that aired last week since it got me thinking about that trope again.

[yourlibrarian]

That's great that everything has been going smoothly :)

Haha, I love that the prompt fit the timing of what you've done so well. Thanks for sharing that example. I hope you get a good response to it!

[wheatear]

I just got a long comment telling me how wrong I am so I'm delighted. :D

[yourlibrarian]

Haha, I suspect only meta writers actually enjoy some debate in response to their posts. But yay for engagement!

[nrgburst]

This is so you I love it. lol

[merryghoul]

Not having trouble moving over meta, but I have actually decided to not move over some of it because I felt I was accidentally being dismissive of part of the fandom I was writing the meta for. Maybe I can use the meta to spring off a shorter meta about a specific turning point for the ship I wrote it for, but IDK.

[yourlibrarian]

I'm not sure I'm following your particular situation, but sounds like doing some revisions might be a good solution alright.

[alexseanchai]

I've been needing to explain my choices for trying to sort Miraculous Ladybug into chronological order anyway

(the first two seasons were supposed to be watchable in any order, but that is not true, it just means we don't know what the actual order is, and while the chronological order for season three is the production code order according to the creator on Twitter, this bore little resemblance to the airing order)

[yourlibrarian]

To my mind the most egregious example of out of order airing was in the 90s with the series American Gothic. There was clearly a lot of meddling with the show from the network and they wrote out a character who then inexplicably appears in another episode later in the season. They then released the DVDs in airing order as well.

Not that it's been the only case. Firefly only had 2 episodes out of order but as I recall there were several in Due South as well.

[nrgburst]

1) Yes! I just did it on my own journal, because I wasn't sure about posting meta critical of the canon. I'm leaning towards meh, do it anyway, AO3 isn't tumblr and people can read the tags before clicking in.

2) Also in my journal post: I've realized some of my meta seems out of date because it was written in response to earlier parts of a TV series/movie franchise and therefore seems incomplete because it ignores later developments. I've updated/expanded on one before posting, and made it clear in others that it was written several years ago and therefore only deals with S1/2 etc.

So in response to the writing prompt: hehehe already done, way ahead of you! :D

[yourlibrarian]

Re: 1, if you have concerns there's also always the option of not allowing anonymous comments, turning on comment moderation, or even locking the posts to logged-in users which can reduce the likelihood of click-by trolling a great deal.

And yes, it sounds like you are! A great deal of my meta was written in real time in response to a series as it took place. So the posts are very much a time capsule. I've noted the original posting dates in all of those in the author's notes up front. I did once have someone who didn't notice that about them but I think generally people have.

(Love your icon!)

[osteophage]

FTR, I've already posted some meta critical of canon (clearly tagged as such), and the only comment I've gotten so far is a positive one.

[yourlibrarian]

Good to hear what response people are getting.

[eidolonlathi]

I finally found the time to transfer my second meta to AO3, which means all of my content that I just could copy over without any major rewriting is now moved.

Which leaves me ready to face this post’s prompt… writing new meta! I think first I will go and make a new post of character analysis from the smaller meta snippets I collected together. Once that’s done I have ideas to analyse a specific aspect of character interactions from a certain manga chapter.

I guess what’s important as of now is not to get lost in the pile of my smaller meta snippets. But to stick to one specific theme a time, finish said post and only once that’s done start with another one.

[yourlibrarian]

I guess what’s important as of now is not to get lost in the pile of my smaller meta snippets. But to stick to one specific theme a time, finish said post and only once that’s done start with another one.

This is a pretty salient point to me at the moment! In order to move a series of thoughts about fan vids and how much they say about canons and characters, I started a post that's going to be chaptered. I wrote a new intro to it and am sorting through the rec snippets to see what actually qualifies as commentary. That covers some 20 posts and it's challenging to try and organize it.

[eidolonlathi]

That's quite the number of posts to organize! And yes, bringing clear order into a bunch of posts might sound easy at first, but it's already such a vital first step.

Part of why I am still just about to write my new meta, is because I had to think of the best way to present those incoming new posts. Chaptered posts are a great way for one big theme! I did something similar, I made a chaptered work out the posts I wrote for three favourite characters of mine: Simply because I wrote so much about them that making a new post for each piece would have felt like cluttering.

In return, I decided character analysis unconnected to that group are worthy making separate posts about, while meta looking at broader themes (like chapter analysis) might once again fit into a new chaptered work best.

[yourlibrarian]

Yes, one thing I'm learning from this challenge is that there's a good bit of stuff that fits into meta but it often needs piecing together or rewriting before reposting. I've finally gone through all the posts and selected what fits so now it's a matter of re-ordering it into sections.