Bone of the book-club, unknowingly given, you will renew your son​

The Inquisitorial Squad: ​

As per @BTT and his recent Make DLP Great Again Post, we seek to improve the WbA experience for DLP’s community and we need your help to do it.

The writers of DLP aren’t always getting the feedback that they need to improve their works and sustain their efforts. We as a community have always prided ourselves on being able to offer more than just ‘More Plz’ to those that sacrifice their votive fics to the hive mind. However, there are certainly some authors who are faithfully posting updates but receiving little to no feedback on their work.

We want to change that.

The competition has proven that you are out there and your words are mighty. That, in even 200 words, you can provide good insight and much needed sustenance to these poor artistic souls - so deprived for decent fanfiction that they had to write their own. We believe that a focused community group for reviewing will help combat the ‘life-gets-in-the-way’ issues that hinder so many of us from 'doing-our-bit', for those of us who feel passionate about the community and its WbA.

THE ROLE:
With our glorious overlords’ approval, there has been a role created for The Inquisitorial Squad (TIS) on the community Discord that will notify role-holders and allow us to discuss fics that have been selected, as we read through them or notice things that will be worth commenting on, in #reading.

THE THREAD:
The thread exists for three things:

1. If you’re willing to be a part of this effort, if you want the discord role, and you want to support and feedback to the authors who come to DLP then make your mark on the dotted line below (for this first period of time while signing up feel free to suggest fics as we wait to kick off).​

2. After the initial signing up and getting things focused, we’ll try and give a fic somewhere in the WBA a dedicated week of TIS time (this will always include at least one weekend). And the process should go a little like this:​

a. TIS time ends on a story and we all slap each other on the back and go for some port, and cheese crackers, in the adjoining Inquisitorial Bar - of course, those who wish to remain for continuing readership and serial lengthy reviews beyond TIS time are welcome to, and encouraged to do so, at your convenience.​

b. Over a period of 48-72 hours, we would encourage you to recommend fics that you think are in need of attention into the thread. There are no strict criteria here, not by genre, fandom or ship. Just choose any one fic from any ‘[Blank] by Author’ sub-forum.​

c. The Inquisitorial Squad will vote by thumbs for the fic that they’re most interested in offering feedback to. Impassioned argument is welcomed to persuade your fellows. Plugging for self and heart-string tugging is encouraged to the best of your ability. Fair game.​

d. A Chief Ferret will call the voting period as over, and the most thumbed suggestion will be chosen for a week of TIS tender loving care, and we’ll notify the lucky winner in advance of our ministrations (they are of course welcome to say they'd really rather not host us - what sort of inquisition would we be if we didn’t respect boundaries?).

e. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.
(ties must be settled by rap-battle duel on twitch)​

3. For those of you who wish not to visit the Discord, you can use this space to discuss the fic of the week, or any of the fics that have recently been discussed, to help you zone in on issues and constructively debate and identify where it holds up and where it falls down.​

FEEDBACK:
There is no minimum word count required to be a member of the TIS squad.

There is no requirement to have read the entire WBA entry to comment on the parts which you have read.

There is no requirement to start at the beginning nor, conversely, to start with the most recent entries.

We can refer to the more please document for those who want some structure to channel their reviews. But, it is just guidance. There is no requirement to discuss any particular technical, stylistic or developmental details in your reviews.

There is one requirement: Honest feedback (this is not synonymous with bitching) to the author on what you’ve read.

CONCLUSION:
If you’re interested then sign in blood on the thread below, and receive one of our attractive wand-made badges as a sign of our curse-backed compact:

Your badges will be with you by Owl Mail in no more than four to six weeks (Disclaimer: badges in this post may be more fictional than they first appear).​

 

ScottPress

Posts for the Post God in WBA

 

You had me at inquisition.

Niez

 

Yeah, sign me up, obviously.

BTT

 

SAEZ

Signed ;P

 

0tt3rz

 

momo

TieHat

Conquistador

 

M i c r o w a v e

 

Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum it's an inquisitor's life for me.

So, it's Friday, which is convenient. If we consider fics over the weekend and crack off on Monday of next week that might be ideal.

Personally - may I suggest:

Beyond the Curtain
By: Bobika
Summary: Twenty years ago, Voldemort won the Battle of Hogwarts. Eighteen years ago, Harry Potter disappeared, presumed dead. But when the remaining resistance breaches the Magical Curtain guarding Voldemort's empire, he suddenly resurfaces to guide them through the new Europe where magic is out in the open and wizards reign free. But why the hell hasn't he aged a single day?
​

This autumnal offering pairs well with hearty red-meat dishes and fruity pâtés.

I figured I'd start off with a HP story for the first one, and some of the first things on WbA's page are from inquisitor members (and I figure I shan't offer up for you as you can yourself). Also, I remember it being really good and wanting to catch up on it. And it's a multi-chapter entry in the WbA at present - although of course single entry stories thus far are no barrier to submission.

 

This is a great idea and I'm excited to be a part of it.

@Zombie - I'm a bit of a Discord virgin, only done over the shirt stuff there. Is joining the Discord as simple as adding the server?

 

Yes. If you click on the link under the ticker on front page it’s a couple of clicks to join, then you either use the browser page, download a mobile app for free or a computer app. All three have good usability for me - as I don’t really customise or do anything technical for the interfaces I use.

 

So we have a vote for a fic.

@Zombie, what's the protocol now?

 

Thanks a lot for choosing my story for the first feedback session!

As Blorcyn already forwarded, your general impressions would be most welcome - regarding the storyline, the suspense/mystery buildup and the worldbuilding especially. The story's first two arcs are now published (some 115k words), and I'm working on the final third to wrap it all up.

Regarding technical writing, my weakest point's probably the lack of different voices for the characters, as I just don't have the needed exposure to English. I'd appreciate some concrete pointers to improve this. Limited active vocabulary is another issue, but I've been working on expanding it (especially body language expressions and strong verbs) in the later chapters.

Lastly: reading the stats, it seems the story's rather hard to get into. The misleading name is punishing me, Neville's POV isn't that popular, and nor is muggle weaponry in HP ff. The story's been gaining some reputation so people now more often persevere through the first chapters to find out that it isn't anything else than just another badass-Harry-centric-fic, but still.
If you had any ideas on how to improve the 'first impression', I'd be happy to hear them. Can't change the story much, everything's rather tied, but I want to try.

I hope you'll enjoy the story!

Edited for clarity

 

@Bobika, where is your preferred place to post the feedback? PMs here, FFN, WBA? Just a fair warning, I find that I'm a much slower reader nowadays than I used to be because now I actually try to pay attention to what I'm reading, so it might take me a bit to read 100k words.

 

WBA's indeed the best place.

No worries, I bet I'll still be writing by the time you finish reading, and appreciate any advice.