JediKnightMuse
Troubadour
Disclaimer: I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right spot, but there isn't really a better place for it, so I figured I'd stick it here.
I'm currently working on a website/message board community geared toward fantasy writers. We found a mod for the software we're using (SMF, for anyone who's wondering) that's specifically called "fan fiction," but is basically for sites specifically for posting stories on. It has a very similar set up to fanfiction.net, with the different categories and such.
Unfortunately, the free version only allows you to select one category that a story submission can fall under (i.e. high fantasy). The paid version is $50.00, and since the site is so new I'm not willing to pay for it, or ask anyone to pay for it. So we're trying to figure out the actual categories to have people select from for their stories that they submit.
Initially, we talked about just doing the different fantasy genres, but it's so easy for a story to fall under more than one of those genres (i.e. high fantasy with a heroic fantasy sub-genre) that it's not very easy to do that. So then we talked about doing it based on setting (and also have an "other" category), which we're not 100% sold on. Over time, we plan on adding more categories, but we just want a fair amount of choices to start off with that won't be too limiting and make people just choose "other" all the time.
We need two levels of genres- the top level is the one that you can't select, and the bottom level is the one that you CAN select that would fit your story. This is what my co-mod came up with, to help with some of the overlap:
Obviously there are issues... such as low tech/historic era-inspired fantasy being much more broadly popular in fantasy... but that's why we could use some input. Also, going setting-based would mean that we don't list things like heroic fantasy or high fantasy since those can span across multiple setting types.
So, does anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to using the setting or genre idea that wouldn't mean being too inclusive? Or do you have any further suggestions for what else could go under these categories? Is there some way we could, like, combine genre and setting together (i.e...high fantasy/medieval or something) that we're not seeing?
I'm currently working on a website/message board community geared toward fantasy writers. We found a mod for the software we're using (SMF, for anyone who's wondering) that's specifically called "fan fiction," but is basically for sites specifically for posting stories on. It has a very similar set up to fanfiction.net, with the different categories and such.
Unfortunately, the free version only allows you to select one category that a story submission can fall under (i.e. high fantasy). The paid version is $50.00, and since the site is so new I'm not willing to pay for it, or ask anyone to pay for it. So we're trying to figure out the actual categories to have people select from for their stories that they submit.
Initially, we talked about just doing the different fantasy genres, but it's so easy for a story to fall under more than one of those genres (i.e. high fantasy with a heroic fantasy sub-genre) that it's not very easy to do that. So then we talked about doing it based on setting (and also have an "other" category), which we're not 100% sold on. Over time, we plan on adding more categories, but we just want a fair amount of choices to start off with that won't be too limiting and make people just choose "other" all the time.
We need two levels of genres- the top level is the one that you can't select, and the bottom level is the one that you CAN select that would fit your story. This is what my co-mod came up with, to help with some of the overlap:
Low/Historic Tech
* Medieval
* Steampunk/Victorian
* Wuxia
(anything set in or inspired by historic eras, pretty much)
Modern Tech
* Paranormal
* Urban Fantasy
* Superhero/mutant fantasy (maybe?)
Futuristic Tech
* Science Fantasy
* (Post)Apocalyptic Fantasy
* Medieval
* Steampunk/Victorian
* Wuxia
(anything set in or inspired by historic eras, pretty much)
Modern Tech
* Paranormal
* Urban Fantasy
* Superhero/mutant fantasy (maybe?)
Futuristic Tech
* Science Fantasy
* (Post)Apocalyptic Fantasy
Obviously there are issues... such as low tech/historic era-inspired fantasy being much more broadly popular in fantasy... but that's why we could use some input. Also, going setting-based would mean that we don't list things like heroic fantasy or high fantasy since those can span across multiple setting types.
So, does anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to using the setting or genre idea that wouldn't mean being too inclusive? Or do you have any further suggestions for what else could go under these categories? Is there some way we could, like, combine genre and setting together (i.e...high fantasy/medieval or something) that we're not seeing?
Myth Weaver
Acolyte
