Addendum to 9: I’d also like to see different Ficleteers become guest editors and pick out the Featured Ficlet for the week…

I think I’m more in line with you than Krulltar’s. The branching is an awesome feature and downright necesary if someone does a stupid sequel to a series you’re working on. That being said, knowing that makes you more likely to jump into a series since you know the original author can sequel around you.

#3…um…I think it was NO POOFTAHS !…actually, I missed it when I numbered them. oops.
#1…use of cats/genre’s would be in place of tags. Based on my experience, tags are not that useful, because any word can be used as a tag. For example a love vs a romance tag search would pull up different flicets. It leaves to the write to be inventive with their tags. I envision cats/genres more as predefined tags, to make searching easier.

#8 … I was wrong. thx 0477 is correct, branching is what makes ficlets what it is.
IMHO , the greatest basterdization to ficlets is a single author series. They have become the norm rather than the exception on flicets. flicets, in MY opinion, are not meant to be a outlit for publishing short stories. There are hundreds of places on the web to publish short stories. As I said in a previous comment somewhere…I feel ficlets should be like love affairs; short, intense, and involve other people.

BTW , “No Pooftahs” was an attempt at humor based on a Monty Python skit. Nothing more.

I take exception to the single author series “bastardization.” It’s probably subjective, but I enjoy reading and writing single author series here on Ficlets as much as I enjoy multi-author series. I don’t feel single author series’ are hurtful to Ficlets and, at least in my case, it’s been a godsend in stimulating the one decent story idea I’ve ever been able to sustain. Sometimes, Ficlets inspires a bigger idea than can fit in 1,024 characters. An author should run with it if they can.

I know my comments here probably won’t be popular and go against the grain.
@Melia – I love to read many single-author series here, but when an author is posting 30, 40, and even 80 sequels to a story by himself, it just hits me as what ficlets shouldn’t be. Writing a ficlet that sparks ideas for sequels is one thing, but using ficlets to write your Magnum opus is something totally different. I would rather see a sister site for those type of series.

I think we’ll have to agree to disagree. Ficlets is helping me focus on my ‘Magnum Opus’ as I try to turn it into an actual novel. It’s helped me experiment with the story, and work out plot points. This place has helped me the way no other writing tip or trick ever has, and if it means I have a 38 (and growing) part series on here then so be it. It’s not even a tiny fraction of what’s available here. My view is if series’ aren’t your thing, don’t read them. But don’t quash it down for others either.

Yeah what’s wrong with pooftahs..some of my best friends are pooftahs..
and I love Melia’s seriesand others esp hobobeardbobs Insane Knight series..

I have to agree with Melia.
Before ficlets, I hadn’t written creatively in years. I suppose becoming a teacher drained all of my creativity dry. I’ve written some lengthy ficlet series here that I may develop into novels later on. It is precisely this type of atmosphere, one of constructive criticism and judicious editing, that has allowed me to remain on speaking terms with my muse. And I love reading the series of such writers as THX 0477 and Melia, no matter how lengthy they get.