Episode 001: Of Members and Horse Nostrils

Online writing communities can seem, to outsiders, as a self-felicitating, collection of self-proclaimed capital-W “Writers,” appearing more cliquish than communal. To insiders, the writing community is a necessity. In this episode, three The Velvet members who have been on both the inside and the outside discuss the benefits and unfortunate hindrances of the writing community.

 Episode 001: Of Members and Horse Nostrils [64:14m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Episode Panelists:
00:08:23 The origin of the name “The Velvet”
00:09:09

Episode Topic: Why writing/reading communities?
  • What are they?
  • Why are/aren’t they important?
  • What makes them work?
  • What brings them to a grinding halt?
00:09:53 Rob doesn’t like Writers; “writers write!”
00:10:58 Passion is important
00:12:20 The importance of moderating
00:13:04 When a pissing contest overshadows the content
00:16:22 Rob still doesn’t like Writers
00:16:45 A bit of tongue-in-cheek whoring (ewwww…)
00:17:35 The community as a trusted taste-maker
00:18:25 Why don’t publishers create author forums? Should publishers model themselves like independent record labels?
00:20:45 How important is it for a writing community to have a workshopping arm?
00:22:02 Is a gatekeeper important?
00:25:50 Online vs. University critique groups
00:29:26 GOATSE!
00:30:08

Mount Olympus
00:38:14 Publishers don’t know how to deal with the increasingly visual media landscape
00:39:14 Praise to Palahniuk for bringing men back
00:40:03 Novel in the age of cinema
00:41:41 Will publishers mistake technological advances as an evolution in reading?
00:43:56

Other Voices, Other Rooms
00:50:07

Think Tank
How should Rob approach a 2nd person perspective flash story?
00:58:22

Feel the Noise
01:01:44 The problem with moose head

The Lastlies:

We welcome comments. We love them. We need them. You are free to leave comments here, but to really join the conversation, we invite you to post at this episode’s dedicated thread over at The Velvet Boards.

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Published:
3.14.10 / 8pm
Category:
Podcast
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