I was thinking about why I like internet stories better then books and was wondering what you think:

This is how I pick out a book:
- I read a little from the first page, to see if the story grabs me
- I read something from the middle to see if I like the author's style
- I read the last few sentences to find out if the protagonist survives the book (if he doesn't it's allright, I just need to know)

So I'm very carful whenever I pick out a book because I don't like not to finish reading it, with stories I don't have that problem, don't know why.

When I get a book I get very involved in it, I'm the type that laughs out loud if something is funny and - I admit it- sometimes a book will make me cry. I hate when I'm close to the end of a book and can see it from how many pages are left. It makes me sad and I keep wondering what's going to happen on these last pages. And sometimes there are too many pages left and you know there is something else coming up.

Internet fiction doesn't do that to you (the worrying I mean, the laughing and crying- definitly, but we're in a Domaholic forum, so you already knew that), even though whenever I suspect a story will be finished soon I always skip to the end of the chapter to see if there's a big 'THE END'. But that's not the main reason I like it better.

Have you ever read a book and when you closed it you had the feeling you knew the protagonists and then when you closed it (and this might sound very drastic) it's kind of like you lost a friend? Internet stroies don't do that to you! The characters are only on vacation and you can always bug the author for a sequel and sometimes he might even agree that there is the need for a sequel, or he just likes the characters as much as you do and wants them to "live on" in other stories.

I definitely get into internet fiction a lot more than books. I used to read books non-stop. I would go through hundreds and hundreds but now books, like you said, don't seem to have that extra element, that special something that makes the story live on and perfects the reading process.

I also think its because with internet fiction you (well I) tend to read at least a chapter or 2 before deciding to read on and that way you sift through 10 and find one perfect one. Meanwhile, with a book its like cover-scan, blurb, first paragraph etc. And you'll sift through 2-30 and find one but its not even that good because you didn't read enough and didn't experience enough before deciding to read the whole thing. And in the end you know you probably chose the wrong book.

I hate having chosen the wrong book! And as I said - I can't just stop reading because maybe, through some miracle, itll have a twist and turn out to be good, and I would have missed it!

I also like that I can give the authors my feedback and they usually actually care. I've never written a letter to an author who published a book, but I've written several e-mails to authors that published their stories over the net. They always reply and tell you their grateful for your "two cents", I don't think an author that published a book would reply (if they even read it of course I've never written to one so I wouldn't know - do any of you know?)

oh...
i think that i actually prefer a paper version if i can. as much as i love dom's stories i would love them even more (is that possible?) if i had them in a form of book.
i always have a book in my handbag, for when i'm taking a bus or tram.
but even if they're books i love (pratchett's ) i can't deny the appeal of internet published stories :]
like liddy mentioned - the ability to give some feedback and actually hear back from the author. the excitment (or frustration XD) of waiting for another chapter to be published, forums like this one and those awesome people that like the same stories you do and want to discuss them with you. or just act plain crazy for one reason or another (like too much of the mentioned "excitment" ).
plus some of the stories published on the net are much better than more than one book i've read! (and unlike liddy i have no problems with stopping in the middle of a book if i decide it's boring).

Interesting thread!


We seem to have a couple of significant differences with how we read books, Liddy! For example I can never go out of order, skip, or scan. I have to read every word in exactly the right order, and I get irritated with myself if I even catch a few words, or a name or something in a subsequent chapter/paragraph. I also get really frustrated if I know how the book is going to end. However I definitely can, and often have, quit reading books at all stages of completion (or lack thereof ).


I definitely do all of these and agree completely! That is one of the pluses of online work, not really knowing how much is left.








It seems to me that that extra element (again at least for me) is the interaction available online! Online, we can interact with the authors! And often not just at the end of the story in the form of some comments, but even chapter by chapter! Often we can literally communicate with the author as the story is unfolding!

The other thing is definitely the extra pleasure gained from being able to discuss it with each other! I think a lot of people have had the experience of reading a really great book and wanting their friends and family to read it too so that you could talk to them about it! This doesn't always work out though. Sometimes they have different taste, are too busy, or don't get to it until it's been awhile after you've read it and you yourself have forgotten many of the main things you wanted to discuss. With the forums we don't have to worry about these things! Presumably everyone here, and definitely more than likely anyone posting in the story threads, has read exactly what we've read! We're all on the same part of the story at the same time! We can happily speculate about what's going to happen next, or talk about our favourite scenes with the knowledge that we're not "spoiling" it for anyone else, or that the other person might mention something we haven't read yet.

So yeah, I think the big plus is the enhanced capacity for interaction!

I definitely read more online than in print myself (and most of the physical, "print" things I read tend to be magazines versus actual books). I guess the biggest plus about a physical book though, would be that it's a physical book. You can take it with you where ever you go. Granted we could print out the chapters as they come, but then we'd have to keep them all together, or accept that we couldn't check back at the older ones. Plus there's all there's a lot of other potential inconveniences, like running out of paper or ink, or simply trying to orderly store all the loose pages.

Anyway, great thread!

My vote is for internet fiction!

Take care all and have a great day
Kevin

you're exactly like me in this area
i hate spoilers and am in a mood for serious ass kicking if someone blabbers a vital information about the future plot development in front of me. the element of surprise and the suspense you feel while reading is one of my favorite (almost wrote "favourite" ^^') "components" of reading both books and internet published stories.
i can never understand my best friend who often pesters me to get those vital future acts out of me when reading a book i've read before. she says she likes to know. sometimes i give in ^^'


totally
it's true that it doesn't always work, but somehow after reading zafon's "the shadow of the wind" i managed t get quite a lot of ppl close to me to read it (i still strongly encourage people to read it, so go on, guys, read it :]). and i was coerced to read it by a friend in the first place too
but you're right. with the net published stories it's easier to find others that like the same titles you do. and you get to know new people there
*hugs you guys*



haha... so true ^^'
add the diminished font (to save both paper and ink), uncomfortable A4 paper size and a shaking bus. huh ^^'

Same! Even when I'm reading online fiction I keep the sentence I'm reading scrolled near the bottom so that I can't glance forward more than a sentence or two.

Seriously? Am I the only overly curiuos person here? I sometimes even skip to the end of a paragraph and read it backwards. I also have no problem in reading the same story or book twice. I tend just "forget" what I know is going to happen.



I think especially the part were you mention that we're all on the same part at the same time. Two friends and I have the same taste in books so every once in a while we give each other books. Sometimes they want to talk about a chapter in detail, but if it's been a while since I read it I sometimes don't remember exact chapters or mix them, especially with series.

Something that bothers me about some books, and this might sound trivial to some, is the format. Sometimes the print is really weird (Bibles often have that) and the page looks full and doesn't have paragraphs. For some reason it bothers me and I make it part of my decision to read or not to read a book (even though, as I said, it's trivial)

Maybe I just haven't found the right books, but I have yet to read a book quite like Dom's stories. That is what keeps me coming back to the internet. I have a lot of favorite internet authors, and only a few favorite "book" authors. It seems to me the content of internet stories is very unique, especially in the area of fanficiton, which is where I first discovered online authors. I remember finding Dom online (Thanks to a recommendation from a host of a GW site...come to think of it, it may have been Sharon??) and feeling like I'd found a gold mine! Its a rare treat to find such an excellent author, online or on paper Oh and I think it might be a sign of paranoia if you have to read the end of the book before the middle lol Kidding!

LOL, well I have little doubt that my having to read every word in order is a mild manifestation of my OCD (Obsessive-compulsive disorder) tendencies.

We're all a bit crazy if you know where to look

Who me? The girls that's secretly glad to be living with a watchdog and a security guard?



*looks at Kevin's avatar*- I knew there had to be something wrong with you


_{( kidding)}

Well actually I'm almost completely recovered now Indeed I probably couldn't get the diagnosis if I tried...well I mean I guess I could if I tried since I'd know how to fake it but...

wow...i get the exact same feeling for everything i read...and even sometimes movies that i watch...

but i get it all the time, since, aside from this, i usually dont "interact" with the author or a group or something, so when DD ended, i really felt like it ended and ended up "homesick" for a few weeks after cuz i miss them so much...lol (dom just writes soo well...heh)

anyways, that's just me, im probably wierd, and glad to know someone else feels somewhat the same way...

-robi

I guess you've found them.
But you're right, the same applies for movies. Sometimes I watch a movie and I find myself thinking 'I've got to find some fanfiction from this movie/this character' and even though lots of time fanfiction is strange, there is some good stuff out there.

I like books better, no contest. Professional, edited, and if I'm buying it I know I'll like it. I only buy books if I'm familiar with the author, or read a good review from a trusted source. When you read online stories, you have to ignore (forgive) typo's, grammatical errors, and spelling mistakes. Most internet authors don't go through all the trouble Dom does when it comes to proofreading their stories; he actually has an editor!!! I'm not trying to bash people who just have beta readers or try and edit for themselves. I'm merely stating that books have the clear advantage when it comes to that. In general I read internet stories for fan fiction, or while I'm waiting for the next book in a series to come out. They are usually not my primary reading material. I will say that the stories you read online make it seem like a less painful wait (compare releasing a whole book every one or two years, to releasing a few chapters every month; sending a completed manuscript off to an editor which may take months to revise, to sending out what you have with little to no editing time invested). Some internet stories make a fun read but I would never consider paying money to read them if by the off chance they ever got published. Again, I don't consider Dom's stories to be in any way inferior to professional novels, because if any of them got published I would happily buy the book. Also, with most published authors who are writing a series, you can generally expect them to continue on until the end with the exception of accident or death. With internet authors every thing is up in the air, you have no expectation of if or when an author may continue with their writing; they have no commitment to a publisher, they aren't getting a paycheck, the only reason they write is for personal enjoyment and their few fans. Most professional authors have websites now, so if you want to discus things about their books you can; so I don't think internet authors have an advantage anymore when it comes to feedback and communication.

Well I said all I have to say, thanks for letting me rant.

I think you have some good points. Many internetstories are not continued and just end abrubtly. It's annoying, especially if the story was good. I've also had that happen to books though, I checked for this one series to be continued and it never happened (and that was 10 years ago). The author even had a preview at the end of the last book and it sounded so good! . Mean! But again. I have no way to bug this author about it.

I have to disagree on the editing part. Since the Lord of the Rings Fantasy-hype there are so many cheap and bad translations of books (that in the original language probably are really good) it's not even funny. I absolutely HATE it when suddenly for example Lisa becomes Laura and you wonder for the next ten pages who the hell she is when you notice that it's the exact same person! I don't really mind spelling mistakes, because I think dictionaries should be more open to alternative spellings. I mean: u gt wat te prsn wnts to sai, right? Let'S not become extreme, but loosen up a little (My teachers disagree), let language evovle. Ok

Another problem I'm facing with books is: ghostwriter.
I had a favorite author (note the use of past tense (his name is Wolfgang Hohlbein, he just had a really good book of his translated to English, Märchenmond) but I read some books that really disappointed me. And then I noticed that he released 26 books in one year (I counted)!!! I mean, come on!!

I guess all of Dom's posted stories have been cleaned up by now. His early efforts on this site did not initally have benefit of an editor, and it showed.

I believe that no one can do a good job of proofreading their own writing or their own typing. I don't know if any of the editors here are also authors, but if so, I bet they let someone else edit their writings.

In Dom´s case, I would FOREVER consider paying money to read them. Do someone knows another internet writer lightly close to Dom? I don´t.

Actually, there are quite a few out there that reach Dom's caliber as authors. It just takes a couple years of sifting through the web to weed out excellence from mediocrity. Some real gems are drifting about if you know where to look. For the most part, you're right; Dom is one in a million!

makes me wonder what your favorite stories are...
Care to share?