Subject: A template, not THE template.
Author:
Posted on: 2011-07-29 22:25:00 UTC
One thing that this template addresses is how to format passages of badfic in missions for readability. Most passages are painful to read on their own, even without formatting to distinguish them from the rest of the text.
So even as suggestion, and not template, I think this is useful.
I found formatting manually a little bit time consuming, so I made a quick template to help save a little time. I saved it as a .dotx template, it should work with Word 2007. I haven't figured out how (or even if it's possible) to get the styles to carry over to OpenOffice. Once I get the other computer with OpenOffice back up and running I'll see about making another version in OpenOffice.
Here's a download link to it. Lemme know if it looks O.K on your computer, and if not, I'll see if I can fix it up or use an earlier version of the styles.
http://delta-mike-lima.webs.com/info/PPC_Format.dotx
I never found formatting missions time consuming. But then, I only use plain text and press ctrl+i before I paste in a clip from the badfic and press it again after.
I'm curious what a mission using your template would look like. Do you also have a sample of that? (I don't have any programmes that can work with dotx format, so fiddling around with the template myself is not an option.)
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As for persons using LJ to post missions: I always first upload to ffnet. That puts the mission in html (and strips it of any styles used, I believe) then I copy-paste the html into the LJ window. Also not particularly time consuming.
Howdy IndeMaat, yes, I do have a mission posted that uses this template, or a similar analogue. I use different fonts, though.
http://delta-mike-lima.webs.com/missions/Call%20of%20Duty%20-%20Mushy%20Warfare%20Too.pdf
I post all of the material on Tangodown!, hosted on my own freewebs account in secured, watermarked PDF pages with 128-bit AES encryption, embedded fonts for readability to ensure that the page displays correctly regardless of whose computer it's displayed on, and a full Table of Contents with live links; originally I used 256-bit AES but that caused readability problems on some non-Windows readers.
You seem to have constructed this template with only one specific presentation framework in mind. That is, you fail to take into account that some people might not be posting their missions to a site that would allow for such formatting. I know quite a few people (myself included) use Facebook to post their missions. That usually involves some messing around with html codes in order to indicate things like italics or bolding or what have you. The template does not account for things like that.
I should also point out that I am not a fan of applying templates to something like missions. That's fine for the wiki, but missions are rather more personal than wiki pages. I do not like the idea of having to adjust my style to fit the template. I know, I know! There's nothing that says this would be mandatory. The idea still makes me uncomfortable. I don't want to see every mission with the same exact format! I want to see the individual quirks that each writer possesses!
I've never had to mess around with HTML when I post things on LJ unless it's in a comment. I just use ctrl+I/U/B. Although I do use the rich text editor most of the time.
One thing that this template addresses is how to format passages of badfic in missions for readability. Most passages are painful to read on their own, even without formatting to distinguish them from the rest of the text.
So even as suggestion, and not template, I think this is useful.
I meant LiveJournal. My brain has apparently suffered a serious malfunction and must be shut down.
Seriously, though, a template is a useful tool, not a prerequisite. I don't think anybody ever in the world thought that it would actually be required. An author's format is quite individual and a style choice just like anything else. Sure, there are standard formats, and of course it has to be readable and pleasing to the eye; but within those guidelines there's still plenty of room for creativity. Times New Roman looks different from Courier or Arial. There's indenting versus leaving space between paragraphs versus both. Different styles of English use different punctuation conventions. It really just has to be readable, consistent, and grammatical. (Though even the rules of grammar can be occasionally broken for the sake of style.)
I can't seem to download this. I'm using Word 2007, so do you have any ideas why it's not going?
I'm really not sure. I'll see if I can set a couple tweaks with compatibility mode (although MS products are infamous for reverse incompatibility), that might be the problem.