fic discussion communities or fanfic "book club"?

[netlagd.livejournal.com]

Are there any discussion communities where folks discuss individual fanfic or groups/genres.
Not necessarily a rec site or critique, per se, but rather a discussion about what goes on in a story what the author might have meant, themes, whether a story goes too far.

FWIW, I don't consider this something for coffeeclub - any time I've attempted to discuss a particular fic or author, the discussion has been shut down.

I'm imagining something more along the line of marathons or a book club where everyone reads a fic then discusses the fic. Come to think of it, there used to be something like this, but it was rather structured, I'm looking for something less structured where someone might start a thread and others pick up the conversation.

Comments

[onebookwoman.livejournal.com]

The best way for this to work is to not have the author involved at all, or only to give permission to use the fic. That way the stories can be seriously discussed as literature without the pressure of only being able to make positive remarks.

The library book club I once belonged to used published fiction with no author present. I don't like the "Oprah" model where the author is right there listening to every word. No wonder all comments were always blandly positive.

I agree that comments shouldn't be downright nasty, but we should feel comfortable questioning motive and character development within the story.

[delvalmom.livejournal.com]

The best way for this to work is to not have the author involved at all, or only to give permission to use the fic.

That's a little tough since I think most writers are also readers anymore.

In the forum I mentioned I have seen it working with the writers involved for almost three years now, and it is not a "Your fic is just awesome!" type of place. It is also a much smaller fandom then qaf, so perhaps that is why it works.

Some writers have asked that their fics not be discussed, but to my knowledge only a handful have done so, and most have moved on from the fandom.