AfterDinner relaunches!

April 19, 2002 9:32 PM

AfterDinner relaunches! Man, where have I been? Or did I just hit it at the right moment? This is what the web is about.
posted by rich (13 comments total)

It looks incredible. It's a great idea, offering a constructive alternative solution to conventional criticism and publication. It's well worth the wait. I wish nothing but the best for the project.
posted by ZachsMind at 10:00 PM on April 19, 2002

What was it like when it had "a reputation for publishing works of personal narrative, anecdotes presented with literary style"?

It is also interesting to watch how this is going to develop. Will it gain that same reputation again? Or better? Why (not)?
I'll probably keep visiting it. It looks nice.
posted by roel at 10:17 PM on April 19, 2002

"What was it like when.."

As with all of the projects I've ever seen with Ms. Massie's name branded upon them, After Dinner was the height of professional in appearance and function for the time, but some argued it seemed a little exclusive, out of necessity perhaps. Back then it was more difficult to design a website with interactive functionality. I believe the old After Dinner even predates MeFi. This latest version appears to offer a much more collaborative approach, and retains the respect of Massie's reputation as a formidable web designer. So it's the best of the past and the present. I can't tell for certain because it doesn't appear anything is dated, but I think at least some of the content from the old After Dinner still remains in the archives, so don't worry about having missed anything Roel.
posted by ZachsMind at 11:08 PM on April 19, 2002

Great link. Just signed up and read a couple of pieces. A lot were copyrighted 1998, ZM.

Also, ohmygodgreatjustwhatineedanothersitethatpresumes
tobejustasmidgeormaybemorethanasmidgebetterthan
mostofthecruftoutthereandimayneverhaveanothermoment
offreetimethatisiftheangstleveliskeptrelativelylowmyown
writingthereincludedthanksforprovinginformationreallyis
thebestdrugoutthererichyourock.
posted by WolfDaddy at 11:30 PM on April 19, 2002

Wot he said. Cool link.
posted by vbfg at 4:17 AM on April 20, 2002

Author, Author. Now that was a site that I owe some gratitude to. John Kenney jumped through the most time consuming and volitile of hoops to run that manic site. Author, Author was visionary. Too much for one man (or however many more who helped him) to take on. I've always admired the breadth of what AA tried to selflessly accomplish.
posted by crasspastor at 4:38 AM on April 20, 2002

Annnnnnd. Thanx pho the link.

Goodness gracious, Great change of subject
posted by crasspastor at 4:44 AM on April 20, 2002

[this is...the worng site to say that]

I like afterDinner for writers. Alot. There's definatly some new stuff there and I love the style and the granularity of the criticsm possible.
posted by nedrichards at 5:34 AM on April 20, 2002

Thanks. (Zach, your check on its way)

It's unfortunate that the Author, Author link doesn't go to the site. Or that the site is dead, I should say. I desperately desired access to a "competitor" when I was developing this - partly to see what mistakes I might learn from and partly to assess whether the tool needed to be built at all. If I thought someone was doing it well, then I could have regained a few weekends of my life. But I didn't find any truly online workshops at all, commercial or otherwise.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. afterDinner isn't making the same mistakes as those described in the Salon article, thank God. There's no ranking or score - reviewers don't even know who the author is - there's no promises made. So far, the quality of submitted works has been high (in my opinion). The tools were built to encourage thoughtful response, but no one is compelled to do anything.

But whatever. I just wanted to say thanks for the kind words and interest. I ramble.
posted by alexmassie at 6:24 AM on April 20, 2002

One of the most valuable aspects of Ms. Massie's site, in my opinion, is that it is a forum for real criticism on the Web. In the past, the "its all good" attitude of the Web community has really hindered the progress of quality writing.

Ben: Is this any good? I can't tell.

Web: Of course! It's all good!

Ben: No, but seriously. I thought it was a bit weak here.

Web: No dude! Web content! Woo!

Ben: How can I change it to make it better?

Web: Don't change it! Permanent archive it so my blog links won't expire.

The feedback I've recieved so far on my posting to aD has been *so* valuable and *so* refreshing. Real, critical feedback, I love ya!
posted by benbrown at 9:52 AM on April 20, 2002

yeah ben it wasn't exactly anonymous when you linked to your story from your website :-)
posted by nedrichards at 3:22 PM on April 20, 2002

I'm incredibly impressed with the afterDinner for Writers section. The ability to critique section by section, paragraph by paragraph is incredibly refreshing -- and should really curb the 'oh the whole thing is ssuper' critiques that just really aren't that helpful.
posted by nakedgremlin at 1:59 AM on April 21, 2002

I am just thrilled about the response AfterDinner has gotten, simply because I'm thrilled that it's there and I'm excited about participating.

My only problem is going to be finding the time. It's mere presence mandates that I get off my ass and start creating again, as well as helping editing.

I'd love if this was the next.big.thing.
posted by rich at 9:32 AM on April 22, 2002