H/D Remix statistics

[swissmarg]

Fest community: hd_remix 
Master List: Here
Fest type: Remix exchange
Premise: Harry/Draco authors and artists remix each other's work
Ratings restrictions: All ratings allowed
Length restrictions: 1,500 words minimum, no maximum
Creation period: 5 months and one week

Unfortunately, I cannot get the graphics from Google docs to work. I'm not sure if it's an LJ problem or a Google problem, or if I'm just being dumb (although I got them to work in all the previous statistics posts, so I think it's not me). So you'll just have to deal with plain ol' words and numbers, at least for the time being.

There were 25 remixes created for this fest. One remix included both fic and art, which I counted separately in the statistics. That's why the totals add up to 26 rather than 25. ;)

Art: 6
Fic: 20

Art to fic ratio: 30%

By rating:

ART

G - 2
PG - 1
R - 3

FIC

PG - 2
PG-13 - 5
R - 3
NC-17 - 10

By word count:
The shortest fic was 1,700 words. The longest fic was 31,000 words.

1-2K - iii
2-3K - iiiii ii
3-4K - ii
4-5K - ii
5-6K - ii
6-7K - i
7-8K - i
10-20K - i
30K+ - i

Total words written: 106,500 words
Mean (average fic length): 5,325 words
Median (half the fics shorter, half the fics longer): 3,000 words
Mode (most frequent fic length): 2-3K

By type of original fanwork:

Art - 5
Drabble (under 500 words) - 2
One-shot* - 17
Chaptered - 1

* Many 'one-shots' were quite long, up to 20,0000 words. However, even though some of them were posted in two parts due to LJ post length restrictions, they were presented as one-shots, that is, posted all at once and without any chapter divisions.

Some thoughts: A remix fest is kind of special, in that it is only possible for established artists and authors in the fandom to participate. Also, the type, rating, and length of the gifts may be influenced by the properties of the original work being remixed. I say all that because these statistics may not necessarily be easily compared with statistics from other types of fests. For example, fandom veterans might tend to write longer fics than greenhorns. Or remixes based on NC-17 fanworks may be more likely to be NC-17 themselves. Or not. :)

Starting with the art-to-fic ratio, this fest produced slightly more art than average, but then the numbers are still small, and even one more or less would create a noticeable percentage point difference.

The art was, as is typical, generally lower rated than the fics, although there was a clear bias in both toward high ratings, with 62% of the gifts rated R or higher.

The word counts were fairly tame, especially given the very long creation period of over 5 months. I can't recall any other fest with such a long creation period. Only one person really seems to have taken advantage of it, with their 31,000-word fic (which incidentally accounts for 29% of the total words written!). I said above that fandom veterans would tend to write longer fics, but in looking at these word counts, I think there is another factor at work here, namely the remix itself. Authors are restricted somewhat in the framework and scope of their remix by the scope of the original, meaning that they can't let their imaginations wander completely away and have to stay true to the original in some form. This may have had an effect on the word counts. Although the 31,000-word fic was based on a fairly simple, although evocative, sketch, and one gift based on 4 100-word drabbles ended up being 13,000 words long. So who knows?

I find it interesting that the art-to-fic ratio of the original works (5/25) was nearly exactly the same as for the gifts (6/26). Also that there was only one chaptered fic chosen as a basis, analogous to the one very long fic written as a gift.

Comments

[vaysh]

So much ♥. :) :)

I was wondering about the low word count, as well. I am not sure its the supposed restrictiveness of remixing other fanfiction itself. My guess would be reasons outside of the fest, namely, other fandom and RL committments. But clearly that doesn't explain it well, either. Having said that, the general shortness of both the chosen fic for remixing and the remixes themselves made this a fest where I read and commented on every single entry.

[swissmarg]

Very true. It would be interesting to know if the commenting was generally higher for this fest than other H/D fests that produce longer pieces?

[vaysh]

Commenting, I would say, was lower than for other H/D fests, alas. I have no idea way.

[vaysh]

One thing perhaps that readers assume you have to know the original piece to understand the remixed one, and that may have stopped them from following and reading fest entries. But I am not sure whether this really figured into it. Often the original pieces were very short, too.

[swissmarg]

Oh yeah, that's true. About thinking you have to read the original too. Do you think you had to? I don't really think it's necessary, although it would give a different perspective and maybe some depth.

[vaysh]

I didn't think you needed to read the original, but found myself doing so and wanting to read it. I read every original but one, which is a long story that I have bookmarked now and will definitely read soon.

[nursedarry.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this! And your observations were spot on- we realised that there was a lot going on at the same time this fest was announced and wanted to give people ample time to write.

Having said that, I remember thinking that even though I'd have liked to make my fic longer, it wouldn't suit, and was pleased with the succintness (something that never comes easy to me) of the outcome. Conversely enough, I think if I'd worked with a shorter original fic, my submission might have been longer. I can't speak for all participants...

Also, I liked the fact that because many were shorter, we COULD get through them on the day. Also, as testament to the average length, most submissions came on the due day or earlier, so it seems to be more fashion than just procrastination.

Look out for us next year!

[swissmarg]

Thanks for the insight. I suppose each person had their own reasons for the length they wrote, and there's nothing wrong with a short(ish) fic at all. Obviously you want to do justice to the original, first and foremost. No one's winning a prize for the longest fic, lol.