On (Fan) Fiction

[scottishlass]

Almost everyone I know is either heavily involved in one fandom or the other and/or writes fanfiction. May it be for S:AAB, Farscape, LotR, Orli etc. Most of my friends are awesome writers and sometimes I really ask myself why they are not already established writers because I really 'fall' into their fics.
During my time as web archivist for two fanfiction archives (S:AAB FanFic Flightdeck and m.i.t.m.) I have come across a lot of stories and authors. I had the pleasure to see fledgling writers evolve and also established writers to run full circle and become published in real. That is the good side.
The down side is, I have also seen writers ... or so called ones who are too recalcitrant to learn anything about the craft of writing, let alone use beta readers at their disposal :s
Luckily in S:AAB there are some awesome writers, probably because they are more mature and because of the subject matter. Space: Above And Beyond is a well written, well paced and well plotted series with strong characters. The writers of that fandom are the same. Their skill and craft shines through their fiction. It is both a pleasure to read and archive.
Same goes with Farscape, also mature fans and brilliant writing.

Unfortunately, that is not true for other fandoms ... e.g. LotR (though I don't read much of that - I only make exceptions with friends even though they know that if I don't like what I read I tell them and stop reading) and Orlific ... Now, because of the subject matter (OB) this fandom has a lot of teenagers. Nothing wrong with that, but when these teenagers try to write and think they have written something akin to Joyce, Woolf or Hemingway and their work shows that they definitely have not ... then I have a HUGE problem. I really don't care how mature or immature a writer is as long as the story produced is spelled correctly, good grammar, has coherent plotting & sentences, and stays in character. Alas, some writers can't even follow the first two, not to mention coherency or characterization. What is really bad is that I have given up on telling writers that they should at least run a spell checker over their stories or get a beta reader. I know it is bad, but after over a year as archivist for an OB fanfic archive, I somehow have lost my zest for making mediocre writers better. After reading and converting the umpteenth fic with bad spelling, bad grammar, bad plotting and incoherency, I have given up. Literally. One skimmed look over a story and I shrug and up it goes onto the site. No quality check; however no bleeding eyes either :)
At first, I felt really bad about it, but nowadays I have discovered that I really don't have the energy anymore to even bother. Bad, bad Una ... but I can't help it.
Same as a reader ... if I don't like a fic (both fan and pro-fic) from the first two pages, I close it and never open it again. Am I too hard on writers? Too arrogant? Or just too full of useless knowledge from my studies at university?

Do you also have these hard feelings about fanfiction? Or am I way off?

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Chatting to elfnut ... she is at home because her doctor suspects her to have meningitis. ... Even thought o sound like an old LP on repeat: Elf, LAY DOWN!!! TAKE IT EASY!!!

'Nuff said for now - I should either start on tomorrow's m.i.t.m. update or write a bit more ...

Comments

[sg1padawan.livejournal.com]

At first, I felt really bad about it, but nowadays I have discovered that I really don't have the energy anymore to even bother. Bad, bad Una ... but I can't help it.

Bollocks. You're not bad for doing what you're doing (ie not bothering to check). Heck, I'd recommend you have your head read if you DID continue to do it!

Same as a reader ... if I don't like a fic (both fan and pro-fic) from the first two pages, I close it and never open it again. Am I too hard on writers? Too arrogant? Or just too full of useless knowledge from my studies at university?

I don't think so. I'm exactly the same. But I think I'm even harsher... if it hasn't grabbed me in the first two PARAGRAPHS, it's gone. I don't have time to read shit!fic. There's just too much of it out there. I'd rather be spending my time looking for the GOOD stuff. As hard as it is to find... *sigh*

And I don't think it's arrogance that sees us doing this. I think it's simply because we KNOW how a well-written story should go. We know what they look like, because we've read them before. And really, who wants to read crappy fic when you've tried and read GREAT fic?? That would be like going from sinfully delicious, hot, straight-out-of-the-oven, make-your-mouth-water-with-smell-alone aromatic bread... to a 5 day old, stale, mouldy, crusty loaf. I mean, really. Which would you prefer??

Of course, we could just both be elitist bitches. :D

Do you also have these hard feelings about fanfiction? Or am I way off?

Not way off in the SLIGHTEST. And if you ask the majority of older fans (ie those not teenyboppers), I think you'll find they agree with you. After being involved in fanfiction/fandom since '98, I've seen some BRILLIANT fic produced... and I've seen a lot of dren produced, too. Sadly, most of the OB fic stuff I've skimmed is dren.

But there ARE gems out there which make the searching worthwhile.

My god, I need to stop blabbering at almost-half-past-midnight. LOL

And I second what Una said, elfnut! Lay down and take it easy!!

[scottishlass.livejournal.com]

That would be like going from sinfully delicious, hot, straight-out-of-the-oven, make-your-mouth-water-with-smell-alone aromatic bread... to a 5 day old, stale, mouldy, crusty loaf. I mean, really. Which would you prefer??
Definitely the first !!! And I love the way you describe that .. gosh I'm feeling peckish now - I think I have to snurch something out of the fridge soon BEFORE I go shopping otherwise it will cause havoc on my bank account :)

There are definitely gems out there, but they are so hard to find. Hence the recommendations on m.i.t.m. .. what surprised me for the current awards that the teenybopper fics didn't even get nominated, only the really well written fics were nominated and got onto the short list. But the readers on m.i.t.m. are probably older than the usual fic lot, so they know quality when they see/read it.

Though I have to admit my studies at university have changed my perception on how to read any fic completely. Pre-university I read a story and enjoyed it, never consciously detecting the grammatical or spelling errors. But once I got to know the craft of writing and how conscientious a writer has to be about his/her work, boy-o, it is getting more difficult each day to just 'fall' through a book like I did as a kid or young adult. I even detect weak plotting and stuff in my fave author's work from time to time when I read through a passage and my mind goes: Uh-oh, either the editor did that wrong, or the author should have used a different tense/word or is way off in his/her characterization/description. That is sometimes really annoying and can distract enormously :)
I'm glad I'm not alone in this thinking :) And it is not surprising that you'd agree with me, my twin sister in spirit :)
Sleep tight and just think of this ... THANK GOD IT'S FRIDAY AGAIN tomorrow :)

[sg1padawan.livejournal.com]

Definitely the first !!! And I love the way you describe that .. gosh I'm feeling peckish now

LOL! It has that effect... after I finished typing that, I had to go and get something to eat because it made me hungry. *g*

There are definitely gems out there, but they are so hard to find. Hence the recommendations on m.i.t.m. ..

Exactly. And believe me, I'm thankful for the recs on MITM. I set up an actual reader's recs page at the WRFA back when I was running it... I'm not sure if the recs section is still up and running. But it was a GREAT place to find good stories. And something interesting? A lot of the stories that were recommended, were rec'd multiple times by different people. THOSE you could tell were the gems. :)

what surprised me for the current awards that the teenybopper fics didn't even get nominated

THANK YOU, GOD!!! *bows down low*

I'm glad I'm not alone in this thinking :) And it is not surprising that you'd agree with me, my twin sister in spirit :)

Hee! Glad to find another like mind! *hugs*

Hope you have a lovely rest of the weekend, m'dear. *mwah*