let's talk about the writing thing.

[amelialourdes]

I'm not a writer. I don't consider myself one. I'm not really good at it. I think once upon a time I had an imagination and creativity to write but I think that I've lost it. That said, I've always received pretty high grades when it came to English, grammar, phonics, reading comprehension, language, etc. I consistently wrote in college and graduated with a degree that is based on literary and visual analysis. I think that I have a pretty firm grasp on the English language. That said, when I see badly written fan fiction? I cringe.

Bad fic? It happens. For whatever reason, people make up what they make up without any regard or consideration of the personality of the characters that they're using. They write what they write without care or acknowledgment of their own terrible spelling and grammar. They don't bother with betas because a few fawning reviews means that they have fans and it doesn't matter what the writing looks like.

That bothers me. It bothers me. Every time someone spells something wrong and it's posted for all to see, it makes the angels cry (quote courtesy of Quinn from Glee). Someone on my flist has recently spoken a lot about the writing process and writing in fandoms and her perceptions are dead on. It's refreshing to find someone who's receptive to critique and commentary about her work. Of course, it wasn't always that way. It's never that way in the beginning. In the beginning, I imagine that people do think that they're good writers and for whatever reason (I blame fawning reviews with no critique) aren't receptive to criticism.

Fandom is supposed to be fun, yes? The stories are just stories. They're not up for Pulitzers or even national writing contests. I understand that. This is just a major, major, MAJOR pet peeve of mine that I want to address for myself and to share with anyone who may feel the same. Or! Feel differently. I'm open to both ideas. I'm not having fun if a large chunk of a story doesn't make sense. I sometimes try to look past the errors to just read the story itself but then it's bad characterization that gets to me.

So, if you're a writer or if you're an active reader, what in fandom fanfiction bothers you if you're bothered by anything at all? No specific fandom here. Any fandom at all. What will turn you off of a story? If you're a writer, why do you/would you not accept constructive criticism? Are you open to constructive criticism?

Comments

[rinmonsterer.livejournal.com]

my biggest pet peeve is commenters encouraging badfic, lol. Then again, even I sometimes read badfic and enjoy it for reasons that weren't intended by the writer. So I guess this is an important part of the fandom ecosystem, too. Oh well. Also: overhyped stories. Trying to figure out why people are literally crazy about fics that are really mediocre, just with some trendy gimmicks mixed in and superficial attempts at philosophy just to be Profound - it breaks my brain.

As for things I can blame the author for, pacing. Bad fics are usually badly paced.
This includes but is not limited to: when a character's development takes huge leaps in the span of 3 sentences that cover about 5 minutes of fic-time. Like... haha, Brian deciding he needs to sell his loft because he bought a dog and it peed on his rug. I know it's potentially logical if you explain the reasoning in between and put it in a broader perspective, but it's written in such a completely hurried, careless way that it makes totally no sense.

Also: telling instead of showing. If someone *tells* me a character is saddened, or crushed, or devastated, I'll snicker. It won't make me feel sympathetic. In fact, it won't make me feel at all.

This doesn't apply to qaf fics, because the attention to background and fleshing out of the story in them isn't overwhelming, but it's abundant in J2 fandom, or maybe just bigbang - PAGES of boring exposition before I get to know the characters and decide if I even care about them. Which I usually don't, after the long exposition that makes me think the author is a big snob. And it's not like I don't want my story to be developed; it's just that some writers seem to think that exposition is made just for the sake of it and it's there because duh, we can't start from the good stuff, can we? The exposition should make the story more interesting, too. It can be entertaining too. Especially in fanfic.

I'm a big snob <3 I'm also kinda sleepy, so that's my excuse for nit-picking and multi-editing tonight.

[amelialourdes.livejournal.com]

my biggest pet peeve is commenters encouraging badfic, lol.
Wordy McWord.

And the badfic you read is pretty funny. So, unintentionally hysterical when you have your own running commentary through your head. I understand this.

Really? Wow. Yes, I agree. There should be some kind of direction in the story. It needs to actually go somewhere with the long descriptions. I need someone or something to be given a description for a reason. Hahaha I understand your wily ways. All easy to understand though. Many a pet peeve to be had.