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

[camelhaircoat.livejournal.com]

There are a few fic issues that tend to irk me. Grammar and spelling are major for me, but perhaps that is because I spend my days transcribing and editing so those errors are like thorns that stick in my side, where others might just glance over them and think nothing of them. Though I'm not as grammar-gifted as Buzziecat. I wish I'd had that 9th grade teacher! The there/their, passed/past, through/threw type errors just drive me crazy and I find them extremely difficult to overlook. For me they really detract from the flow of a story. Finicky, I know.

OOCness is another sore subject, and a comment that I will try to leave for an author when a character rings true is "I could actually picture him speaking that line." It's weird to get excited about that, but lately it seems to be more of a rarity. Recently I read a fic with an Ethan/Brian scene that would NEVER have happened based on canon and everyone was commenting about how funny and cute it was and how they could just see it happening. I commented that though it was amusing I couldn't picture it actually ever happening, and got the royal smackown from the author's posse. LOL.

Even more annoying than mere OOCness, though, is the in-name only B/J fic (sorry, but I'm only involved in the QAF fandom so no other examples). I'm sure you all have read those stories too - the only way we know that the main characters are supposed to be Brian and Justin is that one has hazel eyes and one has blue. When the two characters have nothing at all to do with the ones we know I want to scream.

My final (well not really, but the last one I'll bore you with) peeve is the BNF authors who get so full of themselves that they - as Juteux alluded to above - no longer have to respond to comments, hold their fics hostage, constantly post dramatic rants designed to rally their loyal fans to stroke their massive egos and just generally suck the enjoyment out of whatever stories we all loved when they first appeared on the scene and were lesser known and more interested in good fic than in high drama.

[amelialourdes.livejournal.com]

Hey, transcribers unite! That's probably why it bothers me the way that it bothers you. It's definitely more about spelling, sentence structure, and those kind of glaring errors that are just a big red stop sign. I think that it's picky too but these are basic things, you know? It's something that we learn in elementary school and on. It's very elementary. I don't mean to call anyone names but they are lessons taught when we're younger.

I commented that though it was amusing I couldn't picture it actually ever happening, and got the royal smackown from the author's posse.
I KNOW HOW THIS FEELS. I HATE IT.

Yes! I definitely agree with this. The story looks nothing like Brian and Justin. They don't act like Brian and Justin. They don't hold conversations like Brian and Justin. Why don't you just call it an original story and name them Bob and Jim? That would actually make me want to read it.

Not bored at all with your comment! Continue on. :) Yes, I agree. I ... I still don't know why authors do this as if they're better than all this, as if their story is the new Bible. I'm sorry. It's not. Just because you don't have the number of comments you want or the reception that you want doesn't mean that you have to get on that high horse. It's frustrating, to say the least.