Jump to content

Click Here!

Leaderboard

Popular Content

Showing content with the highest reputation on 04/12/2015 in all areas

  1. What lissa said. It is clearly stated all over the forums, that we do not allow this.
    1 point
  2. magusfang

    Magusfang's Corner

    ok, Cat was one of the girls he rescued from the Cardinal, we don't really know who her family is...she had a sister but she died. So her inteligence is natural, but enhanced some by the nanites hey flexy you know me, i like egging the debate on should have one posted soon...hopefully
    1 point
  3. Samara

    Magusfang's Corner

    I am a bit confused while reading. Can we have a back story about Cat. she is a little girl like the twins but damn intelligent and super talented. according to the story Max's dad was a prize scientist,who died due to his powerful inventions.so Max's scary intelligence is understandable. and cat seems as intelligent as him. so I think a back story plot abut cat's family and history will be damn interesting. thou you can tell me about it in here also. you see I'm really curious to know. what say magus
    1 point
  4. KH_Woodward

    Ungrateful readers

    I've noticed a really weird trend in the fan fiction world, and it's utterly baffling to me. I'm talking about the fan fiction reader who doesn't write, themselves, but seems to think that all fan fiction should be tailored specifically to their tastes. They go on public forums and post things like, "Here are the things I hate about fan fiction stories!" and then proceed to make a long list of things they dislike seeing in fan fiction, implying that these things should never be "allowed" in any fan fiction publication. These are the same people who will write reviews saying, "Ew, gross! This is disgusting, why would you even write this?" even when the story was clearly tagged. I don't get this mindset at all. It's such a weird sort of entitlement. "How dare these authors spend their valuable time creating stories that they don't get paid for, and then post them online for me to read absolutely for free! They should magically know what I want and write only that! It's such a waste of my time to have to scroll through stories that don't interest me! All these authors I don't like should gtfo because I DESERVE BETTER!" Here's what I have to say to these readers: Why do you think you deserve better? Even if the story is the stupidest thing ever written.... It's free. What are you offering in exchange for the author's hard work that's supposed to be so valuable that it will motivate them to want to write something you personally will like? Obviously it's not money, because in most cases, fan fiction readers don't make the "leap" to purchasing original fiction by their favorite authors. They're hard-core freebie-seekers. And it's sure as hell not attention, because fan fiction authors just don't really get much of that either (have you ever calculated the average review per hit ratio? It's abysmal.). What exactly do these readers think authors get out of writing fan fiction? Are we supposed to magically know that they're reading and enjoying it, and be spiritually fulfilled by the knowledge that some schmuck in Idaho thinks we "write good smut"? Why do they suppose we are doing this, if it's not for attention or money? Reality check: Most authors are just writing stories to entertain themselves, because anything else would be an exercise in constant disappointment. We share our stories online out of the goodness of our heart because what the hell? It's already written and maybe someone, somewhere will derive some enjoyment from it... Some of us listen to feedback if it's given, but by the time the story gets posted, we've already received our main "payment," because the fun of writing the story was the whole point for us. Ultimately, we're writing for ourselves, not for the readers. If the readers happen to like it, that's just a nice bonus. What some people don't seem to realize is that learning to write well is a HUGELY time-consuming endeavor that is very unlikely to ever "pay off." It's a labor of love. The very fact that anyone ever even tries to do it at all is pretty damn impressive, no matter how bad their attempts are. Let's talk about what it REALLY takes to learn to write well, shall we? Because realistically, this is what you're expecting writers to do FOR FREE when you demand high quality fan fiction. First, you have to spend literally years learning the nuts and bolts of your language (grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc). And just knowing what's correct isn't enough for fiction. You have to understand WHY it's considered correct, keep track of how the language is changing over time to be sure that your knowledge isn't out of date, and learn how to break the rules intelligently for artistic effect (to achieve effects such as unique voice, character dialects, etc.) Even things such as whether words are Germanic or Latin in origin is important (because Germanic words sound 'casual' and Latin words sound 'academic' and 'smart' and that makes a difference for how your work is perceived by the reader). At the same time, you have to spend years reading and studying anything you can get your hands on. Being well-read from an author's perspective does not mean having read 100 books within your favorite genre. It means having read AND ANALYZED thousands of books, across all genres, both in fiction and nonfiction. It means reading books you don't like to try to figure out why other people like them. It means reading in genres you hate so that you can understand the perspectives of the types of people who may be the villains in your novels someday. You need to have not only read for enjoyment, but studied the structure, voice, use of dialogue, description, etc... Reading as a writer is hard work, and it takes a special kind of person to think of it as 'fun'. And that's still not the end of it. Even a barely passable writer who has done none of this will at the very least have spent countless hours writing stories that will never see the light of day (expect perhaps in an online forum or critique group, since feedback can help writers get better...) And all of this is just the bare minimum of what is required to write basic commercial-style fiction. If you want to write something more "artistic" you have to go back and study the classics, and also keep track of what's being done in the lit fic world, so that you understand what has already been done and why it was unique or groundbreaking. Getting an MFA doesn't hurt, if this is the route you want to go (though it's by no means mandatory). Now think about all that for a second. Knowing what is required for "good" writing, what does bitching about bad fan fiction contribute to this process? How does it help authors to write better stories (or even make them WANT to!)? It doesn't. So let's talk about action steps. Let's say that you really deeply do want to actually help promote good fan fiction. There are two main ways you can do it: 1) Provide substantive critiques for authors who want them. Reviews help writers know that someone is enjoying their work, and even bad reviews can help a writer who is actively trying to get better. Hits don't count. Votes don't count. Reviews that say, "I like this, it's great!" don't count. All of these things are nice and will definitely give the writer the warm fuzzies (which is a very nice thing to do!), but it won't help them write better stories. Here are some examples of what is helpful to a writer who is actively trying to improve: "Chapter X made me feel ______. I liked it/didn't like it." "I really liked the way you described _______. It was really beautiful, and did a great job evoking the atmosphere of the scene!" "Man, that foreshadowing in Chapter 1 was really cool." "I generally liked it, but this word wasn't used correctly. A better word might be ______." "The way you wrote Character X's dialogue was really true to the source material. You captured his voice wonderfully." "I was really interested in _____, but you never followed up on that. I was a little disappointed, because it was a neat idea and I was really looking forward to seeing where you went with that!" "This line was hilarious/sexy/heart-breaking: _______. Good job!" 2) Support fan fiction authors whose work you enjoy. Follow their work and read/review when they post something new. Let them know you like their work and want to see more of it. Subscribe to their stories if that's an option. Pay attention to whether they have published original fiction, and if they have... buy it, if you can scrape together the money! And then, tell your friends about their work. In the end, the only truly reliable way to ensure that good artists continue to create their art is to support their career.
    1 point
×
×
  • Create New...