Badfic Abounds: Share The Hate!

[Guest lightgoddess]

Here is the thing about bad writing: as writers, we were all bad at one point. Personally, I will rarely leave a bad review or a flame, but there are exceptions. I personally believe that we, as writers, are not going to be able to please everyone that reads our stuff, and that's fine with me. But, if I were to write a story and 8 out of 10 reviews were con crit/ flames, I'd take the story down. There is obviously something wrong with it, and I don't think it's the readers. If I had to give myself reviews to get any, I would deserve every flame I got (even if I did not acknowledge it).

Bad writers should be called out. They make descent writers look bad to people who might be new to fanfiction. Meaning, if I were new to a particular fandom and three of the first five stories I read were riddled with bad spelling, grammar, and formatting, I would probably not go back to that fandom and try to read thinking that I would have to wade through crap to find the descent stuff.

As authors, we do need to have a pretty thick skin when it comes to others reviewing our stories. It's all nice and good when we get good reviews, but there's really no need to cry if we get a bad one. If we are writing for ourselves and not everyone else, it's easy to shrug our shoulders and think "Well, I guess they won't be reading anything else I write."

Just like an artist who paints on a canvas, we paint our pictures with words. we take our readers through the emotions of our characters and often times, we put a lot of work into it. These bad fic sites may be full of assholes making fun of fics, but so far, no one in this thread has said, "Well I liked such-and-such fic and I didn't think it should have been made fun of."

I've had my share of stories ripped to shreds. It's not nice to be on the receiving end of something like that, but it made me become more serious about my craft and want to improve. These sites are just another method, much like MST3K, of doing the same thing. If an author is going to be sensitive about what people say about their stories, it's probably not a good idea for them to post them to the public.

That being said, I like to read these hate sites. To me, they are almost like a crack fic. It gives me a chuckle to see someone who's got a wicked sense of humor pointing out the obvious in horrible stories. If I'm ever on one of these, what can I do? Nothing but try to improve my writing to the point that I am not singled out.

[Guest Mike256bit]

I really, really, really wish that my MiSTs were R-rated. FF.net isn't down with MiSTs and ever since WSN9 went down, there's been no central archive aside from the alt.misc.tv.mst3k or whatever.

[Guest shawn evans]

The only fanfics that deserve to be MSTed or ripped a few new ones are those that are held up by the writer (and his/her friends) as 'great', and they go to the trouble of staging a 'contest' to 'prove it'.

They put a lot of time and effort in these things, they think they're good, but they're crap!

Anyone can make fun of bad spelling, etc., but these deranged writers are the ones who should feel the wrath!

[Guest Melody Fate]

I saw something today that reminded me of this thread.

I saw a group of boys picking on a fat girl. Now at first, being fat myself and crime of all crimes, sensitive, my reaction was to go over and tell those boys to back off. But then, a voice in my head spoke and it said, "Wait a moment... maybe you're wrong!"

And I realized that I wasn't being very sympathetic to those boys. I mean, they had to deal with this girl's terrible fatness. They had to look at her. I mean, they might even have to walk around her, and her being all fat and such, it would take them longer. Maybe this girl had even snarfed down the last brownie at a party once, depriving them, those skinny guys of it.

Now, some might say it's wrong to tease people, but you know...they weren't really teasing her, just her extreme fatness. And to be honest, this girl was quite the porker.

Then, to make it worse, the girl started to cry. What a fucking little baby. If she's that senstive, she shouldn't be so damned fat in the first place, should she? I mean, if she doesn't want people to gather around and call her names, then she should be skinny. And maybe get a nose job too! I mean, you can't blame these guys right? They have every right to pick on this girl, because if she can't take being picked on like that, she should either lose weight and become prettier, or stay the fuck home, right?

Oh, and don't tell me that it's impossible to stay home. We have home schooling now, we have food delivery. Yeah, there's no reason why this girl should inflict her ugly fatness on the general public.

So, I think I should really thank those boys for picking on this girl. Maybe now she'll lose some weight and quit inflicting her ugly fat self on the worlde.

Or, maybe she'll borrow her daddy's gun and blow her fuckin' brains out. But then again, hey, that's great, again, she's taken her ugly, fatass self out of the general public's eye. The bullies, oh, excuse me, they aren't bullies, they're fine young men doing a public service... if the girl does get so depressed she can't cope anymore, that's okay... they didn't do anything wrong. If she can't take the heat, she needs to stay out of the kitchen. It's a mean old world out there and the faster she knows it the better.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

The only fanfics that deserve to be MSTed or ripped a few new ones are those that are held up by the writer (and his/her friends) as 'great', and they go to the trouble of staging a 'contest' to 'prove it'.

They put a lot of time and effort in these things, they think they're good, but they're crap!

Anyone can make fun of bad spelling, etc., but these deranged writers are the ones who should feel the wrath!

Ok, see THAT is out of line. To MST a plagurization or a horrible mary sue is one thing (and when I say Mary Sue, I mean miss perfect with the 15 differant shades of brown, red and blonde in her hair). Hell, the 15 minute a chapter with horrible characterization and obviously just an excuse to pair this person with that I'll even stand by ripping into. But to go out of your way to make an inexperienced writer feel like shit is something else completly. This site was made for an exchange of ideas and to HELP the inexperienced, not make them feel like crap. THAT is asshole material right there. As more experienced wirters, we are supposed to either avoid commenting on fics like that, or give pointers to make them better. To MST someones pride and joy that they've spent hours on is crap.

[Guest Mike256bit]

I'll say it again -- a large part of MiSTing is to roast the fandom, too. When I MiSTed my old Sonic fics, I spent half to riffs making jokes about the cannon characters. It is not to try and hurt writers, whether they're bad or not.

This is an excerpt from a MiST I did of an SI fic:

>

>    He opened his door after the walk of 15 feet that felt like 15

> miles.

Tom: Of course, he knew that he had 485 to go, and from there. . .

>          It was nearing 9:00 PM.  He figured he could get in two good,

> solid hours of writing before bed.  After he seated himself in the

> rolling chair, he picked up his pen.

Crow: This time, his post at alt.nerd.geek would be heard.

>                                      Not until after just one stroke of

> the ink applicator did he put the pen down.  He clutched the sides of

> his head and rubbed his temples.

Mike: [Mike.] What am I thinking. . . I can't drink meatloaf!

>                                    He finally realized how much time

> that could be well spent on productive things.

Tom: Like -anime- fanfiction.

>                                                Instead, it was all put

> into taking out precious months of his adolescent years.  He was

> fifteen!

Mike: That's a crime, in some states.

>          It was utterly futile to write about something that would soon

> leave his life forever.

Tom: He was through with writing about his acne.

>                          So, he figured that to start his life back on

> track, he stood, and figured that a good nights rest would help.

Crow: Then he figured that he'd do some more figuring.

It's possible to be funny without insulting the writer. Granted, in other parts, I tear into the author but only because it's me I'm making fun of.

[Guest Melody Fate]

I'll say it again -- a large part of MiSTing is to roast the fandom, too. When I MiSTed my old Sonic fics, I spent half to riffs making jokes about the cannon characters. It is not to try and hurt writers, whether they're bad or not.

Mike, just so you didn't think my post was talking about MST's, it wasn't.

Yes, some are nasty peices of work designed to tear apart the writer. That's bad. But yeah, I've seen some that are pretty good.

A lot of it is the spirit of the writer of the MST3K. Some people say they write them not to be "mean" but you can tell that's all bullshit. When half of it is insulting the writer then no, it was not written in the spirit of fun.

I still believe that MST's should only be written with the OA's permission. Although, I have to admit, that if you came across some of my older stuff and MST'ed it, permission or not, I'd probably love it. As time passes, I become less sensitive about my older stuff and more willing to see the mistakes. It's my new stuff I'd have problems with.

A good MST should make you laugh, without making you feel contempt for the writer him/herself. Think of the original show... I never left that thinking that the actors in the movie, or the director/writer/studio/whatever were just... stupid for making it. It's a fine line, but only once did I ever see the original show cross that line.

[Guest Mike256bit]

Mike, just so you didn't think my post was talking about MST's, it wasn't.

Yes, some are nasty peices of work designed to tear apart the writer. That's bad. But yeah, I've seen some that are pretty good.

A lot of it is the spirit of the writer of the MST3K. And yes, someone can say, "I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings..." but the writing itself will show that. I've read MST's that were funny as hell, that even being as sensitive as I am, I couldn't see the OA being upset by them, they were just that good.

Oh, I figured. I was just sorta building off Pixagi's statement. I understood the spirit of your post, for sure.

[Guest Melody Fate]

Mike: [Mike.] What am I thinking. . . I can't drink meatloaf!

Mike? You are my new hero, just for that line. I read that and snorted Pepsi all over my monitor.