My Love/Hate Relationship with Fanfic
I have long had a love/hate relationship with fanfic. There's a lot of paddling going on under the surface of this little black duck's pond.
:-)
I hate: badly written stuff. And OMG there's so much of it out there. Trying to read some of the HP stuff was like trying to spork my eyeballs out for a million dollars. I kept trying to focus on the goal but the damned thing just hurt to much. It's a peeve. Also; commas are friends. So are capital letters, punctuation, and semi colons.
I guess in a way my love/hate has also been more of a personal nature. Despite my derision for terrible, terrible writing (and I know I am on a doozy when I start copying and pasting favourite sentences to my friends on chat so they can share my pain), I still go back to the Kool-Aid. Lovely, sweet, Kool-Aid. So why?
I have learnt a lot through my interactions with fanfic. Things that disquieten me about fanfic are mirrors to things within me I need to examine. I am spooked by fanfic. I find it incomprehensible that you just know what you want to read, and then you go search for it. H/C, dub!con, wincest, all these taboos! People just LOOK for them! Other people just WRITE them! And yet... and yet... they are ENJOYING IT SO MUCH! WHY DO THEY ENJOY IT SO MUCH???
I am still blown away that it's OK to even imagine searching for some of this stuff. Sure, sex is healthy and wonderful and lovely, and I have no problems with any of that. But fantasies? Dark fantasies? Really, really, evil, dark, fantasies? And people just search for them? And already know they are into that, and admit it, and just happily read all of it they can find??? Mind's still going POP around here.
I also love the way how fanfic is so very very specific. I was really interested in some of my friend's discussions about H/C, which is Hurt/Comfort, where in there is a Hurt, possibly from one character, to another, and then Comfort, where the characters comfort each other post-pain. The Hurt may also be from an outside source, but either way, the discussions on the expectation of what is H/C, and the internal balance expected/required for the story to be effective and satisfying was mindblowing. It was so specific! Genre? Ha, genre is HUGE! Fanfic is so specific it's like a surgeon's blade. Pared down to the essentials, in a way.
I can read a genre story, novel, drabble, snippet, and it can be hit and miss even if the writing is good. If I read a H/C story when I am in the mood, all I need is for the writing to be good, and I'm happy! It's like... readers are starting to define what they want. Slicing away the extraneous matters and serving exactly what you want, a small or large serving, prepped by chefs of decent enough quality.
My explorations in fanfic have taught me a lot, not only about the craft of writing, but given me space to address my own issues within the production of material which may be outside my comfort zone.
Also, this year I am doing Kink_Bingo again, but I'll be keeping that on my DW account and not my LJ. Expect lots of Legend of the Seeker stuff LOL. I'm also doing drabbles and challenges for some of the LoTS communities I am in.
The other thing about fanfic is, I will admit, I had let my standard slip a little. I have a lovely beta who had nudged me back up a little, and with my current reading, learning, and enthusiasm for writing constantly, I swear my sentence structures in fiction is growing by leaps and bounds. I am exploring different ways of saying the same things, I am developing ideas and thoughts within the text, and also I have a space in which I can put stuff out, and people can have a look and comment about what they liked. I don't actually *have* many short story ideas. Pornographic ideas, I seem to have way more of. Maybe I should start looking at writing erotica short stories instead.
So, in summary, gosh. I've learnt, and I am learning alot, and I am still getting a kick out of this ride.
:-)
I hate: badly written stuff. And OMG there's so much of it out there. Trying to read some of the HP stuff was like trying to spork my eyeballs out for a million dollars. I kept trying to focus on the goal but the damned thing just hurt to much. It's a peeve. Also; commas are friends. So are capital letters, punctuation, and semi colons.
I guess in a way my love/hate has also been more of a personal nature. Despite my derision for terrible, terrible writing (and I know I am on a doozy when I start copying and pasting favourite sentences to my friends on chat so they can share my pain), I still go back to the Kool-Aid. Lovely, sweet, Kool-Aid. So why?
I have learnt a lot through my interactions with fanfic. Things that disquieten me about fanfic are mirrors to things within me I need to examine. I am spooked by fanfic. I find it incomprehensible that you just know what you want to read, and then you go search for it. H/C, dub!con, wincest, all these taboos! People just LOOK for them! Other people just WRITE them! And yet... and yet... they are ENJOYING IT SO MUCH! WHY DO THEY ENJOY IT SO MUCH???
I am still blown away that it's OK to even imagine searching for some of this stuff. Sure, sex is healthy and wonderful and lovely, and I have no problems with any of that. But fantasies? Dark fantasies? Really, really, evil, dark, fantasies? And people just search for them? And already know they are into that, and admit it, and just happily read all of it they can find??? Mind's still going POP around here.
I also love the way how fanfic is so very very specific. I was really interested in some of my friend's discussions about H/C, which is Hurt/Comfort, where in there is a Hurt, possibly from one character, to another, and then Comfort, where the characters comfort each other post-pain. The Hurt may also be from an outside source, but either way, the discussions on the expectation of what is H/C, and the internal balance expected/required for the story to be effective and satisfying was mindblowing. It was so specific! Genre? Ha, genre is HUGE! Fanfic is so specific it's like a surgeon's blade. Pared down to the essentials, in a way.
I can read a genre story, novel, drabble, snippet, and it can be hit and miss even if the writing is good. If I read a H/C story when I am in the mood, all I need is for the writing to be good, and I'm happy! It's like... readers are starting to define what they want. Slicing away the extraneous matters and serving exactly what you want, a small or large serving, prepped by chefs of decent enough quality.
My explorations in fanfic have taught me a lot, not only about the craft of writing, but given me space to address my own issues within the production of material which may be outside my comfort zone.
Also, this year I am doing Kink_Bingo again, but I'll be keeping that on my DW account and not my LJ. Expect lots of Legend of the Seeker stuff LOL. I'm also doing drabbles and challenges for some of the LoTS communities I am in.
The other thing about fanfic is, I will admit, I had let my standard slip a little. I have a lovely beta who had nudged me back up a little, and with my current reading, learning, and enthusiasm for writing constantly, I swear my sentence structures in fiction is growing by leaps and bounds. I am exploring different ways of saying the same things, I am developing ideas and thoughts within the text, and also I have a space in which I can put stuff out, and people can have a look and comment about what they liked. I don't actually *have* many short story ideas. Pornographic ideas, I seem to have way more of. Maybe I should start looking at writing erotica short stories instead.
So, in summary, gosh. I've learnt, and I am learning alot, and I am still getting a kick out of this ride.