lessons learned in fandom.
Just passing on the wisdom, kids. If you decide not to listen, it ain't my fault.**
1. So you found yourself in a new fandom. Yay, right? But slow down & remember: consume more canon than fanon at first. If you read the first chapter of a book and then go read fic, even if you won't be spoiled, you'll be sorry. Or watch one episode of a show and then rush to read fic. Just don't do it! (Even though you may be REALLY tempted for various reasons.)
2. And for the sake of all that is good, stay off the smut, too.
3. On that note, when you do discover some new fantastic fandom, and get an idea to fic it, just do it. Don't hesitate, don't consider, "Maybe I should read some fic for it first..", none of that stuff. Just write it and maybe even post it. Chances are your characterizations and view of the canon material contains something new, exciting, clever. You're not consuming the fandom clichés and conventions, and have the canon fresh in mind (assumably). I know a lot of my creativity has died with these hesitations - you just can't get that inspiration back.
4. Some multi-fandom writers are just pure awesome and their names/LJs/sites so completely worth remembering. There are some people who I never even talked to but whose fic I'm a huuuge fan of, and I always keep going back to see what fandoms they're into on what ever moment. That's to say, if you ever see a multi-fandom writer & read their fic in some fandom, enjoy it, even if you don't become BFF with them or they reply to your comment, keep their name in mind and go back to them in search of further awesome. (For the sake of reference, some of my faves are cimonere111, cupiscent, wax_jism, mcee, hackthis).
5. Some fandoms have OTPs. Some incredibly popular pairing that just casts a shadow over like, everything else. Sometimes this sucks because who doesn't enjoy a bit of variety? Other times you're too into the pairing to be sad about lack of anything else. Whatever you do, try not to let the fandom wear out that OTP for you, if you're into it, or if you're not, don't let the OTP ruin the fandom for you. Sure some of the shippers may suck ass, sure some of the fic is overhyped and OOC to the point of ridiculous but if at all possible, stay clear of that crap. Chances are, you can avoid it and thus avoid the feeling of "Ugh I'm tired of this fandom already!".
(Like I'm currently going though Oz fanfiction recommendations, saving some for later once I see more of the show and some I'm already reading, thus conviniently breaking my own rule stated in #1 & especially #2 but holy crap the smut is this fandom. I can't be blamed, man. But anyway, it's becoming clear to me that 80% of all Oz fic is Beecher/Keller. So far this is okay with me because holy crap they are the hottest and have awesomely fucked up chemistry going on [and it's only going to get better - as far as I'm spoiled for, anyway] but still, I wouldn't mind some variety with pairings. When watching the show I get some ideas for weirdly awesome pairings, like maybe McManus/Said - there's so much eye-fucking/rivalry with those two.
Semi-relatedly, I think the fandom uber-squee over Caroline/Mac of Green Wing caused me to have this sort of negative reaction to them. That coupled with the fact Mac's awesomeness decreased in S2 while Guy's increased, so I moved back to the first ship that ever crossed my mind in Green Wing - Guy/Caroline. Still the hottest!)
6. Fanfiction is sadly all about the now. That is, if you can avoid it, don't get into really old fandoms. Because if you do, you're going to find a lot of abandoned websites, non-functioning fic archives, dead links, the whole works. I don't know about you but I find this annoying beyond belief.
** This is totally pretentious. Just some general observations I probably most likely never follow myself.
1. So you found yourself in a new fandom. Yay, right? But slow down & remember: consume more canon than fanon at first. If you read the first chapter of a book and then go read fic, even if you won't be spoiled, you'll be sorry. Or watch one episode of a show and then rush to read fic. Just don't do it! (Even though you may be REALLY tempted for various reasons.)
2. And for the sake of all that is good, stay off the smut, too.
3. On that note, when you do discover some new fantastic fandom, and get an idea to fic it, just do it. Don't hesitate, don't consider, "Maybe I should read some fic for it first..", none of that stuff. Just write it and maybe even post it. Chances are your characterizations and view of the canon material contains something new, exciting, clever. You're not consuming the fandom clichés and conventions, and have the canon fresh in mind (assumably). I know a lot of my creativity has died with these hesitations - you just can't get that inspiration back.
4. Some multi-fandom writers are just pure awesome and their names/LJs/sites so completely worth remembering. There are some people who I never even talked to but whose fic I'm a huuuge fan of, and I always keep going back to see what fandoms they're into on what ever moment. That's to say, if you ever see a multi-fandom writer & read their fic in some fandom, enjoy it, even if you don't become BFF with them or they reply to your comment, keep their name in mind and go back to them in search of further awesome. (For the sake of reference, some of my faves are cimonere111, cupiscent, wax_jism, mcee, hackthis).
5. Some fandoms have OTPs. Some incredibly popular pairing that just casts a shadow over like, everything else. Sometimes this sucks because who doesn't enjoy a bit of variety? Other times you're too into the pairing to be sad about lack of anything else. Whatever you do, try not to let the fandom wear out that OTP for you, if you're into it, or if you're not, don't let the OTP ruin the fandom for you. Sure some of the shippers may suck ass, sure some of the fic is overhyped and OOC to the point of ridiculous but if at all possible, stay clear of that crap. Chances are, you can avoid it and thus avoid the feeling of "Ugh I'm tired of this fandom already!".
(Like I'm currently going though Oz fanfiction recommendations, saving some for later once I see more of the show and some I'm already reading, thus conviniently breaking my own rule stated in #1 & especially #2 but holy crap the smut is this fandom. I can't be blamed, man. But anyway, it's becoming clear to me that 80% of all Oz fic is Beecher/Keller. So far this is okay with me because holy crap they are the hottest and have awesomely fucked up chemistry going on [and it's only going to get better - as far as I'm spoiled for, anyway] but still, I wouldn't mind some variety with pairings. When watching the show I get some ideas for weirdly awesome pairings, like maybe McManus/Said - there's so much eye-fucking/rivalry with those two.
Semi-relatedly, I think the fandom uber-squee over Caroline/Mac of Green Wing caused me to have this sort of negative reaction to them. That coupled with the fact Mac's awesomeness decreased in S2 while Guy's increased, so I moved back to the first ship that ever crossed my mind in Green Wing - Guy/Caroline. Still the hottest!)
6. Fanfiction is sadly all about the now. That is, if you can avoid it, don't get into really old fandoms. Because if you do, you're going to find a lot of abandoned websites, non-functioning fic archives, dead links, the whole works. I don't know about you but I find this annoying beyond belief.
** This is totally pretentious. Just some general observations I probably most likely never follow myself.