I am totally with you on this, I think. Fact is, everybody who feels the least bit insecure about their work (which is pretty much everybody) occasionally indulges in making oneself feel better by thinking, "well at least my stuff is better than ________." People who do this vocally and habitually annoy me a lot more than badfic writers, who are at least having the guts to let their own freak flags fly.
I totally support your sekrit incest baby fic and the impulse it comes from. In a way, I've tried to insulate myself from charges of being a sleazy guilty-pleasure-fic writer by announcing up front that's what I am and wearing it like a badge of pride--the first fanfic I ever posted was NC-17 Severus Snape/Witch-king of Angmar, after all. The challenge for me then is just to try to write my weird filth so well I can't be easily dismissed. :) That doesn't mean I don't get the occasional twinge of, "Is this just too silly, even for me?"
And the story works BECAUSE I love both sources and all the characters so much, BECAUSE I took the
( ... )
everybody who feels the least bit insecure about their work (which is pretty much everybody) occasionally indulges in making oneself feel better by thinking, "well at least my stuff is better than ________."
*nod nod*
I do try not to do it in public, though.
In a way, I've tried to insulate myself from charges of being a sleazy guilty-pleasure-fic writer by announcing up front that's what I am and wearing it like a badge of pride-
I've done similar things in the past - my fanfic motto is generally "Let them shag and be happy" and I always kind of disclaim my stories as romances, trying to let people know I'm aware of (and often embracing) the genre romance influences.
That's the only way crackfic works. And I'll take passionately playful crackfic over technically flawless canon-compliant fic with no energy and no surprises and no guts almost any day.Yeah, I think it becomes a matter of emotional investment and heart, and I sometimes think trying too hard to be perfect - which I am occasionally guilty of - can stifle whatever
( ... )
There are ways of doing it in public that are more acceptable than others. There some prejudices about some kinds of fic it's OK to embrace loud and long, and others not so OK. I've gone off on disdain for certain tropes and subgenres in public on occasion and imagine I will again - I just try very hard not to direct it at any particular writer, because that just hurts somebody's feelings for no good purpose.
I've done similar things in the past - my fanfic motto is generally "Let them shag and be happy" and I always kind of disclaim my stories as romances, trying to let people know I'm aware of (and often embracing) the genre romance influences.
Is "disclaim" the word you want here? It sounds to me like there's just a teeny bit of embarrassment about this here, like you've internalized some of the prejudice one hears from time to time that there's something shallow about wanting shagging and happy endings, and real artistes go for the angst to show the Reality That Human
( ... )
Is "disclaim" the word you want here? It sounds to me like there's just a teeny bit of embarrassment about this here, like you've internalized some of the prejudice one hears from time to time that there's something shallow about wanting shagging and happy endingsThat's exactly why I used it - because I did (probably do) still have some residual shame about that. Now I am more, whatever, people, I say let them shag and be happy, but when I first started out there was an especially strong vibe that we weren't writing romances - especially in slash, where there are a lot of people who think that just because they're writing about two men, they're not using many of the tropes of genre romance (which, you know as well as I, that having two men involved doesn't necessarily excise the heteronormativity of many romance tropes as they are written in fandom - the smaller/younger man often bottoms, there is a heavy emphasis on penetrative sex and characters' alleged preference for one position or another becomes their entrenched and designated
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Hey guys! I'm very happy to overhear the discussion above, most particularly this part:
it just gets disrespected because our society has an ethic that values Work over Play, and there's suspicion of any form of play that takes so much work!
And doesn't earn you any money. Like it's okay to bake or knit and nobody says "Why do you waste your time doing that for free when you could do it for a living?" like they do with writing as a hobby.
I've been thinking a lot about writing as play vs. writing as work, and hearing what both of you say here is a perspective I really appreciate. Thanks!
I totally support your sekrit incest baby fic and the impulse it comes from. In a way, I've tried to insulate myself from charges of being a sleazy guilty-pleasure-fic writer by announcing up front that's what I am and wearing it like a badge of pride--the first fanfic I ever posted was NC-17 Severus Snape/Witch-king of Angmar, after all. The challenge for me then is just to try to write my weird filth so well I can't be easily dismissed. :) That doesn't mean I don't get the occasional twinge of, "Is this just too silly, even for me?"
And the story works BECAUSE I love both sources and all the characters so much, BECAUSE I took the ( ... )
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*nod nod*
I do try not to do it in public, though.
In a way, I've tried to insulate myself from charges of being a sleazy guilty-pleasure-fic writer by announcing up front that's what I am and wearing it like a badge of pride-
I've done similar things in the past - my fanfic motto is generally "Let them shag and be happy" and I always kind of disclaim my stories as romances, trying to let people know I'm aware of (and often embracing) the genre romance influences.
That's the only way crackfic works. And I'll take passionately playful crackfic over technically flawless canon-compliant fic with no energy and no surprises and no guts almost any day.Yeah, I think it becomes a matter of emotional investment and heart, and I sometimes think trying too hard to be perfect - which I am occasionally guilty of - can stifle whatever ( ... )
Reply
I do try not to do it in public, though.
There are ways of doing it in public that are more acceptable than others. There some prejudices about some kinds of fic it's OK to embrace loud and long, and others not so OK. I've gone off on disdain for certain tropes and subgenres in public on occasion and imagine I will again - I just try very hard not to direct it at any particular writer, because that just hurts somebody's feelings for no good purpose.
I've done similar things in the past - my fanfic motto is generally "Let them shag and be happy" and I always kind of disclaim my stories as romances, trying to let people know I'm aware of (and often embracing) the genre romance influences.
Is "disclaim" the word you want here? It sounds to me like there's just a teeny bit of embarrassment about this here, like you've internalized some of the prejudice one hears from time to time that there's something shallow about wanting shagging and happy endings, and real artistes go for the angst to show the Reality That Human ( ... )
Reply
Reply
it just gets disrespected because our society has an ethic that values Work over Play, and there's suspicion of any form of play that takes so much work!
And doesn't earn you any money. Like it's okay to bake or knit and nobody says "Why do you waste your time doing that for free when you could do it for a living?" like they do with writing as a hobby.
I've been thinking a lot about writing as play vs. writing as work, and hearing what both of you say here is a perspective I really appreciate. Thanks!
Reply
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