(no subject)
I recently got a review from a reader who found some "inconsistencies" with my story. I'm usually someone who just shrugs off these kinds of things, but in this case, I was hurt. I cooled down a bit and then wrote her an e-mail telling her how I did not have any canon inconsistencies in my story, and that, in fact, she had her facts mixed up and I also told her that I thought it was wrong that write me a review criticizing me for taking liberties with canon. Everyone does it and if you don't like it, and it doesn't make sense to you, either read on to find out the answer or stop reading. The nature of fanfic is to put our own personal spin on these characters and on the setting. What's more is that there are thousands of conversations about artistic license.
I dunno, I don't want this thing to blow up into some big huge deal, but I have the feeling she will take offense to this because, hey, nobody likes to be told their wrong - especially from someone younger than them. But I also have the distinct feeling that I've been in the fandom longer than her. Anyway, I've been writing that letter for about an hour and it took me a while to find a way to get my point across without being vindictive or rude. I dunno, you tell me.
Either way, I also found her review somewhat patronizing. She points out my "inconsistencies" (at one point using ALL CAPITAL LETTER WORDS - a pet peeve of mine) and then tells me to "start consulting" the HP Lexicon to "get a lot of these facts straight" (when, in reality, she was the one who was wrong). And besides that, she just wrote a review to tell me the inconsistencies with the story. She never mentioned anything about the writing style or anything else but to point out I disregarded Canon like some kind of n00b who's watched the movie rather than read any of the books.
Ugh, no more anger, I just needed to get that out. Anyway, here's the letter:
Hello,
I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm OBHWF Girl and I wrote "Shards of Light." I am also a beta at CM, which is how I got your e-mail. If this bothers you, I sincerely apologize, but I feel that your review was a bit hurtful. Although I don't believe in deleting reviews I don't like, and because I don’t usually have the time to get to all of my reviews (good or bad), I would let this go without a word. But in this case I know that some of the things you said were incorrect.
As a writer, I am willing to admit when I make inconsistencies with my writing. And with many of my stories I am very diligent about getting canon facts correct. I included your review here:
Um - there are inconsistencies in this story that are bothering me. First of all, James' parents are Dorea and Charlus. Dorea died in 1977, not 1978. Second, Lily and James ESCAPED TO Godric's Hollow - they wouldn't be HIDING in some vast Potter family estate there - what secret is there to keep if they were just staying at James' house which everyone already knew? It just doesn't make sense - Lily and James would have been in a dwelling that was a lot less conspicuous. Start consulting the www.hp-lexicon.org to get a lot of these facts straight - they are an excellent source.
First, you said that James' parents are named Dorea and Charlus. Though they may be, they have never been confirmed as such. James' parents, as said by Rowling, were old (even by Wizarding standards) when they died and she has also stated that the average age for a wizard is (I think) 150 - definitely over 100. Dorea Black (who you assume to be James' mother) was only 53 when she died. Based on these two facts, Charlus could be James' much older cousin. Here is the link to the page in which it talks about Charlus Potter and Dorea Black: http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/potter.html. On James' profile page at the HP Lexicon, his parents are not named and have not been confirmed.
Second, HP Lexicon clearly states that James and Lily HID in Godric's Hollow. If you don't believe me, follow this link (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/wizards/james.html) and it says, verbatim, “When Voldemort became aware of the prophecy concerning a baby born at the end of July of 1980 [Y0], they became a particular target of the Dark Lord, and they went into hiding in 1981 [Y1], in a place called Godric's Hollow” (the third paragraph under “In-Depth Profile”).
Third, you said that the Potter’s would hide in a much less conspicuous place. I already tackled that in the Author’s Note of my prologue - sort of. The Lexicon said that Lily and James’ house in Godric’s Hollow was a cottage based on the movie and came to that conclusion since the director asked JKR what it was. However, I decided to do things differently because it was never stated in the books or any of JKR’s interviews what the house looked like. Anyway, back to your comment - don’t you think that Grimmauld Place was conspicuous? The Black family - meaning Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Tonk’s mother (whose name escapes me) and all of their husbands and families - knew about it. It doesn’t matter who knows about it, once the Fidelius charm is cast, nobody can find it if they’re not privy to the secret. In fact, it stated in PoA: "As long as the Secret-Keeper refused to speak, You-Know-Who could search the village where Lily and James were staying for years and never find them, not even if he had his nose pressed against their sitting room window!" You can go to this page (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/spells/spells_f.html) and scroll down to Fidelius Charm to read the entry. So as long as the Secret-Keeper keeps his mouth shut, it could be the most conspicuous place in the world and still Voldemort wouldn’t be able to access it. Also, during a war or any extremely stressful period of time, I would think that being able to hide in a place you’re familiar with would be comforting. Also, for the purposes of my story, that’s what I decided to do. As for my story, I used my artistic license to explain this: I had Hermione forget that Potter Estate was even there until she was told the secret. (Also, I thought the Fidelius charm was a bit contradicted - the quote says Voldemort could press his face to your window and not see them, but then in OotP the house had completely vanished until they were told the secret - I decided to go with the OotP version.)
I understand if I was completely flying in the face of Canon, but I’m not. I’m very aware of what liberties I’m taking with the text, but isn’t that what all fanfiction does? How many stories are there in which Ron and Hermione are intimate during their 7th “year”? But is the chance of that really going to happen in the 7th book? Probably not, but it’s still fun to write about.
I’m going to be a freshman in college and last year I was the copy editor for my school newspaper. Since you are also a copy editor, I would imagine that you and I are similar in that we are both anal and very detail oriented. I’m even worse when it comes to my fanfic because I want to be able to write a story that’s different but still fits. Besides consulting and reading plenty on James and Lily to get the facts correct, I’ve even gone so far as to find a precise location for Potter Estate, types of ivy and trees that grow there, the steps to house construction, the types of surfaces and substances that are most damaged by sea salt, the types of wood used to make the finest chess pieces, and the types of wood used in British furniture.
To be perfectly honest, it’s not even the nature of your e-mail that upset me, my stories - particularly this one - have been criticized. I’m okay with that because I like my story and where it’s going. It’s a little different and I think I’m also straying from some of the accepted norms of 7th year fanfic. Most stories have them gallivanting all over England, living in a tent, but that doesn’t work in my mind so I decided to write my vision.
I’ve done beta work and one time an author of this very lovely smut story criticized me of being too focused on the accepted norm and sometimes encroaching on the author’s style too much. One example is that I had her change words that sounded silly because the fandom rarely used them. So I’ll give you the same advice. I understand that you thought James’ parents names and that they were escaping (rather than hiding) were canon inconsistencies. Now you know that they’re not.
But as for the location I decided to have James and Lily hide in a large mansion - the house that James grew up in. And I did that because it plays an important role in the story and because, as a writer, I’m allowed to do so. When I first entered the fandom, I never read stories in which premarital sex was even mentioned or any ships that I didn’t think worked. But after a while, I got bored with the same ships, and the same stories because really when you limit yourself to one or two ships and very strict guidelines for a story, they all start to read the same after a while. The point is, if you never allow authors any leeway with their writing and never accept any stories that maybe stretch believability a little far, you’ll have a very difficult time finding any stories you like and you’ll also miss out on some VERY good stories.
So if you don’t like something and you don’t find it believable, don’t read it, but please don’t patronize me or criticize me for not following your version of canon. I write stories that are a little different, that maybe challenge the accepted ideas of the fandom a little because I’ve always thought that the most fun stories were the ones where things were a little different.
Either way, thank you for your review. Like all my criticisms, I’ll use it to make the story better.
Ashley