RandomTrek Fanfic Pet Peeves (For Lack of Anything Else to Write)
As a general rule, I'm not one to air my grievances on the Internet but I'm feeling brave today, and I know there are always people who like reading about stuff that irritates them. I know I do :) I'm basically just writing this because I have absolutely nothing better to do at the moment and I'm trying to push myself to use my LJ account more. Contrary to what this entry might suggest, I'm actually a very laid back kind of girl, and these are more random things that make me quirk my eyebrow in slight vexation than things that send me into a berserker rage. And so, because I have absolutely nothing better to do with my time, I present my list of stuff that irks me about the K/S fanfic world (in no particular order):
1) When authors continuously beg for reviews or hold readers hostage, saying things like: "I won't post another chapter until I get 5 reviews," etc.
-In this case, I can completely understand why an author would do this. I never feel more vulnerable than when I post a new story or chapter, and it really is disappointing when you pour yourself into a story, only to be met with Internet silence. That said, I have this weird aversion to writing reviews when an author comes off as too desperate for feedback. I want to write reviews as a response to the story itself, not out of a sense of obligation or guilt. I don't see anything wrong with politely requesting feedback at the beginning or end of a story/chapter, but whining or guilt tripping never sits well with me. As a side note, I always enjoy the way The Problematique on FF.Net requests feedback...she does it with good humor and makes you feel like it would be fun and in your best interest to review.
2) When people call authors out on using contractions in Spock's dialogue and say that he NEVER uses them
-I get why so many people would think that, especially if most of their exposure to Spock's character comes from reading fanfic, but it's simply not true. Sure, Spock doesn't use them nearly as much as other characters, but they're there. I didn't actually notice this until a second watch through of the TOS series. Mind=blown.
3) Authors who use their profile pages to make big lists of the kinds of stories that they can't stand or to rant about people who have poor spelling/grammar
-Authors like that scare the crap outta me and make me feel like they're not very approachable. Admittedly, this is more of a personality thing...I just naturally tend to shy away from angry, battleaxe type people.
4) When an author floods a fanfic site with multiple posts
-This pet peeve is a total sour grapes gripe, born out of a bad first story posting experience (wow, aliteration much?). The day I worked up the nerve to post the first fanfic story I ever wrote (and the first piece of fiction I had written in over five years), another author posted somewhere around ten stories in a row and knocked me off the radar. I'm glad there are writers who are capable of churning out enough stories to warrant a good fic dump, but it does kinda bum me out when it comes at the expense of other writers who don't get as much exposure as they could have if the author author would have spread his/her stories out a bit more. As a reader I don't go for the big fic dumps as much because it lessens the sense of anticipation I might feel about reading an author's work.
On the other hand, I realize that it is more practical for an author to post all his/her fics in one go, so I can't really begrudge them that. To each his own, I suppose.
5) When someone writes a review only to point out a spelling/grammar error without saying anything about the actual story.
-Part of writing and posting fanfic is knowing that haters gonna hate and grammar nazis gonna nazi, but it does bug me when someone reviews for the sole purpose of pointing out a blip in the writing. I've actually been very fortunate in this department; although I have had readers inform me of the occasional spelling mistake or homonym boo boo, they've always been tempered with comments about other aspects of the story. Pointing out a mistake in a review for all to see is naturally going to be a bit embarrassing for the author, but it's amazing how much a bit of story-related feedback can cushion the face to palm impact. Unless the story-related feedback is negative...then it's just a sad day.
6) When authors only respond to certain reviews while completely ignoring others.
-True, there are some snarky reviews that don't need to be dignified with a response, but I can never understand why an author would decide to respond to one person's positive feedback and not another's. I dunno, that just seems a little cliquey to me. It's really not all that hard to write a simple "Thanks," or even a ^_^ .
7) People who nit-pick about canon-related things in reviews but spell it as "cannon."
-Actually, this one just makes me roll my eyes and chuckle more than anything :P
8) People who write a review to complain about spelling and grammar mistakes and use poor spelling and grammar to do so.
-Same as above. I once read a particularly harsh review in which the reviewer made a point of complaining about the author's terrible spelling and "grammer." It was both rude and adorable :)
9) Overuse of the term "Mary Sue."
-I can appreciate the term as a literary criticism, but sometimes I think that fanfic authors are so fond of using it because it makes them feel like they are more knowledgeable about the craft of writing than they actually are. These days it seems like "Mary Sue" is just a blanket term used to describe any likeable female character in fanfiction, especially an original character. My own take on Mary Sues is that there is a time and a place for them in fiction, much like there is a time and place for "showing" and "telling," despite the popular but misguided belief that an author should NEVER "tell." I would love to expound on this a bit more, but it's four thirty in the morning and I am feeling remarkably lazy and unintelligent right now. Not that I ever feel particularly intelligent at any given time.
...but just so I don't misrepresent myself here, Mary Sues do bug me most of the time.
10) People who take forever to update their WIP's
-There's this one author in particular who has been working on a cheesy, melodramatic, Harlequin romance-esque crackfic for a year and a half and I swear, it takes her at least three months to update her chapters. Like geez, what's her problem? I bet she hardly even uses her Livejournal account, either...
...so there you have it. Now you know all my silly little Star Trek fanfic beefs, and I'm sure your lives have been forever enriched by reading them. *cough* I realized as I wrote this that the vast majority of my vexation stems from reviews, as opposed to the actual fanfics themselves. Weird. I'm sure there's probably some deep psychological reason for that, but I'm pulling out the "too tired and lazy" card out again.
Next time, I'm gonna write a list of all the things that I LOVE about the K/S fanfic world. Cheers! ^_^
1) When authors continuously beg for reviews or hold readers hostage, saying things like: "I won't post another chapter until I get 5 reviews," etc.
-In this case, I can completely understand why an author would do this. I never feel more vulnerable than when I post a new story or chapter, and it really is disappointing when you pour yourself into a story, only to be met with Internet silence. That said, I have this weird aversion to writing reviews when an author comes off as too desperate for feedback. I want to write reviews as a response to the story itself, not out of a sense of obligation or guilt. I don't see anything wrong with politely requesting feedback at the beginning or end of a story/chapter, but whining or guilt tripping never sits well with me. As a side note, I always enjoy the way The Problematique on FF.Net requests feedback...she does it with good humor and makes you feel like it would be fun and in your best interest to review.
2) When people call authors out on using contractions in Spock's dialogue and say that he NEVER uses them
-I get why so many people would think that, especially if most of their exposure to Spock's character comes from reading fanfic, but it's simply not true. Sure, Spock doesn't use them nearly as much as other characters, but they're there. I didn't actually notice this until a second watch through of the TOS series. Mind=blown.
3) Authors who use their profile pages to make big lists of the kinds of stories that they can't stand or to rant about people who have poor spelling/grammar
-Authors like that scare the crap outta me and make me feel like they're not very approachable. Admittedly, this is more of a personality thing...I just naturally tend to shy away from angry, battleaxe type people.
4) When an author floods a fanfic site with multiple posts
-This pet peeve is a total sour grapes gripe, born out of a bad first story posting experience (wow, aliteration much?). The day I worked up the nerve to post the first fanfic story I ever wrote (and the first piece of fiction I had written in over five years), another author posted somewhere around ten stories in a row and knocked me off the radar. I'm glad there are writers who are capable of churning out enough stories to warrant a good fic dump, but it does kinda bum me out when it comes at the expense of other writers who don't get as much exposure as they could have if the author author would have spread his/her stories out a bit more. As a reader I don't go for the big fic dumps as much because it lessens the sense of anticipation I might feel about reading an author's work.
On the other hand, I realize that it is more practical for an author to post all his/her fics in one go, so I can't really begrudge them that. To each his own, I suppose.
5) When someone writes a review only to point out a spelling/grammar error without saying anything about the actual story.
-Part of writing and posting fanfic is knowing that haters gonna hate and grammar nazis gonna nazi, but it does bug me when someone reviews for the sole purpose of pointing out a blip in the writing. I've actually been very fortunate in this department; although I have had readers inform me of the occasional spelling mistake or homonym boo boo, they've always been tempered with comments about other aspects of the story. Pointing out a mistake in a review for all to see is naturally going to be a bit embarrassing for the author, but it's amazing how much a bit of story-related feedback can cushion the face to palm impact. Unless the story-related feedback is negative...then it's just a sad day.
6) When authors only respond to certain reviews while completely ignoring others.
-True, there are some snarky reviews that don't need to be dignified with a response, but I can never understand why an author would decide to respond to one person's positive feedback and not another's. I dunno, that just seems a little cliquey to me. It's really not all that hard to write a simple "Thanks," or even a ^_^ .
7) People who nit-pick about canon-related things in reviews but spell it as "cannon."
-Actually, this one just makes me roll my eyes and chuckle more than anything :P
8) People who write a review to complain about spelling and grammar mistakes and use poor spelling and grammar to do so.
-Same as above. I once read a particularly harsh review in which the reviewer made a point of complaining about the author's terrible spelling and "grammer." It was both rude and adorable :)
9) Overuse of the term "Mary Sue."
-I can appreciate the term as a literary criticism, but sometimes I think that fanfic authors are so fond of using it because it makes them feel like they are more knowledgeable about the craft of writing than they actually are. These days it seems like "Mary Sue" is just a blanket term used to describe any likeable female character in fanfiction, especially an original character. My own take on Mary Sues is that there is a time and a place for them in fiction, much like there is a time and place for "showing" and "telling," despite the popular but misguided belief that an author should NEVER "tell." I would love to expound on this a bit more, but it's four thirty in the morning and I am feeling remarkably lazy and unintelligent right now. Not that I ever feel particularly intelligent at any given time.
...but just so I don't misrepresent myself here, Mary Sues do bug me most of the time.
10) People who take forever to update their WIP's
-There's this one author in particular who has been working on a cheesy, melodramatic, Harlequin romance-esque crackfic for a year and a half and I swear, it takes her at least three months to update her chapters. Like geez, what's her problem? I bet she hardly even uses her Livejournal account, either...
...so there you have it. Now you know all my silly little Star Trek fanfic beefs, and I'm sure your lives have been forever enriched by reading them. *cough* I realized as I wrote this that the vast majority of my vexation stems from reviews, as opposed to the actual fanfics themselves. Weird. I'm sure there's probably some deep psychological reason for that, but I'm pulling out the "too tired and lazy" card out again.
Next time, I'm gonna write a list of all the things that I LOVE about the K/S fanfic world. Cheers! ^_^