Writers, Writing and Writing an Observation

[aiyokusama]

I've been reading fanfic.  Big surprise there.  And as we all know some is really good and a lot is really NOT

Comments

[dungeonwriter]

I think you explained it perfectly.

Different people have different reactions.

I wish my friend could see this entry, it's perfectly explained and answers a major problem he has.

[aiyokusama]

Awwww, thanks :) I'm glad I made sense.

And feel free to give him the link. It's all good.

[dungeonwriter]

There's a reason you're one of my favorite writers.

And...I'll try, but he's a bit of a human planet of ego. We were college buddies from being in the same student society, but he's...problematic. http://dungeonwriter.livejournal.com/971613.html

and

http://dungeonwriter.livejournal.com/971781.html

A lot of his problem is all his characters react the same way, speak the same way and it's all like him. But he won't listen.

[aiyokusama]

Ooooh! Do bring on the ego ~_^ For it is salty and tastes good with ketchup!

[mutive]

Eh, I agree. One of the ways a good writer is *good* is that everyone feels different. They think different things, they react different ways, they use different modes of speech.

Of course, your average fan fiction writer isn't very good (which isn't surprising - your average person isn't much of a writer) and it shows. (In this way as well as many others.)

[aiyokusama]

So true and made all the worse because many READERS are willing to not only accept mediocre writing, but encourage it with comments/reviews of "Eeeeee! That was awesome! Write more!"

[mutive]

Yeah, I'm always somewhat torn on fan fiction. Like, I totally get the reason that only pointless squeal is encouraged (since it is a hobby done for fun). But it means that a lot of writers do associate "OMG, eeek! <3 !!!111" with a story that's actually good. Which I think tends to result in some heartbreak when they later post original fiction somewhere that requires actual critique. But...oh well. ;)

[silv_magiccraft]

I totally agree with you. My mom is always asking why I'm not writing one of my original 'verses and I'm just like, what? Because all of my original 'verses are huge, and I need to get like 30 or more characters developed so that I know what their headspace is like, not to mention the regular world-building I have to do (why is my org!verse so big? *sobs*). Which means I need to figure out what the biggest library is here and get a library card of my own so I can do some heavy-duty folklore/mythology research, on top of what I'm doing online.

And Mercedes Lackey? You rock. I love the Valdemar and 500 Kingdom 'verses. I really need to read some of her other 'verses as well.

Also, I love those little bits of perspective. I love how you write DC.