A Rant about Fanfic -- or -- the Relationship Between Fanfic Readers and Writers

[brn_gamble]

I don't usually rant here in my journal, I've realized.

That's just so wrong! Isn't ranting one of the major requirements of having a blog? LOL.

So here's my effort at a little ranting...

(Pretty much spurred on by FatJoey's fatjoey recent rant.)

Yeah, I'm clearly no genius, so this isn't all that intellectual. Again, just some observations (and

Comments

Wow

[ex_koisunset365]

Hi Brian

[just_jimbo]

I have no idea about most of what you're ranting about, but I know we both love writing and posting fanfic, and occasionally we like reading and feedbacking it. We've made some wonderful friends doing just that, and we've had a good time.

I guess people will be people no matter what they're doing. So sometimes they're gonna annoy you.

Still, we'll keep writing sometimes and reading sometimes, I think. At least for now.

[roger_tats]

So much of bad attitute and bad fiction is about the ego. If a person already thinks they're a terrific writer--and other people are confirming that with constant praise--then why should they bother to conform to posting rules, or to try and improve what they're writing?

There's a certain responsibility attached to being the reader and feedbacker, in other words, in my mind. In taking responsibility to be honest and offer praise where due and correction when necessary. But I get the feeling that most times fanfic writers don't want anything more than an 'atta boy' type response from their readers...

It does seem a bit symbiotic, doesn't it?

[mistressmarilyn]

I definitely agree on several points.

Less is More
I've learned this myself, and it can be a painful lesson. But there's something for everyone, and if we can wade (what? no, deep-sea dive) through Harry Potter books, we clearly can and will read multi-part fanfics with a million twists and turns.

Most fanfic readers are lurkers
I guess we accept this on faith, like the existance of God. If a lurker falls in a forest and there's no one there to hear him, does he make a noise? If we didn't believe in these invisible lurkers voraciously reading our every word, would we post our fanfic at all?

And I'm not talking about authors who try to write 'intelligent' work that goes over our heads, either. That is simply another form of fanfic author ego in play.
Ouch. I used to be guilty of that. I wrote such hifalutin stuff that even I couldn't understand it later. Thank God I got over it (I hope).

The 'I-Don't-Care' WriterIf we see that in a template, we should make a point not to read. And when I say make a point, I mean that should be

[zebra363]

Also here via metafandom.

Agreed. If I spend my time reading someone's story, all I've done is spend my time the way I want to. I've done nothing for the author unless I TELL them I read it.