Fanfic woes

[gaffsie]

Why are the worst writers always the most prolific? Here I am, waiting patiently for the WIPs I'm following to update, or my favourite writers to post something new, and ... this person ... keeps posting 90-chaptered shit fest after 90 chaptered shit fest. Of course they contain every cliché in the book, of course, the main - very male - character

Comments

[wings128]

*pats your back reassuringly*
Not long to go now and you'll have some fantastic J&R fics to read over at S_G
I know at least two of us have finished our fics.
Personally, since I love meat in my fics, I prefer to use a fork :D

[gaffsie]

Only a month left now! I'm really looking forward to it. :)

[wings128]

I can't wait! It's a problem I know and I'm seeking help :P

Not sure if the "can't wait" has to do with being able to enjoy fresh J&R or whether it's the buzz I get from gifting to my recipient. Perhaps it's lots of both.

Is it too early to start mentally counting down, do you think?? *blushes*

[gaffsie]

Do whatever makes you happiest! I'm posting a reminder at the comm in a couple of days, so you could always count down from then and onwards. :)

[rubygirl29]

Why are the worst writers always the most prolific?

Because good writing takes time? As a general rule of thumb, of course!

[gaffsie]

Probably, more's the pity.

[em_kellesvig]

It's the same reason people read Harlequins and cheap airport novels: they take very little energy to write and very little energy to read. It's also the reason really good writers -- thinky, plotty writers -- don't get much in the way of feedback or hits. Very few people want to put the time and energy into thinking about what they're reading.

Lazy readers look for easy, superficial stories; they don't want to engage -- they want to be entertained. It's popcorn for the brain.

[gaffsie]

I think on some level, I understand that. It's just, it's fanfiction! What's even the point of it when you're seeking out stories that have nothing in common with the original except the names (and sometimes not even that, due to the high frequency of cutesy nicknames).

[em_kellesvig]

Now that's something I really don't understand. Maybe it's projection, another form of self-insertion for both the writer and the readers, something to make complex characters more "accessible." Again, it's easy, much easier than actually exploring the canon characters, figuring out what makes them tick, and extrapolating from there

[gaffsie]

Or (and this one really drives me nuts) transplanting traits from character A in X fandom onto character B from Y fandom because they're sort of similar and the familiarity makes it simpler. (John Sheppard =/= Steve McGarrett =/= John Reese, etc.)

I hate that so much. Rodney McKay is Merlin is blonde beefy guy from H50 is Sam Winchester is Sherlock Holmes! I've even seen stories where Rodney and John and Merlin and Arthur reincarnated. Everything lazy impulse I hate about fandom in one terrible package

[elderwitty]

It's been disheartening to discover that all the new fic on a faved site is from a couple-three authors archiving their LJ offerings on A03. I was excited to see so many "new" stories...until I caught the names. :sigh:

At least it's not as bad as it was when I first started reading Supernatural on fanfic.net years ago. I had a list (written down and kept handy) of the 50 or so authors whose stuff I was required to bypass for my own literary protection. (Of course, that's mostly because I rarely read anything there anymore, but still.)

I sometimes wonder if, etymologically speaking, prolific and profligate are related? :snerk:

[gaffsie]

It's making me wish that AO3 had a note or blocking system, so I could remind myself which writers to avoid, or make their never-ending WIPs stop clogging up the tags I'm tracking.

[elderwitty]

Well, I can offer a solution for the WIPs. I hit "Complete only" in the Sort and Filter box on the right, then saved the result as my H50 bookmark. Nothing pops up 'til the author marks it done.

(Now if only there was a way to "-author x" filter.)

[tielan]

The familiar frustration of waiting for good fic to turn up about characters one wants to read about. In-character, non-cliche, intriguing, plot-ful fic...

*waits while crickets chirp*

Although I did get a rather cute little fic this morning - from a prompt I left. REJOICE!

[gaffsie]

Good for you! Nothing new for me today, but I'm trying not to be greedy. :D