I can't decide if this is meta or a rant...
I've been seeing this... I don't know if I'd call it a trend, but perhaps it is one? But, basically, there's been comments in fandom_secrets and other places that generally boil down to:
No one writes the femslash I want to read.
Which is all well and good, but--look. What does that even mean?
Is it your fandom? Your pairing? The type of fic? Are you looking for curtains and fpreg and gun battles and existentialist arguments about the meaning of life when you have multiple bodies?
I don't know, because rarely do the people making the complaints bother to explain.
At one point, in f!s, I offered up femslash_today for femslashy goodness, and got the response that it would be interesting, if it listed more than the same 20 fandoms every day. (today was 21, for the record, and some days it's more and some days it's less. fs_today doesn't pick and choose fandoms, if you know one being missed that produces? Go tell them about it)
Look. I'm aware that femslashers don't comprise much of the general fan fic writer population. Some of us are specialized, some of us aren't. All of us are a drop in the bucket, compared to het or boyslash fandom, and have a tendency to write what people say they're interested in. (as well as latching onto shows for the femslash potential: Legend of the Seeker, Rizzoli and Isles, Lost Girl, Grey's Anatomy... Well, and just having pairings that speak to us, as some femslashers are mono-shippers. WHICH IS OK.)
And, yeah, we also go where the feedback is. It's only human nature to enjoy being appreciated for hard work.
(I'm using 'we' in the broad sense, and would note that not everyone is in it for the feedback. HOWEVER, as I've always said, we might write for ourselves, but we totally post for the feedback--ok, and also so that people can't say "But no on writes [insert fandom] femslash *whine*")
So. What do people want from their femslash? What are things you see that you'd like to see more of?
Do you feedback? (Because it really IS a factor to consider: if writers aren't feeling like anyone's reading, they're going to move on. For myself, I don't give as much feedback as I should, I frequently just bloody fail at it. But I'm also a writer that posts to get that feedback, so, yes, I'm as hypocritical as the next person)
And, writers, does a lack of feedback move you on from writing a pairing/canon? (am I wrong for even thinking there's a correlation?)
Do you tend to go for what you know will get interest/feedback over what doesn't? (I don't think there's a hard and fast rule for writing what you want/posting what will get more feedback)
Do people happily discussing a new show draw you into the fandom/femslash pairing?
Do you ship things for canons you've never seen?
I had a thought while I was typing this up, and it's that femslash is a little like a rare pairing: in any given fandom (Xena being the exception, obvsly; and there are probably others: Devil Wears Prada? Wicked?), it's not going to be the Big Draw. Less people will discuss it/glee about it/write about it. So it's harder to find fic or meta or what-have-you. But even so, if there's such a demand for it, why isn't there a corresponding rise in feedback and encouragement?
To everyone: what would you do to interest someone in that rare pairing you want to see?
Digressing for an instant, things like this?:
Over at passion_perfect, Ralst asked about everyone's Unconventional or Unheard of pairings.
And then, too, Femslash Fanart is also having a rare pairings challenge.
See, I have this theory: that most femslash writers (in a general sense) want to write about girls being gay together, and will invest in a fandom if there's a reason for it. If there's a following, or an inkling that there will be a following--
What I'm trying to say is:
Most people who write femslash probably aren't writing in your fandoms because no one has said "Hey, this fandom has some awesome women in it who are all gay together." or "There is one woman in my fandom, but she could be so gay with women from other fandoms or OCs." or something to that effect.
So. Y'know. Say it. TELL US WHAT FANDOMS NEED MORE FEMSLASH. Encourage us. Feedback us. Glee about us. Talk about the shows.
But stop expecting us to be bloody telepathic and just know what pairings and fic you want written.
(generic 'you')
No one writes the femslash I want to read.
Which is all well and good, but--look. What does that even mean?
Is it your fandom? Your pairing? The type of fic? Are you looking for curtains and fpreg and gun battles and existentialist arguments about the meaning of life when you have multiple bodies?
I don't know, because rarely do the people making the complaints bother to explain.
At one point, in f!s, I offered up femslash_today for femslashy goodness, and got the response that it would be interesting, if it listed more than the same 20 fandoms every day. (today was 21, for the record, and some days it's more and some days it's less. fs_today doesn't pick and choose fandoms, if you know one being missed that produces? Go tell them about it)
Look. I'm aware that femslashers don't comprise much of the general fan fic writer population. Some of us are specialized, some of us aren't. All of us are a drop in the bucket, compared to het or boyslash fandom, and have a tendency to write what people say they're interested in. (as well as latching onto shows for the femslash potential: Legend of the Seeker, Rizzoli and Isles, Lost Girl, Grey's Anatomy... Well, and just having pairings that speak to us, as some femslashers are mono-shippers. WHICH IS OK.)
And, yeah, we also go where the feedback is. It's only human nature to enjoy being appreciated for hard work.
(I'm using 'we' in the broad sense, and would note that not everyone is in it for the feedback. HOWEVER, as I've always said, we might write for ourselves, but we totally post for the feedback--ok, and also so that people can't say "But no on writes [insert fandom] femslash *whine*")
So. What do people want from their femslash? What are things you see that you'd like to see more of?
Do you feedback? (Because it really IS a factor to consider: if writers aren't feeling like anyone's reading, they're going to move on. For myself, I don't give as much feedback as I should, I frequently just bloody fail at it. But I'm also a writer that posts to get that feedback, so, yes, I'm as hypocritical as the next person)
And, writers, does a lack of feedback move you on from writing a pairing/canon? (am I wrong for even thinking there's a correlation?)
Do you tend to go for what you know will get interest/feedback over what doesn't? (I don't think there's a hard and fast rule for writing what you want/posting what will get more feedback)
Do people happily discussing a new show draw you into the fandom/femslash pairing?
Do you ship things for canons you've never seen?
I had a thought while I was typing this up, and it's that femslash is a little like a rare pairing: in any given fandom (Xena being the exception, obvsly; and there are probably others: Devil Wears Prada? Wicked?), it's not going to be the Big Draw. Less people will discuss it/glee about it/write about it. So it's harder to find fic or meta or what-have-you. But even so, if there's such a demand for it, why isn't there a corresponding rise in feedback and encouragement?
To everyone: what would you do to interest someone in that rare pairing you want to see?
Digressing for an instant, things like this?:
Over at passion_perfect, Ralst asked about everyone's Unconventional or Unheard of pairings.
And then, too, Femslash Fanart is also having a rare pairings challenge.
See, I have this theory: that most femslash writers (in a general sense) want to write about girls being gay together, and will invest in a fandom if there's a reason for it. If there's a following, or an inkling that there will be a following--
What I'm trying to say is:
Most people who write femslash probably aren't writing in your fandoms because no one has said "Hey, this fandom has some awesome women in it who are all gay together." or "There is one woman in my fandom, but she could be so gay with women from other fandoms or OCs." or something to that effect.
So. Y'know. Say it. TELL US WHAT FANDOMS NEED MORE FEMSLASH. Encourage us. Feedback us. Glee about us. Talk about the shows.
But stop expecting us to be bloody telepathic and just know what pairings and fic you want written.
(generic 'you')