Preaching to the choir, the altar-boys, and everybody in between

[nashie_chan]

Hello, fellow fic writers/reviewers of the Pit! How are you all doing? It's been awhile since I've browsed through the dozens of stories in search of something new, and the other day, I decided, "Hell, a lot of the stories that I usally read are a) almost done or b) the author's have been struck by the tragedy known as Real Life and aren't updating

Comments

[keepdreamingxx]

Ditto. ):

I don't know. Maybe turds just attract turds.

..lol. 8D;

[whomever]

Rants like this make me feel less insecure that even after being fairly prolific, I've been relatively ignored by the KH fandom. xD I know I'm new, but man it's not hard to get lost in a sea so big. /will not make elsewhere references no one else will understand.

I agree, bee-tee-dub.

[illianaka]

For the same reasons people are choosing PC/Kristin Cast's "House of Night" series over L.J. Smith's "The Vampire Diaries." Or, better yet, why they watch American Idol versus something with plot and characters. They want childish writing they can relate to. They don't want to have to think about the story. They want entertainment, not something you actually have to comprehend.

[princealia]

I agree. They don't care if it's well-written or even if it makes sense. The fact it exists is enough for them to enjoy it. Their imagination fills in the rest. They're just excited someone else thought of this idea and attempted to create it XD

[illianaka]

And as long as their favorite pairing has a happy ending, they'll be happy, too.

[yume_no_kage]

*fond smile* Ah, Vampire Diaries. I need to find those and reread them. *puts those on her list of Hunts for HalfPrice Books excursions*

[jurhael]

That's all over the place in fandoms, and it's often complained about. The reason why such stories get praise is because it often hits on someone's OTP or it's updated VERY fast(I've seen some fics get in quite a few chapters per week), so they're often visible. Plus, some of the fics are enjoyable/good enough for fans to "overlook" any glaring faults.

Quality fanfic is often well planned, well executed, and quite slow in both "candy bar" scenes and even updating(some fics take YEARS to get done).

This is why people DO have rec lists, but those can be biased too.

[nashie_chan]

*nods* I completely agree - maybe there's something in all the fandom waters? (I'm scared to even LOOK in the Harry Potter section).

In my opinion, a large percentage of the time, when fics take a long time to update, they are almost ALWAYS worth the wait. Quality over quantity is always a plus. To me, it usually shows that the author doesn't just want to put any old thing out there...regardless of how popular this makes his/her story.

Ah, well. Diamonds in the rough and all that.

[cordyceps]

[jurhael]

I hear you, but moving on in fandom isn't the author's problem. I know it's a "risk" being that slow, but some authors don't have much of a choice, but it's usually because of other things rather than from planning.

For me, it simply depends on the fic.

[ex_riku_rep]

I think truly good fanfiction can transcend pairings or the general elements that prompt people to read - I don't like Riku/Sora but I stumbled upon a fic once that was just so well-written that I enjoyed it anyhow. It blows my mind how people overlook talented writers and well-executed plots/innovative ideas just for more smutty drivel of their favorite OTP.

I'm a fic-writer myself and I fancy I'm not a bad one, and I can't help feeling a tad bit low when something with so many errors or seeming to lack any thoughtfulness or originality just gets far more attention/imput (of course, I don't like the big ships, so I know that's part of why). Doing my best's important to me but for a lot of what I see online, there seems a lack of heart put into it.

It can be said for any writing, I think. Something becomes wildly popular even when something more deserving exists. Someone'll punt me for sure but I tried the Twilight series and for the life of me I didn't see something truly amazing in it. If you can call the plot twists a mile away,

[illianaka]

For the original Twilight, I enjoyed it because the vampires were unique and the main characters had a love that was, to me, both twisted and beautiful. But as the series went on, the stories stayed the same, and the love was no longer beautiful; it was just glorified abuse.

... but then, glorified abuse sells with teenagers. Many fandoms I've been in have proved it.

[ex_riku_rep]

I saw a lot of emphasis on just how pretty Edward was and how perfect and unreal, and I got tired of that fairly fast. Then the main character's most emphasized flaws were ones made endearing; her clumsiness for example seemed to be portrayed as nothing but cute. A lot of little details just bothered me.

I can see what you mean; some of the emotional stuff that gets twisted around in the story as it goes along is a bit sick. I think I felt worst for Jacob but it seems like Bella's just supposed to be excused for using someone in a number of ways.

[illianaka]

I couldn't feel sorry for Jacob by book three. I find it hard to sympathize with anyone who forces himself on a girl so aggressively, even if she is as pathetic as Bella turned out to be. (As for the second book, I largely took to it because... well, I could relate to how she felt. Sometimes those feelings are real, even if they are a little pathetic.)

The beauty thing didn't bother me; most mainstream vampire fiction has them being gorgeous as sin, and if you read them long enough, you tend to just get used to the purple prose. But I did find him less aggravating than, say, Jeane-Claude from Hamilton's series.