About the written word
Dec. 1st, 2008 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_kareliaFollowing the poll and discussion about what puts readers off (thanks, everyone, who engaged in it; it was very interesting and productive), some of you asked which trend I've been observing, so I figured it's easier to do this in a separate post rather than answering the same thing individually to everyone who asked.
Yes, I'll admit that I see a lot more behind the scenes going on, being an admin and a beta rather than a reader only. But it's all about writing. And yes, I realise that every reader has preferences and they may vary to the extreme between one reader and another, and that's good, for that makes for a vast variety of reading material to choose from. And just to clarify: This is my personal opinion. I've not discussed it with any other admins or other betas or anyone so far aside from yesterday's thread here on LJ.
The trends I've observed over the past few months are sloppiness, carelessness, and inflated ego development. These traits have increased quite substantially. None of them have a place in fiction writing. In case you wonder, allow me to extrapolate:
Sloppiness: When an author submits a chapter (or uploads to unmoderated archives) either without having it read by another set of eyes, even though it would need it, or failing to re-read it in order to weed out the errors they'd find on their own, or not using a spellcheck (and then give the excuse of not having MS Word; um, hello, google spellcheck, and you'll have choices), that is sloppy. If you can't be arsed to invest the time to offer something worth my time, what makes you think I'll take the time to invest in your stuff?
Carelessness: When an author submits/uploads a chapter that says pretty much nothing and then admits as much in the A/N. If you want to write fiction, then at least learn the basics, eh? Because if you don't, you'll always dream of reviews except for the ones from people sorry enough to waste even thirty seconds on your sorry attempt. I readily forgive a new author any mistakes they make. I also consider myself quite tolerant when an author's first language isn't English, and yeah, I can spot those from miles away. ;) Most readers are kind, especially if the first attempt speaks to them in one way or another. But if authors still make those same mistakes a few chapters later--and I'm talking about basics here, such as dialogue punctuation or a period at the end of the sentence--then I get the feeling that the author doesn't care.
Ego: If you write because you think you need your ego stroked, do the world a favour and stop. Just because you might have written and posted 200k worth of fic in the last year does not mean what you produce is of any value whatsoever. And getting indignant that nobody seems to care is not the way to go. Ask yourself what's wrong and look in the mirror. Then sit down and figure how to make it right, okay? And then, *gasp* write something from your heart. Write something because you feel the need to write it, and don't think about posting it. Leave it for a few days and go back to it and see if you still like it, and be objective about it. At least as objective as you can possibly be. Don't write for the sake of reviews; it will not make you happy. Of course, a lot of us are royal review whores; I certainly admit that of myself. But we don't think about reviews until after the chapter is posted.
Those are my gripes. Another gripe I've developed recently is that all those rec lists out there seem to include a lot of drivel. I realise it's pc to be kind and encouraging to dunderheads. I don't like to see it going as far as insulting my intelligence by recommending I'd waste my time on reading something that is so poorly written that it has little to do with actual fiction. But that's okay; I usually don't have time for pure pleasure-reading. The only reason I did a few days ago was because I was sick with a sore throat and headachy and snotty and wanted some light reading that would distract me from feeling miserable and all the RL stuff that's been going on lately. It saddens me, though. Some established writers recommend extremely poorly-written fics while ignoring well-written ones, and I can't help but conclude that they're afraid of having competition. Why else would they lower themselves to that level?
So there. No need to tell me I'm opinionated; I've known that for a while.
Yes, I'll admit that I see a lot more behind the scenes going on, being an admin and a beta rather than a reader only. But it's all about writing. And yes, I realise that every reader has preferences and they may vary to the extreme between one reader and another, and that's good, for that makes for a vast variety of reading material to choose from. And just to clarify: This is my personal opinion. I've not discussed it with any other admins or other betas or anyone so far aside from yesterday's thread here on LJ.
The trends I've observed over the past few months are sloppiness, carelessness, and inflated ego development. These traits have increased quite substantially. None of them have a place in fiction writing. In case you wonder, allow me to extrapolate:
Sloppiness: When an author submits a chapter (or uploads to unmoderated archives) either without having it read by another set of eyes, even though it would need it, or failing to re-read it in order to weed out the errors they'd find on their own, or not using a spellcheck (and then give the excuse of not having MS Word; um, hello, google spellcheck, and you'll have choices), that is sloppy. If you can't be arsed to invest the time to offer something worth my time, what makes you think I'll take the time to invest in your stuff?
Carelessness: When an author submits/uploads a chapter that says pretty much nothing and then admits as much in the A/N. If you want to write fiction, then at least learn the basics, eh? Because if you don't, you'll always dream of reviews except for the ones from people sorry enough to waste even thirty seconds on your sorry attempt. I readily forgive a new author any mistakes they make. I also consider myself quite tolerant when an author's first language isn't English, and yeah, I can spot those from miles away. ;) Most readers are kind, especially if the first attempt speaks to them in one way or another. But if authors still make those same mistakes a few chapters later--and I'm talking about basics here, such as dialogue punctuation or a period at the end of the sentence--then I get the feeling that the author doesn't care.
Ego: If you write because you think you need your ego stroked, do the world a favour and stop. Just because you might have written and posted 200k worth of fic in the last year does not mean what you produce is of any value whatsoever. And getting indignant that nobody seems to care is not the way to go. Ask yourself what's wrong and look in the mirror. Then sit down and figure how to make it right, okay? And then, *gasp* write something from your heart. Write something because you feel the need to write it, and don't think about posting it. Leave it for a few days and go back to it and see if you still like it, and be objective about it. At least as objective as you can possibly be. Don't write for the sake of reviews; it will not make you happy. Of course, a lot of us are royal review whores; I certainly admit that of myself. But we don't think about reviews until after the chapter is posted.
Those are my gripes. Another gripe I've developed recently is that all those rec lists out there seem to include a lot of drivel. I realise it's pc to be kind and encouraging to dunderheads. I don't like to see it going as far as insulting my intelligence by recommending I'd waste my time on reading something that is so poorly written that it has little to do with actual fiction. But that's okay; I usually don't have time for pure pleasure-reading. The only reason I did a few days ago was because I was sick with a sore throat and headachy and snotty and wanted some light reading that would distract me from feeling miserable and all the RL stuff that's been going on lately. It saddens me, though. Some established writers recommend extremely poorly-written fics while ignoring well-written ones, and I can't help but conclude that they're afraid of having competition. Why else would they lower themselves to that level?
So there. No need to tell me I'm opinionated; I've known that for a while.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-17 07:02 am (UTC)You make some excellent points, especially regarding sloppiness. I hate re-reading my own stuff - I didn't re-read my essays and fictional writing at school, I don't re-read my work, but I do re-read any fic I write, even if it makes me cringe and want to hide, because there is always at least something there that I've missed.
I know it still won't be absolutely perfect, if only because no one seems to agree on every single comma (I'm only slowly learning to use commas in English, and sometimes despairing when I see native speakers with a background in writing disagree on them), but it doesn't mean I couldn't do my best anyway.
So I suppose I'd expect the same from others. At the very least, spell check should be absolutely mandatory, no matter whether posting on a moderated archive or ff.net - and one most certainly doesn't need Microsoft Word for that. OpenOffice has spell check. FireFox has spell check!
I'm not sure I agree about recs, though. Perhaps it's because I expect there to be a certain bias, whether it's bias towards friends or bias towards certain kinds of stories or whatever - I just don't expect to agree with a lot of them anyway. I make my own decision based on the summary and rating, most of the time, and only follow recs when they're by someone whose opinion I trust (i.e. whose taste I know I share). And if I still don't care for it, I simply back-button without getting too far.
Mostly, I just view rec lists as a good way to keep an eye on stories I might not otherwise have seen - in other words, I take a closer look at a rec if it's to a story not on ff.net, Ashwinder, TPP or OWL, as in that case I've probably not seen it myself. Or if it's a short story, not a chaptered WIP, in which case I might have missed it in the recently updated stories list.
I'm really only more likely to read something only based on reccing (and not the summary etc) when I see a specific story suddenly recced by a lot of people all over my f-list. The last time that happened was with The Silvering Divide, and I was very glad I read it - but then, it was a story I'd meant to read at some point anyway, the reccing just made me read it a bit sooner.
As for egos... don't we all have them? I think it's entirely natural that writers can feel hurt when they see a long list of corrections, whether by a beta or an admin, especially when they're fairly new to this. I still get this momentary sting when I first see corrections, although it passes in an instant and I don't take it personally (years of doing work where everything goes through an editor or two helps). I've seen it at work, when new translators start - some of them don't last past their first bit of work, as they get too offended and/or hurt by the editor handing back a sheet entirely covered in red.
It takes a thick skin to get over that, and I can understand the people who aren't able to, especially when they've come to writing from the "I'm only doing it for fun" angle. It's fine by me if they don't bother - if it's too awful, I just won't bother reading either.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-17 07:46 am (UTC)I hate re-reading what I've written, too, and I suspect many authors do. When I re-read, I tend to want to delete it all... But some of us get over it, edit what we find necessary to edit and then move on by posting it. Or deleting it. Either is fine. The fact is, no matter how well anyone writes, a re-read of the writing will weed out errors. Sometimes a few, sometimes many. That makes the lives of admins of moderated archives easier, and it makes lives of readers more joyful. If we decide to write, we should give our best, no? Even if it is "just a hobby." But if we learn to play the piano (instead of learning to write), don't we also want to give it our best shot? :)
I don't think anyone (fanfic writer or published author) is perfect. That is what makes life so interesting. I'm not a native English speaker either. But I've had the tremendous luck to come in on a lively discussion between two native speakers who were both absolutely anal about punctuation and then agreed to compare English language manuals. ;) As you so rightly say, at the end of the day, the important thing is that one gives his/her best. Because if they don't, they lose credibility very fast. And then leave a trail of unhappiness.
As to recs, of course there is a certain bias, I absolutely agree. What's one's bane is another's treasure! On the other hand, there are some rules that should be observed in principle, such as dialogue punctuation (which I know can be an issue with non-English writers, but that's where betas can be really helpful), or the use of parenthesis (as in, "(as the author pointed out three chapters ago,)" is a no-no because that simply doesn't belong in fiction), or the use of ridiculous commas ("I, do not agree, that you, were, intimidated by that, action.") When that kind of "fic" is recommended, I lose respect and interest. That said, I do make recommendations on my LJ, and I have friends whose opinions I value tell me those recs are crap while other friends whose opinions I value equally tell me they love it when I recommend something. LOL. I guess it all comes down to standards that are set by each person. Those who share those standards will agree with a rec whereas those who have different standards won't agree with it.
As to ego, well, that's my personal fight. LOL. I try my best to do without it, and it's hard.
I'm gonna take the plunge now and friend you. Hope that's okay. If not, uh, just ignore me and I'll disappear. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2008-12-17 09:30 am (UTC)I'm not sure I've ever recced anything at all on my LJ - on the one hand, it makes me a bit uncomfortable (what if I accidentally offend someone when I rec one thing and not their fic?), and on the other, I'd fear too much that people will click on it, not share my opinion about it and decide my taste sucks. ;-)
And friending is quite okay - have friended back!