Seriously?
May. 14th, 2010 12:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
apocalypsosWe're going to do this wank again?
Aw, come on, authors. It's the same script every time.
First you tell us that you hate fanfiction. Then you say that people who write fanfiction are lazy and stupid. At some point you usually question why we're not going out and getting our own original stuff published, as though willfully ignoring just how hard it IS to get published and that hobbies even exist and how writing fanfiction and original fiction at the same time are not actually mutually exclusive either/or scenarios. Then you make a rape analogy, or just outright use word "rape" repeatedly. Then you say something about how porn is bad, and therefore all fiction with sex is bad, and therefore no one should ever write anything EVER. And somewhere along the line you accuse fanfic writers of "taking it easy" by forcing themselves to write to an established canon with established characters who don't always realistically behave the way they'd like and with established backgrounds and mythologies that you can't just deviate from without a shitload of planning. Because that's really easy.
And then you say something about how all fanfiction is bad, because biased generalities are our friends, and because there's no such thing as bad published fiction, because getting an advance and royalty checks makes our writing English gooder. Then you doubt our commitment to sparkle motion, and then you make some sort of snide comment about how you'll wait patiently because you know comments will be slow to come what with every single fanfic writer attempting to type them out one-handed and all.
Seriously, you guys, somebody get creative already. This thing where you write fanfic of each other's anti-fanfic screeds from the first-person POV of your own bitchy Mary Sue is tiresome. The least you could do is add some unicorn mpreg. I mean, really.
Aw, come on, authors. It's the same script every time.
First you tell us that you hate fanfiction. Then you say that people who write fanfiction are lazy and stupid. At some point you usually question why we're not going out and getting our own original stuff published, as though willfully ignoring just how hard it IS to get published and that hobbies even exist and how writing fanfiction and original fiction at the same time are not actually mutually exclusive either/or scenarios. Then you make a rape analogy, or just outright use word "rape" repeatedly. Then you say something about how porn is bad, and therefore all fiction with sex is bad, and therefore no one should ever write anything EVER. And somewhere along the line you accuse fanfic writers of "taking it easy" by forcing themselves to write to an established canon with established characters who don't always realistically behave the way they'd like and with established backgrounds and mythologies that you can't just deviate from without a shitload of planning. Because that's really easy.
And then you say something about how all fanfiction is bad, because biased generalities are our friends, and because there's no such thing as bad published fiction, because getting an advance and royalty checks makes our writing English gooder. Then you doubt our commitment to sparkle motion, and then you make some sort of snide comment about how you'll wait patiently because you know comments will be slow to come what with every single fanfic writer attempting to type them out one-handed and all.
Seriously, you guys, somebody get creative already. This thing where you write fanfic of each other's anti-fanfic screeds from the first-person POV of your own bitchy Mary Sue is tiresome. The least you could do is add some unicorn mpreg. I mean, really.
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no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 04:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 04:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 04:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 05:01 am (UTC)(I could write paragraphs about the privilege inherent in that Hamburger Helper statement. Paragraphs. But since I'm not a Pompous Ass tonight, I won't.)
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Date: 2010-05-14 05:04 am (UTC)And I wonder about those offended authors who are so proud of their own creativity. Did their novel have dragons? Daddy/mommy issues? Love triangles? Consciously or not, they were writing in reaction to Oedipus Rex, Arthurian legend, the Ring Cycle, you name it. Someone should Wiki "anxiety of influence."
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Date: 2010-05-14 05:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 05:07 am (UTC)(And I like hamburger helper.)
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Date: 2010-05-14 05:41 am (UTC)I read about four of her books in middle school. I remember being creeped out by implied incest that never manifested, and wanting to get angry at the book for never getting the main characters together for hair-pulling reasons. But I liked the magic.
...damn, I read way too many hardcore fantasy series as a teen.
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Date: 2010-05-14 05:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 06:24 am (UTC)Which is too bad really. I first became interested in writing when I read Ronin Warrior (Yoroiden Samurai Trooper) fanfics, of which the majority fall into the categories of 'yaoi' or 'mary sue'. It's nice to write fanfic starting out, because then you get feedback on what you're doing wrong.
Once you get a clearer idea of what you're doing wrong you can begin to write your own stories as you see them in your head without mangling them as badly. I'll let the world know when I get past the mangling stage! :P
Personally, the day I get fanfic I would dance madly around my house and sing. Fanfic, in my mind, means 'published' and furthermore that someone is READING and cares enough to elaborate! It means I'm doing something right!
Dear gods, send the fanfic my way!!!
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Date: 2010-05-14 06:27 am (UTC)Personally, the day I get fanfic I would dance madly around my house and sing.
Word. Writers don't understand that fanfic means your readers like your work enough to ENGAGE with it, dammit. Very few published authors GET that kind of acclaim.
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Date: 2010-05-14 10:45 am (UTC)So few writers get the attention I feel they deserve. :( Whether or not authors like fanfics, they could look at it this way: Fanfiction can introduce new readers to their work. If I like a fanfic author, I'll often read ALL of their work regardless of whether or not I recognize the series. If I like it, I'll often poke my nose into the series. This is how I discovered Firefly, X the TV series, Fruits Basket, and various other things I love dearly now. True, not all fanfics are particularly well written, but it's free advertising as well as just appreciation, yes?
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Date: 2010-05-15 06:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-16 12:17 am (UTC)I haven't read anything of hers. I'm pretty picky about how I spend my time.
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Date: 2010-05-14 05:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 05:38 am (UTC)I love you for that. Never leave my flist.
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Date: 2010-05-14 06:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 06:30 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 06:32 am (UTC)Hee!
Date: 2010-05-14 07:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 08:25 am (UTC)*applause*
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Date: 2010-05-14 10:01 am (UTC)(This post is made of awesome, though. I have great commitment to sparkle motion!)
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Date: 2010-05-14 12:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 10:46 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 03:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-16 12:18 am (UTC)Suddenly the snark is in context and all the better for it! :)
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Date: 2010-05-16 02:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 12:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 02:55 pm (UTC)*feh* I have been grumbly ALL WEEK. Asinine comparisons to cooking and embroidery don't help.
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Date: 2010-05-14 04:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 05:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 07:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 07:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-14 08:04 pm (UTC)Who the hell are you [pros] to suddenly be the hobby police? THIS IS A THING. WE DO IT FOR FUN. IT IS ENTERTAINING TO READ AND WRITE. I MAY JUDGE YOUR CRAPPY TASTE IN TV IN MY HEART, BUT NOTICE HOW YOUR CRAPPY TASTE IN TV IS A HOBBY THAT DOES NOT PROFIT YOU, BUT YOU DO IT FOR FUN ANYWAY. ALSO NOTICE ME NOT GETTING HET UP UNDER THE COLLAR ABOUT YOUR CRAPPY TASTE IN TV, EVEN WHEN YOU SHARE IT WITH THE REST OF THE CLASS. THIS IS A HOBBY. HOBBIES, ARE SORT OF BY DEFINITION NOT REALLY THINGS THAT WE PROFIT FROM. THIS IS WHY IT IS A HOBBY AND NOT OUR JOB. IF WE WERE INTERESTED IN IT AS A JOB, WE WOULD PROBABLY BE WRITING OUR OWN ORIGINAL STUFF. NOTICE THE PROS WHO WRITE THEIR OWN NOVELS WHICH ARE VERY GOOD AND ALSO WRITE INEXPLICABLE FANFIC ON THEIR OWN TIME TO BLOW OFF STEAM. THIS IS BECAUSE IT IS THEIR HOBBY. GO FIND YOUR OWN SANDBOX. IF YOU ARE RANTING ABOUT OUR HOBBIES, MAYBE YOU NEED MORE OF YOUR OWN.
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Date: 2010-05-14 08:11 pm (UTC)Really, though, it's amazing how the cycle goes round and round like this. Can we stop talking about fanfic to the pros? I think them not knowing is much better for their brains than ours at this point.
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Date: 2010-05-14 09:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-05-15 06:17 am (UTC)