apocalypsos | A meme, of sorts

dragonsinger pointed out something that I've noticed, too -- that there's just not enough feedback being given on communities like

fanfic100,

crossovers100,

au100, and

originalfic100. Tons of great fic -- the quantity of which might, I imagine, be throwing people off -- but just not nearly enough feedback.

So, I was thinking. Here's the Big Damn Tables/Lists for each community:

Fanfic100
Crossovers100
Au100
Originalfic100

Go check them out. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to leave feedback. Lots of it, a little of it, on one story or on every story (and if you manage that one, more power to you). If you really want to make someone feel like a million bucks, pick one of the smaller fandoms that you know a bit about and pick a story or two at random to leave feedback for. I signed up for Terminator knowing full well there weren't a lot of people aside from me who'd be interested, but did it for the love of the fandom, like I believe a lot of other small fandom writers who've signed up felt.

The fact that there are so many people out there taking on such a huge challenge should be encouraged. Please, go over and check them out. There really is a lot of great stuff to read, in fandoms you never thought you'd see fic in. (The

crossovers100 and

au100 BDTs don't have links to the authors's own BDTs for their dibs, but if the authors are anything like me, they're linked in their memories.)

And pass this idea around to your friends. If joining these communities could become such a big trend, surely leaving feedback for them could as well. :)

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Peep!

originalfic100. It's like fanfic 100, but without the pesky fandom. :D

Oooo. Duly noted, and post edited to add it in. :)

Yay!

waitaminute. That means more work! D:

Anyway, OF100 requires an intro paragraph, which is looked over and approved before people get to post.

We'll accept any sort of genre. Superheroes, love stories, surreal fiction, fantasy...all we lack right now is good hard sci-fi.

I was thinking in similar terms recently. Specifically about LJ emerging as probably the biggest mode of fic distribution these days. Arguably superceding mailing lists and archives. People make substantial efforts to ecourage feedbacking, establishing specific communities, etc. But what i remember as being remarcably effective is something practiced in comic fic a while back. Basically a fic equivalent to the quoting community on which metaquotes is based. Only it quoted humorous scenes from stories, rather than rl anecdotes

*sees

au100 for the first time in this post*

*gives in, finally*

DAMN YOU. I'll miss my free time.

*snickers*

And slash fans might want to check out

slash_100 . It's a little smaller than those other ones, but slowly getting bigger.

It's unfortunate, but we have our preferences, and unless it really wows us, unless it really deviates significantly from the standard boring fantasy settings, we're probably going to say no.

? Forget that. Elitist = lame.

Sorry you feel that way.

I for one am not interested in cleverly-hidden ripoffs of D&D modules my friends could run.

It's unfortunate but true that the stereotypes embedded in the fantasy genre by Anne Rice and J. R.R. Tolkien persist in such vast quantities, and that most of what else is out there idolizes George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan far too much for it to be healthy.

I am sick of the gothic bishounen vampire, and I am sick of any and all depictions of elves as distant and unfeeling. You might say it's personal bias, but I have sat through countless dozens of vampire movies, played my fair share of video games, and read an absolutely brain-busting number of books in my short life. It's an attitude born of witnessing too many of the same ideas spread across too much of my favorite territory. I admit I read and enjoy all the aforementioned authors in some fashion or another - I'm biased to think that Anne Rice should never write another book again and should stick to making more movies, as she handles herself better with an editor - and I'm not ashamed of that. I love playing Dungeons and Dragons, Vampire: The Masquerade, Exalted, and the Breath of Fire games. I love movies like Star Wars, Dragonheart, Merlin, and The Witches of Eastwick. But I - can't - stand something that simply parrots these concepts without giving some consideration as to why they think the ideas work in the setting they're using. That's acceptable - when you're writing something set in those universes. Not, however, when you're writing something you're touting as "original fiction." I expect more creativity in the concept.

Unless, of course, it's well-written, engaging, and shows a genuine understanding of the subject matter. A friend of mine once wrote a 900-page fantasy novel that in style and approach owed a great deal to Jordan and Martin, but he made it his own and blew the pants off everyone who read it, including the Tor editors. To the best of my knowledge it's still in the process of preparing to publish, and he stands to make a good deal of money off it, supposing he's written it well enough to stand out from the dozens of other books with similar goals. I'd like to think so, but then, apparently I'm elitist, so I really don't fit in the majority, do I?

That's another form of creativity, though: not in the concept, but in the ways in which the concept unfolds. The setting can be the most lacking in originality, but if the plotting is tight and the characterization spot-on - if you know exactly which high points to make into mountains fraught with the most fantastic terrors and which low points to turn into the deepest valleys of despair, and which points of both to simply turn into waves of emotional power that the reader can coast on till the next climactic moment - then I couldn't possibly say no.

But - I'm of the belief that you can't separate setting, character, or plot. They all inform each other and they all require each other. A good setting sets up interesting characters who form intriguing plots. It's not a black and white world outside my window. I don't expect the one inside my head to be any different. Fantasy is wish fulfillment - and if it's purporting to be realistic (it's all a matter of tone), I expect it to consider the implications of its setting and use that; if it goes the pure fantasy route, in the direction of myth and archetype and the inhuman, I expect it to treat itself like the dangerous, terrible beast it really is. The middle ground between the two is rocky and filled with obstacles, and you can see the carcasses littering the Fantasy shelves at your nearest Borders.

I had a swimming coach once, and he said something to me that has stuck with me to this very day: "I admit it. I'm guilty of favoritism. I reward the people I like. But I like them because they get out there and do their best every single day. I don't congratulate someone who settles for less." I don't personally settle for less. Why should I give someone else slack I'm not prepared to give myself? I want good stuff. I don't want to feel, when reading a story, that it's well-written enough it could be good if only I hadn't seen the same idea before. I want to be amazed, not staring at Drizzt Do'Urden Clone #34657.

Dammit, if that's elitist, I don't see how I could possibly not be elitist.

In short, it can be good, but there's so many stereotypes in it that it's really hard to write interestingly. And that's we're looking for, interestingness. Interestingosity.

If it's written well, we'll take it.

Besides, Elitism can be good. If we just let anyone in, it'd get all sucky. We have to discriminate and separate the chaff from the tasty wheat.

A meme, of sorts

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