Fanfiction: Just For Fun

I was reading posts on the lotrfanfiction.com forum, and one of them got me thinking. This was originally just a response to a comment on there, but I'm afraid it rather got away from me, so I decided to put it here instead. So: On Fanfiction and Fans, and Being Too Serious

We're just too pretentious about what we do. I go to an art school so I'm surrounded by lots of silly teenagers puffed on their own importance, convinced that they're going to be the next Big Name in whatever their particular field is, and I alternately want to pat them on the head for their enthusiatic naivity or slap some sense into them and knock them off their high horse. (Inicidentally, I'm a teenager, too; I just avoid that because I'm going into comic books, and that is inherently a field about fannish fun more than Critical Acclaim and all that.) But pretention isn't restricted to the arts, and it has its place in fanfiction as well.

People just aren't as willing to do things "just for fun" as one might think they should be. Everything has to be important or impressive or special. And I think that's really the problem. If people would write just from the standpoint of having fun and would admit that that's all they're doing, perhaps the fans (and I have to include myself in this number) who pick at things like cannon and character and implausible plots wouldn't bother so much, but when an author turns in something rife with errors and presents it like the next Great Novel, well, I think we just sort of attack on instinct. ;) Raar!

Of course, I try to take my own writing seriously, but that's because that's the sort of thing I enjoy reading. Even the humorous stories I like to read usually avoid being OOC, or if they are, it's OOCness specifically tailored to point out humor, such as in Noldo's "Balrog's Lunch"...which in and of itself is poking fun at the invasion of Mary-Sues. Yes, the hypocrisy of judgement is something I suffer from, and I must say that Mary-Sues set my teeth on edge. Does this mean I'm going to yell at someone for writing them? No...but it does mean I'm going to poke fun, because that's what I do. Sarcasm and snarkiness is my friend. ;) But there's no reason to flame people for it! Again, people take themselves too seriously; if you can't poke fun at yourself, you need to loosen up. And if you can't poke fun at someone without being mean, you need to do the same. We hold too much "holy" and it results in nothing but hurt feelings and flame wars.

Getting back to the art school thing, I think that may be why I'm so open to criticism. If you aren't when you go to art school, you're screwed, because the only way to get better is to let people tear you apart...and to do the same to others. I have professors who will literally roast very good work over the coals, but they do it with love and usually with humor. But there are people who can't take this, and the slightest bit of critisicm will send them into a fury. Same is true in any art form, and writing is a form of art, even writing fanfiction. You can't view anything you've done as "perfect," just as "better than last time." And yes, I admit, it can be painful to watch something that you've put a lot of work in to be attacked, but you have to let it happen, because snapping back at someone offering real, actual criticism of what you've done only means that you're dooming yourself to never improving. This may be part of the reason why I have to wrestle so hard against leaving really harsh reviews; I've been trained for the last three years or so to leave no imperfection unnoticed and to brutally point out even good things that could be better.

So while I do try to approach with humility in my own writing, as much because I've seen some truly spectacular pieces as because it's fan-pieces of someone else's work, I do have a tendency to attack a bit when I read a story that strikes me a less than it should be. I try to rein it in when leaving comments, but since I try to always review what I read and yet leave a review that isn't totally empty this can be hard. Leaving a review of "lol good work" on a story that obviously could use some drastic improvement is nice, but not really useful. It may make an author feel good about themselves, and while that's not a bad thing, it doesn't help them get any better, which is really a big point about writing. (By the same token, there are stories that you read that really all you can say is "that was good" because you can't find anything to better.)

Considering some of the crap I wrote when I was starting fanfiction writing, I really should know better, but it's hard when you read something that strikes you as hideous to remember that all writers start out sucking and it's only through the encouragment to continue writing that they get better.

To that end, I think that reviews can be the most important thing about fanfiction. They let an author know that there's at least the potential of entertaining one other person with their writing, and also they can force an author into finishing longer stories. I know that, for me, the best thing about posting a fanficiton is knowing that I'm going to be coerced into eventually actually finishing it, because I don't want to leave it hanging openly and annoy a reader.

To sum up what has gotten quite verbosely out of hand, everyone's too bloody serious about what they do.

People need to take things with a grain of salt and stop leaping down everyone else's throats, but people also need to realize that when someone picks at your work they aren't doing it because "omg you suck go die now!"...they're doing it because they truly do want you to get better. The thing about fanfiction is, we do it because we love it, both writing and reading. And this means that you need to respect the material and your own work; you need to take the time to do it well, both because you should do that for yourself and because once you post something for others to read you're saying that you feel it's ready to be seen by the public eye. This also means that you want to read more of it, because that's why you write this sort of thing. And when you read something, you want it to be good, and that's why you critique. You're trying to build a collection of things you like, and that is done by adding and improving your own work and by getting the others that submit things to do better on their own pieces. However, remember, it is just for fun. Don't be mean, but don't be defensive, either. If everyone can just relax we'll have a better community overall, not just in fanfiction, but in everything we do.

Because Sharing is Caring

Very nicely written indeed. Remember When? Actually, everything I've read on this blog was very nicely written so far. Thanks to ladielazarus for pointing it out. Now, I do my duty and spread the witticisms and wonders. Enjoy!

Top 10 Sings You're Reading a Fic by Tathrin...

Have been tagged by Noldo. Will now list, in no particular order, the top ten signs that you're reading one of my fics. Please, consider yourself tagged in turn, and of course, feel free to add.

1. The plot tends to vacillate and occassionally disappear behind the characters. If there even is a plot. Because all the plot really is, is the slightly-necessary vehicle to get the characters to appear. And once that's happened, it can fade into the background.

2. Dialogue stretches on forever. As does introspection. And, for that matter, sentences; they're either fragments or entire paragraphs in and of themselves.

4. You just know there's going to be those little ***'s somewhere, because the scene cannot just play through. There must be a shift in time or space but more likely, in both.

5. There's so much detail in the descriptions that your mind implodes before you make it to where something actually happens.

6. Wounds will be described in as much painful detail as everything else, but they will have very little impact on stopping the character suffering from them, even if s/he by rights ought to be unconcious in the critical condition ward right about now.

7. Somehow, some time, some way, light will glimmer or shimmer or glance or dance or so on and so forth. (Probably on somebody's silken hair.)

8. Geographic reality and even sensibility is optional.

9. Every conversation turns into some sort of snappy back-and-forth bit of banter...and it lasts forever, or at least until I can't think of a good come back.

10. You need a microscope to find a grain of romance, but an umbrella to protect from the deluges of sarcasm and snarkiness. And a blast shield to keep from being impalled upon the never-ending series of dashes--whether they're strictly necessary or not--but who wants to use a comma when a dash will suffice?

Oh, and the most obvious sign that you're reading a fic by me: it never bloody updates. Sorry about that... *slinks away*

Edhel!

Elvish


To which race of Middle Earth do you belong?
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Yay, I'm an Elf! And speaking of Elves...Shadows Creeping has finally been updated. I don't know when I'll be able to post another update, or one for Ostad, but I am still working on both of them, don't worry! Eventually...

Time for an Intelligent Argument

10 Best reasons Gay Marriage is wrong:
_{~Courtesy Lord Mookie of Dominic Deegan fame.}

1. Being gay is not natural. Real Americans always reject unnatural things like eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning.

2. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall.

3. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage contract.

4. Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn't changed at all; women are still property, blacks still can't marry whites, and divorce is still illegal.

5. Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed; the sanctity of Britany Spears' 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed.

6. Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn't be allowed to marry because our orphanages aren't full yet, and the world needs more children.

7. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents only raise straight children.

8. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are imposed on the entire country. That's why we have only one religion in America.

9. Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That's why we as a society expressly forbid single parents to raise children.

10. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just like we haven't adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

Re-post this if you believe love makes a marriage.

Shame and Hypocrisy

I came here to tell you all how amazing Good Omens is, but I can't right now. Instead, I have to tell you about something that is far, far beyond horrible.

I have always had a "thing" about napalm, even from my earliest knowledge of what it is. It makes my stomach twist everytime someone mentions Vietnam. I can think of few fates so horrible as that. I am sure there are some, but nothing comes to mind.
And now...



There are not words to express the shame I feel at being an American citizen right now. There are not words with which to describe the sick horror I feel.
There are not words, but if you read those of Riverbend, you may get a sense of what it is like to live with that horror daily.
There are not words, but there is a video that may make you understand. It is disturbing and horrifying, and I cannot in good conscience recommend that you watch it, because the images are horrible and the meaning behind them worse...but I cannot in conscience not tell you to watch it.

It will disturb you, but you need to be disturbed. The world needs to be disturbed, and it needs to be told, and it needs to be shown. Because there is nothing--nothing--that can justify this kind of horror. Nothing.
And perhaps the worst part of it all? It is the "good guys" doing it.
"We"--and I cannot describe how much that word twists and tears me to have to use it--"we" go in because of "weapons of mass destruction"...and then we use this? Who's the villain here?

I feel sick. If this is what it felt like in the 60s...and then, at least, the cover-ups got broken. Now, it's like no one cares. No one is allowed to care. You'd think "we" would have learned our lesson from Vietnam, but apparently "we" learned the wrong one. Instead of learning that there are some horrors that cannot and should not be unleashed for any reasons, "we" apparently learned, rather, that if and when you plan to unleash such evil, you need to make sure that no one finds out.
That is not the lesson we should have learned from all that! That is not right by any stretch of the imagination or twisting of the truth. That is so far beyond wrong, there do not exist the words to say it. How can people do things like that to another human being? And still call themselves "good" and "just" and "right" and "righteous" while they do!

They are not right. They are not righteous. And they make me wish I believed in Hell, because even that would not be torment enough to pay for what they have done.



I do not have words. And I am sorry.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Awesome

Just got back from the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and I cannot possibly say how much I loved it.

...However, I'm having a really, really hard time keeping my eyes open as the sheer overwhelming excitement is starting to wear off and I think it's time to go to sleep.
(More shall be forthcoming here when I need a quick break in between doing my finals.)

Go see it! It rules so very much!