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misscamOi! Doctor Who Fanfic Writers (and writers in general, really)! A moment of your time, please - yes, once again. (Letter one and two, if you missed the previous fun.)
Okay, I've ranted before about various things I'd rather not have in Doctor Who fanfics - and now I shall rant about what I'd rather not have in author/reviewer behaviour. Because I am an opinionated meanie, clearly. But consider these helpful advice not to piss me off at least, eh?
"Ooooh, love it! Say, I think you will also love my fic, "The Amazingly Poetic Doctor", available on my LJ..." No. Don't pimp your own fic in a review for someone else's. It looks tacky, is tacky, and makes your review just look like lipservice to get some reviews on your own. No. Leave a review, then if you absoloutely must have the author's opinion on your fic, contact he or she in some other way.
"This isn't fanfic, this is better than fanfic!" Until you get paid by the people who own the work you're writing stuff based on, you're writing fanfic by its very definition. Now shut it, I'm trying to stop laughing at you.
"Speeling doesnt mattar!" Yes, it does. For one thing, the brain reads by recognising the shape of the word, and if you've misspelt a word, the brain can take longer to sort it out. It can even be so hard to figure out you'll throw readers out of the story. For the other, language is the tool a writer is dependent on. Leaving your tool out to rust in rain and snow and neglect ain't exactly going to fill people with confidence that you're constructing a magnificent construction, you get what I'm saying. Now love on the language a bit and at very least hit spellcheck. Oooh, it makes me all tingly when you do.
Author's Notes: Here's how I felt today. I woke up with tingling toes and realised it was the muse speaking to me... Gee, that's fascinating. But I'm here to read fanfic, not Days of Author Amazing's Life. Don't make your author's notes long, epic tales of things barely related to the fic at all. If people are curious to get to know you, they'll come to your LJ or strike up a conversation. Tell them about the tingling then, yeah?
"Well, not everyone can writing as great as Author Amazing!" Barf. So, you love Author Amazing. I'm sure Author Amazing loves you too, but don't let that love rob you of every whiff of tact there, buster. That kind of thing just makes others wonder if you're really a sockpuppet of Author Amazing, not to mention it's not really that helpful. We all have different styles, and we can't all be the same. Find more tactful ways of saying it could be better, or be blunt without the Author Amazing fangirling. If you really want to mention a story you think the author could learn from, personal contact can be splendid. Or at least bring up other examples from Author Fab and Author Splendid too, so you seem more like someone wanting to help and less like the Author Amazing High Pimper.
"Hehehehe someone pointed out the TARDIS actually isn't pink but I cant be bothered fixing it hehehehe." Oh dear. Look, little laughing chipmunk, when someone points out a factual flaw in your fic, it's generally advised to fix it. Oooh, the wonderful technology called 'editing'. Because chances are if someone spotted it, others will too. It distracts from the story. Some facts are facts. Get them right.
"I'm the BEST. Best, best, best." Oi. Get your ego in check there. Or get your lack-of-self-esteem-compensation in check there, as the case might be. Proclaiming yourself the best doesn't only annoy other authors, it can always be called into question by how you define 'best'. Maybe you write excellent characterisation, but your plotting could use some work. Maybe your plots are utterly brilliant, but the readers don't always feel emotionally connected to the characters. Maybe you've written what is hailed as the best story of the fandom, but another author has more consistently amazing stories. It's okay to feel you've become a good writer. It's okay to feel flattered readers proclaim your fics to be bloody brilliant. It's also okay to embrace a little humility and modesty and realise other authors can be great too *and act like it*.
"Ur just jealous!" You're just being defensive. So, someone critisised your baby. Bummer. But hey, this is what happens when you post online. Not everyone will love it, and they're free to say so as much as they want. Doesn't mean they're jealous, doesn't mean they want to ruin your day, doesn't mean your fic is utterly crap either. But it can be the case that they have a point or two. Maybe your Canon characters were acting a little unlike they would in the series. Maybe you were a little unclear about the fate of of your villain. Maybe you did rush to finish it. Maybe you can do better next time. Granted, not every piece of concrit will always be helpful as tastes do vary, but actually doing something with the concrit you get rather than just get defensive will get you places. If nothing else, your reviewers will love you more for not being a twat. Yay.
Author Amazing: I'm so mean to the Doctor and Rose in this fic! Doctor: You are! Rose: I hate you. No, not you, Doctor! Sigh. The character(s)/author dialogues prefacing or ending a fic, what joy. I'm sure it was cute in your head and all and maybe some found it funny the first time, but - it's not that cute and it's not that funny. Seriously.
Helloooo, has your summary gone missing? Rating? What Doctor it is? Hellooooo? Sometimes, I like a little more then the title to go on before I decide to read or not, mmkay?
"I suck at summaries but plz just read!" No. This gives me Omnious Vibes for the rest of the fic. If you can't be bothered back an effort to find even a sentence to tell me at least some of what your fic is about, I will suspect you don't bother to make much of an effort for the rest of it either. Yes, I know, summaries can be a pain. Been there, cursed at that screen. But try, yeah? Strive to un-suck. You're certainly not going to improve unless you try.
(A/N: I'm sticking an author's note in the middle of the fanfic to tell you I have a pink sweater just like Rose's.) Don't. Just don't. I don't care, I'm trying to read the bloody thing and you're just annoying me enough to make me stop.
"You didn't like my fic! Let me lob a totally backhanded insult about your writing ability at you!" Classy there. I bet you're just the cutest little snot of the kindergarten. (In other words, embrace your inner maturity already, sheesh!)
"I didn't win the fanfic award I was nominated for, so it must've been rigged! Cheating! Cheating!" Whoa, back up there, Mulder. Not everything is a conspiracy. Tastes will vary (see Eurosong for painful examples), readers will forget to vote, other fics will be good. Fanfic awards tend to bring the wank, but you needn't add to it.
"You have the Doctor also washing his rufflable hair with vanilla-scented shampoo! YOU RIPPED ME OFF!" Oi, Caps Lock outrage. Okay, plagiarism does happen and when it does, it's a pain in the ass and a drag to deal with. But coincidences also happen. Sometimes, two people have similar ideas. If you feel a fic is being a little too similar, get some second opinions. Don't cry plagiarist right away, as that will colour everyone else's opinion on the matter from that point on. The more specific it is in similarities, the more likely it is to be less than a conincidence, but there isn't always a sure guide. Also, helps to check your facts. If the fic you accuse of plagiarism turns out to have been posted years before yours, the last laugh is not on you, but about you. (But in cases of clear copy & paste, show no mercy. EX-TERM-INATE!)
"Hey, this Grissom/Sara tale of lustful love using bug metaphores I wrote would be perfect as a Doctor/Rose!" You don't say. But Grissom isn't quite the Doctor, and Rose certainly doesn't sound like Sara, so just replacing character names, not so brilliant. Rewriting fics can be educational, painful and amusing, but come clean on it being a rewrite or readers can feel quite led on. (And while at it, if you're rewriting a fic other than your own, get permission first or the Caps Lock outrage will justifiably land on you.)
"UR SICK! You paired Rose with Mickey! She belongs with Nine! Also, Ten sucks. Bash, bash, bash!" Oh, do shut up, yapping gnat. Don't insult a fic merely for writing another pairing than your Holy OTP. Amazingly, not everyone likes the same pairings as you! The world is in fact not a Hive Ship. And don't write a fic soley to bash threats to your Holy OTP, either. (In fact, don't bash them at all. Your opinion of character E is not neccesarily the Canon characters' opinions of character E, shockingly enough.) You will just insult people who do like that character (and might still enjoy the Holy OTP, O Horror!) and look immature. Oh wait, it *is* immature.
(As per usual, take this with a grain of Cam-salt. Heck, I can even name a few of those I've done myself. Tsk, tsk.)
Okay, I've ranted before about various things I'd rather not have in Doctor Who fanfics - and now I shall rant about what I'd rather not have in author/reviewer behaviour. Because I am an opinionated meanie, clearly. But consider these helpful advice not to piss me off at least, eh?
"Ooooh, love it! Say, I think you will also love my fic, "The Amazingly Poetic Doctor", available on my LJ..." No. Don't pimp your own fic in a review for someone else's. It looks tacky, is tacky, and makes your review just look like lipservice to get some reviews on your own. No. Leave a review, then if you absoloutely must have the author's opinion on your fic, contact he or she in some other way.
"This isn't fanfic, this is better than fanfic!" Until you get paid by the people who own the work you're writing stuff based on, you're writing fanfic by its very definition. Now shut it, I'm trying to stop laughing at you.
"Speeling doesnt mattar!" Yes, it does. For one thing, the brain reads by recognising the shape of the word, and if you've misspelt a word, the brain can take longer to sort it out. It can even be so hard to figure out you'll throw readers out of the story. For the other, language is the tool a writer is dependent on. Leaving your tool out to rust in rain and snow and neglect ain't exactly going to fill people with confidence that you're constructing a magnificent construction, you get what I'm saying. Now love on the language a bit and at very least hit spellcheck. Oooh, it makes me all tingly when you do.
Author's Notes: Here's how I felt today. I woke up with tingling toes and realised it was the muse speaking to me... Gee, that's fascinating. But I'm here to read fanfic, not Days of Author Amazing's Life. Don't make your author's notes long, epic tales of things barely related to the fic at all. If people are curious to get to know you, they'll come to your LJ or strike up a conversation. Tell them about the tingling then, yeah?
"Well, not everyone can writing as great as Author Amazing!" Barf. So, you love Author Amazing. I'm sure Author Amazing loves you too, but don't let that love rob you of every whiff of tact there, buster. That kind of thing just makes others wonder if you're really a sockpuppet of Author Amazing, not to mention it's not really that helpful. We all have different styles, and we can't all be the same. Find more tactful ways of saying it could be better, or be blunt without the Author Amazing fangirling. If you really want to mention a story you think the author could learn from, personal contact can be splendid. Or at least bring up other examples from Author Fab and Author Splendid too, so you seem more like someone wanting to help and less like the Author Amazing High Pimper.
"Hehehehe someone pointed out the TARDIS actually isn't pink but I cant be bothered fixing it hehehehe." Oh dear. Look, little laughing chipmunk, when someone points out a factual flaw in your fic, it's generally advised to fix it. Oooh, the wonderful technology called 'editing'. Because chances are if someone spotted it, others will too. It distracts from the story. Some facts are facts. Get them right.
"I'm the BEST. Best, best, best." Oi. Get your ego in check there. Or get your lack-of-self-esteem-compensation in check there, as the case might be. Proclaiming yourself the best doesn't only annoy other authors, it can always be called into question by how you define 'best'. Maybe you write excellent characterisation, but your plotting could use some work. Maybe your plots are utterly brilliant, but the readers don't always feel emotionally connected to the characters. Maybe you've written what is hailed as the best story of the fandom, but another author has more consistently amazing stories. It's okay to feel you've become a good writer. It's okay to feel flattered readers proclaim your fics to be bloody brilliant. It's also okay to embrace a little humility and modesty and realise other authors can be great too *and act like it*.
"Ur just jealous!" You're just being defensive. So, someone critisised your baby. Bummer. But hey, this is what happens when you post online. Not everyone will love it, and they're free to say so as much as they want. Doesn't mean they're jealous, doesn't mean they want to ruin your day, doesn't mean your fic is utterly crap either. But it can be the case that they have a point or two. Maybe your Canon characters were acting a little unlike they would in the series. Maybe you were a little unclear about the fate of of your villain. Maybe you did rush to finish it. Maybe you can do better next time. Granted, not every piece of concrit will always be helpful as tastes do vary, but actually doing something with the concrit you get rather than just get defensive will get you places. If nothing else, your reviewers will love you more for not being a twat. Yay.
Author Amazing: I'm so mean to the Doctor and Rose in this fic! Doctor: You are! Rose: I hate you. No, not you, Doctor! Sigh. The character(s)/author dialogues prefacing or ending a fic, what joy. I'm sure it was cute in your head and all and maybe some found it funny the first time, but - it's not that cute and it's not that funny. Seriously.
Helloooo, has your summary gone missing? Rating? What Doctor it is? Hellooooo? Sometimes, I like a little more then the title to go on before I decide to read or not, mmkay?
"I suck at summaries but plz just read!" No. This gives me Omnious Vibes for the rest of the fic. If you can't be bothered back an effort to find even a sentence to tell me at least some of what your fic is about, I will suspect you don't bother to make much of an effort for the rest of it either. Yes, I know, summaries can be a pain. Been there, cursed at that screen. But try, yeah? Strive to un-suck. You're certainly not going to improve unless you try.
(A/N: I'm sticking an author's note in the middle of the fanfic to tell you I have a pink sweater just like Rose's.) Don't. Just don't. I don't care, I'm trying to read the bloody thing and you're just annoying me enough to make me stop.
"You didn't like my fic! Let me lob a totally backhanded insult about your writing ability at you!" Classy there. I bet you're just the cutest little snot of the kindergarten. (In other words, embrace your inner maturity already, sheesh!)
"I didn't win the fanfic award I was nominated for, so it must've been rigged! Cheating! Cheating!" Whoa, back up there, Mulder. Not everything is a conspiracy. Tastes will vary (see Eurosong for painful examples), readers will forget to vote, other fics will be good. Fanfic awards tend to bring the wank, but you needn't add to it.
"You have the Doctor also washing his rufflable hair with vanilla-scented shampoo! YOU RIPPED ME OFF!" Oi, Caps Lock outrage. Okay, plagiarism does happen and when it does, it's a pain in the ass and a drag to deal with. But coincidences also happen. Sometimes, two people have similar ideas. If you feel a fic is being a little too similar, get some second opinions. Don't cry plagiarist right away, as that will colour everyone else's opinion on the matter from that point on. The more specific it is in similarities, the more likely it is to be less than a conincidence, but there isn't always a sure guide. Also, helps to check your facts. If the fic you accuse of plagiarism turns out to have been posted years before yours, the last laugh is not on you, but about you. (But in cases of clear copy & paste, show no mercy. EX-TERM-INATE!)
"Hey, this Grissom/Sara tale of lustful love using bug metaphores I wrote would be perfect as a Doctor/Rose!" You don't say. But Grissom isn't quite the Doctor, and Rose certainly doesn't sound like Sara, so just replacing character names, not so brilliant. Rewriting fics can be educational, painful and amusing, but come clean on it being a rewrite or readers can feel quite led on. (And while at it, if you're rewriting a fic other than your own, get permission first or the Caps Lock outrage will justifiably land on you.)
"UR SICK! You paired Rose with Mickey! She belongs with Nine! Also, Ten sucks. Bash, bash, bash!" Oh, do shut up, yapping gnat. Don't insult a fic merely for writing another pairing than your Holy OTP. Amazingly, not everyone likes the same pairings as you! The world is in fact not a Hive Ship. And don't write a fic soley to bash threats to your Holy OTP, either. (In fact, don't bash them at all. Your opinion of character E is not neccesarily the Canon characters' opinions of character E, shockingly enough.) You will just insult people who do like that character (and might still enjoy the Holy OTP, O Horror!) and look immature. Oh wait, it *is* immature.
(As per usual, take this with a grain of Cam-salt. Heck, I can even name a few of those I've done myself. Tsk, tsk.)
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no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-03-28 01:52 pm (UTC)