Author Topic: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?  (Read 22763 times)

Offline RouxB

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #40 on: September 03, 2006, 01:56:48 pm »
Welcome Lori and thank you for giving us your perspective-I echo many of your sentiments.

roux

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Offline Beatrice

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #41 on: September 04, 2006, 11:31:20 am »
Perhaps I'm a crazy person, but I look at the skill of the writer first. Is the prose compelling, well crafted and interesting? Does the plot move forward, is it original? Is there a connection made betweeen characters and reader? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then I move on.

Granted, I really don't have much spare time to read, but I do try. Most are dropped because of the amatuerish style of writing, or the total lack of plot.

Any writer, if he/she is good enough can make the reader believe, move them outside their comfort zone and take them on a journey that they never knew they wished to embark upon. Those writers in this fandom are few and far between. And the loyal readers of these fics stay not because of high schoolesque cliches, (which abound in this fandom) but because the writer is a storyteller in the true sense of the word.

I applaud any writer who can touch someone else with their vision.

B

"He was the refuge of my spirit, the sweet solace of my griefs...what more is there, then can I say? Was it not a foretaste of blessedness thus to love, and thus to be loved?" St. Aelred, from his eulogy for his lover, Simon.

Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #42 on: September 04, 2006, 04:44:48 pm »
It makes me sad to read that, apparently, some people are (figuratively) turning up their noses at certain types of fanfic.   :-\ :(

I mean, "Hunh?" Doesn't it just come down to a matter of taste? And to each of us bringing our own life experiences to the fanfic, just as we bring our own life experiences to Annie Proulx's story and to the film?

I've written a couple of canon stories (short, stand-alone) because something in me compelled me to write them. Then I turned, almost with a sense of embarrassment, to writing a couple of AU stories, and for much the same reason--something in me compelled me to write them. If I don't read "moving on Ennis" stories, it's only because for a complex combination of reasons I can't emotionally deal with the idea of Ennis moving on. Someone who's judgment I trust and respect tells me the "Laramie Saga" is wonderful. Have I read it? No. Will I read it? I don't expect to. Do I disdain it? Heck no. It's just not for me--for reasons that I mentioned above.

Ol' Brokeback is a pretty big mountain. There ought to be room for everybody.
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

mvansand76

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #43 on: September 04, 2006, 05:00:46 pm »
Perhaps I'm a crazy person, but I look at the skill of the writer first. Is the prose compelling, well crafted and interesting? Does the plot move forward, is it original? Is there a connection made betweeen characters and reader? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then I move on.


Nah, you are not crazy! I look at it the same way, if the style or dialogue or storyline does not appeal to me, I simply stop reading and move on to something else.

Marge_Innavera

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #44 on: September 04, 2006, 05:27:19 pm »
I look at it the same way, if the style or dialogue or storyline does not appeal to me, I simply stop reading and move on to something else.

That's a much better yardstick than "is this a type that I've decided I don't read? It is? Then screw the quality - I'm not reading it." Unfortunately, the latter seems to be the norm.

Offline louisev

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #45 on: September 04, 2006, 06:10:06 pm »
I read a recent commentary suggesting that authors should go further than the rating systems established in the communities (pairing, rating, etc.) and give a summary of potentially controversial subjects so that readers can go in "forearmed."  But this is Brokeback Mountain fan fiction... isnt there enough heartache in the original story we have all survived, without trying to dodge the fan fic heartbreak we might suffer by reading something too sad?
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Offline notBastet

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #46 on: September 05, 2006, 09:32:13 am »
Perhaps I'm a crazy person, but I look at the skill of the writer first. Is the prose compelling, well crafted and interesting? Does the plot move forward, is it original? Is there a connection made betweeen characters and reader? If the answer to any of those questions is no, then I move on.

Granted, I really don't have much spare time to read, but I do try. Most are dropped because of the amatuerish style of writing, or the total lack of plot.

Any writer, if he/she is good enough can make the reader believe, move them outside their comfort zone and take them on a journey that they never knew they wished to embark upon. Those writers in this fandom are few and far between. And the loyal readers of these fics stay not because of high schoolesque cliches, (which abound in this fandom) but because the writer is a storyteller in the true sense of the word.

I applaud any writer who can touch someone else with their vision.

B



Hi Beatrice,

My name is Kelly - I don't think we've met....  I don't have anything to add really, just sitting here nodding my head in agreement.  I really like some canons and I really like some AUs, and there is plenty of stuff in between that doesn't hit home with me, for whatever reason.  What I like most of all, is being able to discuss strengths and weaknesses of stories I follow in a calm, civilized fashion...  To me, it's not about bashing whatever it is you don't like, it's about trying to learn something and build something on whatever it is you have chosen to read.

 :)
Thanks for the commentary,
Kelly

PS - Jeff, we haven't met either, but I'm nodding my head in agreement with you as well. :)
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Offline Beatrice

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #47 on: September 05, 2006, 11:39:41 am »
Hi, Kelly!

I agree completely.

Somewhere along the way, some folks have forgotten why we are all here. Jack and Ennis, Brokeback Mountain and a devotion to the written word.

B
"He was the refuge of my spirit, the sweet solace of my griefs...what more is there, then can I say? Was it not a foretaste of blessedness thus to love, and thus to be loved?" St. Aelred, from his eulogy for his lover, Simon.

midwest-girl

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #48 on: September 05, 2006, 11:58:54 am »
Hi, Kelly!

I agree completely.

Somewhere along the way, some folks have forgotten why we are all here. Jack and Ennis, Brokeback Mountain and a devotion to the written word.

B

I agree with you both.  There is plenty of room for all kinds of stories and different interpretations of the characters. 

Helen

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Re: Fan Fiction - Popularity Contest or Formula for Orthodoxy?
« Reply #49 on: September 05, 2006, 04:24:36 pm »
Maybe we could ALL start being brutally honest about the fics we think are crap.  It'd cut down the amount posted for sure, 'cos I bet some of the folk dishing it out would be buying shares in Kleenex for the forseeable...

Or perhaps we could all pick apart and stomp on the ones we consider to be less than absolutely perfect.  Hey! Who needs a fandom anyway?  ::)

These people who are so vehement in their hatred for some fics are no different to other fundamentalists.  Well, maybe they haven't got any current plans to blow up planes, yet, but I expect they'd be burning the books given half a chance.
« Last Edit: September 05, 2006, 04:26:41 pm by Helen »