[ SECRET POST #2916 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2916 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 050 secrets from Secret Submission Post #417.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 (second time) - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

IA.

I mean, spelling and grammar are definitely important, but I'm far more likely to read and enjoy something with crummy SPaG but otherwise engaging writing than I am something with pristine SPaG but otherwise unremarkable writing. And there are plenty of both, believe me.

Like, "your grammar is incorrect" is good advice when you're pointing out a specific author's mistakes, but as general advice I find it rather lacking.

(And idk why people get so defensive when you express this sentiment. You're not saying grammar is completely unimportant, you're saying that people weirdly overemphasize grammar when they give English writing advice... which they do.)

Re: slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

How can you even tell that a piece of writing is engaging when SPaG is not only substandard but actually crummy, though? Seriously, give me an example of this, I'd like to know. Most of the things we like in writing (plot, style, etc.) depend on the writing being functional enough that we can even tell the author is trying for something different in the first place. I don't want to be going, "Sorry I just can't tell if this run-on sentence is a stylistic choice or a mistake, since your story is full of 'em," while I'm reading.

Re: slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

I just chill and read and don't think too hard about whether or not their mistakes are intentional... Maybe I'm just unsophisticated. If you have an interesting plot and I like the characters and you're hitting my narrative kinks, I'm not gonna waste my time worrying about your surplus of run-on sentences and dangling participles. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

I just can't see it. Maybe in fanfic, and even then only if you're really desperate for someone to write your kink or pairing... Maybe if you're reading for the barebones story and don't really care for he writing. See, I assume we're not talking about authors who make the occasional grammar goof, but people who make systematic mistakes -- to the point you're not even sure they ever knew the proper way to do it in the first place. I have a hard time believing such a writer could be capable of variety in sentence structures, or snappy dialogue, or cool turns of phrase...

Re: slightly ot but

[esteefee]

I suppose there are some readers who are making up whole scenarios in their own heads just based on the plot and images the writer is providing. They are pretty much just relying on the writer for the framework of the story, and they do the rest.

Me, I am hoping for more from the author than that. I am looking for language, turns of phrase, dialogue that *sounds* like the characters...I want to immerse myself in the world the writer has created, and I can't do that if I'm distracted by bad grammar and typos. And that's just the bare bones. I hope for more.

There's one writer in my fandom, e.g., who systematically substitutes the word "perimeter" with "parameter." Every single time she does it, I chuckle. It completely pulls me out of the story each it pops up. It's only one of the hundreds of terrible vocabulary errors she makes, but it's the most persistent. Still, she is prolific, and she writes good plots, so I continue to read her stories. But they are laughably in need of a beta, and I never lose myself in them. I'm always one step removed, with one eyebrow raised.

Re: slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

Frankly, that sounds exhausting.

Ya'll act like there's no midway point between "mastery of the language that would make a Lit major cry" and "childish, barely legible scribblings fit only for some readers' basest wish fulfillment fantasies." Which is silly.

Re: slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

You're creating the false dichotomy yourself. It's pretty simple: technical errors are distracting. Distraction =/= immersion. And even if I didn't care about total immersion -- and tbh I don't, with fanfic fic -- I still care about flow. I don't want to be tripped up constantly.

I mean, you're acting as though there isn't a pecking order in fandom, when in fact people are always hunting for Good Fic, not just Readable Fic. We'll take what we can get but if possible we want the whole package. I still can't think of one example wherein rampant errors didn't take away from the reading experience, and I challenge you to show me it exists.

Re: slightly ot but

[esteefee]

? All one needs is spell/grammar check and a good beta.

The rest of it (characters talking IC, etc.) is just gravy. Sorry if I was unclear. (I discussed this earlier in the thread.) My point is: without the bare bones of getting the grammar and spelling write, for a percentage of readers, the rest is moot.

Re: slightly ot but

[(Anonymous)]

Thanks for sharing.

yeah, I also enjoy fic like that (and I'm around people who speak brokenly).
Sure, perfect grammar and spelling shows effort, but especially with non native speakers you get a grammatical coherence with less than perfect SPaG anyway.

you put that better than I did.

(probably stuck a nerve there. and I guess nobody wants to be generalized as y or z)