[ SECRET POST #6285 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #6285 ⌋

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


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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 15 secrets from Secret Submission Post #898.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

This is the issue with most fanfic>published books authors tbh, fic doesn't require you to do the heavy-work of building the setting as it's already there for you to dive in, this often means that those authors do the same with their original stories and it... doesn't work. The gaps are glaring in multiple places, the relationships, the world-building, hell even explaining what is going on in general sometimes because it's how they're used to writing so they don't change for their personal stuff and it shows.

Some fic>published authors can not fall into that trap, either by practice that we don't see or they understand how to shift their narrative structure to suit a from-scratch setting. But most don't imo and it makes reading their work difficult to engage with because it's all so paper thin.

I'm not down on fic>published authors, I'm happy if they actually get a shot, I just wish more of them were better when it comes to stories I'd need to pay actual money to read. xD

[(Anonymous)]

I wonder if the culture against criticism in fandom exacerbates this. A lot of those aspects of original fiction are honed through critique, almost by necessity: since we're in the position of already knowing everything about our characters and our worlds, it can be easy to underestimate just how much we need to share with the audience, making an outside perspective hugely important. I can see someone who's used to only accepting positive feedback having trouble with that.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT.

I do think that's a big part of it. Obvs I'm not saying that we should all be giving book-level crit to every fanfic writer, most of fandom writes for fun so let it be amateur in the way it thrives. But for those who really do want to try being published I think they should take come creative writing classes if they can(for the feedback parts of it), or find someone to give them proper concrit and feedback so their craft can be honed so that their books are enjoyable.

Because I'm sure many of their stories can be so much better if they weren't writing original stories like fanfic.

[(Anonymous)]

I get that for sure. Like... I'm definitely not against most fic>published authors making that money! Even the ones where I would never read the book in a million years, if they can make some cash off their work, good for them.

As someone who started in writing original fiction and doing workshops, critique groups etc before really getting into fanfiction, I've definitely thought about going BACK and doing some indie publishing-- back in the day, indie publishing was so much less of an option, and I've just drifted away from that. But having that foundation does tend to make me think I could do better than some of the fic>published folks on giving the audience all the information they need.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT.

Oh yeah I totally cheer on fic>published authors, it's by no means a bad route but because most of them can already write to a decent level I think they forget that for original work it needs a little more than that. I don't think it's even unattainable for them either, just some practice and a different way of thinking about how to structure their stories.

Hey if you feel like going for it anon then do it! I will only ever offer encouragement to creative pursuits and the hope that it goes well if you try. :)

[feotakahari]

I want to quibble with the wording slightly. I think what fanfiction authors fail to learn is which worldbuilding is load-bearing. You can have all kinds of gaps in your worldbuilding if you still set up everything that’s directly relevant to the plot. (The Last Unicorn, for instance, is definitely not a whole and cohesive world, because it doesn’t need to be.)

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, this. You don't need to explain how the local governing system works if it never comes up in the story, but if you're writing about a society of wizards, you'd damn well better make sure that you've got the magic system fully worked out and that you follow the rules that you've set when writing about it.

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT.

Oh for sure I don't think every little thing needs to be exactly detailed out, like the anon above me said: if it's not going to turn up then the reader doesn't need a detailed description of the worlds legal system, for example, for a whole chapter if it's never going to be pertinent. But at the same time I do think the author needs to have a baseline idea of how it works, even if it's just a short note, because little things can affect other things even if it looks like from the surface it won't.

So yeah not a full list of how everything works, but an idea for sure, and the main point of interest for the setting is what needs to be focused on and figured out above the other smaller points.

[(Anonymous)]

I agree 100%, but have always gotten a lot of vitriol over this opinion. People inevitably want to wave around a fanfic they read that had AMAZING world building and characterization, etc. etc. And sure, they exist. But they're not the norm. Fanfiction doesn't really require skilled world building and characterization because that's mostly established for the author, so transitioning to original fiction where you have to do all that yourself or your novel feels kind of flimsy can be tough.

I've never thought that opinion controversial, but...

[(Anonymous)]

AYRT.

I certainly wouldn't find it a controversial opinion, our love of a story is going to be coloured by our attachment to the characters/setting, and when it comes to fanfic that heavy-lifting of love is done for us. People come into our works already loving the characters so it's not hard to get readers engaged and loving our stories because that baseline is already there.

It's much, much harder to do that for original stuff, not impossible, just harder. And if someone is used to that heavy-lifting being done it can come with the unfortunate detriment that they don't actually know how to make characters and relationships enjoyable or likeable on their own. Which is my main issue with a lot of fic>published authors, they're too used to relying on this heavy-lifting, so that when I find out 'oh they used to write X character/ship-fic' I suddenly understand why the stories feel so paper-thin and underdeveloped.

Which is a shame because I do think fic writers can have a really good base for original story writing, they just need to shuck some bad habits for their own stuff so they can make them as good as I feel they can be.