[ SECRET POST #1538 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #1538 ⌋

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

01.


__________________________________________________



02.


__________________________________________________



03.


__________________________________________________



04.


__________________________________________________



05.


__________________________________________________



06.


__________________________________________________



07.


__________________________________________________



08.


__________________________________________________



09.


__________________________________________________



10.


__________________________________________________



11.


__________________________________________________



12.


__________________________________________________



13.


__________________________________________________



14.


__________________________________________________



15.


__________________________________________________



16.


__________________________________________________



17.


__________________________________________________



18.


__________________________________________________



19.


__________________________________________________



20.


__________________________________________________



21.


__________________________________________________



22.


__________________________________________________



23.


__________________________________________________



24.


__________________________________________________



25.


__________________________________________________



26.


__________________________________________________



27.


__________________________________________________



28.


__________________________________________________



29.


__________________________________________________



30.


__________________________________________________



31.


__________________________________________________



32.


__________________________________________________



33.


__________________________________________________



34.


__________________________________________________



35.


__________________________________________________



36.


__________________________________________________



37.


__________________________________________________



38.


__________________________________________________



39.


__________________________________________________



40.


__________________________________________________



41.


__________________________________________________



42.


__________________________________________________



43.


__________________________________________________



44.


__________________________________________________



45.


__________________________________________________



46.


__________________________________________________



47.



Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 11 pages, 265 secrets from Secret Submission Post #220.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 1 2 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 1 2 3 4 5 - too big ], [ 1 2 3 4 - repeat ], [ 1 - ships it ], [ 1 - unreadable ], [ 1 2 3 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom.livejournal.com]

38. http://i51.tinypic.com/t8uo9l.png

[wldcatsprstr-14.livejournal.com]

I have a problem with it because if a fan is writing fanfiction, I assume that they like the show enough to actually take the time to write a story. Therefore, I expect them to do justice to the characters that they are writing. Just writing an OC and giving them a canon character's name is lazy and some people do that.

As for grammar, I can understand if it's a language barrier thing and overlook it most of the time. But betas exist and some people just don't use them. It's not an "ugh this person can't spell/sucks at grammar thing;" it's just really hard to get through a story when there are just a ton of spelling and grammar mistakes constantly jerking me out of the plot.

[immortality.livejournal.com]

Yeah, expecting proper grammar/spelling/etc -- those are just unrealistically high expectations.

[(Anonymous)]

Personally, I read fanfic for enjoyment.

If the fic has poor spelling, grammar, punctuation, or clumsy sentence structure, then I simply will not enjoy reading it.

I support people posting their fics no matter their skill level, but I also reserve the right to hit the backbutton hard if I'm not enjoying the writing.Different strokes for different folks and all that.

[(Anonymous)]

I accept all of that as a reader. It's just when those same people let their e-fame go to their heads and think they're great authors...

[val-tyr.livejournal.com]

For many people, reading something that is unfamiliar, confusingly written, and unreadable is wholly unpleasant.

Madness, I know. I personally enjoy flinging magnet poetry at the side of my car and reading the results aloud in a lilting falsetto.

[vampirenaomi.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure what annoys me more. People who put absolutely no effort into their stories and still expect to be buried in praise or people who expect everyone to use three different betas and go through a pro-quality editing process before posting a fic.

Whenever I get too irritated I try to remember that the most important part of fanfiction is having fun. If someone has fun writing a blatant OOC romance fest with a Mary Sue and squeeing about it with like-minded people, awesome. It's equally awesome if someone is using fanfiction to polish their skills as a writer so that they can go pro one day. It only starts to bug me when people expect everyone else to have the same standards and get upset if they get feedback they don't want or see someone post a fic they don't like. It's just fanfiction.

[xxsomeoneelsexx.livejournal.com]

Well, inconsistencies with characterization or plot I can often overlook, but bad grammar sets my teeth on edge. I consider spelling and grammar to be very basic skills, so I don't think my standards are at all high when I backspace because the grammar isn't good enough.

I have to say, though, it's good not to take fanfiction too seriously. It is, after all, just fanfiction.

[aethre.livejournal.com]

Ummm... yeah, why would I bother wasting my time to read crap? I mean... honestly? If I don't get enjoyment out of poorly written fanfic, why the hell should I read it?

And, yes, I do mock the ever loving shit out of poorly written fanfic. Publicly.

[xanykaos.livejournal.com]

Here's my two cents, then.

I'll give fanfic a wider margin of error. If something's a little twee or derpy, I'll give it a pass if it's fun. But if it's just too awful, then no. It's not fun. I mean, I won't get my dander up if someone writes and entire fic in passive voice, but if they seem open to critique, I'll mention it to them. But if it's just blatant OOC, then what's the point of it even being fanfic? I won't start flaming the author or mocking them. I just won't read it. Problem solved?

Eh. Whatevs.

[bloodrivendream.livejournal.com]

My expectations are low as well. I expect a lot of fanfic to being hurriedly and/or badly written.
I prefer well done fanfic. I look for well done fanfic.

[easilyentranced.livejournal.com]

I get not having super high expectations, but I'm not going to go around pretending like My Immortal is where we should set the bar for quality.

[netbug009.livejournal.com]

Because it bothers me that 13 year olds still can't capitalize, that's why. And I can't enjoy a story if it's a giant text wall I can barely understand. Frustrated English major is frustrated.

[(Anonymous)]

Hey, anyone can write and post whatever they want. Just don't expect me to read it. And I'm not looking for great writers. I'm looking for people to respect their own writing, the characters and the readers enough to put some thought into their damn story or get a beta, if they aren't capable of doing so themselves.

If I have to slog through spelling and grammar errors, it's too much work. I do that on a daily basis when I have to grade my students' work. Fanfiction is supposed to be fun.

If I have to search through the entire story with a magnifying glass looking for IC behavior, then it's too much work. I read fanfic because - shocking, I know - I like these particular characters. I want to read about them, not some random people who share their names, because I find that fun. Fanfiction is supposed to be fun.

Like this secret says, it's fanfiction! And my stance (in case it isn't obvious) is that fanfiction is supposed to be fun. For me, reading a well-written, IC story is fun. Reading one riddled with "inconsistencies, poor grammar and bad characterization" is not fun, so I'm not going to do it. Those writers can still post it. Anyone willing to read that story is welcome to it. But I'm not going to bother. If that's having high standards, so be it.

[interrobangings.livejournal.com]

you should at least fucking bother to use proper grammar punctuation spelling etc

like i can't be fucked to do it right now but that's because i'm not writing a story

if you can't write a character well, that's not too bad, sometimes it can be hard

but at least try to make it readable

[(Anonymous)]

Good grammar and consistency aren't high expectations. They're the motherfucking baseline.

[later-tuesday.livejournal.com]

Not everyone are great writers

*twitch*

[cloud-riven.livejournal.com]

I can take silly premises and roll with them. Anything goes as it's technically all fun and games, even with pieces that give one pause to appreciate how wonderful they are.

But I'm sorry. If I have trouble reading it, or I'm stumbling through dialogue trying to figure out who is speaking to who, or wait what this idea isn't translating into words very well but I'm sure it seemed cool in your head, or unironically awful, I'm sorry. I just can't read that fanfic I'm sorry. I'm sorry my standards stop me from being a masochist sometimes :(

[becksreid72.livejournal.com]

''Not everyone are great writers''

*blinks*

That is...very true. Thanks for proving that.

[siriuslynow.livejournal.com]

I don't understand how people get so extremely angry at bad fanfic (unless it's offensive), but at the same time, I don't want to waste my time on crap.

[diorama23.livejournal.com]

My beta would kill me if I expressed the same sentiment.

(but sometimes I feel the same way).

[siriuslynow.livejournal.com]

and really, people who nitpick grammar in everything (and i know there will be like twenty comments highlighting the mistakes in your secret) are hella more annoying to me than some 12 year old kid writing some self-insert fanfic.

[fenm.livejournal.com]

Spelling and grammar is one thing; I can forgive that as long as it's not too bad (also, I realize not everyone has English as their primary language). But the chracterization's a little more important... If I'm reading a Sherlock fanfic, and Sherlock is being nice to everyone and sweet and happy happy happy for no good reason, that's not Sherlock, the guy I'm wanting to read about.

Another reason I have high standards is that I write fanfiction myself, and unless it's a quick little jokey/cracky thing (and sometimes even then), I put a LOT of work into it. I'm one of those people who researches stuff I'm not familiar with to make sure I get it right. As an example: I had British characters going to Christmas dinner, so I looked up places in London that were open for Christmas. I use spell check, and I go over my stories twice, plus use a beta--sometimes two--to check on my spelling, grammar, characterization, and anything else they might catch ("Wait, didn't have John set his tea down in the kitchen? So why is he drinking it in the sitting room in the next scene?"). So, yes I have high standards, but I don't ask anything from my fellow fans that I don't do myself.

[tasmat.livejournal.com]

as a beta for a (extremely long, wordy, and not stupendously written fic) I agree to a certain extent, but if the grammar is bad enough I just can't stand to read the story long enough to read it before my editor-raeg clamps down with vicious ferocity. The worst part is that these people with poor grammar and not the prettiest vocabulary skills tend to be really NICE people, and I feel bad hashing their skill or lack thereof because of it. There's just no way to say "sorry you wrote this 500 page fic, but it kinda sucks" without sounding like a high and mighty asshole.

I dunno, sometimes I find poorly written stuff comforting because I at least know I'm doing SOMETHING right with my own work -- and sometimes poorly written fic is a great teaching opportunity for those of us that have more experience, or more schooling (because sometimes the poor grammar and whatnot is the result of a 'lost in translation' kind of thing, or a simple lack of school, [i.e. younger writers]). I love finding an almost-awesome fic and giving the author a few lessons in grammar and style, and then seeing the improvement with the next fic or chapter.

TL;DR: poorly written fic can be a good and a bad thing all at once