fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #1773 ]

[ SECRET POST #1773 ]

⌈ Secret Post #1773 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 055 secrets from Secret Submission Post #253.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 1 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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45. http://i43.tinypic.com/35jz7eg.png

I don't usually read multi-chapter fanfic because I have a lousy attention span.

I don't find it any less IC than shorter fic when I do read it, and some of it is wonderful... though if it turns out to be bad halfway through I have wasted that much more time.

Edited 2011-11-11 01:33 (UTC)

I love multi-chapter fic, but I agree with you on the turning out to be bad part. Some start out so promising, but then nosedive into bad!fic territory and then it's mourning time.

(It's even worse when the summary sounds incredibly interesting and well-written and then you click to read, but the fic in question turns out to be so terribly written that you can't help but wonder if they didn't have someone write the summary for them -or if they're simply good at coming up with premises but suck at writing the actual story. XP )

Ditto on both the turning bad and the summary things! It's like ok author, you clearly know how to string together TWO evocative sentences, could you please do the same for the rest of your story? Me, I wonder if some summaries aren't actually translated lyrics that I'm not recognizing...

I'm also irrationally picky when it comes to barely relevant interpretations of canon (à la YOUR YUNA IS PERFECT BUT I DON'T LIKE HOW YOU DESCRIBE SUMMONING. GO AWAY.), so yeah, I hesitate to get involved in longfics, but I've read quite a few amazing ones.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2011-11-11 02:12 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

crimsontriforce.livejournal.com - 2011-11-11 02:57 (UTC) - Expand

Man, this just happened to me too: I got around to reading a fic that had a really promising premise, and the first chapter was really good, then the second chapter just...plummeted. I don't know that it's necessarily worse quality-wise objectively or anything, but it went from being a pretty IC exploration of a dark concept to a really boring kinda-OoC cliche slice-of-life thing. I was so disappointed.

The authors in your fandom most suck a lot at characterization, then.

I do agree on the one-shot vs. multi-chapter part, though: it is indeed easier to watch after the characterization if the story is not very long.

... That's a very random thing to dislike.

I like multi-chapter fic. I just hate when I make it all the way to the end and it sucks. It's a reason why I stopped reading slash. The second someone decides to cut through the UST and say, "I love you" the fic usually turns to a mushy pile of crap.

Exactly this. Often enough the characters deserve their schmoopy times after all the angst they've been put through, and I think the author usually wants to give it to them! But it's not always handled so well and if the mood flips too fast it can practically ruin the whole thing.

LOL so much this. Happens so often uuugh. I can only buy it if the buildup is good and the execution is even better. =/ I love the authors I love because they do both well.

What fandom has mostly multichapter fics in it? My experience with fandom is that it's 90 percent one shots.

That said, I love a multichapter fic with a character arc in it. I get too bored with seeing the same portrayals over and over again. The only way to keep myself from getting sated with a fandom is to go farther and farther down the AU/crossover/plotfic/rarepair road.

Maybe Harry Potter. There are tons of on-going multi-chaptered stories there, but genuinely in-character, well-written stories are the minority.

Ah, is that the case? Maybe Harry Potter fandom is starting to die down a bit. It's been going for a long time, and people may have simply run out of ideas for short, between the scenes fics that haven't already been done to death by previous writers. WIPs take longer to wind down and can add material to keep it fresh.

i generally find in hp fandom that if the story's got or is intended to get less than 10 chapters, the chances of it being well-written skyrocket. if it's got more than 25 and is still ongoing, the first 5 chapters are going to suck.

(no subject)

(Anonymous) - 2011-11-11 02:40 (UTC) - Expand

I think that longfics are harder to write (resulting in a lower average quality?) and that many authors may not realize the depth of the plot they're setting up: the most recurring mistake I've seen is that the plot seems to unfold like a summary of itself. And true, if you don't like to stray much from canon, missing moments tend to be more oneshot-sized than epic-70-chapter-sized. But I am sure that a good author who intends to stay within canon's boundaries can plot plenty of longfic in virtually any fandom. I've seen them, honest!^^

Eep! My really long fic is being posted over at Dudley_Redeemed right now, and I am nervous that a lot of people will be thinking that and not even give it a chance. Crossed fingers.

multi-chapter fic is one of those things i'd love to be able to get into, but above 10 or so chapters and it just seems like a meandering trainwreck to me. i've read some off recommendations and found the opening writing to be so bad that i couldn't make it through to where it supposedly got better, and other times i picked them up out of curiosity and usually found that i disagreed with their fanon and wasn't willing to put up with too much more of it.

so basically i'd be crying if i were you, op

That's not been my experience... for me the correlation is between the length of the individual chapters and how meandery it gets. Generally if the chapters are more than 2000 words each, they tend to have a pretty meaty plot going. When they dip to below 2000 words each, it seems like the writer has run out of direction and is flailing about.

I think you're not reading the right fanfics. As an ideal, long!fic should start with the canon characterisation and then get them character development and a good juicy plot. And maybe hook people up, if you care about that. Long fic is harder to make but in the end good long fic is alot more emotional satisfying.
So, I will just ppresume you just haven't found good long!fic and/or just don't like too long stories.

The only problems I have with multi-chapter fic is that 1) like most official series, the end is never as good as the meat of it, 2) there's almost always long dragged-out plot scenes that usually include OCs that I don't care about and it's a pain to read though, 3) there's a huge chance that the author could stop updating halfway through, which is the most frustrating thing.

But other than that, there are plenty of good ones out there. Before reading one, I usually check any oneshots the author may have written to see if they're any good. That way there's less of a chance that I'll be wasting my time.

Sometimes, I'd like to take a magic carpet ride to this land you see filled with nothing but longfic. One shots bore me since they're so often only a single scene that leaves me wanting more, or a rehash of something that happened in the source material anyway.

Multi-chapter fics have a lot of writing problems, though, and often go unfinished when the authors lose interest, but I still love them way more than one shots.

I love long, multi-chaptered fics although sometimes they can go out of whack, so I just stop reading them. I wish fandom had more of them. I mainly see one-shots, which are fine but, especially if short, tend to leave me hungry for more, esp. if there is an abrupt end to the fic. It's why I love big bangs so much, even if I'm not familiar with the fandom.

I'm jealous of your fandom, OP. My main fandom (which is RPS, lololol), is mostly one-shots or PWPs, and the epic fics that do exist are mostly AUs, which are invariably shitty. D:

Hmm, very interesting, OP. Most longfic I've read tends to have a higher ratio of good fic to bad fic than the one shots.

But then again, the fanfics I read are usually for characters that aren't very 'deep' in canon, so fanon comes to the rescue! And I love seeing how different people interpret the characters through their long, plotty, character-developing, relationship-building fic.

Man, I wish I could find some GOOD multi-chaptered fics in some of the fandoms I'm in. :/

There was one REALLY REALLY good one in the Nu!Trek fandom (kirk/bones), but everything else was so short in comparison. And there's been one so far that I like in the MLP fandom. HP has many of them, but you have to wade through shit to find the few gems. D:

And I JUST got into Ghostbusters (movie canon) and there is a serious lack of good long fic in that fandom, much less good long fic that involves slash between Peter and Ray.

.....sorry OP. I love multi-chapter fic. ^^;; it's usually what keeps me in a fandom for a good long while and keeps me interested in drawing for them.

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