fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2223 ]

[ SECRET POST #2223 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2223 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 06 pages, 127 secrets from Secret Submission Post #318.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 1 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

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02. http://i49.tinypic.com/654oww.jpg

Actually, I would say you stopped following him because you were annoyed by the questions he chose to answer. He gets thousands of questions, some of them are going to be stupid. He probably chooses to publicly answer >0.1% of them.

Being insecure about your writing isn't really stupid. I do think it's silly to expect him to read your poetry and the question about money is just plain rude but they just sound inexperienced and not very confident to me. And it seems like he thinks so too. He's choosing to answer them because he thinks they're worthwhile questions and that people can benefit from his answers.

Being insecure about one's writing isn't stupid, but pestering total strangers for affirmation and warm fuzzies is. I write, and I get discouraged sometimes myself. But the answer is obvious-- either I quit or I get over it and keep writing, because realistically there'll ALWAYS be someone better than you at something. That's not an answer I need to bug a celebrity for.

Well, that's you. Gaiman likes giving that sort of advice and is open to those kinds of questions. I think it's sweet.

He's not some celebrity, he's a famous published author. If you're bugging John Stamos about stuff like this, that's stupid. But here's a guy who's actively choosing to engage his fanbase and his a famous and respected author. They wanted to know how their poetry was from someone who's advice would be really, really worthwhile.

And you know what, if he's answering the questions and isn't telling people to fuck off with them, then maybe you shouldn't be. What a weird sort of protectiveness you have for him that you feel like you need to rescue him from questions he's answering.

You do realize your first sentence is basically, "He's not a famous person, he's a famous person who writes books", right? Gaiman's a celebrity and he's a famous writer. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.

I wasn't planning on trying to stop people from writing him and I never said they should fuck off. I don't think Gaiman needs rescuing, either. His answer to the question in the secret was short and sweet and very sensible. You're weirdly defensive about this. Sure I think it's dumb to solicit e-hugs from a stranger, but why do you take such offense at my opinion?

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(Anonymous) - 2013-02-02 23:42 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2013-02-03 05:49 (UTC) - Expand

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kryptoncat - 2013-02-03 06:15 (UTC) - Expand

Gaiman's not famous for his poetry, though? He's more known for Sandman and the novels. At any rate, come on. Asking someone to read and give feedback on your poetry is a big favor, and that's why you don't hit up random strangers directly.* It's not polite because it puts people on the spot.

* Posting it online and asking for general feedback is different.

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(Anonymous) - 2013-02-03 09:37 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2013-02-03 11:02 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2013-02-03 18:54 (UTC) - Expand

I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to talk to someone who has achieved a lot of success in a field that you yourself want to excel in (as long as you don't expect them to become your best friend or mentor or something). When I was a teen, I contacted a writer with my local newspaper partly to ask if he had any advice about getting into his particular branch of journalism.

The particular question we're talking about isn't that articulate or practical, but I understand the principle behind it. It's not like the person asking it contacted some random celebrity--they contacted someone who is presumably living the same dream the questioner has.

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gethenian - 2013-02-03 01:42 (UTC) - Expand

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(Anonymous) - 2013-02-03 04:34 (UTC) - Expand

You are not everyone. You can logic yourself out of your insecurities; not everyone can (and, actually, I'd argue that most people can't).

You're implying that people who have actual difficulties with their insecurities are stupid. That's actually pretty insensitive and fucked up, particularly given the fact that some of those people have illnesses which prevent them from seeing things the way that you do.

People publicly answering every inane question they get on their tumblrs is the number one reason I either unfollow them or never follow them in the first place.

Those are pretty mild compared to the collective stupid that some poor writers and actors are exposed to. If they choose to interact with the fans in any way, there's eventually going to be some heavy secondhand embarrassment.

Obviously you don't have to follow anyone you don't enjoy reading, but aside from the money request, those questions don't seem so bad. That last one is totally typical of the sort of questions successful authors get, I'm pretty sure. The third one is inane but harmless. The asker might be into astrology and making star charts for their favorite celebrities for fun or something.

Tumblr savior. The first thing I do when I follow a new person is to block "ask X a question", unless maybe they happen to answer with a lot of interesting meta. But most of the time, it's not worth it. It's either people talking with their friends, the same questions repeated ad nauseum (I follow someone who does a live blog of a series. People keep asking "when are you going to watch episode number x" and "are you going to watch number y today" and spoil them for future episodes. THEY'RE DOING A CHRONOLOGICAL LIVE BLOG, YOU IDIOTS, THEY'LL GET TO THE EPISODE WHEN THEY GET TO IT.) or worst of all, one of those "ask me questions" things.

(not OP)
Oh, I use Tumblr saviour but never occurred to me blocking that. Thanks for the idea!

I don't think the last one is so stupid, it's a standard question a lot of creative types have, and different professionals have different advice to give in response. The other ones are pretty dumb, though.

I'll disagree with the previous comments and say yeah, they're kind of dumb. Not unexpected, because Gaiman's famous and famous writers are going to get a lot of questions from clueless people, but I wouldn't want it on my dashboard, either. Second the suggestion to use tumblr savior and put "ask neil gaiman a question" on it. It cuts way down on dashboard junk.

I think it's hilarious that people treat his tumblr like it's an advice column. Honestly, it's probably because they just want to write Neil Gaiman and indulge in some fan squee because OMG HE REPLIED! That's why you get questions like, Dear Neil, I can't find my own ass with two hands, a map and a flashlight, what do I do?

I can see why'd that be frustrating if you follow him, but it's kind of sweet, too. They just want attention, that's all.

I stopped following him for other reasons. The asks didn't bother me because, well, they're just dumb kids still working shit out

Yeah, I don't get why he keeps answering the "how can I be an awesome writer like you" questions. It's not a totally horrible question if asked by someone who is, say, 15 years old, and he's given some reasonable advice on the topic, but he's answered it 87 times on Tumblr alone. (/hyperbole). People can fucking google "neil gaiman writing advice" and figure out what he's going to say.

Maybe he wants to keep the Tumblr 'open' for casual fans so he doesn't answer trivia-type questions that would make no sense to those people, and once he's weeded out those and the weird creepy ones from people who obviously want to bang him, Amanda, or the pair of them, a lot of what's left is inane? Though that makes me sad about his fans.

I've definitely seen worse writers do much better "ask" features. But I follow him on there anyhow, because when he is interesting he is very interesting.

I don't really think those questions are stupid though? Repetitive and inane maybe, but not dumb.

tbh I have to admire people like him who engage with their fanbase like that. It must take a lot of work, as if the poor guy isn't already busy, but he does it. I think it's really sweet of him.

But yeah, I have to agree that some of the confusions have me blushing in second-hand embarrassment.

Well, the question in your example doesn't seem to be terribly stupid, just maybe a bit young and naive, and darnit, Gaiman's great for saying just the right thing to encourage budding little creatives to go right on being creative. It's part of his adorableness.

On the other hand, I know that feel, bro. It's why I poked my head into the Lackadaisy forum once and never again. And it's why I skim through most of Gail Simone's ask/answers--the number of people who ask her stuff that has NOTHING to do with anything she's created or read, who just want her to be angry about what they're angry about, or to personally okay some kind of unrelated fandom thing (or worse yet, to weigh in personally on something about race or LGBTQ culture)...it's pretty awkward.

Not as awkward as Lackadaisy fans who are obsessed with the idea of the characters cleaning themselves like cats, though.

Pfffftt, this is nothing. I remember he once got an e-mail from an idiot who wanted to write and publish the sequel to Stardust. Then she generously offered to split the royalties with him 60/40! The level of stupid was OFF THE CHARTS.

A lot of people seem distracted by the tone of the OP's secret but to be honest if those questions are representative of what Gaiman's asked on a regular basis I'd unfollow him or block that shit on tumblr savior too. If this makes me a meanie butt oh well. /shrugs

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