[ SECRET POST #2379 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2379 ⌋

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

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 02 pages, 046 secrets from Secret Submission Post #340.
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.

Comments

[fscom]

06. http://i.imgur.com/yPdAXVT.jpg

[thene]

Not everyone gets recs, it's no big deal. Recs in high-traffic fandoms inherently tend to be a bit circlejerky, because if your work hasn't been recced before the reccing circles haven't seen it recced so they never find it and rec it. (If you're in a fandom small enough that it's really easy for the reccers to read every single work, disregard).

[galerian-ash.livejournal.com]

I think it's rather foolish to blame that on your beta. Hell, you should be grateful that you have such a supportive person willing to help you out!

There are many reasons why you might not have been recced. Really, from my experience, only huge fandoms (most often American TV-series) have a big reccing base. So if you're writing for a small or obscure fandom, you gotta take that into account. There's also the fact that even in those fandoms, BNFs are more likely to get recced. It's a matter of visibility -- people might not find your fics if you just post it on your LJ, or if there's new fics posted every day.

[queerwolf]

There could be all kinds of reasons you haven't been recced anywhere. Why blame your beta?

[(Anonymous)]

??? ok...? When did reccing become the be all end all goal? I figure that as long as you're happy with the response your fic is getting then everything's good. You may not be a BNF but not all good fic comes from BNFs.


Actually reccing lists are completely based on the reccers tastes and are hit or miss. A lot of the popular fics tend to be kinda crap actually.

[kallanda_lee]

Not necessarily. Your lack of recs might not be about your writing at all.

Fandom is weird like that.

You might ship an unpopular pairing. Or not ship a pairing at all. People might want more sex in fic...or less. More kink, or less kink. Depending on the fandom, and even which part of fandom, this might be the reasons for (un)popularity. I've seen some really badly written fics be very popular because they were basically fan service.

Basically: your writing, character-building and storytelling MIGHT be great, you might just not be writing what people want. In that case you need to figure out your priorities. Write what you want, or write what you think others will like.

Getting several opinions is not a bad idea, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Don't ditch your beta over lack of recs. Getting recs is not necessarily about having quality writing or fic. It's about having the fics that have the things people want to read.

[(Anonymous)]

Recs aren't what they used to be, and even when reccing was a lot bigger there were plenty of good fics that never got a rec. It's actually pretty hard to get a rec no matter what quality your stories are.

[silverr]

Keep an eye on your hits. If a story -- especially an older one -- gets a sudden flood of hits, you might just have a reccer somewhere.

Granted, a spike could just be a random neutrino event, but you'll be happier if you can accept that just because you haven't seen a rec doesn't mean it's not happening somewhere.

[(Anonymous)]

you don't need a new beta, you need a goddamn attitude adjustment.

Most people, even if they write beautiful fic will never ever get recced. Why? Loads of reasons. Some fandoms don't have a more structured reccing community, a lot of reccing is more due to marketing yourself right than due to someone just randomly putting up a rec for your story, hell maybe your fic is nice but it just misses that wow factor that makes people go the distance to rec you. You know, all reasons that have nothing to do with your beta.

[elaminator]

Uh, I don't think you should blame your beta. You might be a fantastic writer but not many people find your fic, or the fandom might not be big on reccing, or your fic was good but people prefer something different, they forgot, or in actuality your fic needs work and your beta won't say so. ...Or your beta might think your stuff is amazing and other people disagree. It isn't automatically their fault.

There are a million reasons why your stuff might not have been recced and idk about anyone else, but four months doesn't even seem that long to me. Give it some time, maybe it'll happen. Even if it doesn't that doesn't necessarily say anything about the quality of your writing.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't really see how it's your beta's fault? A beta can only do so much, really- the fic's core is down to you. Unless the beta has changed a lot of stuff- but, again, that comes back to you, 'cos you don't have to listen to your beta.

That said, the amount of recs (or kudos or reviews or whatever your personal goal is) a fic gets is not necessarily correlated with the quality of it. I've seen fics I thought were awful being touted at the be-all and end-all of their fandoms, and I've read some truly great fics that are bafflingly overlooked by its fandom (though I see awful fics being touted as awesome waaay more than I see good fics overlooked tbh) It really depends on what you're writing, what pairing, what genre and sometimes a story's popularity is just pure luck, being friends with the right people at the right time or your fic having a popular trope.

It sucks to lack reviews/recs/whatever else, yes (I've been in this situation many times due to my attachment to small fandoms), but it isn't necessarily anything to do with you (and is very unlikely to be anything to do with your beta). It *could* be that your fic isn't very good, of course, but lack of popularity isn't an indicator of it.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, unless you're like, obsessively googling your username, you can't really be sure you're not. I've been recced a few times before, all of which I came across randomly well after they were posted. So you never know, maybe you have been recced in some corner of the internet.

Also, four months is really not that long. I've been recced what? Three times in six years? Unless you're a BNF, you're probably not going to be all over a bunch of rec lists unless you manage to write exactly what fandom wants at the moment.

[(Anonymous)]

that is silly; I keep finding genuine gems that not only aren't recommended, they appear to be put down by people saying they are shitty and refusing to recommend them, which is so wtf I can't even

[transcriptanon]

[Picture is black text on a blank bright yellow background.]

My beta always tells me that my fics are awesome. She compliments my prose; my writing style. But I've been in fandom for four months now, and my words have never been recommended. Never. Not even once.

...I think I need to get a new beta.

[(Anonymous)]

I'm sorry, you've been in fandom for FOUR MONTHS and you think your writing is good enough to deserve recs? Unless you're quite the writer of original fic, I call bullshit. Nobody starts out writing wondrous prose.

You found a beta who is encouraging. That's great. Keep them. Get another one who will tell you the truth as well. You get recs by being a good writer, not by having a good beta.

[(Anonymous)]

Recs, reviews, kudos and favoriting all have very little to do with the quality of your fic and a lot more to do with things like visibility, the size of your fandom, whether you're writing a pairing that people like, and how well you market yourself. If your beta says what you write is good--even more, if *you* are satisfied with what you write--then let that be enough.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think recs = quality. They are just someone's list of likes.

[(Anonymous)]

As far as I know, in the past ten years, I've only received five story recs, and those were for people whom I'd written stories for as gifts.

So.

[dinogrrl]

I've been in fandom in general for about 11 years now. I've written fanfic that whole time, and I have never once, to my knowledge, had one of my fics recced, even though they seem to be generally well-liked by those who read them (or at least, by those who comment on them). Guess I fail at fandom.

Personally, I'd take solid, constructive, supportive comments over just about anything else any day.

[deadtree]

are you thinking that your beta is lying to you? That's how I read the secret-- the beta is telling the OP that his/her writing is amazing, but no one else seems to like it = beta isn't being honest.

I mean either way it's not your beta's fault if your work isn't appealing to a mass audience, because it's not the beta's job to write the story. Maybe, instead of having a really good beta who is willing to point out all of your errors, you have a really good friend who wants you to feel confident about your work.

[vongroovy]

Nobody, no matter how excellent their writing, is entitled to be recced. If I were you, I'd change my attitude before I changed my beta. If you're not getting recs, don't worry about it. It's not your beta's fault. It's not your fault. It's just how reccing works. Most of the things I'm most proud of writing have never been recced (as far as I know, at least). Most of my stuff that has been recced was because it was written for something really visible (say, Yuletide) in a fairly popular fandom for a fairly popular pairing. I think it's the visibility that's key. Participating in a challenge or an exchange is going to make your fic more visible than just putting it out there. Especially in larger fandoms, it's easy for something to get lost amidst all the other fic and go unnoticed by people who rec. Smaller fandoms tend to have less rec lists (if it's so small there's just not that much fic out there, a rec list is not super useful). And how many people even rec things anyway? I'd imagine a much smaller percentage than the people who give kudos or comments or just lurk. So, yeah, like everyone is saying, there are a lot of reasons your work hasn't been recced. And on top of all of those is the fact that you've only been in fandom four months. You've just got started!

Anyway, don't blame your beta for something that is most likely not their fault. If you're really concerned about the job they're doing, maybe get an additional beta so you can have multiple perspectives on your work.

[(Anonymous)]

Reccing is not that big a deal.

Most recs are 1. in massive fandoms, 2. by BNFs and a bit circle-jerky, and 3. fairly bland stuff with the widest appeal possible, and/or whatever trope or kink is the flavor of the month.

There's a good chance it's not about your writing at all, and don't shove blame on to your beta or let it discourage you from writing. Most people never get recced regardless of skill, and all the fics I've loved weren't found through recs.

[(Anonymous)]

Let me guess, you are haunting your fandom's fan fic recs page over on tv tropes and getting all butthurt because no one is putting your double plus good fic on it? Well tough, for a start that is a badge of shame if every there was one given how anal tvtropes contribs are and for another most fics don't get recced there or anywhere else. Nothing to do with your beta, unless you were expecting them to do it. And that would be a shitty thing for you to think they ought to do.

Even when a fic does get recced, chances are it is waaaaaaay down the road. Years even. Long after you've graduated high school, left college, got a real job, and stopped writing altogether. Write for the people that wander by and browse, don't expect a ticker tape parade.

[(Anonymous)]

It's a poor craftsman who blames hir tools.