I see where you're going with this, but I think it's self-defeating.
Yeah, I do know what you mean. I admit it's a very short-sighted way of looking at things.
I'd like to see fanfic get a little respect as a legitimate form of writing, and that's not going to happen if the community allows for this sort of whiny, drama queen behavior. That's also what gives "amateur" a bad name. Amateurs should be as interested in their craft as professionals are; they just never expect to be paid for it.
This is so true. It really strikes me as ridiculous that on the one hand I've got no problem saying that I've read fanfic writers that are on a professional level (better than some professionals!) but otoh I know that it would count against the person if they tried to use it to get most professional writing jobs.
If a person doesn't love doing a thing enough to take it seriously and be as good at it as you possibly can be, then wouldn't it make more sense to find a hobby that inspired more passion? A hobby whose mechanics bore you isn't a very good choice of hobby.
That's an excellent question that I don't really get either. The thing is that the more you learn about something and the better you get at it, the easier it is. You'd think someone who enjoyed writing stories would want to be better at it. Even little things written for fun or for challenges are going to be better when your skill level is higher. So it does seem odd to spend a lot of time on a hobby when you're resistant to learning about it. It was mentioned above how badfic threads can get so boring because badfic is usually just uninteresting, so you'd think it would eventually bore the authors too who really invest a lot of time in it. Learning better writing skills just makes you more able to communicate what you want to say.
Fan writing is definitely a social milieu; I agree on that. But I'm not sure where there's a dichotomy there. I take my writing very seriously, but it's definitely a social activity to share and post it, and to talk about it.
I love it best when they're whole philosophical discussions about whether a character is right or wrong to do something, etc. That's pretty much the way I talk about things with my friends... isn't that social?
Yes! Which is probably why it always just strikes me as so strange when comments that to me sound like people really engaging with the story or at least taking it seriously enough to talk about it, are considered to be rude. If fic is supposed to be a communication when you do it socially, how far can you honestly tell people what they're allowed to say? It seems like if you're trying to interact with other fans you *have* to let them speak freely and disagree and criticize just the way you have to let them do that in a discussion thread. They can do a lot of that before getting into flaming territory, even if they're snarky.
no subject
Yeah, I do know what you mean. I admit it's a very short-sighted way of looking at things.
I'd like to see fanfic get a little respect as a legitimate form of writing, and that's not going to happen if the community allows for this sort of whiny, drama queen behavior. That's also what gives "amateur" a bad name. Amateurs should be as interested in their craft as professionals are; they just never expect to be paid for it.
This is so true. It really strikes me as ridiculous that on the one hand I've got no problem saying that I've read fanfic writers that are on a professional level (better than some professionals!) but otoh I know that it would count against the person if they tried to use it to get most professional writing jobs.
If a person doesn't love doing a thing enough to take it seriously and be as good at it as you possibly can be, then wouldn't it make more sense to find a hobby that inspired more passion? A hobby whose mechanics bore you isn't a very good choice of hobby.
That's an excellent question that I don't really get either. The thing is that the more you learn about something and the better you get at it, the easier it is. You'd think someone who enjoyed writing stories would want to be better at it. Even little things written for fun or for challenges are going to be better when your skill level is higher. So it does seem odd to spend a lot of time on a hobby when you're resistant to learning about it. It was mentioned above how badfic threads can get so boring because badfic is usually just uninteresting, so you'd think it would eventually bore the authors too who really invest a lot of time in it. Learning better writing skills just makes you more able to communicate what you want to say.
Fan writing is definitely a social milieu; I agree on that. But I'm not sure where there's a dichotomy there. I take my writing very seriously, but it's definitely a social activity to share and post it, and to talk about it.
I love it best when they're whole philosophical discussions about whether a character is right or wrong to do something, etc. That's pretty much the way I talk about things with my friends... isn't that social?
Yes! Which is probably why it always just strikes me as so strange when comments that to me sound like people really engaging with the story or at least taking it seriously enough to talk about it, are considered to be rude. If fic is supposed to be a communication when you do it socially, how far can you honestly tell people what they're allowed to say? It seems like if you're trying to interact with other fans you *have* to let them speak freely and disagree and criticize just the way you have to let them do that in a discussion thread. They can do a lot of that before getting into flaming territory, even if they're snarky.