Today's rambling: Fan Fiction Rant
Written on March 12, 2002 at 4:52 p.m.
while feeling a bit

I'm getting really fed up with FanFiction.Net. Not the people who run the site, but the folks who think they can write a bunch of crap, forget about editing it, and just slap it up on the site for everyone to see. No wonder precious few people think of fan fiction as a respectable form of writing.

Just because you're writing something called "fan fiction" doesn't mean it's allowed to suck. Sure, you're using characters and a world that's already been created for you, so perhaps you don't have to use much imagination as far as that goes. But the purpose of writing fan fiction is to use these characters and this world in a way that hasn't yet been done! Be creative, think of new stories for these characters! They don't even have to stay in the world that the original creator put them in!

For example, the section of FF.N that I visit all the time is the Labyrinth section. While Sarah is from our world, Jareth (the Goblin King) is from a realm called the Underground. Many authors have decided that they want to expand the realm, and so they've created other lands for the characters to explore. So essentially, it's not the world that's the problem, it's the writing quality (though I've seen a few "authors" who can't even create a believable world, ha ha).

I just read two chapters of a fanfic tonight that made me want to gnash my teeth in irritation. The author wannabe was in such a hurry to get to the "good stuff" that she rushed everything. At one point Sarah was thinking about how her one-month relationship with a guy named John was starting to become a little different than before. No background, it just led right into that. So then they go out that night to a restaurant. All the author says was that Sarah had a good time because she loved this particular restaurant, and then the two of them (Sarah and John) are going back to Sarah's dorm room. No real indications of any mounting problems.

So it comes as quite a shock when, out of seemingly nowhere, John smacks her. End of Chapter 1.

In Chapter 2, we finally find out that John's upset because Sarah's a "slut", and that she's been "whoring herself right in front of [his] face". Apparently, she flirted with the waiter and whatnot.

WHERE WAS ANY OF THIS IN THE STORY???!!!

Maybe this girl wanted everything to come as a total surprise. And yes, it definitely WAS a surprise. Not of the right sort, however.

Is it too much to ask of a person that they edit their work, or at least get a friend to edit it? I know I wouldn't want to post such stupidity!

*steams*

Okay, maybe that was uncharitable. But still, it really aggravates me when people put so little effort into things. I've been known to write my own fanfics (which I called "me stories" 'cause I put myself into the story, hehe), and they were definitely crap. But I knew better than to post them! If I'd wanted to post them, they would have undergone some SERIOUS renovations, the least of which would be taking MYSELF out of the story!

Some of these authors may still be really young, so their writing skills aren't quite up to par. And that's alright, because with time they might actually make good authors. So then it's up to the reviewers to give suggestions and things so that the author knows what to look for.

However, VERY few reviewers like to give constructive criticism. Instead, they write such gems as "More!" and "Did you know that you should be an author someday? *big googly kitty eyes*"

Big googly kitty eyes?? What the heck is THAT?!

Nobody wants to write "Maybe you should work on this", or anything else that is generally unpositive. I was like that at first, because I didn't want people to think I was being mean, but I've found the balance. And now I try whenever possible to give constructive criticism...even when all I'd LIKE to say is "Why are you posting this stupid CRAP for everyone to read? HELLO, have you heard of a SPELL-CHECKER, moron?"

But I'm nice. And regardless of whether the author listens to me, at least I feel I'm doing a service. ;)

But I'm still ticked off about all the crapfics in the Laby section.