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audience, demand and idiocy
Jul. 12th, 2004 07:49 pmOk, I finally skimmed the anime thread on fanfic_hate. My immediate reaction was: don't these people have anything better to do with their time?
On reflection, though, I think there is, in fact, a valuable lesson to fic writers that can be derived from f_h. It lies in the very proliferation and drastically contradictory nature of the pitiful puling that I found.
The pessimistic way to put it is that there's no possible way to "do it right". If you write lots of sex, someone will complain that you're ignoring the obvious gen aspects of your source; if you write only gen someone will insist that you don't do justice to the obvious romantic tension of your source; if you use lyrical and image-laden language you are sure to be accused of prosey purpleness; if you write primarily in dialogue some will howl that you write mere scripts, not stories; if you write a lot of AUs they will say that you aren't really writing Series Y at all; if you tend to missing scene stories they will deride you for lack of imagination. There's no way to win this game.
The more pragmatic way to put it is that, no matter what you write, someone will get their panties in a big, starchy twist over it, so you might as well ignore them all, write however you damn well please, and let the chips fall any old how.
Author responsiveness to audience desire is a courtesy, in our non-commercial niche, not a market neccessity, and certainly not some kind of moral imperative. The same, of course, holds true for audience response. I rather think it would do fandom good to remember this. As much as authors attempting to extort feedback are overreaching themselves, so, too, are readers who attempt to impose their priorities on the writers.
(I should probably say, here, that none of my own regular readers have crossed this line, and I treasure every one of you.)
Thus, the appropriate response to Jane Reader, when she says that some part of your story was not quite to her taste is: Too bad.
I have read a great many stories that delighted me. I have never read a single one that I would not, given the opportunity, alter in some way, great or small. This is an imperfect world.
For pity's sake, deal with it.
On reflection, though, I think there is, in fact, a valuable lesson to fic writers that can be derived from f_h. It lies in the very proliferation and drastically contradictory nature of the pitiful puling that I found.
The pessimistic way to put it is that there's no possible way to "do it right". If you write lots of sex, someone will complain that you're ignoring the obvious gen aspects of your source; if you write only gen someone will insist that you don't do justice to the obvious romantic tension of your source; if you use lyrical and image-laden language you are sure to be accused of prosey purpleness; if you write primarily in dialogue some will howl that you write mere scripts, not stories; if you write a lot of AUs they will say that you aren't really writing Series Y at all; if you tend to missing scene stories they will deride you for lack of imagination. There's no way to win this game.
The more pragmatic way to put it is that, no matter what you write, someone will get their panties in a big, starchy twist over it, so you might as well ignore them all, write however you damn well please, and let the chips fall any old how.
Author responsiveness to audience desire is a courtesy, in our non-commercial niche, not a market neccessity, and certainly not some kind of moral imperative. The same, of course, holds true for audience response. I rather think it would do fandom good to remember this. As much as authors attempting to extort feedback are overreaching themselves, so, too, are readers who attempt to impose their priorities on the writers.
(I should probably say, here, that none of my own regular readers have crossed this line, and I treasure every one of you.)
Thus, the appropriate response to Jane Reader, when she says that some part of your story was not quite to her taste is: Too bad.
I have read a great many stories that delighted me. I have never read a single one that I would not, given the opportunity, alter in some way, great or small. This is an imperfect world.
For pity's sake, deal with it.
