Observation
I just made an observation.
The quality of a show directly correlates to the quality of Fanfics produced in the genre. (If you need proof, just reread that sentance.)
I mean, think about it. Gilmore Girls, one of the best shows on television. It's intelligent, witty, and is filled with interesting characters and has some of the most interesting dialogue.
So it's natural that the fanfics produced are predominately in the same vein. Look at all of us. Amy, M, Sara, myself, we all create some good stuff. Some update a lot more than others, but A said that my chapters were worth the wait, so I'll take her word for it. They mirror the show in their stories. There are so many amazing GG writers out there, and I know that only reading Trories with a hint of JJ's and a few PDLD's kind of limits the scope that I am exposed to, but what I've read, has overall, been excellent.
Veronica Mars is another example. The show has only been around for a year, and is so good. (Well, the first season was. We'll see how the next one measures up. Still hoping that the 'death' turns out to be a ruse, because I don't want to lose one of my guys.) But again, so many writers in that LJ community have captured the essence of the characters and the relationships that they share.
I used to read fics from One Tree Hill, because it was the only way to get my Brucas action, but honestly, so many of them are crap. But then, the show isn't all that great either. It seems like a shoddy replication of Dawson's Creek. (it's even filmed in the same HS and set. Rivercourt look familiar? Take away the basket ball hoops, and you've got the creek.) The storylines are predictable, and the show has just lost all the heart that it had last year, when it was about the two brothers battling it out in basketball and life off the court. Now it's about failed marriages and 'who murdered Dan?' The fics are the same. Most of them are written by the twelve year old fans who don't bother to even use spellcheck, and are just posting for the gratification of reviews. The stories are all the same, and the grammar is atrocious.
Now, there are exceptions. If anyone ever wants to read a quality OTH story, look no further than gooseless. I have read a bunch of her stories, and honestly, not only is she lightening fast at updating (like four or five times a day) but the stories are well thought out, and she obviously puts in so much effort to make them each interesting and unique. She's one of the only OTH writers to do that. It seems like everyone copies everyone else, coming up with 'Brooke really being pregnant' or 'Nikki gets hit by a bus' and 'Naley forever'. And not only is the plot the same, but it's the same poor writing too.
There are also exceptions to the rule in VM and GG. I have read Trories that are abominable. They make you want to beat your head against the wall, and when you review honestly, and tell people that their story needs work, they get huffy, and tell you that if you don't like it, don't read it. Ew. So sorry that I burst your bubble and told you to add some story to your dialogue, and to add some punctuation marks. Do author's really think that you can get a P & P award by writing crap?
Ooh, and I recently read a LoVe story on FF and it was terrible. All dialogue, and the author never spell checked. Oh, and Ames, you know how I'm a serial comma user? Well, she had the exact opposite problem. She never used one. The whole story was like one big runon sentance. I was gonna review, but honestly, I didn't want to be told by another writer that she doesn't want to hear the bad stuff. I apologize to anyone that I may have annoyed with my honesty in the past. Sorry for trying to give you some constructive criticism. I didn't realize that was a bad thing.
Anyway, it was just an observation of mine. What do you guys think? Does the quality of the show affect the quality of fanfic produced in that particular community?
KAtherine
The quality of a show directly correlates to the quality of Fanfics produced in the genre. (If you need proof, just reread that sentance.)
I mean, think about it. Gilmore Girls, one of the best shows on television. It's intelligent, witty, and is filled with interesting characters and has some of the most interesting dialogue.
So it's natural that the fanfics produced are predominately in the same vein. Look at all of us. Amy, M, Sara, myself, we all create some good stuff. Some update a lot more than others, but A said that my chapters were worth the wait, so I'll take her word for it. They mirror the show in their stories. There are so many amazing GG writers out there, and I know that only reading Trories with a hint of JJ's and a few PDLD's kind of limits the scope that I am exposed to, but what I've read, has overall, been excellent.
Veronica Mars is another example. The show has only been around for a year, and is so good. (Well, the first season was. We'll see how the next one measures up. Still hoping that the 'death' turns out to be a ruse, because I don't want to lose one of my guys.) But again, so many writers in that LJ community have captured the essence of the characters and the relationships that they share.
I used to read fics from One Tree Hill, because it was the only way to get my Brucas action, but honestly, so many of them are crap. But then, the show isn't all that great either. It seems like a shoddy replication of Dawson's Creek. (it's even filmed in the same HS and set. Rivercourt look familiar? Take away the basket ball hoops, and you've got the creek.) The storylines are predictable, and the show has just lost all the heart that it had last year, when it was about the two brothers battling it out in basketball and life off the court. Now it's about failed marriages and 'who murdered Dan?' The fics are the same. Most of them are written by the twelve year old fans who don't bother to even use spellcheck, and are just posting for the gratification of reviews. The stories are all the same, and the grammar is atrocious.
Now, there are exceptions. If anyone ever wants to read a quality OTH story, look no further than gooseless. I have read a bunch of her stories, and honestly, not only is she lightening fast at updating (like four or five times a day) but the stories are well thought out, and she obviously puts in so much effort to make them each interesting and unique. She's one of the only OTH writers to do that. It seems like everyone copies everyone else, coming up with 'Brooke really being pregnant' or 'Nikki gets hit by a bus' and 'Naley forever'. And not only is the plot the same, but it's the same poor writing too.
There are also exceptions to the rule in VM and GG. I have read Trories that are abominable. They make you want to beat your head against the wall, and when you review honestly, and tell people that their story needs work, they get huffy, and tell you that if you don't like it, don't read it. Ew. So sorry that I burst your bubble and told you to add some story to your dialogue, and to add some punctuation marks. Do author's really think that you can get a P & P award by writing crap?
Ooh, and I recently read a LoVe story on FF and it was terrible. All dialogue, and the author never spell checked. Oh, and Ames, you know how I'm a serial comma user? Well, she had the exact opposite problem. She never used one. The whole story was like one big runon sentance. I was gonna review, but honestly, I didn't want to be told by another writer that she doesn't want to hear the bad stuff. I apologize to anyone that I may have annoyed with my honesty in the past. Sorry for trying to give you some constructive criticism. I didn't realize that was a bad thing.
Anyway, it was just an observation of mine. What do you guys think? Does the quality of the show affect the quality of fanfic produced in that particular community?
KAtherine
posted by rosie4299 at 10:08 PM
2 Comments:
Ooh! Ooh! (raising my hand) I agree. LJ has done a good job of generally posting good fics as far as VM is concerned. There are a few that have slipped through the cracks but they're few and far between. (BTW, I still have to find time to read those you sent my way). I think it's one of the reasons why I really haven't had the heart to actually go back to GG FF and check out the current posts. Eventually the good ones are going to end up in a C2 Community. From there I'll weed out stuff I'd end up reading.
As I told Ames once, I think I should moderate a C2 Community labeled "The Worst GG Fics Ever". However, that will entail a good 87% of the written stuff out there. Too much for me to manage. LOL.
There's still a handful of good writers out there. We shall prevail!
~M
Yeah, I've read the ones that were so bad that I had to stop before the blood began pouring from my eyes. When I see no punctuation, really unbelievable dialogue (there are exceptions, if the plot leads me to believe the diff, but it's rarely the case), and (my biggest peeve) 4 instead of for or U for you--I stop reading. And I never review a story I can't finish a whole chapter of.
Show quality definitely affects the quality of the fanfics. I wonder if there are fanfics for reality shows--can you imagine the ones for Chaotic? LMAO. The worse they are, the more accurate they'd be. :)
amy
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