Things That Annoy You in Fanfiction

[KAIZA]

Alright, since people can't seem to understand this:

No more posting complaints about lantz, his fics or his threads in here. There's enough of it as is, I don't want any more of it. And no, just because you don't use his name directly, it doesn't mean it's not obvious who you're referring to.

Now, can we please go back to actual discussion?

[Xamusel]

...one little nitpick, KAIZA.

Instead of "it doesn't mean it's obvious", what about "it doesn't mean it's not obvious"?

[Cherry Lover]

That's what he said....

[Xamusel]

After the edit, yes, not before.

[Cherry Lover]

Oh, OK, sorry, I didn't notice that he'd edited it....

[Xamusel]

It's fine. I guess that means people in that part of the world need to sleep?

[qwertyfatcat]

And we were having a nice little discussion about worms too...

[Xamusel]

Well... here's an annoyance that I have. People taking one look at a small part of a story and commenting based on that one small part (without reading the whole damn thing to begin with) and thinking that the whole thing is trash (again, without reading the whole thing to begin with, which leads to stupid bias).

Yes, this happened to me, but, in my defense, I didn't know that Beast's Lair had a hatred for the type of story I posted then (mainly because I wanted honest critique on it... which Elf can attest to).

[The Man With All The Cute Boats]

Well, small parts can have just as big an impact as big ones. If I was reading a super hot lemon that suddenly went into snuff strangulation and then necrophilia for a bit at the end, it'd completely kill my boner and make me dislike the entire lemon.

Just as an example. I didn't read what you posted on BL.

[Xamusel]

Hmm... good point.

Thankfully, the story I posted is not important now, anyway.

[Vigilantia]

Well... here's an annoyance that I have. People taking one look at a small part of a story and commenting based on that one small part (without reading the whole damn thing to begin with) and thinking that the whole thing is trash (again, without reading the whole thing to begin with, which leads to stupid bias).

Yes, this happened to me, but, in my defense, I didn't know that Beast's Lair had a hatred for the type of story I posted then (mainly because I wanted honest critique on it... which Elf can attest to).

Depends on the conditions, but if it's the first chapter that is valid. Unlike books, we are not guaranteed that an editor and publisher has looked at the content and seen it isn't crap ( and even if they have, there's no guarantee it isn't anyways). As such, money isn't our concern, it's time. Time is the currency and time is what we spend to look at your work. If you can't convince us a fic is good within the amount of time we're willing to spend then it obviously needs to change (give or take).

If your summary can't hook that many reader, then obviously you need a better summary. If your readers abandon before the end of the first chapter, then obviously something is wrong. Perhaps the reader and your fic's style don't align. Maybe what's in the fic drives readers away (It's hard to force a reader to read what they aren't interested in. I'm not much for gooey twoo wuv fics and you'll be hard pressed to push me that way) Or, it could be something more literary that's the issue. It's up to you and your editor to figure out that issue. Sometimes it's the fic and sometimes it's the reader "market".

[Cherry Lover]

Well, sure, abandoning the fic because it doesn't keep your interest makes sense, but assuming the whole thing is crap and commenting accordingly because of a small section doesn't. In that case, the most you can reasonably say is "the start didn't interest me enough to keep reading, and here's why".

[Xamusel]

Well, in all honesty, it was a snuff lemon for Pokegirls... that had a lot to do with it.

Anyway, not much I can say right now, even as an annoyance in fanfiction.

[Kat]

If a first chapter is really bad, it's safe to assume a writer may not improve much within the story.

[Cherry Lover]

Well, in all honesty, it was a snuff lemon for Pokegirls... that had a lot to do with it.

Anyway, not much I can say right now, even as an annoyance in fanfiction.

Yeah, I can see why a snuff lemon for a fandom that most people in BL have no interest in might get somewhat negative reactions....

If a first chapter is really bad, it's safe to assume a writer may not improve much within the story.

Well, it depends what your complaint is. If you're bothered by writing quality or similar, then yes. If the issue is the plot, then you might be missing something that will be explained later on. That doesn't mean you have to keep reading, just that you shouldn't assume that the rest is going to be bad.