Th quality of fanfic on TW has made me weep recently. It's particularly annoying when I can't tell if something is good or not as the format is so crap.

ok rant over. I may be jealous because I can't write at the mo but BETAS are your friend.

Ok, rant not quite over.

What would be a suitable bribe for your muses? Or the sort of plot bunny you'd like waved in your face? I love your stuff.

Thank you so much. RL is hard work at the moment. Once it calms down hopefully the muse will return.

Your muses are just being pernicketty because you are distracted by "real life" at the moment. As soon as you can pay them full attention, they'll skip happily back.

Oh, yes, format. Don't get me started in the "sentences and paragraphs make it easy to read" rant. Someone wrote a fic consisting on one sentence per paragraph. ONE.SENTENCE.PER.PARAGRAPH. And each sentence was compounded with commas. COMMAS.

Couldn't finish.

I'm rather fond of commas. And semi colons. And as for these things... I just love them!

Yes, but you don't use commas to join two complete sentences into a single one! Nor do you use semicolons to sunder a single sentence in two as if wielding a claymore! The worst of it is, those who overuse the commas are also fond of misusing the full stop and creating fragments that, instead of making you enjoy their ideas, leave you floundering around for a verb!

My particular rant is the solid block of text. I looked, I gave up.

I will write again - maybe.

And even if you *don't* have a beta, there is no excuse for not reading through your own work and picking up as many of these little annoyances as possible. I don't use a beta, initially it was because I couldn't face the thought of someone telling me my stuff sucked; now I think I manage reasonably well without one. Everything I write is corrected as I go along, then corrected again when I've finished and I read through it for a final time. Even after I've posted the damn thing if I notice something (or someone points it out) I'll go back and sort it out.

Still, spell checking is a good place to start, and I've been getting a little annoyed recently by fics which I otherwise like due to them not having even been shown the spell checker never mind anything else. I do hesitate to point out typos to some people as I feel like I'd be raining on their parade plus I think once I'd started I'd sound like I was ripping their fic apart. As uncertain as I am over the quality of my own stuff at times, there's no way I'd want to come across as over critical of someone elses in case it killed their muses.

Funnily enough, I started writing because I was reading a lot of Highlander and Trek fic and thinking over and over 'I could write better than that' so I took the plunge. Here I am, 10 years older and still writing and weirdly enough, still writing about some of the same characters! I've gone back and read over some of my really old stuff and though I'd approach the subjects somewhat differently now, they aren't bad stories and certainly aren't embarrassing enough to be relegated to the darkest depths of fanfic hell. Still found some typos though...

I would point people to your work as one of the best examples of how to do it! You, Avon_09, Tanarian, Asa_Meda -- y'all got me into fanfic because you could write. Not only because of good plot and good characterization; but also good grammar, and structure, and all those things that people thing they can sweep under the rug with an "I know I can't write but I love the characters LOL".

Have I mentioned I hate LOL in a fic summary? Whenever someone starts on netspeak I brace myself for a disaster. I'm seldom wrong.

I know what you mean about hesitating to point out mistakes. I did point out a typo in the title recently but I'd chatted to them enough to know they wouldn't mind. Again, I guess it is knowing your author.

I started writing TW for exactly the same reason. I think most of us probably start from a similar viewpoint.

i dont write cos i have issues with my writing sounding like its a business document but i love to read, in some cases i'll read over watching tv.
that said i agree with you that some possibly good stories are ruined cos of grammar and structure. i've read stories that i have to consciously put myself back into it cos i got thrown off by the grammar or structure of it. its like they're writing in a hurry because they dont want to loose the flow/muse but then post without re-reading to make sure it makes sense.
a particular pet peeve unfortunately is people who dont know english well, ie their 2nd or more language, who dont try to find someone who does know english and their main language to help them. course it would be better if they wrote it in their language and then worked with someone to translate it. *climbs down off soapbox*

English is not my first language either but I do have the advantage of being able to pick up languages like popcorn -- I read about five well at this point and could probably do reasonably well speaking four. It's a visualization thing; words and sentences look wrong to me if they are mispelled and mistructured.

I really rant because it's not that difficult to pick up the basics -- I've had my copy of Elements of Style for a gazillion years now and use it constantly. I still slip up from time to time, so if I have a problem with something I will run it past someone. I've had a couple of offers for betaing and if I ever think I'm slipping below my own standards, believe me, I'm calling for help!



Edited 2008-08-10 01:47 pm (UTC)