And at long last, after an extended period of internetlessness, here is the final section of the D/G essay.
In this part, we will explore not what it takes to be a good writer, because those things have already been covered in fairly extensive detail in the past three parts, but what it takes to be a good author-- a good contributor to the fandom.
This fandom, quite possibly one of, if not THE largest one in existence on the internet, is not at all lacking in good writers. Simple law of averages: if, say, one out of every twenty fanfic writers is a decent writer, and one out of every fifty a truly GOOD one, it obviously stands that the more WRITERS there are in general, the more GOOD writers as well. In such a popular ship as Draco/Ginny, this is especially true. There are a LOT of D/G writers, after all. One glance at this humble archive should give a very good indication of such.
And yet, there are so many people who "hate" fandom, even though they love fanfic, the HPverse, the characters, and what have you. This portends to a problem not in the quality of fanfic, but in the behaviour of fans as a general group.
Let's face it: Harry Potter is a very large, diverse and creative fandom, but it's also a very vicious, divisive and elitist one. In a lot of ways, it's like a very large suburban high school: not in a bad neighborhood, but full of class distinctions, with each group dead set against each other group. Perhaps the so-called "BNFs" are a group unto themselves, opposite the "n00bs". Or perhaps these groups are divided by ships. In any case, the rampant stupidity that is exhibited by fandom time to time reminds me of those petty, moronic spats between immature high school girls (apologies to those of the species who do not exhibit this behaviour) over such things as boy bands, whether pink is the new black, and, like, ohmyGAWD that's so tacky can you believe she's dating HIM?!??!
Honestly, can't we all just get along? Somehow?
Writer and Reviewer courtesy is an underrated commodity.
Writers, yes, after you've spent your precious time working on your brainchild and bringing it to life, after you've taken the plunge and posted it up online in a public forum or archive where anyone can read it... it's human and reasonable to want some sort of feedback on the work. However, amiably welcoming reviews is one thing, and review-whoring is an entirely different matter.
Please, let's not have any of the "If I don't get 979875983645 reviews by the next full moon, I will not write any more and you all will die evil, horrible, gruesome deaths OMG!" BS. We all should have more class and maturity than that.
Also, please let's not get all snippety over constructive criticism. A flame is one thing-- but a well-meant, carefully thought out critique is supposed to be HELPFUL, and should be taken with respect and humility. Let's not have retaliatory flame wars over negative comments. It's truly a waste of time-- time that could be spent improving your fic.
Speaking of flames, though... THESE are pretty much unacceptable in 99% of situations. Sure, not everyone will write brilliant, amazing fics every single time from the first moment they enter the fandom. There is no need to become all smug and superior because someone doesn't write flawless, inspired prose. Think back when you first started. Let's be honest: have there been improvements since then?
There damn well should be. And therefore, remembering how such improvement is a gradual process, can we please cut others some slack for honest mistakes if effort was put forth?
This is not to say that anyone should necessarily sugarcoat. I'm a big proponent of brutal honesty, and if I take it in my mind to review a fic that I think is less than fabulous, I make sure to point out what needs work in it. I usually also give detailed reasoning to back up my position. I'm not saying that everyone needs to write a thesis critique on anyone's fanfic, but seriously, saying "OMG THIS SUX" helps no one.
It should go without saying that in order to be a good fanfic author, your work should be original. Yes, this sounds kind of like a paradox, considering that the very nature of fanfic requires some imitation and copying of another's original work. However, credit must be given where credit is due. We always put in disclaimers that Harry Potter, etc. are property of J. K. Rowling, because it was HER hard work-- HER blood and sweat and tears-- that make it possible at all for us to even play in her sandbox. So why is it that when people take ideas and characterizations and backstories from other writers that such credit so often gets neglected?
Imitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery. Not here. Sure, it's fanfic. It's not something that could ever actually be published for money or copyrighted, but chances are that someone had spent quite a bit of time imagining and brainstorming and drafting and honing and polishing all the same. To rip off someone's idea is not only morally wrong in the sense that it's a theft of intellectual property (property that cannot be replaced, copied, insured or warrantied), but it's LAZY. Anyone who isn't willing to spend at least some time coming up with his or her own idea and just wants to coast by on someone else's brainchild shouldn't write. It's like slacking off all semester and cheating off the class brainiac on the final exam. And while some dotty old professors may not catch a cheat, it's almost a complete certainty that in a fandom this size, any patchwork can be pinpointed, isolated and exposed with immediate and damning speed.
And then, really, who loses? Sure, the one whose fic was ripped off is likely furious and hurt and sometimes betrayed... but really, the one doing the actual plagiarism "gets it" in the end. Because most respectable archives won't host known plagiarists, and bad names spread on the web faster than one can say "unoriginal".
And then in the end, what do we have but a pile of wank, which stinks up fandom like a pile of dirty socks? Now, wouldn't it just be better to simply get along and be reasonable? Truly, it's not that difficult. Though this is the last section of my essay, I honestly think that it's quite possibly the easiest. No rocket science required here-- as long as people maintain a certain standard of behaviour.
In this part, we will explore not what it takes to be a good writer, because those things have already been covered in fairly extensive detail in the past three parts, but what it takes to be a good author-- a good contributor to the fandom.
This fandom, quite possibly one of, if not THE largest one in existence on the internet, is not at all lacking in good writers. Simple law of averages: if, say, one out of every twenty fanfic writers is a decent writer, and one out of every fifty a truly GOOD one, it obviously stands that the more WRITERS there are in general, the more GOOD writers as well. In such a popular ship as Draco/Ginny, this is especially true. There are a LOT of D/G writers, after all. One glance at this humble archive should give a very good indication of such.
And yet, there are so many people who "hate" fandom, even though they love fanfic, the HPverse, the characters, and what have you. This portends to a problem not in the quality of fanfic, but in the behaviour of fans as a general group.
Let's face it: Harry Potter is a very large, diverse and creative fandom, but it's also a very vicious, divisive and elitist one. In a lot of ways, it's like a very large suburban high school: not in a bad neighborhood, but full of class distinctions, with each group dead set against each other group. Perhaps the so-called "BNFs" are a group unto themselves, opposite the "n00bs". Or perhaps these groups are divided by ships. In any case, the rampant stupidity that is exhibited by fandom time to time reminds me of those petty, moronic spats between immature high school girls (apologies to those of the species who do not exhibit this behaviour) over such things as boy bands, whether pink is the new black, and, like, ohmyGAWD that's so tacky can you believe she's dating HIM?!??!
Honestly, can't we all just get along? Somehow?
Writer and Reviewer courtesy is an underrated commodity.
Writers, yes, after you've spent your precious time working on your brainchild and bringing it to life, after you've taken the plunge and posted it up online in a public forum or archive where anyone can read it... it's human and reasonable to want some sort of feedback on the work. However, amiably welcoming reviews is one thing, and review-whoring is an entirely different matter.
Please, let's not have any of the "If I don't get 979875983645 reviews by the next full moon, I will not write any more and you all will die evil, horrible, gruesome deaths OMG!" BS. We all should have more class and maturity than that.
Also, please let's not get all snippety over constructive criticism. A flame is one thing-- but a well-meant, carefully thought out critique is supposed to be HELPFUL, and should be taken with respect and humility. Let's not have retaliatory flame wars over negative comments. It's truly a waste of time-- time that could be spent improving your fic.
Speaking of flames, though... THESE are pretty much unacceptable in 99% of situations. Sure, not everyone will write brilliant, amazing fics every single time from the first moment they enter the fandom. There is no need to become all smug and superior because someone doesn't write flawless, inspired prose. Think back when you first started. Let's be honest: have there been improvements since then?
There damn well should be. And therefore, remembering how such improvement is a gradual process, can we please cut others some slack for honest mistakes if effort was put forth?
This is not to say that anyone should necessarily sugarcoat. I'm a big proponent of brutal honesty, and if I take it in my mind to review a fic that I think is less than fabulous, I make sure to point out what needs work in it. I usually also give detailed reasoning to back up my position. I'm not saying that everyone needs to write a thesis critique on anyone's fanfic, but seriously, saying "OMG THIS SUX" helps no one.
It should go without saying that in order to be a good fanfic author, your work should be original. Yes, this sounds kind of like a paradox, considering that the very nature of fanfic requires some imitation and copying of another's original work. However, credit must be given where credit is due. We always put in disclaimers that Harry Potter, etc. are property of J. K. Rowling, because it was HER hard work-- HER blood and sweat and tears-- that make it possible at all for us to even play in her sandbox. So why is it that when people take ideas and characterizations and backstories from other writers that such credit so often gets neglected?
Imitation is NOT the sincerest form of flattery. Not here. Sure, it's fanfic. It's not something that could ever actually be published for money or copyrighted, but chances are that someone had spent quite a bit of time imagining and brainstorming and drafting and honing and polishing all the same. To rip off someone's idea is not only morally wrong in the sense that it's a theft of intellectual property (property that cannot be replaced, copied, insured or warrantied), but it's LAZY. Anyone who isn't willing to spend at least some time coming up with his or her own idea and just wants to coast by on someone else's brainchild shouldn't write. It's like slacking off all semester and cheating off the class brainiac on the final exam. And while some dotty old professors may not catch a cheat, it's almost a complete certainty that in a fandom this size, any patchwork can be pinpointed, isolated and exposed with immediate and damning speed.
And then, really, who loses? Sure, the one whose fic was ripped off is likely furious and hurt and sometimes betrayed... but really, the one doing the actual plagiarism "gets it" in the end. Because most respectable archives won't host known plagiarists, and bad names spread on the web faster than one can say "unoriginal".
And then in the end, what do we have but a pile of wank, which stinks up fandom like a pile of dirty socks? Now, wouldn't it just be better to simply get along and be reasonable? Truly, it's not that difficult. Though this is the last section of my essay, I honestly think that it's quite possibly the easiest. No rocket science required here-- as long as people maintain a certain standard of behaviour.
To Be Continued.
Thalia is the author of 8 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 7 members. Members who liked The Sum of Many Parts: Thalia's Guideline to Writing Quality HPfic of the D/G Variety... also liked 244 other stories.
This story is a favorite of 7 members. Members who liked The Sum of Many Parts: Thalia's Guideline to Writing Quality HPfic of the D/G Variety... also liked 244 other stories.
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