(no subject)

[emmuzka]

So, the kradam_ai community is pretty much a crap fest. Anyone surprised raise your hand now.

....
....

Yeah. Okay. But at least they win at enthusiasm.

Has anyone else noticed that there is a new crowd in fandomish stuff, who don't "play by the rules"? There is nothing wrong with new people not knowing how, say, fic communities work, but I have now for some time bumped to people who are not interested in learning.

Okay, here is an example: I just had to be the critique bitch again, with this gem. It's not about the fic this time, it's about the writer's attitude.

I kinda like it, but here comes the "but."

Why did you have to post it right away? In the middle of the night, unbetaed? Was it so important to you that you just couldn't wait, or did you just not care? You say it yourself that "I shouldn't have posted, let alone write in this state, but I did. Oh well. Haha." In other words, you say you *know* the ficlette was flawed, but whatever, you don't care.

Going the "unbetaed, don't hate me, LOL" -route is kinda of lazy way to do it, don't you think? I see potential, so why didn't you place your best effort? Do you think it's respectful towards this community to post fics that are not the authors best effort?

I'm sorry if I sound too harsh, that is not my intention. My intention is get my point through. Because first telling to the reader that the fic is *not* the best that you can deliver, and basically that you don't even care that it isn't, and then asking only nice critique? I'm sensing a bikini girl here.

(The bikini girl is a reference to one particular Hollywood Week contestant of this AI season.)

Who are these people who are like, "LOL, I don't care if it's crap"? Where do they come from? (Well, this one comes from Finland...) It is possible that American Idol is a phenomenon that brings completely new people in, without a clear concept of fandom, but this time, I don't think that's it.

EDIT: BAHLEEETED!

She actually answered my comment before deleting the whole entry:

Because I'm up and because inspiration hit, but mostly because I wanted to. It's going to be flawed no matter what. Nothing, especially a short "tester" fic is going to be perfect. I haven't written in ages, it's a new style, and this isn't my usual pairing, so of course it's not going to be fantastic. Of course it's going to be sub-par, but how else can I improve?

I'm not being lazy, LOL!!1!! I've never used a beta and I probably never will. It's just my way of saying if there are things that I don't catch than I apologise because I have no one to look over it.
I don't feel it's disrespectful, no. Because I never said it wasn't my best effort. At this moment in time it was. Is it what I am capable of? No. I've certainly done better, but that doesn't mean anything.

No. I meant nice as in don't be a total asshole as in don't just throw shit out there, as in THINK about what you're going to say.
I'm sensing someone who doesn't read carefully and seems to be judging before they know anything.
Not to sound to harsh. :]

And I answered back (which she didn't have the time to receive since she had deleted the entry while I was writing the comment)

Okay, so this is a difference in views, nothing else. I guess I'm old school (If you come to this summer's Finncon in Helsinki, you'll probably learn how old school...) , but I have learned to always aim for the best. As I see it, the unbetaed stuff, writing for the sake of writing, goes to fic memes and writer's own lj, not to communities because that wouldn't be respectful towards the community. I see that posting in a community is about the community, not about "because I want to".

Your view seems to be that it's ok to post unbetaed, spur-of-the-moment stuff if you only note to the reader that hey, don't go here expecting the next astolat. So, a difference in opinions. For future reference, maybe it would be more fruitful to place a "Warning: Pure indulgement" instead of "so don't hate me too much. :]" in the author's notes to inform about the style of the fic.

Comments

[tvillingar.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda speechless about her (?) answer. Well, not really, but I don't even know where to start.

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

She doesn't have to try to post the best because she doens't want to? "I don't feel it's disrespectful, no. Because I never said it wasn't my best effort"

Whut? When the best effort stopped being a fic posting standard???

[tvillingar.livejournal.com]

Of course it's going to be sub-par, but how else can I improve?

I dunno. Getting a beta? Re-writing and re-writing until you're more happy with it (okay, so this doesn't always work)? Don't mention the bit about "only positive comments?" Furthermore, it's not the random reader's job to improve someone's fic by pointing out what's possibly wrong with it; that's what beta's are for.

Gah, but people like this are irritating!

[thursdaycoffee.livejournal.com]

Wow. I think your response was totally reasonable. Sure, writing fan fiction and posting it on the Internet isn't exactly publishing a novel, but you're going to have an audience. I wouldn't make half-hearted indulgences public if I wasn't completely satisfied with the quality I was putting out there for other people to read. Her response is just really weird to me.

[emmuzka.livejournal.com]

Yeah. And she isn't even your common twelve year old, I checked. She publishes crap and justifies it with "Because I want to"? She says that she writes crap because how else she is going to learn, but still she says that she will probably never bother to get a beta. Sheesh.

Also, when she deleted her fic after my comment, she also deleted the positive comments that she has received. Way to appreciate your audience, that.

[dlasta.livejournal.com]

The times have changed since lj came along. Now, it's entirely possible to be a part of a community without having to learn first what is expected of you. On the good side it means that there is more easily accessible fic out there than ever before and on the bad side it means that even the evil!bad!wrong fic has an audience.

..that said, wow, that is *shameless*.
She's basically saying 'whatever'.:)