Discussion rec

[unfeathered]

Just in case there's anyone on my flist who's not already there, fandom_me is hosting an absolutely fascinating discussion here about the quality (or lack thereof) of fanfiction around here, and what could be done about it.

Definitely a subject close to my own heart! :-)

Comments

[mickeyk.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the discussion rec. I started reading it last night. I figured there were around 200 posts.

I was off by 48. :p (higher, not lower... at least currently there are 248)

So, if you want to rec more discussions, go for it. :)

[unfeathered]

Thanks, glad it was useful for someone. It was a very interesting discussion and it just took off - it was a fun evening!

And if you want good discussions, fandom_me often seems to get them going. :-)

[mickeyk.livejournal.com]

I'll have to see if I still feel like posting (after finishing reading the thread... probably 200 posts to go, or so %) ) about a fic I saw on the torch_wood comm, where in the first paragraph, it was something like:

"w(one of the Who/What/Where/When/Why questions)" (to/too misuse) (and at least three other errors... this might have been five, easily fixed goofs, in three sentences) and a blatant overuse of '!' in sentences/dialogue.

It was an interesting concept (before series 2 spoilers started coming out) about an evil Time Agent with a grudge against Jack wanting revenge on him, and kidnaps Ianto (so if you want to dig for it, you should be able to find at least one part of it posted in March/April) and a four-part story.

I'm afraid I came down really hard on the author (never got a reply to my comment), suggesting a beta reader, etc. When I went and looked at her profile, I expected an American twelve-year-old to have written it, to be honest... but it was an Englishwoman in her 40s or 50s.

Within the last month, I've immediately blown away a browser window when I've clicked on a fic and saw something like this:

"dialogue dialogue dialogue", (notice the comma is after the quote mark) and all the dialogue was like that.

*shudder*

I'll also skip reading an author, if the characterization feels too far out of canon for me, or the grammar/punctuation/capitalization/etc. is just too bad for me to force my way through.

Since I'm sure you finished reading the huge, mega-long discussion, you can tell me if I should post something like the above there. *grin*

[unfeathered]

I don't think there's any reason why you shouldn't post it anyway - another one in the 'fic should be good' club is always welcome! :-)

The comma after the quote marks thing is apparently an American thing. It's not actually incorrect there, though most of them do put it before the quotes instead.

[mickeyk.livejournal.com]

Still working my way through that monster thread... on Page 2 now.

I've literally never seen that before, the " ", not in any American book or newspaper article (online or syndicated into a Canadian newspaper). Do you know anywhere I might find more information about it?

[unfeathered]

No idea, sorry. It's just something I've seen mentioned here in similar discussions.