Prolific authors who CAN'T bloody write shouldn't be prolific

[animeartistjo]

Prolific authors who CAN'T bloody write shouldn't be prolific. I keep on seeing these two names on my flist who can't write very well, but post in communities and post so often it just clutters my flist! Anyone know of a way I can specifically block people, whether they be in communities or not?

*headdesk* Why do they persist in posting crap examples of their work? Can they not tell, from reading well written examples, that their fiction could use vast improvement? I would be ashamed to have people read anything not written well! What's worse is that no one calls them up on it; just heaps and heaps on the praise, so of course they won't try to improve their writing! And when I comment with suggestions I feel like the harbinger of DOOM. Though it is funny because those great comments? Also poorly written. XDDD

I'm cranky because my Design 1 class has an annoying professor. I wish D.R., the original professor, was teaching it because while I've heard horror stories of his grading, this one? Wasted half the class time today with some pretty stupid activities. I learned NOTHING in the two hours of class. His name is Housefield, which took me approximately three minutes to remember, but he took ten minutes in class to use images and clever words to "help". *facepalm* Why, oh why, am I stuck in these freshmen classes this quarter? I sincerely hope that the seminar and DES 1 were terrible only because they were the first days and nothing really ever happens on the first day. But thank god for ENL 135 and my Spanish class.

Heh, about the frosh seminar, the teacher said we could bring our laptops. I think I will, but will I be prevented from typing if she's lecturing on stuff I already know? ^___________________^ <---evil grin Maybe if I move into the hallway so I can hear her, but the clicking of the keys won't distract too much?

Also, just googled my name, and its numerology is "If it wasn't bulls**t, it would mean that you are motivated by material success and have an aptitude for business, managerial and financial matters. This comes through your uncommon discipline and persistence." And, get this: my name's pretty uncommon. The site estimates that 25 out of approx 300 million Americans might have my name (first AND last).

Comments

[avalon13.livejournal.com]

D: The thing is, people can't tell if it their own work is good or not all the time. And a lot of the time, everything you do, from your own point of view sucks, but how can you get better if you don't put yourself out there to get crit?

And well, if I only posted things that I felt were very good examples of my work, I will have posted nothing. Or at least, very little.

D: My name is common too.

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

You have no worries. I love your writing. Me too, but only on my personal journal as an archive. Then I can go back after a couple of months and totally rehaul things. ^^;

No, seriously--I've seen someone write an epic 25+ chapter story that is was just BAD. There were so many things wrong with it I was like, "How could you have written so much when most of is incomprehensible? Surely you have read regular, published novels? Compare your writing to that and see the difference!" Then I've seen an author post about TEN, MULTI-CHAPTERED fic that were all EQUALLY bad. There was no improvement/difference between them. T_T

The problem is, it seems, is that people are afraid of giving crit. Some truly abysmal stories got comments like, "OMG, this was so great!!! you're going to rite moar!" *facepalm* I think people are afraid to hurt feelings and such. XD

My name's based on a biblical male name, but so many people have problems spelling it that I despair.

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

The only way I've found to avoid this is to scroll down madly; drives me mad. Seems to infest certain fandoms more than others. Hornblower fic is generally very high standard, Torchwood much less so.

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

From the examples given I think you might have an inkling about what inspired this rant.

Which is why I ADORE Jeeves and Wooster fanfic. Only a very strong writer can take a shot at writing fic in that fandom! ^__________^ Also why I prefer Stargate Atlantis to HP right now--older, more educated audience. Most sci-fi fans know how to write. Smallville, my other fandom of choice, is a mixed bag.

Sorry for spamming you flist so much recently! XD

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

Not spam - if it was I'd just ignore it!

The 'older, more educated audience' makes a lot of sense. True in the Age of Sail fandoms (except POTC).

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

"Age of Sail"?

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Fandoms set around classic Royal Navy era narratives, Master and Commander, Hornblower, Nelson and Napoleon (does that exist? Is it horribly wrong that I think I could write it? Let us hope that the answers are no and yes in that order ...)

It's a generic term used by costumers, publishers, and, I think, fans who are focussed on that area of interest. Alas, my only fandom is HP, but my lovely friends who are deeply into Age of Sail recommend it to me highly.

And I know you're not talking about me because I am the anti-prolific ;-)

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

Your stories are soooo worth the wait. The loooong, looooong, agonizing wait. I started reading that sequel of your AS/S fic featuring their fathers, thinking it was complete since you already knew there would be 3 chapters and then--CLIFFHANGER of DOOOOOM!

*sits on hands again* I go back to waiting.

Also, you should totally read LM Griffin's Rant (http://www.noiresensus.com/authors/a_lmgriffin.html) if you haven't already done so.

[blamebrampton.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes. That is because I am a mean and horrid person ;-)

Rant looks very good, but if I start reading in another fandom I'll NEVER finish Fathers!

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

Well, this has been pretty much the ONLY fic in the PotC fandom that I've liked. It's a pretty small fandom and there are only a few good writers. Plus, the pairing in this one is one of a kind, I kid you not. It's not that long either! You should check it out. *shoos to story*

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

Hornblower, Master and Commander, Sharpe, etc...Plenty of classy stuff there.

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

Oh! Heehee, Master and Commander! <3

Have you read LM Griffin's Rant (http://www.noiresensus.com/authors/a_lmgriffin.html), featuring the Commodore and one of his officers? You totally should--I've reread it about a million times! <3

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

I would read that if I was into POTC but alas, it doesn't float (excuse the pun) my boat!

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

I have to laugh, because I have the exact same problem in some of my fandoms. All the good authors are busy and all the really bad ones seem to be churning out CRAP by the bucket full.

I somehow doubt you're following my current fandoms though (unless you read Marvel comics).

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

Batman? Is that marvel? I dunno, but he's the best and only superhero I pretty much know anything about. XD

'Cause all the good authors are busy with college and/or work and/or family. So many people on my flist with bebes! o.O Most the bad ones are tweenies with nothing better to do. xp

Gosh, that's what? Three rant posts in a row now? ///^^;///

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

*laughs*

Batman is DC. I think I agree with you. All the good authors have busy lives. Maybe that's what makes them good authors? All that experience with real life?

I don't mind the rant post. You are in college. That's guaranteed to up the rant quotient.

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

I'm posting so that maybe 5 years in the future, where ever I'll be, I can look at this and laugh at myself. ^___________^

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

Ans also, some of the really good authors end up being published and have no time for fanfic.

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

There was one author that use to write awesome original slash. Then she became "published" and took it all down. The problem? She was published through a tiny, tiny publisher in the UK that didn't sell either on-line or outside of Britain. No way for me or any of her fans in the US (where she herself was) to get a copy. Within a few months the publisher went under. She never put any of her old stuff back up.

Even when the good authors get published, I can't get their stuff. -_-

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

O.o

Who was it? If you don't mind me asking?

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

I think her nick was lavender onion? She was also involved in some fandoms, but none I was involved in. I mostly read her original stuff. But then she went a little... interesting after getting published. Such as getting mad at how juvenile the Card Captor Sakura fandom was (which is hysterical because while Clamp, Card Captor Sakura is for kids). Some digging shows she was on LJ for awhile, but her journal hasn't been updated since 2006. Only way to access her websites is through the Wayback machine.

I did get to see her amazing break down on a ML I was on. That was funny.

[franzeska]

*wanders by from google*

I don't know if she was published by anyone else, but I thought her first book was through Wayward Books. They are in the UK, but they ship internationally, and AFAIK, were always an online business. I thought the book was crap, to be honest, but if you want it, it's still listed on their site.

[tsaiko.livejournal.com]

Did it always ship internationally? When she put a link up to her first published book, I remember looking and seeing that it only shipped to the UK. Then the link she posted broke and I think I just assumed that it went belly up (as a lot of small publishers do).

I did look and sure enough, there's the story. Although after reading the teaser, I think my memories made it a much better story than it was in reality. :P

[franzeska]

I'm not sure. I remember getting the book as soon as I could. Now that you mention it though, I have a feeling like it was listed on the site several months before it was actually available, and I think it may have been the first book available from them, so perhaps they simply didn't have any shipping information up originally.

From what I remember, the prose itself is acceptable but slow-paced. It reminded me of the lower tier of romance novels (as did the physical book itself with its not-so-great quality paper).

My real issue is that I liked the sound of gay gothic horror romance in a British manor, but she felt the need to bring in a lot of Japanese stuff in the middle. Those elements completely clashed with the setting and ruined the whole thing for me. The sadistic cousin was interesting; the Japanese ghost (who calls himself "yurei"--oy vey!) was not. To make it worse, the ghost can't remember his real name or much about himself, which freed the author from having to do any research and made the fact of his Japaneseness extra obviously only there for fetish value. If there had been lots of historical details or a point to his sudden introduction, fine. As it was, he seemed more like a deus ex machina to give the consumptive protagonist a syrupy happy ending instead of the creepy, kinky relationship she seemed to be setting up with the cousin. If she'd fleshed things out and made it twice as long or left the plot alone but tightened it up to half of that length, it could have been great. As it is, *snore*

I only read a few pages of the second novella. The prose wasn't terribly gripping in that one either.

However, all that said, if you do love her fanfic and you like collecting fandom-related materials, it's certainly a good conversation piece, and it's not terribly expensive for a weird specialist press book.

If you just want professional m/m work, there's plenty to choose from. I personally loved the cheesy but wonderfully fast paced Fortunes of War by Mel Keegan (known universally among my friends as "Ass Pirates of the Caribbean"). The rest of Keegan's work is old slash zine stories with the serial numbers filed off, and I imagine this one is no exception. It looks like it's even back in print! (For some astronomical price, but still. You can find it on Amazon.) The first time I read it, I absolutely could not put it down. Rereadings revealed that the prose is really not that great, but I never noticed the first time around. The sex is hot, even the hilariously heterosexual-sounding virginity losing scene. Best of all, to my extreme surprise, it actually did have a swashbuckling plot and not just pretty guys in historical clothing screwing.

I suspect that Lavender would point out that her interest was in yaoi and Keegan's is obviously in slash, but I'm afraid that from my perspective, the difference is that Keegan can handle plot flow and tension in a long story and Lavender really kind of fell down on the job.

I did buy some e-book thing of another story of Lavender's that was about a Japanese cop and an English artist in Meiji Japan. I think that one would probably have been more appealing to fans of her fanfic, but I couldn't get into it. (Uh, if it's not obvious, I was never that excited about her writing though. I got her original work because we were friendly at the time. So YMMV.) Sadly, I can't remember the title or where she was distributing it. The unnecessary English guy in that one gave me the same feeling as the unnecessary Japanese ghost in her gothic novel. Yes, there were some foreigners hanging around Japan in the Meiji period, but in both that original story and some of her fanfic, Lavender introduced foreign characters who I felt were just an excuse to insert white people into a setting they had no place in. Again, I got the sense that she wanted her books to be very historical, but she didn't want to actually put in the time doing research or to make tough editorial decisions.

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

But then, they only publish het! And the 'net loses another awesome slash author! T^T

I think mistful would be the best example of that right now.

[mylodon.livejournal.com]

As they say in panto 'Oh no they don't!' Have you not come across erastes, lee_rowan, alex_beecroft or, day I say it as it's me, charliecochrane? All started in fanfic, all published, all write slash.

[animeartistjo.livejournal.com]

I need to widen my horizons. XD

I've only just recently discovered published slash, so this is a whole new world for me.

Thanks for the links!