Your Thoughts on Reading Fanfic. . . Survey

[catscradle]

When you read fanfic:

What are you looking for in a story initially?

What helps you enjoy a story?

What will turn you off to a fic?

Do you like to be surprised by a story? (this can mean anything from a pairing to a plot twist).

How long do you give a story before you give up on it?

Do you read fics that you know aren't written very well, but you like the idea enough to keep reading till the end?

Comments

Had to think on this one

[witchwillow.livejournal.com]

When you read fanfic:

What am you looking for in a story initially?

A good story. Not to be cheeky, but I want a good story, I want intrigue and backhistory and character growth or resisitance to growth. And in the midst of that, I want something to reach in and grab me by the gut, and make me cry and gasp and feel. I like to feel something when I read. To be touched. But it has to have the structure I mentioned above, doesn't have to be long, or a whole lot of structure, but Xander crying in the corner and feeling like shit and then killing himself isn't going to do much for me. If I can precis the whole story or plot to one line, it's not what I want.



What helps you enjoy a story?

I think I answered this in the first question. And I know I'm coming across as incredibly picky, but I like to be inspired, to feel awe. But on another note, it's the little touches that help me enjoy a story, consistancies, like when the soundtrack to a movie has a certain refrain for the couple in love, or for when the family is together. If I can hear that when I'm reading, it enhances everything.



What will turn you off to a fic?

A bad plot. Literary stick figure corpses with the character names on their chests. Character bashing. I didn't care for Anya much myself when I first started writing Xander/Spike. She was an obstacle. But though the first chapters of my own fic may not show it, I just couldn't get rid of her so flippantly. She will/is coming back and has a part to play and her own emotions to express. It's a challenge damn it, work around it with some dignity.



Do you like to be surprised by a story? (this can mean anything from a pairing to a plot twist).

I like plot twists, if when I step back, I can follow the logic and see how it could lead to the new conclusion. I don't like if people pull things out of thin blue air, just to try to make the fic interesting. If you want to make Tara, Anya's long lost sister, fine, go for it. But please don't cram it in, 5 posts into yoru story because you're running out of hoops to make the characters jump through; and then spend three paragraphs on tedious exposition trying to sort out your own mess.

Pairing wise, no. I like knowing who's loving/hating/fighting against/resisting who. There are very few authors I trust to surprise me with who's holding who; and I only trust them because somewhere in the fic there's just enough structure for me to sit back after and go "Oh yeah, I can see that."



How long do you give a story before you give up on it?

It depends. There are times I read the first paraghraph and I can't read anymore - I get irked and that's that. Usually, I give it a full chapter, even if I have to come back to it and finish it over a couple of days.



Do you read fics that you know aren't written very well, but you like the idea enough to keep reading till the end?

Generally no, on one or two occasions a bad fic has been recced to me, ,because someone else read it, and really liked the premise and wanted to share the premise. And then of course we MSTKing all over it. Usually no. If it's bad, I'm not going to put myself through that, I just avoid the author there after.

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

When you read fanfic:

> What are you looking for in a story initially?

In descending order: fandom, pairing, author, recommendation from someone I trust. After that -- eyecatching title, interesting keywords or summary.

> What helps you enjoy a story?

Characterization, characterization, characterization. This is why I'm reading fanfic, 'cause I'm hooked on these characters. If I don't recognize them, forget it. I'd far rather read about Joe Blow than about Stepford Xander. Dialogue, therefore, is all important.

Respect for canon, in general. Don't get the details wrong, if possible, but even more so don't get the *tone* wrong.

After that -- good writing. Or at least, not workmanlike competant writing. Really evocative, soaring language is a joy and a surprise, always, but it's enough if the words get out of the way of the action.

After that -- plot is good. Vignettes are nice, but stories should have some sort of beginning, middle, and end action, and something should change over the course of it.

The ability to keep all the balls in the air that canon (tie up plot holes, weave in foreshadowing and cameos, metaphor and symbolism, use narrative structure inventively) all add to the pleasure, but they aren't requirements since a fanfic author can just stick the two characters they care about alone in a room.

>What will turn you off to a fic?

Mary Sues.

Weirdly demanding or overly explanatory headers.

Obtrusive fanon, particularly the kind that (IMHO) is at odds with the mood and flavor of the show as we actually see it. Why would people who speak casual modern slang to and about each other on screen start going into elaborate rituals the second the cameras turn? And there is no e in child.

Typos and grammar mistakes, particularly repeated or ubiquitous ones.

Overly clever punctuation. (Slashes mean thoughts. Asterisks mean telepathy. Inverted question marks mean soliloquy. Two carats and a tilde mean the narrator is arguing with the author again...)

Lurching POV shifts.

Jumping to the desired end without a believable progression. (Buffy: I hate you. Spike: I love you. Buffy: Okay.) Easy answers of all kinds, really -- particularly in a fandom which *always* makes its characters pay for their pleasures and rarely permits a happy ending to last more than a single episode before ripping it's happy little guts out.

Characters saying what the author thinks instead of what they do/would. Ditto acting out the kinks of the author when it's out of character.

Not showing how the characters got from canon to where they are now, when it differs significantly.

Demonizing the canonical pairings to get rid of them.

> Do you like to be surprised by a story? (this
> can mean anything from a pairing to a plot
> twist).

I don't care? I've certainly adored some fics that have contained surprises, but others have left me cold, and I've adored probably more that don't. Its not a thing for me. I do strongly prefer that authors not dick us around for the sake of arranging a surprise.

> How long do you give a story before you give up
> on it?

It varies. Usually three minor problems, or 1-2 glaring ones, but it depends on how much merit I'm seeing in the stuff that is not problematic -- and how bored I am.

> Do you read fics that you know aren't written
> very well, but you like the idea enough to keep
> reading till the end?

Sometimes. Depends how long they are, depends on how poorly written they are, depends on how much I like the idea, and how likely I am to find similar premises better handled elsewhere. I'm also far more likely to bear with a new writer than with someone I know has been making these same mistakes for donkey's years.

Mer

[zafiro-v.livejournal.com]

When you read fanfic:

What are you looking for in a story initially?

Pairings I like, a good plot.

What helps you enjoy a story?

That it is well written and has an interesting plot. I like character studies, but after some time they become boring. I like to see the characters I love in different situations and see how they react.

What will turn you off to a fic?

Badly written, pairings I don't like, no plot at all.

Do you like to be surprised by a story? (this can mean anything from a pairing to a plot twist).

Surprised, yes. But I want to know before reading if someone will die or be raped. I don't read death fics, unless I don't care much for the characters who dies, and I don't read rape fics. Plot twists are fine. I enjoy them.

How long do you give a story before you give up on it?

I read first paragraph and then I know if I will like it. The style, the pairing, the possible plot...

Do you read fics that you know aren't written very well, but you like the idea enough to keep reading till the end?

Yes, mostly to imagine the story wel written and enjoy it more.

Hummmm.

[ladybd.livejournal.com]

What are you looking for in a story initially?

Fandom first, then pairing in a story. After that authors.

What helps you enjoy a story?

Good writing, first and foremost. I'm looking for talent, not necessarily an original idea (how many ways can you get Trowa and Heero together after all?) but the quality of how it's presented.

What will turn you off to a fic?

Anything that just doesn't make sense. Like (Again using GW as an example) Heero has secretly always loved Relena, and one day just falls over himself and tells her. Oh good God. Give me a break. It has to make some sort of sense - there has to be some sort of chemistry between the two characters. And if there isn't, you'd better give me a darn good reason why they're together double quick or I'm outta here.

Do you like to be surprised by a story? (this can mean anything from a pairing to a plot twist).

Yes, but with a qualification. Again, Heero just sitting up and saying "Wait a second, I love her" would be surprising alright. In that it makes no sense at all. Support it. Lead up to it. Give me some facts and then I can go with it.

How long do you give a story before you give up on it?

Three paragraphs.

Do you read fics that you know aren't written very well, but you like the idea enough to keep reading till the end?

Not generally. I'm a writing snob.