---The Eternal Lost Lurker <lurkerdrome@worldnet.att.net> wrote:
And many of us who are
authors, know what I speak of when I say that readers are becoming
far too
pushy and demanding.
"Write more of this. Write more of that. You need to update your
website.
When's the next part of ... coming out? When? When? Huh? When? You
don't
know? Well FUCK YOU!"
How many of us have had to put up with THIS on a regular basis?
Lots more than I would care to. And yes, many of my readers have
gotten this rude. While at one time I used to pride myself on the
intelligence and savvy of my readers, the emails that I get more and
more often tend to be from crass individuals who seem to think that I
eat, sleep, and breathe fanfics A small sample (note that all
misspellings are the error of the individual:
[[how cum u not do a new Tales of Shampoo! I think you dikked to not
do a new one. So do a new one and dont be such a dikhead about takin
a long time to do another one!]]
I recieved that one over this past weekend, along with three others of
similar content.
The relatively new members of the FFML complain that the older,
established
authors are a bunch of elitists...can you blame them? These people
share
their hobby--fanfiction--with others, others who share the same hobby.
Others who understand what it's like to be a writer. Others who
understand
that various factors can intervene, causing delays in new chapters and
installments, and who can respect this. This is why many of the
older, more
established authors have many friends in the fanfiction community.
Fanfic
authors usually understand one another, and know how to deal with one
another, encouraging the continuation of a project without becoming
overly
pushy and discouraging the writer.
Again, another truism. Take a look at two of the most glacial authors
out there, Zen and Jorge Pratt. Both write in speeds equal to
geological periods, but it is undenied that when they deliver, they
deliever a seriously excellent product. Writing is like any other
art. Some people are faster, some are slower. While I personally
have a fast writing speed, I just haven't had much time to write over
the past few months. Others, of course, have their own speeds and
reasones. This is accepted as natural for professional writers, why
can't some readers realize the same would apply--perhaps more so--to
fanfic writers who do not have all that time to write, and hold down
day jobs, as well?
Authors like to hear 'Hey, this was good. Hope to see more of this.
How's
it going? Oh? You're about to have a busy week at work? And doctor
appointments too? Ouch. Well, hope things go okay for you.'
They don't like to hear 'I want to see more of this. Now. Now now now.
E-mail me when you have more of this.'
Again, truth. Nothing pisses off a writer more than pushy fans. Most
will ignore it, or send the mail writer a canned, impersonal response
(this is usually what I'll do). HOwever, some get pissed to the point
of insults, and animosity. While this might be bad, bear in mind that
pestering the person. To quote from the end of Louis-Philippe Giroux'
latest installment of Lines of Destiny:
[[ - And finally, for all those who think I write too slowly: I have a
full-time job, university courses and a social life outside anime, you
know. I don't mind the occasional prodding message - in fact, I welcome
them, as it helps to keep me in line, but some of you really push it
sometimes and you *know* who you are... ]]
This is the case for most of us "senior, elitist" writers...and I
wager, for some of the newer ones out there as well. Such instances
have forced some of the "senior" writers to leave the FFML. Exodus is
good for no one, and such brought on by these circumstances only make
it worse.
Also, there are way too many people who either just plain aren't
reading
the FAQ, or have trouble comprehending it for some reason, or think
it's a
big joke and are rampantly violating it just to get a rise out of
people. I
don't know which is the case, and frankly I don't care, because the
effect
is the same. You're trashing up this place with stupidity. Read the
goddamn
FAQ, and do what it says, and everyone can get along...well, a
little more
nicely.
An earlier repsonse to this rant indicated that the person deleted
most of the content he gets from the FFML. If people were actually to
pay attention to the FAQ, perhaps there would be less violations--and
maybe less stuff to delete.
And when you comment on something in a fic, for gods' sake, try to
make
sure your comment has something to do with the actual fic! Authors get
really pissed when they put a week's worth of their free time, time
they
could be using to do other things, into working on a story, and ask
for a
few simple comments on their work...and the only discussion of it is
whether <A> would shoot <B> in the back with a rocket launcher, or
if <C>
would have <SEX> with <D>, or save <C>self for <E>, <F>, and <G>. It
makes
the author angry, and makes them wonder why they even bothered.
I have to admit, public C&C is a dying art. I do most of my C&C in
private (and have been known to forget once or twice ^_^;;), but
instances such as the above do tend to discourage writers.
Additionally, on the subject of C&C, all writers--especially new
ones--have to realize that you're going to get bad C&C from time to
time. If you get it once, it happens. When it happens repeatedly,
then you should think about it.
Well, that's my two yen on this thought.
--Rob
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