I have some weird relationship with nitpicking. Typos and such don't bother me, especially not when it comes to fanfic. Okay, sometimes I feel tempted to offer my help as a beta-reader but most of the time I don't. If the story as a whole is good I can deal with some typos. None of us are perfect and in the end fanfic is a hobby for the writers and something we all get for free. I care much more when it is a professional publication, but even there I can forgive typos.
Same when it comes to interpretations of characters or events and such things. Every writer has their own individual interpretation of such things and to some extend that is what fanfiction is about. Variations of a theme. Why should I make myself and someone else miserable just because I think character X should twitch left instead of right. The writers interpretation is as valid as my own and might even offer me new insights.
The stuff that really bothers me though is sloppy or non-existing research, especially when it involves other countries/cultures and languages. It sometimes feels like a slap in the face. Fandom is international and it shouldn't be that hard to find someone willing to translate a few sentences into another language or to explain that there are no skyscrapers in area X or that there are no longer any border patrols between Germany and France.
But I no longer say anything. In the past I occasionally offered my help in a PM or e-mail and was either ignored or slapped down. Now I no longer bother to read these writers. There are enough other good writers around who try to do research or ask for help.
And like you I have seen numerous writers be driven out of fandom by these nitpickers who want things in one specific way, forgetting that fanfiction is a hobby done out of joy and love. I always want to tell these readers: Try to imagine what fandom would be like if all writers (and artists) had enough and stopped writing, or stopped sharing their writing?
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2011-03-06 03:20 pm (UTC)Same when it comes to interpretations of characters or events and such things. Every writer has their own individual interpretation of such things and to some extend that is what fanfiction is about. Variations of a theme. Why should I make myself and someone else miserable just because I think character X should twitch left instead of right. The writers interpretation is as valid as my own and might even offer me new insights.
The stuff that really bothers me though is sloppy or non-existing research, especially when it involves other countries/cultures and languages. It sometimes feels like a slap in the face. Fandom is international and it shouldn't be that hard to find someone willing to translate a few sentences into another language or to explain that there are no skyscrapers in area X or that there are no longer any border patrols between Germany and France.
But I no longer say anything. In the past I occasionally offered my help in a PM or e-mail and was either ignored or slapped down. Now I no longer bother to read these writers. There are enough other good writers around who try to do research or ask for help.
And like you I have seen numerous writers be driven out of fandom by these nitpickers who want things in one specific way, forgetting that fanfiction is a hobby done out of joy and love. I always want to tell these readers: Try to imagine what fandom would be like if all writers (and artists) had enough and stopped writing, or stopped sharing their writing?
Ungrateful bunch.