So You Will Know, Part Two

[keiramarcos]

Part One is HERE.

Okay,

Seriously? I don't want your plot bunnies. I think I've been pretty clear about that in the past. When and if I ever decide I want suggestions on what to write and how to write it-- I will certainly blog about it and maybe make a little area on my site where bunnies can be set free to roam until someone picks them up. I'll be honest, it's not likely to happen.

From time to time people comment on my site about ideas or thoughts that my fiction has sparked in them. I have no problems with this. I read the comments, approve them when I feel they haven't infringed on my good graces, or accidentally stumbled across a spoiler. I can't even guess at how many people accurately guessed who mini-O'Neill was in WMHB before I was ready for it be posted. So I edited some of those comments to put stars over their guess. I really don't mind the comments and if your comment has been approved on my site you have nothing to worry about. I'm not mad at you so don't freak out and think I am.

Sometimes I get into discussions with people in my email and often during the course of the discussions a false sense of intimacy and knowing develops between the two of us. The person on the other end starts to assume a friendship that is simply not there. They'll wrongly assume that they've gotten to a point in our pseudo-relationship where they can offer me suggestions that sound more like orders and ask me insulting questions. Here are some examples from actual emails (I apologize if these words belong to you and you realize only just now how insulting I thought they were though I'm pretty sure I made that clear during my own communications to you. I'm certainly not known for hiding my light under a bushel):

1. "I really don't like the Sam/Daniel is Sentinels of Atlantis -- when you write your FBI AU/Sentinel thing you should write Jack/Daniel because that's better and most people prefer that."

2. "You should take down that Dark Places series and re-write it as McShep because the Cadman/Sheppard pairing doesn't work at all. It's kind of stupid that you wrote it that way. It was waste of a perfectly good story line."

3. "I don't like how you write, Ronon in Dark Places. You give him too much dialogue and the characterization is too far off canon. He's not primitive enough in your work." -- this comment has always come off racist to me since TPTB at SyFy told Jason he had to keep his dreads so he'd appear more "alien". His characterization on the show was stupid--he came from an industrial world YET Teyla who was born and raised in what amounted to a hunter/gatherer village was more comfortable with technology than him. He wasn't by any means a dumb thug they tried to paint him as -- they gave him this great background and then totally screwed the pooch on his characterization. That's just BAD WRITING.

4. "You have too many characters and pairings going on in SoA. You should just concentrate on John and Rodney because the rest are kind of boring to me. A good writer could focus on them and still tell the same story. ALso, I don't dig that back and forth thing you're doing between Earth and Atlantis. It just reminds that Jack isn't with Daniel and that blows." (received today) --and my response: I don't even ship Jack/Daniel. I've always thought the pairing was kind of hinky and when I've written it in the past--I glance over it and rarely have scenes with them on their own because I just don't dig it. I don't think they have the right chemistry for sex and that is just me. The two actors don't mesh well together (for me). Amanda Tapping had better chemistry with them both than they had with each other. I don't care if you agree or not.

- - - -

I'm not so arrogant to assume that I know everything about my craft or that I don't need an editor. Of course, I need an editor but I certainly wouldn't hire one for fan fiction. That being said -- I really don't want advice on characterization, plot, or story structure from my readers. Read it or don't but don't make the mistake of thinking that just because I allow feedback on my site and respond to your emails when warranted that you get to instruct me like I'm a child who is waiting patiently for your gold-dipped words of wisdom. Seriously.

Comments

[elfgirl.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure why people seem to have this compulsive urge to try and ruin your good ideas with their shitty ones. At this point, I'm pretty sure I'd read your grocery list if you posted it.

So, you know, carry on. *waves hand imperiously*

[bridges2.livejournal.com]

Ditto!

[ducky-red.livejournal.com]

*applauds* nicely said. I don't understand people who think they have a right to tell you how to write your stories. If you wanted their opinion, you'd ask for it! And if they don't like the pairing or the characterization, don't read it! I'll never get it.

[the_proofreader]

I realise at this stage of our pseudo-relationship I should still be sending you dead mice and/or diamonds, but as long as you realise you can keep me sedated on a steady drip of your fiction, things will be just fine... :-p

Hey, since it's, yanno, All Your Fault that I've been dreaming about Harry Potter fanfic, can I send you a story once it's done? Feel free to say no, or say yes but no feedback - I just think I should send the pain back to you... *hugs* *cookies for you & the Padawan*

[the_proofreader]

Oh, and I now have 3 Harry Potter fics on the go. None of which I wanted to be writing. Damn you, foul fiend! *shakes fist*

[melonbutterfly.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, I find that hilarious. This pretentious "I know much better than you and btw, I'm oh-so-subtly telling you that while I fangirl you your writing actually sucks unless you do what I want" undertone - only it's not an undertone, it's plainly there. Seriously. Do these people not THINK before they write? They come off as completely self-centered.
If anyone wants any story to be exactly the way they want it to be, THEY HAVE TO WRITE IT THEMSELVES. I learned this when I was 7 and hated the Pocahontas ending. If you're too lazy to write it yourself (and writing is 90% practice and at best maybe 10% talent, so the "I just don't have the talent" excuse doesn't fly with me), then you have to deal with it when other people do with THEIR OWN STORIES what they want.
Geez.

[melonbutterfly.livejournal.com]

PS: I totally saw what you did there, with the "your FBI AU should be Jack/Daniel" thing. ;D

[bjhull.livejournal.com]

Considering the fact that you totally overcame my dislike of the Harry/Draco pairing, I'll never tell you who to ship. Although your comment about Jack, Daniel and Sam morphed into Jack/Daniel/Sam in my twisted little brain.

[keiramarcos]

If I wrote a threesome it would be Sheppard/Kusanagi/McKay and I'd probably set it in a BDSM AU.

[wonapalei.livejournal.com]

I don't dig that back and forth thing you're doing between Earth and Atlantis. It just reminds that Jack isn't with Daniel and that blows.

I don't...what? That doesn't even make sense! How does going back and forth between Earth and Atlantis remind the reader that Jack isn't with Daniel? They're on the same planet, not separated by millions of light-years!

Unless they intended to imply that you should drop the whole Earth storyline...which makes even less sense oh my god I need a beer.

[keiramarcos]

That person eventually actually suggested that I re-write the entire SoA series so that Jack was with Daniel because she hates the Sam/Daniel scenes.

[averzierlia.livejournal.com]

Wow. Just, wow. Are people really this dumb? Why aren't we mass murderers again?

If they don't like it they don't have to read it - any piece of writing is only partly for the reader. Most of it is for the writer, because we feel the need to change something we didn't agree with. I regularly go back and read over my posted fanfic because it makes me smile.

[atuinsails.livejournal.com]

First of all, I want to say that I'm glad I was completely surprised by the mini-O'Neil thing.

Second, I know I occassionally post questions and set free plot bunnies, but hopefully I do this in such a way to say, hey, free plot bunnies for everyone. I would actually be very surprised to find that Keira picked up one of my plot bunnies and took it home. I don't really think of myself as having a really good track record with those things -- it's why I set them free to rummage through lj.

I may not agree with every single choice and plot that Keira made and written, but she is such a good writer I can't think of a single one I'd like to see rewritten. And it chaps my ass when I see people like this making comments, because if she is anything like any other writer I know, that sort of stuff really slows down your creative momentum.

And while I'm a very patience stalker, I know how to lay out the blame. Give me a name, I have a combine and a field that could use some old fashioned fertilizer if you know what I mean.

[theotherwillow.livejournal.com]

Does. Not. Compute.

I just...I don't understand. Where the unholy fuck does this sense of entitlement come from?! Seriously, this is what happens when you start giving kids trophies for participation - everyone grows up with the delusion that they are the bright shining star of the entire flipping universe and people should be honored to receive the sanctimonious insanity that passes for their opinion just because it came from them.

I read your writing because I like how you write. I'm interested to see where you take the characters, ESPECIALLY when it's someplace I wouldn't have expected. That is, in my opinion, what makes your writing so awesome: all the places you take me that I never would have thought to go. I almost feel sorry for those morons who bother you via email - they're splashing around in the kiddie pool when they could be on the other side of the sand dune playing in the ocean with the rest of us.

[keiramarcos]

Great -- you realize I just mentally drowned several people right?

[hippoforalkus.livejournal.com]

Your work is just perfect for those who read it and appreciate it for what it is: stories with characters and situations borrowed, to play and have fun with your creativity.

I'm a fan of your work for a long time and though I have difficulty reading your stories because I speak another language, I have always found your work interesting and linear in the plot.

Even when you leave us waiting for new chapters, you leave us the timeframe within which you publish them. A kindness that many authors do not give their readers.

Is useless when you are dissatisfied with what the author says blame, everyone has their own style and preferences.

If you've wasted time reading something that you did not like, stop reading & fuck off!

[ladyholder.livejournal.com]

I am so damn glad I have better manners than that. Seriously.

Wow. I am also glad that I haven't met those folk in *my* feedback. Wow.

~L

[keiramarcos]

Oh, you will, eventually. I have faith in that.

I'm a bitch and they feel free to do that shit to me. You're actually very nice and polite --- in public at least.

[internetname.livejournal.com]

Guessing at my plots when I post in parts, "suggesting" ways I should write, and offering me plots -- I both love and hate these, depending on how they're presented.

When I post part of a fic and someone says, "Wow, I hope [slash pairing] get together!" I love that. Obviously, the pairing is going to happen -- it's in my header. I also enjoy things like, "What is so-and-so doing? Is he going to be bad in your universe?" because it shows I'm piquing interest and getting people to wonder what's going to happen.

But there was this one gal a couple fandoms back who kept trying to guess where I was going then "suggest" it as a plot point to show she was smarter than me. I'd get, "Wow, I loved how they just found the body of the hit man in pool. You should have them find out he died by drowning!"

grrrr

Basically, though, I'm kind of a pansy when it comes to feedback. I'm so INCREDIBLY grateful people are reading it in the first place (do not take this as some sort of comment about other writers THIS IS ME I'm talking about, and I talk about me very well). Seriously, though, I just freak out when I realize there are people out there reading anything I've written.

Odd moment a few days ago. Last week, I was helping an artist acquaintance with her painting booth at Jazz Fest. Someone said something like, "I love your work," and then left. The article-acquaintance went into this rant about how "people just say that because they don't get my work." I'm thinking, "huh?"

I completely agree that any criticism couched in "friendly -- you're so great" terms sucks ass. But wow. When someone just writes and says, "Love your work," I'm over the moon!

[keiramarcos]

WORD.

I hate when they try to take my foreshadowing on plot and then own the idea like it's theirs and ruin where I'm going with something.

[i-cant-talk-now.livejournal.com]

just can't get past the idea/image/circumstance where someone wants to argue about something they get for FREE! wtf?

when i am at Costco, and trying the free samples, i can assure you i am not standing there telling the little old lady how she could better prepare these tasty little morsels. nope, i am scoping out the next station and hoping for chocolate.

[steffi nickels (from livejournal.com)]

*shakes head*
The only time *anyone* would have ever the right to ask (and I mean *ask nicely*, not demand) for a certain plot line or pairing is if you had donated a story to Moonridge and they had won the auction...

I adore you because you take me places with your stories that I would not have gone alone. You made me like Harry/Draco!

And yes, usually I like my Daniel with Jack too, but your Sam is way more interesting as a character than in most other SG stories I have read. So your Sam/Daniel works.

[timespirt.livejournal.com]

I like your stories just they way they are!

[spikespet7.livejournal.com]

I bow to your talent of telling a story and doing it well. I apologize if at anytime my comments and crys of "OH God you killed ole Yeller" kind of reaction offended.....I will admit to being an emotional reponder with the 'oh please don't do that' but I do that to the TV screen as well. Please don't change what you do....and I'm sure now you can say you are in the bigtime now, LOL......since you have drawn the stalker types that want to follow you home and write their story through you.....

Peace be with you, ;)

Kimber

[yanagi-wa.livejournal.com]

*sigh* Not again. I really hate it when someone says, "I can't wait until 'character' does 'something'." Damnit! Go write your own story. I really hate being steered. Blarg! Makes me want to scream.

[iadorespike]

I fail to see why you have to be so unreasonable in allowing for their pretty princess status and doing as they wish. :/

Seriously, two things. One...I pretty much always hear your *voice* as Julia Sugarbaker, now. This can only be a good thing. ;) And two...I'm feeling very queasy after reading about so much entitlement at once. Bleah!

I'd *twirl you* but...queasy. LOL

*hugs*

[qzee.livejournal.com]

and if I ever meet the person pictured in Keira's icon up there ^ I am so going to call him Keira. Though I'm fairly sure she either looks nothing like him, or like his sister should he have one.

[seadragonlady.livejournal.com]

Hey it is your sand box so your words rule.

[lala1974.livejournal.com]

My theory on that is if you don't like it don't read it. If it has a pairing you don't like nobody forced you to read it so stop bitching to the author.

I get and don't get

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

I get: where it's coming from. Every single fandom I've been in has had (best case) some author thanking people for their "input," which took the story someplace she never thought of! and worst case had authors who bluntly admitted they had no throughline and were basically making it all up as they went along and did anyone reading have any requests? It isn't the majority by any means in any fandom I've ever read, but I suspect every person who pings Keira with a plot "suggestion" has either done in the past and been petted by an author for bailing the author's plotless ass out or knows someone who did and wants to be that hero.

I don't get: why Keira keeps getting these "suggestions." Her position on negative feedback, nitpicking and kibbitzing (which is how I categorize plot "suggestions") could not possibly be clearer. These people have read all or a significant chunk of 1.3 million words (because none of the intricately plotted stories that would draw "suggestions" is short,) but haven't managed to read the site rules?

I boggle.

[influ-bad-ence.livejournal.com]

You've got to be kidding me right? If they don't like a pairing the solution is sooo simple. DO. Not. Read. It. Full stop. It is not an insult. Hell I have a friend that I frequently beta for- she writes a pairing that frankly squicks me. She knows I won't read it. It is no big deal, you wouldn't even know these people declined to read the fic. :sighs:

I have fun speculating on your fics and what is going to happen in them, but saying you should do this, without invitation first, that's annoying and rude.

However, I still believe Reid and Morgan is hot as hell ::toddles off with her OWN bunnies:: ;)

[insanity--inc.livejournal.com]

::sighs::
:::hands over alcohol, tire iron, lighter, lighter fluid, stack of dipshit emails::

Now, after you've beaten these morons to death and set them on fire I'll go get some steaks and we can grill.

Or I can beat them and you can set them on fire. After the shitty day I've had I could use it.

Baked potatoes or potato salad? ::goes off to find half nekked male minions because I need pretty things to look at;::

[batspit.livejournal.com]

If your fic feedback starts with "I don't" and doesn't follow with "know how I lived without your supremely awesome contribution to my favorite fandom"

Then you should stop, delete, and find someone who cares.

We should make that a rule.
Except that entirely too many people are too stupid to read the rules.

[auntbijou.livejournal.com]

You know, if I don't like something, I just click "back" and move on to something else. It's not rocket science. If someone doesn't like reading Jack/Daniel, then... don't read it. Same goes with any pairing, or hell, even any book you get at the library. No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to read it!

See, I don't get that part, actually. No one is forcing them to read these stories. No one is holding their head in front of the computer screen, holding their eyelids open, holding them hostage to reading this particular story! So... why complain about it? And if they don't like the pairings, or the way the story unfolded... then... why don't they write their own damn story??? I mean... isn't that the point of fanfiction anyway???

[phantmchic.livejournal.com]

And it's not like the pairings aren't listed in the headers. If you can't stand to see Jack with anyone but Daniel and the header lists Jack/Sam or Sam/Daniel, then just don't read it! Why do they invest the time to read one of these awesome epics if they go in knowing that their enjoyment of it will be ruined by the pairings in the header?

It just makes no sense to me. *Out of Cheese Error* I'm usually just so happy when one of my favorite authors updates, that I devour what I'm given and hope for more. If it wasn't to my taste, I wouldn't be reading it in the first place.