Friday Needs... A Poll

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Here we are again at week's end, and Friday seems like a day made for polling.  Let's examine... ourselves.
[Poll #2052208]

Comments

[rosiedlotrfan.livejournal.com]

I picked the warm fuzzies for the last question, but the actual answer for me is somewhere between that and the first option - I'm open to criticism, but please give me lots of warm fuzzies along with it because I'm easily discouraged.

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

Regarding the "Someone posts a story with elements from something you've written at an earlier date" choices: It depends. If I were to read a story that is about Leona Nicole or Ludwig Bowler/Wolf Schmidt that I didn't write, I would definitely PM the author to find out what the hell. If I read a story that said Napoleon's middle name is Reilly or that a THRUSH defected and ultimately befriended the boys, well, I don't own those concepts.

[sidhe-uaine42.livejournal.com]

I have some pet peeves about "borrowed" content when misused for instance, E. L. James and her "fanfic" that was nothing more than a poorly written "bodice ripper" imho or if there's blatant "I haven't read/watched the source material, but nobody minds. Tee hee tee hee." If it's done so poorly that I would throw the pages across the room if is was a printout, I would stop reading anything by that particular author. Otherwise, I'll ignore the theft to a point.

Ditto if there are too many misspellings. I'll pause if there's confusion between homonyms or if there's a possible slip of a finger on the keyboard before continuing, especially if the poster is what is sometimes referred to as ESL I'll give them more leeway or the poster has a legitimate LD/their spellchecker misspells the word in autocorrect had that happen to me with autocorrect a few times myself.

It would be easier to answer your survey if you posted "Other, will explain in comments" in each question, since not every situation is the same or has a pat answer like the ones listed. I apologize for being a tad long-winded.

[yumyumpm.livejournal.com]

Some of the questions didn't have an answer I was comfortable with. If I read a story with misspellings I correct it in my head and continue reading. Frankly I pretty much read everything and haven't really found anything terribly godawful.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Getting close is good :) That's what we like about the comments section, we can clarify our answers.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Some things really are unique to a particular story. There are a few things that would prompt me to say or do something.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Write in responses are nice, but this format only allows a few words. Making a comment is your best option when needing to clarify or expand on an answer.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

It's hard to hit every point, as you might imagine. The comments let us expound on our answers, so go right ahead :)

[badgermirlacca.livejournal.com]

I look at the stacks and shelves of books I've bought have yet to read, and the books I have yet to write, and think, "Life is too short to read bad writing."

[leethet.livejournal.com]

I once read a story that basically contained all the elements of a story I'd written a couple of years earlier. It was literally as if the two of us had been given a relatively detailed plot outline and had written our two interpretations of it. I was irritated at first, then, on thinking, had to admit that the elements themselves could have been come up with independently (or that the other writer had read my story and the elements were floating in her subconscious, as can happen to anyone). There was no obvious plagiarism.

Besides, mine was better. :-)

[leethet.livejournal.com]

I'm interested to see most don't use a beta. I wonder if all of us who feel we don't need one are right or wrong - but I guess that's in the eye of the beholder. :-)

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

I was surprised, too. Can't answer the right or wrong question, as I use a beta, but you're probably right about it being in the eye of the beholderAand it goes without saying (though I'll say it anyway, *g*) that I don't think you need to use one!

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I wrote a story that was something I personally liked a lot, and I thought it was clever. Sometime later I read a story by another writer that had been posted years before mine, had a very similar plot with very similar elements. Had I read it and not remembered? I shot off an email to her and apologized profusely for my unintentional misdeed, to which she replied it's just what happens in the genre.
Whew! And she's right, of course. Nothing new under the sun.

[alynwa.livejournal.com]

I've read your stories: I know yours was better, LOL!

The oddest thing that happened to me was: I was writing my original "Sugar & Spies" story and was almost finished when I came across a story (don't remember the name or author) who premise was that Illya had found a biracial little girl and wanted to keep her. The rest of the writer's story was very different from mine, but I was blown away that she had a similar premise. I commented on it and mentioned that the story was very much like one I had written, but hadn't published at that point. I think I just wanted to let her know my story had absolutely nothing to do with hers.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I've read stories that started off with kudos to the beta, only to find a boatload of typos and grammar booboos (if I may use that word). There are too many free apps out there for writing to leave excuses for misspelled words or simple grammar mistakes.

[leethet.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you. :-) I mean, obviously I don't think I do either - which of course is not to suggest I don't make mistakes! That's not really the deciding factor, for me at least. It's "can I present a readable story." After all, whether or not it's "good" in the eyes of others is never up to the author beyond doing his or her best.

[leethet.livejournal.com]

It's very reasonable to think "Oh, crap, did I read this and not remember?" Because when you write, everything goes into the hopper, including memories of other stories and bits of them that stuck with you. How do you sort the "fanfic I read fairly recently" bits from "lifetime of reading and writing and having experiences" when you're in the zone? If there's a way, I don't know what it is.


Looked at from that angle, it's a wonder cries of plagiarism aren't more common.

I do sometimes see writers cry plagiarism when the other author used the same premise or general plot line (not the sort of step-by-step plotline I saw that made me go "Hm..."). They don't get that no one owns "boy wins girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back again."

[leethet.livejournal.com]

I think I've mentioned around these here parts that whenever a story has three or more betas I make a bet with myself as to how soon I'll find an error. It's generally within the first paragraph. I admit, though, that I'm more critical about grammar than most. :-)

Many offer, few are qualified. Or perhaps, when it comes to betas, few offer, even fewer are qualified. Still, it's nice of people to offer - I know they mean well.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

I got a round of meanness one year because I had Illya playing guitar at Christmas. It seems one person thought she owned the idea that IK played a guitar, so she left a nasty comment about it. I was very new, so it sparked all kinds of indignation :)

[leethet.livejournal.com]

When I first started in HP fandom I was accused of plagiarism because I used, if I remember correctly, three things: the sonorus charm (it's in the books); one character believing another is dead then finding out he isn't (hardly unique, to put it mildly) and one other that escapes me but was the same type of universal trope. Took me completely by surprise as I hadn't read the story in question (it was well-known but I was new to the fandom then) and on reading it all I could say was "WTF?" Fortunately a lot of readers chimed in to say basically "WTF? That's not plagiarism, you moron." That was comforting, because of course a plagiarist (had I been one) is going to deny it, so my denial was fairly meaningless. That could have been the end of my involvement in the fandom, because I would certainly have stepped away had I been branded a plagiarist.

To me it showed how ignorant some people can be about what actually constitutes plagiarism, and that, fortunately, a lot of other readers and writers are willing to speak up and go "Um, no, the general plotline of Romeo and Juliet [e.g.] - boy and girl fall in love, families disapprove, boy and girl fight to be together - is not copyrighted."

[leethet.livejournal.com]

Ooh, crap, I had Illya play a guitar in two stories! I'm a total plagiarist.


Seriously. He played in the show, for god's sake. It's hardly a wild leap.

People are funny.

[glennagirl.livejournal.com]

Funny... yeah, that's what we'll call it ;)

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

I feel that fanfics are meant to be totally fun and shouldn't be delayed by waiting for a beta to look them over first. ;) To me, having a beta makes it all seem like Serious Business. I think a beta/editor is only really needed if you're publishing a story for money. But of course, there are those who disagree and more power to them and their betas.

[insaneladybug.livejournal.com]

That was a fun poll, although I wasn't sure whether to take it while thinking of U.N.C.L.E. fics in specific or all fics. I think I took it more for the latter, although I suppose the only real difference between the two is that for U.N.C.L.E. I mostly read. What I put down was "Both."

I think I picked the final answer for the "what do I mean when I ask for comments", but every one of them could actually fit what's going through my mind. LOL. I want to hear actual problems, but I don't want it said in a nasty way that will hurt feelings, and I don't want a huge wall of text of blathering on and on about every nitpicky little problem someone has. And another option that wasn't there would be "Tell me what's wrong, but also tell me what's right." I hate it when someone comments only to tell me what's wrong and doesn't say one nice thing.

Related would be my answer to the final question, as I chose the last one. I think some reviewers take fanfic way too seriously and forget it's supposed to be fun. But at the same time, I do honestly want to improve where I can (while still writing with the elements and angles I like best).

Very interesting quiz!

[leethet.livejournal.com]

There are many people who agree with you.