lettered: (Default)
It's Lion Turtles all the way down ([personal profile] lettered) wrote2012-04-27 09:40 pm

fandom angsting and moaning

I also posted The Eighth Tale on AO3 here.

People say I suck at summaries, so I probably didn't adequately explain that fic. It deals with timey-wimey and time paradoxes, possible futures that might also be possible fanfics, Harry/Draco sex, and then a sad ending. The fic was actually the summary of a fic that I'm not actually going to write, so I think it does have some problems, but I'm quite happy with it as a fic in its own right.

I'm going through and trying to make sure I put all my fics in the places they should go (which sometimes takes forever!) Sometimes I can't tell whether a fic I write lacks visibility, which means I should try harder to put it somewhere, or whether it lacks appeal, which means I definitely should stop trying. What do you do in a situation like that? I feel like the window where people might read your fic is usually gone in about 3 days, unless it gets linked elsewhere, and what if in that time, not many people read it? Did that mean it was no good, you just posted at the wrong time, a catastrophe was happening, your header sucked, people just don't know your name, or what?

It's an interesting fandom phenomenon that sometimes I care way too much about, I admit. However, I can't even count the number of times (especially in HP fandom!) I've seen people say things like, "I thought I knew all the good writers out there!" . . . which is a sad thing for new and old writers to hear, and "If you haven't read this fic, you're not really in this fandom!", when it's a fic I've never heard of . . . which, I guess, you know, means I'm not in that fandom! I don't think it's meant to be for serious, but it's still a weird and somewhat confusing thing to hear.

If it helps...

(Anonymous) 2012-04-28 01:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I periodically check your journal to see if I've missed any new fics you might have written. It makes me a little bit happy every time it happens I did miss some! Because I love reading your fics! But I don't often comment... It's not good but I'm a lurker that way (and it's hard trying to make sense as it doesn't really after reading something which was so good and created so many conflictual emotions...)
And I really like finding new authors I didn't know and read everything they've written. Fanfiction or otherwise.

Therefore I'm sure archiving helps? Even in fandom.

Cheers,

O
(because I don't have a dreamwidth account)
stultiloquentia: Campbells condensed primordial soup (Default)

[personal profile] stultiloquentia 2012-04-28 03:16 pm (UTC)(link)
I've been grumbling silently to myself about having no visibility or capital in my current fandom, and then remembering that I haven't written any porn there. Or fic of any stripe. So really, Stulti, duh. I can't even imagine what it would take to feel like you've arrived in a tentacled colossus like HP. I think many fandoms are more scattered than they used to be, anyway. Buffy used to be so tight-knit, comparatively.

I'm glad you got your stuff up on AO3. I don't always get to read right away, and AO3 makes the fic easier for me to find.
stultiloquentia: Campbells condensed primordial soup (Default)

[personal profile] stultiloquentia 2012-04-28 06:57 pm (UTC)(link)
Would it be dreadful if I asked which fic got the big response?

I have fastastic Glee fic to post! It just needs a middle! (dammit.)
stultiloquentia: Campbells condensed primordial soup (Default)

[personal profile] stultiloquentia 2012-04-28 06:59 pm (UTC)(link)
P.S. Every time I see your name these days, I do a little dance, because JOY IS COMING TO CON.TXT! I GET TO MEET JOY! And we're still six weeks away, oh dear. I'm gonna get so silly this spring.