I kinda feel like my intro to fandom was a lot different than a lot of the people here. I saw very few fics that I thought were excellent, and the ones I did feel were phenomenal were long plotty epics. I saw none of the really excellent short fics I see here. As for the bad!fics, I never was amused by them or in the least bothered by them. I thought they were par for the course. I'm more bothered by them now, having been among so many great writers for 9 months, than I was in the 5 years before lj and Buffyverse.
And it's only since coming to Buffyverse and reading people like Kita that I've started trying the "type 2" sort of fics. Before that, I only wrote shipper fics, and they were always about how so and so got together. Always. Erm? Is this story pointless? .<---point.
But I didn't love the Buffyverse for the vampires or the music swelling angst or because DB or JM was hot. I loved it for the dialogue - for the funny.
For a long time I thought a show with a character named "Buffy" had to be lame. Then a lot of people in college told me it was really good, that it was thinky and dark and dealt with great themes. And I trusted them, because everyone at my uni was an intellectual snob (ok, almost everyone). But it still didn't sound appealing to me; it sounded like Anne Rice. And I thought, sweeping melodrama, angst, blah blah--I *love* it, but I can get it from Charlotte Bronte, so why bother with Buffy? It was good for me the second ep I ever saw was "Pangs." I fell forever, and hard, when SMG put on the sad, wistful, plaintive face and said, "It could be a yam sham." And then Xander with his syphilis? Fell. In. Love. *cough* .<----point.
the Faith/Willow story.
Love that one.
Dialogue writers can make fabulous short story writers--not just screenwriters. Also, just two people talking can make fabulous stories. Look at "Hills Like White Elephants" (Hemingway) and "Long Walk To Forever" (Vonnegut). I hate it when people think because they don't write flowery or metaphor-fraught prose, they don't have style. I don't see you saying that here, but I just felt the need to mention it. *coughs really hard* .<---point.
Strangely enough, though, my original fiction isn't at all like my fanfic.
I had no idea you wrote original fic. Do you want to be a writer? Are you a writer? Maybe we should share original stories one day.
I agree with you on the story v. form thoughts, though, and I'm always amazed by the people who can conceive and execute form. I'd muck it up with a joke.
Ah, here's my point! Found it at last.(<---!) I agree with dody times ten. A joke can have form. I once wrote this story framed in a joke. It's the most ambitious thing I've ever written, and although, like my NFA 5 Things fic, it kind of misses the mark (imo), I'm the most proud of it. It may not be quite what dody's saying about writing a joke as a fic, but anyway, I've lost my point again.
What I really wanted to say is that fics like "Sweet Tart" do have form. You don't concieve it--which is what I'm talking about insofar as "authorial intent"--but you do execute it. It's there and just as worthwhile.
...<---extra in case you get lost. I ramble so much.
no subject
And it's only since coming to Buffyverse and reading people like Kita that I've started trying the "type 2" sort of fics. Before that, I only wrote shipper fics, and they were always about how so and so got together. Always. Erm? Is this story pointless? .<---point.
But I didn't love the Buffyverse for the vampires or the music swelling angst or because DB or JM was hot. I loved it for the dialogue - for the funny.
For a long time I thought a show with a character named "Buffy" had to be lame. Then a lot of people in college told me it was really good, that it was thinky and dark and dealt with great themes. And I trusted them, because everyone at my uni was an intellectual snob (ok, almost everyone). But it still didn't sound appealing to me; it sounded like Anne Rice. And I thought, sweeping melodrama, angst, blah blah--I *love* it, but I can get it from Charlotte Bronte, so why bother with Buffy? It was good for me the second ep I ever saw was "Pangs." I fell forever, and hard, when SMG put on the sad, wistful, plaintive face and said, "It could be a yam sham." And then Xander with his syphilis? Fell. In. Love. *cough* .<----point.
the Faith/Willow story.
Love that one.
Dialogue writers can make fabulous short story writers--not just screenwriters. Also, just two people talking can make fabulous stories. Look at "Hills Like White Elephants" (Hemingway) and "Long Walk To Forever" (Vonnegut). I hate it when people think because they don't write flowery or metaphor-fraught prose, they don't have style. I don't see you saying that here, but I just felt the need to mention it. *coughs really hard* .<---point.
Strangely enough, though, my original fiction isn't at all like my fanfic.
I had no idea you wrote original fic. Do you want to be a writer? Are you a writer? Maybe we should share original stories one day.
I agree with you on the story v. form thoughts, though, and I'm always amazed by the people who can conceive and execute form. I'd muck it up with a joke.
Ah, here's my point! Found it at last.(<---!) I agree with dody times ten. A joke can have form. I once wrote this story framed in a joke. It's the most ambitious thing I've ever written, and although, like my NFA 5 Things fic, it kind of misses the mark (imo), I'm the most proud of it. It may not be quite what dody's saying about writing a joke as a fic, but anyway, I've lost my point again.
What I really wanted to say is that fics like "Sweet Tart" do have form. You don't concieve it--which is what I'm talking about insofar as "authorial intent"--but you do execute it. It's there and just as worthwhile.
...<---extra in case you get lost. I ramble so much.
Btw, going to read that fic you linked--thanks!