forget your Unified Theory of Everything

There is a Typical Fic in the 2K - 8K range, and approximately 1/3 of this Typical Fic is the Advertised Porn. Sometimes it's closer to 40%, sometimes closer to 25%, but 30% is the most common ratio.

The remaining fic is usually something like 50-69% Getting There, 1-10% Sex is Next, with 1-10% Aftermath. "Getting There" most typically includes groundwork for the trope (we are best friends realizing our feelings; we're enemies but we're in prison together; aliens are going to make us do it! etc). Groundwork for the trope can be laid by talking about the trope (which was set into motion pre-fic, e.g. the enemies start in prison) or plot to make the trope happen (e.g. the enemies team up against a Bigger Enemy and get caught and thrown in prison).

"Sex Is Next" refers to the denouement of "Getting There." The best friends confess they love each other, the enemies get bored and one mentions there's nothing to do but The Do, the aliens who are making them do said do are herding them toward the arena. In other words, the plot is either resolved or stops; the other characters go away; there is a moment of They're Going To Do It before they, you know, Do It.

The Advertised Porn is whatever kink or tropes are referenced in the title, tags, and/or summary (usually all three).

Aftermath length can vary wildly depending on whether Getting There involved Plot (the enemies have to get out of prison) or Talking About It. The aftermath for the latter is usually How They Feel about each other, usually with a little nod to how they Got There ("Why did it take us so long?" "See you next time you're in prison!" "Let us never speak of that planet again.")

I don't have any particular value judgments about the Typical Fic as I've laid it out. I have come across examples both terrible and amazing. I was just wondering if you have thoughts about it, including but not limited to: how did we arrive at these ratios, is this a pwp, what are your thoughts on yaoi

That first line meme is going around. I never think much or care about first lines, but I went and looked at mine anyway, and they sucked. Then I thought, even though I suck at it, I should dig up first lines I loved from other fics--and came up with exactly nil. It's not that you folks haven't written some great first lines; I'm sure you have. It's just that I, personally, dislike first lines.

I just wanna be inside the story already; I don't actually like the slow get-to-know-you dance; the "do I like you/do you like me?" kind of thing. I hate it in real life too. I hate meeting people and I hate, "So what do you do? Are you married? Where did you go to school?" I even hate the, "How are you?" part of conversations, because the part of a conversation where you get to talking about how someone really is isn't until the meaty part of a conversation, which is often in the middle. (Even if someone answers, "How are you?" with "Dismal!" the part that's interesting is why.)

( Even the first parts of posts are boring. )