thoughts on posting fiction online/in LJ

[mickeym]

Morning, y'all :) (Or, well, sorta. It's still morning somewhere, right?)

So I've been pondering the writing/posting thing again -- prompted in a way by the scads of 1/? posts I'm seeing lately, along with authors who seem to think that a story with Sam/Dean or Jared/Jensen with a rating of NC-17 requires a warning for m/m sex (or a detailed listing of everything they're going to do to each other). Or the notes wherein the author says "This isn't beta'd, so ignore all the errors, and by the way, it's complete crack!" or something to that effect.

While pondering, I find myself wondering if these aren't things that maybe the author(s) just don't think about, or realize might be off-putting, or maybe the author is very new to LJ/internet/fandom/all of the above.

I've been involved in online fandom as a reader since the spring of 1996. As a writer, since the fall of 1996. I remember the very laborious process of copying and pasting my WordPerfect document into the teeny tiny box that Usenet gave us for the messageboards, and later, adapting to posting things to mailing lists, and now, to LJ. I'm far from being the expert on all things fandom, butI like to think I know a thing or two about how to present a story to an audience to engage them, rather than make them run for the hills.

I'm wondering if a basic "how-to" primer would be useful -- and if anyone out there would be interested in participating in the project? What sorts of things do YOU, as a reader and/or writer, think should be included? Fannish writing terms (drabble, ficlet, fic)? Definitions? Samples of headers? Basic coding? How not to format your post? Things that should/shouldn't be included in author notes/headers? When a story should be posted as an on-going WIP vs. when it's better to wait?

I'm not talking about a primer on how to write. That's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. But I can't help but wonder if something like a 'how to post fanfiction' wouldn't be helpful, because there are an awful lot new fans flocking to LJ daily, and I suspect I'm probably missing out on some great stories simply because of the way the story is (or isn't) presented.

Thoughts? Comments? Willingness to assist in this project? Reasons why you think this is a bad idea? Hit me! (Also, feel free to link to this wherever; I'd love to see as much input as possible.)

Comments

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

NC-17 -- it's not just for porn :-)

Okay, I'll give you that one. *g*

So, fine, you wanna tell me it contains 'explicit m/m sex', GREAT. But I say again: don't list out everything they're going to do in bed. "rimming" isn't something you need to warn for. Or blowjobs. Or anal. Particularly if you've already said 'explicit m/m sex'. ;)

"warnings" (and I SUPPOSE ymmv) ought to be things like...kink. Character death. Bestiality. *g* Stuff like that. Y'know?

Braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiins. Cooooooooooooooooooooooooooows! ;) *sniggles*

[nopseud]

See, this is where my EPIC laziness as a reader kicks in, because if popslash stories came with headers like that, I wouldn't even have to open them and skim down them to see if the sex scene was likely to be toasty-hot. I could just pick the ones with yummy-sounding headers. Think of the clicks I'd save!

OTOH, I LOVE that popslash doesn't requite headers, because I'm also so lazy I hate doing them and I think trying apply the US movie rating system to fiction is fundamentally stupid.

It's kind of sad when inertia manages to pull in two different directions like that.

{sniggles}


(Sadly, people never include the really helpful warnings, like 'contains gratuitous character-bashing', or 'could not punctuate dialogue correctly if held at gunpoint', or 'yeah, I just wanted to write yet another of my weird fetish stories in yet another fandom where I have no clue who the characters are' or 'wrote really hot build-up then faded to black, so see if you're getting any porn, sucker!'.)

[mickeym.livejournal.com]

I think trying apply the US movie rating system to fiction is fundamentally stupid.

I totally agree with you. Actually, it was like a bucket of cold water dropped over me when I did start writing in SPN, because for four lovely, lovely years I had three ratings: not rated, R or NC-17. My stance behind that being what the fuck does it matter, G, PG, PG-13... we're all supposed to be adults reading it ANYWAY. Y'know? It's really my biggest complaint about the 'mainstreamness' of SPN fandom (and probably other mainstream fandoms).

As for the not including helpful warnings... well. *g* The way things are right now, you can often figure that out based on the way stories are posted/presented. So maybe...the how-to primer would do more harm than good? ;)