BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » What bugs you?

TornadoAli · January 31, 2016 3:08 pm

I have read WAY too much fanfic for someone of my age and I've grown to be irritated at things. I think my biggest pet peeve is author notes (or maybe just the way AO3 or FF displays them). It disrupts the narrative somehow. Plus I'm an unrepentant grammar nazi Spellcheck already! hehe! What bugs you?

(To be clear, I realize fanfic is not meant to be perfect as the majority of us are amateurs, so I'm not implying anything towards anyone specific, ever).

Last edited by TornadoAli (January 31, 2016 3:19 pm)

Ariane DeVere · February 2, 2016 3:56 pm

Nothing 'bugs' me about fanfic. I'm always grateful for it, and am impressed by the amazing amount of talent that we have in the fandom.

If repeated poor spelling, punctuation and grammar interferes with my enjoyment of a fic, I stop reading it. But I made it through Flowers in a Box (which obviously was meant to be diabolical!), so I can make it through most fics if they grab my interest early enough. The occasional grimace at poor SPaG can be worth it in the end, and especially if it's something that a spellchecker wouldn't have picked up (they're/there/their).

I do know what you mean about author notes when they're at the beginning of each chapter and are repeating what they said at the beginning of the previous chapter, e.g. thanking their beta each time (and it's a shame that AO3 doesn't leave more space between Notes and the chapter when the fic is downloaded), but after a chapter or two I realise it's going to happen each time and skim-read the beginning of the chapter until the actual story restarts. And I certainly wouldn't dare suggest to an author that her notes are annoying me. It's her story and she can lay it out any way she wants.

TornadoAli · February 2, 2016 4:05 pm

Well yeah, I would never complain to anyone specifically, because you are right, it's THEIR story and I'm the one who's lucky to get to read it. They had the balls to write something and share it with us, which never fails to impress me! I dunno, I guess I'm just gripe-y

Schmiezi · February 3, 2016 5:17 am

Thank you for your post, Ariane. It made the fanfic writer inside me really happy.

What I love about AO3 and fanfic.net BTW is that usually, your fics are treated really nice. If people don't like it, they just don't comment. And when someone does comment a fic in a mean way, there are other readers who react immedeately. Posting your fic is always something very personal that requires some courage for many writers, and I feel like those communities apprechiate that.

Last edited by Schmiezi (February 3, 2016 5:20 am)

nakahara · February 3, 2016 11:09 pm

It bugs me, that from 2016, my favourite fanfic writer beautifulfiction no longer writes Sherlock fics...

I´m devastated.

TornadoAli · February 3, 2016 11:18 pm

I read that too

nakahara · February 3, 2016 11:23 pm

Her idea of Sherlock and John ad their relationship perfectly matched mine... and she wrote excellent long fics with all plot-threads neatly finished... and now it´s all gone to hell.

Mothonthemantel · February 4, 2016 10:36 am

Agreed . Sherlock fandom is very lucky to have so much writing and artistic talent .
Some little things that bug me , people leaving mean or complaining comments , if they don't like don't read . And when they complain about something that's tagged
When you find awesome brilliant WIPs , and they never update or become abandoned .
When you discover Beautifulfiction no longer writes Sherlock fanfics !

TornadoAli · February 4, 2016 1:29 pm

I can't read WIP's! I get so invested in what I'm reading and then aaaaagh it's not finished! I have to wait until they are complete or else it's painful..!

And I agree, people who leave negative comments are just jerks. If you don't like it, like y'all said, stop reading and move on. Would you want people to tell you YOU'RE no good?

Vhanja · February 4, 2016 1:46 pm

What bugs me are when authors write notes fishing for compliments, like:

"I don't know what I'm doing"
"This chapter is bad"

If you don't like what you write, then don't publish it until you do.

Also, even though I understand some might like it, I don't like when the start-of-a-chapter Author Note summaries what is going to happen in that following chapter. That spoils it for me, so I quickly learn to ignore the AN until after I've read the chapter.

Harriet · February 4, 2016 6:04 pm

I can just repeat what Ariane and Schmiezi said. I don't read things I really dislike and just ignore minor issues *shrug*

Kittyhawk · February 17, 2016 10:34 am

The two things that currently bug me most are:

Authors who don't know what they are writing about, and that's not limited to fan fiction (if I have no idea how to fire a gun, why have my heroine become a crack shot in a few hours?)

Not knowing under which name fanfic authors publish other stories/books, or even if they do write professionally - though some are so good that I'm convinced they must be pros. I'd be quite willing to follow them outside fanfiction - if I could.

TornadoAli · February 17, 2016 1:09 pm

Kittyhawk wrote:
The two things that currently bug me most are:

Authors who don't know what they are writing about, and that's not limited to fan fiction (if I have no idea how to fire a gun, why have my heroine become a crack shot in a few hours?)

Not knowing under which name fanfic authors publish other stories/books, or even if they do write professionally - though some are so good that I'm convinced they must be pros. I'd be quite willing to follow them outside fanfiction - if I could.

I have a friend who was great at fanfic but as soon as she got picked up by a publisher for some of her "real" stuff she was no longer alllowed (by contract?) to write fanfic anymore. Sad loss to the fanfic community (but good job to her for getting published)!

besleybean · October 2, 2016 5:43 pm

Didn't really know where to put this, but thought I'd stick it in here.
Though it's not really a'bug' thing, I'm actually not really sure what I think about it.
Just seen a couple of fan girls on Twitter, openly discussing their Freebatch fics.
I mean I don't know if they write a platonic relationship, but I am suspecting not...

Liberty · October 2, 2016 6:55 pm

Real person fiction seems to be quite common now. (One Direction and all that ...).

besleybean · October 2, 2016 6:56 pm

Yes, is it an alarming trend?

Liberty · October 2, 2016 7:50 pm

You know, I don't know. Wikipedia has a bit about the history of it, via Shakespear and the Brontes, which makes it all seem quite innocent. These are public figures, and I tend to think of the writing as being about their public images, rather than them as real people. It does seem a bit rude, and even creepy, maybe, but to be honest, I don't think it's actually as bad as some of the things the press print about celebrities, the way they try to get an angle on them, go through their rubbish, stalk them, etc. - that seems much more disturbing to me. It makes a bit of fantasy seem pretty harmless.

besleybean · October 2, 2016 7:51 pm

Yes, I think you're right...

Schmiezi · October 2, 2016 7:56 pm

Liberty wrote:
You know, I don't know. Wikipedia has a bit about the history of it, via Shakespear and the Brontes, which makes it all seem quite innocent. These are public figures, and I tend to think of the writing as being about their public images, rather than them as real people. It does seem a bit rude, and even creepy, maybe, but to be honest, I don't think it's actually as bad as some of the things the press print about celebrities, the way they try to get an angle on them, go through their rubbish, stalk them, etc. - that seems much more disturbing to me. It makes a bit of fantasy seem pretty harmless.

I tend to agree with you. I am not into it myself and find it a bit strage, to put it mildly, but I am sure that it is written with love. That is so much more than you can say about the yellow press.

besleybean · October 2, 2016 8:00 pm

Again I agree...I had a look at the Twitter page of one of the girls and she is a genuine fan.
Full of love for both Martin and Amanda.