What erks you in fandom???

[Ylva]

I have found a reasonably dependable method. I go to the fanfic recommendations on tvtropes.org.

That site demands a certain standard, and you're allowed to review the recommendations, so you would quickly figure out which reviews are reliable and/or written by someone with similar fanfic preferences as yourself.

[alexajaye]

Anyway, I look forward to someone suggesting a new method that I can try. In the meantime, I'm reading chapter 3 of your Broken Arrow fic. Looks good but allow me to read some more before I give you you some feedback.

Hey, take all the time you need. If you find something that needs work, let me know.

I, too, have immense difficulty finding good stories that start out good, stay good, and don't disappointment when I'm so invested in the outcome that is pointing in a good direction.

My method is simple for me, but can sometimes fail me, since I tend to read the first few chapters and get a feel for it before I decide if it's worth my time. More than half the time, this works for me, because most stories I read tend to get better. The bad things don't outweigh the good things.

Reading a good story with a few bad qualities is, I think, par for the course when reading any kind of fiction, not just fan fiction. I've discovered this reading suspense thrillers and historical romance novels. There's going to be something unsavory that happens to bring the two main protagonists together, but as I said before, there's a limit to what I'll read for the sake of the story.

There's realism, and then there's torture.

Going through favorites lists and randomly searching seem to be the one key to keeping it fair. I've heard of a lot of authors who only read stories with so many reviews. I think this is why they call it a vicious cycle. I'm trying to break it, but it's not easy.

So I guess we'll just have to continually take a leap of faith that the author isn't leading us down a dark path from which there's no escape.

When I have a better method, I'll be sure to let you know.

[RebeccaMatthews]

I've pretty much stopped reading new fic's unless they are something that the select few on my author alert has posted. Or have rec'ed by them and I check it out.

I like angst stories, but there are thing's that make me very uncomfortable and I'll generally avoid reading them, like rape fic's or those that including them as part of the main story with no warning so it can be avoided. I've only read a handful of stories that have dealt with rape, and have done so in a decent manner. I mean, on fic's entire plot rested on the character being raped, but the author never posted anything about the actual event in the fic. That was left as a outtake, and could be skipped if wanted.

[jujubakiller]

What kind of things does Bella do? Why do some of the readers feel violated?

Well, there's no pretty way to say it, but because she's homeless and needs money, she agrees to have sex with a man who's going to pay a lot of money for it, and the man ends up raping her brutally.

And all this is after she's met Edward, his family, gotten her best friend back, and even learned that her parents left her the house she grew up in when they died while she was in college.

And nearly everyone who didn't say it was too much praised the author for writing about such a touchy subject when few other authors would dare broach the subject at all.

I started reading this story. But I quit before this chapter, and I'm glad I did. Because for me the things that had already happened were bad enough. I was already wondering how this story could have at least a hopeful ending, because I was sure there couldn't be a happy ending with the way Bella was acting and thinking. So I decided I didn't need to keep reading something that made me feel so bad.

[alexajaye]

I started reading this story. But I quit before this chapter, and I'm glad I did. Because for me the things that had already happened were bad enough. I was already wondering how this story could have at least a hopeful ending, because I was sure there couldn't be a happy ending with the way Bella was acting and thinking. So I decided I didn't need to keep reading something that made me feel so bad.

I wish I had stopped. But once I realized what was about to happen, I skipped over a lot of it. I'm still trying to get a lot of it out of my head.

[Totoro]

Stories with the same title.

Be original for once, for God's sake and ours.

There are AT LEAST 4 "You found Me"'s on Twilghted alone.

[alexajaye]

Stories with the same title.

Be original for once, for God's sake and ours.

There are AT LEAST 4 "You found Me"'s on Twilghted alone.

This is increasingly a probably on FanFiction, although a lot of times, it has to do with song titles and song fics.

I sometimes search for titles on FanFiction just to make sure the one I picked is either not used at all or used very little. I've had a little success with it, but sometimes, it blows up in my face.

[WithMe92]

I hate authors that falsely accuse others of ripping their stories off when they all they have in common is a similar storyline. Especially when they themselves say they were inspired by a certain song/book/movie...etc it could very well mean that the other person was as well.

One time there was this cute little fluffy one-shot that was part of a contest that had a ton of requirements (like the plot, the characters, the situation, and word limit were all set) and the writer took it down after another author started to get her readers to harass her and calling her plagiarist.

[Totoro]

I probably shouldn't be saying this but that actually happened to me a while back when I first came into this fandom. I remember finishing up my story and being so proud because I won an Indie Award for best comedy and then sure enough, someone accused me of copying their favorite author's idea.

That's right, the author didn't even accuse me at first. A reader did.

I still hold a little grudge about that 4 years later


I agree though. When it's actually been plagiarized, people will know.

[Sylvianna]

That's right, the author didn't even accuse me at first. A reader did.

The Twifandom, don't you love it?