What erks you in fandom???

[alexajaye]

I don't know if this seems backward or not, but when I get ideas for stories, the first thing I do is pick names for my characters. I can't explain it, but I can't write a synopsis or an outline if I don't know their names first. And I try to do it in the simplest ways. Like, I try not to pick names that are already overly popular, and I try not to use the same names for different characters even if I really like the name.

Naming characters is a lot like naming your children. You can either pick one out for them when you find out what they're going to be, or you can wait until they show up to pick a name you think suits them.

I didn't have that luxury as a baby. My parents weren't expecting me, and by the time I was born, my sister already had the good name. Not that I don't like my name. There aren't that many people in the world with it. So, I guess it kind of makes me unique, but sometimes, it's not about being unique. It's about being accepted.

But I digress. The last time I picked names for characters who weren't in a FanFic, I did it the old-fashioned way -- I looked through a name book and wrote down whatever stood out to me. Ana, Eva, Bella --- Those are all the same. I pick names that aren't always used so that maybe my characters will stand out.

At least, I hope they will.

[WithMe92]

I love drabble fics but it seems very few people can do them right - and by right I mean actually have a flowing story and not just 100 words that seem more like spark notes on a chapter.


I hate when people go into a story already hating certain characters. Every fic should be a blank slate so people need to check their hate for Bella, Tanya, Jacob...etc at the door until the character actually does something to warrant it. It's so annoying. Mike just says hi to Bella in a story and he's like public enemy number 1.

[Ylva]

Speaking of names. When I watched SWATH, it occurred to be how incredibly sad it must be to be named for your skin color.

As for criminalizing Mike, when Bella thinks he or somebody else is awful because of nothing in particular - just not being Cullen in general - I decide that it says more about how awful Bella is for that fic, and at most something about how nice Mike or whoever is, and end up not reading it because if I can't even relate to at least one of the main characters, it's just a waste of time.

[alexajaye]

This happens in a lot of stories that I read, especially ones where Bella and Edward aren't together when the story starts. The author has to find some kind of conflict or obstacle to put in front of them, and it's almost always either Tanya, Jacob, Mike --- sometimes even Carlisle. I'm reading a story now that did this in a weird way by making Tanya out to be a slut that screwed everything that moved, because, and I quote, that's what she was in the books (a succubus). It kind of tainted the way I read the story, but after a little while, when the author didn't follow up with the behavior to match, it no longer registered, so that when Tanya did actually show up and acted like a nice person, I was a little stunned.

But in the book, a lot of Bella's thoughts and feelings toward the townspeople is tainted before she even gets there. At the beginning of Twilight, she even says, "I detest Forks." So anyone there, with the exception of the Cullens, would've fallen short in her eyes.

It doesn't surprise me that a lot of authors tend to take their prejudices out on certain characters when they write. They think it's normal. It's just sad, because once I've read this, it tarnishes the way I might have enjoyed the story in the first place.

[WithMe92]

I hate when writers with the worst track records of updating or abandoning stories beg for people to go read their new stories. I do read WIPs but with people that I know are known to just up and leave stories I always play it safe and wait until the story is finished no matter how appealing it is to me.

[dazzled eyes22]

I hate when writers with the worst track records of updating or abandoning stories beg for people to go read their new stories. I do read WIPs but with people that I know are known to just up and leave stories I always play it safe and wait until the story is finished no matter how appealing it is to me.

Oh, how I hate this!

It is also annoying when those same writers rush through updating one of the stories that they haven't been updating in years and go all OOC in closing the story, so they can post that new story. It's like they don't care about that older story anymore because they are on to something new, but need to show they can finish something.

[Rachissy]

I hate when writers with the worst track records of updating or abandoning stories beg for people to go read their new stories. I do read WIPs but with people that I know are known to just up and leave stories I always play it safe and wait until the story is finished no matter how appealing it is to me.

Oh, how I hate this!

It is also annoying when those same writers rush through updating one of the stories that they haven't been updating in years and go all OOC in closing the story, so they can post that new story. It's like they don't care about that older story anymore because they are on to something new, but need to show they can finish something.

Oh this 100%. Like Bella and Edward aren't together, are mad or whatever and then all in one hurried chapter they get over their shit, get together (or back together) get married and live happily ever after. So irritating. I don't want to get whiplash when your story changes direction abruptly just because you're ready to move on. Maybe your readers aren't. Show us some respect and write the chapters necessary to give your story a thoughtful ending.

I think some have a distorted view of the author-reader relationship. Readers are not there just to feed your ego. Sure, fanfic is free but your readers are your customers. They've given you their time and attention and they deserve better.

[sandstone]

I completely agree with you. Readers are the ''customers''.

I also hate , when a author has a pascionate dislike for a character , and wrights a story. It is as if , the author is venting what they don't like about the character or characters , instead of writing a creative plotline.

[jujubakiller]

I know this has already been mentioned, and probably by me too! But I just have to say it again!
God, I hate fics that start really well, but then the author starts to stretch it SO MUCH that it becomes booooring! Right now I'm reading one of those. The story has an interesting plot, and I'm still curiou to see how things will progress, but there's only so much I can take. Let's see how long my curiosity will last.

[Sylvianna]

but then the author starts to stretch it SO MUCH that it becomes booooring!

I do to, but not as much as those authors who stretch the end SO MUCH that it becomes extremely boring. I mean, call me old-school or whatever, but I don't like 30 chapters stories where everything is sorted out in 15 chapters and the other half is fluff and porn. I think having a conclusion to your plot in chapter 28 out of 30 is more than reasonable... Leaves you 2 chapters for fluff and porn which is just right!