Nekosmuse is my new god.

[icarus]

amethyst_lupin pointed me in the direction of a great meta by nekosmuse The Ten Commandments of Fanfiction.

Thou shalt never use epithets. Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou. If I never see Draco referred to 'the blond' or Ron called 'the redhead' again, it will be too soon.

Thou shalt use warnings. Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou. I cracked open a fic the other day and halfway through it - Surprise! - was the rape scene. Ack. I still have that unpleasant image in my mind, and I'm glaring at author and never want to read them again.

I shalt not spoil the rest. Enjoy!

Comments

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I came across a story recently where all the facts presented in the story misled me. It deliberately led me to specific assumptions - and then the writer revealed their denouement. I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth. I did not feel the writer was clever, I felt deceived.
I would like to be clearer about this. What you described seems akin to the sort of thing that would be regarded as a triumph in detective fiction, and that is the strength of Agatha Christie. Have you ever read her better novels? I ask because I would like to know in what way features that make her work so satisfying appear, in this experience, so disappointing. Where is the difference? I am really interested to know.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Bear in mind it's 3am here, but hopefully my answer will be coherent.

Different genres set the reader up for different expectations. In mystery, the reader knows they're supposed to hunt down clues, and they take great satisfaction in cleverly disguised hints and a plot they couldn't figure untangle.

In other genres such as romance, we expect to be able to trust the writer, so we take what they tell us at face value. So we feel like fools when the writer's sneaky.

It's interesting the cues that the writer uses to indicate the genre and set up the expectations of the reader.

Icarus

[fpb.livejournal.com]

Oh. Good night. Have a decent rest. You shouldn't have stayed up this long only to answer me!