Postcards and yet more fannish rambling

[raven]

I don't know why it is, but size really does not matter when it comes to fanfiction. There are some stories, of course, that are monumentally long and have hundreds of thousands of reviews, and of those, some of them deserve it. But then, not everyone's cut out for writing huge long stories. Some people, ie me, can't write long stories. Admittedly, there are some people, like shipperkitten, who can't write short stories, or at least, don't seem to be able to.

But what was I saying? Yes. Seeing as monumentally long fics do tend to have a lot of reviews attached, you would think that the longer a fic is, the more reviews it has. This doesn't, however, appear to be a case of straight proportionality. It seems not to be proportional at all. If you had a graph to explain it - say you plotted one of number of against number of feedback replies/reviews, then it would just be a random scattergraph, until you reached a certain point, where the sheer amount of words would mean the reviews started keeping up proportionally.

I am suddenly reminded of my exams, where I managed to say an awful lot without actually saying anything at all. As Becca said (we had one of those long, ultimately pointless but generally happy forty-five-minute phone conversations earlier) in Chemistry, when asked to talk about steel, she elaborated on how it was made from a certain substance which she didn't specify in a certain process she didn't specify either.

In other words, I am talking complete bullshit.

But I did have a point with the feedback/length of story thing. Because, I got some feedback today, nice feedback, and it occurred to me that Glitter has got more feedback than anything else I've ever written by an astronomical margin. It's maybe a combination of factors - it's set in a large fandom, and I'm much better at the whole "I am a fanfic writer" thing now - but it's still bizarre. It definitely doesn't fit the whole length-of-story idea, because it's very short, only 1500 words, and absolute fluff at that. So I don't understand it. However, the fic of mine that up until now had receieved more feedback than any other was even shorter. That was a seven-hundred-word Stargate snippet, and for some reason I got more feedback for it than anything else. While, on the other hand, the longest fic I have ever written was also a Stargate fic, and for that, I got pretty much no feedback at all.

This entry has been completely composed of self-indulgent rambling. For that, you have my apologies. Although, I have to admit, I'm still considering applying to become one of ff.net's columnists. Is this a good idea, or should I close my mouth and never speak of it again? And does anyone have a fanfic-related issue they've always wanted showcased?

And oh, yes, one more thing I have to mention - I got a postcard! At first I thought it would be from daemongirl, but then I realised she hadn't left the country yet. The postcard turned out to be from language_idling. It was dated June 4th! Thank you, Meredith... we can now blame the postal service that the card's been in transit for a month and a half!

Comments

[shipperkitten.livejournal.com]

Admittedly, there are some people, like shipperkitten, who can't write short stories, or at least, don't seem to be able to.

Wha?
You mean I can't write? :P

[Went to Forbidden Planet today with my sister. I now own a nice Stargate (Jack, Sam, Teal'c, Jonas) poster and an equally lovely X2 poster, yey! Just need to find a space for them now... sister says she's happy if I put them in the hall!]

Re:

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I mean you can't write anything shorter than the Iliad and you know it. Glad to see you had fun in Forbidden Planet - did you see the Jesus action figure?

Re:

[shipperkitten.livejournal.com]

No, I didn't. Where was it?

And hey -- I've written more drabbles than long stories!

[language-idling.livejournal.com]

Haha... I have a Jesus action figure. It's on my wall. I am ever-so-fond of it. :)

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

[g] aol.

I love the realistic gliding action...

(But then, I have a light up Virgin Mary, too)

[language-idling.livejournal.com]

Agh! I SO want one!
The gliding action is why I didn't take him out of the package and he can't play with Gilderoy Lockhart... THe packaging was just that good.

[flickgc.livejournal.com]

I have a glow in the dark saint, as well

Yeah, mine's in the packaging still, too - you just can't beat it!

[language-idling.livejournal.com]

I've got a magnet that says "SACRED HEART AUTO LEAGUE." What makes *that* great is that it wasn't made as a joke. Funniest thing ever. I also collect awful letters to the editor from our local paper. There's usually about one a day that ties stuff like SARS, West Nile Virus, mad cow disease, STDS, plagues of grasshoppers, family breakdown, abortions, and drug problems into gay marriage, Harry Potter, abortion, legalised marijuana, the CBC, etc. etc. etc. I have still not decided whether they print them as a joke or not.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

I now wish very much that I'd kept the Formby Times main headline that ran:
"BOTTLE OF WHISKEY SHOPLIFTED FROM LOCAL SHOP"

[language-idling.livejournal.com]

Haha... that's a fabulous headline.
The headline of my favourite article (from which I grabbed that list) is "ARMAGEDDON COULD HAPPEN."

[shipperkitten.livejournal.com]

The Stargate fandom's generally bad with sending feedback -- the S/J part is the worst!

I'm off to watch X2 (downloaded) with my sister now, will you be online later?

Love Em
xx

Re:

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Well, it's later now and I'm here! I thought you liked Stargate fandom's feedback skills - if I remember rightly you used to get a tonne of the stuff!

Re:

[shipperkitten.livejournal.com]

Not a tonne, just a little bit... :) Actually I've been receiving quite a bit recently for some reason, and I haven't posted anything in months.

Ah well, all I can do on the tropical island is read, write, eat, sleep and swim (I'm not kidding!). Hopefully I'll *remember* to take something with me -- I took a load of paper but none of the unfinished stories to Spain!

Still watching X2 -- dad came home and opened his presents, had to chase Nessie and Ella round the garden for ages to make the former pass out (she's grown so much!)

I'm going to try and take Nessie to Liverpool tomorrow or Wednesday... will you be nearby on any of those days so I can briefly pass and say hello and check you're still alive(!)? :P

Dinner's ready -- I should be back 9.30 or 10-ish... :)

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

Interestingly, I think I got the most feedback on my first posted fic of any kind, but that probably had something to do with the fact that it was five chapters long and was posted on ff.net over a period of a few weeks. So, nothing conclusive there.

I think you ought to sign up to be a columnist, if you really do want to, because I would read, and that's all that matters, right? ;) I don't have any brilliant ideas as to what issues to discuss, but I'd be interested.

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

What fandom was that five chapter fic? I'm intrigued.

And I'm also flattered by your thoughts on me as a columnist. I'm really remarkably tempted. Mmmm.... *wanders off thinking about it*

[gamesiplay.livejournal.com]

The only other fandom I've ever had the guts to dip my toes into -- Les Misérables. It's a truly execrable fic, so the feedback is even more confusing (and the fic itself was probably no longer than many of my M*A*S*H fics; it just didn't hold together well, so it needed chaptering.)

Good! I don't read any of the columns over there on a regular basis, but I'd like to have a reason to.

*grins*

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

I'd love to see you as a columnist to be perfectly honest, you'd suit it :).

Also, as to the size thing, I'm totally with you. Reviews depend on way too many things. The three fics that made up about 75% of my reviews on fanfiction.net were composed of the following:
One epic (A Deepening Hatred)
One smut & angst fic (Thin Ice)
A retardedly stupid and silly and short fic (Pikachu and Mew get Married!)

So there you go :).

Re: *grins*

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

Oooh, yay! Someone wants me to be a columnist!

I will not ask about the Pikachu and Mew get Married fic.

Re: *grins*

[emerald-embers.livejournal.com]

http://www.sector-7.org/~emerald/pikachuandmewgetmarried.html

*whistles innocently and buggers off*

DAMN it took me a while to reply o.o

[language-idling.livejournal.com]

Don't blame the postal service - blame me. That only actually made it into the mail last week for so. ;)

[amchau.livejournal.com]

I'd read your column, Raven. It'd be interesting-- perhaps you could deal with the problems of being in a small fandom, like M*A*S*H, or with how you set such good challenges, or something?

In other news, a friend of mine has just written Good Omens fic-- she's a great writer, and as I know you were looking at GO fandom, I think you'd like it. see here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/pandarus/109676.html#cutid1)

[loneraven.livejournal.com]

*glomp* I love you. That's exactly it! Small fandoms versus bigger ones! I've been in two large fandoms and two relatively small ones... perfect.

And Good Omens fic? Yay! *wanders off to read*

[amchau.livejournal.com]

Yeah-- there are problems and advantages with being a big fandom, and a different set for a small fandom... it's an interesting topic. Then, in your next column, you can deal with the whole issue of how you pick a fandom-- the different things about having a good show, and a good community, and characters you like/relate to/find hot...

Hope you like the Good Omens fic. Pandarus writes good stuff in other fandoms, too-- I first met her in Buffy. Not that I'm trying to tempt you to read that, or anything.