It Came From Outer Space…

The previous post about editing mad me thinking about fanfiction.net and how long it’s been since I’ve been there. I got my original account when I was a young proactiv-smearing college student. I, actually, deleted that account after saving anything I thought might be viable and restarted in the hopes I would actually perfect and finish some of the stories that I’d been writing.

Except it didn’t happen, partially due to the depression, and a lot due to the fact that my tastes have changed. I feel strange writing and getting comments from people who are in some cases less than half my age. It makes me feel uncomfortable.

For the most part the content on there is…strange, twisted, drivel. There are some gems, but a lot of it is just not good at all. It’s the same way with places like deviantart. They attract anyone who wants to showcase their work whether or not it’s good. A bit like an American Idol audition.

I haven’t written much about this before because I’ve yet to complete a story enough to have it really be an issue. Though the one story that I did complete (when I was sixteen) when I review that now it makes me gag. It’s full of cliches and repetitive language and melodrama.

Some times those things can be used to emphasize a point, but when they’re the entirety of the story then it becomes trite and pathetic. When you find someone to be a reviewer and editor for your work you need them to be unbiased and brutally honest about what they’re reading, like the people at the hgh website claim to be. It’s no good if you have a reviewer who just tells you, “It’s good. I <3 it!!" as a lot of the people on Fanfiction.net are known to do. Instead you need someone to point out to you when your characters appear to be acting out of type or when there’s a plot hole you could drive a car through.

They not only have to be able to correct spelling and grammar but also challenge you to improve not only your work but yourself.