Fandom Meta

guede_mazaka - The Fourth Wall I think the difference isn't that British drama/comedy is inherently better, but that the BBC shows I've been tuning into have a manner of delivering their 'worlds' that I like better. Watching an American soap isn't really peeking into another world so much as watching beautiful actors indulge in lots of winking at each other and at the audience. At any given moment, you know and they know that everything is artificial.

mutecornett - Crackpot fanart theories and Wraithfall devildoll kindly scanned Wraithfall, so I downloaded it out of curiosity and uh. SGA tie-in comic, how is it that you trace so obviously and yet Teyla looks like a Korean girl with her hair bleached to a brassy red in that second panel of the first page, and Rodney looks freaky and utterly unlike himself?

girliejones - TV and how it relates to writing So that got me thinking about whether when we get overloaded with the same kind of show, whether we get over the genre or whether it leads to more badly written shows getting shown (cause we all love cops/forensic/lawers/doctors/whatever this year).

sidewalk_doctor - Why does het fic get such a bad rap? This is not going to be one of those het-vs-slash circle-jerks (at least I hope not). This is partially in defense of het; partially just me wondering why it gets such a bad rap in fandom. So I'm going to take on the (unflattering) generalizations most commonly thrown at het fic and why I'm genuinely bewildered (and honestly, more than a little annoyed) by them.

amieroserotruck - The Harry Potter Machine So what's the deal? Is the Harry Potter machine so big that scholars are going to be shackled when writing about it? Why try to control this at all? Wouldn't more books of quality published about Harry Potter result in a wider audience? For those of you who are much more familiar with academic writing, has this happened before with other major texts? Or are we dealing with a whole new issue in literature and scholarship?

heresluck - LJ, fandom, and identity This post began as an attempt to think through the question: How well do people know me if they don't know about my fannish life?

My short answer is: about as well as they know me if they do know about my fannish life, although with different expertise from someone who shares my fannish life.

Specific Fandom Meta

( Cut for possible Spoilers for the Fandoms: Smallville )

On Reading, Writing and Vidding

rexluscus - Writing Tics There are a number of these things: overused words and phrases that are basically empty, and that provide an escape route from the more evocative phrase you could have used instead. Frankly, I want a list of these. I know of a few that plague my own writing, but I'm sure there are loads more that I don't even think about. Below are the ones I know offhand, plus ones that folks have suggested in the comments.

paradox_dragon - Four things that will fuck up your fic I’m currently reading On Basilisk Station, the first book in the Honor Harrington series by David Weber. It has potential but it’s amateurish, and it’s giving me a new appreciation for a lot of trite writing advice. Most fanfic makes me feel the same way. (Disclaimer: Not that I am exempt in any way, since my characters are (or have been in the past) as prone to having flashing violet eyes and strange excesses of limbs in mid-coitus as any other author’s. Not that this is porn-based, because it isn’t). Since quoting from fanfics and then posting in public would make me an asshole, I will settle for making my fannish point through original fic quotes or hypothetical fannish ones, mashed together in any old order I choose just because I can.

lapillus - How to build a vidshow After commenting that melina123 and I had had an unusually smooth time of putting the VVC Premieres show together this year several folks made inquiring noises about what all goes into our planning. It was an interesting question and I figured that it wouldn't hurt to share the accumulated fannish wisdom that we've acquired on the topic.

Links, Polls, Questions, etc

cala_jane - Fics vs Icons It's a real comment!war. Both, fics and icons, are ultimately about comments. Comments give away whatever the public liked what you did. Comments tell you which icon/fic is more popular. Please notice I say popular, not better.

calanthe_fics - Constructive criticism - your views needed! Whilst researching and writing For Beta, For Worse – Marriage guidance advice for authors and betas, I started to think seriously about constructive criticism (concrit), and what it actually is, as well as how to make it more palatable to give and receive. I did some research and turned up next to nothing online (at least, not fanfic-specific examples) about how to give concrit, and so I decided to try and tackle the sticky issue myself!

This is where you come in.

smittywing - [untitled] Even though I should be writing, my brain keeps flipping around the latest permission kerfluffle and while I have my own opinions on all that, I'm aware that my perspective is slightly skewed because (there is no way to not make this sound egotistical, is there?) a lot of people have asked to write in universes I've created.
I started a meta but then couldn't figure out what my point was, so I decided to do what I always do: Collect more data.

hafren - what's the market? Maybe this isn't as theoretical as it should be, (I don't usually post because I can't talk Lit Crit English) but I was fascinated to read that Sybaritic Press, whoever they are, wanted to publish a slash anthology because as soon as I thought about it, I realised it didn't seem to make any sense to me. Why would a Sparrington fan want to read Buffy, just because it's the same genre? Which raises the question: is it a genre we're talking about?

lothy - [untitled] Over the summer, I've posted quite a lot of meta and discussion pieces at my LJ, and participated in other people's, mainly (though not solely) talking about what fiction people like, and why they like it. So I thought I'd do something similar with slavefics.

telesilla - Questions about feedback What is the best thing someone can say to you about a story?

On the other hand, what kind of feedback makes you grit your teeth and remind yourself that the person undoubtedly meant well even though you find whatever they said to be irritating?

grrliz - because I like him mean and caustic Today is a good day on my flist for a variety of reasons, not the least because it's inspired me to present a game called:
The Worst "Grasping At Straws" Snape Theories You've Ever Heard