Lemming, that's me

[katallison]

There's something rather paradoxical about following the crowd under the banner of posting unpopular opinions, isn't there? In any event --

1. musesfool said this first, but I'll endorse it: humor is much harder to write well than tragedy, angst, etc. (You will notice that I do not write humor. My mama may have raised a lazy child, but she raised no fool.)

2. Just because fan A, whom you don't know from Adam, posted criticism of a story by your good buddy fan B, or publicly disagreed with her, does not mean you are obligated by the laws of friendship to rain down anathema upon fan A's head, post nasty comments in her LJ, or bad-mouth her throughout fandom. You are not doing your friend a favor by acting this way; you're making her look bad.

3. It is entirely possible to have no opinion or strong feelings whatsoever about RPS one way or the other.

4. While having a story beta-read is in general a good idea, it is not always necessary. Some of the finest stories I've read in fanfiction have been entirely unbeta'd.

5. Slash stories do not need to have any sexual content whatsoever. Nor is explicit sex necessary to create an atmosphere of skin-shivering bone-melting erotic tension; in fact, the former can often work against the latter.

6. There are people whose idea of fun is having analytical, theoretical, meta-type discussion. The fact that they enjoy this in no way whatsoever affects your ability to have fun in other ways. They are not engaging in these discussions merely to make you feel bad. They are just having fun, and it is truly no skin off your nose.

7. The fact that someone has a big name in fandom does not mean that she is ipso facto an egomaniacal diva.

8. The people who write the episodes can make mistakes in characterization (to say nothing of continuity), just as fan writers can. Just because something happened on the show does not obligate you to treat it as holy-writ immutable canon.

9. Bad fiction may be displeasing to me, may make me unhappy, but it is not morally wrong or evil. I have yet to be convinced that bad writing actually *hurts* anyone. There is no moral onus upon me to condemn it, mock it, or do anything whatsoever about it.

10. In general, fandom tends to overvalue clever snark and to undervalue compassion.

Comments

[sdwolfpup.livejournal.com]

You don't know me (I stumbled here through a friend's friend's friend's list), but I felt compelled to comment about your #10, to which I just can not give a big enough round of applause. In fact, I agree with all of them, but #10 was what moved me to reply and say "You have it right."

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Well, thanks very much, and it's a pleasure to meet you here! I was actually going to fiddle with #10 a bit, qualify it or dress it up or something, but I had to run catch a bus, and so I just hit "send," and ... yeah, on balance I guess I can live with it. *g*

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

You do try to live by it, and that's one of the things I admire about you.

[destina.livejournal.com]

While having a story beta-read is in general a good idea, it is not always necessary. Some of the finest stories I've read in fanfiction have been entirely unbeta'd.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, Kat. It so totally depends on the writer. In 99.9% of cases, I'd say a story can't be hurt, and can possibly only be improved, by a beta. Even if it's just to weed out the typos.

Number 10 is my favorite on your list, tho. Most definitely.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Oh, no question that getting someone to read a story over is almost never harmful and almost always helpful. But there's, like, this article of faith in fandom, it's like a moral imperative, that if you *don't* use a beta you are a bad, bad, writer who doesn't care about her work. Which I don't think is always the case.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

A big WORD to 2 and 6 (and 1, obviously. *g*) and 10, especially.

[the-star-fish.livejournal.com]

Yet another reason (or ten) why I'm your minion.

[beledibabe.livejournal.com]

And I'm your minion's minion.

::snapping off a crisp salute while wriggling and panting::

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

If I wasn't already Sockkpuppett's minion, I would so be minioning for Kat.

[shayheyred.livejournal.com]

minion's minion
Don't know why, but that sounds like Gerard Manley Hopkins. Or maybe an outtake from "Hamlet" -
Hamlet, I am thy minion's minion,
Doomed for a certain term to walk the night..."

Okay. Going to bed.

Excellent points, Kat. Though I am somewhat fond of snark, notwithstanding.

Dang....

[(Anonymous)]

...but it's a world of tiny coincidences! I was just re-reading "I caught this morning morning's minion,Kingdom of daylight's dauphin, Dapple-dawn-drawn falcon..." having seen two dapple-dawn-drawn falcons in the bell tower this morning. And then I bop over here for a five-minute nice-writing break, and bing! Minions plus Hopkins. Love it. Happy Thursday, all.

--Catherine the no-journal lurker

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Catherine, any comment referencing Hopkins brings me great joy! And by the way, if you have any interest in jumping into the roiling waters of LJ, I can give you a code--just e-mail me (address in user info).

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

"Bad fiction may be displeasing to me, may make me unhappy, but it is not morally wrong or evil. I have yet to be convinced that bad writing actually *hurts* anyone."

Well, there was that time a hardcover copy of Sweet Savage Love fell off a bookshelf and knocked me unconscious, but...

[katallison.livejournal.com]

::drawing self up:: Am I to understand that you cast aspersions upon the literary brilliance, the pellucid prose, the artistic masterpiece that is Sweet Savage Love?? Pistols at dawn, madame!

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

*shoots Kat with BANG-flag pop gun* Hey, that was my goddamned Unpopular Opinion #1, wench!

[katallison.livejournal.com]

No, see, it goes like this:
*I* have unpopular opinions;
*you* are, despite your many admirable qualities, just plain wrong;
*she* is raving batshit crazy.

[violetisblue.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, the old Rule of Three. Unrecognized Ahead-of-Its-Time Masterwork; Cult Favorite; Straight to Video Schlock.

[batdina.livejournal.com]

#10 gets you dinner at escapade with me and tzikeh.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Yay! And yum! (Although I must say, the last time I had dinner with Tzikeh, I ended up laughing so hard I almost choked to death on my pasta over the Strange Tale of Her Encounter With the Amorous Nobel Laureate.)

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

4. While having a story beta-read is in general a good idea, it is not always necessary. Some of the finest stories I've read in fanfiction have been entirely unbeta'd.

Except that for 99.9 (as Des said above) people, it's not just a good idea, it's a necessity. Sometimes, even that doesn't help. While I don't find a badly written story morally wrong or evil, it is a waste of my time. And I have little enough of it.

And #10 is so incredibly true. It's sad that it should be that true.

[resonant8.livejournal.com]

8. The people who write the episodes can make mistakes in characterization (to say nothing of continuity), just as fan writers can. Just because something happened on the show does not obligate you to treat it as holy-writ immutable canon.

Ooh. Well put. Sometimes TPTB place other things above characterization (even the Due South writers weren't above bending characterization for a cheap laugh now and then, and Due South was an extraordinarily intelligent show), and sometimes they're forced to do things for reasons outside the world of the show (contract negotions, pregnant actresses, prime-time-show pacing). And sometimes they just plain get things wrong.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

even the Due South writers weren't above bending characterization for a cheap laugh now and then

True, that, and it always makes me grind my teeth. There's quirky charming inconsistency, and then there's stuff that's just stoopid. Thank god for the fast-forward button . . .

[caille.livejournal.com]

5. Slash stories do not need to have any sexual content whatsoever. Nor is explicit sex necessary to create an atmosphere of skin-shivering bone-melting erotic tension; in fact, the former can often work against the latter.

Ooh, so so right. In an on-line discussion a few months ago, someone (a very smart someone who is neat and fun and a Good Person) wondered if slash would be slash without the "money shot".

I said yes, and then I did a little thebratqueen exercise (except she hadn't written her post yet) suggesting that the Pride and Prejudice scene, toward the end, could be rewritten slashily, with much yummy implied sexuality. That's the scene in which Darcy and Elizabeth are walking down the lane, with sisters and friends frolicking around them, and the two talk...and declare themselves to each other. Such an exquisite moment. After they say the important things, they keep walking, but their shoulders touch, and it is so very damn sexy, with not one single item of clothing out of place.

I can totally imagine a slashy counterpart. A story can rock and roll even if the lube never once makes an appearance. Story, story, story.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Sorry for late reply, but I just wanted to say oh yes, yes, yes to your Elizabeth & Darcy scenario--beautifully stated. There's so much intensity and heat in implication, understatement, allusion, when well handled.

[alexfandra.livejournal.com]

I was having trouble writing my 10 unpopular opinions, and then you came along and wrote them for me! all 10! Thank you!

I'm especially fond of 4, 5, 6 and 9. Some writers are just plain better/more experienced and need little more than a good copy-edit. I've also been through enough workshops to see good stories made worse by a bad edit, and to see good writers frozen in their tracks by misguided comments.

And a big huge "thumbs up" to slash not needing sex scenes. I read for the emotional content, the characterization, the story -- which for me are often interrupted by poorly written sex scenes.

Actually, I can't choose favorites -- all ten are great!

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Hey, thank you so much, and I'm sorry I'm so late in saying that! And re: your second paragraph -- it's frustrating, because sex scenes can absolutely do wonders to build emotional content, characterization, story, except so often they--just don't, alas. But when they do--well, that's part of what keeps me reading slash, of course. *g*

[ardent-muses.livejournal.com]

I think you're selling yourself short on number one, but otherwise I would agree with all of these.

Number ten though, now that's a statement worth repeating. :)

[flambeau.livejournal.com]

The fact that someone has a big name in fandom does not mean that she is ipso facto an egomaniacal diva.

You don't fool me, you egomaniacal diva, you. *mwah*

And oh man, #10. It is so very tempting always to try to be snarkier and more ironically detached than the next fan.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Heh. I almost appended a "(prime example: torch)" onto #7, but wasn't sure if you'd want to be made an example of, even in a lovingly-applauding kind of way.

It is so very tempting always to try to be snarkier and more ironically detached than the next fan.

And man, do I fall victim to that temptation from time to time. I've gotten a *little* better at catching myself before I hit the "send" button, is all.

[amand-r.livejournal.com]

I'm very bad with meta, which is something I have just decided I should admit to myself, and I have been feeling rather down that I can't even contribute to fandom in that way anymore. But this post made me feel better, as I was awake for an hour last night, wondering why it was so much easier for me to write fic when I didn't ever read anyone's blog or meta, not even on mailing lists. I always somehow feel inept or stupid now if I can't manage to communicate what I want to say (case in point: this post).

So perhaps I'll just go back to writing fic, because that always was the best medium for me, and leave the fandom meta to absolutely wonderful people like you. Or I'll just start talking in metaphors, like that race of aliens in Star Trek.

Love ya.

[katallison.livejournal.com]

Love ya right back, you glorious nut, and I'm so delighted to see you here! I figure meta is something people should do *only* if it revs their engines (just like, well, any other kind of writing, really). It's a parlor game, and being facile at it doesn't mean "I am smrt!" any more than being good at any other kinds of wordplay. (I actually feel quite lame at meta, since I lost all my deeper academic brainpower about fifteen years ago, but I can blather plausibly, that being a skill one picks up in grad school.)

And more fiction from you would be a great goodness and blessing. I still have "Heat Goes to Cold" enshrined in my all-time pantheon of Stories That Make Me Gnash My Teeth With Envy. Which I do, every time I reread it, which is often.