Does this happen for anyone else?

[liz_marcs]

You see a fanfic with potential, but it's got a big grammar problem.

You politely point out grammar problem to writer.

Writer says there's a reason for it.

You politely explain that there are other ways to accomplish what they think they're accomplishing and that this grammar problem will drive away potential readers.

Writer pulls the "well, as fanfic writers and professional writers, we do things for art..." card.

In this not-so-hypothetical situation, my response always tends to be as follows:

• Grit teeth
  
  
• Refrain from pointing out that I actually am a professional writer who's been paid for her output since high school and that I damn well know what I'm talking about
  
  
• Physically sit on hands to prevent myself from typing just that
  

Yeah...

I just don't get it when people pull that card. I really don't. Especially since no one really knows who they're talking to when they say something that condescending in a response. For all the correspondent knows, the person pointing out the problem could be a NYT Best Selling Author hiding behind a Nom de Internet.

Granted, I'm not a NYT Best Selling Author, but I'm most certainly have been and am currently being published in various venues and media.

Jesus. I wouldn't pull that card on someone online, especially over fanfic.

I suppose that's why it annoys the fuck out of me when someone pulls it on me. It's like this big red, shiny button that too many people like to press over the stupidest shit.

And because I don't want to start wank, I have to get up and walk away from the computer for 5 minutes.

Thank you for letting me vent, y'all.

Comments

[twistedchick]

Yes, it happens, which is one reason I wrote today's post.) If I hadn't written that post, I would undoubtedly be making exactly the same kind of point in comments on assorted posts, and when challenged would be pointing at my 20+ years of professional writing and two Associated Press awards and being furious at being blown off over it.

[liz_marcs]

It's something in the water, isn't it?

There has to be something in the water causing this fuckery.

In this case, I came across a fic where the writer had a character that was a child, and this child's dialogue was written in (get this) all lower case. No capital letters. At all.

I'm utterly boggled by it.

[twistedchick]

I think it's in the air. It was *very* steamy when I was walking early this morning, so that when I stopped in the shade my glasses steamed up. Who knows what's in that steam?

[stewardess]

In this case, I came across a fic where the writer had a character that was a child, and this child's dialogue was written in (get this) all lower case. No capital letters. At all.

Because a child doesn't know how to capitalize? So then the dialog should also have typos, right? Or perhaps represented only as "------" because the child is too short to reach the computer keys. w00t! stylistic flourish!

*head desk*

[guiltyred]

maybe the child was the reincarnation of e. e. cummings...

[ardath_rekha]

Augh. Yes.

I've gone pro, too, although I'm still seriously small-fry at this point. But it amazes and infuriates me when people do that, even if they don't need to write to spec.

After all, the point is to communicate something specific to readers, right? So, if you're told that the technique you used was unsuccessful, why defend it? It didn't work. If you're serious about wanting to communicate a specific message to your readers, making it work should matter. If you don't care that your jokes are falling flat, and people are finding humor where you didn't intend it, fine, but at least admit it's laziness rather than artistry. (This is, of course, a generic "you," since we're both in the same choir here.)

It's also why I frequently want to bitchslap people who pull out the "you're interrogating the text from the wrong perspective" line... once your writing's out there, you have no control over what perspective people bring to it, so if you left it looking like crap from certain perspectives (like, for instance, the people who are actually experts in the field you only did desultory research about), that's nobody's fault but yours.

[callmesandyk]

I am writing a story from the third limited POV of a character who in canon speaks generally flawless English with small word mistakes in relation to slang to indicate she is not a native speaker. So I included the kind of mistake she generally made in one part (made ON instead of made UP). I am totally bracing myself for people correcting me, though I can at least say "deliberate! canon!" It was very hard for me to type, though.

[hendrikboom]

I find I write in complete sentences, with occasional sentence fragments. If there's any pattern, I suspect I use the sentence fragments for some kind of emphasis when I'm really deeply into one character's POV.

My mother-in-law, who used to be a teacher, always complains about the sentence fragments. I find myself wondering whether she's right, and I should avoid them like the plague.

-- hendrik

[red_sunflower]

As a fanfic reader I dread when grammar is not a priority. English is not my first language and for me reading also has an educational value.

When something like this happens I don't read further, no matter how incredible the plot is.

[krait]

I'd be gritting my teeth, too!

That said, my second thought (after "grrr!") was, 'Well, I'd rather have the it's-my-Great-Art card played than the hey-it's-only-fanfic card.' THAT one causes steam to leak out my ears.