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reenkait seems to me that i have an Issue to top all issues (in stories). it seems to hammer itself into my brain, making me mumble incoherently ("gah, gah, not -that-, no, noooooo").
in fanfiction it's worse, because in original fic you can pretty much say anything (suuuure, his hair is green, he's only afraid of rabbits, and he really wants that blond girl to bite him, okay).
anyway, the issue is when something is directly explained.
why do people do this? why god, why??!? *cries* whyyyyyyyyy.
and yet. and yet.
in original fic, this may be considered fine unless you are doing what is called an "information dump" in sci-fi anyway. you can say whatever you want, as long as it doesn't drag on and it's spicy commentary and exposition rather than sounding like your worst comp lit lecture in recent memory. "and this is why character X came to love character Z... forthwith, we will refer to their Great T00by Eternal Lurve thusly..."
maybe i'm just ornery (and yes, i am ornery). but it seems to me that if you -say- why this-and-that happened and how (even worse) this character understands above event (and character X realized the Truth and it didn't set him free, amen)-- then you're hemming yourself in. you're setting boundaries-- which is fine, in an original fic (though not my preferred mode and in fact i've disliked books very strongly on this basis), but in a fanfiction, you're setting yourself up.
an information dump in original fic just annoys me because i feel my suspension of disbelief is being assaulted and i'm being reminded this is merely a story and here are the rules to play the game, thus i can't lose myself in it. plus the information is very often lame and stilted (moreso than visually descriptive prose or dialogue, but what am i saying, information dumps are one of the hallmarks of bad writing in general). but. in fanfiction, if you're going to go around making statements about characters, something even -worse- can happen.
i can decide you're wrong. and what more disconcerting feeling can there be? reading along, and then, boom! the sudden urge to rewrite or beta the story, yelling at the writer to stop it with the propaganda. because, there they are, the narrator, telling me what they think and what their stand is, on that character (even if thinly disguised as the character's opinion). how offensive is that? if i want to know what you think (you, the writer), i can read your foreword, your author's notes, anything.
gah. it doesn't even matter if it's "correct"-- ie, canonically plausible. unless it's directly stated in -canon- (ie, "by the way, the only thing malfoy was afraid of was being helpless and fear itself"), it's interpretation to say as much. and if you present it as blunt truth, you almost invite the reader to disagree. (although truthfully, explaining the motivations and feelings tied to some plot-point you created yourself invites similar problems-- you may have defined the issues, but the reader may still disagree on interpretation if you're blunt about it).
people ask me why i read the fics i read, considering i have such strong opinions on characters. the answer is, i suspend my disbelief and i do it much easier than a lot of other people.
but what am i supposed to do, if i don't believe that malfoy is only afraid of being afraid, for example? what if i strongly believe that malfoy is a cowardly little ferret? for instance, anyway. why does the author force me to remember this? i would've been quite happy reading the story if it -hinted- or somehow had the character say it in dialogue or something. but when you, as the omniscient writer, deign to rain down upon me, i feel... somewhat resentful. go away, omniscient all-knowing person. go away. leave me with draco and go away, i say. i don't want you! i don't need you! i don't love you! YOU SUCK, MAJORLY WRONG OMNISCIENT NARRATOR!!
*tries to look mature and fails*
and yes, i -will- hound you about it if i ever beta for you, oh yes ;)
in fanfiction it's worse, because in original fic you can pretty much say anything (suuuure, his hair is green, he's only afraid of rabbits, and he really wants that blond girl to bite him, okay).
anyway, the issue is when something is directly explained.
why do people do this? why god, why??!? *cries* whyyyyyyyyy.
and yet. and yet.
in original fic, this may be considered fine unless you are doing what is called an "information dump" in sci-fi anyway. you can say whatever you want, as long as it doesn't drag on and it's spicy commentary and exposition rather than sounding like your worst comp lit lecture in recent memory. "and this is why character X came to love character Z... forthwith, we will refer to their Great T00by Eternal Lurve thusly..."
maybe i'm just ornery (and yes, i am ornery). but it seems to me that if you -say- why this-and-that happened and how (even worse) this character understands above event (and character X realized the Truth and it didn't set him free, amen)-- then you're hemming yourself in. you're setting boundaries-- which is fine, in an original fic (though not my preferred mode and in fact i've disliked books very strongly on this basis), but in a fanfiction, you're setting yourself up.
an information dump in original fic just annoys me because i feel my suspension of disbelief is being assaulted and i'm being reminded this is merely a story and here are the rules to play the game, thus i can't lose myself in it. plus the information is very often lame and stilted (moreso than visually descriptive prose or dialogue, but what am i saying, information dumps are one of the hallmarks of bad writing in general). but. in fanfiction, if you're going to go around making statements about characters, something even -worse- can happen.
i can decide you're wrong. and what more disconcerting feeling can there be? reading along, and then, boom! the sudden urge to rewrite or beta the story, yelling at the writer to stop it with the propaganda. because, there they are, the narrator, telling me what they think and what their stand is, on that character (even if thinly disguised as the character's opinion). how offensive is that? if i want to know what you think (you, the writer), i can read your foreword, your author's notes, anything.
gah. it doesn't even matter if it's "correct"-- ie, canonically plausible. unless it's directly stated in -canon- (ie, "by the way, the only thing malfoy was afraid of was being helpless and fear itself"), it's interpretation to say as much. and if you present it as blunt truth, you almost invite the reader to disagree. (although truthfully, explaining the motivations and feelings tied to some plot-point you created yourself invites similar problems-- you may have defined the issues, but the reader may still disagree on interpretation if you're blunt about it).
people ask me why i read the fics i read, considering i have such strong opinions on characters. the answer is, i suspend my disbelief and i do it much easier than a lot of other people.
but what am i supposed to do, if i don't believe that malfoy is only afraid of being afraid, for example? what if i strongly believe that malfoy is a cowardly little ferret? for instance, anyway. why does the author force me to remember this? i would've been quite happy reading the story if it -hinted- or somehow had the character say it in dialogue or something. but when you, as the omniscient writer, deign to rain down upon me, i feel... somewhat resentful. go away, omniscient all-knowing person. go away. leave me with draco and go away, i say. i don't want you! i don't need you! i don't love you! YOU SUCK, MAJORLY WRONG OMNISCIENT NARRATOR!!
*tries to look mature and fails*
and yes, i -will- hound you about it if i ever beta for you, oh yes ;)
