Oh, random
Feb. 18th, 2004 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lierdumoaI love The OC. I really truly do. And somebody needs to write me some Julie/Luke fic. NOW! I'm so happy for Seth and Summer, and awww the awkwardness was so cute! I love Ryan, but that's not anything new. His nose is still the sexiest of all the noses in the world. Marissa -- meh. I kinda feel sorry for her. I like Ryan's old flame, but I don't yet know if I like her and Ryan as a couple.
Also, what is up with that show playing weird remixes of songs I like? This episode it was a cover version of Oasis' "Wonderwall." It sounded okay, but I prefer the original. They did the same with Rufus Wainwright's "Hallelujah." People on my friends list seemed to really enjoy the cover for that one, but I like Rufus' version much, much better.
In other news...
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misswindy wrote this post on the reality tv era overtaking the genre tv era. permetaform wrote this post on the merits of bad!fic. I felt I should contribute my own thoughts.
Bad!fic: Fandom's Own Version of Reality Television
Let us look first at what bad!fic is. Many of us have read it. We've cringed at the blatant self-insertions and the glaring plot holes. We've laughed at the almost comically poor characterization. We've covered our eyes in disbelief at the cloyingly sweet conclusions. But still, every so often, we'll read some. For whatever reason. Perhaps because sometimes we just want an ego boost. Or a good laugh. Or perhaps because bad!fic is like a car wreck, and sometimes it's hard to look away.
Let us then look at reality television. The parallels are rather obvious. Perhaps the whole purpose of a reality show is self insertion, which is why these shows tend to feature ordinary people. Usually the performances are poor, because the performers are untrained in that regard. The premises are ridiculous. And yet reality tv draws out the unwashed masses. And it's cheap to make. Very cheap to make.
Bad!fic is also cheap to make. It takes less time to write. A chapterized bad!fic will typically feature chapters under 1000 words. Bad!fic requires not talent to write. Self insertions are especially easy, since they require no character research. The dialogue is so cliche it hurts to read it. "I will love you forever." "And this was the happiest moment of his entire existance." Bad!fic is often read only out of morbid curiosity, much like how reality tv is watched. Either that, or it's read by the same people who write it, in which case it's clear that bad writers far outnumber the good.
And lastly, bad!fic resembles crap tv in that it's always available. No matter the time of day or night, as long as you have enough channels, you'll be able to find yourself a reality show, or a grossout comedy, or perhaps a twisted combination of both. The same goes for bad!fic. Certainly the internet has plenty of well written fanfiction, but eventually you reach the point where either you adopt a new fandom or you sit and wait for something new to be written in your own fandom because you've already read everything worth reading. Bad!fic, on the other hand, is obscenely plentiful. Go to ff.net and you'll never run out of bad!fic to read. On the off chance that you do run out, you can always switch over to another fandom. After all, chances are the characterizaiton is so off it doesn't matter what fandom you're reading it in anyway.
Why is the writing of bad!fic so encouraged in fandom, anyway? I mean, why do we watch crap tv when we know full well that it's crap? Probably because it just feels good to laugh at the stupid people. It can hardly be more profound than that.
Well that was...interesting. I'm kind of wishing I hadn't written it. Oh well. Maybe someone on my friends list will be amused.
And for anyone intersted, here's what's going on in my real life.
I cut my hair on Monday. It used to be down to my butt. I chopped off a good two feet, and now it's to my shoulders. My hair hasn't been this short since the fifth grade. Eight years is a long time. I like the new haircut. I got some great curl amplifier stuff, so my hair actually looks good for once. Yay for me!
Yesterday sucked. Because of the holiday on Monday, all my Monday classes were pushed to Tuesday. Only I didn't know this. I thought I was on a Tuesday schedule. So I wandered around confused all day and missed a few recitations. Definitely not of the good.
Also, what is up with that show playing weird remixes of songs I like? This episode it was a cover version of Oasis' "Wonderwall." It sounded okay, but I prefer the original. They did the same with Rufus Wainwright's "Hallelujah." People on my friends list seemed to really enjoy the cover for that one, but I like Rufus' version much, much better.
In other news...
misswindy wrote this post on the reality tv era overtaking the genre tv era. permetaform wrote this post on the merits of bad!fic. I felt I should contribute my own thoughts.Bad!fic: Fandom's Own Version of Reality Television
Let us look first at what bad!fic is. Many of us have read it. We've cringed at the blatant self-insertions and the glaring plot holes. We've laughed at the almost comically poor characterization. We've covered our eyes in disbelief at the cloyingly sweet conclusions. But still, every so often, we'll read some. For whatever reason. Perhaps because sometimes we just want an ego boost. Or a good laugh. Or perhaps because bad!fic is like a car wreck, and sometimes it's hard to look away.
Let us then look at reality television. The parallels are rather obvious. Perhaps the whole purpose of a reality show is self insertion, which is why these shows tend to feature ordinary people. Usually the performances are poor, because the performers are untrained in that regard. The premises are ridiculous. And yet reality tv draws out the unwashed masses. And it's cheap to make. Very cheap to make.
Bad!fic is also cheap to make. It takes less time to write. A chapterized bad!fic will typically feature chapters under 1000 words. Bad!fic requires not talent to write. Self insertions are especially easy, since they require no character research. The dialogue is so cliche it hurts to read it. "I will love you forever." "And this was the happiest moment of his entire existance." Bad!fic is often read only out of morbid curiosity, much like how reality tv is watched. Either that, or it's read by the same people who write it, in which case it's clear that bad writers far outnumber the good.
And lastly, bad!fic resembles crap tv in that it's always available. No matter the time of day or night, as long as you have enough channels, you'll be able to find yourself a reality show, or a grossout comedy, or perhaps a twisted combination of both. The same goes for bad!fic. Certainly the internet has plenty of well written fanfiction, but eventually you reach the point where either you adopt a new fandom or you sit and wait for something new to be written in your own fandom because you've already read everything worth reading. Bad!fic, on the other hand, is obscenely plentiful. Go to ff.net and you'll never run out of bad!fic to read. On the off chance that you do run out, you can always switch over to another fandom. After all, chances are the characterizaiton is so off it doesn't matter what fandom you're reading it in anyway.
Why is the writing of bad!fic so encouraged in fandom, anyway? I mean, why do we watch crap tv when we know full well that it's crap? Probably because it just feels good to laugh at the stupid people. It can hardly be more profound than that.
Well that was...interesting. I'm kind of wishing I hadn't written it. Oh well. Maybe someone on my friends list will be amused.
And for anyone intersted, here's what's going on in my real life.
I cut my hair on Monday. It used to be down to my butt. I chopped off a good two feet, and now it's to my shoulders. My hair hasn't been this short since the fifth grade. Eight years is a long time. I like the new haircut. I got some great curl amplifier stuff, so my hair actually looks good for once. Yay for me!
Yesterday sucked. Because of the holiday on Monday, all my Monday classes were pushed to Tuesday. Only I didn't know this. I thought I was on a Tuesday schedule. So I wandered around confused all day and missed a few recitations. Definitely not of the good.
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no subject
Date: 2004-02-18 08:33 am (UTC)I watched OC and dugg the Wonderwall remake, not bad, reminds me of some good cover tunes you get at bars, but I was watching SV last night, more like had it on the background and at the end they started playing THE EXACT SAME SONG. I thought that was rather amusing.
and I like you views on bad!fic.
your ideas intrigue me, I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
I don't think you should overly knock 'bad!fic' authors, since it takes awhile to properly produce good fics, sure there are some realliy talented people that get it in the first go, but there are lot just starting and don't have the 101 of good fic writing. (... is there even a good 101 guide out there?)
but that being said, the *REAL* bad!fic writers are the ones that continue to write bad and don't even try to improve, and literally attack those who critize and try to help them improve their work. Not to mention all their friends that keep inisiting that they're work is increadible when it's far from it.