Just because you don't see it here, you can't make sweeping generalizations about an entire writing form. I mean, it would be like saying "All OT fanfics suck. End of" when the greater part of the good OT fanfics are on other sites. They're out there.
So if I had started of my fanfic posting with a drabble/really short story, you would just ignore my fic, even if it was a good story. But if Jax (*waves*) had posted the exact same story, you would read it.
Yeup. Makes sense.
Perhaps I'm just being overly prick-ish about this all, but I'm trying to understand the whole "beginners automatically suck". That might not be what you're implying, but we just got done arguing over what is a "n00b" and how they differ from a "newbie/beginner". When you lump the both together, I'm going to get *****y. You can't really lump them together.
That's where my problem lies. If you had just said "bad quality fics that are short, I'll ignore", then I would be like "OK. That makes sense." But you said "newbs/noobs/beginners who write short fics, I'll ignore them." And I'm like... What.
Not all beginning writers are horrible. Not all young writers are horrible. I will admit that when I started writing, my fics sucked. But I didn't start posting until earlier this year, which would still make me look like a beginner to people who didn't know me. (Especially if I posted on a forum that I just joined, where no one knows me.) I'm a good writer. But on that forum where no one knows me, I'm just a beginner.
I hate generalizations.
I'll just say that I only think that beginner trainers here are not all great. I give each site a new chance, like a fresh slate. I only know from experience here about 1/10 beginner trainers have a good to excellent story. Most of which you can tell EXTREMELY easily.
You see me in the way you
think I am responding to a certain group. It's based on experience, but I give almost all fics a fighting chance. If they obviously didn't work for it, I don't work for it either.
Think of it this way: Out of 100 beginning trainers, there were 5 Excellent Fics, and 10 Good Fics, and 85 bad fics. Would you be encouraged to read all 100 just to find those diamonds in the rough? Even on your worst day? No, I highly doubt you would.
I'm not saying that is the exact rate of good and bads, but that is what it often feels like.
Beginners often:
Never read the rules,
Write in the reply box,
Don't set it through a Word processor,
Don't reach the page requirement,
Don't use good spelling,
Don't use good grammar,
They all seem lazy and make us do the hard work.
There are some that break this code of stupidty, which I feel a lot more likely to read. Take "Until My Final Hour"
It was from a beginner, but I could tell from the length, from so many other things, at a glance. I could tell he wasn't your average beginner, and I started reading it right then and there.
Some DESERVE reviews, because of the obvious effort they put into it. Some DON't deserve it, for being to lazy, not willing to use the rules as their story guidelines, not willing to check their mistakes, not willing to listen. The list goes on Astinus.
I'm saying, for the most part, I can pick which to ignore, which to help, and which to read right away. Happened with "Until My Final Hour" twice. That is quality you rarely get from a beginner.
No, if there were drabbles here, I would read them, because my definition of short has to do with CHAPTER length or PROLOGUE length, not drabbles or short stories/one-shots. Drabbles are naturally short, and easy to read.
Drabbles have deep meaning, but a Trainer who throws all their ideas into a paragraph that doesn't make an ounce of sense doesn't encourage anyone to read it.
I make a simple statement and you pull out the guns and start shooting at my feet. Not that I mind dancing :p
I think pretty much the reason why people have this mindset that "beginners automatically sucks" is because of expectations. Usually an established writer (definition of that might differ from person to person, but to me it means the writer being in the fanfic community for a bit already and has written a couple pieces and such) would have reviews filled with gushing praise while a beginner writer wouldn't get very much reviews, even if the writing is decent or perphaps even better. I admit, I hadn't really reviewed much new work here because I'm quite busy with many things, but there might be times I wished I could look at the works from the new authors.
Heh, I remember when a few of us were nervous because we had no mod and that many less than quality fics will appear. On the noob/newbie thing, I too think the reason for the mindset is of expectations. We thought that newbie writer would eventually just lash out at our reviews and thus why noob/newbie seems to be interchangable. In the end though, I too agree both noob and newbie are different.
Meh, just my two cents on this ordeal over the quality of short stories and the noob/newbie confusion.
Thank you Bay. That is sort of my few on it. Any new writer has to surpass all other beginners who have given a bad name. It doesn't mean that all are automatically bad. Just MOST. Doesn't mean I don't look at them all. I'm good at glancing and seeing if the story has potential, or if they started off on the wrong foot by making many errors, any type(rules, grammar, spelling). Some I ignore on a bad day, some I help.
Blue Angel, regarding your argument that all short fan fics aren't worth reading, I would just like to point out that you need to look up the definition of quality over quantity.
Generalizations are funny.
I know this, thanks -_-
Only Bay seems to get the true picture here. I never said ALL short fics are automatically crap, but most are. If you look at most of the locked threads, a huge amount of them are due to length.
Drabbles are an excellent example. Drabbles obviously have depth, because you are trying to make the reader understand something in only 100 words. That takes effort. Those are worth reading.
Writers who don't have any effort are normally beginner trainers with short stories of bad quality.
I'm all for short stories with GOOD quality. If you guys have one from a beginner trainer that is short and Good quality, I'll gladly read it.
As a beginner grows, they gain knowledge, which is why I like reading the works of more experienced writers.
I think that covers it.
