Why I Hate 1/??
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Why I Hate 1/?? |
| Creator: | Sandra McDonald |
| Date(s): | November 22, 1999 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | fiction writing, WIP, fan blackmail |
| External Links: | Why I Hate 1/??/WebCite |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Why I Hate 1/?? is an essay by Sandra McDonald.
It is part of the Fanfic Symposium series.
Excerpts
Almost anyone can start a story. Grab a soda and some cookies, plop down in front of the computer and throw out three or four paragraphs. Slap a title on it, along with a 1/??. Post it to your favorite mailing list, cross-post it to four or five other mailing lists, and don't forget a little blackmail at the end -"Like it? Hate it? Send me feedback and maybe I'll write more!!"
Few writers venture outdoors only half-dressed, eat partially-cooked meals or drive cars without seats in them - but some feel perfectly justified in sending out stories that have no middle or end. That insidious little 1/?? tells me a writer hasn't committed to seeing a story all the way to the end and sweating through one or two or twenty revisions. She loves to write, she wants feedback, she swears she'll finish - but she usually ends up posting parts every three or four weeks, or maybe every three or four months, because things like "real life" or "my job" or "grad school" keep getting in the way.
Over the years I've seen three main arguments for posting works-in-progress. The first requires hauling out the ghost of Charles Dickens - "If he did it, so can I!" Dickens also wrote to specific deadlines and word counts, and had to bow to the edicts of his publishers regarding plot, illustrations and story arcs. An author willing to abide by those restrictions can post all the WIP's she wants. The second argument is that some writers need feedback to continue. No, they want feedback. They need water, food, sleep, a keyboard or pencil, and a good imagination. Coddling someone with undeserved praise does nothing to make her a better writer. The third argument, my favorite, is that posting a work-in-progress helps a writer improve her skills by forcing her to abide by what she's already sent out.