81 replies to this topic

[peanutbutter126]

I don't think it's NaruSaku fics that are dying, but rather the authors' inability to express what would make a very good story. I've seen loads of fics that have good plotlines, but the typos make it very hard for me to read past the first chapter.

I also don't think it's an age thing either. Well, okay, in the majority cases, it is. But you shouldn't just judge stories from the ages of their authors. I clicked on the profile of a reviewer for one of my stories before, and this person mentioned something similar to what you guys have brought up. Specifically, he said something about fourteen year olds playing around. It was ironic.

But people grow up, so I'm sure those 'amateur' writers will produce much better stories if they continue to write when they've grown up. And then we'll just get another batch of amateurs. It's a ruthless cycle, folks...

[Cloud]

Sadly, Nate. The bad get worse as they post. Since people give no reasons why their story is 'good' and just say, 'oh, please continue.' Meanwhile, their bad grammar and spelling continue on like it's nothing.

And as for my comment on the pre-dub eras, I believe there was such a time. When I first got into Naruto, no dub existed yet and the stories I dug up were always excellent reads. Since the dub came out, even on the first day... well, the 12-year old grammar lacking kids felt like they could just write any random crap and throw it on there.

I'm not discouraging anyone from writing, but please. Get a beta reviewer or a grammar teacher to look at everything!

[Nate River]

Sadly, Nate. The bad get worse as they post. Since people give no reasons why their story is 'good' and just say, 'oh, please continue.' Meanwhile, their bad grammar and spelling continue on like it's nothing.

And as for my comment on the pre-dub eras, I believe there was such a time. When I first got into Naruto, no dub existed yet and the stories I dug up were always excellent reads. Since the dub came out, even on the first day... well, the 12-year old grammar lacking kids felt like they could just write any random crap and throw it on there.

I'm not discouraging anyone from writing, but please. Get a beta reviewer or a grammar teacher to look at everything!

Even if I agree....Let me put it this way. Would you want to screen 160,000 crappy Naruto fics or be told you can't post because your stories aren't up to par? The problem isn't just reviewers, it's author too. There are many authors who will ignore, bad mouth, or just flat out quit if they receive any negative reviews. That mentality is partially ff.net's fault or it's users, but it's also the result of a society that values self-esteem over actual achievement, so people expect praise regardless of the quality of the work and get upset when they don't. There are studies showing we're the most narcissistic generation ever.

I started reading NaruSaku fanfiction about a year before the dubs aired. To the extent you could even find them, they were either really good, or really bad. I found plenty of bad ones at that time. They weren't all good.

It's not just the 12-year olds . There are plenty of 16/17 year-old's whose writing is just as atrocious. I prefer the 12 year-olds, personally. My experience is they tend to be more open to improvement so long as you aren't to mean when offering criticisms. I found their problems to be one of ability (want to write well, but lack the knowledge and experience, I know I didn't have it at that age) and the older ones to be one of attitude.

[KittenLou]

Sadly, Nate. The bad get worse as they post. Since people give no reasons why their story is 'good' and just say, 'oh, please continue.' Meanwhile, their bad grammar and spelling continue on like it's nothing.

And as for my comment on the pre-dub eras, I believe there was such a time. When I first got into Naruto, no dub existed yet and the stories I dug up were always excellent reads. Since the dub came out, even on the first day... well, the 12-year old grammar lacking kids felt like they could just write any random crap and throw it on there.

I'm not discouraging anyone from writing, but please. Get a beta reviewer or a grammar teacher to look at everything!

I do agree to some extent with what you say, but I find it somewhat immature of you to suggest FF.net try and do anything about the stories you find unbearably terrible simply because they're an inconvience to you. Just because a story may have terrible grammar and spelling - things which are completely understandable in some instances - doesn't mean they can't improve over time, or that they won't.

Although we'd all like it to be, writing isn't just about creating good or great stories, especially not to those who are just trying it out for the first time. It's more about trying something new and finding a way to expand on their creativity and see where their abilities lie; in other words, testing their abilities, I suppose. I know for a fact that, despite the fact I'd like to write something mind boggling and impressive, I write purely for my own enjoyment and seeing where I can take some specific scenarios and how far I can go with them before they blow up in a fit of epic failure.

It's also just the way fandom is. If you don't like it, that's fine, but complaining about it won't change anything, and ff.net would be doing a great injustice to the people part of the specified fandom if they tried to do anything with the works which weren't up to standards (and, as Nate's already stated, I find it doubtful the administrators would go through such time consuming work).
If it takes you forever to find a piece that seems worthy of reading, and if it bothers you that much, then just create a community of the stories that are worth the read and advertise a lot, or something. I don't know.

Edited by Kitten, 15 November 2008 - 07:45 PM.

[Onionhead Attacks]

I just realized something (so what, I'm slow) after agreeing with mostly everybody in this thread....

It's not that good NaruSaku fics are slowly dying or any form of dying, they're just being born/made in less frequency! Wait.. does that make sense?

[roninmedia]

^ No Sense.

The Japanese population is not dying. There's just less and less children being born. (Which is true as the average children per household in Japan is way under 2).

[KittenLou]

I think Onionhead was referring to the fics, not the actual fans.

I think it makes sense. Either that, or NaruSaku has sparked some major creativity in our younger generation, which is always good, methinks.

[Onionhead Attacks]

I think Onionhead was referring to the fics, not the actual fans.

I think it makes sense. Either that, or NaruSaku has sparked some major creativity in our younger generation, which is always good, methinks.

Yep! Kitten's gotten what I mean! Er... I wasn't referring to actual people, ronin...

[roninmedia]

There's also much more crap out there for you to filter through.

[Lid]

I agree as well. I personally think the reason is that there is not much originality in the pairing anymore. Most of the stories I find on ff.net for narusaku now all have very similar themes.

[Paradox Jast]

Considering Naruto's age (the series) most of the truly original concepts have been done. All that's really left is for good authors to pull bits and pieces from past fics and do their best to twist them in some way to make them slightly original.

I think for those fics that are truly original, they exist in the same quantity. However, the NaruSaku fandom in particular has gotten a lot more attention as it seems to be morphing into the most realistic pairing in Naruto. Kishi may leave the ending ambiguous as far as Naruto's relationships, but my gut tells me that by the time the series is over, there will be little to no doubt that there will be some definite NaruSaku representation of sorts.

With the popularity of Naruto growing by leaps and bounds in the US, especially within the last year to two years, explains the recent influx of... crap... for most pairing fics. Mostly teens with hearts in their eyes.

I know. I was once a teen myself, not too long ago. (Really, its only been 6 years...)

[Codus N]

Heya,Paradox just wanted to say your story's the best!!(Whirlpool country)

[Paradox Jast]

Thanks.

[Illmatic]

With the popularity of Naruto growing by leaps and bounds in the US, especially within the last year to two years, explains the recent influx of... crap... for most pairing fics. Mostly teens with hearts in their eyes.

bingo

[tcross]

I think it's time to change the topic to what should we, as WRITERS, should do with an old concept. I've got one where naruto actually was raised by a family, and it follows the main manga fairly closely for the first part, but diverges because of the main changes during important events in the series(or lack their of). My major Idea was, what would the narutoverse be like without chakra, now can someone tell me if that idea has been seen elsewhere?

Edited by tcross, 22 November 2008 - 11:16 AM.

[RyrineaHaruno]

I don't think it's NaruSaku fics that are dying, but rather the authors' inability to express what would make a very good story. I've seen loads of fics that have good plot lines, but the typos make it very hard for me to read past the first chapter. [s]i also think that the Susake x Sakura and Naruto x Hinata people are trying to ruin it for us by writing crappy Fan fics lo.l/s]I also see a tons of grammatical errors that are just a eye sore. It also the Sasuke x Sakura and Naruto x Hinata fiction that are bad as well lol.

[harry4e]

I've come to the conclusion it's not just good NaruSaku fics that are slowly dying, but good fics in general no matter the genre. I've seen it in Harry Potter, Buffy, Naruto and um...actually I don't think there were that many One Piece fics to begin with, good or otherwise.

[Sora no Kitsune]

I do agree and although there are a few good ones out there being made such as Digifruits Pieces of a Dream, there just aren't enough good fics to keep the public entertained. I went through the whole completed NaruSaku list at FF>net and i only found about 12 good ones out of about 200 fics.... but thats to my own opinion of a good fic.

However, i do agree that good fics are becoming harder and harder to find and im sadly disappointed if it drops any lowwer.

[Xabsol]

As long as they have a good storyline, not 'written by dyslexic kids' and I can find one that does not contain either SasuIno or slight hints of NaruHina, im fine.

[Shourai]

As long as they have a good storyline, not 'written by dyslexic kids' and I can find one that does not contain either SasuIno or slight hints of NaruHina, im fine.

You forgot the ones that have NaruHarem (which, if you think about it logically, is completely out of character for him), most fics listed as NaruSaku that I've come across have that. I hate it; I don't even search for NS fics anymore. >.<