44 replies to this topic

[Samantha]

More of an opinion topic. In my opinion almost every pairing there is becoming less and less good fanfic's to read. Either they are:

a:

Written in chat speak. (Ex: I luv u Naruto, I think bout u alwayz!

b:

The grammar and spelling is horrendous.

c:

The layout of the story is: in all bold, centered, in all italics, or bolded underlined and italicized.

d:

Finally, the story has a horrible overused plot.

So, what do you think of the fanfictions recently? Do you think that there are a lot of new authors entering the sight (who don't know the ropes yet), do you think that its good authors just being lazy, or do you think something completely different?


Edit: By the way, I fall under the new authors category! I'm not trying to sound conceited, I just want to know people's opinions.

[Gnosismaster]

I know how you feel. Almost every few days, I see a fic that the grammer/spelling sucks so bad.

[Rick (Bonta-kun)]

strangely enough, option "a" describes 95% of Yaoi fan fiction

please dont kill me yaoi fangirls.

*hides behind gnosismaster*

[Radon]

I think that it's just more and more new authors are starting to write fanfiction and either a) don't know how to spell check or B) don't beta-read their stories.

Also Naruto does have a rather young sector of the audience but still...

[Angel]

hard to find good stories, and the good stories ussualy go on hiatis or abandoned...

[Onionhead Attacks]

I would not exactly say that the good authors are slacking... It also depends on who you're talking about. Many authors out there have a ton of potential and those that you are calling "good" are those that have reached a point where they mastered some if not all of the skills of story telling. Those "newbie" authors as you call them, are just starting out like those "good" authors were. However, it will take years if not more writing and learning before they are up to the level in which you are expecting.

Anyways, that's not really answering your question. I believe the good authors have their reasons for being MIA. Either their time is extremely limited, writer's block, lost of interest, or the abandonment of writing. Most of the stories I "watch" or "subscribe" to, the authors are in one of those categories as of now. I would not consider myself one of the good authors, but for me, it's from both lack of interest and writer's block.

Either way, don't be too hard on those new authors. Instead, try to give some constructive criticism to them, so that in a few weeks, months, and hopefully not too many years, they will be writing at a better capacity than they are currently.

Well, this is just my general opinion on the subject. Feel free to argue if you think otherwise. I won't try to change your minds.

[Coulomb]

Well, I can't blame you for being nitpicky about how you like your stories and whatnot. But, you have to imagine, naruto is the second most highest stories on one single topic, and has 94,000 registered fanfics on FanFiction.net. (I believe Harry potter is first with 300,000) Anywho, out of all those author's, only a small percentage are actually moderately skilled. So it is only mundane that there is a large amount of unworthy fanfictions out there.

It's like the goodwill, you have to wade through the crap to find the good stuff.

[SakuNaruLover]

Yeah, there are a lot of writers who are just starting out. The grammar will suck and the story might be weird, but just give them some time and constructive criticism. I do it every time I real a fanfic of the new person and I get thanked almost every time. I then can see their writing increasing in following chapters. They need help of more experienced writers to get better, so try to help them

I don't say that I'm a very good writer, but I have very little time at the moment, and I always have trouble starting a chapter. Once I've started, the chapter's finished in one or two days, but the starting always takes a while XD

[JoHamSandwich]

I would not consider myself one of the good authors, but for me, it's from both lack of interest and writer's block.

Said person above is a GREAT author. Too bad she doesn't UPDATE her FIC. XDD!

[desaix]

I think you're encountering Sturgeons' Law with the Fanfiction Corrolary.

Sturgeons' Law states that 90% of everything is crap. However, given the contest of what he was talking about, it's more like 90% of everything PUBLISHED is crap.

99.9% of what is written and submitted to a publisher is not published.

Therefore, 99.99% of all fanfiction is crap. Eventually, all categories of fanfiction turn out this way....

(I'm both being serious and not with this reply -- but then again, so was Sturgeon)

[Sakura Blossoms]

I would not exactly say that the good authors are slacking... It also depends on who you're talking about. Many authors out there have a ton of potential and those that you are calling "good" are those that have reached a point where they mastered some if not all of the skills of story telling. Those "newbie" authors as you call them, are just starting out like those "good" authors were. However, it will take years if not more writing and learning before they are up to the level in which you are expecting.

Anyways, that's not really answering your question. I believe the good authors have their reasons for being MIA. Either their time is extremely limited, writer's block, lost of interest, or the abandonment of writing. Most of the stories I "watch" or "subscribe" to, the authors are in one of those categories as of now. I would not consider myself one of the good authors, but for me, it's from both lack of interest and writer's block.

Either way, don't be too hard on those new authors. Instead, try to give some constructive criticism to them, so that in a few weeks, months, and hopefully not too many years, they will be writing at a better capacity than they are currently.

I'm really happy that you wrote this Lee-muimui, because I agree with everything that you've said here 100%

It's like the goodwill, you have to wade through the crap to find the good stuff.

And, I really like this one line here XD

[TikiTDO]

Just as a general piece of advice, browse with the 10k+ word filter. That gets rid of a large chunk of the really bad stuff. The majority of the stories that fit your (first three) points are really short ficlets written in general by kids who could very well be in an AOL chat room at the same time. The third is a bit harder to resolve, since it takes a good deal of creativity and an even better deal of patience to come up with something that hasn't been done before. You're out of luck if you like short one shots though. In that case C2s are your best bet.

If I were forced to guess at the cause of the poor performance I would blame several things. The first problem has been mentioned many times now; the age of the new authors. Traditionally English speaking anime fans have been a bit older than the intended audience for said anime. This is in part due to the knowledge needed to really get at the subs, simply put not every 12 year old is going to know how to get online to find some obscure sub group, grab a torrent or jump on IRC. With Naruto though the case is different. It is extremely popular, readily available on TV and, is easier to digest than other popular dubs such as DBZ or Gundam. Meanwhile the adult audience may well be shrinking at the same time due to continuing disappointments from the manga and the declining level of conversation in the fan groups.

The second problem is the global drop in respect for the English language. There are consistently less and less people reading books, and of those that are a declining percentage is interested in understanding them past what is needed to write your normal high school book report. You need not look further than the popularity of the Harry Potter series for an example. Rowling's style is simplistic and makes use of numerous cliché plot devices, yet is still quite popular. With books like these as the pinnacle of literature is it that surprising that the quality of writing has decreased.

The last problem is that perhaps fanfiction.net has finally reached the level of super saturation. There are too many authors and too many stories. The organization and presentation of the site is somewhat simplistic. If you really want to find a high quality story your best bet is to weed out as much crap as you can using filters, then randomly guess until you find a good story. Unfortunately it is the top site as far as fan fiction goes so unless they go though a major redesign, or someone makes something a LOT better there is not much we can do there.

Fortunately the problem is certainly not impossible. You could even argue that there's money to be made. In these days of complex learning algorithms that can pick out your favourite movies based on statistical information or search though millions of images to determine the objects present in them it would not be all that hard to design something that could realistically rank stories for quality. Imagine submitting a story, seeing a percentile rank, and at the same time being presented with options to help you improve such as volunteer editors (beta readers if you prefer) or grammar guides. Maybe an automated search that could find other series you might like based on your reading patterns.

[Onionhead Attacks]

Said person above is a GREAT author. Too bad she doesn't UPDATE her FIC. XDD!

*pokes Jo's chubby cheeks* I don't know whatchu talking about :rolleyes:

I'm really happy that you wrote this Lee-muimui, because I agree with everything that you've said here 100%

Thank you, Sakura-jie! XD I thought I was the only one who thought that way for a minute there.

Therefore, 99.99% of all fanfiction is crap. Eventually, all categories of fanfiction turn out this way....

So sad, yet true. By the way, nice use of philosophy to support your point, desaix. XD

If I were forced to guess at the cause of the poor performance I would blame several things. The first problem has been mentioned many times now; the age of the new authors. Traditionally English speaking anime fans have been a bit older than the intended audience for said anime. This is in part due to the knowledge needed to really get at the subs, simply put not every 12 year old is going to know how to get online to find some obscure sub group, grab a torrent or jump on IRC. With Naruto though the case is different. It is extremely popular, readily available on TV and, is easier to digest than other popular dubs such as DBZ or Gundam. Meanwhile the adult audience may well be shrinking at the same time due to continuing disappointments from the manga and the declining level of conversation in the fan groups.

The second problem is the global drop in respect for the English language. There are consistently less and less people reading books, and of those that are a declining percentage is interested in understanding them past what is needed to write your normal high school book report. You need not look further than the popularity of the Harry Potter series for an example. Rowling's style is simplistic and makes use of numerous cliché plod devices, yet is still quite popular. With books like these as the pinnacle of literature is it that surprising that the quality of writing has decreased.

The last point is perhaps fanfiction.net has finally reached the level of super saturation. The organization and presentation of the site is somewhat simplistic. If you really want to find a high quality story your best bet is to weed out as much crap as you can using filters, then randomly guess until you find a good story. Unfortunately it is the top site as far as fan fiction goes so unless they go though a major redesign, or someone makes something a LOT better there is not much we can do there.

You have some really good points there, TikiTDO. However, it's quite sad to mention how poor our English language has become. I sometimes fear for the future with all the games we have that are pulling away most people's attention from books. It's true that even Harry Potter is not up to par with some of the better books we have out there, but at least it's something.

About the 12 year old thing, I'm not surprised at their quality of writing since I doubt they have much experience to begin with and even with peer reviews/criticism of their work, those that they're getting critique from are of probably the same range. Like I mentioned earlier, it's probably going to take some time until they are up to the levels you expect and standards you have set for them, and it'll be even longer if they do not get any constructive or helpful criticism. Most reviews nowadays are like "OMG!! This is like, the best fic ever!! Hurry and update!!!" or something along those lines. I've become sick of them that I no longer even bother checking the reviews page.

Fanfiction.net is probably the best known fanfiction site around, so it's kind of expected that tons of people will flood the site and fill it with "crap" as desaix calls it. Your suggestion about creating a better site than fanfiction.net or offering services to writers sound fantastic, if it were not the tons of work and effort required to make this suggestion come true. I've actually visited a site or two that had to have works submitted reviewed by the staff before it were to be posted up. Although that was great for readers, it's a pain for authors who are looking for places where they could post their work with no hassle and no wait. Plus, the workload on the staff is quite a lot since that site had even offered a queue list for the number of works waiting to be reviewed. However, if someone were to start up a site and have the determination to actually maintain the site to be a good one and recruit people as "beta readers/reviewers/critique-rs" I'd visit that place for sure.

Uh... I think I've said enough. XD

[Rick (Bonta-kun)]

Said person above is a GREAT author. Too bad she doesn't UPDATE her FIC. XDD!

can i get a link to her profile/fic? theres a good chance ive read it although i dont remember reading anything by someone called "Onionhead Attacks" lol

[Vyse]

I can survive a story with bad grammar if the plot is ok, or at least slightly original. The thing that pisses me off is when authors don’t know how to spell the names right. Tsunande, Jariaya, Saskue, Kakashi-sensi, Garra… the list is long, and not to forget horrible! Is it that hard to google the names? Wikipedia has an extensive library of both jutsu and character names (with bios), so why would people post stories like that? I know most of them come in a fairly common combo, who is combined with poor grammar, but it’s the names and poor use of the Japanese names and language I find most frustrating.
I know how people from non English speaking countries tend to be insecure when they write, because their own knowledge of English grammar may be limited at best, so that’s not a concern of mine. Of course, truly horrible grammar will make the story hard to get through, and I’ll eventually give up, but there’s never a good reason for anyone to write a character’s name that way through a series of chapters. Most reviewers won’t care though, and just go “update soon” or even “I liek jur storry.. plis gimme mor suun” piece of kitten reviews. If anyone would actually care to mention the biggest flaws in a person’s story, it should be both easier to read and better. Grammar will improve over time, reading stories, books and school (stay in school kids), but if they start off with the wrong names, they’ll keep them going until someone mentions it to them.
I have more or less given up on the ordinary browsing and went for C2’s though, since I know there’s C2’s where poor grammar (and wrong spellings of names and jutsu) won’t get in. That way I won’t have to worry about anything but a poor plotline.
Newbie authors tend to re-invent popular plots, don’t they? It’s mostly like this: Naruto got beat up as a kid, and found a sensei (obviously Mary Sue) who trained him away from the academy. When he’s twelve years old, he returns and every girl in the kittening city thinks he’s hot (eeeew). He never get’s harassed by the villagers, the girls loves him (save for Sakura… because they all hate Sakura at first) and he beats Sasuke and even gives Kakashi a tough time during the bell test. Then he reveals to everyone that HE HAS THE SHARINGAN… His mother was Sasuke’s aunt, and his father was Arashi Kazama, the Yondaime Hokage. He moves into his father’s old home, which by the way is much bigger and better than the Uchiha estate as well as the Hyuuga compound, and lives a sweet life with whatever girl makes his fancy at the moment. Let’s just say there’s a good chance she has white eyes and a problem with stuttering!

What I'm saying is that option D is sometimes worse than flaws in grammar. Get names wrong, and I just think you're too lazy to care. There's a lot of authors who don't speak or read english daily, but still manages to keep their grammar at an acceptable point, and I like to think I belong there as well. However, I'm not sure if we have the same definition of "horrendous grammar"...

[Sakura Blossoms]

can i get a link to her profile/fic? theres a good chance ive read it although i dont remember reading anything by someone called "Onionhead Attacks" lol

*Jaw drops* :o

This is completely off-topic, and I apologize for that...but rick...omg...your signature just wins at absolute life!

[Rick (Bonta-kun)]

*Jaw drops* :o

This is completely off-topic, and I apologize for that...but rick...omg...your signature just wins at absolute life!

lol i think you are the second or third person to say that now.

btw, there is supposed to be a line of writing underneath the pic that says "The Emo-Duck is emo!" but it isnt showing up, i guess maybe my pic is too big or something.

[Vyse]

No.. I can see it just fine! Perhaps it's your browser playing mindgames with you? *scared because he took the off topic talk even further*

There was one thing I wanted to ask though, and that was if there are any changes in the characters' names in the english dub. Spelling different? I don't know if I can still judge people if they're dubbies... it woudl be as cruel as teasing the poor poor bastards who followed the 4Kids One Piece anime and thought they got the real deal.

[Vespar]

lol, for a second there, Naruto baby, I thought you were talking about authors being generally lazy in writing. *scratches back of head nervously*

In either case, I understand where you're coming from. But all I have to say is (like Ceras and TikiTDO already mentioned) when you take into account Naruto's intended audience and their general level of literacy, well, you can see what's bound to happen.

Good intentions and all, at least.

Too bad writing's only a phase for most people.