Hoo Boy, Here Comes Some Serious Talk About Fandom Mentality.

hoo boy, here comes some serious talk about fandom mentality.

I feel like there’s a huge failing on readers’ parts to communicate to fic authors how much they appreciate their works or how much it affects them, unless the fic is “fandom famous” for some reason. sometimes it gets translated into demands (which are awful literally do not demand updates from an author ever).

more often than not, it gets translated into silence, and coming from a writer, the silence is probably the worst. you never know if they like it, you never know what the reader actually thinks about it. or even if they read it at all. and it’s… heartwrenching, and nervewracking and you start constantly questioning yourself and wondering if you’re actually good enough or if you belong. and you start comparing yourself. to the people who are popular, to the people with huge followings, to the people who get questions and art and compliments up the wazoo. and you start wondering if you should have bothered writing at all. in some cases you start begging. and in some cases, you do worse.

and it’s terrible. a writer shouldn’t have to beg. a writer shouldn’t have to only get attention when they’re frustrated or upset. a writer shouldn’t have to doubt themselves every time they pick up a pen or open their laptop. a writer should never feel so unimportant that they consider deleting their work–and do. and then be subjected to questions of why they deleted it.

(which, by the way, is kind of a rude thing to do. it’s their content, and they can do with it whatever makes them comfortable. and more than that–why wait until it’s gone to just suddenly unleash your appreciation for it?)

if, at this point, you are thinking, “well, writers shouldn’t write for attention anyway! writers should be writing for themselves!” then you are missing a Very Huge Point about the intricacies of and emotions behind creating art. of course art comes from the self, but art is meant to be shared. with people. like you. art is created for people to talk back to, to engage with, to live alongside–and yes, that in turn bolsters the creator’s own securities and motivation. it’s also a sad testament to the fact that we as a people have come to condemn the notion that anyone, especially content creators, should want attention at all.

and that’s toxic, and an awful mentality to have. (it’s also atrocious marketing. but, that’s another discussion for another time.)

what I’m trying to say here is this: a lot of this could be prevented by one simple thing. if you read a fic you like, *speak up about it.* make some kind of sign. about whether you like somebody’s work, or whether it excites you. reblog it to share with other people, gush in the tags, leave a comment/review if it’s on ao3 or ffn. (authors read tags as much as artists do, trust me.) kudos and likes are fine too, but like with any other kind of art, they’re very invisible. be vocal, y'all. spread the love.

and above all, *tell the author directly.* send them an ask, write a comment, tag them in an appreciation post. I can’t stress that enough. you’d be making someone’s day, relieving some securities, visible or not, instead of being complacent in this system, this mass way of thinking, that only popular writers deserve attention, that it has to be earned through working yourself raw instead of asked for. it causes these cliques and hierarchies and ultimately people start or keep maintaining this idea that people who are at the top deserve to be at the top, and people who get ignored deserve to be ignored. (which I have, in fact, heard people say, and that’s… I don’t even have a word for that.)

I just. something has to give, you guys. we have to stop doing this. we have to stop letting this happen. we have to be kind to our writers before they disappear.

and yes, you can reblog this post. in fact, I’d highly encourage it.

Tags

very true Remember this? artists and writers live off of feedback you want it and so do the rest of us art is an artists life stories are a writers life

Book Review 2: Nightshade by Andrea Cremer

Being a wolf lover, I devour YA novels with wolves in it. I’ve done my research and watched documentaries (no one would be able to tell they’re my favorite animals. All the books, movies, and stuffed animals don’t give that away) so my expectations are high. Some authors like Tamora Pierce and Maggie Stiefvater make me very happy with how they write them, it’s clear they actually read up on things. With that rant over, authors like Andrea Cremer have much potential, but the execution makes me want to burn books (which I have sworn against).

Basically, it’s the usual plot of people who can turn into animals. A young girl is the “alpha” of her own pack and is supposed to marry another “alpha” to combine their packs. Naturally, she falls in love with a human boy and has to fight against her desire and duty.

Perhaps my dislike of this book is showing through, but I couldn’t take it seriously and only made it through because I wanted to see how much worse it could get. If Cremer made it clear that these were kids that could change to wolves but were still human, I could forgive it much more and lump it in with the mediocre of the YA genre. But I can’t do that.

Her writing, overall, is forgivable. It isn’t anything special but is bearable and probably the best thing about this novel. The plot is honestly not great, there are many plot holes, the main character is a cardboard cutout (cute, popular, the best in her “pack”, smart) and everyone else is nearly forgettable. I mean I couldn’t even find this book on wikipedia (no lie I spent an hour trying to find it, it’s not there).

Here’s where my rant really begins. It could be a good premise, wolves given powers to change by witches to serve as their protectors (or at least what I can remember of it) and they try to blend into the human world. Sadly, it doesn’t get close to that, and her “wolves” aren’t wolves at all. They’re hormonal teenagers that want to do everyone and have very little in common with a pack. Sure they change, but that’s the end of the similarities. I expected so much more on the wolf end. Like the concept of the alphas mating, fine I can handle it, but not when one of the two has been sleeping with human girls for years and his other members are coerced or genuinely love sleeping around. In a real pack, only the alphas mate in a pack, and only with each other. It’s for life Ms. Cremer!

That’s not even the end of my frustration with her “wolves”. But for some reason they can turn other people into wolves with a bite… Completely out of nowhere, and doesn’t make a lick of sense. Again another plot hole that I couldn’t look past.

I know these books are rather popular, but I loathe them. I see where it could be good; I tried looking at these books less criticality (hard to tell I know) as I know more in the writing world, but that just makes the writer in me more frustrated. It really had the potential to do well and fails in everything other than the writing itself. So I’m sorry if I’ve torn this apart or seem to not be giving it a fair review, but this really did come from a writer/editorial view point.

Perhaps they get better, but I don’t really have a care to give the series a second chance. If you feel differently, then please leave me a note with a fair argument and not looking for a fight.

Tags

rant nightshade book review novels ya fiction andrea cremer

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sinedra

9 years ago

a massively extended version of ruthlesscalculus’ post

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201K notes View Post

sinedra

9 years ago

@janeopries sound familiar?

My hobbies include making OC’s and making AU’s of those OC’s

22K notes View Post

sinedra

9 years ago

@janeopries they all speak to me. I don't know what you're talking about.

Tropes that are totally overused and I love them to death

grumpy jerk and actual ray of sunshine are BFFs

mutual unrequited pining

character A falls fast and hard for character B

character A slowly falls in love with character B over the course of several years, realization hits them that they’ve been in love with B for a long time hits them like a truck

cool badass is actually a giant fucking nerd

The Power of Friendship ™

flat “what” reactions

sweet adorable characters with horrible tragic pasts

villains-turned-heroes becoming the Weird Uncle

characters that aren’t actually related having a parent-child relationship

characters that aren’t actually siblings having a sibling-like bond

“I can’t stand this person but I would die for them”

211K notes View Post

sinedra

2 years ago

How to write: ethnicity & skin colour

requested by: anonymous request: How exactly can I describe a characters ethnicity/skin color casually, without it sounding like a specific scene that just exists to describe the skin color? I hope this makes sense lmao… I just want to write a scene where I casually mention someone’s ethnicity or skin color

description of appearance: No matter if skin colour or hairstyle or clothes, a text is more dynamic if you don't dedicate an entire scene/paragraph to it but rather sprinkle the necessary information in here and there. However, there can be instances where it's conducive to the plot to put that entire paragraph (e.g. introducing a new important character with backstory). Otherwise, I'd say try to keep it short and put it where it serves the plot.

ways to incorporate...

... a description of appearance:

when a character makes their first entrance (describe everyone's colouring - POCs' and white characters')

the impression their complexion makes together with their clothes: "the bright yellow of their shirt complemented their dark skin"

the way their colouring interacts with lighting: "the grey weather took away the rosy hue of their fair skin"

when appearances create a contrast: "I immediately noticed them because they were the only other black person"

... ethnicity:

let the characters mention it where it makes sense

regarding the narrator you've chosen for your story, it can also be blended into an inner monologue

include parts of their culture: traditions, terms, family, etc. (this also allows to bring up their ethnicity repeatedly over the story and not only at the beginning)

show their struggles: are they affected by social struggles? then show it!

words to use to describe skin colour:

... basic colour descriptions:

brown

black

beige

white

pink

... more specific colours (try sticking to familiar/common words that can be easily visualised):

amber

bronze

copper

gold

ochre

terracotta

sepia

sienna

porcelain

tan

... prefixes or modifiers (can be easily combined with basic colours):

dark

rich

warm

deep

fair

faint

light

cool

pale

... undertones (pre-dominant colours underneath the skin - often warm or cool, sometimes also neutral and olive):

yellow

orange

coral

golden

silver

rose

pink

red

blue

... avoid food analogies as it's often received as offending, fetishising, and/or objectifying.

That's all I can provide as of now but I'm sure you guys have aspects to contribute. I'm very interested to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to add to this post whatever you like to/can share <3

And for more information, maybe also check out @writingwithcolor for more specialised posts on the topic <3

Tags

writing writing tips writing advice Character Description

3K notes View Post

sinedra

8 years ago

I know, once again art instead of advice, but @janeopries ugh just look at this. Look at them!

Close up WIP of a commission for @sinedra! ♥

Tags

GORGEOUS absolutely they look amazing sadira ulysdira ugh it is so freaking perfect already that words are not enough I'm so excited about it all the sketches and wips Ulyesses

13 notes View Post

sinedra

2 years ago