My Top Ten Pet (Fanfic/Writing in General) Peeves

[bjewelled]

I'm supposed to be working. We've got big changes tonight. Oooooh~

Actually, I am working. Mostly. I just have to wait a few minutes for the servers to do their thing. So in the meantime, let me educate you all.

Comments

[robling_t]

Meh, as to #10, I actually prefer shorter installments because my eyes aren't getting any younger and reading much more than a screen or two of text at a go will make me lose the thread! So I'd say that's a mileage issue more than anything. (Of course, this only applies if said 1k-or-so words is an actual complete scene, which I will grant that some people certainly don't seem to have a handle on.)

[bjewelled]

It's less of a mileage issue and more a normal human response to large amounts of text on screen. In the days where I was a net programmer (waaaay back when), we were specifically taught that the more text there is on screen, the harder it is to read. I think most fic-readers just train themselves to endure it, but I still do little tricks like highlight sections of text while I'm reading to break it up.

[robling_t]

I'd be fascinated to see a study on whether this is a generational thing related to when one arrived on the internet -- I kind of suspect that the young'ns coming up might be more and more comfortable reading longer pieces on-screen than old-timers... to the extent that they're reading at all, of course, which is another issue altogether.

[reddwarfer]

Linked from the darling djin7. I recently had a coniption about the "would of v. would have" in my own journal.

That is just...yes. A million times yes.

[twilight_rain]

Linked from copperbadge as well. I agree wholeheartedly with everything that you've said in your list here, especially the "would of".

My personal peeve is when authors write things like James', Chris', or Luis' to show possession, rather than James's, Chris's, or Luis's. There are only word final apostrophes if the word is both plural and possessive. James is only one person, therefore he cannot be plural.

That, and misplaced commas. *shudders*

[forest_rose]

I was always under the impression that you can use either James' or James's - maybe it's a UK thing? The Oxford English Dictionary seems to suggest James', and that tends to be my preferred usage.
I'm with you on the misplaced commas, though!

[twilight_rain]

Hm. Perhaps it is a UK thing. I wish that I knew exactly how to look this up so that I could figure it out once and for all. I know that for American English, it's supposed to be James's, but you may be onto something about the UK usage.

Ugh, misplaced commas will be the death of me. Also, when people write things like this, I similarly feel the need to edit them to death:

"I went to the market and." He said. "That's when I saw her."

[wellowned]

i've looked it up, and it's technically correct both ways. americans add the extra s for clarity; brits figure you shouldn't waste a letter. or something of that nature.

as for me, i'm an american who doesn't add the s. it looks repetitive and tacky for me.

[lirren]

Some of these are also some of my biggest pet peeves in fanfic. The of/have thing makes me want to froth at the mouth. Sadly, my son's second grade teacher actually sent home an introduction letter the first day of school that made that exact mistake. It destroyed my impression of her abilities for the rest of the year.

I have to disagree with number 4, though. I love fluff ficlets. They make me happy. So I guess that's one of those YMMV things.

[bjewelled]

If you look at 5, I mentioned that I don't have a problem with fics where the author deliberately set out to be low on plot. To write fluffily would, I suppose, come under that. Sometimes a little candy floss is what you need, but when authors are sort of trying, but forget that they're actually supposed to go somewhere... that's what I have a problem with. I can only conclude that those people aren't actually big readers, or they'd see the problem.

[nicocoer]

I don't know you but I will love you forever.

Seriously, nodding along THE WHOLE WAY.

And if you can't make your chapters over 1000 words, maybe it wasn't meant to BE a chapter fic! I do have some slight leniency if there's a single shorter chapter out of a fic of mostly longer chapters, but when short chapters are your norm there's something wrong. Especially the octopus-fic short chapters.