(no subject)
I have a question for you Fic Writers out there. Please give it a read and see if I'm just weird or what. Shut up. I heard the snickering.
I just read a long 17 chapter story by one of my alltime favorite writers. Her stories always make me laugh and cry and feel feelings. I reread the stories and love them more each time.
This story, though, had something going on in it that bugged me, that took me out of the storyline and jarred me each time it happened. I completely admit up front that it is soooooo infinitesimal as to not even need to be mentioned, except for the fact that it's stuck in my head.
Before I say what it is, let me also mention that I never give critical fb. If that makes me a bad reader, so be it. I just don't feel I am in any position to be critical about someone's fic. Even if the author begs for it, I feel like if I mentioned something, in a helpful way, it would still be all "Who do you think you are, telling me how to write fic? You don't write!" So I don't do it.
But with the "thing" I'm finally going to get to - sheesh! - I wonder if anyone else noticed it and if the author would really want to know that it jarred me regularly. That's the gist of this post.
Ok. So it was the use of an action verb over and over and over. Every few paragraphs. And it wasn't a common one like "ran" or "said" or "moved". It was one that you would notice, that you would really see the action the author was writing about. And the word works. In small doses. Not, for example, like this:
Kenya grimaced......
he grimaced......
The grimace on his face was noticable......
...she knelt and grimaced at the carpet...
Grimacing, he ......
And on and on. It got to the point where I knew after a few paragraphs, it was time for the word to be used again. I even went so far as to count the number of usages for the fic: 47, btw.
And, while I'm on my high horse named Snooty McReader, the word did not really work for the characters. Ok, sure, once or twice, they'd act this way, but not every freaking minute!
Ok, I'm done. I've probably made enemies with my pickiness. But hopefully I'll be forgiven by you knowing I don't evereverever think this way. I read solely for enjoyment. I don't like to nitpick and worry too much about writing style and so on.
I just wonder: Is this something to mention to the author or is it my own problem? Would you want to know? Honestly? Or would you say yes and then curse the name of the reader that told you this? Seriously, I'm curious.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, hopefully I can just enjoy the memories of the story for itself, since the author is such an unbelieably wonderful storyteller. And no, that is not sarcasm!
Thanks for your help.
I just read a long 17 chapter story by one of my alltime favorite writers. Her stories always make me laugh and cry and feel feelings. I reread the stories and love them more each time.
This story, though, had something going on in it that bugged me, that took me out of the storyline and jarred me each time it happened. I completely admit up front that it is soooooo infinitesimal as to not even need to be mentioned, except for the fact that it's stuck in my head.
Before I say what it is, let me also mention that I never give critical fb. If that makes me a bad reader, so be it. I just don't feel I am in any position to be critical about someone's fic. Even if the author begs for it, I feel like if I mentioned something, in a helpful way, it would still be all "Who do you think you are, telling me how to write fic? You don't write!" So I don't do it.
But with the "thing" I'm finally going to get to - sheesh! - I wonder if anyone else noticed it and if the author would really want to know that it jarred me regularly. That's the gist of this post.
Ok. So it was the use of an action verb over and over and over. Every few paragraphs. And it wasn't a common one like "ran" or "said" or "moved". It was one that you would notice, that you would really see the action the author was writing about. And the word works. In small doses. Not, for example, like this:
Kenya grimaced......
he grimaced......
The grimace on his face was noticable......
...she knelt and grimaced at the carpet...
Grimacing, he ......
And on and on. It got to the point where I knew after a few paragraphs, it was time for the word to be used again. I even went so far as to count the number of usages for the fic: 47, btw.
And, while I'm on my high horse named Snooty McReader, the word did not really work for the characters. Ok, sure, once or twice, they'd act this way, but not every freaking minute!
Ok, I'm done. I've probably made enemies with my pickiness. But hopefully I'll be forgiven by you knowing I don't evereverever think this way. I read solely for enjoyment. I don't like to nitpick and worry too much about writing style and so on.
I just wonder: Is this something to mention to the author or is it my own problem? Would you want to know? Honestly? Or would you say yes and then curse the name of the reader that told you this? Seriously, I'm curious.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest, hopefully I can just enjoy the memories of the story for itself, since the author is such an unbelieably wonderful storyteller. And no, that is not sarcasm!
Thanks for your help.