Water's October, Right?: House Fanfiction Discussion

Like Roga, I can gauge pretty well how well a story will go over. My stories with Stacy were probably my least read stories. I don't know if that's because they were some of my first House stories, or because they weren't very good, or people just didn't like Stacy. I was surprised that my post All-In Story was well-reviewed but with many fewer hits and reviews than I might have expected. I always love it when a reviewer says more than "great job; more, please." But I'm grateful for all readers and especially those who take the time to write.

Hi, bethctg! So happy you're here!!! Re comment counts: Certain things "sell" and if I happen to write them, I can anticipate they'll get more comments than other fics. But I have been pleasantly surprised and unpleasantly surprised too. Mostly I just firmly talk to myself with reminders that comments are a bonus and every single one should be appreciated. Do not get me started on the huge number of comments fics in certain other fandoms get. Because then I'll just sound like a big old jealous bitch.

Hmm. I've only written two stories for House, and Playing for Position was really the first major fic that I wrote. I had no real expectations when it came out (especially because House ficdom trended to H/W and it most definitely wasn't). And it was in 2nd-person, which I thought might be a turn-off. My second story was a crossover, so I had no idea what to expect there either. I'm never worried that anyone will have major technical issues with my work, but I don't think I'm good at anticipating audience reaction. I was really happy with the response I got, especially for the crossover. I never would have started work on a sequel to that without that reader response.

Hey, if we can talk about writing fanfiction, we can talk about reading fanfiction, right? And courtesies? Why do other fandoms get more comments?

Like Roga, I can gauge pretty well how well a story will go over. My stories with Stacy were probably my least read stories. Right now, I don't think I'm able to judge how a story will go over. I figure if I'm getting at least a few comments, the story's going over for someone, and I'm generally pretty pleased with that. But, as I'm writing, I'm never really sure. It's funny, so far the story that drew the most attention was one that featured the House/Stacy pairing. I was positively thrilled, since I knew that they're not the most liked pairing out there. Weird.

Here's a question: how's your perception of how well what you write is going to go over? For instance, I never expected "Player Piano" to interest many people, but it got a lot of comments, while the "House and Cuddy get married" fic got very few. Anything ever gone over like a lead balloon? Gotten more attention than your wildest hopes? How well does your perception of a story correspond to its popularity? Edit: I realize this sounds kind of braggy, but it's an honest question. :roll: I think this is part of the reason I so often go to a beta- because I honestly don't know. I've handed stories to my beta before and they've had a look and said "whoa- no way would House do this..." And then again, I've gotten good reception from a beta, but mediocre "yays" from others (especially House/Stacy stuff). But for the story I'm posting now, I made it to 5000 words and sent it to a beta just to see if they understood it all or if it was "workable." I figured they'd shake their heads and throw it back to me with a "wtf?" But she liked it and some others have also liked it thus far. I'd even go so far as to say I'm more proud of the first 5000 words of that story than anything else I've written, despite my initial hesitancy. (we'll see about the next 10K...) I don't know about you guys, but I have this "idea" doc that is about 60 pages of start and stop ideas for fanfic. Most of it is junk- but everything has its start there. I'll write something. Leave it. Come back and if I like it a few days later and have an idea of where it can go, I'll move it to its own file to finish it. The funny thing is, I don't think my drive is so much about the number of reviews I'll get, but about the quality of those reviews and the quality (and the fun) of the writing.

I've found betas helpful in so many ways and my primary beta reader is wonderful. And you're right, nomad, my beta reader is the first reaction I read. I suppose I utilize that reaction as a representative of others. Chances are, if my beta has a problem with it, someone else will too, but if she enjoys it, I could probably assume she won't be the only one. Continuing on the beta note, I don't know what I'd do without her. We've had some very beneficial discussions that have helped me grow. It's great to have someone questioning things and making me think.

I write what interests me, not what interests the fandom; I doubt I'd do very well if I had to write something I wasn't eager to see myself. When I first started writing, I didn't realize how loyal most readers are to the characters they ship... I read whatever sounded good based on the summary and author's notes, and didn't give it much thought. I would LOVE to see a poll here in the Caf. about what pairings people read, check all that apply. Can we do that? I'm working on a prompt for Get_House_Laid right now. It's Wilson/Chase, (and it's got bondage!) so I'm not expecting it to be incredibly popular. I think that's the kind of story that's going to have a smaller audience. The upside is that I'm loving writing it... and I'm not even up to the sex yet! :o

Aithlyn, I'm the same way. I was really shocked the first time I read someone's remarks saying they wrote what they knew "would sell" in the fandom rather than doing the stuff that was closer to their heart but would be less popular. That had just never occurred to me. I adore feedback, and I'm sure I'd get a lot more of it if I wrote the romantic/sexual stories everyone seems to love, but it's not me. I write gen. And since I'm not getting paid for this, I don't see any reason to turn it into a chore, which is what would happen if I were to write what seems to "sell" the best.

I really can't guess the number of comments I'll get. Obviously something with Foreman or Stacy doesn't sell well in general, whereas something with a lot of House and Wilson friendship gets a bigger reception. (Though not as much as a lot of slash items I've seen. I average maybe 10 to 12 comments per story, and am amazed when people who get double or triple that complain about a lack of response.) There are fics in which I've got the canon House and Stacy relationship, but which also have a strong House and Wilson friendship slant, and I always wonder whether I should link it on the House_Wilson LJ. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't -- but let's face it, House_Wilson has more readers than House_Stacy, and I do want to reach out to more readers. Speaking of which, I'm always amazed by people who say they only read fics posted on House_Wilson, and not Housefic -- which to me is amazing because there are a lot of good fics with a House and Wilson friendship angle only linked on Housefic which would otherwise be ignored. (And also schmoopy 'ship fics on House_Wilson which aren't even worth clicking.) Of course all that being said, I've got stuff that I dash off relatively quickly, which I expect no one will read -- "Dama," for instance, or the recent "Go Blue" which I considered only putting up in my LJ and not linking elsewhere -- which get great response.

Some people love comments - hence the 'I'll only perform if you feed me fish' stories and some people don't care. And as Namste said - some stories hit a chord and some don't. Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, but he also wrote Henry V II. Or putting it in modern terms. George Lucas made Star Wars, but he also made Howard the Duck. Which to be fair got a lot of comments, just not the ones he was hoping for. As Mare said - writing's fun. If you aren't getting paid for it you are bascally doing it for yourself. If it brings pleasure to others - that's a lovely feelgood bonus.

I love it when they say "I'll only update when I get 20 reviews!" Know why? It keeps me from wasting my time reading their story. Anyone who has such a poor grasp of adult human nature that they'd make that kind of statement, certainly isn't capable of writing House actually in-character. Those red flags are a wonderful thing, aren't they?

Some people love comments - hence the 'I'll only perform if you feed me fish' stories and some people don't care. And there are those in ff.net who say: "I'll only update when I get 20 reviews, so hit that button!" Arrrrgh. (Psst. Sheep ... there's no "Henry V part II" but there is a "Henry IV part II" -- which I personally find to be a key to understanding "Henry V.") Or the "should I continue?" question at the end. A writer should know if the story is is one shot (or not). OTOH, I've written things that I was sure would be one short story, and then took on a life of its own, but never fueled by whether or not I got x number of reviews. some of my stories didn't catch on to a readership until I was several chapters into them...then seemingly all of a sudden... Then again, some never did. but I write what I want to read; and referring to another thread, I try to write stories I'd want to read over and over when stuck out on a desert island. Am I always successful? Not by a long shot, but that's always the goal for me.

It's Wilson/Chase, (and it's got bondage!) so I'm not expecting it to be incredibly popular. Aithlyn, you'd be surprised, there's a lot of very devoted W/Ch readers - one of the most popular things I wrote (to my surprise) was W/Ch. Popularity/comments/reader numbers does seem to vary not just by pairing/gen etc but where you post (ff vs lj & which lj comm), and my sense is that there's also variation based on the site's members on how particular characters are interpreted & they bring that to bear on how they read the fic. Re readership - given the number of gen writers that seem to be here, is there some reason why there isn't an lj comm devoted to gen House fic? Would folks, not just writers but readers too, be interested in seeing one formed? (As a periodic gen writer who knows from bitter experience that this stuff gets lost in the shuffle most of the time, I've been considering starting one).

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