Water's October, Right?: House Fanfiction Discussion

We actually MSTed our own once. And it showed that MSTing can be fun just for the sake of it. It's not all about grammar and spelling, but more about just imagining what the characters do if they were seeing their own lives described before them. This is the story I did: He liked Dream Jimmy. Even though he would try to curl up in a solitary ball, Dream Jimmy would uncurl him, draw him close and hold him just like the big nancy boy he was. Dream Jimmy didn’t mind if he cried a bit and made Dream Jimmy’s shirt wet. Dream Jimmy knew all about the leg. But Dream Jimmy was a bastard too, just like the real one. Dream Jimmy would shake the little bottle and look at him mournfully. Damn you Dream Jimmy! But he would still murmur an apology into Dream Jimmy’s chest and promise to be good. Dream Jimmy would sigh and he knew he had been forgiven when he would feel Dream Jimmy’s hand on his hair – stroking it gently. Then Dream Jimmy would hold him until he went back to sleep and all was well in the Dream Land of House. …… House was out for the count. He actually looked content. Wilson wondered what he was dreaming about. Then he looked at his watch and carefully untangled himself from the sleeping man and left the office. and this is the MST: http://diysheep.livejournal.com/23337.html Because if you can't laugh at yourself you're a right twonker.

I think the rule is that you need to be encouraging. What you need to say is something that will inspire the person to strive to improve whatever it is they lack. There's a difference between feedback for new writers and feedback for experienced writers. Yes, with the people starting out, you should focus more on encouragement, but with writers who know what they're doing and how to get there, I don't believe that there's the same need for affirmation. I would much rather an editor focus their efforts on giving me good, detailed concrit than finding two good things to say for every negative one. YMMV.

Speaking of reviews and writing and whatnot, is there a beta finding/offer thread yet? I'll bring it up with the other mods. We're trying to not flood the Cafeteria yet with too many threads, but I could also see it going in the Real Life section as well.

I'll bring it up with the other mods. We're trying to not flood the Cafeteria yet with too many threads, but I could also see it going in the Real Life section as well. So would it be okay to talk about and request a beta in this thread? Holy shit, I really shouldn't drink and surf.

I would much rather an editor focus their efforts on giving me good, detailed concrit than finding two good things to say for every negative one. YMMV. As I previously specified to you, the 'bookend' PNP is for the whole beta job, not for the each negative. Saying nothing positive at all about the overall story (or, in fact, leaving completely negative feedback about your impression of the story) is a recipe for hurting someone's feelings, no matter how experienced they are. If you can't find anything positive you want to tell the author about the overall story, imho, you should avoid betaing it.

As I previously specified to you, the 'bookend' PNP is for the whole beta job, not for the each negative. Actually, you didn't specify that, and I was just stating my personal preferences. I'd rather have blunt concrit than cushioning affirmation. I know that's not necessarily the norm.

I'd rather have blunt concrit than cushioning affirmation. I know that's not necessarily the norm. I was thinking today - there's sort of a continuum between pure affirmation/encouragement and blunt concrit. I think everyone has a different preference for where on the continuum they like to be addressed, and what will help them improve as writers. For example, someone who's extremely self-critical might need a lot of encouragement and with it be able to spot many of their own errors. Whereas, someone who's fairly dense might need the concrit to be delivered fairly bluntly for it to hold any value. And then there are just people like you and me who are just have their own ideosyncratic preferences for what style we like for various reasons. There is no better or worse, more valuable or least valuable style. It's just important to ensure that the style you choose will suit the person to whom you deliver it, imho. Philosophical enough? XD

I think both Asyca and LT are both write. Look at that - both write! Dear ME! It's all about the relationship you have with your beta. Some people do want blunt harsh crit because they can take it and some people just like knowing 'it isn't shit', ie a release from the the wobblies. The wobblies are what everyone feels. Releasing a story to the general public takes guts because basically it is your baby. But you will always get mixed reactions. For example - some people love James Joyce - some people hate him: and he is the supposedly greatest writer of the 20th Century. I love this guy who said once: GUY: It's all shit. ME: Even the article written by your brother? GUY (not realising he was digging himself further and further into it with an earth moving tool because said brother had just come into the room): Yes. So as LT said blunt concrit can work for people who are used to the harsh reality of wriing and as Asynca said it is all about the relationship with the beta: if you know they are being a picky bastard because they like your work it just pushes you to have a bit of a mull and, if you are so inclined - go a bit further. And definitely get a beta on the same wave length as you. Can you just imagine a Hammerite betaring a PWP H/W - that would be messy.

Because if you can't laugh at yourself you're a right twonker. MST'ing yourself is a far cry from MST'ing some poor kid who was worked hard on something. I think most people are critical of themselves as it is. And, seriously, there are probably 13 year olds who write stuff and it probably is really bad. But that doesn't mean they deserve to have their self-esteem crushed. I look back on stuff I wrote when I was 13 and cringe. I'll probabably look back on stuff I wrote at 31 and cringe too no matter how many good reviews I got. :lol: People tend to remember the unkind things more than the kind ones.

That's why we never tell them. Untill the time they discover House_MST and look back and can laugh.

Okay, just so I am following this convo. If you get a person asking for beta it is okay to be harsh with them, provided you frame the good with the bad. Kind of like coating the cough syrup with...umm...well...I didn''t think that one through to well, I always just shot OJ after taking cold medicine What about if someone is writing and asks for reviews? and that's Orange Juice, not that shooting OJ wouldn't also make me feel better sometimes.

Me, I'll always ask permission before MSTing. Back in my day, that's just the way it was done: considered courteous. Everyone ripped into the MST author who didn't have author approval. Times have changed, and I'm too old to change with 'em! /walks uphill to school both ways

So would it be okay to talk about and request a beta in this thread? So there was talk while I was asleep about this by the mods, and for now, we would like to recommend an LJ community for finding betas as we are not yet sure how much of a demand this will warrant. For now, the moderators of this forum are recommending the House Fic Beta community at Live Journal, which can be found here. We will continue to watch and see if we should start a thread dedicated to it, but the fanfic writers who are also mods here strongly recommend their services.

Walks uphill both ways... Zulu - through the snow? :wink: People asked before they MSTed? I never knew that. I'm trying to imagine how you would phrase that request exactly - gee you have shared your kinky Mary Sue longings to shag House and I'm just wondering if I could take the piss out of your fantasies? I'm thinking that would be a no. Does anyone remember God Awful Fan Fiction. Some of the stuff on there was mind blowing. Not so much for grammar or such, but the story of the Linkin Park singer who killed his drummer's pregnant wife and then cooked the baby and served it up for dinner always sticks in my mind for some reason. The strange ideas people can come up with (not that I can talk). But I think Troops is right: how a beta interacts with a writer depends on them. For example I look over a few peoples' stuff and one is a copy editor for a magazine - not much work to do there. And speaking of that: have you fixed those typos Troops? (It's not too bad - there were only two). Reviews are a little different. The writer is opening themselves up to random peoples' opinions and you have to take the rough with the smooth. And LJ_beta is a good place. There seems to be a lot of excellent ff writing places on LJ.

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