Hahaha, I barely remember quantum leap. I think I was three when that was on...I'm a youngin. So what does Piss take mean?

"Piss take" means being really sarcastic about something.

Corgigirl: My first House fic, "Home", topped out at 87,000 words, which was in no way planned. It was one of those stories that seemed to write itself and I just followed along. My other two complete House fics are 46,000 and 65,000, and my WIP is up to 10,000. My main strategy for getting in a good session of writing is doing it at the same time each day. I like my chapters to be between 3,000 and 4,000 words, so I work towards that goal. I also like choosing a particular piece (or pieces) of music to go along with the writing. It is a conditioning technique that I've found helps keep me in the writing frame of mind. A huge thanks to you and all the great writers on this board for the wonderful stories!

I'll admit that I'm not all that structured when it comes to writing -- either long or short. I'm not someone who sits down and plans how much to write for the day. Somedays I simply don't have time -- or I've got something else I want/need to do. I might go a week without writing, then inspiration strikes when I have some free time and I'll write 4,000 words without thinking about it at all. In terms of writing a long fic ... I never set out planning to write something long. "Tracking Time" was merely built around the structure that I started with one short bit, which began in the present and had House reminiscing about when he met Wilson. From there, each chapter was just a matter of moving us forward in time to get back to the present -- to close the loop. "Eight Days Eight Months" was organized, but that was in terms of structure because I knew each chapter would cover one day in each of those months, so I had to know if it was going to be called "Eight Days" or "Six Days," but I never expected to write such long chapters. As I've said before with "Family, Friends ..." I'd thought it would be four or five chapters, but I found myself interested in all of these bits of the family story involving Wilson, and telling that story while moving forwrd in time just seemed to take 20 chapters. The one thing I've noticed, is that with my multi-chapter fics the first chapter is almost always the shortest -- and usually because I don't set out with the intention of writing "long," just telling a story that takes more than one chapter.

except if you slam a fic anonymously. Then I'll get pissed. That I have never done. I've also never done this. The mind, it boggles. http://cryptictac.livejournal.com/220809.html

Am I the only one who found it funny that some of the comments to the apology say "don't go because we like what you do?" Has this person even ever wrote their own fiction or juist ctrl-c'd others? Jesus, I feel bad if one of my fics even starts SOUNDING like someone elses.

TC, they also wrote their own fic & also did RPG. More generally, to add to TC's question, how many folks only write Housefic & nothing else, versus coming from (or branching into) other fandoms? To answer my own question, wrote other stuff before House, branched into other stuff after (SG1 & SGA), but mostly House-focused. I always joked that I only wrote when I was either stuck in an airport or when the NFL was on (I had a habit of writing during Sunday Night football) & didn't write much this summer (House, at least). Friday night there was an exhibition game on & I started writing House fic again (there's something seriously weird about my brain ). :oops:

As we are on reviews I was thinking. If I don't like something - not my cup of tea or whatever - if I don't like the story because of the theme/shipping/content, etc. But how do people react to negative reviews about their own work? I just got a review - very well thought out argument about why they didn't like the story and it came across as absoloutely perfectly valid. Now if I get one of these (or even a nasty one) I tend to go 'ohhh, I didn't think of that?.' But I find that a negative review will make me rethink the story a lot more than a good review. Sometimes I have to go - we will just have to agree to disagree because I can't change my opinion to fit yours. I mean have you ever seen a rabid democrat in the same room with a republican: detente - I think not. I know being criticised is a hard thing to take and I'm probably a little less fanbratty tempremental because no one can top: It all was shit. All 103 articles. Yes. Even the one written by your brother? Er - yes. ...and have come to bodily harm, nearly sued and such over stuff I write and the incredibly unethical things I do on a daily basis. But I do really have a think about every review I get. I follow all the fights on the Interweb and I know that it can hurt people and that is why I never review on theme. I'll just say why it made me happy or 'dear God - please space out your paragraphs'. So I suppose the question that hit me was 'how seriously do people take ff writing'. I know of some who don't mind if they stuff up here and there and some who like things to be word perfect. How come some people get so upset by stories they get very very angry and how come some people just hit the back button. And how do writers feel about all this? There is the infamous RL (real life story) where a band member killed the wife of another band member, ripped her unborn child out of the womb and then served it up for dinner to her husband. What on earth was going through that person's mind when they wrote that story? But mostly ff is nice. However you view it. I see it as pleasure. You write something nice for me. I write something nice for you. So the question there is: do we need to be overly critical of something which is a hobby or is it good to challenge writers and say - mate - what about this?

DIY Sheep wrote: I see it as pleasure. You write something nice for me. I write something nice for you. So the question there is: do we need to be overly critical of something which is a hobby or is it good to challenge writers and say - mate - what about this? To me, reading fanfic is like going over to a friend's for tea. I can enjoy the tea even if, possibly, it's not quite as hot as I normally like it -- I'm more interested in savouring the time I am spending with a kindred spirit away from the cares of the world. If the tea is exactly right, so much the better! But if the friend is a close one, I might offer some advice about improving their scones (e.g. "Enough with the raisins already!"). Thusly: amicable discussion, with everyone's best interests at heart, is ideal. Criticizing just to show off is embarrassing for all.

After reading all 37 pages of this thread I'm bubbling over with things I want to say, but most of it is about things discussed a long time ago (somewhere around page 12 or so) so I'll just put in my 2 cents on this question: "So the question there is: do we need to be overly critical of something which is a hobby or is it good to challenge writers and say - mate - what about this?". In my opinion, we don't need to be overly critical. When I read a fic that I find really awful, I don't comment. When I read a fic I do like, I usually (try to) comment, if only to thank to author for giving me something nice or funny or moving or even brilliant to read. I think being overly critical can hurt people's feelings and put them off writing forever, why would you want to do that? It's a hobby, which doesn't mean it's not to be taken seriously (I take the stuff I write very seriously and work hard to make it as good as I can, and even so it often tends to turn out all wrong), but does mean it should be fun. But like I said - that's only my opinion. One other thing: as lots of people, it seems, no-one but my fellow-fanfiction-friends know that I'm even reading fanfiction, let alone write it. Why are we all so shy about this??

do we need to be overly critical of something which is a hobby or is it good to challenge writers and say - mate - what about this? I think it depends on the writer. There are people who want to take it seriously, who agonize over word choices and want it to be as perfect as possible. They're they ones who are looking for more intense concrit, I think. They're the ones who enjoy discussion character reactions, scene changes, etc. Then there are obviously the fanbrats who don't care about anything, and anything you would say would be like pissing into the wind. But I also think there are people in between, who want to do well, but aren't necessarily wedded to "perfection." There's one author I've had e-mail conversations with who fits into that area, I think. During some longer e-mail concrit, I've given her my opinion that her stuff is good, but tips too far over into melodrama. Her response is that she knows that, but doesn't mind. She likes the melodrama, so writes to it. She has fun with it, so she writes it. Does that make her bad? No. Am I going to read her fic? Generally, yes, but not with the same critical eye. Will my eyes roll more than occasionally while doing it? Yes, but I try to ignore it.

Why are we all so shy about this?? I don't know about everyone, but i think that for a lot of people fanfiction is associated with the same sort of mocking that costuming is. It doesn't matter that I and my friends are all successful 30 somethings with careers and families, when we costume the images are of the Star Trek geek living in his parent's basement. So I think that there is the feeling that if you come out of the fanfic closet then you face the question and scrutiny that isn't assocated with less personal aspects of fandom.