Fic, or lack thereof

[innocent_lex]

What is it about some shows that spawn a thousand fic writers and others that just don't? Is it the characters? The writing? The need to fill in things that the show's writers haven't bothered to address? It's hard to miss all the SG-1 and SGA fic out there, but look for NCIS or Without A Trace and there's very little. Are those shows too perfect, the characters not interesting enough or is it that scifi tends to attract writers? (though that doesn't explain Harry Potter fans).

At this point I should mention I don't read het. It just doesn't interest me as a story. So when I talk about there being very little to read, it's possible there is het fic out there that I skip over due to complete lack of interest.

It takes me a while to get to know a show enough to want to write for it, and much, much longer to get around to actually writing. I'm in the middle of an NCIS/SG-1 crossover at the moment (well, 'in the middle' meaning I've started) as well as another SG-1 story, but there is an urge to write WAT and some pure NCIS. Also maybe a bit of West Wing. And Man From Uncle because that would be oodles of fun *g*. Still, if the world was peopled with lots of mes then there would be not a great deal of fic out there at all.

So anyway, just musing, wondering, pondering.

Comments

[nialla]

I tend to think of LJ as "beta of last resort." I post my stuff there first, and even after a good beta reading there can be something missed that's caught there. Keeps my final copy in the archive cleaner that way.

I think a lot of other authors see it that way too, and most of the LJ authors tend to archive, and most post links to communities too. The problem seems to be finding the communities, because LJ's search function doesn't work worth a damn.

I generally like the comms that are centered around a particular pairing, simply because I tend to have one (or sometimes more) OTP per show and by focusing on those I don't have to wade through all the other pairings I don't like to read.

I've been reading more fanfic that profic for quite a while. I take it in spells for some reason, because when I first started reading fic I read it almost exclusively for a time before switching back to almost all profic.

I think it partly depends on availability of new materials by authors I like in either fan or pro flavors, as well as my mood. You generally can't find a lot of m/m stories that replicate slash stories in the first place, but there's something akin to "comfort food" about reading stories with characters you're already familiar with, even if it's total AU versions.

I think one of my biggest pet peeves about folks posting to LJ are those who toss up stuff completely unbetaed and they're not interested in concrit, just praise. I'm too old school of a fan to give out praise where it's not warranted.

[innocent-lex.livejournal.com]

This week I seem to barely have time to read anything, and when on the train I resorted to checking email and watching episodes of things because it took less brainpower. Next week will be better. I hope.

Re profic 'slash', it's really not like slash (or at least, not that I've found). Or maybe it's not like the slash I like to read. Or maybe I've just not found the right stuff. Or... I dunno. Too tired. Not sure there's a right answer.