Are You a Fic Snob?

How picky are you with reading stories? What makes you click out of a fic? Do you have high standards for fanfics? Are your favorite fics as good the second time you read it?

Or will you read mostly anything as long as you like the plotline, or if the sex is hot?

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I just realized recently that I became a bit of a fic snob - after being immersed in different types of it for six years. I can usually tell if I'd like a story at the beginning - if not I exit the page. Sometimes I keep reading, but I rarely change my first impression of it.

I can't pinpoint it at the moment. I have to get back to this~

I only read fan-fics if they are abusive and violent...or adoption stories.

If fiction is way too cliche I wont' read it

If a fiction's plot is too boring or too predictable I won't even look at it...

I'm definitely a fic snob.
I like reading stories that aren't shallow but aren't too wordy either. I like reading stories that are just right and stories that have an actual plot. I'm not a big fan of PWP.
I usually read slash, but I read het too, sometimes, but I just have this thing where, like, I like the drama of slash better

I'm a complete and total fic snob. I read authors that I love. And then I generally find people they like because I trust their judgment. And I rarely read stories on Mibba.

I'm definitely a fic snob, though I like to think that I'm kind of friendly about it. I'll send the author of a fic that I've become disinterested in what my problem is (genearlly what makes me stop reading a fic is horrible grammar mistakes, improper spacing, or if it's just not making sense.) If they fix it, I'll stick around for a few more chapters to see if my opinion has changed. If not, I stop reading and unsubscribe.

Another question - do you frequently find yourself disagreeing with people's perceptions of the 'best' writers in a fandom?

Because a lot of the time someone will rec me a fic that I see a lot of people are gushing over - and when I read it myself it's like, above average. As in better than most fics, but certainly not worthy of that type of praise.

After all this time I just boil it down to taste~

The Way:

Another question - do you frequently find yourself disagreeing with people's perceptions of the 'best' writers in a fandom?

Not really. I'm all too aware that one's preference in writing style is what has a tendency to make or break a fic/writer. I like simplistic narration, stream of consciousness (don't know how to say that) in narration. I hate flowery prose and lots of metaphors. But I know that doesn't make someone not a great writer.

Granted, I don't really "follow" the best writers in a fandom. Like I said, I read my writers and then their friends and will ask for reccs sometimes. (However, no one hardly answers my requests so that doesn't help my fic snobbishness )

That's a great term for it. I am definitely a fic snob. Though, I've actually gotten less snobby over time. (Yeah, I was terrible to start with.) I can be super picky with pretty much all forms of fiction, at least on sites like this. (Ironically, I'm not so picky with actual novels.) My likes and dislikes are so random, yet specific that I'd probably irritate myself just listing them. Of course, like I said I'm working on getting better.

I am definitely a fic snob. At least on Mibba, there are only three, four authors I read stories by. I used to give pretty much anything a chance. :/

I suppose it's down to my fandom preferences changing too. When I first joined I was a crap writer and used to read any old shitty MCR fanfic I came across, but as I got better I learned to distinguish between good and bad writing and started to select fics to read based on how well they were written. Then, I read less MCR fic and more McFly and Harry Potter fic, of which there is very little on here, so I kind of moved to stalk LJ and FF.net - but even then, I'm very picky about what I read. With HP especially, it has to be believable and well written for me to even consider reading on. I'm also partial to NCIS fanfiction but there are only two authors that write that who I actually will read stories by - one being thom e. gemcity on here and catswalkalone on LJ.

The Way:

Another question - do you frequently find yourself disagreeing with people's perceptions of the 'best' writers in a fandom?

I do, actually. I suppose it's down to taste; I prefer stories with rich description, nothing too... blunt, I suppose. Most of the time it has to be extremely enthralling for me to read anything written out of that style. But, I digress. I will acknowledge that some of the 'famous' authors on a site/fandom are good at what they do, it's just that their stuff doesn't really interest me.

Self-confessed fic snob
I don't read them that much anymore... too much schoolwork and such... but I am extremely picky. From the title to the story description I usually work out whether it's worth reading or not. Occasionally I'll give the first chapter a shot. If the grammar's not right, or the character is too perfect, or if I can guess the storyline from the first paragraph, I stop. I prefer oneshots, because there's less committment involved. Some stories get a bit sloppy after the first however many chapters (I think some of mine do too) and I prefer to just get all the drama in one shot
I love really out there fanfics, ones that are everything but the usual, otherwise I prefer originals. If I'm going to read a cliche storyline, I'd like it to be with new characters that I can start with at square one and grow with as it progresses, rather than have a preconceived idea of the character like I do with most fanfics.
I'm such a snob

The Way:

Another question - do you frequently find yourself disagreeing with people's perceptions of the 'best' writers in a fandom?

Hmm not really. I think a lot of people could be much better writers than they are at the moment and I rarely if ever read stuff because of its fandom -though I tend to stay away from stories that feature people who annoy me- but I think my idea of a good/best story of any kind is a bit different from that of a large number of Mibbians. I just can't stand angst in stories any more or sloppy plot-lines or a certain kind of illiterate pretentiousness. Again, a lot of people would be really great writers because they're really talented but few are willing to work hard enough on their stories.

I'm overall not the biggest fanfiction reader and I never was a fanfiction writer. What I'd love to read on Mibba is clever ya-ish stories (which are rare enough in the realm of published books too), not steamy sex, angsty angstness or over-thesaurused blank prose. Just these warm nice kind of stories perhaps with an underlying question/problem -but in any case not something that has to do with death and more teenage angst-, the kind you wouldn't be embarrassed to tell or show in real life.

^Hmm, so for the people who don't really frequent fanfiction, do the same kind of standards apply when you read original fiction? Which type gets a ~free pass most of the time in terms of questionable quality?

And to shift the topic to published books, same things too. What makes you put down a book in the middle of reading it? Obviously grammar and little technicalities aren't the issue anymore - so is it when a character annoys you, or when the plot has glaring holes, etc. etc.?

Mm, I'm definitely a fic snob. I mostly prefer original fiction but I occasionally read MCR/Panic/TAI as long as it's interesting and well written, but I'm pretty snobby when it comes to what I find interesting and well written.

I hate when it seems like the authors trying too hard. I don't care about fifty thousand amazing, obscure metaphors because you just end up forgetting what they're descibing in the first place, or giving your character some kind of beautiful~, 'odd' name (which isn't actually reserved for shit fanfics like I thought.)

A lot of writers people would consider the 'best' in a fandom I most likely don't feel the same way about.

I don't even read OF unless it's by somebody I know and sounds reallyreally amazing because I already have a lot of books that I want/need to read and that I know for sure I'll enjoy. Fanfiction is just this Mibba thing and I read it because it belongs here. I've tried to find a reason why I read certain books over and over again, while detesting others. There seems to be a pattern. I just love books that one can ardently love as literature. Books that are self-conscious in a way, profoundly literary. For example, Twilight novels are not really books, they're movie scripts, the words are used solely because they can paint pictures in the reader's mind, not because they're words. This is perhaps not that simple to explain. It somehow bothers me that people think me a literary snob when in fact I have the most innocent and naive of loves for books. I've really tried to love all books indiscriminately, but it's just as hard as loving all human beings equally.

Generally, I am very much a fic snob. I used to read a lot of fan fiction, anything that was "relevant" to my fandom/pairing, but now I find that I'm really very picky with the fics that I read. I truly have to enjoy the writer and/or the story to follow it; which is why I hardly every read chaptered stories.

However, I find that the fandom I read the most fan fiction (at least, currently) would have to be the RPF fandom for Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes. There are quite a few good fics over on LJ that I enjoy.

The only writer I truly 'follow', though, would have to be Tom Fletcher. though. Her descriptions take my breath away. She also is a writer who takes so much care when it comes to characterization, which is an element that I find most important when I'm reading fan fiction. It's the main reason I don't read that much - it frustrates me when a character is doing something obviously out of their personality (unless it was a crack fic) without explanation.

I've also noticed that I am way pickier with fic that is in a fandom that I like more. Like, for example, my standards for a Motion City Soundtrack or Doctor Who fanfic are ridulously high for the most part, but for fandoms I am less obsessed with and less knowledgeable of I am not as sensitive or snobbish. Does anyone else have that sort of attitude about fic or am I just crazy?

^ Yeah, I know what you mean. I won't read HP fic unless it's at a particularly high standard, because I'm a total Potter nerd and unless it's AU everything has to be canonically correct. I guess that's why I haven't attempted writing it before until now.

I don't read stories on Mibba anymore unless they're really good writers or if I know them and they ask me to read it, but otherwise I prefer not to.
The only site I tend to read on now is fictionpress because the stories on there are all original. And the writers are better so I've become a better writer myself because of it.

I usually only read fics on Mibba if:

1. They draw me in with a promising title.
2. I'm reviewing it.
3. It's DW/TW/TG related. (Not enough TG fiction on this site. I think only two people write it, me included. )

I have a high threashold when it comes to DW fanfiction. I do get critical when I start to read it but that's when it turns out to be some soppy love story. I don't mind some intense, unspoken feelings or even PWP in that genre buuuuut I dunno. As soon as a character like the Doctor says "I love you" to some sort of Mary-Sue, I click out. 10/Rose was bad enough in canon without making Rose some Mary-Sue Hortensia McEmo-Titamaboob.

When it comes to the other types; I'm more critical but that doesn't mean that I dismiss it because I don't get the fandom. I mean, I've read Kradam and FOB/P!ATD stuff even though I don't really understand what is going on. From that viewpoint, I tend to concentrate more on analysis than the storyline. It makes it difficult in a sense when I read other fanbase stuff and I haven't got a clue if that actually sounds like them or not.

It's basically why I adore radical AU plots. I read this one on LJ called Half Sick of Shadows which is a Jeremy Clarkson/James May fic in a WWW3/1984-esque situation and it is just brilliant. I have it on podfic and it really made me love that fandom.

So...err...yes.

What I would like to see is a sort of...experimentation with fiction. In general. Sometimes I feel that fiction here somewhat...stagnates stylistically.

I don't want Stephanie Meyer-wannabees. I want James Joyce.

I'm definitely a fic snob, I tend to read only fics that are:

1. Better written than mine
2. Of similar quality'
3. Simple Plan or Avenged. I do read others [and originals if they are better than my fanfictions]
4. Capture my attention, have good grammar, an interesting plotline. So I will read other band fiction if it falls under this category.

One problem I have is if someone who is reading one of my fics and then asks me to read theirs [they've commented nicely by the way on my fics] and then I do, but I can't read it for lack of proper grammar or punctuation...I don't like being mean, nor am I good at critiquing...[I don't believe] and I just feel a tad awful...because frankly their fics would be better left hidden...