Questions taken from AO3 Comment of the Day.
Image: rekre89
For posting? AO3. I like the flexibility of its interface and tagging system, and when posting links to my own work I will almost always post the AO3 link, even if I’ve also posted the fic somewhere else. I also really like what they’re doing in the field of transformative literature studies, and that their codebase is more active.
For interacting with readers? FFN. Their commenting/reviewing interface is significantly better than AO3’s. Yes, AO3 lets authors answer back in the comments (FFN does not) but the private messaging system at FFN more than compensates for that. I’ve had a lot of really good conversations with readers (and other authors!) via that system, and in fact even found a beta that way. When messages are private, it’s a lot easier to have an in-depth conversation.
For reading, I’ve discovered that different fandoms have more stories/better quality stories at different sites. For example, I usually read Scarecrow and Mrs. King and Earth 2 fic over at FFN. But I read Star Trek and Babylon 5 fic at AO3.
Because the sites each have their own pros and cons, I usually will post at both. But there are a few stories on AO3 that are not mirrored at FFN. (All FFN stories are mirrored at AO3.) I got away from using fandom-specific sites a while back, as there simply are too many of them, but I’ll usually say “yes” if a site author asks to archive one of my stories. My only requirements are that they remain properly attributed and publicly available; and that they never be sold for profit.
37. Talk about your current WIPs.
My current main WIP is Standing in the Dark, which I’ve referenced several times in this series. Between it and its predecessor, “The Energy of Sun Rays,” I’ve been working on it for about sixteen months. I’m ready to finish it and move on to my next big project (and yes, I know what that will be).
When I’ve needed a breather, I’ve been working on Tales from Winter Camp. These items are vignettes so they give me a reprieve from all the things that go into a large project. I’m usually able to finish them in one or two sittings, which gives me the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction I sometimes need in order to keep on with the bigger projects.
I’m also working on some original projects, including some items in a literary shared universe. Right now I’m hearing that the first item, a short-story anthology, will be published sometime next year. That’s exciting news and I’ll definitely be announcing it on this site when that happens.
Finally, in fits and starts, have been working on my particular occasionally-alternate-universe ramble through Scarecrow and Mrs. King’s third and fourth seasons. (Nearly every fan fiction writer in this universe writes a continuation, an “extra scenes” project running through a couple seasons, or both.) I’m not asking my current beta if she’s willing to beta this one because she and I disagree — in a friendly manner — about a couple of things involving the characters. They’re not relevant to Standing in the Dark and its sequels as those are continuations, but they are relevant to items set during the series.
I have no idea if or when I’m going to finish and post that item, but “The Energy of Sun Rays” taught me to wait until I was finished before starting something like that. There are two other projects as well: one is the re-outline and re-write of Family Secrets (for Castle), and the other is the re-outline and rewrite of “Lent” (for Earth 2). It’s enough to keep me busy without being bored.
38. Talk about a review that made your day.
I still have a copy of it, since I downloaded the reviews before taking the story down for rework. It’s for my Castle story, Family Secrets, which is written from an original character’s point of view. That’s a dicey thing in fan fiction, as in general, readers aren’t interested in reading about them. They want to read about the canonical characters. It’s also very easy to slip into Mary Sue territory with original characters, so in this case I went to some trouble to make sure I hadn’t. I mentioned both of these things in the author’s notes and got this review in response:
Surprised? This is an incredibly good story. Original, well written, great character development worked almost effortlessly (but I bet it wasn’t effortless to do it) into the fabric of the story. That is certainly worth reading. The really good news is I found it with [all] 10 chapters so I can read it like a book, at least until I finish 10. I love it when that happens.
The next day, before I’d even had the chance to respond to the first review, he left another one:
I really REALLY like the character of Marty you have created and the way you built our image of her through her participation in key elements of the story. You didn’t tell us about her, you let us get to know her through her actions, thoughts, and speech. You did that with all the characters you created. You also did that with the canon characters to let us learn who they were or had evolved to be. That, together with the creative but realistic plot line were the highlights of the story for me. […] I missed Espo and Ryan in this story but only because I like the characters in the show. They were not needed and truth be told, had they been there, it would have felt contrived.
He went on in the same vein for a few more paragraphs. I was so thrilled and excited when I read those reviews that I cried. Everything he discussed was something I’d tried really hard to do right in the story, and he clearly understood my overall intent. I’d never had a review like that before and it came at a time when I was slogging through something else. To this day (the reviews were written in 2013), I’ll sometimes go re-read them when I have inspiration but no motivation.
I sent gushing thank-you notes, but we didn’t strike up any continuing conversations. Given that he stated his age as 71 when he wrote the reviews — meaning he’d be 82 or 83 now — there’s a reasonable possibility he isn’t even still alive. If he isn’t, I hope and pray that God factored in these good deeds at final review.
39. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?
I’ve gotten critical reviews, but they were always thoughtful and well-intentioned so I’ve never minded them. In fact, I welcome them although I’ll usually take follow-up responses and discussions to private messaging. It’s one of the reasons I like that feature.
Unfortunately, I did end up with a rude and nasty reviewer with “The Energy of Sun Rays.” Despite the fact that I had posted content warnings, she hated the premise of the story, hated some of the things I’d done toward addressing that premise, and demanded that I completely rewrite it to fit her taste (including the removal of several major plot elements). When I suggested she write her own fic with the items she wanted to see, she promptly went into each and every chapter of the story and left more nasty, negative reviews.
I banned her. It’s the first, and hopefully, only time I’ve ever used that feature. But the reviews were upsetting me — there was no constructive criticism at all — and dealing with the volume was requiring a lot more energy than I wanted to spend on the situation. I later found out she’d done the same thing with a few other Scarecrow and Mrs. King writers. Some of them ended up banning her, too, which made me feel vindicated.
40. Write an alternative ending to one of your fics.
If I did that then I would want to post it with my other work! Because my writing process generally involves me knowing the end before I know the beginning, it’s hard to write an alternate ending to any of my own work. The reason? Because I’ve already chosen the ending that I thought would be the best option, and I either wrote or am writing toward it.
Now, if someone else wanted to write an alternative ending to one of my fics, I’d ask them what they had in mind. As long as it’s not outrageous, and subject to my usual conditions about attribution and lack of profit-making, I’ll very likely say yes. I love seeing what other writers come up with. Fan fiction is a community as much as it is a pursuit.