Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Favorite Fanfic Fun by Genre

I didn't find my poll slanted at all by my definition (except maybe the definition historical, which I didn't understand), but I was hard-pressed to limit it to just three choices. I love the spectrum of genres offered on this board, particularly since the writing is top-notch in this fandom.

I agree with Labby regarding feedback. However, I never assume that a small amount of feedback makes a story less popular. Over the years, I have found that too many people read without leaving feedback to worry about such things. (Admittedly, though, I've grown up in this area, and I still revert every once in a while.)

Elisabeth

I think my statement was sort of... misunderstood?
I wasn't talking about the popularity of a fic when I said that about feedbacks.

Editor Jax said:
She implied that a poll like this might hurt the sentiments of authors who write, say Deathfics and I just pointed out that it is not as if the authors who write stories of the less popular genre will suddenly come to a revelation that their story genre is less popular by seeing this poll because they'd have already known that by seeing the feedback they get.

EDIT: The only exception to the rule is probably alcyone's Bohemia! Girl, I wonder how your stories manage to rock even though it falls under one of the least voted (actually NIL) genre! Great going! And keep it up! But then, you tricked *me* into reading, so you probably would have done that to anybody!

That was a compliment, by the way!

Repeat:
And if they are the sort who get easily hurt, it is not as if they are going to be hurt by just seeing this poll and knowing that nobody voted for them, because they already know that their story has received no/very-little/negative feedbacks and so it's not popular.

This poll is not here to create any new hurt feelings that isn't already there...

I'm such a sucker for episode rewrites. I think it's the greatest thing since sliced bread when authors can put a new twist on material we're all pretty familiar with.

Anyone else have a genre they can't live without?

JD

Nfic that actually has a plot. I enjoy a PWP as much as the next person, but I am always impressed when a nfic has a believable A-plot in addition to a steamy B-plot. It seems more realistic as an "episode" of L&C that way. Examples include "Walk In My Shoes" and "Mxysplit" by Sheila, "Faustian Bargain" and "The Next Step," by Sue, "When Lovers Become More" by Kathy B, and "Anybody's Baby" by Annie, which I know isn't total nfic, but has nfic elements.

Humor humor and humor! If it comes bundled up with romance and sweet stuff, I love it all the more! Not necessarily an NFic, but it's also okay.

Unfortunately, very few authors here make me have a good laugh, so I automatically settle for a good Romantic/WaFFy one. Many authors do a great job in writing a sensual, lovely romance, so I'm not naming any.

And just-the-opposite one comes next, but I read it only when I'm in the mood - Drama.

EDIT : --I don't mean the others aren't good or that they can never come close or that their works suck -- I probably should add this sentence in every one of my posts hereafter, since they're being looked with a huge magnifying glass

I hope I'm allowed to add this; but the list isn't gonna change...
For me,
And the best is and will always be
Wendy! - Faux Pas, A Conscious Choice and sequel - The Morning After, For the Greater Good, Happy New Tears, The Healing Time, It Happened One (Super) Night and sequel - It's A Super Life, It Only Hurts When I Breathe (I love this one!), Nightmare on Clinton Street, The Penfriend and the list goes on and on and on (some of the stories are multi-authored)

And many others follow her - (not necessarily in that order)
Sheila Harper - Faster Than A Speeding Bullet(the incomparable), Walk in My Shoes

Kathy Brown (I loved her Tea-Totaled - wish she'd made it into an NFic! And of course, WFBL and WLBM, A Flickering Flame - OMG! Now there's a real plot!)

ML Thompson - First Comes Marriage, The People v. Clark Kent

Meredith Knight - Night Errant, Rest and Reproduction, That Honeymoon Feeling

And many more but that's all I can think of right now. Most of these stories are just GFics, but make a far more worthy read than many NFics out there!

Why don't some of these authors write anymore? *whines*

Probably not - but it may also have the consequence of 'rubbing it in', sort to speak, whether intended or not. Just when a writer has succeeded in convincing herself it doesn't matter....

I know that's a negative thing to say. Sorry.

I guess it depends on how the comments are made - discussing genres in the abstract seems okay, interesting at times when people explain why they like or don't like certain genres.

But when the discussion starts getting specific, it then gets exclusive, leaving people out.

c.

Some of the authors you've mentioned have moved on to other fandoms, I'm afraid. Others have dropped out of the fandom or are no longer writer. It can have plenty of reasons why people move on. Luckily for us, we still get very talented new authors each year to entertain us with their stories.

As to your original question about genres... I usually stick with the Kerth categories when mentioning them. Partly to do with the fact I grew accustomed to it after years, partly due to the fact that come nomming/voting time, stories need to go into those categories anyway. So I'm just being practical and saving me some time (for a change <g>).

Saskia

I just happened to drop in here and saw my name in the thread.

First of all, Coolgirl, thank you. Second:

Well... I do write. Just not Lois and Clark, I'm afraid. Two years ago I got hooked on Doctor Who, and then bitten by the fanfic bug for that series. If anyone's interested, I can supply the link to my LiveJournal and/or my account on the DW fanfic archive. I also have a DW fic website, but I am so behind on updating that one. Just a caution: my stories in that fandom, due to the nature of the series, are not really of the same sort as my L&C fic.

Thanks for asking


Wendy

COOLGIRL SAYS: And the best is and will always be

You say you don't mean for this poll to hurt any feelings and then you make comments like that . Do you not think your statement comes off as a slight to anyone currently writing stories? I have not posted anything I have written yet, but statements like this make me not even want to bother. Why should I? They clearly won't measure up.

I have been reading on this site for quitr some time and I have favorite authors, too, but I don't go around proclaiming who they are. And I don't follow up my list with "and they always will be, and no one else can even come close, so, don't bother trying, suckers." Or maybe that is just my interpretation. Talk about rubbing it in, you think?

Why don't we just call this what it is: The narrow definition of erotica in the original list was questioned by several people and when it dawned on the originator that their preferred genre wasn't as "demanded" as they thought, they went on the defensive.

I think it's probably best if you just insert a small 'imo' in coolgirl's post, SlotMadden, and leave it at that.

Such statements are always personal in nature and there are no rules here that state you - or anyone else for that matter - have to agree with them.

But there's very little to be gained by being wounded by such personal opinions. Agree with them. Don't agree with them. Shrug and move on if it's the latter.

Certainly, letting one person's praise for their favourite author dissuade you from writing and posting your own fanfic seems pretty pointless. Who knows how many readers out there might enjoy your work? Until you try, you'll never know. But it's probably best to accept right now that no matter how talented an author you are, there will always be other authors more talented, less talented - both in reality and perceived to be by other readers. There are fanfic authors out there who are enormously popular whose attraction escapes me. But what the hey - different strokes and all that.

If you're constantly comparing yourself to everyone else and trying to beat them, you're doomed to frustration before you even begin. Write your stories for the fun of it, for the pleasure they give you. Post them to share that pleasure with others. And I'm sure you'll find some willing readers here on the forum.

LabRat

LABRAT SAYS: If you're constantly comparing yourself to everyone else and trying to beat them, you're doomed to frustration before you even begin.

I actually was being sarcastic when I said they wouldn't measure up. At least not by the standards set in this poll!

But I shall give it a try anyway. I have never showed anyone anything I wrote, so it should be an adventure, right?

Point taken!

No, honestly I didn't think so, but you think I should think so?

Post them!

I do post mine, and even I know they don't/aren't ever going to measure up to those better writers.

Besides, what if I really like your stories? I don't want the FoLCs to miss your stories just because of one comment from me (trust me, there are going to be many - mostly positive and some negative too!)

Elaborate originator.

Thought I should paste this quote of mine here!!!
And probably call this the greatest WHINE, WHINE, WHINE that I've experienced ever since I registered in this forum (in my opinion, again!)

Hey, you never know. My first stories all make me cringe when I think about them... but with practice and feedback and encouragement, I like to think I've improved over the years I feel like I've learned an enormous amount about the craft of writing, POV, how to structure things, etc. I don't think you can really understand stuff like that without trying and failing a few times!

So don't write yourself off so easily.

PJ

One:
Thanks, but it's still tough to come up with something that's not already been done before! Just last week I had this brilliant idea. I thought it was something new, different and wonderful but then I stumbled across a similar story and so I put mine away. I mean, I could go out there and bring the most weird plot from somewhere and make my story an Original one, but I still think it would all have written before - somewhere by someone! And those that haven't been written probably won't appeal to me or the readers because writing something new and getting people to recognize it is difficult!

Two:
POLL PROBLEM
I'm not criticizing any of the authors; having posted some NFics of my own, it would mean I'm criticizing myself as much... but look at the loads of NFic we have here! Most of them don't contain any plot at all, just a small vignette with some of *N* stuff. I agree that some are really hot/sensual but most of them are just the same thing put in different words! Same story, same bedroom stuff, different words! What's the big deal?

I can name a dozen popular stories by popular authors which didn't make an attractive read to me at all. I don't want to name any right now, since I'm probably going to get another dozen accusing fingers pointed at me.

And sometimes even if the plot's good it's not popular because it's not the *plot* readers want, it's the *steam*! So, you can't basically categorize an NFic as steamy/sexy and give that option because even a Death*N*fic will have steam and that's why people will probably read it!

Whereas in PG stories, the plot, the other emotions etc. are prominent! That's why I still honestly don't think anything's wrong in the list I made! Because it's more PG-focussed (but NFic inclusive), now that I look at it. If I were to create another list exclusively for NFics then I'd have come up with the same list (with an option for "Elseworld- new beginnings" but no hot/sexy/steamy/sensual column because that's something that's a part and parcel of a story being an NFic, be it a NFic romance or horror)

And one other thing, if I were to remove that "not mild tender romance or love" from 2. EROTIC column then that story will probably fall under Romance/WaFF category, won't it?!?! And if I did include something extreme, it would come under 9.Paranormal (supernatural/ horror etc.)

So how would I describe something like kink/ roleplay/ sex for sex sake/ pheromone lovemaking where both don't know what they're doing? Steam? Hot? or EROTIC? I don't think Steam/hot/sensual can describe it because it's gonna be something very general and everybody will vote for it, something which every NFic should possess!

So how would I caption an option which only some people like to read such as kink? That's why I came up with "Erotic" and specified *that* definition there.

I agree I should probably have made it more subtle but I'm so sorry I possess only that much vocabulary and brain! and if you look at the poll, you'll find that the definition for EROTIC is the lengthiest and I didn't want to make it any more lengthier!

Three:
I don't think it means that I shouldn't post my favorite authors/stories names just because the rest (myself included) are going to be disappointed that their names didn't feature in the list! There are hundreds of authors here and I think those who are best need to be given a boost like this somewhere ( so that I can elicit more stories from them somehow! ) Besides I named only whom I think are the best - if I were to name some of the worst then I'd probably hurt their feelings, which I didn't.

So, I think, as Labrat says, it's better not to compare with the others but just write for the fun of it, even though we know it's probably not going to be the best story in the world! But occassionally it's good to say to a really exceptional author, "You are the best!"

There, I've gotten it all out of my mind! *a huge sigh*

How about a private e-mail or a PM to the author(s) to let them know? If they're still around they'll really appreciate it and find it encouraging.

There have been 'favourite' lists in the past on these mbs and they always wind up discouraging more writers than they encourage.

Here we have the Kerths - it's sort of a group thing, though, because a lot of people nominate and then vote on the stories. You can check out the past lists of nominees.

I know in RL there are these types of award lists - but people on those lists are paid for what they do. Here, that's not the case. We write because , well, because
But it's hard to be reminded that, well, there's a reason why we're not paid for this stuff.

This has strayed away from your topic of genre preference , I know.

c.

I know this is a big thing with you, Carol, but sometimes I get tired of the idea that if I want to compliment someone, I have to draw them aside and whisper it. Not everybody's the best or the most popular. We need to be able to deal with being -gasp- "left off the list." These boards are for discussion, after all. That includes people talking about the stories they love.

Let me put it this way...

Bad:
"Oh, don't read anything by writer X, all their stuff sucks bigtime"

Good:
"Oh, I love everything by writer Y, they've got such a great way with words."

Writer X has every right to be offended by the first one, and the admins here would squash that ASAP. That's over the line. If, however, Writer X doesn't like the second one, he or she should just suck it up and move on, not whine about it.

PJ

I guess we're all different, Pam. Surely I have as much right to express my feelings about this as others do to ignore those feelings?

c.

Just like that: "Kinky/roleplaying"

Oh! I love the way you put it, Pam!

How about truce? You follow yours and I follow mine and the admins decide what to do if we step out of line!!!

Honestly, I hate leaving a bad comment about somebody's story, so I don't leave a comment at all for such stories. I know people do that to my own stories.

But if a story is really exceptional then I think it is my *duty* to leave loads of FDK for that author and coax them into writing more and more for myself as well as the rest of the FoLCs!

I *did* think of it, honestly! But since the rest of the options had a collective name, I decided to come up with this one, otherwise the list would have gone on and on and on... I, for one, can come up with at least five to follow Kinky and roleplay...

I want a collective term. Give me one, so that I can use it for my next poll for least favorite fic!!!

And as I said before, I accept that my list is not perfect/ exhaustive!

That's great - it's what the fdk folders on specific stories are for in the fanfic section. So fdk away.

Just be aware that when you post lists elsewhere, you are discouraging writers as much as encouraging others. Unintended consequences and all that.

c.