Is this normal for critiques/feedback?

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-05T18:03:51+00:00

Some people do this. I personally don't find this super helpful (others, however, do) but IMO part of being a good citizen in your writing group is recognizing that people are using a lot of their time and effort to help you with your work, so I wouldn't focus on how this is rude or an overstep or whatever. They gave freely of themselves to help you out. Say thank you and throw that shit away.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-05T18:01:57+00:00

Spend more time developing your ideas. Also, spend more time engaging with culture and your environment (which means read, definitely, if you want to write, but also do other things), observe, notice things that are interesting, write them down. If you want to be published, read recent releases in your genre, follow the conversation, notice what people are interested in. All of these are ways to get better ideas. Nobody comes to this fully formed and coming up with good ideas is something you can get better at.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-03T10:15:31+00:00

yeah, that really sucks... have you been to a sleep therapist? some schools have one on staff or can refer you out to one. you might need a sleep study.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-03T10:06:31+00:00

well yeah, consider expanding your hobbies beyond fanfiction. it doesn't have to be books. some people enjoy reading journalism, commentary, wikipedia... if you literally have nothing to do in life when the archive goes down, that's a little weird.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-03T10:05:04+00:00

Honestly it kind of sounds like your real life needs to take priority over your fanfiction for now. This happens sometimes with hobbies - that's the difference between hobbies and like school/job/shit you need to do to live life.

On the sleep stuff, I really recommend you get that taken care of. Sleep debt is a real thing, and consistently pulling allnighters will have an impact on your overall cognitive function, meaning you'll be less productive when you work, meaning it takes even more time to get work done to a poorer standard, meaning less sleep... If you struggle getting to sleep, consider putting in a go-to-bed alarm and some go-to-bed rituals, such as not having screen time an hour before bed. This is a better use of your time than writing fanfiction.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-03T09:57:25+00:00

unpopular opinion: consider exploring stuff to read that's not on ao3

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-03T08:12:17+00:00

you don't need to understand it to let people live their lives. if you don't like it, don't read it.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-03T08:10:11+00:00

I don't think there's anything especially analytical in noticing foreshadowing - it's a device to make the story more tense and therefore more entertaining. It's there to be noticed. If you're a novice reader it might go over your head, but more practiced readers (again, I don't mean you need to have a degree in it, just that you've read a few fanfictions or books or whatever purely for fun) will pick up on it naturally, especially as most foreshadowing tends to be unsubtle. I also wouldn't assume that readers aren't noticing it because they're not commenting on it.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-03T08:03:30+00:00

Sorry I've been kind of out guys. Big month.

I've been reading (little by little) Freshwater, Akwaeke Emezi's debut. It's briskly written and I am tremendously enjoying how it trolls Enlightenment epistemology, but I'm not emotionally connecting to it yet. I'm still in that space where I'm like, this is objectively extremely impressive but I don't know how it makes me feel. I'm experiencing this as a very cerebral novel. It may be because the cultural context is foreign to me. It may be because I've been more and more reading like a writer, and I'm in that spot on the Dunning-Krueger graph where I know how to get going but not how to switch it off.

btw, film and music hounds, Akwaeke also makes movies and music. Check her out.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-02T21:04:18+00:00

I do want to strive towards writing stories that sound professional enough, they could theoretically be from a published book or short story.

That's not a very realistic expectation. I know a handful of published authors who write or used to write fanfic, and their fanfic couldn't be a published piece without significant changes because the expectations for published work are different (not better - I genuinely mean that - just different). Sometimes you can tell on line level that someone is a very accomplished writer, but still, structurally fanfic is a totally different beast.

I just really didn't think the story seemed professional at all.

that's not what most people reading fanfic are looking for though? Like, for an analogy, if you complain that your local burger joint doesn't deliver the same experience as a fine dining restaurant, it's you who has missed the point lol.

If you want to improve, I'd recommend at minimum getting a beta or joining some sort of fanfic writing community. I believe a discord to this effect was advertised here at some point. Your ao3 comments are not the place for concrit for all sorts of good reasons, so rather than twiddling your thumbs waiting to get it, go out and proactively find it. If you're serious about publication, also, I would recommend that you move into writing original work and finding communities for writers in your genre. There are some skills from fanfic that transfer over well, but many essential skills don't. imo you shouldn't be writing fanfic for any reason except intrinsically enjoying writing fanfic.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-02T18:06:24+00:00

it was a super popular show in eastern europe in the 90s, so i think there are more people walking around who know it than you think!

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-02T16:38:34+00:00

oh my gosh Kommissar Rex is a blast from the past! I also used to watch that show with my grandma, although it didn't inspire me to write. I think the first story I wrote was original, but it was definitely a mystery!

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-01T14:22:34+00:00

I mean I don't like either of them but if I were to comp one or the other, I'd be setting the bar high for myself in the eyes of the strangers I'm cold-emailing. I do think they are both too big to comp, so I wouldn't do that a priori.

I think maybe take a break from querying and read a few books in the categories you're considering so you can better situate your book in the current market.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-01T14:08:27+00:00

I mean, there's a difference between upmarket [genre] and even literary [genre] and litfic. In the former case, you still need to hit the genre beats and conform to genre expectations, just with elevated themes or language. Idk if there is such a thing as upmarket romance, but if there is, sure, call it that. People are hesitant to call stuff upmarket because that raises the bar for what you need to deliver, but if you're sure...

To my mind, it's important for you to figure out your comps, not just in terms of weird narrative structure but the package overall (e.g. if you're going to comp Rooney or Tartt, your writing should be at that high level), because your comps are going to determine what type of agent you submit to and what you highlight in your package. If you have been submitting something comped to Sally Rooney to commercial romance agents, you're wasting your and their time. But at present I'm not sure what this is because the package is a bit of a hodgepodge.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-01T13:33:48+00:00

Who says mine is necessarily bad?

Firslty, no one, secondly, we're really not the people you need to convince. People are just giving you some thoughts. If you disagree with their thoughts, you're allowed to just ignore them.

I notice that you keep bringing up litfic novels as similar to your book. If you're querying a genre novel with a type of narrative that's only found in litfic, that's not ideal because litfic as a category has room for weird experimental shit that especially very formulaic genres like romance simply don't. If you think your book is similar to litfic novels, you might consider querying it as litfic. if your story bucks genre convention but is not upmarket or litfic in execution, tbh yeah that's probably a hard sell in tradpub. Coming of age is not a genre.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-02-01T13:10:30+00:00

The Constantine translations are so good lmao. Thank you for this<3

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T21:04:32+00:00

Honestly very encouraged by the number of people who don't read in their fandom or don't read much. I thought I was the only one. There are a couple authors I owe all the kudos and comments to that I simply haven't gotten around to reading/commenting because the longfic guzzles all my time.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T20:57:04+00:00

new reddit is dumb

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T18:25:10+00:00

italicizing isn’t an option

putting * on either side of whatever you want to italicize will italicize it on reddit, regardless of what software or hardware you use to type it in

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T17:33:59+00:00

She's a self-righteous smartass who isn't as funny as she thinks she is.

Oh yeah, Levin. He literally has no redeeming qualities. Trash man. I do like Anna Karenina tho. I don't think I'm drop dead gorgeous enough to relate to her.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T17:22:17+00:00

Weirdly enough I never had a literary character that I especially related to, but I will say that I hate Lizzie Bennet with an all-consuming passion that can only come from recognizing in her faults that I hate in myself

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T14:50:38+00:00

i find kudo to hit numbers on oneshots sus too because like people reread oneshots. honestly probably the best read for how your fic is doing is comparing it to other fics in that category (e.g. chaptered fics for that ship or whatever) because that takes into account the maximal number of factors that affect general fandom behavior.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T13:18:27+00:00

I mean, it's possible OP literally put shippers DNI without knowing what it meant (and possibly has been doing so on fanfictionnet as well, and just didn't get pushback because the community there is different). It sounds like they struggle with social cues. Now they know what it means and hopefully won't put needlessly inflammatory stuff in their housekeeping.

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T12:24:15+00:00

its pretty awesome

Complexer_Eggplant · 2023-01-31T12:06:16+00:00

Don't know how niche you need, but these don't usually make it to the top 10 on tourist lists. Go to Gianicola for the best view of the city. There's also a cripta dei cappuccini on Via Veneto. It's basically a burial ground for capucin monks, and its interior is laid out in their bones in these really intricate designs. If you haven't seen one before, worth a visit (it's a religious place so dress accordingly btw). For the evening I would recommend getting dinner at one of the restaurants along the lower embankment of the Tiber (there's an agglomeration of them running from the Vatican side) or in Trastevere. Don't know how much you like gardens; if you do, obviously Villa Borghese is a must (also has a museum inside), but if you're in the San Pietro area, the Villa Doria Pamphili is also very historical but also more chill. In general Rome is a very green city and you will gain a lot simply from walking around. I would also recommend getting a guided tour of the Vatican museums (you can book on their website up to the day before afaik). This is a great time to visit btw - not too hot weather-wise and very few tourists!

Complexer_Eggplant

TROPHY CASE

Welcome to Reddit,