Back to the drawing board

[wombat_socho]

Welp, that card loaded up okay, but when it came time for it to play it locked up the TX. I'll reformat it and try again, this time doing it the way I'm supposed to using the Palm software install tool.

In other news, I may have committed one of the great blunders in fandom, comparable to getting involved in a land war in Asia or going up against a Sicilian when death is on the line (if you're not the Dread Pirate Roberts, of course): arguing with HP fanfic fans. It all started when I expressed skepticism in the comments to this Ursula Vernon LJ post that beta readers would have helped Ms. Rowling with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; matters then degenerated into an argument about the relative merits of professional writers who have several best sellers on their resumes, and fanfic writers who don't. O, t3h drama. I'm trying to extract myself by replying to comments with: "Yeah, that's your opinion. Whatever." since these people are pretty clearly off the deep end, but I have the sinking feeling that this is doomed to end up on fandom_wank.

It's still cold out there, but not quite as bad as yesterday. It's also not as cold inside as it was yesterday. The barn animals that walk like accountants are evidently taking the graffiti-ized sign on the print room door (I scribbled over the word "mostly" before "closed", so that the sign now reads PLEASE KEEP THIS DOOR MOSTLY CLOSED) seriously.

Comments

[433.livejournal.com]

I had a friend who was a reader for a publisher, and let me tell you: Most unpublished writers are unpublished for a reason.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

No kidding. I tell you, the amount of ego some of these people and their acolytes have on display would be incredible if it weren't so stupid.

[rihan-elric.livejournal.com]

And thats why I stay away from fanfic, because it almost always comes back to HP, irregardless of the fanfic, and I view most as elitist bastards that think they can do better then a fully published author and a team of editors.

And then they wonder why the masses won't take them seriously.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

Well, not all fanfic writers are elitist scum, but I have to admit that the amount of noise generated by those who are can easily put you off.

[luned.livejournal.com]

Yes, a team of first readers may have helped, but it wasn't the team that they were suggesting. ;) The later HP books are flawed works, but I'm not about to say that any fanfic is better. I don't think the quality of that has improved in five years.

(And I can think of a pro who did write HP fanfic. Her professional work is far, far better than most of her fanfic, and better than all of her HP stuff. and if I wanted overdramatic, angsty BL, that's what pro work is for, gaaaack)

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

And I can think of a pro who did write HP fanfic.

I don't know if it's the same person, but some years ago at ICon (the one where David Drake and Joe Haldeman were co-GoHs) Mickey Reichert admitted during a writing panel that she occasionally wrote fanfic for her own amusement and as a way of keeping flexible.

There's some very, very good fanfic out there - John Biles' Sailor Moon stuff, for example, which got me interested in the whole franchise to the point where I now have two uncut, subbed box sets - but Sturgeon's Law is an understatement. Way more than 90% of fanfic is crap, and I don't except my own dubious works by any stretch of the imagination.

[redmartel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for pointing out that site, fandom_wank. I read down to where the WoW players were complaining about being banned because they used glider bots(whatever the hell that is). They were told not to do it, they did it, they got booted.

They cry like babies.

I was laughing so hard I nearly pissed my pants.

[wombat-socho.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. It's a great place to kill time and laugh yourself sick at other peoples' stupidity, isn't it? I try not to go there too often; I'm cynical enough as it is.