Thinky- what makes fic well written?

[slashxmistress]

How do you decide that a fic is "well-written"?

I see this all the time in seek comms and elsewhere- asking for "well-written" fics and well - that just seems so generic and unspecific to me. (and actually kind of pretentious too tbqh)

Is it 'well-written' because you like it? If you don't like it does that make it not well -written?

What quantifies something as well- written? Good grammar? no typos? Long, pretentious, character studies?

I judge a fic by if I enjoy it , if it makes me think , or feel (and yes horny is a feeling :P if it's hot that totally counts), but some of my very, very favorites are probably not that "well-written" in the English major kind of way. Does that matter? Not to me.

Comments

[slashxmistress.livejournal.com]

LOL! I hear you there- if the typos/grammar are so bad that it rips me out of the story I cringe.

But even that I consider bad beta/bad editing/posting too soon - not bad writing . Good authors are not necessarily good grammarians. That's why publishing houses have editors- lots and lots of editors :D

[patchworkwounds.livejournal.com]

Weird grammar doesn't bother me, unless it's the wrong kind of 'there' etc, but spelling really gets to me, that and missing punctuation XD

Although, if something sucks me into the story and I get the scenes from it replaying in my head over and over I completely forget about typos because the whole thing is worth it.

[slashxmistress.livejournal.com]

if something sucks me into the story and I get the scenes from it replaying in my head over and over I completely forget about typos because the whole thing is worth it.

Absolutley!- That's how I feel too.

Actually...

[imafyrebyrd.livejournal.com]

That's pretty much a misnomer anymore. If your work isn't up to par for the publishing houses, most of the time it's kicked out. They no longer have the time or inclination to hold the writer's hand. All of the seminars and writing programs I've been to and the books I've read on this subject lately all say the same thing. Either get it right or it's getting rejected - they are just too busy and swamped to do it like in the old days.

So one pretty much has to do most of one's own work unless you are considered grandfathered in. Of course that doesn't mean bad crap doesn't get published or any of those other things.

Fanfic is a different kind of thing. AND what makes good grammar or good writing is subjective. There are plenty of people who as the biz evolves look down on the old Sci-Fi/Fantasy writings because of the difference in writing back then as opposed to now. Sadly those people miss out on a lot.

However, I think if you are going to post something for people to read, you should at least take care of the spelling. With spell checkers in every program, it's just common courtesy.

And if you do take that time and attention to detail with grammar etc., then that will indeed make a difference by taking a good story and elevating it to an amazing one. However, if you don't have a good story, no matter how pretty you sp and gram check, it's just gonna be crap. So the story itself is always more important. If it's good and entertains, then that's what counts.