Fan Fiction poll part 1a [rivers_bend]

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My f'list! I love you! So many of you answered the first part of my fandom poll. One of the things I learned is that without even knowing it, I was making assumptions about your fic habits. So, before I move on to part two (which is roughly, what keeps you reading a fic and what makes you shut the tab, after you've done the clicky thing), there are things I need to know. So please,

[Poll #1075376]

Summary of the first part: (bearing in mind this is hardly a rigorously scientific poll)
97% of you are more likely to click to open a fic if you've read and liked the author previously. This did not surprise me really.
3 of you said that you would be neither more nor less likely to read a fic if you hadn't liked the author's previous stuff. Which I assumed means you're giving second (or third...) chances.
the majority of people, if they've not heard of an author, give them even chances.
Over 60% of you are more likely to read a fic if the beta is someone whose fic you like.
but only 30% of you let not liking the beta's fic put you off.
If you hadn't heard of the beta, 95% of you didn't let that effect your decision.
90% of you consider author and pairing when deciding to read a fic, and 80% depend on the summary to help you decide.
I'm not the only one who squicks at wing!fic :D
Thank you again for taking part. and if you missed it, come play! I'm not very good with the thinky meta posts, but I'm loving the conversations this is generating.

*hugs you*

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There are 32 comments on this entry. (Reply.)

for myself I consider J2 and Wincest to be pretty much one fandom. In the squeeing about fandom sense. But, for instance, I write Wincest but not J2. I know that some people partake in one but not the other. So they are also separate fandoms in some aspects. But as clarification, I say I have one fandom's comms on my f'list, but that includes wincest and padackles. I say I write in one fandom, and that's SPN.

So what I'm saying here, is that I understand there are probably gonna be some grey areas. Use whatever definitions make you happy and if you want to clarify, conversation always makes me happy.

This is really interesting stuff. I've been in a bit of a fic-reading funk lately, due to the large quantity of samey stuff coming out of the Torchwood fandom. Moving to SGA has helped, but if it's Torchwood, I pretty much only read things by people I know. In House or SGA, I'll pretty much tackle anything if the summary sounds interesting, but in Doctor Who/Torchwood, I'll pretty much only read it if it comes recommended by someone I trust or if I know the author or the beta.

I've also found that work seriously interferes with my fic reading schedule... ;)

work is a major drag. I was just explaining to my mother today how I couldn't be working and going to school at this point in my life. She pointed out the hours I spend watching TV and thought maybe some of those hours could go towards gainful employment. I tried to explain that it's not that I don't have TIME to work, it's just that the time is spent doing other things. I calculated that I probably spend a rather shameful 50 hours a week on TV and fanfic. Which is insane. But it's what I'm doing with my life at the moment, and I'm not going to let it worry me over much ;)

I'm glad I'm not the only one finding this interesting. Thank you for taking part!

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Got here via friendsfriends, and I just wanted to add del.icio.us as a way of finding fic. Actually, I've started using a little more than LJ, in some cases, because it has a sort of built-in recs feature in that if someone bookmarked a fic, they were going to at least that much effort. (Doesn't work so well for people who bookmark all their reading, but the "rec" tag can narrow that down if it becomes a problem when searching.)

Hello, friend of friend! :D

And curses. I had del.icio.us flirting with the edge of my brain, but couldn't bring it forth. Damn the inability to edit polls once posted. It shall have to be lumped in with 'other rec sites' though really I needed to have a box for bookmarking sites.

Thank you so much for polling!

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I get fic recs from House's House of Whining (occasionally - I don't look at their recs thread every day).

I'm not sure how into something you have to be for it to count as fandom :D I love Heroes, for example, but haven't got into any of the fanfic yet.

I don't know why the words House's House of Whining have put such a huge grin on my face, but they have :D

I am all about people defining a fandom for themselves (which is why I will never be a research scientist), but for me fandom is about fan-fic. I have something like 11 shows I'm loving and that I would not miss every week, or that I'm zooming through on DVD as quickly as I can get my hands on it. But I only read fic for SPN. I sort of consider myself at the edges of the Heroes fandom because I will read all the episode squee posts that appear on my f'list, and if an author on my f'list writes a fic in a pairing I don't hate (no peter/claire for instance) then I will probably read it. but I don't seek out hero's fic.

So yeah. I guess I consider myself part of a fandom if I'm actively engaging in the comms for it, rather than if I'm watching the show and maybe reading the occasional fic if someone on my flist writes one. for me to get involved in a fandom I have to have a pairing obsession rather than just an obsession with the show.

[/babbling]

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Hi, I wanted to say something about the influence of the "God" of any fandom. Meaning that if Russel T Davies or Joss Whedon come up with a new show I can pretty much garantee that I'll have a new fandom by the end of episode one!

Crossovers influence my fandoms too - I had never read any house/ until I read a SPN/house crossover. I liked it so much I started reading other House stuff.

Finally The author and LJ friendships have also been an influence. I had a major squick about RPS but because an LJ friend was writing J2 I started reading some and am now fairly hooked. I still stick to mainly au stuff though, and don't even go there with bandslash!

I don't know if any of this helps or is totally irrelevant, but thanks again for making me think!

I approve of your gods and share your worship! *nods* Though I am more into the shows than the fan fic with both of them. I've read and written the occasional Firefly fic, read a little bit of Buffy and written the occasional drabble, and read a few Dr Who fics by friends, and every one of

paperclipbitch's Owen/Ianto stories, but I've never joined any comms (nor even visited them), or learned about who the big name fans were or anything. I'll watch the episodes of Buffy and Firefly over and over and over though. Same with QaF. And I'm sure I'll go back to Dr Who again, and probably again after that. So I'd definitely consider myself a fan.

So yes, this has totally helped, because now you've made me think more about what makes a difference to me as to whether I am a fan of the show or if I throw myself into fandom...

*thinks more*

thank you!

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Oops! Missed the first question. I posted my first story in early '06, over at a Lost Slash site that promptly folded! Then I tried another, which went the same way. Thankfully, the curse of I has not spread to LJ!! Either way, I'd probably been reading fic for a while longer - it took a while to get up the nerve to post.

I suppose the most specific answer I could give would be sometime in 2004, but I joined LJ in '06, and haven't looked back since.

With regard to my number of fandoms - I've chosen to be quite general, because they can split off a little, as you describe. My three are HP, Robin Hood BBC & my perenial fave, Lost.

I think the only oddity I have is SPN, because I don't really like the programme, and am not in any comms, but I love some of the slash writers (yourself included!) It may just be my brother kink, but also the stories tend to be higher rated, which I prefer.

If I had more time, I would probably be dragged into a whole lot more, but I prefer to really concentrate on one or two. Also, by definition, I like to read stories based on programmes I watch, and I watch very little TV at the moment.

I feel it's worth pointing out, that while I love reading other people's slash from a vicarious/entertainment pov, my biggest gain from their fic is that it makes me want to write my own.

My original writing has come on in leaps and bounds since having easy access to hundreds of fics and seeing what works (or doesn't) work for me as a reader.

I suppose this is one of the reasons that I prefer higher ratings - I find dark fic a real challenge to write, and therefore it interests me more than any amount of fluff.

Phew! What a ramble.

*provides refreshments*

Yay, ramble! :D

That is definitely interesting to hear, that you feel like reading slash makes your original writing better. I would have to agree with you there. It seems sometimes like there are people trying to create a value-based dichotomy between fan fiction and 'real' fiction, and I believe that is totally false. I have read fan fiction that is better plotted, has better dialogue and more subtle/effective prose than many of the published novels I've read. And watching some of the fan-fic 'masters' at work, definitely improves my writing. And inspires me to improve my writing, which is often half the battle.

It's funny that you say that about SPN. I got into the fic before I ever saw the show, and I know at least a few people who did. And who tried the show and thought, meh, and still read the fic. there have been a few fandoms I read fic for (because of a fave author writing it) before I ever saw the show. Torchwood, thanks to

paperclipbitch, Bones, thanks to

lostakasha, SPN, thanks to

kittyfisher...

*partakes in refreshments and offers her own*

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i remember experiencing slash as a revelation, when i stumbled across a very funny series of Hobbit stories. never got into LOTR fiction much (it felt vaguely blasphemous to me), but i tried out lots of fandoms and found several to love, serially at times and all at once at other times. Smallville's the fandom i've participated in most.

I too definitely experienced slash as a revelation :) It's at least doubled my enjoyment of TV.

It's interesting to think about what makes me get involved in a fandom, and to hear what makes others get involved or not.

Thank you for polling and getting involved!

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Well, I'm going to have to ramble about my fic habits, I see. Oh, the nightmare.

I think I probably read a lot of fic, compared to most people - this is probably because I have way too much free time, and a whole bunch of dull stuff I should be doing, but prefer fic to.

I really only read SPN fic at the moment, on a consistent, regular basis, and I find it mainly through the spn_newsletter, where I open all fic by authors I know I like, (unless the pairing squicks me) and then, if I have time, or that's not very much, all the wincest fic that isn't by authors I know I hate. If the header reveals a fic to be part of a longer series I haven't read, I'll generally close it without reading, but most of the time I read all of those fics.

I also have some fic comms on my Flist though, and if I happen to browse past and see a fic I like the look of, when I have time, I'll tend to read it. This tends to be judged my title, word count, pairing, summary...almost everything.

However, SPN is only my most recent fandom obsession, so if someone on my Flist recs a fic from another of my OTPs, I'll read it. Because of the nature of my Flist, this usually means HP. I also go through phases of 'missing' an old OTP, and rereading/hunting down new stuff for them. This applies to about 4 different pairings, and tends to happen every couple of months - for example, a couple of weeks ago, I spent a week rereading all the Spike/Xander recs on a shipping site. (I tend to think in pairings, not fandoms, cos I'm a stupidcrazyobsessed OTPer.)

Other fandoms get read on a very occasional basis - if I see fic from it by someone I like, for example. There are plenty of fandoms, though, that I have at some stage been 'part of' and have since abandoned and never gone back to. I'm not sure if that means I'll never read fic for them again, or if one day I'll want to reread some old stuff again.

Yes, sorry, that got a bit tl;dr.

no such thing as tl;dr when it comes to fic habits and me :D

I think I probably read a lot of fic, compared to most people - this is probably because I have way too much free time, and a whole bunch of dull stuff I should be doing, but prefer fic to.
yes. this is my life. *nods* I suspect it cannot last forever, but i plan to enjoy it while I can.

I am scared to get involved in looking at SPN newsletter because it will open up a world of more fic than I can deal with I expect. I rely on

crack_impala even though they have stopped reccing 5 or 6 fics a day and started reccing only 2 or 3 :( I also only have

wincest on my flist. I have to hope that all the good sam/dean stuff is getting posted there. otherwise I'd be overwhelmed.

I'm definitely with you on the OTP thing. There are lots of shows I totally love but don't have an OTP for so I'm not that into the fic. Most of the fic I've read has been on the journals of people who I found their writing in another fandom. Though there are some shows where I have an OTP, and like the show, but never got into fandom anyway. like Smallville. I totally ship Clark/Lex, but have really only read

kittyfisher's fic. And the occasional other if someone on my flist writes it.

I tend to do the same thing with novels though that I do with fanfic. I'll find someone I like, Jeffrey Deaver, for instance, and I'll buy all his books and spend two months reading them. (though all that should have been in the past tense, fanfic is my thing now)

I started in House fandom, read every H/W I could get my hands on, wrote tons, and then season 3 pissed me off, and I moved on to something new. I can't imagine ever stopping with SPN, but then I couldn't imagine ever stopping with House either, so who knows what will happen?

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I adore the newsletter - makes it so much easier than trawling through my Flist. On average, I'd say I end up getting between 5 and 15 fics from them a day, but it varies a lot.

I have to hope that all the good sam/dean stuff is getting posted there. otherwise I'd be overwhelmed.

*cough* Well, I don't post to them, so CLEARLY they're missing the veryvery best stuff. Uh, or something. I sometimes wonder if I should crosspost to more comms. It's hard to know which ones are worth it, and which ones just mean that people are going to get their Flist spammed.

Yeah, I can't see myself ever wanting to leave SPN, but..things change, and I used to think that about Spike/Xander or Harry/Draco, and now they're just in the 'old OTP' folder, good for nostalgia, but not a constant in my life. Who knows which OTP is next?

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You don't post to wincest??? Huh. but see, if I watch spn_slash or anything then I get all sorts of pairings I don't want. Which doesn't stop me posting to them. and I just found two more comms to post to as well... I'm a crossposting whore.

But this is why I friend anyone whose fic I consistently like. I don't want to have to depend on them posting to the specific comms I'm watching.

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I post to sn_slash and supernaturalfic. Maybe that isn't enough - okay, apart from wincest, where else should I be crossposting? Alex and I are finishing up the wincest version of Keep Myself Awake, so I'll go crazy with crossposting that one and see how it goes.

I think I probably rely too heavily on the mods at the newsletter catching all the fics by authors I love. I never friend people just for their fic. My Flist is unmanageable enough as it is.

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I used to just post to wincest, and then joined supernaturalfic for when I was writing the 5 times and there was het, and then I just discovered spn_smut and sn_fic and sn_slash...

I've managed to keep a fairly manageable flist somehow. Possibly because I check it 20 times a day. If I feel overwhelmed I just filter out the comms and only look at journals. Of course, I can't manage to keep up with my RL friends because I'm so busy keeping up with my flist... (and they're so busy keeping up with their kids etc.)

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"Where do you find your fic? (tick all that apply)"

Besides the boxs I've ticked, I also find a lot of stuff on del.icio.us. When I first got into SGA, I found *all* fic through del.icio.us and recs, but now when I've catched up (god, I don't even want to think of how much SGA slash I've read since February), I also find a lot in the newsletter.

I only visit FF.net when I'm trawling for badfic. I know there are some people capable of stringing two sentences together there, but it's just not worth the hassle.

Curse my brain for not providing me with the del.icio.us name when I wanted it. I've never checked it out, but i'm starting to think that I should.

I once tried dipping my toes in the water at fanfic.net. before I heard of LJ I even got an account there, thinking that it was the only place to post fanfic. but I got an LJ before ever posting anything.

as you say, I do know that some of the talented writers on my flist post stuff there, so there must be some good things, but it's hard to sort the wheat from the chaff.

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It's very useful, especially once you figured out the finer points of it. I can't even count the number of hours I've spent link-hopping over there.

before I heard of LJ I even got an account there, thinking that it was the only place to post fanfic. but I got an LJ before ever posting anything. Same here. It was a true revelation when I discovered that the good stuff wasn't posted there.

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I used to write in a few fandoms, but it's really been a while. I'll still read, though, if I like the pairing and I like the author. I'm more likely to read a pairing I don't know if I know I like the author.

It interests me sometimes that I'm so happy reading pairings I've never even seen on TV. I just make the author's fanon my canon, and it's ok. Then sometimes when I watch the show later, I think, This show is wrong!

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Have you ANY idea how small UW fanfic is? and Even SMALLER it is with fics DON'T include Selene? *sighs*

Don't get me started on FF. I swore them off ages ago and have never gone back.

I was starting to get into yours and Tiger's writings on... Spooks(?) as a way to fill the lack of UW and Constantine fics and then you guys stopped writting. So now... There is so vey little fanfic I read.

/Raven's two cents worth

I have only ever been into hugely ginormous fandoms, unless you count tiger trap which, really was just a few people. I miss it. A lot. I'm glad that the fandoms I've loved have had an embarrassment of riches when it came to fic, though in a way, it would be nice to not have so much of my time eaten up...

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I rarely write fanfiction - other than my J&W fics from a while back, I haven't written in years - but I do draw fanart for several fandoms. As of right now, I draw for 2. I don't know if you want to include that.

And wingfic is the only thing more heinous than MPREG.

Yes, fanart!!! *nods*

If there is one thing I'm definitely learning from these polls, it's that I'm even more self-absorbed than I thought *sigh*

:)

And wingfic is the only thing more heinous than MPREG.

WORD

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Huh. Interesting. Yeah ... I'm pretty much only active (as in writing/reading/graphics/vids/meta/etc.) in Supernatural/CWRPS fandom right now, but when I'm heavy into watching other shows, if I keep up with commentary/meta on my f-list, I consider that "active" even if I don't keep up with fanfic/graphics/vids/etc. Basically, if I'm into it enough to talk about it myself and to read and respond to other people's thoughts on it, then I'm participating in that fandom and therefore "active".

So, to that, I think I'd add to your list of "fandom profile" options, the question of seasonal participation. Doctor Who and Eureka are both summer shows, so if I'm involved, it's mostly during that time. Supernatural has a much longer season, so it's basically a year-round fandom. Torchwood and The L Word crop up in the winter, so that's when I'll be "active" in those fandoms. See what I mean?

The other thing I might toss into the wacky pot of fandom involvement is fandom RPGs, because it is, for me, very akin to co-authoring fic, but rarely relates directly to the broader fandom things like real fic tends to do. So, when I was running an Ianto Jones muse for an RPG or interacting with a Laura Roslin muse for another RPG, I felt connected to and involved in Torchwood and BSG fandoms respectively, even though I'm not sure if fandom itself considers fandom RPGs to be under the big fandom umbrella of activities. :)

So many good points! This is exactly why I wanted to do this. To find out things like that fandom can be seasonal for people, that they only participate while the show is on. Which totally makes sense for the short runs, especially. Being a relative noobie, and a serial monogamist in fandom, there is SO much that I'm finding out.

RPGs are something I know nothing at all about beyond that from what I do know, I would say it falls under the fandom umbrella of activities. How close it is a genre to fic, i totally couldn't say.

I so just want to get everyone in a big room and talk for days and days about fandom and what it means to people and how they relate to and with it. Because it's totally fascinating. Your comments about how you define 'active' in fandom make me wonder if part of my attitude is a lack of confidence. I can only feel like I'm properly active if I'm writing, reading, squeeing, and during seasons interacting with commentary/meta. Otherwise I will only classify myself as on the fringe.

Thank you for always giving me so much to think about! :D

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Um, I wanna change my answers!

How many separate fandoms do you have comms for on your friend's list?
I only have 2 fandoms on my LJ flist, the main one being Supernatural. But I'm relatively new, and haven't found or been pointed to shiny House, Heroes, Firefly, ER, Charmed type comms yet, as there is soooooo much SPN I lurk and haunt that fandom most!

How many fandoms are you currently writing fic for?
I've said 1, because I have a note book that I jot things down in, but I procrastinate so badly, and cannot write dialogue to save my life, so although I'm writing for SPN, nowt will probably ever be posted.

Okay I'm done being a doofus now...

*runs off to hide*

Aparently I'm not done being a doofus.

I forgot to say I also like Dark Angel...

Done yet? Yeah, I think so, at least for the next 5 mins...

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January