There is such a thing as a teaser on the fanfiction website. That is the limited summary you find when you scroll down the list of new/updated stories. Ones that intrigue me include: romantic pairings (particularly Romy, though the archive on that alone could stand on its own--there's that many), a (decent) alternate universe, and (yes) the writing itself. Spelling and grammar counts here too, mostly because it sort of sets you up for what's to come. Therefore, if I'm too busy staring at how you wrote "rite" in the summary, chances are I won't bother with the rest. I think our brains are wired that way, or maybe I'm generalizing.
I try not to plead with readers to READ MY STORY, IT'S NOT A MARY SUE, K??!! Because, well, because I try not to plead, period. Offer, ask, yes. But not beg. First off, I did not know what a Mary Sue was until I read a reader's bio, stating that it's the usual, formulaic mish-mash. If that's the case, my story can be categorized as a Mary Sue--but with a twist. I like that, playing on a theme, making it better. But if someone denies it and writes out in caps to get my attention, it does reverse psychology on me and I don't venture forward. Caps are equivalent to yelling. Don't yell. It's the internet.
Finally, the R&R requests in summaries tend to bother me. I'm very traditional. I think that if people like your topic, like your summary, like the idea you've proposed, chances are they'll at least read it. Maybe not review (which I've come to terms with--but not 100% okay with), but there are the hits on your counter, if that offers any consolation (not for me, though). I always believed that if people find your work interesting, they might be inspired to give some love, er, feedback. But people get lazy, they get tired of staring at the screen, who knows? I'm only being so benign about it because I can be guilty of all of those things as well. That, or I just could not continue reading. But that's for another day.
I guess in reality, that summary is just a summary, and people look at it in different ways. I'm always thinking up new ways to attract people to my writing, and sometimes it starts with a decent summary. But that's my opinion.
M ood:
Okay
That poor writer. A Mary Sue is not just formulaic mishmash—in fact, quite the contrary. A Mary Sue is an original character (or sometimes a canon character that is way OUT of character) that is great and glorious and has every canon character looking up to him or her and/or attracted to him or her and is ridiculously overblown in their awesomeness. In other words, when you've got this original character that shows up at the Institute and they turn out to be the most powerful mutant on earth, and this is after EVERY eligible other gender team member has fallen in love with them (and they never fail, mind), and everybody wants the mutant on their side and... Hopefully that gets the idea across. You do not write anything like a Mary Sue and I'm very glad of that. Those fics are shudderworthy.
ReplyDelete[as a note, I read a fic that made Rogue into a Mary Sue—and quit reading]