Alright., Flame-proof vest on. Options

[ShraX]

Hello. I'm new to this forum but have been busy in the Fanfics section for a while until just recently. Forgive me if this doesn't belong here as I would think nothing but fan fiction belongs in that section of the site; General Discussion seemed like the most sensible place to put this.

I hope this doesn't seem rude but something's been bugging me for some time.

Sitting in my cold dorm room two years ago, something odd happened. I was bored to the point of head-to-desk banging as I'm sure many of us have been, and my insanely overpowered character in Morrowind didn't tear me away from the dismal college setting anymore. So, I started writing a Morrowind fanfic for kicks called The Tale of Gaenor, and decided it wouldn't hurt to post it on the official TES forum so I could get some outsider feedback and maybe discover I had some sort of talent that had finally awoken.

I'm hardly attempting to toot my own horn but the comments I received were better than expected, so I went with it and turned it into a 36-page story revolving around Gaenor and his past. I had lots of fun with it and learned from the others posted on that forum. I find no shame in admitting that I checked my thread for more replies between classes in the hopes of fueling my motivation to continue.

Since then, I came up with two other stories called Trials of the Mad God and Gaenor: Reloaded (the second one posted on the Fanfics section of this site). Perhaps I got too wrapped up in myself but I focused less on others and just wanted to know how people felt about what I wrote. The positive comments kept coming, fewer than before but still greatly appreciated and taken to heart. A mistake, possibly, and here's why.

I noticed the same people who replied to my stuff were commenting on an equal level of praise to other peoples' stories. I read them and thought, with as little self-glorification as possible: Really? Is this really like mine? These guys must be putting on an act for everyone, then.

I'm not looking for pats on the back, but if anyone's read some of the.. (there's no kind way to say this without watering down how I feel) lower-quality works on that forum and noticed this, tell me why.

Thanks.

[Joryn]

This is my personal view of why I cant criticize other peoples fanfics. Most of the bad points I see in stories are the way the storyline goes or is set up. This already is a worthless point since its not my storyline to comment on.

For example, of the little snippet I read of yours, I found it hard to grasp Gaenor (a character I found to be little more than annoying) has a long and interesting storyline which starts with him killing the Nerevarine.

This is mainly due to my inability to accept a story other than my own. Id ask myself a stupid question like "well what the hell was the point of TESIII then?". Another example would be the disataste I got reading Viconia's epilogue at the end of BG2:TOB.

Again a question I asked myself was "why the hell would my character, the son of a god, allow it to end that way?". I felt like the whole idea I had built around my characters romance with Viconia was a waste of time.

This probably only shows a possessiveness I have over characters in stories. Like the Nerevarine, not being any other way I want him to (again notice the "him" ), or the ending not going the way I want it to.

Like I said this only shows my own reasons for why I should comment on fanics. And its missing the whole point of this thread. The only thing I can say about that point is that obviously many people feel a similar way I do. That giving bad feedback or mentioning faults on somebody's work is extremely impolite.

This, just like my criticism is probably flat out wrong. But its probably due to my upbringing, Ill always feel uncomfortable pointing out peoples faults. Or what I perceive to be faults, at least.