From: Dana Shilling dshilling@worldnet.att.net
OK, Neil, you don't get a review copy of The Complete Works of Executrix. But if you ask me, food, clothes, and gossip are a lot more interesting
than
neutron blasters.
And I would say that differentiating the various species of woodlice is a damn sight more interesting than all of the above. Different strokes for different folks. Not that I would ever put the distinctions between Armadillidium vulgare and Philoscia muscorum into a bit of fanfic because it's hard to see how they might be relevant. Relevance is what matters. Neutron blasters are rather likely to be relevant to certain bits of fic; though not all, of course. Food, clothes and gossip may likewise be more relevant to some stories than others.
What we might have is a disparity between (a) what a story needs, (b) what the author wants to write about, and (c) what the reader wants to read about. Where a, b and c converge, no problem. Where they go their own separate ways, potentially big problem.
A lot depends on the disparity between b and c. If an element of a story is in there (out of authorial desire) but feels out of place (through reader preference), then it will assume a significance out of all proportion to its actual role in the story. Reading Marian's 'Small Revenge' in Star Four, I got irritated by what *seemed* to be an interminable discussion on who was going to cook dinner, but in fact it only ran to a few paragraphs of a 20-page story. And as it turned out, it was plot relevant, with significant (and amusing) consequences. I've had complaints about Hunter dwelling at far too great a length on weapon specs, but in terms of word count they make up barely 1 per cent of the story and all of it plot relevant. But if you're not into weapons, then I guess that 1 per cent is still 1 per cent too much. It may as well be woodlice.
I think there are two facets to every fanfic story: what we wanted to
read,
and had to write because it wasn't there, and what we wanted to write.
I freely admit that the stories I've written were the kind of fanfic I wanted to read, and only I could write it exactly the way I wanted.
I suspect this is true of many fan writers, perhaps most, maybe even all.
Neil