MetaFic

For the last several months, I have been writing, as I find time and inclination, an essay discussing using the media and writing articles in fanfiction. While I regularly check out several internet news sites, BBC News, the Wallstreet Journal, and Fox News, for my news, as I have written this essay I have made a conscious effort to look at many other professional news sources and journalism websites. I have found the process rather enlightening and at the same time discouraging.

So, my wife is a big Dr. Who fan. I'm not a fan of the show, although I have found some episodes interesting. She has mainly been watching the more recent shows, I'm not sure what doctor's or seasons they are, but the most recent ones.

Well she has watched all those and decided to download some of the older shows. She watches on them computer and I rarel pay attention to them, except yesterday I went over and glanced over her shoulder and just lost all brain function.

"What's that?" I asked.

I have not really paid any attention to the current SIYE challenge. The idea behind it I thought was rather unimaginative and well beyond the scope of 10K story.

So I've been whittling away at the next chapter of Curse Breakers after an unexpected argument with, and estrangement from, the story. I found myself a bit out of sorts with the characters and plot and so journeyed back to the beginning and reread the story, rather minutely. After wincing at some rather egregious use of the passive voice, wincing at some of the dialogue, and nearly flogging myself over a horrendous continuity miss, my muse and I are dating again, although she's instituted a third date rule and so no major fireworks are happening.

Parakletos' blog about "Bushy-haired" kick started my mind and I thought about it. Although I dislike the adjective character descriptors, it is not a turn off for me for a story, and as I replied to Kezzabear, I realized why. I edit a story as I read it.

Maybe this is because I edit my stories as I re-read them or because I do beta work for a lot of writers, but I fix pronouns, tense issues, and even poor phrasing as I read.

Weasel word is the informal jargon for words and phrases that are ambiguous or create the impression of fact without substantiating or clarifying the statement. Weasel words are very common in journalism where they can be used to imply one meaning while actually meaning another.

E.g. (the candidate's) new round of advertising seem to indicate that (he) may have underestimated the fallout of the Bail-Out plan currently in front of Congress.

Disclaimer: Before I begin, I would like to state that "Happy Puppy Clown World" is a description coined by a friend of mine, James, who used it to describe the general nature of people in LARP who seek cooperative and equitable solutions while playing in a game based on intrigue, chicanery, distrust, and backstabbing.

I constantly see people messing up names about who is talking or reversing their pronouns so that Harry becomes a she in one sentence. I see sentences repeated, and have even seen whole paragraphs repeated.

I regularly see beta notes and editing notes left in a final chapter. I see continuity problems all over the board. These are prevalent problems even in the most popular fanfiction out there. I also see those non-sensical sentences that just make you scratch your head. For example, last night I ran across this sentence:

For those not in my Yahoo Group, here is a sneak peak of Chapter 8 of Curse Breakers . . . enjoy.

I was reading a fic today when I came across one of my most hated cliche's. Harry and Ginny were touring Potter Manor (another cliche I dislike but not the focus of this blog), when they come across the "library that was as extensive as the one at Hogwarts."