Of course, in my summaries I do not advertise the lack of plot; I broadcast the vignette-having.

I think accentuating the positive is really a much more attractive way to advertise your fic. Amuse me with your banter and I don't care that nothing happens. I recognize there is no plot, I just don't really care if I have fun reading it.

I think accentuating the positive is really a much more attractive way to advertise your fic. Amuse me with your banter and I don't care that nothing happens. I recognize there is no plot, I just don't really care if I have fun reading it.

And that is precisely what I write, most of the time. They don't leave the office, they just sit there snarking at each other. I suppose it is like going to a soup-and-salad bar expecting a full five-course meal but really, between the low word count and the "fluffy/angsty tag for ep. 15" summary, if readers go in expecting an imaginative resolution for the main story arc plus the lead characters' UST, that is just not my fault. Of course, I rarely get that response from writers whose work I respect - they generally get that I have done exactly what I set out to do, and are entertained or intrigued by it.

I'd be thrilled to see "fluffy fun, no plot!" instead of "I'm so sorry, I don't even, why do I think I can write, please don't hate this."

And when you dare suggest to such a writer that conforming to conventions of punctuation and formating help one's work to put its best foot forward and assist one's readers in enjoying it all the more, you get "well i wuz just writing for FUN you don't have to be all english teecher on my a$$"

That or you get asked to beta by someone more eager for attention than actually learning from her (or his, I suppose, I just have not experienced such a male person) mistakes and your suggestions.

I'm not sure which is worse.

I've run into stories with brilliant plot and characters that are just unreadable because of their shaking off the chains of punctuation tyranny.

Then there are the people who consistently misspell the main character's name.

Yup, crabby fic reader. Git off my lawn.

Yep. Seen it.

It seems like it's getting worse. Back in the mid 2000s at least most writers seemed to know how to spell and construct sentences, even if I didn't care for how they handled plot or characters. Is there a boom of young writers with no discernible talent or grammar skills because of wide mainstream franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight, or was I just lucky in my initial choice of fandoms?

I wonder if there is any corollary between the age of the characters and the wherewithal of the fans.

I wonder if there is any corollary between the age of the characters and the wherewithal of the fans.

The number of incredibly devout fans I come across that only relatively recently got a bedtime late enough to watch what they're stanning keeps surprising me, but it shouldn't. We're all late adopters of Doctor Who, right?

I suppose so, though I it feels weird to think of myself as a Johnny-come-lately fan for that when I was watching from behind my parents' couch in the 80s.