(no subject)

[shakatany]

Well I went for a walk to mull over some of the responses to yesterday's post. I do my best (?) thinking while I'm walking or showering or drifting off to sleep.

One commenter wrote: A fic needs a reader to be complete? Maybe. But it's got one; the author. Well that may be true but then why post it? Why not keep it in a notebook where only the writer can read it? Once it's posted others become involved.

Another wrote: We readers are lucky to be able to read so much good fiction, for free. Is it really free? I think the currency is time. These days most of us have so many demands on our time that we have to find the time to spare to read fanfic and give feedback.

I believe fanfic is a form of symbiosis: if a fic is posted and no one reads it, is the writer still satisfied being the only reader? I think not. I think a writer wants/needs an audience but apparently only on the writer's terms. A talented writer such as Ladycat, and I think she's one of the great writers of BtVS fanfic, can paint such vivid scenes and evoke such powerful emotions in her readers that they linger in the mind for years (it's been 3 years since I first read "HB"). If I feel hurt that she's left me and the bois in limbo can't I say something? And say that with a *sob* at the end of a rec?

Lastly: I truly hope you will make a public apology and in future think before you pass judgment on someone you only know as part of the reader-writer relationship, and not as a true friend with full knowledge of their situation and writerly motivations. Was I passing judgement? If so I didn't realize it and I do apologize.

 

Comments

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

I contacted Sofy this morning. I never meant to hurt you and certainly never meant to bash you. Someone slammed into me for adding *sob* when I recced "HB" and I became very upset and made a mistake and it snowballed from there. I didn't mean for you to get dragged into this.
You are so very talented and I mean this sincerely. I am not given to idle flattery. I am going to write one more entry on this and then I will definitely drop the whole thing. Pax?

[ladycat777.livejournal.com]

Thank you -- I understand what happened, I've been involved from the beginning, actually, since I was contacted when you made the initial post on bloodclaim. I have a response for your email, and the rest of this, but I want to make sure it's really clear in what I want to say before I send it, so could you hold off on making your post until you receive it and read it?

The short answer is, however: if this was merely a case of a single *sob* at a rec, we wouldn't be having this discussion. This is something that has been building for some time, between you and I, and I should've emailed you personally from the start. I am very sorry I did not, because I never meant to cause you grief either. But this is complicated, and I'd like to try and clear it up.

Thank you for contacting Sofy :)

[shakatany.livejournal.com]

You're welcome.