I ain't never seen such fuss.
Feb. 22nd, 2006 12:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupI don't know why it bothers me so much to see reviewers praising people for the proper use of language, English or any other. I mean, given the sheer quantity of drek produced by those who fling the contents of their daydreams up on the 'net for any and all to see without bothering to do any research or at the very least pick a beta reader to make up any deficiencies of their own (realized or not), a little encouragement for the minority of those who do take that time is a very good idea.
I've always been a bit of a snob about this, I guess; I appreciate that to many people a well-imagined clever/amusing/cathartic/sexy idea is more important than the execution of it-- I would agree-- but at the same time, it's hard for me to respect anyone who doesn't feel it necessary to present the highest quality product they can, in any setting, real world or fictional. I don't always live up to my own ideals, I'll be the first to admit that, but I do try. I can't even fathom not wanting to make that effort.
Of course, I am an introvert, and an INFJ at that. Someone whose motivation comes more from internal sources than external, and tends to have fixed, difficult standards to hold herself to. I'm more like Fitzwilliam Darcy than Elizabeth Bennet, to use a comparison from one of my favorite novels, than I'd usually like to admit. Most of the world is not like me, and I know that, and I shouldn't let it bother me; everyone should be able to have fun in their own way so long as it harms no one else. I know that. But it's still hard not to be disturbed regardless.
So what brought all this on? Firefly fandom. There's a distinct dialect in use in both show and movie, completely aside from all the Chinese slang mixed in (which most people present in their fic by spelling its pronunciation, rather than bothering to look up the actual spelling, though I can understand that as the subtitlers/novelist/etc. do so also for ease of reading aloud). That dialect is very Deep South slash Old West, and unless you pay close attention or grew up speaking it like I did it can be difficult to get a handle on its rules and quirks. I shudder sometimes at the approximations and exaggerations thereof I repeatedly come across even in longer, better-written stories.
It ain't the murderation of the dialect itself that bothers me the most, though. I disapprove, but I'm used to that kind of thing, just like I'm used to the exaggerated mischaracterization of River that some people use (having her only ever refer to herself in third person, for example); it's no different from the kind of detail-bungling that takes place in just about any fandom. The thing that really gets to me is the sheer quantity of praise I see being left on stories (including my own) that do get the dialect right, especially Mal's.
I've never seen anything like this in any of the other fandoms I've followed. Not even from the Britpicking that goes on in the Buffy, Angel, and especially Harry Potter fandoms. In those 'verses, when someone gets it right readers seem to assume that either (a) the writer is of that background, or (b) the writer has done their homework. Not so with Firefly. Is it just that the dialect is natively spoken by such a comparatively small number of people? Or are there actually that many readers out there who don't even know that the dialect is still natively spoken by real people?
Correct use of language is IMHO one of the mechanics of the story, like punctuation or grammar or knowing how the names of the characters are spelled; people hardly ever get praised for those things when they do them well (though I have, on occasion-- also to my amusement). They rightly should be invisible to the reader. They should not be getting more attention-- negative or positive-- than the style and subject matter!
Anyway. Reason 0, Emotion 1; despite knowing better, I'm still disgruntled.
Don't worry, though. It won't stop me from writing.
~
I've always been a bit of a snob about this, I guess; I appreciate that to many people a well-imagined clever/amusing/cathartic/sexy idea is more important than the execution of it-- I would agree-- but at the same time, it's hard for me to respect anyone who doesn't feel it necessary to present the highest quality product they can, in any setting, real world or fictional. I don't always live up to my own ideals, I'll be the first to admit that, but I do try. I can't even fathom not wanting to make that effort.
Of course, I am an introvert, and an INFJ at that. Someone whose motivation comes more from internal sources than external, and tends to have fixed, difficult standards to hold herself to. I'm more like Fitzwilliam Darcy than Elizabeth Bennet, to use a comparison from one of my favorite novels, than I'd usually like to admit. Most of the world is not like me, and I know that, and I shouldn't let it bother me; everyone should be able to have fun in their own way so long as it harms no one else. I know that. But it's still hard not to be disturbed regardless.
So what brought all this on? Firefly fandom. There's a distinct dialect in use in both show and movie, completely aside from all the Chinese slang mixed in (which most people present in their fic by spelling its pronunciation, rather than bothering to look up the actual spelling, though I can understand that as the subtitlers/novelist/etc. do so also for ease of reading aloud). That dialect is very Deep South slash Old West, and unless you pay close attention or grew up speaking it like I did it can be difficult to get a handle on its rules and quirks. I shudder sometimes at the approximations and exaggerations thereof I repeatedly come across even in longer, better-written stories.
It ain't the murderation of the dialect itself that bothers me the most, though. I disapprove, but I'm used to that kind of thing, just like I'm used to the exaggerated mischaracterization of River that some people use (having her only ever refer to herself in third person, for example); it's no different from the kind of detail-bungling that takes place in just about any fandom. The thing that really gets to me is the sheer quantity of praise I see being left on stories (including my own) that do get the dialect right, especially Mal's.
I've never seen anything like this in any of the other fandoms I've followed. Not even from the Britpicking that goes on in the Buffy, Angel, and especially Harry Potter fandoms. In those 'verses, when someone gets it right readers seem to assume that either (a) the writer is of that background, or (b) the writer has done their homework. Not so with Firefly. Is it just that the dialect is natively spoken by such a comparatively small number of people? Or are there actually that many readers out there who don't even know that the dialect is still natively spoken by real people?
Correct use of language is IMHO one of the mechanics of the story, like punctuation or grammar or knowing how the names of the characters are spelled; people hardly ever get praised for those things when they do them well (though I have, on occasion-- also to my amusement). They rightly should be invisible to the reader. They should not be getting more attention-- negative or positive-- than the style and subject matter!
Anyway. Reason 0, Emotion 1; despite knowing better, I'm still disgruntled.
Don't worry, though. It won't stop me from writing.
~
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no subject
Date: 2006-02-22 06:48 pm (UTC)E.G. "Your spelling is great. you need to work on the rest of your mechanics -- including homophones -- and your character voice".
I generally word it as constructively as possible so it doesn't sound like I'm picking on them and think that they're stupid (even though I secretly am and do) and they usually thank me for it.
One of the things I tend to harp on in bad!fic is characterization; a major component of which is proper use of language for that character. If Mal doesn't sound like Mal, then I'm reading about an OC named Malcolm Reynolds. The same goes for Buffy, Jack O'Neill, Sam Carter (I'm truly surprised just how many people screw her up) and every other character created since the beginning of time.
Personally, I'd rather read a fic about a subject that's been beaten to death that has good mechanics and spot-on characterization than one with an original premise that was written by someone with the mental capabilities of a fifth-grader.
Usually, if the characterization and the mechanics are at least satisfactory, all an author will get from me is "Good Job, Keep up the good work". If there was a certain part that REALLY impressed me or tickled my funnybone, then they might get an "especially that part where [character] said, '[what character said]'".
Also: I have personally met real people who sound like Mal. It's not like it's that hard to find them, so I can't explain why people wouldn't think that that dialect isn't used anymore.
Character Voice
Date: 2006-02-23 10:25 am (UTC)There's "nothing new under the sun" anyway, right? Some of my favorite fics are old, old cliches done in perfect character voice, warping the plot to fit the characters rather than the other way 'round. I try to write rare ideas myself, and look for them, but not many of them are good enough to end up on my favorites list, unfortunately.
> I have personally met real people who sound like Mal. It's not like it's that hard to find them, so I can't explain why people wouldn't think that that dialect isn't used anymore.
I don't know either; I grew up around people that sound like Mal. I suppose it's just the difference between audience reaction to the Firefly dialect versus, say, the British dialect that's puzzling me. People expect you to research and get the latter right, but treat it like a thing of wonder if you do the former properly.