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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

The Best Author in the Fandom

Spoiler alert: title notwithstanding, I'm not going to tell you who I think The Best Author in the Fandom is.

But, if you'd like to know why I won't be answering that particular question, or if you want to know what qualities I'd look for in such an author, you should definitely click down to beneath the page break to read my thoughts on the matter.



I get a lot of e-mail.  Most of it, sadly, is spam, but even when you sort that out there's still plenty left that comes directly from another human being and isn't trying to sell me something.  And among those e-mails, I get a fair number of questions, mostly about this blog.

One of the most common questions I get asked is what my favorite pony fanfic is, or what I think the best pony fanfic is.  I don't really like answering any questions involving the word "best" (or "worst," for that matter), because it suggests a level of absolutism that I'm not at all comfortable with, but it seems to be a point of interest for more than a couple of people.  For those of you wondering, my responses to such questions consist of a couple sentences worth of conditionals ("considering only the fanfics I've read... taking my personal enjoyment as the determining factor..." etc.), followed by a recommendation of either Memories of Those Friends Who've Gone Before Us (if the question was "best") or It's a Dangerous Business, Going Out Your Door (for "favorite").  I reserve the right to change my mind about either of those at any time, though.

See?  I can't even paraphrase myself without hedging.

Anyway, I recently got an e-mail asking me who I thought was the "best fanfic author out there."  Although the questioner didn't specify ponyfiction, I'm assuming that's what he meant--it's mostly what I know these days, anyway.  Leaving aside the answer itself, this raises an interesting question: how would one go about determining who the best ponyfic author is?  What attributes would this author possess?  I'd like to take a minute to offer a list of what I think are the primary traits which would define our hypothetical Best Author in the Fandom:



1) Volume, both in number of stories and number of words

I would be supremely uncomfortable naming someone the apex writer in any group without a significant body of work behind them.  Moreover, I wouldn't consider a single story, no matter how massive or broad-reaching, sufficient grounds to judge an author on.  I'd want to see an author produce at least four to six stories, and not all 1000-word shorts either, before I'd be prepared to even consider them in this context.  The reason is simple: anyone can get lucky.  The mark of a great author is the ability to produce high-quality work on a consistent basis, and that requires a certain sample size.



2) Technical Prowess

I'm taking "technical competence" as a given here: I think we can all agree that the ability to string together coherent sentences into something with an overarching narrative is an obvious prerequisite to Great Author status.  But technical prowess as I mean it goes beyond that.  I'm referring to the ability to transition smoothly between dialogue-heavy story elements and narration; to create vivid scenes using original turns of phrase and precise and evocative word choice; to being able to capture a variety of flavors of tone, a variety of distinct voices (in both dialogue and narration; the importance of a distinct narrative voice is often under-appreciated) and a variety of levels of formality, and use them in ways which enhance the story being told.  A good editor can help with all of these things, it's true, but these elements are so pervasive in a story that there's really no substitute for not just competence, but excellence, on the part of the author him/herself.



3) Range, both stylistically and structurally

The Best Author in the Fandom is, by definition, a generalist.  Otherwise, we'd speak of this fellow as The Best Novelist in the Fandom, or The Best FlutterDash Shipper in the Fandom, or The Best Comic Author in the Fandom.

Now, all of those are legitimate claims to make of someone, but my point is that they're more specific than "best author."  The reason we specify that someone is The Best Comic Author in the Fandom is because we couldn't say that they're Fhe Best Author in the Fandom without fear of correction.  Just like we speak about the Best Author in the Fandom rather than The Best Author, Period.

So, I would want to see a prospective Best Author in the Fandom write in a variety of styles, lengths, and genres, and demonstrate competence in all fields.  Not necessarily brilliance in all fields--I wouldn't expect anyone to be equally gifted in all manner of writing, any more than I would expect a band director to be a master of every instrument.  But I would expect the director to at least be able to play them all competently, and I'd likewise expect even a writer whose forte was slice-of-life one-shots to be able to write a decent multi-chapter adventure if he/she made the attempt.  Well, if that writer were to be considered The Best etc., anyway.



4) Growth and Development

Writing is just like anything else; you get better with practice.  This is true even of professionals, but it's especially noticeable with young and/or amateur writers, and fanfic authors tend to be both.  There's simply more room for improvement when you start out so far from your personal ceiling.

To me, one of the marks of a great author--of a great anyone, really--is the drive to continuously improve.  The urge to stretch one's boundaries, to push one's own limits.  There are a depressing number of authors who are content to simply "write what they know" in the most literal possible sense: they figure out how to produce something they feel comfortable with (sometimes of miserable quality, sometimes not; it makes no difference, really), and then do nothing else.

I firmly believe that, for anyone I'd be willing to call Best Author in the Fandom, I should be able to look at a sample of their writing from a couple of years ago, compare it to what they're doing today, and say, "Yeah, I see the difference."  It's true that authorial growth doesn't follow a straight line; even incredible authors can write duds, obviously, and sometimes someone will manage to produce something uncommonly brilliant, then struggle to return to that level.  But there should be an overall trend towards improvement in quality.



5) Unique POV

A story should say something.  Not necessarily something earth-shaking or life-altering, but something.  Moreover, it should say that something in a way which is in some way original.  A great author will find a unique angle to approach any story from, even the most banal.  There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of pre s2 fanfics floating around about Luna being weepy and depressed because even after a thousand years, everyone still sleeps through her night.  But there were a few "sad Luna" stories that still succeeded, because the author was able to put an original spin on an idea which had seemingly been done to death by the time the show was just a few months old.

Stories are like snowflakes: no two should be alike.  If a story is just like any other of a group--if there's nothing to distinguish it from every other "sad Luna" story out there--then it's not a snowflake, it's just an undifferentiated glob of slush.  And nobody likes getting pelted in the face with sleet.



Those are the five qualities that spring immediately to my mind, anyway.  If you're a regular fanfic reader, I'm sure you can think of plenty of fanfic authors who fill these criteria; I can name half a dozen without straining. You'll also note a few things I didn't include on the list: popularity (a better bellwether than some would like to admit, but unquestionably flawed), for example.  And there may be some that I didn't think of.  But after giving the matter a bit of thought, I'm prepared to call this at least a tentative proposal for what guidelines I would use, if I were to try and identify The Best Author in the Fandom.

33 comments:

  1. So The Descendant, then.

    Also you got some Fhe in your 3) up there. Might want to noodle that around a bit.

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    1. Don't be modest, CV! Sure, you may not've written Memories or Tangled Up in Blues, but you're no slouch. Then again, you did commit a cardinal sin when writing the otherwise great Getting Lucky... I don't know that you should be disqualified for that, though

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    2. I don't know what you're talking about! My loyalties have always been to blue team! This scarf isn't stolen! It was a gift from my niece! That bird was like that when I got here!

      Oh. You mean that type of cardinal sin. What exactly did I do, again?

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    3. It's been awhile since I've read it, so I don't remember exactly when this happened (sorry), but there was at least one point - possibly more - when I felt like I was reading about humans instead of ponies

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    4. Oooooh that. Yes. Back then it wasn't much of a concern to me, but since then I've repented of my ways... not that that means much, seeing as I haven't released anything after repenting, but still. Glad to know we're on the same page.

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    5. Descendant is always my go-to for questions like this. :)

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    6. Glad to see you're aware of your mistake. I assume you've done the customary one Our Celestia and ten Hail Luna's?

      I hadn't realized how little you've released, and how long it's been. Guess you couldn't be Best Author then. A shame, seeing as you showed a lot of potential in what little I've read of your work

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    7. Come on! How is, "The reason we specify that someone is The Best Comic Author in the Fandom is because we couldn't say that they're Fhe Best Author in the Fandom without fear of correction." not the best letter-switch ever? I can't even tell if that's an intentional joke or not! That's how brilliant it is!

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    8. "So The Descendant, then."

      You just read my mind.

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    9. There'd be an excellent case to be made for TD if we accepted my musings as the criteria in question, and Cold in Gardez and Thanqol (who were both mentioned below) are both names that spring to mind pretty quickly as well, along with a few others.

      And there's probably at least a couple of fanfic writers out there whom I've never even heard of who belong in the conversation. That's one of the reasons I hate answering "best" questions.

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    10. Pretty much Descy (I got his permission to call him so, and I shall abuse it to no end).

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    11. You've actually got a pretty good point, Sessalisk, but if it was supposed to be a joke about calling someone Fhe best without fear of correction, then now I feel bad... because I am become fear.

      Well I guess it doesn't really matter. There are a lot of things that a pony storycrafter can be judged on to be labeled Fhe best, but my criteria is pretty clear: If you write story about Braeburn and Fancy Pants joining forces and using a giant armored airship to take out a mutant alicorn who was magically/genetically/mechanically engineered and enhanced by all the major antagonists in the series in a no holds barred, DBZ-level cataclysmic showdown, then your trophy is waiting.

      Also you need to be able to drive a motorcycle, but that's kind of a given.

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    12. Look at me, necroposting like a boss. This is the only way I can think to get ahold of you, CV (I hope this works), so if you happen across this comment, would you please drop me a line? You can click my name to find my profile and an email link. :) This is your most recent post on OMPR and it's almost a year old, please don't have disappeared. D:

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  2. It's absolutely impossible to impose any sort of "best" in any of these cases. You can only do "my favourite". Here's two examples of that in action:

    1. Both Memories and Dangerous Business are fics I don't really like that much. Memories was fine, but utterly forgettable. It's one of the few written works I've ever read where I've had to fully reread it (after seeing your initial review) because I simply could not remember a single thing that happened in it from my first read.
    As for Dangerous Business, I feel bad for saying this because I know so many people who love it to bits and I feel I must obviously be missing something, but I can't stand that story. Something about Jetfire's writing style bores me to tears, and I don't know why. I had to give up on the story halfway through (another rarity for me) because I couldn't bring myself to read it any longer.
    Considering that your fanfic reviews generally match up with my own opinion, I find it odd that we're so at odds when it comes to the "best" stories. Such, I avoid the term as much as possible; I think even making an accurate top ten of fans' general opinions is more difficult than people imagine.

    2. Using your guidelines for Best Author, I conclude that the author with the strongest overall "score" in each category is likely shortskirtsandxplosions. Annoyingly, though, I wouldn't consider Skirts to be the best (or my favourite) author in the fandom. I'm not quite sure who would be, but it wouldn't be Skirts. So I'm stumped. =/

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    1. Doubt Chris would consider shortskirtsandexplosions the best, considering he hasn't read much of his work (only one, as far as I know)

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    2. I don't think I'd consider Skirts the best either. Actually, I'm really not fond of his style. I've never been able to pin down why, because from a technical aspect, every story of his that I've ever read got everything right. And I always like and favourite his stories.

      It's just that there's always been this niggling feeling when I do, like there's one particular element that really turns me off, but I can't put a name to it or really describe it. It bothers me a lot.

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    3. Yeah, Last Tears in Tartarus is still the only SS&E story I've read, though I'll be hitting up Background Pony in due time for the 6-star reviews.

      "It's absolutely impossible to impose any sort of "best" in any of these cases"

      My feelings exactly! But that doesn't stop people from asking. I really do enjoy it when people ask me questions; it's just frustrating when they ask me ones that I can't give a good answer to.

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  3. I subscribe to the idea that government is best which governs least. Applying that same logic to authors, then, suggests that I'm the best author, seeing as I don't write anything at all. Very Zen (or was that Thoreau?)

    Seriously, though, I can't really guess who it might be. I don't know that many authors, and usually can't attach names to the fics I've read. Hell, I'll often forget that most of the regulars here are accomplished fanfic writers whose work I've enjoyed. "Wait, that Thanqol guy wrote... and I acted as though he were just another reader? *smack self*"

    Oh, and I see your one of those people who makes a distinction between "best" and "favorite". You're forever associated with Paleosteno in my mind now

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    1. Crap, I completely forgot that I wrote a fic last March. Guess I can't be Best Author, even by my own twisted logic :(

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    1. Definitely a contender! Maybe we should do a non-ranked top-ten list?

      -iisaw

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    2. By these criteria, Cold in Gardez is somewhere in my top three. Skywriter produces the best stories the most consistently, but he sticks to a few basic story types. GhostOfHeraclitus is irritatingly good, but he hasn't got enough wordage or stylistic variety. But Chris' refusal to name one best is right. Trying to pick a "best" anything proves your thinking has been hopelessly corrupted by Plato.

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  5. Argh, why must you keep in stitches over Our First Steps, Chris? ;_; Whyyyyy?

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    1. Because somebody decided to write a ridiculously long story and get it six-starred, and I'm trying to read it in my free time. If you can figure out a way to get me paid a living wage to read fanfics, I'll give you a new review every day of the week.

      Please figure out a way to do that.

      At this moment, I'm still hoping to get the review done by Friday, but I make no promises. It just depends on how busy I get!

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    2. The moment I do, I'll be doing it as well.

      And come on! I finished it in three months, and that was reading an hour a day two days a week! :B You can totally get it done in... I don't know what that translates to, actually.

      I WILL BE PATIENT YES

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    3. Hey, Chris! I know how you can get paid to review fanfics!

      Wait--did you mean an /honest/ way?

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  6. I think you are missing a category related to the "Story Quality" (or something like this). You do talk about Technical Prowess, but I think that category, as described by you, do not encompass things such as pacing, story cohesiveness, focus, tonal stability, etc.

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  7. These are all great discussion points for what makes a good author, and I agree with all of them... but in the end, they're really more about justifying your own preferences to yourself. We're never going to come to a consensus as a whole about who the best anything is without devolving into a popularity contest and making obvious choices.

    For me, I never read the longer works. I think I've read one thing longer than 30k words, and that's only because I'm one of the author's private reviewers. If I'm going to devote that much time to reading, pony fiction isn't at the top of my list. I like the Gardez I've read, but that's only two stories. I couldn't dredge up enough enthusiasm about Skyrim to read his crossover, and the newer stuff doesn't suit my tastes. I think I've read two or three things by The Descendant, and liked them consistently. I've only read two things by Skirts; one was okay, and I didn't care for the other.

    I'd even hesitate to identify individual stories I liked as favorites. That's really a matter of personal taste. What I remember are stories that really resonated with me for some reason, and it's unlikely that many readers would have quite the same reaction. That's an argument I make all the time when people list an incredibly popular author, musician, etc. as their favorite.

    Case in point: I was having a discussion at lunch one day, long ago, about what music we would pick if we could listen to only one song for the rest of our lives. Several people agreed on one pop song from the '60s. Two settled on Beethoven's ninth symphony. As a classical music aficionado, I found that interesting. Why Beethoven? There are a few names that even people who don't listen to classical music would recognize. Bach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart, for a few examples. Why do people like them? In my mind, there are two main reasons. First, there's definitely a quality to their work. They stood out in their own time, mostly through skill, but certainly also due to some combination of luck and opportunity. So they became famous, and fame begets fame. And that leads to the second point. People like them, because that's what they hear. Radio stations play them a lot, because that's what casual listeners like, and so the cycle continues. And there's nothing wrong with that. John Q. Public, who enjoys his Mozart and is happy with his level of knowledge about it, is just as entitled to his opinion as anyone else. But my point is this: If you care to dig a little deeper, you find some wonderful gems that you wouldn't have otherwise known to exist. With the thousands of composers who have existed, if Mr. Public were to listen to every one of them, what are the chances that Mozart is still the one who perfectly fits his tastes? Virtually nil. It may be someone very similar to Mozart, and that investment of effort may not be worth such a fine gradation to Mr. Public. But it's worth noting that the true answer for music, fiction, whatever, is likely different for every one of us, but we congregate on the names we know because it's easier, and because, well, they're the names we know.

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    1. That's precisely why I go after every piece of music I can find. Some of the best stuff I've ever listened to is never going to be played on the radio.

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  8. I see choosing a favourite author/work as a matter of introspection. Thinking about what you like the most tells you a lot about the kind of stuff you like, and may help you understand better your own tastes, what you should focus your attention on, what are your biases, and so on.

    At the same time, publishing such lists helps with your point about John Q. Public settling for "good enough". If John know that Joe T. Enthusiast has similar tastes and likes Mozart, but prefers Schubert, maybe he will find out that Schubert actually fits his tastes better.

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  9. I have favorite stories, and favorite people, but not favorite authors. Authors are nothing if not inconsistent. But that's good.
    As for best? I haven't read them all so how could I ever know?

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  10. In my humble opinion, picking the best artist in any medium is a fool's errand.
    Instead, I would suggest surrounding yourself (and I use 'you' as a generality, here) with persons whose opinions you value, and sampling their tastes on a regular basis. You'll be much happier - and have a broader appreciation - than one who simply seeks the best.

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