tell me about your underappreciated fanwork

[snick_backup]

lettered recently talked about under-loved fic/art - fic or art that maybe got some attention or maybe didn't, but either way didn't get as much attention as the creator thought they deserved. In the comments, she and I had the following conversation:

SNICK: I have this abiding conviction that my fic couldn't possibly be "worth" as much as stuff that lots of people read and comment on.

LETTERED: I think a lot of us feel that way. Almost everything I wrote last year was gen, and while it got a lot of appreciation, it didn't get nearly the response shippy fic in the same fandom is getting. And I'm afraid that's the reason I'm in such a slump right now. Which is ridiculous, but I'm having trouble getting over it.

This makes me horribly sad, because a number of my Very Most Favoritest Authors also suffer from chronic under-appreciation, IMO, apparently due to being just a little bit too far out of the fannish zeitgeist. The fandom would be much the poorer without them; I can only be grateful that even without getting the love I consider their due, they keep plugging along, telling the stories I want so much to read.

All of which is wordy prelude to me nabbing lettered's meme (loosely paraphrased): Link me to a fic/art/whatever that you're proud of, tell me why it's awesome, and feel free to gripe a little about why you think it didn't get more attention. And/or, do the same for some piece of fic/art by someone else that you think should get more love.

I can't promise I'll look at the work you're talking about, because I might not have time or it might not be in my fandom, but it's nice to vent sometimes, and also perhaps someone else who wanders in will be interested!

Original entry posted at Dreamwidth. Feel free to reply here or there. ( DW replies)

Comments

[ghostyouknow27.livejournal.com]

(But you should drop a link here, so that other interested parties can find it.)
Ahem. And as I was just talking about zero skills at self promotion ...

http://archiveofourown.org/works/479736/chapters/833640

I think you're probably right about zeitgeist, but it saddens me a lot that the reception broke your spirit for that kind of fic. :(

The plotty/action stuff is a lot of work and stress. It just is. So getting fewer kudos/hits than I do on, say, a 400-word "just for kicks" ficlet is depressing, even if the 400-word ficlet is a/b/o and therefore AO3 magic. But yeah, I think there's a limited market for 60k of TFW gen fic (less than there is for S&D gen fic, I think, and a whole less than there is for plotty/action Wincest or D/C, obv.), even if I had posted earlier into the bang/had conveyed the twist in the summary, etc.

Knowing that you rec it around still makes me <3, though. <3

[salty-catfish.livejournal.com]

Oh, I remember reading this when it was published but I dropped it somewhere in the second third, I don't remember the exact reason anymore, but I sometimes just do that when I can't read a fic in one sitting - or maybe just lack of time. I do remember that I was intruiged by it and that the fic read fresh, like there was an actual idea to it and without stale stock characterizations, which I liked. And I was happy because Meg? I think that maybe I felt like some mystery elements were dragged out too much for my taste or that some character beats didn't work for me? I'd have to take another look. It's all a bit fuzzy but I thought I'd mention that it left a very positive impression.

[ghostyouknow27.livejournal.com]

Thanks for chiming in! It's very possible that the story was longer than it needed to be, etc. (it's hard to weigh in on character beats, because sometimes those are a matter of opinion, but it's possible the things that didn't work for you were things I struggled with as well, and of course your reaction is valid either way), which would definitely contribute to someone not finishing it. I'm glad to hear that you remember it positively, especially that it "read fresh." It's probably my most conventional SPN fic, so it's really nice to know that it didn't read like the same-old. Thank you!

Also, woot on Meg! :D

[salty-catfish.livejournal.com]

It was definitely not the kind of fic where you know exactly what's going to happen from the second paragraph and that is always welcome. Like I said, it's very likely that the reason I dropped it had not much to do with the fic and I still feel like I want to finish it :) In terms of promotion I don't think I ever connected you and 'the author of that fic I read', you could link you your masterlist in your journal, more people might stumble over your fic that way! (Except you're trying to be stealthy ofc.)

[ghostyouknow27.livejournal.com]

My journal is flocked, so I generally don't consider it stumbling ground (though of course I end up friending/following people who don't know me except as some random person who friended them). Linking to a masterpost or two probably wouldn't kill me. :)