Wank and decision making.

[taffimai]

Some background: A significant number of Torchwood authors are currently posting a few hundred words a day of longer stories. This has the effect of making their stories into huge sprawling epics which, when cross-posted all over the place, EAT MY FLIST. Beyond the effect on my friendslist, I find that the teeny tiny parts make it very difficult for me to get into the story and make my reading experience feel choppy and disjointed.

This weekend the mods at one of the Torchwood communities asked that authors please try to post more substantial parts. This caused moaning and wringing of hands and leaving of the community and standing up for their principles and general wankiness.

All of it inspired me to make this post.

Here are the things I look at when deciding whether to read a story, more or less in order of importance:

1) The characters. Is my OTC in the story? Currently, this means Jack Harkness.
2) The author. Is it an author I know and whose work I generally enjoy? If it's a writer I trust with my time, I will always give their work a chance.
3) The summary. Does it look especially interesting or look like it might hit any of my bullet proof fic kinks? For example, if the story is Jack hurt/comfort or my OT3 or Jack/Suzie I will nearly always read it.
4) The header formatting. Does it contain all the standard information? Does it use a standard format, with no strange colors, bolded content, etc. Are there grammatical or spelling errors? I have found that a writer who understands fandom conventions and/or has researched them is far more likely to produce high-quality work. And of course, a well-formatted header usually means that the story will be formatted in such a way that it is readable. I don't think I need to explain the grammar and spelling criteria.
5) The beta reader: Is the author using a beta? Is it a beta with whom I am familiar and whose taste level I trust?
6) The word count: Is the word count appropriate to the type of story/formatting? If it is described as a drabble, it is 100 words? If it is listed as a story chapter, is it at least 1,000 words?
7) The number of parts: Is the total number of parts listed? Is it reasonable? With some notable exceptions, I have found that higher quality stories tend to have a number of parts that is below twenty and that the better writers usually know how many parts the story will be. Even if it changes during posting to accommodate changes, the fact that the author is willing to put a total chapter count on a story implies the existence of a story draft or a detailed outline.
8) The graphics: Do the icon and story header (if applicable) show good taste?

Please understand, I do not expect writers to cater to my tastes or other readers to use the above criteria to determine whether to click on a cut tag. This is just how I make my decisions. I'm curious whether other people do this and if so if their standards are similar.

Comments

[chatona.livejournal.com]

I make decisions pretty much the same way, based on pretty much the exact same criteria, minus perhaps the beta reader one.

[taffimai.livejournal.com]

Oh? Betas not important for you?

[chatona.livejournal.com]

Let's say it isn't a deal-breaker. If everything gives the impression that the author knows proper English, seemingly writes well enough and the fic sounds otherwise interesting, I don't care much about whether they used a beta or not. If the fic is full of mistakes, I can still hit the back-button, but the odd typo or wrong expression here or there will make me grin and be gleeful that I caught that rather than annoyed.
... But really, for the most part, I'm not attentive enough a reader to even catch those mistakes. So if the fic fulfills the other criteria, I'm satisfied.

[taffimai.livejournal.com]

*nods* For me it's not a dealbreaker either, but if I was leaning away from reading something and then notice that the beta is someone I trust, I basically treat that as a rec from them and give it a shot.

[chatona.livejournal.com]

That makes sense *nods*

[wesleysgirl.livejournal.com]

I have to honestly say that I almost never even notice whether someone has a beta listed or not. On the rare occasion that I do notice, it's because I discover that the fic is riddled with errors that a beta "should" have caught but didn't, and then I laugh a bit and move on.

[taffimai.livejournal.com]

Like I said above, if I was leaning away from reading something and then notice that the beta is someone I trust, I basically treat that as a rec from them and give it a shot.