Monday, March 28, 2011

What do YOU want to see?


I often wonder just what it is that people want to see in Han and Leia fanfic. What kinds of story summaries or ideas make you want to open it? Is it who writes it? Is it the scenario? I know I have a terrible time writing summaries for my stories. On one hand, I don't want to just flat out tell people exactly what's going to happen. On the other hand, sometimes you can be so vague that nobody knows what the heck it is about and maybe doesn't care to click on it to find out. I actually had someone recently review a story of mine and said that she had come across the story many times but was never interested in reading it before, but was advised to by some friends and wound up liking it. So I went ahead and asked her why it was that she didn't have interest in reading it. Thankfully, she went ahead and told me (it's ok, I can take it, and maybe it will help!) and she just said that the scenario didn't grab her and maybe I should mention a certain aspect of the plot that would've made her a bit more interested. I appreciate that kind of feedback, because what if she wasn't the only one who felt that way? What if there are other people who would be swayed to click on a story based on a different summary?


Anyway, I'm always interested to know what it is that draws someone to read a story. I'd say that first of all, the easiest way to choose is if you see a new story from a writer whose stories you've enjoyed before. Let's face it: a new person pops up out of nowhere they could've written almost anything. I've clicked on some pretty horrendous first-time attempts, to the point of being nearly incoherent. Then again, sometimes someone who has never written anything before can totally surprise you (Push and Digs certainly fall into this category!) So it's hard to automatically discount someone just because you've never seen anything from them before. It does make you wonder where they've been hiding, though! But again, if someone you've enjoyed stories from before shows up with something new, it's pretty much a no-brainer to click and start reading.


I'll give almost any new story a quick skim-through to see if anything grabs me. But a unique summary will also get me interested. I mean, this fandom has been around longer than I've been alive, so a lot of stories have been written. It's tough to come up with something new and different. I think that is one of the troubles I have when trying to come up with something to write, it's all been done before. Or much of it has, anyway. Does anybody really care to read about my version of their trip to Bespin? Probably not, especially given the fact that I wouldn't put any sex in it ;) I'm even starting to feel underwhelmed with my own current story at the moment because while some of the action that happened in the middle was somewhat new, now it's just about having the babies, which I know has been done before and there just doesn't seem to be a good reason that anyone should want to read my version of that.


So what DO you want to see? Tell us! Maybe it will give us some ideas we hadn't thought of. Even if you don't know what you want until you see it, at least tell us that. We spend a lot of time wondering why more people aren't reading or at least commenting and it's nice to have a way to maybe solve that little mystery. We won't know if you never tell us.

19 comments:

  1. The summary is typically the reason I decide to read a story or not. I didn't read Digs' story for a long time just because I thought the premise was strange and had a good chance of being awful. I know I shouldn't just shut something out for those reasons, but I did. Of course I really regret that now!

    I'll always read a Bespin story, sex or no sex...(so nudge nudge, go for it ;) And I always go for pre-ESB/Hoth stuff because (I think) there are so many things you can do with it.

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  2. Well, now I have to feel guilty and confess: I wrote that summary! Sorry, Digs, I didn't make you use it, you asked! But, well, you're reading it NOW, so I guess that's all that matters.

    And now I'm feeling even more pressure on always coming up with a good summary!

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  3. What the WHAT? You WROTE Digs' summary and gave me a hard time about asking you to BETA mine? Oh, no, it's on now! ;-)

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  4. She asked for an example, and that was it, and then she told me she was going to steal it and use it.

    PS: You changed your name now to the nickname I made up for you? Maybe you should change it to PushY instead ;)

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  5. I'm going to refrain from answering that since I have a chapter that's going to need to be beta'd soon...

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  6. Hmmm... sometimes I wonder what people would really say to me if I didn't hold so much power by being the beta reader...

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  7. Lol! I don't think it's a bad summary, it was just that I personally thought it might be bad and I didn't want to disappoint myself.

    But I do think it's a important part of grabbing your reader. AND YOU SHOULD FEEL PRESSURED. :P

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  8. Thanks for clarifying that. See for me, the idea of that story is so unique it would've gotten my attention. But you're right, in the wrong person's hands it could've been terrible. So we're quite lucky it wasn't :)

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  9. I personally really like pre-ESB stuff. :)

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  10. It's all Zyra's fault, she made me do it! ;) I agree that summaries are important which is why I tricked Z into writing it for me. :) In my defense, I was already nervous about posting the actual story. Having to think of a good summary may have pushed me over the edge.

    (Is it just me, or does Threepio look really scary there <<<<<)

    Thanks for giving it a chance Elivagar, I hope it didn't disappoint.

    I'm always on the look out for a good NJO-Legacy era fic focused on Han and Leia. There must be millions with Jaina and Jag (and Zekk and Kyp), why not Han and Leia?

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  11. Oh, pre-ESB, yes. Funny, in all of the things I've ever written, none of it is pre-ESB! At least none of the published stuff. I don't know, I always just seem to skip ahead to when they're together and all that other crap is already taken care of :)

    NJO, huh? I think a lot of people (or at least me) might not get into that because the EU authors messed them up so badly by then that we don't want to deal with them there!

    As for Threepio, it's not his fault, Leia had just turned him off ;)

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  12. Yes, the EU authors really messed them up, which is why some awesome fanfic writers should step in and rectify it! ;) Admittedly, I wouldn't want to read any more from the beginning of NJO where Han goes crazy. But, Han and Leia are inseparable after that. Surely there are some possibilities there.

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  13. IDK if I can write anywhere inside of a universe where Chewie is dead (not to mention one of Han/Leia's children). Just don't think I would ever go there. And I refuse to believe that Leia names a child Anakin. Just can't write within those constraints. That's just me.

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  14. I love the banter here! Digs, I am highly disappointed that you cant write a summary. Who am I kidding? I cant either.

    Personally, I like all the stuff where Han and Leia are together and in love so anything mid ESB to whenever they are about to die is good for me. Get to writin'! ;)

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  15. BTW, what is the story behind this picture? It's one of my favorites of them together but where what it taken? For what? Why? Where is the rest of the cast? Also, I've always wanted to know the story behind the photo that has the caption "Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher. Madly in love, worlds apart." You know the one I'm talking about? It's on NHP.

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  16. Oh! The story behind this pic? That's easy. It's Han and Leia's engagement picture that Leia made Han pose for. Han is gritting his teeth as he smiles and says under his breath, "How many more of these do we have to take?" Leia replies through her smile, "Shut up and keep smiling and if you grab my ass again I'm gonna hold out til the wedding."

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  17. ^Best explanation ever.

    In my opinion, Han and Leia fics really just need to show some vulnerable side of them if you go for a touching story, or have them have a particularly memorable fight for humor. I'm not particularly picky. But honestly, having them too stubborn is where I draw the line. They are stubborn people, but 20 chapters in and they haven't even made a move bugs me if it's not pre-ESB.

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  18. What do I want to read? Well, if you haven't noticed, it's anything Han & Leia rated M! xD Because that's what we are missing from the movies and books. So anything goes. Even them having sex before Endor. It's fun to read whether I believed it "really" happened or not. ;)

    I read some other stories, too, related to the original trio, it doesn't have to be rated anything... But what I said before, is my favorite. I don't want any EU characters. I have never read any M-rated stories without Han & Leia.

    The summary is the most important to me. Even if it's from a great author such as you guys, I don't click it if I think the story is not interesting.

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