(no subject)

[rusty_halo]

The following word should be banned from fanfic forever: ministrations.

That's all.

(Seriously, it's a useless word. Has anyone used it well, in any context, ever?)

Comments

[chase820.livejournal.com]

In fanfic, it's usually a sign of the purplest of prose. Often in conjunction with sexy scenes, which is just all kinds of no.

[rusty_halo.livejournal.com]

I "read" (or skimmed and closed quickly) about 45 Sharpe fics today. Of those, about 30 got closed almost instantly, with a laugh or a shudder of horror.

About 10 got skimmed, regarded as vaguely interesting, but soon went over the top and also got closed.

About 5 were good enough to actually read, but of those five, TWO were completely ruined by the author's use of the word "ministrations." Seriously, WHO DOES THAT? And these were the "better" fics, the ones I'd actually been reading instead of skimming.

(And about two fics were actual good stories that I enjoyed reading. Which further supports my theory that 90% of everything is crap.)

[chase820.livejournal.com]

Ninety percent of fanfiction is crap. Five percent feedback on a given story is the absolute best any author can expect. These stats seem to hold true over all fandoms. We should probably think up a name for them: the Golden Means, or something.