Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the story

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Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the story

Postby Dumbledork » Wed Apr 26, 2017 1:34 am

We've all come across fanfic summaries that don't really give us an incentive to read a story. Maybe they are full of spelling mistakes, too short, don't tell us anything about the story, or the themes are disgusting and unnerving. Post them here.

Here's a good (or rather bad ?) example; one of those 'what if?' summaries.

Long Live the Potters by Metamorphmagus3 reviews
What if James and Lily lived that night? What if Voldemort rose sooner? What if James and Lily lived at Hogwarts? Sorry, I'm really bad at summaries... Rated T for deaths.
Rated: T - English - Mystery - Chapters: 2 - Words: 1,861 - Reviews: 3 - Favs: 7 - Follows: 5 - Updated: 5h ago - Published: May 15, 2015 - Harry P., Albus D., Luna L., Marauders
And that's the bottom line 'cause Dumbledork said so.

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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Makoto » Wed Apr 26, 2017 2:45 am

...and hopefully, not just because the summary includes some form of the key phrase, "I'm bad at summaries." :lol:
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Pata Hikari » Wed Apr 26, 2017 8:42 pm

Pretty much every single Ranma fanfic summary that contains some form of the line "Ranma leaves Nerima."
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Thu Apr 27, 2017 6:47 am

If the summary is filled with bad grammar, it's a bad omen.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Slab Bulkhead » Thu Apr 27, 2017 8:53 am

"I suck at summaries"

And this is more specific to AO3 but when you have PAGES upon pages of tags and fandoms for a story that thats only tangentially related to the fandom you're looking in.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Makoto » Thu Apr 27, 2017 1:19 pm

Slab Bulkhead wrote:And this is more specific to AO3 but when you have PAGES upon pages of tags and fandoms for a story that thats only tangentially related to the fandom you're looking in.


Yeah... I've noticed that lately, too. It's almost as bad as how I used to have to scroll through fifteen tons of "if you _______, then copy this to your profile" copied text, pairing/shipping lists, etc. in some FFN profiles just to get to the top of their stories list. :roll:
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Pata Hikari » Fri Apr 28, 2017 1:34 am

Oh yeah, also if your summary has "X Bashing" in it, thanks for telling me that your story is garbage and not worth reading ever.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Fri Apr 28, 2017 8:14 am

Pata Hikari wrote:Oh yeah, also if your summary has "X Bashing" in it, thanks for telling me that your story is garbage and not worth reading ever.

That depends on who's being bashed. It's harder not to bash Genma or Dumbledore. But do I think the author will do it fairly and well? That's more important. As Tom Lehrer sang, "It was done with such grace and skill that the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail."
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Pata Hikari » Fri Apr 28, 2017 11:55 am

Ellen Kuhfeld wrote:That depends on who's being bashed. It's harder not to bash Genma or Dumbledore. But do I think the author will do it fairly and well? That's more important. As Tom Lehrer sang, "It was done with such grace and skill that the witnesses awarded the driver both ears and the tail."

Nope. Character bashing can never be done well because it by its nature requires a mix of several other fanfic and general authorial sins to be commtied to be done.

It requires both the bashed character and the characters being used by the author to deliver the bashing to be grossly out of character.

It requires the author to stop focusing on making a good story and instead put out a second of spiteful meanspiritedness that pulls the reader out of the story.

It sucks any humor or wit out of the story and replaced it with mean spirited non-jokes at the expense of the bashed character.

Character bashing shows that the fanfic author has failed to understand the story they are allegedly writing fanfic of, and are better off rereading canon until they can portray characters properly.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Ellen Kuhfeld » Fri Apr 28, 2017 1:54 pm

Pata Hikari wrote:Character bashing shows that the fanfic author has failed to understand the story they are allegedly writing fanfic of, and are better off rereading canon until they can portray characters properly.

Yet another Pata Hikari bash of fanfic writers. :mrgreen:
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Té Rowan » Fri Apr 28, 2017 3:59 pm

Ellen Kuhfeld wrote:Yet another Pata Hikari bash of fanfic writers. :mrgreen:

Mefinks PH has only read stuff like that written by snafuthegreat and mmooch, both of which are totally crap at bashing, IMAO.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Pata Hikari » Fri Apr 28, 2017 4:15 pm

Té Rowan wrote:Mefinks PH has only read stuff like that written by snafuthegreat and mmooch, both of which are totally crap at bashing, IMAO.

I've not heard of the second author. But that doesn't matter.

All character bashing is bad. Period. Any story that includes it is bad. Advertising it in the summary just tells me that the author is deliberately writing a had story and thus is not worth the energy to even click on it.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Té Rowan » Mon May 01, 2017 11:13 am

Pata Hikari wrote:All character bashing is bad. Period. Any story that includes it is bad. Advertising it in the summary just tells me that the author is deliberately writing a had story and thus is not worth the energy to even click on it.

All generalisation is wrong. Period.
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Spica75 » Mon May 01, 2017 11:26 am

Té Rowan wrote:All generalisation is wrong. Period.


True. Although its rare to see bashing that doesn´t turn you off of a fic. Except for parody...
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Re: Fanfic summaries that don't inspire you to read the stor

Postby Té Rowan » Mon May 01, 2017 12:39 pm

Spica75 wrote:True. Although its rare to see bashing that doesn´t turn you off of a fic. Except for parody...

Very true. What turned me off the two authors I mentioned above was that their bashing was particularly cruel and unfunny.

Although… I wonder how PH can even watch anime or read manga, what with the character bashing going on in some. Like how Gendo (Ikari) is set up as an utter bash-tard in NGE.
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