Reporting Profiles

[Silvertongue]

Exactly! They know themselves that it's probably not spelt right! Why not make the tiny bit of an effort and look it up!? If you respect yourself, the fandom, the readers and your own writing then it's not much to ask.

[Kitty279]

From what I have seen (and in one case heard), some people are just less hung up about spelling. As long as they get gushing reviews, they won't see the problem. Maybe it has to do with having a feeling for language or not, who knows? I just stop reading when it gets too annoying.

[Silvertongue]

I get put off by bad spelling immediately. I can't stand looking at it. I know I often make mistakes while I'm typing but that's usually down to my bad typist skills and not spelling.

It's been said that even teachers pay less mind to spelling now because they don't want to "lower the student's confidence in themselves" by pointing out their mistakes, which is so NOT the way to be a teacher. Or at least that's the way it's going in Britain.

[RogueNya]

I can sometimes over look bad spelling in some cases as long as it is not excessive use of it. Or consistent misspelling of cannon info/character names, even after being told....

[Silvertongue]

Jun 3, 2012 15:27:18 GMT -5 RogueNya said:

I can sometimes over look bad spelling in some cases as long as it is not excessive use of it. Or consistent misspelling of cannon info/character names, even after being told....

That's what I mean. If it's a simple mistake like I sometimes make while typing and they make the effort to go back and correct it if it's pointed out then that's fine. But these bad spellers are affecting my sister's education. She's learning some really bad habits from fics that use phrases in the wrong situations or words in a sentence that don't fit and make no sense. She started using words the wrong way, obviously thinking they mean something else.

[RogueNya]

Ouch, that is bad. Hope you can keep her from having the issue be permanent.

[Silvertongue]

So do I. I've told her maybe she needs to lay off fanfiction and try reading books for a bit but she's constantly on that site and won't read anything else.

[Kitty279]

Jun 3, 2012 15:21:07 GMT -5 Silvertongue said:

I get put off by bad spelling immediately. I can't stand looking at it. I know I often make mistakes while I'm typing but that's usually down to my bad typist skills and not spelling.

It's been said that even teachers pay less mind to spelling now because they don't want to "lower the student's confidence in themselves" by pointing out their mistakes, which is so NOT the way to be a teacher. Or at least that's the way it's going in Britain.

I know what you mean, I am annoyed with myself when I notice that I made a mistake somewhere. Sometimes my brain is pulling tricks on my vocabulary - that's the problem with foreign languages.
And when I make a mistake in my own language, it annoys me even more.

Here we had a spelling reform, since then it's going downhill. It was supposed to make spelling easier, instead it made it more illogical.

Jun 3, 2012 15:27:18 GMT -5 RogueNya said:

I can sometimes over look bad spelling in some cases as long as it is not excessive use of it. Or consistent misspelling of cannon info/character names, even after being told....

Hm, I can take a few mistakes, nobody is perfect, after all. But I have my limits! One of my pet peeves is the constant use of 'defiantly' when people mean 'definitely'.

[Silvertongue]

Omg that is one of the most annoying mistakes ever!! Or when they say "I could care less". It's supposed to be "I couldn't care less". Otherwise it makes no sense!

[Kitty279]

Jun 3, 2012 15:31:33 GMT -5 Silvertongue said:

But these bad spellers are affecting my sister's education. She's learning some really bad habits from fics that use phrases in the wrong situations or words in a sentence that don't fit and make no sense. She started using words the wrong way, obviously thinking they mean something else.

Oh, that's not good! I guess that's the same problem as the constant use of 'of' instead of 'have'.

I have learned English at school, then didn't use it for over a decade and then got slowly back into reading it again. In the end, I learned it again by way of reading fanfiction; but I had the very good luck to do it at a website where authors are only allowed to post when they can spell, or find a beta that can. There I learned English. But that website was most definitely *not* FFN!

[Kitty279]

Jun 3, 2012 15:38:31 GMT -5 Silvertongue said:

Omg that is one of the most annoying mistakes ever!! Or when they say "I could care less". It's supposed to be "I couldn't care less". Otherwise it makes no sense!

Yay, finally someone who agrees with me about this! It's really driving me nuts!

[Silvertongue]

I don't even understand how they can get it wrong! I don't want to sound offensive to Americans or anything but I'ver never heard anyone from Britain say that so I think it must come from over there. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do these people say that out loud though?

[mountaingirl777]

I sometimes say it, but then I mean it when I say it. Sometimes I really could care less.

[Silvertongue]

LOL! Does it not sound a bit odd to be saying it in the opposite situation like that?

[mountaingirl777]

I use both, so not really. Sometimes I use one and other times I use the other. I see them both as the samething.

[Dimcairien]

Correct grammar/spelling is one of my pet peeves. Yes, sometimes I will have a spelling error, but normally it's typing issues such as reversing two letters. Also, I will occasionally get your and you're mixed up and there, their, they're, but again, normally I'm typing so fast I don't realize what I just did. I know how to use all of them correctly and I generally catch them when I'm editing my chapters right before publishing.

And really, no one has an excuse for bad grammar and spelling. That's what spell-check is for. Everyone should use it. I do because I am a horrible speller in real life, but I hate misspelled words.

[mountaingirl777]

I always look up words when I don't know if I've spelled them wrong. I was taught to do that and I will always do that.

[Silvertongue]

Jun 3, 2012 16:40:57 GMT -5 Dimcairien said:

Also, I will occasionally get your and you're mixed up and there, their, they're, but again, normally I'm typing so fast I don't realize what I just did. I know how to use all of them correctly and I generally catch them when I'm editing my chapters right before publishing.

I do that too but I hate myself when I see that I've done it and posted something with that sort of mistake in.

[LoveIsLouder...]

Jun 3, 2012 13:52:41 GMT -5 Silvertongue said:

Jun 3, 2012 13:25:40 GMT -5 Kitty279 said:

And don't get me started on all the misspelled names (Delores, McGonagle ...)! Really, it's not that difficult to check these when you aren't certain, is it? Sometimes I really get the feeling that I am putting more effort into my reviews than some people into their stories - there's something wrong when I - as a non-native speaker - end up wanting to send a story back to an American or Brithsh author with more red than black on the page.

I agree with everything you said there. The name issue is horrible. especially when it's something like Serverus or Darco or even Hary! And a lot of people seem to Americanise Charlie's name and change it to Charley. Is that how it's spelt in any of the other languages? Because I've never seen it like that in any of the versions I've seen.

were i live the only time I've seen Charlie spelt Charley/Charlee is when it's a girls name

[viralic1]

I'm from America, and I've personally never seen it spelled Charley, and I have a freaking uncle who's name is Charlie.

As to the reporting profiles function, I really do think they need one. Yeah, it has the potential to be abused, but at the same time there really are people who do nothing but flame and spam, and when I get a flame on my story, I shut down fast.

Also, is anyone else annoyed by how easily pleased the fanfic audience is? On my story, I would really like some constructive criticism, and all I ever get is "good", "Really good", "Update soon" etc. It's also horrible when I see a story that looks iffy, so I check the reviews and most are fairly good. Then I read it, and it's got crap spelling and grammar, plot holes galore, and just all around laziness.

[Kitty279]

Oh yes, I know what you mean. I've started a fic sometimes and not even got through the first chapter before giving it up because it wasn't good for my blood pressure. English isn't even my first language, so I may mess up grammar or syntax sometimes, but even I can tell when they barely get a sentence down without mistakes! Then I looked at the reviews and they were gushing about 'really good' and sometimes even 'best fic ever' *bangs head*

While I don't review everything I read, when I do, I try to give a real review - what I liked or sometimes disliked about the story, or maybe point out a mistake in a friendly tone. But I try to go into detail, and I believe the authors appreciated it, as it gives them a better idea what works and what not - and that at least some readers really take in what they read and think about it.

[Silvertongue]

The problem is, I've seen a lot of those people who get all those reviews on a rubbish fic who can't seem to handle when somebody corrects them, saying you're flaming when you really aren't. After everyone saying the fic is great, they believe it and say that you're just one in a hundred who doesn't like it so obviously you're the one in the wrong.

[Kitty279]

That's why I usually not even bother when the fic is bad. Any review I do would only be negative, and then I'm the bad girl who flames such a wonderful fic. It's not worth the bother. So I only try to give constructive criticism when the fic is worth it, and wrapped up in more nice stuff, so it doesn't seem harsh. So far, that worked well.

Beyond that, I guess it's just down to taste and age. We all love different types of fics - I never understood why so many people find Snape and the Malfoys cute, just for an example. Give me a good, intelligent Sirius fic and I am happy! Another problem is that maybe a 12 year old fan will think the world of a fic older ones may just turn away in disgust from, because they don't have the experience to notice what is good and what isn't. I know at that age I did like books I'd just roll my eyes about nowadays. And my impression is that more and more people read only online, but no books, so they maybe don't know better. (Not that all books are that great, mind you, but there's at least some control before it's published).

[Silvertongue]

Yeah, I noticed even Twilight had a couple of spelling mistakes. But that's the problem I have with my sister. It's ruining her education. The type of fics that don't care about spelling/grammar/punctuation can have a serious negative effect on younger readers.

I'm like that with books I used to read such as Wolf Brother, The Demonata Series by Darren Shan, Maximum Ride. They're all so...young.

And has anyone noticed that the Young Adult section in bookshops is full to the brim with these fantasy romances about a girl who meets a "perfect, gorgeous" guy, but there's something weird about him and it turns out he's an angel/vampire/werewolf/demon who's out to get her but then randomly falls in love with her etc.

This is what Twilight has done to teenage reading and it's terrible!

(I don't hate Twilight btw but I read it before all the hype and made all my friends read it and now it's just like...shut up Twiligth's over.)

[Kitty279]

Yeah, I completely understand why you are worried about the effect this sort of reading has on your sister. Sadly I can olny cross my fingers that it's not getting too bad.

I'm having more to do with novels for adults, but even there it's pretty bad. Since Twilight, there are so many vampire stories coming out, and more werewolf stuff and the like, too. They are all trying to ride on the wave made by Twilight. In a way it's like after HP - I can't count the boks that had somehow 'magic' in the title, just to sell them better, though they had nothing whatsoever to do with magic in the first place.

And no, never read Twilight myself, as I am not interested in vampires. Give me Tolkien's Elves over them any day!

[Silvertongue]

Haha! I do try to stay away from that section of books anyway. It just bugs me to see them, though angels seem to be the most popular thing at the moment which is really annoying because I had a book idea for a half angel a few years ago but then all of this came out and I was put off. Didn't want to be put in a niche like that

I prefer the big Fantasy/Sci-fi novels that have almost no romance in them, but in the last year fanfiction has grabbed all of my attention away from actual books. Hoping I can get back into them after this whole purge thing.

On an entirely different note, has anybody heard of the Dark Heavens Trilogy by Kylie Chan? They're my favourite series after HP but they've only just been released in the UK so there are no shops stocking them. I actually only managed to get them because I went to Australia (which is where they first came out). I have the second trilogy in the series too but I have yet to read them (distracted by fanfcition as I was).