I like the idea of authors putting warnings at the end, but I guess what bugs me about the whole issue is that writers feel an obligation to give away their plot in order for people to feel comfortable reading their story. None of us are doing this for profit, after all. As a writer, all I really want to do is write and post my fics. If people read them, fantastic! Readers aren't obligated to give an author feedback, or to rec a fic. She worked an untold number of hours in her spare time (while also dealing with kids and work, probably) to write a story, and she is then expected to assure people in advance that they'll like it, or face their flaming wrath? I'm sorry, but that seems a bit too demanding.
As a reader, I take my chances. Sometimes I get halfway through a long fic and realize I'm getting bored with it and that I've just wasted a few hours of my time. I'm not going to write the author and complain, and whine that she should have put a "this story sucks" warning on it so that I could have made a better choice. We're all here for different reasons, but we're all here in our spare time, too.
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Date: 2005-02-14 06:23 pm (UTC)As a reader, I take my chances. Sometimes I get halfway through a long fic and realize I'm getting bored with it and that I've just wasted a few hours of my time. I'm not going to write the author and complain, and whine that she should have put a "this story sucks" warning on it so that I could have made a better choice. We're all here for different reasons, but we're all here in our spare time, too.