First, there are a few things you should know about me. I find reading bad writing very traumatic; it is actually physically painful to read. If you think your writing is not of a very high standard, please feel free to default as I'm sure you won't want to make Yuletide an unpleasant experience for me.
I wish I could say that Yuletide is the highlight of my year, but in truth, for the past few years I've found other fic exchanges which are more enjoyable. I think it is the quality of fic - now that Yuletide has grown so big, a lot of sub-par writers have joined in. Again, please default if you consider your writing to be sub-par, or even - no, especially - if you believe I might consider your writing to be sub-par. For comparison's sake, I enjoy strong, emotive writing - think Dostoyevsky, Camus, Dan Brown. I consider modern short stories to be bastards of the true genius of classic short stories and loathe the very name of Katherine Mansfield. If you need to emulate a good writer it would probably be best for you to stay away from female "authors" altogether.
As for my likes, I believe that prose should be beautiful but understated. It shouldn't be "plot-driven" - it ought to be written out of a love of language itself. So-called "shipping" is an anathema to me because it is never about story, but about "relationships" - I've requested just one character for each of my "fandoms" because I want you to focus on creating something beautiful for me. It would be deeply upsetting to me if you included more than one character in any of the stories.
I dislike fics which are over 30,000 words, but I require a minimum of 27,000. You are not truly a writer if you believe you can say anything worthwhile in less words than that.
Re: Challenge: Wankiest Letter
First, there are a few things you should know about me. I find reading bad writing very traumatic; it is actually physically painful to read. If you think your writing is not of a very high standard, please feel free to default as I'm sure you won't want to make Yuletide an unpleasant experience for me.
I wish I could say that Yuletide is the highlight of my year, but in truth, for the past few years I've found other fic exchanges which are more enjoyable. I think it is the quality of fic - now that Yuletide has grown so big, a lot of sub-par writers have joined in. Again, please default if you consider your writing to be sub-par, or even - no, especially - if you believe I might consider your writing to be sub-par. For comparison's sake, I enjoy strong, emotive writing - think Dostoyevsky, Camus, Dan Brown. I consider modern short stories to be bastards of the true genius of classic short stories and loathe the very name of Katherine Mansfield. If you need to emulate a good writer it would probably be best for you to stay away from female "authors" altogether.
As for my likes, I believe that prose should be beautiful but understated. It shouldn't be "plot-driven" - it ought to be written out of a love of language itself. So-called "shipping" is an anathema to me because it is never about story, but about "relationships" - I've requested just one character for each of my "fandoms" because I want you to focus on creating something beautiful for me. It would be deeply upsetting to me if you included more than one character in any of the stories.
I dislike fics which are over 30,000 words, but I require a minimum of 27,000. You are not truly a writer if you believe you can say anything worthwhile in less words than that.