CSI Fan Fiction Critique Group.

I actually found a way to finish my critique.... aren’t you proud of me guys?

My critique of week 9's pair by Bauerfreak:

TQ: I honestly try to write the same story from several different perspectives every time I write one. Even if it’s not actually on paper I look at every event or chapter and try to decide how each character would feel about that particular happening. I think it makes for a story where characters are all much more in character. I was taught in my experience with theatre that you can never go wrong by exploring the reactions of more characters than the one/ones involved. So... I guess that’s just the way I do things. Now, just because I write from all of the perspectives doesn’t mean that anyone is ever going to see any but the one I decide makes the best read... it’s my prerogative to show the readers whatever I want.

On the other hand I rarely even know what to expect when reading a story that offers more than one perspective. I mean if it’s not done in just such a manner I am frequently worried that I won’t like the story as much as I could have. I think that’s the whole problem because too frequently writers who tell the same story from two perspectives forget that they are the same story. Both perspectives make up all one story and they treat them as two separate stories. This can cause some very vast problems in the story, things can stop flowing or meshing in the way that they need to. Unfortunately, also, there can be problems with making the two sides too similar. Someone without a good grasp on characterization might make Nick and Warrick see the same situation in the exact same way... and that’s not very likely at ALL. You need to have a good counter balance of keeping the facts exactly the same and the perspectives as unalike as the characters themselves. So I guess it’s a much tougher feat than one would think to write more than one perspective, properly.

Critique: I’ve read these two stories before several months ago, I’d say probably when they were first published but I don’t really remember what I thought of them. So reading them again gave me the opportunity to reevaluate my perception. It’s not something we get the chance to do often or even take the time to do when we do have the chance. In the modern age our time is so frequently filled with other activities we don’t give any form of literature the time it deserves. So the opportunity to offer critique of these two stories is a rare and welcomed treat.

The first thing I noticed that I did like goes way back to the TQ. I loved that it was a two part story that showed the same general idea from to completely separate perspectives. It was just a lot of fun to watch the assent to being in love from both sides. Even in every day life we hardly ever understand courtship from the perspective of both persons involved. Not unless you’re a third party that’s close enough with both people to have those ever fun heart to hearts with both of them on a daily basis. So that made the reading experience all the more exciting.

I’ll note, just as everyone else did, that the only thing that really go to me was the characterization of Sara. I remember noticing that she just seemed to be a little too giggly to be in character. Then again, everyone else who has written a critique before me has said the same thing so there’s really not much use in me delving into that again. So... we’ll just go with the suggestion that you try to think about how a 30 something year old like Sara or like Nick would do things. Just ask yourself if the things they are saying are in character or... a little deviant.

The characterization didn’t take away from the story though. Not so much that I couldn’t really enjoy it. I must say that both parts were very funny, Sara’s a bit more so than Nick’s I think... but both were great. A lot of what made me laugh were the way the second part referenced back to the first part a lot. The bit with Nicky’s ugly shirt.... I laughed a little the first time through and a whole hell of a lot the second time. You do have a really great grasp of humor and that’s very hard to do with CSI fanficton.

Overall I think the two stories were great. Just paying a little more attention to characterization could all but fix any problems you had. It was a pleasure to read both stories again and I look forward to getting the chance to read more like them.



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CSI Critique Fanfiction #10: CSI: NY, Danny/OC, "Finding Time" by: Zelda49

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TQ: As a fanfiction reader how do you go about deciding which stories to read and which ones to ignore? Once you've finished reading how do you go about deciding which ones to review/favorite/alert or any combination there of?

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Isn’t this the longest post you’ve ever seen? But at least I’ve done the critiquing I have to. I won’t be a failure at life anymore. I’ve just been so busy... it’s insane.

Please keep in mind that critiques for this week's featured fic are due by Saturday. The new featured fic will be posted on Sunday, December 30th, 2007

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Critique for week 10:

TQ: The process of selecting a new fanfiction to read is inherently different from the process which I follow in deciding which new story ideas I should write. When deciding what to write I rely completely on myself and what stories I think just HAVE to be told. Reading is very different. Sometimes I want to read between a couple of characters in particular, like Warrick and Catherine, sometimes I’m looking for a really long, really complete story. Other times I might want to read a oneshot or two. And sometimes I realize that there isn’t much I have going on that I’m reading at the moment and I’d really like to get into a new story. That just narrows down the search criteria, but then there are a lot of other factors that come into play.

Good use of grammar/spelling in the summary and title of the story are a must. If the person can’t even take the time to see to it that the parts that publically advirtise the story are grammatically sound I can’t imagine what kinds of flaws they will have not-so-hidden away in their story. Summaries play another big role, if the story says something like “I know this sucks” or “this isn’t very good” I’m not going to bother with it. Why should I read a story that the author him or herself doesn’t even like?

Another thing that can make or break the story for me, before I even really start reading, can be the author’s notes. Long or short doesn’t bother me.... but if the author threatens to hold their story hostage until they get a certain number of reviews there’s no chance that I’m going to continue on with my reading. I have better things to do than read a story put out by some ass.

Lastly it’s all in the story itself. I really don’t enjoy reading stories where the writer obviously didn’t even take the time to run a spell checker over it. The better the grammar the easier it will be to keep me interested. Characterization is also a must. If the characters aren’t being like themselves you sure as hell better have me laughing or I’m probably going to walk away from your story and never come back. I’m a busy woman and I don’t have time for crummy stories.

Deciding which stories go on my favorites and alerts is another thing altogether. I’ll alert a story that I only kinda like if I’m curious to see how it ends. Favoriting however is only awarded to the stories that really blow me away, the ones that make me laugh and cry and smile. There are several that I’m reading right now that I enjoy but just aren’t good enough for the favorites list. As for reviews, I try to review every single chapter of every single story that I like. The ones I don’t like so much, however, tend to get skipped when the LLK review fairy comes to town.

Critique: This was the first CSI NY fanfiction I’ve ever read and thus I really didn’t know what to expect. It’s really great though and you’ve made me become a lot more interested in reading CSI NY fanfiction. I’ll probably spend a lot more time reading that genre now. So I guess that means you get credit for getting my interest.

I think what I liked most about this story was that it involved an OC. I’m just now experimenting with NY and am slowly deciding that I want to focus on the D/L relationship... but this gave me the idea that Danny could be with someone else. It kinda makes him more three dimensional to me. I mean most people have relationships, plural, as opposed to a single relationship. So even though Danny is the complete and only reason I enjoy NY I know I still have a lot to learn about him. I like that this story gave me the chance to think of him with more complexity than otherwise. Even though you invented Maddie she provided me, personally, with the opportunity to see him as more than just Danny from NY who’s in a relationship with that blonde girl.

I guess you could say that’s the only thing I really didn’t like, too. Maddie. I have a hard time accepting relationship between any characters in fanfiction if one or more of them have an ongoing canon relationship that doesn’t involve both parties. I’m completely anti-GSR and I still tend to write them because they are indeed canon. You can’t just ignore facts like that. But as I mentioned earlier that was also my favorite part about this story, it explores the world of what “might have been.” That’s a great thing sometimes. Besides I’m still a pretty new NY fan and this story was lower on your list of fics, perhaps you wrote this before they went canon? That would make it completely okay... either way, the story was great. Deviation from canon sometimes just... irks me.

The last episode of NY I watched was the new one when Danny’s little friend Julian died. It did something to me to make me have an even deeper bond with Danny and to care even more for him. That being said, it deeply wounded me. The episode as a whole, I mean. I was even more attracted to the “loves kids” side that we saw of Danny, but at the same time I couldn’t help but be overwhelmed with this deep saddens. It was the brilliant performance by Carmine, I’m sure. But that leads directly into why I loved this story so much. It was absolutely uplifting to see a piece of fluffiness in Danny’s life. It reminded me that things are going to get better, in its therapeutic way. Again I understand that this story was written far before that episode aired... but it’s nice to read back over the “good” in a character’s life when we walk such a dark path with them.

Overall you made my first CSI NY fic reading experience a success. I guess I’ve read one once before, but that was as a beta and it’s two completely different things. When I’m critiquing I first read the story just to understand it, then go back over to find the points I like and dislike. This one, the first time through, was really fun. I don’t think there’s a better way to describe the experience. Thanks for writing it and for offering me my pick of stories to feature. I’ll admit that I didn’t read all you have to offer but I don’t think I could have found something I’d enjoy working with as much as this. Overall, awesome job.

 

I am currently writting a Nick/Greg slash story some of it is in flashbacks, and other bits of the stories are in the present day..

A question I would like to ask when flashing back what other words apart from for example-

Greg pondered to a time and place where emotions exsisted before pain, to a time of love and happiness..?

Any help would be much appreciated.

 

Hey there sweetie.

You're probably better asking at the 'I need help' thread here.

They should be able to offer you more help.

Don't forget to stop back over here and offer a citique. Who knows, you may get the story you're working on featured for critique one week

Happy Holidays.

Jodie xx

 

Again with the double post... I'm sorry.

Week 9

TQ: When reading or writing a Fanfiction how is it different telling (or reading) the story when knowing that the other side will also be (or has also been) told?

Winner:lostladyknight

TQ: I honestly try to write the same story from several different perspectives every time I write one. Even if it’s not actually on paper I look at every event or chapter and try to decide how each character would feel about that particular happening. I think it makes for a story where characters are all much more in character. I was taught in my experience with theatre that you can never go wrong by exploring the reactions of more characters than the one/ones involved. So... I guess that’s just the way I do things. Now, just because I write from all of the perspectives doesn’t mean that anyone is ever going to see any but the one I decide makes the best read... it’s my prerogative to show the readers whatever I want.

On the other hand I rarely even know what to expect when reading a story that offers more than one perspective. I mean if it’s not done in just such a manner I am frequently worried that I won’t like the story as much as I could have. I think that’s the whole problem because too frequently writers who tell the same story from two perspectives forget that they are the same story. Both perspectives make up all one story and they treat them as two separate stories. This can cause some very vast problems in the story, things can stop flowing or meshing in the way that they need to. Unfortunately, also, there can be problems with making the two sides too similar. Someone without a good grasp on characterization might make Nick and Warrick see the same situation in the exact same way... and that’s not very likely at ALL. You need to have a good counter balance of keeping the facts exactly the same and the perspectives as unalike as the characters themselves. So I guess it’s a much tougher feat than one would think to write more than one perspective, properly.


Such a detailed response! Well done. And great Critiques and TQ responses this week. Let’s keep the great standard up! I'm Proud of us! :lol:

 

Oh thank you so much! I'm glad last week turned out to be as much of a success as it did. It makes me really happy to realize that when I say something or make a request that something changes you guys really jump into action and help yout.

Thanks guys.

Thanks Jodie.

And MERRY CHRISTMAS!

 

Thanks for helping her **gives a brownie**

 

OHHHH, *takes brownie*. Thanks Sissi.

Okay, let’s get down and dirty! This is a tad rushed because I have dinner to cook.

TQ: I select which stories I read mainly be reputation of the author. If I know X has written something good in the past, I am likely to read the fic that X has just posted. Reputation is everything. In the case, however, of a new author, I am likely to open in anyway, scan over the first few paragraphs and see if I think it’s worth my time. I wont read something if I see errors in the opening page. Likewise, if an author who has written something not so good in the past, I will open up the story to see if he/she has listened to my advice. One thing that bothers me is the summery. Writing ‘I suk at sumeriz, but read lol!11!!’ is not going to make me want to read. A select quote or brief description of the piece will suffice.

I review regardless of my opinion. If I like, I’ll tell you; if I don’t I’ll tell you. I always give constructive criticism where possible and I praise the parts I like. I feel reviews are a very important part of the writer/reader relationship and I review every story I read, if not every chapter. I don’t think of reviews as numbers. Many writers hold the firm belief that the more reviews they get the better. If I ask someone to give me an opinion they can do it either via PM, or review.

I only ever favourite a writer that has consistently showed talent. It’s rare I favourite a story on its’ own, but it’s been know to happen. I don’t alert anymore, simply because I never read them and it was taking up my space :lol: . I have a good memory and I can remember the name of the stories anyway.

One thing that hasn’t been mentions is the ‘abuse’ button that can be used on Fanfiction.net. I have only ever used this once and it was for a writer who consistently defied the terms of serve he/she agreed to when she/he submitted. It’s not something that should be used as a joke, and you should take time to PM the author to inform them of what you plan to do, to give them a chance to rectify their errors.

Critique: I’ve never seriously read NY before, and I was pleasantly surprised by yet another of your pieces, Zelda. Of all the CSI’s it’s the one I know least, so I cannot really testify to characterization.

I enjoyed your use of an OC and Maddie was extremely well developed. I also agree with LLK, it’s nice to see Danny with someone other that Lindsay (she’s the only person I’ve seen him with/or flirting with).

Your characterisation of Danny was great, as for as I know. So far, my view of Danny is a confident, slightly cocky, funny person; and this came though within your story. So, great job on that front. Also, I had another quick peek at your other fic that included Maddie, and I like how you have kept her character constant too.

You’re spelling and grammar was perfect. I don’t think I found any faults at all. That makes me happy.

Like I said, aside from your stories, I’ve never read NY before. Nevertheless, I can honestly say, if you weren’t on my favourites list already, you would be now :lol:

 

TQ: As a fanfiction reader how do you go about deciding which stories to read and which ones to ignore? Once you've finished reading how do you go about deciding which ones to review/favorite/alert or any combination there of?

Choosing a story to read boils down to either the main characters involved or the authors themselves. I'm a hopeless romantic so the stories I choose to read are those written for the various ships I ship...E/C, H/C, D/L, etc. From there, if I come upon a story that is bad...written horribly out of character (for example, a simpering constantly crying Calleigh, or an abused Calleigh), written with terrible grammar and/or spelling skills, or one that is of a genre I can't stand to read (for example, honest to God pornography...give me a beautiful romantic making love scene, not some twincest f***ing scene), I'll ignore any story written by that particular author. I won't read any story where the author's summary states either the summary or the story sucks...if they said it sucks, why the hell should I take the time to read it?

That said, I have authors that I truely love to read and will sometimes read stories from other ships they've written for...and then start watching that particular show for that ship! It's happened before...I began searching Ebay for tapes of a long dead show because I became so entranced with a particular ship a favorite author of mine wrote for.

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Critique

I didn't become interested in CSI:NY until this year and love the D/L thing, so was skeptical of this story because it involved Danny with someone who is not Lindsey. Had I searched the CSI:NY stories on ff.net I likely would not have read it because it's not D/L. But I'm glad you featured it here in this forum because I really liked it! I want to know this Maddie character. And because I liked it, I may have to change how I choose what stories to read!

I liked how this story didn't involve any complex storyline or case, that it was mostly fluff. Every now and then I don't want to read a story that involves a case, I just want to read something a little light and airy, fluffy...and this story suits just fine. It gave a side of Danny I don't think we often get to see, the personal side.

Additionally, I liked how I got to know Maddie. You didn't just write an OC and stick her into the story as a secondary character, but as a main character. Danny was more the secondary character in this story, so we got to know more of Maddie. I liked how there were parts of this story that didn't even involve Danny (Maddie getting the phone call from Jimmy and going to the hospital). I never thought I'd like a story that involved more of an OC than one of the show's characters. Kudos to you!

Suggestions on improving...none. The story was well written, well thought out. Your OC was well thought out as well...kinda wish we could see her on the show (although not with Danny ).

 

Heya,

So it's that time again. Anyone who has written a critique this week have anything you want to feature? If not I think I might be able to dredge up something I did, myself. I'm not sure I have anything I want critiqued right now though... so anyone who wants to volunteer please do.

Thanks again!

 

I'm sorry that I'm so late in the week posting this, but it's been a busy week! I'll do better after the holidays, really!


TQ: As a fanfiction reader how do you go about deciding which stories to read and which ones to ignore? Once you've finished reading how do you go about deciding which ones to review/favorite/alert or any combination there of?

Background to my answer: I haven't read a huge amount of fan fiction in the past. The other show I read fiction for, my reading was mostly limited to a few authors. With CSI-related fan fiction, I'm trying to be careful until I'm caught up on the shows. I'm current with CSI Miami, but am only in mid-season 3 on CSI: NY. With CSI, we were catching up with Netflix, but had been spoiled enough by commercials and the like that we decided to watch season o8 though we hadn't seen season 7 yet, so I'm at least trying to be careful not to read ones that deal with a few of the more major happenings in season 7 until I see those episodes.

Actual answer: If I have found an author I like, I will check out their other stories. Other than that, it is more hard to define -- a lot of it is just gut-feeling about the story. I look first at the synopsis to see if it sounds like something I'm interested in. I avoid stories with a synopsis that says "I'm too lazy to write a synopsis, so you'll have to read it to find out..." or has messages that vaguely insult the reader such as "... and if you don't like this pairing don't leave me negative reviews because you shouldn't be reading this anyway." Generally, once I start reading the story, the first few paragraphs will tell me if I want to continue reading. If the writing is full of spelling and grammar mistakes and looks like it wasn't even spell-checked, I'll generally stop reading. Next is the content of the story -- if the characters are too far out of line with the way I view them, or if the characters are acting in a way most rational adult people wouldn't act, I also won't read it. And sometimes, I will leave a perfectly well-written story. I have had a couple of situations where I've started reading a story that had a romantic pairing that I just couldn't deal with once I started reading it, even though it was well written. That's no fault of the author, more just my own internal views of those two characters and a romantic relationship. I try to be open to different relationships and such, but sometimes the relationship or story about it just doesn't click -- I started reading a well written story that got into a relationship with Calleigh and Horatio and I just found that actually reading it, I couldn't deal with that relationship.

I'm trying to get better about leaving reviews, but I generally only leave reviews for the stories I like. I would feel bad about leaving a review for a fiction that I bailed out of because of poor spelling and grammar. Do others leave gently worded reviews for those?


Critique of Finding Time

This is a very enjoyable story! In my non fan-fiction writing, I sort of always gravitated towards more serious and sometimes angsty writing, I think, but when I read stories like this that are just light, sweet stories I feel inspired to try something more in this genre sometime.

I'm still catching up with CSI: NY and am about to watch the episode where I believe Danny and Lindsay finally get together, so I might feel differently about it once their relationship becoms canon. (And yeah, being around the boards here people's pics and sigs have let me know that it doesn't last. ) It is sometimes hard for me to read relationships that have only one of two people who are a couple in a show, but aren't in the fiction. But since I haven't actually seen that yet, or can imagine that this relationship came first, I enjoyed it and liked the relationship between Maddie and Danny.

I particularly liked the feel of give and take in their relationship where Danny had to be the one who was gracious about a date being cancelled because of her work because we so frequently see the opposite happen with the varioius CSIs since their work schedules are so irregular durinig cases. You captured Danny's personality there and throughout the story very well.

You did a very good job, especially for such a short story, of making the love btween them believable and more than just one dimensional. And, even though Maddie is an original character, you were able to give her a developed and believable personality that we could really like. Your attention to detail was great -- I loved the descriptions and feeling of the part where she arrived back at Danny's apartment so late and spent time watching him before she crawled into bed with him.

I don't think there is anything that could be improved on with your fic. I did notice one tiny typo where you had "here" instead of "her" but everything else is fabulous!

As an aside, this story made me think about how different things would be if the characters had been reversed and it was a story about a female CSI and a male original character. In this story, it was sweet and loving the way Maddiecame to his apaprtment and watched him sleeping. Yet, if this had been about a male original character that hadn't spent the night together with a female CSI very often, a man coming in and deciding to stand and watch here sleeping it could have almost a stalkery feel to doing that.

 

No. I leave appropriatly worded reviews. :lol:. If the writer has consistently ignored my advice/offers for help. I will be harsh, I don't care. If it's a fist mistake, I'll be gentle.

I expect the same back though. If I make a total mess of a story, I would want someone to tell me. Not just lots of people saying 'good, cary on' when, in fact, they don't think it's up to standard.

 

I know this is late, I apologise, Jodie just kicked my butt hehe.

TQ: As a fanfiction reader how do you go about deciding which stories to read and which ones to ignore? Once you've finished reading how do you go about deciding which ones to review/favorite/alert or any combination there of?

When I’m choosing a story, I tend to look only for my favourite genre to read (angst) or my favourite ships and also, I look by author, I’ve found that I have a couple of authors that have become my favourite and I’d read something new they’ve posted first over another new story. Occasionally if a story has a good summary I might peek inside but I rarely read the whole thing. Also even if a story contains my favourite ships or is in my favourite genre, if the summary looks bad, I don’t generally read it. I’m a picky person heh.

I try to review every story I read, although sometimes I don’t (which is really bad). A story only gets put on my favourites list if it’s really good, and I tend to read these stories over again and I don’t want to forget them. I use story alerts when it’s a multi chapter fic as then I always know when a new chapter is up. I don’t use author alerts though as my inbox can get a little clogged and I can remember the good ones anyway

Critique:

I’ve only really been watching NY for a little while, and I’m catching up with my sisters DVD’s. So for me there wasn’t really any D/L in my head interfering with Danny and Maddie, also, this is the first NY fanfic I’ve ever read.


I really liked this story, I usually really only read angst and this was quite different to what I’m used to, but it was really good. It was romantic without becoming too ‘fluffy’.

I found myself really liking Maddie, and the way you really made her the focus of the story is probably why. By the end of the story she almost felt as familiar to me as Danny. I say that because I’m not usually a fan of O/C’s because they are all to often stuck in a story and the don’t fit, but Maddie fit perfectly in this story.

From what I’ve seen of the show, Danny seems to be perfectly in character even though he’s not with the other CSI’s or working a case. It’s nice to see him away from work.

Apart from one little typo, the spelling was great and the grammar was too.

You did a really great job with this story and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it as my first NY fic.


LeAnne xx

 

Thanks for all the great critiques, guys! Your words were not only kind, but very specific and thought-out, and I appreciate the time you put into them And I'm glad the NY fic experience was a good one--that's where I started out

TQ: As a fanfiction reader how do you go about deciding which stories to read and which ones to ignore? Once you've finished reading how do you go about deciding which ones to review/favorite/alert or any combination there of?

When I choose which stories to read I take into account a few things: my mood (as in, what do I feel like reading), my energy level (how long can I sit here and read), which characters do I want to read about at the moment, and the summary. An interesting summary is a must, especially one (and some of you touched on this already) that isn't written in IM-speak or talks about how much the summary sucks.

Average stories tend not to get reviews from me, which is kind of sad now that I think about it. The ones where something stands out--either good or bad--are the fics that generally get a review. The stories that particularly hit home, or move me in some way or another, are the ones that get favorited--those are the ones I'll read over and over again. Stories that are WIPs that intrigue me, whether it's to see how the plot plays out or how the author will continue to grow as a writer in that particular piece, definately get put on the alert list.

 

CSI Critique Fanfiction #11: CSI: Miami, Eric/Calleigh, "I am Nothing Without You." By: Adorelo.

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TQ: How does the portreyal of a relationship change when showed through fan poetry as opposed to fan fiction? What about when it is shown through a cross of both?

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Please note that all critiques should be submitted by this coming Saturday as the new featured fic will be featured on Sunday, January 6, 2008.

*Note, 2008 already, wow guys. Where does the time go. Also do you guys realize that we've been doing this for 13 weeks? It's amazing how fast the time flies. Thanks for making it a great experience. /note*