thefrogg | Rec lists: Metafandom essays and non-Fic stuff (Reply)

I've been meaning to make rec lists for a long, long time. I actually sat down and started doing it yesterday, and this is what I have so far.

First, a little explanation.

Most people assume 'rec list' means 'best of what's out there'. While I do require some degree of quality, particularly readability, coherence, and technical proficiency (spelling, grammar, etc.), the meta essays I rec are going to meet at least one of these criteria:

They are relevant to the fandoms and genres I'm interested in. They may not have been written for those fandoms/genres, but they still apply. I.e. there will be no House-specific meta essays here unless those essay topics can be applied to SGA, SG1, SPN, LOTR, Criminal Minds, or Transformers, because I do not watch House.
The topic is current, or at least, applicable to current fandoms/work.
The topic interests me.
It's useful to me in some fashion.
They amuse me.
They don't make me want to pull my hair out, scream, or spork my eyes out. ::waves to fifteen billion racefail09 essays::

Most of those currently listed are old - I started from the earliest

metafandom post and have been working my way forward - but they are, or should be, currently accessible. I may have missed checking a few. If they come up f-locked, please let me know so I can remove them.

I've tried to organize these by category. Because of the cyclicality of many fandom topics, there is some degree of repetition, and as I add more links, this will more than likely increase.

Meta
All I Ever Need To Know I Learned From Fandom

So you want to write fanfictions on the internets by

traveller

Ten is for everything by musesfool - How not to piss fandom off in ten easy steps

The Basic Do/Don't Post by

devildoll

Fandom: Feniquette by

pfeffermuse

Everything I know about fandom by

andrastewhite - 25 rules to live by in fandom. Very funny. Very true.

Ten Things I've Learned in Fandom that I Wouldn't Know Otherwise - An Ode by

magarettt - Heartwarming, like a cup of chicken soup in front of the fire on a snowy winter's night.

Things I Have Learned From Fandom by

synecdochic

Time flies when you're goofing off on the internet by

marinarusalka

My Guide to Surviving Wiscon by

coffeeandink

On Copyright, Ownership and (Im)permanence of Fic

Who's fic is it anyways? by

profshallowness

I'm not asking your permission, but it always makes me happier when I know you don't mind by

fairestcat

Fanzines and Fan Fiction Are Not Crimes by morgandawn

On Plot

The Dissection of Plot by

tefnut_

Some Thoughts on Plot by

penknife

Plot vs. Character, Film at 11 by

rahirah

On Story Structure

Traditional Story Structure by

st_crispins

On Style

Issues in Style: Sentence Length and Format by

minisinoo

Let's talk about writing: epithets by

painless_j

On OTPs and Side Characters

In Defense of Odd Pairings by

kylielee1000

Sometimes, I 'ship fans. by

thete1

On Grammar

Some words about grammar from my sun the nut, Allan Sherman by

liz_marcs

On Writing: Punctuation and Sentence Construction by

halfshellvenus

Rant: In Which I Seriously Lose My Shit and Piss off a Lot of People in the Process by

thefourthvine - An hysterically funny take on pet peeves of punctuation, grammar, and writing.

On Dialogue

Every Word is Nonsense but I Understand by

musesfool

Making The Talking Sound Like Talking by

deird1

On Body Language

Writing: Characterization and Body Language by

parallactic

On Sex Scenes

Bits and Pieces by

commodorified

Because I hate NC-17 or something by

babel

1001 ways to write an orgasm by

lobelia321

More about writing orgasms by

schemingreader

On Other Kinds of Scenes

Musings On Writing - The Most Difficult Thing . . . Writing 'Sinew' by

minisinoo

On Writing a Credible Crying Scene in Slash, Angst and Hurt/Comfort Fanfic by

topaz_eyes

On Characters and Character Archetypes

Character types meme by

penknife

Types by

alara_r

At least none of mine are immortal. (Ummm ... I think.) by

penknife - Pros and cons of writing teenage characters vs. adult.

Thoughts about Characterization by

vylit - On originality in fanfiction

Playing Catch-up by

scribbling_elf - Villains and motivation

On Writing: Character Building by

resonant8

A grab-bag of fannish thoughts on broken characters by

monanotlisa - Particularly in BtVS and SGA

The Genius Wranglers: A Rant by

thelana

we return to the can of worms: characterisation in fanfiction by readerofasaph

On Mary/Gary Sues and Preachers (Writer on Board!)

The Preacher or the most annoying not-Sue known to man by

kattahj

Fearing and Loathing of OFCs

On Titles

On Story Titles by

amanuensis1

On Writing Process

You can't say we never tried by

musesfool

Writerly thoughts by

fabu

Drabbling by

alisanne

On Narrative Voice

Writing Thoughts - Narrative Voice by

fabu

The writer and the audience by

celisnebula

Voice by

rahirah - on Writer's voice

this fucking shit pisses me the hell off... by

isiscolo - Use of profanity in fanfic, particularly dialogue.

On Point of View

Point of View, Omniscient and Otherwise by

matociquala

On Worldbuilding

Limitations on magic rant by

limyaael

Plagues in your Postapocalypse - by

recessional

Just Don't Call Me Late for Dinner by

isiscolo - Use of names (first, last, rank) in fanfiction

Apparently, my ability to handwave only goes so far. by

penknife

On Beta Readers and Beta Reading

About Beta Readers by

watergal - Different aspects of beta reading and why they're necessary.

On How and Why I Edit Posts and Beta Fic by

atianiell93 - Specifically for one 'verse in HP, but most if this is applicable to any fandom, any 'verse, any story.

Beta Thoughts by

kitty_poker1

Betas vs Collaborative Authors by

athenakt

The Necessity of Having a Good Beta-Reader (or Why Spell-Check Just Doesn't Cut It) by

lavvyan

How I Beta by

fairestcat

"where ever you meet with a passage which you think is particularly fine, strike it out." [1] by

commodorified - More about different aspects of beta reading.

On Editing

Never is Good Enough by

usomitai

More words I'm trying to ecradiate by

china_shop

On Feedback & Concrit

Constructive Criticism: Not always constructive! by

privatemaladict

The Vagaries of Feedback by

minisinoo - Why people send feedback, why they don't, and what an author looks for in feedback

Critique, critique, critique by

minisinoo

On feedback, ethics and spongeness by

permetaform - This is actually pretty close to my personal reaction to feedback & concrit.

A ramble on concrit in fandom by

furiosity - Concrit vs. criticism.

Actually, I don't want concrit by

commodorified - An answer to a locked post by carlanime

My Ramblings on Concrit and Free Speech by

carodee

My thoughts on feedback by

marag

The practical side of feedback by

gwyn_r

Eleven Tips for Critiquing Stories that Offend by

geek_chorus

Fandom Etiquette Redux by

fabu

In the interest of equal opportunity bitching. . . by

fabu

Does the audience influence your fic/drawings? by

valis2

META: You, Too, Can Write Good Comments! by

lily_lovely

On Works in Progress (WIPs)

Some Thoughts on WIPs by

profshallowness

On finishing WIPs by

china_shop

How to Finish a Work In Progress by

zoepaleologa

On Kinks

Kink mapping by

resonant8

101 Kinks by

tkp

hello, and a world of kinks by

eliade

On Classes of Fanfiction (Hurt/Comfort, Incest, Non-con, Curtainfic, Crossovers, etc.)

Dos and Don'ts of Crossovers by

hobbit_hunter

Hurt/comfort hurts me by

000_hester_000

Meta: Fandom - Slash - Incest - Wincest... by

on_verra

Alien Drugs, Alien Sex Hormones, or Magic Made Them Do It As Allegory by

cimness

On BDSM, part I by irana

On BDSM, part II by irana

Hi, my name is Minxie by the_minx_17 - on BDSM

Alternate Lifestyles: Poly Relationships by snapesgirl-62

On Fic Exchanges, Challenges, Etc.

How Not to Ruin Yulteide by

liviapenn

"What the Hell was I Thinking?": A Guide to Running a Fiction/Art Exchange-- by

caras_galadhon

How To Keep Your Challenge Committments, or: Strategies For Challenge Success by

icarusancalion

On Why We Write

Are We Storytellers or Cathartic Writers? by

minisinoo

On fluff, crackfic and pastiche - Why I write it. by

grey_bard

On Why Slash

Retreading old ground by

zelempa

On Spoilers

Contains no spoilers. Does contain traces of nuts. by

arysteia

Miscellaneous

Fandom Definitions circa June 2005 as posted by

brn_gamble

Depression in Fanfiction by

lizzypaul

Why I love, read, write, sometimes even draw PORN...and have since I was 11... by

tiferet

Fanfiction: A definition by

hossgal

Ratings: Worksafe, Standard, Mature, Explicit by

elfwreck

Gay in the Military by

30toseoul

Fanfic essay. by

elisi - Defining types of fanfic as story-based vs. character-based.

Fandom and Male Privilege by

cereta

Jason's Guide to Con Flirting Without Being THAT GUY by

highway_west

On Timing and Response by

thelastgoodname - On how long discussion threads stay 'open'

Anti-canonical vs. Extra-canonical or Round 735,921 of Is Slash Contrary to Canon?

Decentralize me! by

starbrow - on fandom not just being on LJ

Question......... by

accioslash - on what throws a reader out of a story.

Two kinds of fanfic readers?

What can I say? I like it when my existence is acknowledged. by

serrico - on interactive storytelling by House, Castle, and Supernatural

Fandom Primer on International Adoption as a story trope by

viggorlijah

Writercon 2009: -ism in Fandom by

rahirah

Fanfiction for Dummies and My Writing Manifesto by

keerawa - WARNING: Torchwood spoilers

Major Fannish Events by

thefourthvine

Humor

The Fandom Verb List - conjugated for you - by

zoepaleologa

Some cracktastic meta for Notcapade by

marinarusalka - Fandom as American politics

Roman Politics as a Fandom by

vaznetti

Everybody's Free to get a fandom live journal by

iibnf - the Sunscreen Song. For fandom.

Fandom-Specific

Babylon 5

Theology, Religion, Babylon 5, and Gee, I Should Just Swear Off Meta by

tiamatschild

Discussion now open by

halflingmerry - Why Firefly is not and never was and never will be in the same league as Babylon 5 (

thefrogg has never seen Firefly and does not wish to, but appreciates this essay quite a lot because nothing is in the same league as Babylon 5)

Stargate: Atlantis

Notcapade: Why SGA? by

cereta

Fannish Quadrate by

vegetariansushi - On why Stargate Atlantis took over the fannish world.

Physics for Poets by

iamsab

Lord of the Rings

An essay about "fanon" by

dreamflower02