Genre and audience lurve
Aug. 7th, 2006 07:15 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
valis2This whole CC rehashing makes me wonder anew: what is it exactly about CC's writing that causes such devotion in her fans?
I'm thinking one piece of the puzzle might be genre. Readers generally feel differently about certain genres. Car repair manuals, for example, do not inspire fervent declarations of adoration.
Keep in mind I've only read a little of her work, and that was a while ago. But I'm thinking that it has to do with her fusion of angst and humor. Make someone laugh, and you generally inspire a warm feeling; make someone feel something for a character, and you do the same. I think she does both with her writing, and that might be one clue to her popularity. I mean, humor and crack!fics certainly make one laugh, but I don't think they go to the same place that a story that combines both does.
I also think genre selects audience, to a degree. I wonder if angst!audiences are more passionate about their reading than, say, fluff!readers. Hmm...food for thought.
I'm thinking one piece of the puzzle might be genre. Readers generally feel differently about certain genres. Car repair manuals, for example, do not inspire fervent declarations of adoration.
Keep in mind I've only read a little of her work, and that was a while ago. But I'm thinking that it has to do with her fusion of angst and humor. Make someone laugh, and you generally inspire a warm feeling; make someone feel something for a character, and you do the same. I think she does both with her writing, and that might be one clue to her popularity. I mean, humor and crack!fics certainly make one laugh, but I don't think they go to the same place that a story that combines both does.
I also think genre selects audience, to a degree. I wonder if angst!audiences are more passionate about their reading than, say, fluff!readers. Hmm...food for thought.
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Date: 2006-08-08 07:36 am (UTC)Awww! Thanks, sweetie. :)
just because it was so different from JKR, it held your attention.
That wasn't why it held my attention - it held my attention because, as you say, it is both funny and angsty. The fact that it was different to JKR simply allowed me to accept it. If it had been too much like JKR, I would've just thought "What a rip-off, she has no right to do this - this is JKR's story!" And I'd be half afraid that it would ruin my appreciation of the real story, because I'd get too used to the CC version of events. But because I didn't believe anything in CC's story to be very likely in the real HP books, it didn't bother me, and I could just enjoy it.
Even now, I prefer fics that don't really try to continue the "real" Harry Potter story. I like fics that give a different perspective on events, or deal with a different time period, or introduce original characters and tell a story that isn't directly related to the real series.