(crossposted from Tumblr)

[thedarlingone]

So I've been wanting to write some fic rec posts, especially for the X-wing fandom because there's so much good stuff here, but I literally don't know how. Like this is something I've struggled with for my whole fannish life, way back to Calufrax days. I can't seem to get from "I love this story" to "here's why *you* may love this story". Like I try, but I guess wrong or I just don't manage it, and then nobody reads the story and I feel bad because I want to share but I don't know how to human. :P

Uh. So. My point is. Does anybody have hints for writing fic recs? A template, like that Lemony Snicket one for thank-you notes? A list of starter phrases like the one for comments? Any idea what *you* look for in a fic rec? :-(

#in which i try to fandom #i'm popular! #within a fandom that's about ten people and a bag of chips anyway #and i want to share the things i love with my friends! #and these should be things that go together! #but i lack the skill to make it work #and it's frustrating because nobody seems to have any information on learning the skill

Comments

[melannen]

Honestly, most of the time, all I want to know are the basics of what the story is about, and that somebody whose tastes I like recommends it. So just saying "I rec the following:" and then using the AO3 share code will do fine for the basics? Sometimes I'll re-write the summary if I feel like it doesn't do a good job selling the story. And you might want to read down fancake's archive and see what people are putting in the reccer notes there.

It's much tougher to get people to follow recs if you're in small fandoms/pairings, though. A lot of people just aren't going to read if they don't know the fandom. You either have to a) sell them on the fandom first, or b) make a case that the fic is still good if you don't know the fandom.

Selling people on a new fandom is an entirely different kettle of fish...

The easiest way to do b) is to be able to say "I'm not in the fandom and I still loved these", but I don't think that's how you do fandom! I might go for something like "Even if you aren't in this fandom, you will like this story if you like trope A and B and character types C and D, and you don't need any background info other than D." (And, if you're going for that strategy, focus more on things !Generic Fan tends to like than super-specific things you like - i.e., "I love what they did with this specific piece of character backstory!" works well if you're reccing to people who love the character, "does great stuff with recovery from childhood trauma" (or whatever) works a lot better for people who don't.

You also have to resist the temptation to slip from "This is what makes this fic good even if you don't love the characters (yet)" to "This is why I love the characters" if you're going for that strategy, which is tough if you love the characters!

(And some of your favorites may be stories that don't work for people who don't know the fandom? So if you're aiming at people not in the fandom, you need to pics recs based on that rather than overall quality. Good starter recs are not necessarily objectively the better fics.)

In general either way, keep it short? Again long recs can be good when reccing to people already in a fandom, but usually to me it feels like if someone has to spend multiple paragraphs to explain why I should read a story, it probably isn't a story I want to casually click into.

But even if you do it all right, you're still going to get less readers clicking into a small fandom.

[melannen]

Also I want to say specifically - I would love a list of X-wing recs aimed at people who don't know the fandom! Because I loved the X-wing books back in the day, and also fighter pilots will always be 100% My Thing.

But the way I see people talk about the current fandom, it always sounds like you have to be neck-deep in fanon/comics characterizations of characters who were never well-handled by the books so I don't really know where to look as someone who might want to read about fighter pilots but doesn't want to have to be neck-deep in current fanon versions of the characters first (and probably has Opinions left over from the books that contradict that current fanon - for example, I love most of the book!OCs so when people say Corran is boring I leave the room. :P)

So yeah. For me personally, "This is really good and has !trope and fighter pilots being fighter pilots and you don't need any background info other than general Star Wars background knowledge" would probably be an easy sell? If there are stories like that in the fandom?

[thedarlingone]

Oh, now you've *inspired* me. XD I'm working on what may turn into a general introduction to the fandom or may fail at being useful at all, but for you specifically -- if you like Corran and are not morally opposed to weird AUs (I seem to remember you were into Stargate back in the day?), you should definitely read Oh Were O Were by IrenkaFeralKitty. It is modern!AU were-peacock Corran doing noir narration while staking out a Tractor Supply Co. and it's amazing. (Full disclosure, I plotbunnied it, but I plotbunnied a good half the recent fics in this fandom... ^_^)

[thisbluespirit]

As someone who's written a lot of recs over the years, if usually more brief than long, I don't know an official way to do it, either, and I think that you needn't worry too much, or at least not so that it gets in the way of what you want to do here.

It is lovely to write a reason for each rec, but it is also absolutely fine and will work if you just say, "Here is a list of some works I really love in this pairing/fandom" and post the links if more is feeling like something that will never get you started.

I think the nearest thing I can offer to a formula is that, when you are writing, say, a Calufrax-esque paragraph type rec, that you have "a brief word or two of what this is/is about" (although obviously that does need to be brief so you're not spoilery or redundant) + "what I love about it." Unless you are reccing to one specific person you can't know what anyone else will love about it, so all you can do is just be "my love for this, let me show you" in whatever way feels natural to you. If you want to be a bit longer and analytical that's great, too, but it's not obligatory or necessary for a rec to work.

For what it's worth, your recs on Calufrax always seemed more than fine to me (especially the one(s?) where you recced me, those were completely splendid. :-D

I don't know if that's helpful, but honestly, anything - a list of works you love, a reblog of a fic post with flaily squeeful tags - is useful to other people. It brings [thing] to their attention, which they might otherwise have missed, and they'll give it a try, because it came from a trusted source. A bit of a reccing blurb helps that further, but sometimes all it takes is that one pointer. And sometimes you can praise something to the heavens and nobody (as far as you can tell) will bite, because it's just That Pairing, or Obscure Fandom, or Trope They Don't Do, or the Wrong Day/Time and everybody was offline. So when it doesn't work out, that isn't really you (even though it's frustrating! "Go read the damn amazing fic or I'll thwack you with a rolled-up newspaper! The author deserves all the love!!!") It's just how it goes.

Good luck with reccing! <3

[thedarlingone]

This is very encouraging, thank you! ♥

(I am a belated tortoise... XD)

[thisbluespirit]

(I am a belated tortoise... XD)

That is the proper nature of the tortoise. ♥

[thedarlingone]

This is an unreasonably encouraging comment... ♥ ♥ ♥