Random FanFic.Net theory

Ok - so someone in the forums posted a question - "What is wrong with custom scene breaks anyway?"

Which is a really good question, if you stop and think about it. What is wrong with people using dashes, xoxox, -oOo- and so forth?

Well - I had an idea about it, and it is somewhat conspiracy theory ish, but eh - this is my blog so what are you going to do about it (grin)?

They just introduced a voluntary beta-reader system. For those of you who don't know what a beta-reader is, it is someone who proof-reads a story - not only for spelling and grammar and punctuation errors, but to suggest changes and revisions etc.

I don't use them. Mostly because it's my story, and I don't see the need for someone else to edit it for me. Although, the one time I did try it, the story came out better than it was (and I changed the way I write a little after that as well). My Amy did the beta-reading, and she doesn't have anywhere near enough free time to do it any more, and I would not impose upon her anyway (cause I am a sweet, thoughtful boyfriend!)

There are some sites our there that INSIST on stories being beta-read before they are posted, because they have some pretensions to being "classy" and "above the rest of the net", when clearly, as I said, they are just pretentious, jumped-up arrogant twats. (I realise I didn't say that but you get the idea).

At the moment, FF.Net doesn't have a mandatory program. However they have just introduced this system, and it is in beta-testing (which is pretty much the same as beta-reading, but for software), so I suspect they don't want to force everyone to use it, in case something goes wrong (Which, given what they did last Saturday, seems unbelievable, but might be true)

But what if that is their agenda? The WikiPedia entry for FF.Net says that "Quality Control is one of the many issues associated with the archive. Stories can be posted regardless of editing or proofreading, and the quality of the work is dependent entirely upon the individual writer"

I have never considered this an issue. Yes - there are some stories that have really bad spelling, and really bad grammar and really bad punctuation (though I am not one to talk, according to some of my reviews), but this is a fan based archive where people are not paid to write stories. I would be shocked, stunned and not a little amazed if every story was written perfectly with no errors. Even I (and I know this will be hard to believe) have been known to have the odd error in my story.

But what if the site admins are getting annoyed with the criticisms? What if, with this funky new beta-system, they are going to eventually force everyone to have their stories read before they can be posted? It would cut down on the grammar/spelling/punctuation issues and so on, and would also cut down on the number of "invalid stories" (the rules about what you can and cannot submit would make The Third Reich think that the sit admins were too right wing).

"But what does this have to do with the scene breaks?" I hear you ask.

Well - they all come down to one thing - conformity. Making every story look more or less the same, so that the site will be a tidier place. And then people might stop comparing it to other sites. in a negative way.

As I said, this is a bit conspiracy theory ish, but I don't think it is off-the-wall (well - not entirely off the wall. I think it is still hanging by a thread).

I have to admit, the March 22nd debacle notwithstanding, I like the site. Why? Because it is not beta-read, because you can submit stories how you wish, because there are no rules about what you can and can't write for.

Do you know how much sites that say "You can only write Harry/Ginny stories" bug the living crap out of me? And sites where people will bitch and moan at you if you don't stay in Canon all the time? (What the hell is the point of writing fanfic if you can't screw with canon once in a while? Get some fucking perspective already!)

Anyway - that's my theory about the scene breaks.