solunvar posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 10:44am

Well... As long as the shortcuts are obvious/'logical' I'm not complaining. Hell, I remember a BtVS story where Xander became King of the United Kingdom and I went along with it gladly, so go ahead and (ab)use the established patterns.

It's what I always think: it's not fiction, it's fan fiction. The only person that matters is you, the author, so if you're letting go of some abstract measure of 'quality': good for you.

Having said that, I remember earlier messages saying you had a lot of stuff written already and that they just needed to go through the beta-process. That not happening anymore? I've always wondered how you'd handle Harry/Lavender - still do for that matter.

loatroll posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 10:28am

I think it's great that you're writing for your own enjoyment. That's what writing is mostly supposed to be about after all. Also your enjoyment will most likely shine through in the story (which automagically makes it better).

As long as you enjoy yourself and share some of your excellent stories with us I'm perfectly happy (but don't feel obliged to keep writing just to keep your readers happy, we are all ravenous beasts when it comes to stories after all, and it can never be enough :-P).

Thanks for your great work.

Tarkas posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 8:29am

You've always been your most severe critic, Tim. If future stories are written with less oversight (if that's the right word to describe your erstwhile incredibly elongated betaing process), I for one do not expect the huge drop in quality that you predict. If there is anything to be drawn from the most recent examples of your work -- Konoha's Legion and Hogwarts Dawn, at the time of writing -- it would seem to me to be that the tone of your writing has changed somewhat towards the lighter side, with more humour and less drama. That is not a bad thing, and is certainly more fun to write, and it's something that you have shown a talent for, both now and in the past.

So write and enjoy yourself, and your friends and fans will continue to await the next chapter/story avidly. Our opinion of your work is unlikely to go down much, if at all, whatever you may think of your future output. The only question most of us are going to have (apart from "when's your next post?") is whether or not you intend to continue or post stories that you have started or described in the past, such as Castles in the Air or Perfect Slytherins. Enquiring minds would like to know... <g>

Ekaterin posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 7:55am

First: you are the writer, you decide what you write, when you write and what, if any, you put on the internet. Second, thank you very much for writing, I like your stories very much. Third, I just finished reading the first chapter of your new story, Hogwarts' Dawn, and it is better than lots of stuff that is out on the internet, so do not worry about the quality of your writing too much.

Fourth: Thank you VERY MUCH, for providing the ffa website and code.

Esus posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 7:52am

While I'm sorry that your dreams of being a professional writer aren't working out; I'm glad that you will be "loosening up" and just writing for fun and entertainment purposes.

I hope this means you will be looking at some of your past plot bunnies and possibly making them into full-length stories. The one that stands out the most to me is Princess; you said you truly enjoyed writing it and allowed your peer's opinions to pull you away from the story. It may not be too different from Hope, but if you enjoyed writing it and people enjoyed reading it (which they obviously did); I hope you give it and any other story ideas you abandoned -- but liked -- another shot.

As for the part about not having a story beta'd. I don't see that as a problem, at all. I doubt you like being compared to the general population of fanfiction, but even your lightly beta'd stuff will blow the rest of the general fanfiction writers out of the water.

Now, I'd like to personally express my gratitude to you for taking time, energy, effort and money to give your readers the pleasure of seeing not only your worth, but that of over a dozen good fictional writers of this sight. Thank you and I look forward to whatever you come up with in the future.

AlaskanKing posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 7:26am

I think you are a very talented writer. I enjoy reading your Harry Potter stories very much and look forward to reading more of your work.

katrina posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 6:45am

I really enjoy your stories and if I find I am not comfortable with a story (be it yours - which I have never found) or anyone elses I stop reading - I wouldn't dream of flaming someone about it, it's my choice to read and what I like someone else might not. There are stories I re read often (including yours). I would also like to thank you for the hours of enterainment you give me and others, its takes me ages to write a message at times so goodness knows how much of your time goes into writing - but again thank you for the sacrifice.

asvaldson posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 6:34am

Dude, I read your stories because i love your style. This new one you just posted is awesome!!! Besides, I've always been of the school of thought that If I don't like a story, I just don't read it. I don't understand flaming, bitching whinging and moaning over it. It's not like you put a pistol barrel to our heads and forced us to read it.

Dragonmage182 posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 6:18am

You know what? The first story I read of your's was Hope. From there it went onto TMW and expanded from there. Seriously your stories had me hooked like a drug or something. Like the first guy said...you're still in the top 1% in my book.

cowboyweasel posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 5:50am

It seems to me that most people who have replied to this agree with me, your so called "shittier fanfiction" would still be in the top 1% of the other stuff out there.
If you are worried (and maybe disappointed) that you won't top Hope, WK,GQ, TWM, etc. let me use a baseball analogy, in 130 years there have been 18 "perfect games" while there have been 257 no-hitters, I'm sure that most will agree with me (if they don't then who cares what those idiots think!) in that we don't care if you "only" throw a no-hitter instead of a perfect game. That's still better than all the people who don't write and like I said earlier better than most who do write. I'll still be reading anything you release, keep up the great work.

Jonathan Northwood posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 5:09am

I've always loved your writing, and I think your particular voice shines through whether the work has betas or not.

If the writing is enjoyable, then write for your own enjoyment. The Gods know I was happier when I was doing that.

Paulo Weber posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 4:47am

I agree with most of what people here said, and being a fanfic writer myself, I know how self-critical we are (when we do have more than one brain cell and at least a gram of ability), so what I wanted to say is, it's fun, it's supposed to be fun, first to us writers then to the readers, and while we're having fun, all's good.
So, keep writing as you keep finding it fun, don't mind about quality, you're absolutely on the top percentile of all the other fanfic writers out there.
BigHead.

writerpayne posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 4:44am

i think what everyone is trying to say that don't care about a few grammical Errors, or spelling errors, and that if you should get smashed then ignore them. I personally ejoy your stories and they inspire me to write myself.

Brian Campbell posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 4:08am

I've been reading the fics on ffa.net for years, and have enjoyed yours from the beginning. Write what you want, when you want. Your stuff, beta'd or not, is better than most of what's out there in the wide world of fanfiction.

Ron Roberts posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 4:03am

My wife got me reading fanfiction starting with your stories. I think Hope was the first fan fiction I ever read. Since then I have read and reread all your stories, some of them at least a dozen times. I am very please to see you writing again and really enjoyed the first chapter. I look forward to reading all that you write in the future. In addition I appreciate all the work you put into making and maintaining this website. In my opinion it is the best fanfiction web site on the net.

liquidfyre posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 3:55am

Ill go along with everyone else here. Even your unbeta'ed "shit" as you put it, is better than the majority of fanfics out there man. I will keep reading your work as long as you keep writing it.

mythicdrake posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 3:46am

holy crap, i love your stories and take a huge amount of please and laughter when reading them. When you use cliche's you wield them like a surgeon wields a scalpel and only use them to enhance a story. So i say keep writing if you want and good luck and gods bless if ya don't.

RyokoTenchi posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 3:35am

Tim, i have been reading your stories since you first started to post TMW. I have continued to read all your stories as you post them for the last couple of years and waited with bated breath for your next release. one of the things i have always LOVED about your stories is the large about of "Out-There" you have displayed. In all your stories you use Cliches and innuendos like a master and bring laughter and smiles to all who read them.

It is said a Writers worst emeny is himself, i feel that is true here. the Large amount of people who DO enjoy your stories, Beta'd or not, far exceeds those who don't. To round this up i would say Thank you for this Site, Thank you for your Stories, and Thank you for everything.

Sincerely,
RyokoTenchi
Administrator of Author Relations, SIYE

JaCee2u posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 3:25am

The way I look at it is that if you're doing this for fun, if it's not fun, it'd be silly to keep doing it. You should write if that's what makes you happy. If you get to the point it doesn't make you happy anymore, you don't do it. I'm in awe of your work with FFA.NET; both your writings and your coding. I'm grateful that you share both with all us freeloaders. I freely admit I'm not half as talented at either writing, or coding.

Thank you, sir, for all of your work.

wiredwizard posted a comment on Friday 30th April 2010 3:04am

Write as long as it makes you happy & throw anyone who says otherwise to the Dementors.

Congrats on another great piece & thanks - I haven't had a good laugh like that in ages! =)