"It's Just Clop" · 8:14am Aug 9th, 2015
"If a thing like this is worth doing at all, it's worth doing right."
- Raoul Duke/Hunter S. Thompson
You know what bugs me? People defending poor writing quality by saying, "It's just clop." Yeah, because having graphic sexual content means you don't have to put any effort in. Come on, is it really so much to ask?
Like, I get it; when the work is just porn for porn's sake and only meant to titillate, I can kinda see why one might not care too much about making an effort. Most are just gonna dismiss it as porn anyway, so why bother with trying to make a quality product, right? Like, half the people on this site are just gonna sneer and discount it as useless smut or whatever, so who cares? I care. Do you care? You cared enough to write the fic in the first place, but you don't care enough to make an effort and try to make it good? What is that? Where is that line drawn?
I dunno. Sometimes, I feel like I'm the only one who cares about the quality of the clop around here. I seem like the only one who is critical of pony pornos who isn't a reviewer or anything (not to mention that I barely know what I'm doing and likely have no right to critique other people's porn). I see so much lame clop with just awful prose and terrible dialogue, and everyone just eats it up and nobody is pointing out the glaring flaws in the work*. They just comment that they came and move on. Maybe I'm just nuts and expecting too much, but I'd just like to see more effort. Some thought put into the stuff. I get that a lot of pairings and whatnot require certain amounts of contrivance, and that some stories are just gonzo get-on-with-the-banging stories that just exist for some quick fun. I have no problems with porn in general or fics that are just for stupid, sexy fun, but using that as an excuse to write poorly or to put virtually no thought into your premise and events? I don't agree with that. I just don't.
Now, some stories are just missing a few things or they just need work. Maybe the writer is inexperienced or something. That's fine. That's totally understandable. I'm not talking about those stories or authors. I'm talking about the ones who crank something out with minimal effort and dismiss criticism because it's "just clop." It may sound snooty, but can't we have a little integrity, here? Really, now.
"Well, Oatsy, how about I go through your fics and tell you everything that sucks about them?" one might ask.
Please do. I would love that. I want my stuff to be good. I want to do the best I can. If I suck at something, tell me about it so I can get better and deliver higher-quality stuff. I feel better about the quality of my writing and you guys get better stories. Win-win. It's always nice to know that people enjoy my work (though I could probably do without knowing how many times a reader managed to climax), but I also love getting critical feedback so I can improve my craft.
Whatever. I suppose it's not a big deal, in the end. Sturgeon's Law is always in effect, after all, and I have odd tastes when it comes to stuff like clop. Best I can do is try to make good stuff myself to add to the site's library. Hope I got what it takes. Sorry for pestering you with this little rant. Have a nice night, everybody.
* Yes, I admit that I may be a bit envious of the success of others, especially when I work hard on stuff and others seem to just throw stuff together. That's just how it always goes in the work of content creation, though, so I just deal with it. I'm not in this to be popular, anyway. Nothing personal. No hard feelings. Honest.
Ever get the feeling that you might be taking cartoon pony porn just a little too seriously?
3306181
Well, OP definitely raises a valid point here. Like, too much porn is written by inexperienced authors who are looking for a quick fame (though some people can go quite far writing mostly shitty porn and occasionally getting in some drama).
Ever get a feeling that some people like talking to themselves?
3306514
That's something I wonder about, and that I almost brought up. If someone cares enough to write a porno, but not enough to put a decent effort into it, why are they writing it? Just for a quick, cheap thrill? Because sex sells? Because many consider it "the easy way" to popularity? I ain't sayin' that's the case, but it makes me wonder.
3307157
Maybe they just wrote it for fun? Not everything has to be serious or artistic, after all.
3307158
Yeah... *cough*Zombons*cough*