Once again, I can't see the voting questions, but the discussion is interesting.
On the question of whether introspection is a good or bad thing:
I think that most authors tailor their work to suit their market to a certain extent. Here in FoLCdom there's a certain propensity for enjoying introspection. Thus, it tends to be a popular ingredient of the fanfiction that's written here. I do think it's driven by the readers rather than the authors - the authors supplying what the majority of readers want. If stories with a lot of introspection bombed here, you can bet your bottom dollar that most authors would phase it out of their stories. If they wanted feedback and a generous readership, of course - it's also perfectly valid to write what you want just because you want it and if you don't care whether it's read or not but are just having fun and enjoying the writing for itself then that's as good a reason to write as any I know.
To take myself as an example, I've written fanfic for nigh on 25+ years, for various fandoms. Until I started writing for this fandom, however, I never included introspection in my stories. Well, maybe the odd line or paragraph. In fact, the thought of even attempting wholesale introspection gave me chills.
How things change.
I still find the change in my stories from that time to now amusing to think on.
As time went on I found it rather fun though, and it gells with my belief that one of the best things about fanfic is that it allows you to get into the heads of the characters you see on TV, to know what was driving them and what motivated them. Yes, you can do that in other ways too, but...well let's stick with me as an example.
Now, if I was to be interested in writing professionally, I'd tailor my work to suit and cut back on introspection, since introspection - along with a few other things commonly used in fanfic - isn't a mainstay of popular novels.
Since I'm not writing professionally however, but for fun, I feel free to indulge myself and write what pleases me. If others enjoy what I write too then that's icing on the cake (with a cherry on top!), but this is my hobby, so I pretty much work to please myself. Well, work to please the Muse, shall we say.
I therefore expect that those readers who enjoy introspection will read stories with introspection and those who don't...won't. It's pretty much horses for courses, as with everything else in life.
And all that to say...I pretty much agree with Rivka on this one.
I'm pretty curious to know what the options on the question were. <G>
LabRat
