Subject: I disagree with you on one point.
Author:
Posted on: 2013-12-27 15:52:00 UTC
Specifically, this line: Unlike the Official Fanfiction Academies, the PPC doesn't exist to teach writers to do better while delivering an amusing tale at the same time, it is there for the sole purpose of comedy.
I think the PPC absolutely does exist to teach writers to do better. Perhaps not the individual fanwriters whose stories get sporked by us, but everyone who reads the missions, and indeed everyone who writes them, should be able to pick up a thing or two in the process. A mission is two things: a critique of a particular badfic and an independent narrative about the agents. If a mission doesn't adequately show why the badfic is bad, it has failed. Further, if a mission doesn't stand as an example of good storytelling in and of itself, it has failed. There's a reason we don't just let anyone write for the PPC, after all: we expect quality.
On top of that, it must also entertain, but that's almost a secondary concern; it'll have a hard time entertaining if it's riddled with spurious, unsupported accusations, poor mechanics, bland characters, and dull narrative. There also has to be a balance lest it turn into an essay with quotation marks thrown in (too much critique, not enough story/snark), an MST (too much snark, not enough story/critique), or something that might as well be original fiction (too much story, not enough critique/snark). Learning to strike that balance should teach writers to do better. Seeing how it's done should teach readers to do better. QED.
~Neshomeh