The Fan Fic Year
Sep. 16th, 2011 10:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sariagrayPumpkin beer
it's good! the yard of leaves
the fall smiling at us
-The Haiku Year
Okay. So a fan fic year is not quite as neat as "The Haiku Year." At all, really. But it's what I've got, and it was completely accidental, so there you have it.
In fact, my year was totally different. I haven't written, you know, a fic a day. I am also not famous. But the premise of "The Haiku Year" is that:
And isn't that what we're doing here? Because while we're writing about pre-existing fictional characters, you take all of that away and we're talking about our lives. When you strip away the characterizations and the peripheral bits (aliens, dinosaurs, guns, time and space), we're writing what we know and what we know is our day-to-day.
I know I'm not the only one who sits down at something like a Manager's Essentials Training and thinks, "God, what would Jack be like at one of these things?" And the next thing I know, I'm writing a fic, and the outside consultant is based on our HR representative at work.
Maybe I am the only one who does this. Either way, for me, the only difference is that I first started to communicate with you all, all around the world, and then we became friends. But we kept the communication up. I think you all know more about my life from my fic than anything I've ever said outright.
I was looking back at my older works today, and I mentioned it to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
analineblue. And then I got to thinking about how much has changed. How much I've changed, too, both as a person and a writer (and yes, I use that term loosely). I mean, the first half of my Master List? A part of me would like to remove that from the Official Record. A much bigger part of me, though, is glad that it's there so that I can look back on it and be proud at whatever growth has managed to occur. It's like ridiculous juvenilia, except that it's only a year (or less!) old. Could I really have changed that much in a year?
Short answer? Yes. I've been writing constantly since I started. Things that never see past the light of my WIP folder, things that I've posted, snippets I have tucked away in my phone that I later stumble across and frown over because sentences like "Ianto star. For traveler. Guy in glasses" and "Suzie Jack so Gwen? And Ianto?" make absolutely no sense three hours after they'd been written.
As I've stated in previous entries/discussions, fan fiction really gives a writer a lot of room to play with style and extremely detailed characterization and setting and mood and detail. "Jack and Ianto talk about their relationship" is, well, abundant. Really abundant. We all know who Jack and Ianto are. We all know the sorts of things they say to each other, so what makes these myriad stories interesting? How the author writes them. As an author, this is a fantastic sandbox for stretching one's ability and flexing one's writing muscles.
But it's not just the physicality of writing that helps shape the writing process. Here there's a steady stream of feedback. I don't think, aside from having a beta, anyone's ever said, "This whole thing does NOT work. You're dumb. I hate this" or even, "Perhaps you should do x, y, and z instead!" But the measure of comments, what people say they like, is just as telling. And to get a positive note from a writer you really respect is more than encouraging.
I've taken a bunch of creative writing courses. A lot of times, you get people who take it for an easy pass. The last one I took, I respected the professor beyond belief, and one or two other classmates, but the others had absolutely no interest, and so just threw words onto a page and walked away. And then they would have to critique our work. I always got stuff like, "I don't understand it, but it sounds good." At first I thought my writing was unclear, but then after the third or fourth time I got a message like that, I realized that they weren't even reading it.
Here, there are so many writers I respect, and for different reasons and in different genres. Not only that, fandom is a tailor-made audience. My readers are obviously interested in the subject itself - I can't really dazzle anyone there, but at the same time, there's a passion there. People are looking to read this stuff. No one was looking to read my ridiculous masochistic, opium-obsessed poetry. At least, I don't think they were. Who knows, though?
So anyway, prior to my tangent, I was looking back on my old works. Old. Ha. Anyway. Wow. They're a mess. I mean, really. A mess. But I knew no one in this fandom at the time. I just literally stumbled in, blind, because hey, I just spent a week or so watching this show, and I had all sorts of ideas about it, and feelings, and I generally just walk into stuff without thought. So that's kind of what I did. I thought I'd get it out of my system, write a story or two, and move on. Maybe I'd last a month. At most, two.
Here I am a year later with five series (please ignore them all? Except maybe "Use It In A Sentence," which I'm proud of in theory) and seventy one standalone stories, and three collaborations, and a handful of drabbles. And a Big Bang/Collaboration in the works. Uhm. WHAT? Granted, my fics are short. But still. When did these things happen? That's more than one fic every five days for a year.
"I am not a machine," she says.
No, they aren't all good, but that isn't the point. Not really. They exist. They are bits and pieces of communication that I've shared with all of you, somehow, across...time and space? Basically, what I'm saying is that I've met people I never would have if I'd just stayed out of this fandom. *Grin*
It's funny, too. I think my whole office knows I write fan fiction. One of the managers took me out to lunch yesterday to discuss a training I had to give her team, and we talked about my mini ficathon for East Africa. She also asked me how LAS was going. My new boss and I were talking about her husband's ex girlfriend who is a journalist and also writes fan fiction. My mom helps beta my stories. I love that it's reaching a level of visibility and acceptance...everywhere.
So, yes. Basically, thank you for hanging around and being encouraging during my Fan Fic Year. Not that I'm planning on going anywhere any time soon. But I just thought that this was something that I needed to make note of for myself. :) And because I needed to kill time while my nails dry. But really, it's pretty incredible. I've never been able to force myself to write so often, for such a long duration, before stumbling here with my eyes closed and my hands out like I was playing "Blind Man's Bluff."
Also, happy autumn (close enough)! The leaves are starting to change colors, there is pumpkin spice coffee everywhere and it's in the 60s here. I love being cold.
it's good! the yard of leaves
the fall smiling at us
-The Haiku Year
Okay. So a fan fic year is not quite as neat as "The Haiku Year." At all, really. But it's what I've got, and it was completely accidental, so there you have it.
In fact, my year was totally different. I haven't written, you know, a fic a day. I am also not famous. But the premise of "The Haiku Year" is that:
seven friends made a pact to write haikus every day for a year as a way to keep in touch with each other....Hinting at the transcendence and banality of everyday life, the short verses signify an appreciation for small moments of beauty and ultimately urge readers to let these realizations pierce through the numbness of their daily routines.
And isn't that what we're doing here? Because while we're writing about pre-existing fictional characters, you take all of that away and we're talking about our lives. When you strip away the characterizations and the peripheral bits (aliens, dinosaurs, guns, time and space), we're writing what we know and what we know is our day-to-day.
I know I'm not the only one who sits down at something like a Manager's Essentials Training and thinks, "God, what would Jack be like at one of these things?" And the next thing I know, I'm writing a fic, and the outside consultant is based on our HR representative at work.
Maybe I am the only one who does this. Either way, for me, the only difference is that I first started to communicate with you all, all around the world, and then we became friends. But we kept the communication up. I think you all know more about my life from my fic than anything I've ever said outright.
I was looking back at my older works today, and I mentioned it to
analineblue. And then I got to thinking about how much has changed. How much I've changed, too, both as a person and a writer (and yes, I use that term loosely). I mean, the first half of my Master List? A part of me would like to remove that from the Official Record. A much bigger part of me, though, is glad that it's there so that I can look back on it and be proud at whatever growth has managed to occur. It's like ridiculous juvenilia, except that it's only a year (or less!) old. Could I really have changed that much in a year?
Short answer? Yes. I've been writing constantly since I started. Things that never see past the light of my WIP folder, things that I've posted, snippets I have tucked away in my phone that I later stumble across and frown over because sentences like "Ianto star. For traveler. Guy in glasses" and "Suzie Jack so Gwen? And Ianto?" make absolutely no sense three hours after they'd been written.
As I've stated in previous entries/discussions, fan fiction really gives a writer a lot of room to play with style and extremely detailed characterization and setting and mood and detail. "Jack and Ianto talk about their relationship" is, well, abundant. Really abundant. We all know who Jack and Ianto are. We all know the sorts of things they say to each other, so what makes these myriad stories interesting? How the author writes them. As an author, this is a fantastic sandbox for stretching one's ability and flexing one's writing muscles.
But it's not just the physicality of writing that helps shape the writing process. Here there's a steady stream of feedback. I don't think, aside from having a beta, anyone's ever said, "This whole thing does NOT work. You're dumb. I hate this" or even, "Perhaps you should do x, y, and z instead!" But the measure of comments, what people say they like, is just as telling. And to get a positive note from a writer you really respect is more than encouraging.
I've taken a bunch of creative writing courses. A lot of times, you get people who take it for an easy pass. The last one I took, I respected the professor beyond belief, and one or two other classmates, but the others had absolutely no interest, and so just threw words onto a page and walked away. And then they would have to critique our work. I always got stuff like, "I don't understand it, but it sounds good." At first I thought my writing was unclear, but then after the third or fourth time I got a message like that, I realized that they weren't even reading it.
Here, there are so many writers I respect, and for different reasons and in different genres. Not only that, fandom is a tailor-made audience. My readers are obviously interested in the subject itself - I can't really dazzle anyone there, but at the same time, there's a passion there. People are looking to read this stuff. No one was looking to read my ridiculous masochistic, opium-obsessed poetry. At least, I don't think they were. Who knows, though?
So anyway, prior to my tangent, I was looking back on my old works. Old. Ha. Anyway. Wow. They're a mess. I mean, really. A mess. But I knew no one in this fandom at the time. I just literally stumbled in, blind, because hey, I just spent a week or so watching this show, and I had all sorts of ideas about it, and feelings, and I generally just walk into stuff without thought. So that's kind of what I did. I thought I'd get it out of my system, write a story or two, and move on. Maybe I'd last a month. At most, two.
Here I am a year later with five series (please ignore them all? Except maybe "Use It In A Sentence," which I'm proud of in theory) and seventy one standalone stories, and three collaborations, and a handful of drabbles. And a Big Bang/Collaboration in the works. Uhm. WHAT? Granted, my fics are short. But still. When did these things happen? That's more than one fic every five days for a year.
"I am not a machine," she says.
No, they aren't all good, but that isn't the point. Not really. They exist. They are bits and pieces of communication that I've shared with all of you, somehow, across...time and space? Basically, what I'm saying is that I've met people I never would have if I'd just stayed out of this fandom. *Grin*
It's funny, too. I think my whole office knows I write fan fiction. One of the managers took me out to lunch yesterday to discuss a training I had to give her team, and we talked about my mini ficathon for East Africa. She also asked me how LAS was going. My new boss and I were talking about her husband's ex girlfriend who is a journalist and also writes fan fiction. My mom helps beta my stories. I love that it's reaching a level of visibility and acceptance...everywhere.
So, yes. Basically, thank you for hanging around and being encouraging during my Fan Fic Year. Not that I'm planning on going anywhere any time soon. But I just thought that this was something that I needed to make note of for myself. :) And because I needed to kill time while my nails dry. But really, it's pretty incredible. I've never been able to force myself to write so often, for such a long duration, before stumbling here with my eyes closed and my hands out like I was playing "Blind Man's Bluff."
Also, happy autumn (close enough)! The leaves are starting to change colors, there is pumpkin spice coffee everywhere and it's in the 60s here. I love being cold.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-09-17 04:53 am (UTC)Hee~ Wouldn't change it for anything? <3
But yeah, I know what you mean, absolutely. I think, sometimes, that I could go back to my fic from 5 years ago, and everything I was feeling at the time would be right there on the page (or, you know, on the screen? :P) and that's kind of scary! And it's a weird thing to even talk about because it's like... I don't think I write about myself, or my experiences? But of course I do. I think everyone does. And I think different characters bring out different things, you know? I know I focus on different things with Jack and Ianto than I ever did before when I was writing other characters. It's...really fascinating. *__*
ANYWAY. Um. Yes. Happy Fic Year? And here's to many more. \^O^/
(Also. 71? Really?!? I thought was productive, lol. Not lately, but overall? Sort of? Damn though. That's impressive. ...Communications across time and space~ I like that. *wanders off* :P)
no subject
Date: 2011-09-17 02:29 pm (UTC)I know you write for other fandoms, so it's interesting to see that you've written other things for them than other characters! I know I write other characters within TW when I'm trying to say certain things, so it makes sense.
Yay, many years of fic! :D
(Yeah, totally. I mean, they're a lot shorter than most of yours, overall, so we might be close to the same word-count!)
no subject
Date: 2011-09-17 09:21 pm (UTC)I was actually thinking the other day that I've been in this fandom for just over two years now since august of '09 when my first fanfic was actually based on an eastenders plot at the time, which i find highly amusing, and my latest ongoing proect has been going since december of that year so that's nearly two years in the making and yet, i haven't really grown tired of it as i thought i would as i was in the dr who fandom before hand for about six months before i got bored and then i literally drifted from there to here and i've stayed here ever since ;)
I completely agree with you on the commenting front; a lot of times it's 'i like x etc' and that#s really encouraging but the ones i find really helpful are the ones that notice little things i put in my fics ;) such as i called one of my police officers PC Myles after eve myles and i was so proud when one person noticed that, and it's just stuff like that that really makes it worthwhile.
also looking back, even within 'in sicknes' (my ongoing project, if i look at ch1 and then ch42, i can really see how my writing has matured and evolved over the years and that's really good to see; it's as if i'm actually learning how to be a writer through the fandom itself and that's brilliant ;)
also, i am seriously impressed with the amount of stories you've written *nods* and now i know how you go about getting ideas. i try to do that too but it doesn't really work as wel which is a shame.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-17 11:43 pm (UTC)I actually go about getting ideas in different ways. One story I wrote (Do Not Cease, I think it was) was based on me house-sitting. Or, really, Ianto's apartment was based on the house at which I was house-sitting. A lot of stories are like that, one line or a set piece that comes from real life and everything else gets built around it. Other ideas, though, come from conversations in my head. That...sounds weird, I'm sure, but. Yes. lol
The problem with the fic I write is that I make very obscure literary references (by which I mean not even references to other bits of literature, but...you know, using various literary devices) and often times no one sees it. Which is fine, really, but it means that one someone does - well, they've clearly been actually taking the time to look at my work.
So I get what you mean, definitely, about having people notice things in your work.
Fandom is, perhaps, the best instructor. :D
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 08:17 am (UTC)I was in the Lois and Clark Fandom for a few years, great fun, lots of laughs, three years meeting up in US, but I never read fanfic. Fanfic was a huge part of it but it never interested me. Lois and Clark had most of what they wanted, or we as fans needed, on screen.
Chat and gossip supplied the rest!!
[Met Dean Cain a couple of times; gorgeous, lovely man:)]
Been a Superman fan since about eight or nine when I used to pinch my brothers' comics to read. How they inspired my imagination! I would write my own stories - making up exactly what I wanted. Loved doing that and writing, but it didn't stay with me. Love to read, write - not so much.
But I do love good writers, to find one is such a joy, there is nothing to beat that.
I started re-watching Torchwood in March this year [long story;)] and came across fanfic by accident. I read what I had 'found' and got hooked, especially as I was watching and reading.
So now I read and read; there is so much out there and a lot of it is good, some of it is bloody brilliant. A lot not so good, but I admire all who try.
My crime books pile up beside the bed and the Greenway/Carnegie entries that I am supposed to be working through for a book day at work next month [I now work in a library after leaving teaching] remain untouched. When I'm not working I am thinking about how the characters I love would respond in different situations, just like I used to when I was ten... so I am writing in my head again at least!
I love your inward thoughts and ability to express them outwardly so articulately. Self-awareness is a rare trait and one which I increasingly admire the older I get, so well done you and congratulations on a great year of fic.
Onwards and upwards!!
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 05:58 pm (UTC)Torchwood really does have some fantastic fic writers, and great stories. It's really incredible, and I'm surprised at how long-lasting it seems to be for everyone who is involved. It's also a great community of people, so I'm glad you're here with us and reading. And I know what you mean - I don't think I've finished a single book all year, but I've read hundreds of thousands of words of fan fiction. So I guess that counts! :D
And thank you so much for your kind words. :D I really appreciate it, and hope for many more stories to come! :D
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 09:44 pm (UTC)It was great fun being a part of FoLCs [Fans of Lois and Clark]. Dean Cain and Teri Hatcher had such great on screen chemistry and many of us thought they had great off screen chemistry too! The gossip was brilliant, if you like that kind of thing. Of course many didn't, or refused to believe any of it and that split the fandom to some extent though most of us got on really well.
I think Torchwood fanfic works so well because the writers left so much room for it - and the sub text, blimey!!
Also it is down to the actors as well, especially JB and GDL who gave and tantalised us so much. On screen death could not end that relationship as it just didn't, in any way, ring true - and as so many have said thank goodness for fanfic.
This fandom is slowly taking shape for me and there is so much to enjoy. It's a different world from when I was in fandom before. Then it mostly revolved around our message boards and chat rooms, so I am slowly getting used to it - when I take a break from reading!
Thank you very much for your warm welcome :)
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 11:27 pm (UTC)