frost muses on fanfic

[frostfire_17]

You know, one of the reasons I think I like writing fanfiction so much is that I really like doing short pieces. I mean--I was looking over all the stuff I've posted, and the vastmajority of it is under 3000 words. A lot of it's under a thousand

Comments

[jic]

Yeah. There's a lot of shortcuts that I get to take in fanfic that I'm not comfortable using in origfic -- like leaving out certain descriptions. If I'm introducing a character for the first time, I want to build a picture; but I'm never introducing canon characters for the first time in fanfic, so I can leave that out.

[frostfire_17]

Yeah, that's it exactly. So much you can leave *out*; it's nice.

[neery]

Well I can't do short to save my life, all my fics end up being at least several thousand words. But I really like the background aspect of fanfic, too. It's also one of things about fanfic that amke writing easier - you don't have to figure out how to introduce the backstory without constant flashbacks, long, boring expositions, or epic-length trilogies.

On the other hand, that makes it harder to write certain things, because you always have to make sure that your character's actions are consistent with the predetermined backstory, while in original fic you can just create a backstory that fits.

[frostfire_17]

you always have to make sure that your character's actions are consistent with the predetermined backstory, while in original fic you can just create a backstory that fits

This is also true, definitely, and is part of the reason that I like writing original fic *too*. ^_^ But fitting the story into the canon is also one of the challenges of fanfic that really appeals to me.

[neery]

But fitting the story into the canon is also one of the challenges of fanfic that really appeals to me.

This is why I can only laugh at people who try to tell me that we all just write fanfic because it's easier. No. It's different, definitely, and it offers some possibilities that just aren't there in original, but it has its own set of challenges if you want to do it well.

[mgsmurf]

Here via Metafandom.

I think you're dead right about why fanfic is easier. You can do so much more with so much less when all the backstory is there for the taking not making. And it is easier for it to have an emotional impact.

That said, I think making a reader feel just as much about a charactet they'd never meet before sitting down to read a story, and pulling it off, is not only more challenging, but much more rewarding. And oh so more in short story format where you have so little space to do backstory.

[frostfire_17]

That said, I think making a reader feel just as much about a charactet they'd never meet before sitting down to read a story, and pulling it off, is not only more challenging, but much more rewarding.

Hmm, interesting. I'm not sure I entirely agree. I'd say more--rewarding in a different way. Because I *do* feel really pleased with myself when I manage to come up with characters who can affect readers in a short space of time--and it's true, that is harder. However, I'd say that--for me, at least--the feeling I get when I've manipulated a huge canon to work entirely for me in a short piece of fanfiction, when I've placed a story just perfectly to make use of all that backstory given to us, is just as rewarding as the other. *shrug* My personal writing experience, there; I'm sure others feel differently.

[mgsmurf]

I've been manipulating canon in my head for oh 25 years now, so it's lost some of the reward it once had. Everyone gets different rewards from different things about writing.