I'm writing in the big bang 2010
I must be seriously crazy! For whatever insane reason, I'm pulling my "fiction" muse from the closet again and I'll submit a 20,000 word piece for the Star Trek Big Bang 2010. Last year's experience was more successful than I could have imagined because I met some great women during the posting/discussion process.
My most glaring failure was not ( Read more... )
My most glaring failure was not ( Read more... )
Your name seems familiar, thus, you might have already encountered my alter-ego,Xia Sang Li. She writes. I rant. The distinction is necessary.
Since you're familiar with the StarTrekBigBang, you probably saw my Upheaval story last year. Which version, no one knows. You can find it and a fluff piece here:
http://xiasangli.livejournal.com/18697.html There are some deleted scenes on the main page somewhere (organization is a skill that eludes me). Only one is shipper-like.
Unfortunately, writing fiction isn't actually my forte and in all honesty, I'm a failed "shipper." In fact, like you, I am rather peeved that Uhura is frequently written as just merely an extension of Spock. Often, she's presented as Spock's convenient vagina, head giver and blessed vessel to carry and raise his Vulcan children. Worse, everything is about him and his Vulcan heritage. Bull.
If you promise not to tell, I'll let you in on a big bang 2010 secret. Uhura will free Spock from any emotional obligations towards her. A twist of fate will make it necessary for Spock to travel in uncharted territory as well. He'll have to earn the right to be her mate. She, Uhura, isn't creating this obstacle... I am.
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Oh...so true - an actually one of the reasons I tend to avoid S/U fic. I know that sounds strange - why would someone who does not like S/U even TRY to read S/U fic? But honestly, I will read anything about my favorite crew as long as it is well written and has an engaging plot. (And that includes such weirdness as MPREG and gender -switch too...much to my embarrassment.) However, I find Uhura too often used as a...dare I say it...Mary Sue... who is either too perfect to be believable or just seems like some kind of echo of Spock who follows along behind him like a alter-ego. (Or sometimes the reverse, where Uhura is a strong character, but Spock seems like a shadow of himself.) So I steer away unless a S/U fic has been recced by someone whose judgment I trust. I am sure there are very good stories out there... if I can find them. I have a few saved on my hard-drive, though to be honest, my S/U tag does not get used very often. LOL! Actually, some of my favorite depictions of Uhura come from slash and gen fics in which the focus is more on her professional competence.
I will definitely drop by to read your fic! And you BigBang fic sounds very intriguing. :)
Happy writing!
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It's great that you give S/U fiction a chance. In general, in any genre, I don't read much fan fiction after the original wave because the stories quickly becomes quite repetitive in terms of the actual plot or the theme. Nonetheless, I'm always thrilled to be recommended a story that blows me out of the water and has me gasping for air. A couple of years ago, a friend sent me some 30-year-old fanzines, which are like a treasure-trove. I can't stop reading all the wonderful characterizations of ALL of our beloved characters.
Although I cannot claim to write such brilliant fiction, I make a conscious effort to attempt to skirt the repetition. I generally don't see Uhura as a Mary Sue, but I often see her characterized as an "author insert." It's as if the writer is working through her personal angst using the character. Sometimes it's obvious. Other times, it isn't glaring early, yet it inevitably comes. Since I'm not in the business of telling people how to manage their fiction, I usually only comment on the positive aspects of the story. After all, I could be "wrong."
I do not impose my desires or wishes upon a character. Perhaps this also means my work isn't particularly interesting to some because it lacks the "emotionalism" that drives other pieces. I'm quite Kantian (Emmanuel, not Thomas) in this area. My stories drive themselves based on the knowledge I have acquired, not my personal feelings.
If I wrote according to my personal feelings, I wouldn't be able to write fiction at all. I'm an extrovert with a husband, a huge family and countless friends. Other than ragging on my loved ones, I wouldn't have any plots or themes and the pieces would also be overtly positive, too (i.e with no balance at all).
Upheaval isn't my best work because I'm not as intimately familiar with the characters as some; however, there were a few themes I wished to share and based on the comments, I believe I succeeded. I hope that you enjoy this version of Uhura although she is very young and extremely intelligent. She might seem perfect, but I believe context matters. Starfleet Academy and her journey to Romulus both exist in a very controlled environment.
This year's big bang, as per my personality, won't have any relationship to that couple or their experiences. For me, life moves forward. It can never be wrapped up nice and neatly, not even in a story.
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And I have a few of those 30 year old zines too! Love them! :D
As for "author insert" you are likely right - thought we may be thinking of slightly different things. For me, the problems arise when an author is obviously using their ficiton to promote personal views that they almost shoehorn the characters into sharing in order to get those views across... that can throw me completely out of a story. A little bit of extrapolation about a character is great - after all that is what fan fic is all about! But having a character go on and on about some religious or political viewpoint that they never mentioned at all in canon just grates on me.
You are very pleasant to chat with, by the way. Interesting thoughts!
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I could probably deal with clone repetitive stories if the authors owned up to their limitations. Instead, many of them seem to believe that they are writing the very next "To Kill a Mockingbird" classic or something. I seldom ever read when I'm writing because I can't tolerate being thought of as a copy cat.
On the other hand, the works of my favorite writers in RL do play important roles, as does the work of my professional gurus.
obviously using their ficiton to promote personal views that they almost shoehorn the characters into sharing in order to get those views across
As you probably expect, I'm not much of a canonist; nonetheless, I'd find this infuriating!!! I'd just as soon not have religion or politics in my tales unless such views enhance the characters and the plot. An outburst here or there is fine. A full blown attempt at indoctrination is crappy. As I prefer to keep my muse's life separate from mine, I seldom allow these two paths to cross.
My personal issues are not Xia Sang Li's. In reality, I write only to dump the information in my brain because for me the life of an expatriate is one of continuous input. If I didn't write, I'd go crazy. When I do sit down and finally decide to pen a piece, it's because I've accumulated so much information, there really isn't much of me in there to actually influence a story.
Does this sound insane? If so, I probably am. My LoveBot says it's okay because this insanity ensures that we eat. ;)
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No, doesn't sound crazy at all... that has happened to me frequently, mostly at a younger age, when my mind would just NEVER shut up! Doesn't bother me so much these days...old and decrepit, you know. LOL! However, the times it DOES get to me is usually when I have a "dark" story idea that makes me feel all icky and I just want to ignore - I find it I don't write it down and excise it from my brain, it will consume my life.
That "dark" NuTrek piece is exactly that kind of story...
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There is one thing I forgot to mention way back when.
You said, "...Uhura come from slash and gen fics in which the focus is more on her professional competence."
Is her role expanded in such fiction? Do they actually understand what a linguists does or what a communications officer does? I'm pro any fiction that makes her a fully realized character. As life would have it, I'm too busy chatting it up with people to actually read that much online.
If there's a particular piece that does her justice, please recommend it.
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http://www.gilshalos.0catch.com/Arrows%20of%20Desire/Arrows%20of%20Desire%20Index.htm
This is the Third story in a trilogy, and although I love ALL three stories, this is the one that features Uhura most strongly. (Though she is prevalent in the second story as well.) I will not say she necessarily comes across as a "linguist" or "communications officer" so much as she just kicks ass when needed. I really love her in this.
If you like the story overall, I can send you links to the first two stories as well. They are kind of hard to locate, as places they are posted have gone down. The OC, Larssen is a fascinating character in her own right, and the author gives her female characters strong roles - you will see Chapel, Rand and Uhura all doing actual WORK on a Starship!
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As I work closely with "linguists," I'm not entirely convinced that they function the same in the real world as the self-proclaimed Star Trek fan linguists. As for the communications officer, I'm sure this role can be expanded beyond incoming and outgoing transmissions, especially in fiction. I look forward to reading all three stories and seeing the ladies do actual WORK on the Starship.
Upheaval was an extremely limited piece because the focus was narrowed. I had no idea I could hammer out 20,000 words in six days. This year's big bang will range much farther.
You enjoy experimenting with different writing styles. I enjoy giving the characters make-overs. I can't fathom why anyone would write a different series with the characters behaving exactly the same. In the new piece, Spock and Uhura would not have experimented with anything which can remotely be construed as sex, not even "Clinton" sex.
All the old favorites, including Chapel, Kirk, Sulu, Scotty, McCoy, Chekov, plus Hannity, Madeline and a few unnamed but seen female characters should be included as ultimately this will be an ensemble piece.
In the end, I have a suspicion that it will turn out to be a piece that ultimately determines (for me) whether or not NuKirk has leadership skills.
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It is only one section, so it would be a pretty quick read...thoughts?
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Yes, there is sex, sex and more sex. :D I suspect I contemplate this subject matter on a different plane from other people, yet... you mentioned Harlequin. Yikes! *curls up and dies* Hee hee.
I'd be happy to look at your Uhura section once it's complete. Although I'm not a linguist, I can provide you with one relevant piece of information. One can be monolingual and still be an excellent linguist. In fact, most American, British and Japanese linguists are monolingual.
Other linguists tend to be multi-lingual mainly because of their geographical locations. Linguists, in general, are not translators. Again, the ST 2009 movie writers were lazy. They inferred that Uhura was proficient in speaking Romulan and Klingon because she was a Xenolinguist. A more believable scenario would have been to focus on her African continent background as the backdrop for her "flexible tongue" as well as her "super" hearing.
I would ask my mom, who is a former Speech pathologist
In the future, in other stories, if you write Uhura, perhaps you could write her from this perspective. I think you could do this without letting it slip that you write fan fiction. There are a variety of linguistic specialties and you would not be doing Uhura an injustice if you wrote her being reasonably proficient in this area.
Language, Language Acquisition and Speech Pathology, by their very natures, must overlap fairly regularly.
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