Fan or Fan Writer?
I've been musing lately on what makes a show compelling to me as a fan -- and as a writer, because the two are not necessarily the same.
I've always said that fans write because they want more of the canon -- the show's cancelled, or between seasons, or there are gaps to be filled in, of plot or characterization or whatever. But in looking at my own writing, that doesn't always hold up. Take Stargate: Atlantis. I find the show quite satisfying as aired, and it's still in production. (The season-break wait isn't an issue for me, because I write so very, very slowly.) Of the five stories I've finished, two are creepy/depressing what-if character vignettes with adventure-y overtones. I'd like to believe there's a decent amount of character development and exploration in there, but that's not the reason I wrote them. Two (or five, depending on how you count sections) are short humour pieces with team/adventure overtones, and the one I'm most proud of, the brain in a jar story, is straight up episode-style adventure. None of these are filling in anything missing from the series; they're just the ideas that popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote them.
To be a fan of a show, I have to fall in love with the universe. And I learned some time ago that I'd better like, or at least not mind, all the major characters. But to write fanfiction for a show, there needs to be something more. Something that compels my brain not just to watch, analyze, and discuss, but to make up something new as well.
Having looked at the shows I write for, and the shows I love but don't write, one datum rather leaps out. To write fanfic for a show, it seems there needs to be at least one character I identify with. Not just someone I like, or even understand, but someone whose head I can step into as easy as breathing. Or, not even step into, because I can get into other characters' heads with varying degrees of effort; someone whose head feels as much like home as my own. It doesn't have to be a perfect match in all aspects (thank goodness, in some cases), but there does need to be a congruence of perspective, a similarity of base assumptions about the world and how it works and how to approach it.
In classic Trek, it was Spock. In Blakes 7, Avon. Sandbaggers, Neil Burnside. (Yes, this probably does mean I need therapy, but later for that.) In Atlantis, it's Sheppard; though McKay runs a close second, there's a reason I tend to write from Sheppard's POV if he's available.
This is a weird revelation for me, because I've never had much patience with people whose interest in a show hinges on a single character. Fannishness to me is all about the show as a whole. Sure, I've got favourites, who doesn't? But I've never been one to be a fan of a character, rather than a show. It's exceedingly strange to recognize that I apparently need a strong identification with a particular character as a gateway into writing about a show, even if that character's not always in every story.
Farscape is a perfect example: IMO it's one of the best shows ever on TV, the universe is incredibly rich and full of opportunities for a fan writer, but I apparently have no stories to tell in that universe. Despite trying repeatedly, I've only ever managed one musing paragraph on Moya, and it's clearly going nowhere. I want to write Farscape, but whatever deep well in my brain spits up story ideas is dry where it's concerned.
And despite the plethora of choices, there is not one single character whose brain is that close a match to mine. I like and empathize with Crichton, I think Pilot's seriously cool, and I kind of want to be Aeryn Sun when I grow up, but I don't have that resonating click with any of them. I get them, but I'm not them.
Burn Notice is another one, and the one which prompted all this introspection. I adore the show, I'm terribly fond of Michael and Fiona, I think I understand them both pretty well... but there's just that little bit of effort, that slight intellectual choosing to think like one of them. And apparently that's just not a good enough channel to wherever story ideas come from, because as much as I'd like to write Burn Notice fanfic, it just ain't happening.
I don't think what I write and what I don't is entirely explained by character identification. I think the complexity and "fit" of the universe matters, too; I suppose I have to grok it the same way I grok at least one character. And I strongly suspect there are other factors I haven't identified yet. But this latching on to a specific character is definitely a large component, and it's surprising enough to me that I have to play with it for a while and see if I can poke any major holes in the theory.
So, what makes you cross the line from fan to writing fan?
I've always said that fans write because they want more of the canon -- the show's cancelled, or between seasons, or there are gaps to be filled in, of plot or characterization or whatever. But in looking at my own writing, that doesn't always hold up. Take Stargate: Atlantis. I find the show quite satisfying as aired, and it's still in production. (The season-break wait isn't an issue for me, because I write so very, very slowly.) Of the five stories I've finished, two are creepy/depressing what-if character vignettes with adventure-y overtones. I'd like to believe there's a decent amount of character development and exploration in there, but that's not the reason I wrote them. Two (or five, depending on how you count sections) are short humour pieces with team/adventure overtones, and the one I'm most proud of, the brain in a jar story, is straight up episode-style adventure. None of these are filling in anything missing from the series; they're just the ideas that popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote them.
To be a fan of a show, I have to fall in love with the universe. And I learned some time ago that I'd better like, or at least not mind, all the major characters. But to write fanfiction for a show, there needs to be something more. Something that compels my brain not just to watch, analyze, and discuss, but to make up something new as well.
Having looked at the shows I write for, and the shows I love but don't write, one datum rather leaps out. To write fanfic for a show, it seems there needs to be at least one character I identify with. Not just someone I like, or even understand, but someone whose head I can step into as easy as breathing. Or, not even step into, because I can get into other characters' heads with varying degrees of effort; someone whose head feels as much like home as my own. It doesn't have to be a perfect match in all aspects (thank goodness, in some cases), but there does need to be a congruence of perspective, a similarity of base assumptions about the world and how it works and how to approach it.
In classic Trek, it was Spock. In Blakes 7, Avon. Sandbaggers, Neil Burnside. (Yes, this probably does mean I need therapy, but later for that.) In Atlantis, it's Sheppard; though McKay runs a close second, there's a reason I tend to write from Sheppard's POV if he's available.
This is a weird revelation for me, because I've never had much patience with people whose interest in a show hinges on a single character. Fannishness to me is all about the show as a whole. Sure, I've got favourites, who doesn't? But I've never been one to be a fan of a character, rather than a show. It's exceedingly strange to recognize that I apparently need a strong identification with a particular character as a gateway into writing about a show, even if that character's not always in every story.
Farscape is a perfect example: IMO it's one of the best shows ever on TV, the universe is incredibly rich and full of opportunities for a fan writer, but I apparently have no stories to tell in that universe. Despite trying repeatedly, I've only ever managed one musing paragraph on Moya, and it's clearly going nowhere. I want to write Farscape, but whatever deep well in my brain spits up story ideas is dry where it's concerned.
And despite the plethora of choices, there is not one single character whose brain is that close a match to mine. I like and empathize with Crichton, I think Pilot's seriously cool, and I kind of want to be Aeryn Sun when I grow up, but I don't have that resonating click with any of them. I get them, but I'm not them.
Burn Notice is another one, and the one which prompted all this introspection. I adore the show, I'm terribly fond of Michael and Fiona, I think I understand them both pretty well... but there's just that little bit of effort, that slight intellectual choosing to think like one of them. And apparently that's just not a good enough channel to wherever story ideas come from, because as much as I'd like to write Burn Notice fanfic, it just ain't happening.
I don't think what I write and what I don't is entirely explained by character identification. I think the complexity and "fit" of the universe matters, too; I suppose I have to grok it the same way I grok at least one character. And I strongly suspect there are other factors I haven't identified yet. But this latching on to a specific character is definitely a large component, and it's surprising enough to me that I have to play with it for a while and see if I can poke any major holes in the theory.
So, what makes you cross the line from fan to writing fan?