Fic writing and meeting expectations
I have been in fandom for only about a year. It must be my one year anniversary of my LJ soon, in fact. This is the length of time I have been writing fic for. Before that, I wrote stories to entertain myself, but never dreamed I would show them to anyone. (I have partly had these thoughts because one of kellifer_fic's friends said to me 'so you're a writer' and I nearly went 'No? Me? A Writer?' then I thought, I guess I am.) The recent meme 'the five fics you love' I have found interesting, and it's lead me to general thoughts about why we write and why we like what we've achieved. I wasn't going to cut this, but it's long, so I am going to.
I think Supernatural is very accessible for first time writers because there are only two main characters that you really have to get your head around/try to get the voices of. The mystery of the week format means you can set your fic within a season and fit in fairly easily. I love Heroes for example, but I think writing that is much harder - who do you focus on? How do you fit people together? We know the characters less well because there is more of them. The story moves forward quicker so being within the timeline is harder. I therefore don't know how likely I am to write within another fandom after Supernatural gets cancelled, but I enjoy it so much I like to think I would. Partly because:
1. I really think fic writing is a good way of improving your writing in general. Some fic I am proud of has come about because I wanted to test myself in some way (Petra for example, because I wanted to write something without using purely visual descriptors). The short story is a format you can experiment with much more than you can longer pieces - what have you lost but a few thousand words? People are much less forgiving of it too - you have a short time to tell your story and you have to make your point quickly. I therefore always welcome criticism. I have sometimes asked for criticism and yes, it's difficult to hear, but I want to hear it. How else do you judge it? Whether you made your point? Whether you are happy with it? When people have picked the fics they love, did you pick it because you liked the idea, and you felt like you got that across? Because you *knew* the images you got across were good ones? Because it flowed out of you easier than another fic? Because you got a lot of comments? I understand why people get hung up on comments. We are all in this to communicate with others after all, and if you don't get that feedback it's hard. But ..
2. Writing should be for fun. I get upset when there is any kind of negativity around fandom, because I think - we all do this to entertain ourselves. I am interested as to how many people here have secret fantasies to write 'officially' for a living, and how many people do it just and purely for fun. I have polled on a similar topic, I think. If it is just a hobby, I think you should still take it seriously, and I am sure most of us here do, but then you can get upset about it, and that doesn't seem right either. I think we all draw that line between craft and fun in different places. So, perhaps people picked fics they loved just because they loved the idea, or made themselves smile or laugh, or knew that they had made others smile or laugh.
I wasn't tagged (sob) I don't think, which is a relief, because I am not sure which I would pick. I am terrible critic so I love and hate my own writing in equal measure at times. Why do I love the fics of mine I love? Sometimes I am not sure. I might like them one day but dislike them another. I especially look back at my early work and sometimes get embarrassed at how little I knew back then. Which leads me to my final thought:
Which of your fics are you disappointed with? Not in a negative, I'm crap, way, I'm not here for that. But which, if you could go back, would you re do and why? You like the idea but didn't quite pull it off as you'd like, in retrospect? Perhaps just because you know more now than you did then? I would re do Point of View. I liked the idea of showing Sam and Dean's differing POVs of the same event, and found it hard at the time. innie_darling was a great help as a beta and really helped me make it better, but I still feel like it's an idea that could be executed much better.
I am tempted to re write, and to challenge people to re write their fic which they are disappointed with, but perhaps we should all just put it behind us as a learning experience, and look forward.
I hope these thoughts have made sense; I fear they made more sense in my head. I welcome all your thoughts on anything I've said.
I think Supernatural is very accessible for first time writers because there are only two main characters that you really have to get your head around/try to get the voices of. The mystery of the week format means you can set your fic within a season and fit in fairly easily. I love Heroes for example, but I think writing that is much harder - who do you focus on? How do you fit people together? We know the characters less well because there is more of them. The story moves forward quicker so being within the timeline is harder. I therefore don't know how likely I am to write within another fandom after Supernatural gets cancelled, but I enjoy it so much I like to think I would. Partly because:
1. I really think fic writing is a good way of improving your writing in general. Some fic I am proud of has come about because I wanted to test myself in some way (Petra for example, because I wanted to write something without using purely visual descriptors). The short story is a format you can experiment with much more than you can longer pieces - what have you lost but a few thousand words? People are much less forgiving of it too - you have a short time to tell your story and you have to make your point quickly. I therefore always welcome criticism. I have sometimes asked for criticism and yes, it's difficult to hear, but I want to hear it. How else do you judge it? Whether you made your point? Whether you are happy with it? When people have picked the fics they love, did you pick it because you liked the idea, and you felt like you got that across? Because you *knew* the images you got across were good ones? Because it flowed out of you easier than another fic? Because you got a lot of comments? I understand why people get hung up on comments. We are all in this to communicate with others after all, and if you don't get that feedback it's hard. But ..
2. Writing should be for fun. I get upset when there is any kind of negativity around fandom, because I think - we all do this to entertain ourselves. I am interested as to how many people here have secret fantasies to write 'officially' for a living, and how many people do it just and purely for fun. I have polled on a similar topic, I think. If it is just a hobby, I think you should still take it seriously, and I am sure most of us here do, but then you can get upset about it, and that doesn't seem right either. I think we all draw that line between craft and fun in different places. So, perhaps people picked fics they loved just because they loved the idea, or made themselves smile or laugh, or knew that they had made others smile or laugh.
I wasn't tagged (sob) I don't think, which is a relief, because I am not sure which I would pick. I am terrible critic so I love and hate my own writing in equal measure at times. Why do I love the fics of mine I love? Sometimes I am not sure. I might like them one day but dislike them another. I especially look back at my early work and sometimes get embarrassed at how little I knew back then. Which leads me to my final thought:
Which of your fics are you disappointed with? Not in a negative, I'm crap, way, I'm not here for that. But which, if you could go back, would you re do and why? You like the idea but didn't quite pull it off as you'd like, in retrospect? Perhaps just because you know more now than you did then? I would re do Point of View. I liked the idea of showing Sam and Dean's differing POVs of the same event, and found it hard at the time. innie_darling was a great help as a beta and really helped me make it better, but I still feel like it's an idea that could be executed much better.
I am tempted to re write, and to challenge people to re write their fic which they are disappointed with, but perhaps we should all just put it behind us as a learning experience, and look forward.
I hope these thoughts have made sense; I fear they made more sense in my head. I welcome all your thoughts on anything I've said.