Writing v. Posting
A quick poll:
Poll Natural Inclinations
*And by "fandom" I mean however you first encountered it, be it internet, cons, zines, etc.
There appears to be lots of meta going around on lots of different topics that I could jump into, but one aspect of a recent thing caught my eye, and that's the idea that we write for comments.
And, well, I don't really feel that's the case. I once saw (and this was years ago) that feedback didn't affect what they wrote, but it affected what they posted and I thought that was an excellent distinction.
I have always written fanfic. Always. Before I knew it was called fanfic. I wrote Nancy/Frank fic when the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys crossovers teased us with the possibility and didn't follow through. I wrote episode scripts for MacGyver, L.A. Law, and a mid-season filler show called The Human Target. (Which yes, was based on the comic, although I didn't know it at the time...Rick Springfield was the star. That should pretty much say it all.) I wrote ridiculous Mary Sue prose for MacGyver, Star Trek, Hawaii 5-0, this book series called, "The Cadets" which is now out of print, and Batman. (And by "Batman" I mean the old-school television show. With the big cartoon onomatopoeias. Yes.) Later, my sister and I wrote Batman: The Animated Series, the old 90s X-Men series, and stories based on the millions of X-Men titles.
Now keep in mind, none of this was good writing. The sex was improbable, the prose was purple, the Mary Sues were self-inserts with bright green eyes who spoke 47 languages, and the comic fic were 300+ page epics that labored along until we got bored, and then we'd write them from another character's perspective. (Let's not talk about how many people I put in comas for dramatic purposes. Clearly that episode of GI Joe where Duke escapes the COBRA compound and stumbles out of the jungle weeks later, snake-bitten, shot, and quicksanded before succumbing to unconsciousness made a big impression.)
So in some ways, yes, fandom has affected what I write. But it doesn't why I write. And in some ways, it doesn't affect the types of things I write. I've learned the value of a beginning, a middle, and an end, but I'm still going to write Weir/Sumner, because I think it's cracktastic and wonderful, even though I bet a percentage of fandom would say that they hate the characters. I haven't put anyone in a coma for YEARS, but I wrote a Katie Brown fic because there had to be more to her than comic relief. (Okay, I did it because reccea told me to, but that's beside the point.) And honestly, I expected about three comments on that, but the response was extremely warm and I'm grateful.
I'm not actually sure what the poll will tell me. I did ponder and throw out several follow-up questions on what people write now, how old they are, how old they were when they encountered fandom, etc. but really my question boils down to just what's there: Who wrote fanfic without fandom? That's pretty much what fandom is all about to me - finding out that other people do this weird thing that I've been doing all my life. (Yes, I didn't go into the Strawberry Shortcake storylines and we're all better for it.)
I post because it's how I interact with people like me. It's how I say, "Look, I do this, too!" By now, I think, I do have fandom-oriented goals, such as writing stories that say something about the characters instead of Gratuitous Smittyservice (not that there's anything wrong with that) and participating in fic-a-thons and challenges to improve my writing rather than fall back on...putting someone in a coma. And attention and notoriety is factored in there somewhere as well. (Even though it's completely scandalous to admit so in some people's upbringing. Like mine.) It's natural to want a pat on the head for working hard on something and doing a good job on it. But I think it's inaccurate to attribute that to the ultimate motivation behind a lot of writing. And I could be wrong...but that's what I'm trying to figure out.
OKAY. Now that I've brain-dumped that, maybe I can sleep. :P
Edit: Just FYI for people coming in from metafandom, I put in the general results of the poll as of 6pm EST, March 4th, here, before the post got metafandomed. Oops. :)
Poll Natural Inclinations
*And by "fandom" I mean however you first encountered it, be it internet, cons, zines, etc.
There appears to be lots of meta going around on lots of different topics that I could jump into, but one aspect of a recent thing caught my eye, and that's the idea that we write for comments.
And, well, I don't really feel that's the case. I once saw (and this was years ago) that feedback didn't affect what they wrote, but it affected what they posted and I thought that was an excellent distinction.
I have always written fanfic. Always. Before I knew it was called fanfic. I wrote Nancy/Frank fic when the Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys crossovers teased us with the possibility and didn't follow through. I wrote episode scripts for MacGyver, L.A. Law, and a mid-season filler show called The Human Target. (Which yes, was based on the comic, although I didn't know it at the time...Rick Springfield was the star. That should pretty much say it all.) I wrote ridiculous Mary Sue prose for MacGyver, Star Trek, Hawaii 5-0, this book series called, "The Cadets" which is now out of print, and Batman. (And by "Batman" I mean the old-school television show. With the big cartoon onomatopoeias. Yes.) Later, my sister and I wrote Batman: The Animated Series, the old 90s X-Men series, and stories based on the millions of X-Men titles.
Now keep in mind, none of this was good writing. The sex was improbable, the prose was purple, the Mary Sues were self-inserts with bright green eyes who spoke 47 languages, and the comic fic were 300+ page epics that labored along until we got bored, and then we'd write them from another character's perspective. (Let's not talk about how many people I put in comas for dramatic purposes. Clearly that episode of GI Joe where Duke escapes the COBRA compound and stumbles out of the jungle weeks later, snake-bitten, shot, and quicksanded before succumbing to unconsciousness made a big impression.)
So in some ways, yes, fandom has affected what I write. But it doesn't why I write. And in some ways, it doesn't affect the types of things I write. I've learned the value of a beginning, a middle, and an end, but I'm still going to write Weir/Sumner, because I think it's cracktastic and wonderful, even though I bet a percentage of fandom would say that they hate the characters. I haven't put anyone in a coma for YEARS, but I wrote a Katie Brown fic because there had to be more to her than comic relief. (Okay, I did it because reccea told me to, but that's beside the point.) And honestly, I expected about three comments on that, but the response was extremely warm and I'm grateful.
I'm not actually sure what the poll will tell me. I did ponder and throw out several follow-up questions on what people write now, how old they are, how old they were when they encountered fandom, etc. but really my question boils down to just what's there: Who wrote fanfic without fandom? That's pretty much what fandom is all about to me - finding out that other people do this weird thing that I've been doing all my life. (Yes, I didn't go into the Strawberry Shortcake storylines and we're all better for it.)
I post because it's how I interact with people like me. It's how I say, "Look, I do this, too!" By now, I think, I do have fandom-oriented goals, such as writing stories that say something about the characters instead of Gratuitous Smittyservice (not that there's anything wrong with that) and participating in fic-a-thons and challenges to improve my writing rather than fall back on...putting someone in a coma. And attention and notoriety is factored in there somewhere as well. (Even though it's completely scandalous to admit so in some people's upbringing. Like mine.) It's natural to want a pat on the head for working hard on something and doing a good job on it. But I think it's inaccurate to attribute that to the ultimate motivation behind a lot of writing. And I could be wrong...but that's what I'm trying to figure out.
OKAY. Now that I've brain-dumped that, maybe I can sleep. :P
Edit: Just FYI for people coming in from metafandom, I put in the general results of the poll as of 6pm EST, March 4th, here, before the post got metafandomed. Oops. :)