Female Gen Character Ficathon: Iron Points North (AtS, Fred)

[vaznetti]

(posting early by special permission)

Title: Iron Points North
By: Vanzetti
Fandom: Angel
For: inlovewithnight, in the female character gen ficathon
Summary: Fred needs to be somewhere else.

Comments

[bardsmaid]

I don't know any of the background for this, never having ventured into this fandom, but your writing just keeps getting better and better--clean and evocative, which makes it a draw to read. I especially liked how Fred's "I needed to go somewhere without so many buildings" segued so nicely into "Dry grass had crackled around her as she walked, seeds stuck to her jeans. Tiny lizards and snakes scrambled and slithered away from her feet. In the late afternoon she'd wandered up a dry creek-bed and through scrubby gray trees..."

This is a point I've been thnking about recently: that writing fic enables us satisfy our creative urges on the spur of the moment, without having to take the time to build up a whole universe, situation and characters. It's like being able to walk out into a world and take interesting snapshots rather than having to create the entire setting and then venture out into it with the camera.

Unfortunately, it also means that those outside the fandom(s) we write in are for the most part left out of the loop if they try to read our stuff, not having any of the requisite background. Too bad, because there are any number of real gems to be found within fic.

[vaznetti]

I think you're right about the built-in drawbacks of fanfic -- the way it can exclude readers who don't follow the original source, although I think the problem is worse in short fiction. I can often read a long story in a fandom I'm not very familiar with, because the plot of the novel itself will carry me along. Whereas for short fiction, I need to know the source (and care about it) much more deeply.

I'm pleased that you liked the writing--that it could pull you in even without any knowledge of the source. That's a great compliment.