Rant about AU's
I love love love AU's and AT's, and I'll defend the concept to the death. But dear lordie, sometimes I get the idea that people can't tell the difference between an AU/AT and plain old lazy writing.
What an AU is:
1) A what if designed to explore what canon can't or won't, where something fundimental about the universe has been changed.
2) The change is intentional, purposeful, and a major focus of the fic. The author has thoroughly thought out what this change would mean to the canon characters and canon events.
3) The change can be the setting or the characters. Yes, it's okay, dammit, to make a character ooc -- if that's what the author wants to explore. Turning a good guy Evil can make for some fascinating reading.
An AT is where a single major canon event is changed, and what logically follows from that point.
What an AU and AT aren't:
1) A fic meant to strictly adhere to Canon events. Jesus Christ, people. "X died, get over it," is an automatic fail for an argument against a fic in my view. Try again. Come up with something else, like maybe the rest of my list.
2) Random. "My changes are pastede on, Yay!" GRRRR. That's not an AU, that's just badfic. For every change, you have to logically think through the consequences to the characters and their environment, the more changes you put in, the more plotting and thought you have to put into your fic. Readers can tell how shallowly you've thought things through, trust me!
3) Easy. People are told to "write what they know," which is great advice when it isn't misinterpreted to mean "write what doesn't require you to think." Changing the setting to one you are more familiar with in real life can work, but only if you put just as much attention or more into thinking through the effect of this change on your characters. A lot of writers use a familiar setting because they think it should be easier to write than the canon setting. It isn't: You have to rethink through how being in High School effects the characters and that can be quite tough if your characters aren't already High School students. Plus surviving high school and making the experience remotely interesting to others is two entirely different skill sets!.
4) Convienient. AU isn't an "all your plot problems solved free" card. You can't cherry pick your consequences. Take the bad with the good, and deal. Making X a girl won't just make life easier for your OTP, it will also effect every other aspect of her life. Let's face it, having the universe hand over the perfect situation for your OTP to thrive in is just freaking boring. Readers want to see your characters overcome their situation, not breeze through it.
What an AU is:
1) A what if designed to explore what canon can't or won't, where something fundimental about the universe has been changed.
2) The change is intentional, purposeful, and a major focus of the fic. The author has thoroughly thought out what this change would mean to the canon characters and canon events.
3) The change can be the setting or the characters. Yes, it's okay, dammit, to make a character ooc -- if that's what the author wants to explore. Turning a good guy Evil can make for some fascinating reading.
An AT is where a single major canon event is changed, and what logically follows from that point.
What an AU and AT aren't:
1) A fic meant to strictly adhere to Canon events. Jesus Christ, people. "X died, get over it," is an automatic fail for an argument against a fic in my view. Try again. Come up with something else, like maybe the rest of my list.
2) Random. "My changes are pastede on, Yay!" GRRRR. That's not an AU, that's just badfic. For every change, you have to logically think through the consequences to the characters and their environment, the more changes you put in, the more plotting and thought you have to put into your fic. Readers can tell how shallowly you've thought things through, trust me!
3) Easy. People are told to "write what they know," which is great advice when it isn't misinterpreted to mean "write what doesn't require you to think." Changing the setting to one you are more familiar with in real life can work, but only if you put just as much attention or more into thinking through the effect of this change on your characters. A lot of writers use a familiar setting because they think it should be easier to write than the canon setting. It isn't: You have to rethink through how being in High School effects the characters and that can be quite tough if your characters aren't already High School students. Plus surviving high school and making the experience remotely interesting to others is two entirely different skill sets!.
4) Convienient. AU isn't an "all your plot problems solved free" card. You can't cherry pick your consequences. Take the bad with the good, and deal. Making X a girl won't just make life easier for your OTP, it will also effect every other aspect of her life. Let's face it, having the universe hand over the perfect situation for your OTP to thrive in is just freaking boring. Readers want to see your characters overcome their situation, not breeze through it.