Plot? What Plot?
Readers are always asking me about the plots of my various fics, and what 'verses they fit into. (I have estora in mind, because we were just talking about 'verses, but she is not the only one.) The thing is ... I never really have an answer for that - because, basically, there is no plot. I guess FFV is the plot-heaviest thing I've written, and even that is structured primarily by following someone else's plot - it's the films, told from another point of view.
It occurs to me that all my fics are essentially "missing scenes," some of which are predicated on AUs - but I don't really plan out the universes around the fics. They are just little snippets of story, and if I put them together well, then maybe they make some kind of pattern. I have only a hazy idea of what lies beyond their borders ... and I like it like that.
Maybe it's tied to the concept of "unfinished" tales, as discussed by Tolkien. The idea that if a story was deep and meaningful, it would never really end ... it would just lead on into the next story, another adventure, the torch passed on. But for me the borders of the story-world are maybe even more nebulous. Like ... part of the joy comes from letting readers fill in the blank spaces around the edges of the map. It's one of the things I like as a reader, myself.
Anyway, I don't really have a point with this. I'm just rambling, because it's late and I can't go to bed yet and I'm nervous about traveling tomorrow. But I'd be interested to hear how y'all approach the concept of plot and verse-structure when you are writing fics. What does "plot" even mean to you? Do you need to know what happens before and after the fic you're reading in order to make sense of it? Do you have to know those things when you're writing?
Share your thoughts, LJ ...
It occurs to me that all my fics are essentially "missing scenes," some of which are predicated on AUs - but I don't really plan out the universes around the fics. They are just little snippets of story, and if I put them together well, then maybe they make some kind of pattern. I have only a hazy idea of what lies beyond their borders ... and I like it like that.
Maybe it's tied to the concept of "unfinished" tales, as discussed by Tolkien. The idea that if a story was deep and meaningful, it would never really end ... it would just lead on into the next story, another adventure, the torch passed on. But for me the borders of the story-world are maybe even more nebulous. Like ... part of the joy comes from letting readers fill in the blank spaces around the edges of the map. It's one of the things I like as a reader, myself.
Anyway, I don't really have a point with this. I'm just rambling, because it's late and I can't go to bed yet and I'm nervous about traveling tomorrow. But I'd be interested to hear how y'all approach the concept of plot and verse-structure when you are writing fics. What does "plot" even mean to you? Do you need to know what happens before and after the fic you're reading in order to make sense of it? Do you have to know those things when you're writing?
Share your thoughts, LJ ...