Fandom questionnaire...

[tencrush]

Random questions that have been on my mind lately:

• Why do fanfic writers write to prompts and challenges and such? If you need a prompt, isn't that already a basic signal that there's something up with your creative juices? (I'm not being shitty here, I genuinely want to know why people do this.) Also, am I the only person who more or less assumes

Comments

[qthewetsprocket]

i can only really address your first set of questions here, so -

If you need a prompt, isn't that already a basic signal that there's something up with your creative juices?

not necessarily. sometimes prompts can get your muse to take a step to the side, as it were - it's very easy to get stuck in a writing rut (say, you always write jack/ianto, or you only write het!fic), so a prompt can be one way to nudge your creativity out of its normal comfort zone.

of course, some prompts can also be utter shite, which i found out the hard way when i volunteered for one without knowing what the prompt would be first. for that reason and several others, i don't really do prompts anymore unless one really grabs my muse by the gonads and won't let go.

why do people throw "plot bunnies" at each other? If you couldn't write it yourself, isn't that more or less a hint that the idea, in and of itself, doesn't have legs?

definitely not. say you get a really good idea. you seriously want to write it...but you already have eighteen other stories

[tencrush]

But, if it's a really good idea, wouldn't you want to keep it to yourself as opposed to throwing it at other people so they can butcher it for you? And if it's only a mediocre kind of idea, wouldn't'you be best off not inflicting it on the world?

Sorry, I see people running into communities sometimes going GREAT IDEA: IANTO HAS A BIONIC EYE!! and then just buggering off again and I think did you really need to share that with the world?

[qthewetsprocket]

But, if it's a really good idea, wouldn't you want to keep it to yourself as opposed to throwing it at other people so they can butcher it for you?

if you really love the bunny, you will love it enough to let an abler (ie less busy) plot!mummy write it. ;)

i think there is a definite difference between occasionally having a really good idea you're too busy to write and taking a massive hyperbolic brain dump in the middle of an unsuspecting comm, though. posts like the ones you're describing are a big reason why i don't have much to do with fic these days...but i can more than relate to someone going, 'shit, i've worked on this idea and tried to finish it but other stuff keeps coming up...but damn, i'd still love to read that story.'

[ceindreadh]

But, if it's a really good idea, wouldn't you want to keep it to yourself as opposed to throwing it at other people so they can butcher it for you? And if it's only a mediocre kind of idea, wouldn't'you be best off not inflicting it on the world?

Not necessarily. Just because somebody has the idea for a fic, doesn't mean that they'll be able to do it justice (just look at some of the crapfic out there and think of how those particular plots could have been handled in the hands of a more competent writer)
I've had ideas for fic before which I just know that I'd never be able to write either because my style of writing wouldn't suit the story, or I don't like the characters enough to invest my time in writing them. But I know that other writers might do a good job, so out goes the bunny.

[venusinchains]

I remember someone telling me that the term "plot bunny" came from a Steinbeck quote. (He said something like 'ideas multiply like bunnies.' Maybe. The exact quote is: "Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen." And I'm not a bit surprised that fandom chose to go with 'bunnies' rather than 'rabbits.' It kinda fits the lowest common denominator.)

J/I shippers have a mafia? (I probably owe them. Must hide.)

RE: TW spoiler: NO!

[noneinnyet]

I hope that occasionally being pro-Jack/Ianto does not make one part of the Jantomafia. 1 - I hate portmanteaus. 2 - They scare me. 3 - If this does make me a part of the Jantomafia, you most certainly are not on my shitlist.

Also, I agree that Ianto might die. Since a death arc seems to be the easiest way to get a good storyline on TW, I think I'm OK with this.

[dvanulya]

First, Ianto WILL NOT DIE.

Now, as to prompts. It's not just fanfic writers that use them as sparks to the creative process. Writing to someone else's prompt - especially with a time limit - is a good exercise. Now, sometimes that's all it is - an exercise. Some people don't realise that not every word that comes off their fingertips is necessarily fit for publication, even on their LJ.

One more cool thing about writing to prompts is having the chance to see how people approach the same prompt and come up with wildly disparate products. It's possible to learn a lot about your craft if you take some time to reflect and compare your work with that of others.

One more thing. If you post a manip, I will have to smack you. I am unanimous in that.

[tencrush]

BUT IS HAWT!

[ximeria]

I don't know about the mafia, but it wouldn't come as a surprise