Writing as a tool to explore fantasies
Prompted by a discussion on the SGCdarkfic list....
This has probably been discussed before ad nauseum, but since I rarely get to read anything--online or otherwise--these days, please bear with me.
( Follow me for a long-ass ramble and questions to boot )
This has probably been discussed before ad nauseum, but since I rarely get to read anything--online or otherwise--these days, please bear with me.
( Follow me for a long-ass ramble and questions to boot )
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...that discussion on the darkfic list has really made me realize how NOT dark anything I've ever written is.
You know, I was thinking the same thing. I thought "Descent" was fairly dark, but when I look at some of the other fic in the archive and fic on some people's personal websites, I have to admit that I'm pretty tame in comparison.
There's no real incentive to check out a fic that will only be marginally what they want to read.
I both agree and disagree with you there. There are a lot of people who read fic that only fits into their specific wants (like S/J romance with or without smut and a happy ending), but there are also quite a few of us who read writers, not fic. I mean, I do prefer reading fic that combines my favorite characters with story types that I am interested in (OT3 or OT4 apocafic is probably my favorite), but I will read outside of my preferred fandom or even fandoms I know nothing about if the author is someone I really like. You should definitely write your fic the way *you* want to write it. Please ( ... )
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I will read outside of my preferred fandom or even fandoms I know nothing about if the author is someone I really like. You should definitely write your fic the way *you* want to write it. Please yourself first. Oh, absolutely. Well, ok, I don't always write completely for myself, but I don't post unless I'm satisfied with the results. I guess I'm prolific enough that I don't feel everything I write needs to come from my soul. God... I hope some of that isn't coming from my soul. :p ( ... )
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As for writing our personal fantasies... I've actually ranted about this, if you're going to overlay your personal fantasy, just write it as original erotica and submit it to an erotica site. And, yes, I have told a few people that. S/J fic especially ends up garnering the girls who want to be with Jack, and thus make Sam into themselves so they can.
*mutters*
Although I freely admit the Sam/Kara stuff is mostly personal fantasy, it still falls mostly in character for both of them.
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S/J fic especially ends up garnering the girls who want to be with Jack, and thus make Sam into themselves so they can.
*nod* I've noticed that, too. Well, as I stated above (I think to Christi), I explained myself badly. I meant using writing as a tool for living out fantasies, but keeping the characters intact. If I wanted to read about someone more like myself, and not like Sam, then I wouldn't be reading Stargate fic. I like to read fic about the characters, but I can imagine myself as one of them, as I'm sure many people do when reading any type of book or story, whether it be fiction or nonfiction. We use literature as a way to escape our own mundane lives, as well as for many other purposes, and we can use writing in this way, too. I didn't intentionally start off writing anything with this in mind, but I could see it heading that way. As Ari said, we write things we can relate to (in whatever way that may be) or the writing is empty.
Although I freely admit the Sam/Kara stuff is mostly personal fantasy, it still falls ( ... )
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I write because it shuts up the voices in my head-no -seriously-it is a great stress reliever for me-and i do have an origninal story rattling around in there-but really haven't spent much time on it.
now acting on my own fantasies-hmmmm-could be-the urge to be someone else and experience something else-not really sure but i am sure Freud or Maslow would have something to tsay. As for being comfortable in my niche-hmm-also a maybe-i tend to really like fantasy and mystical stuff-which is why a few of my stories tended to be those types. but who knows.
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Hey, Rose! I know, it's been a really long time, hasn't it? I only chat once or twice a week now usually, so I'm missing a lot of people. *sob*
i have to say that i have no idea what an OT3 or OT4 is
It's a fic in which 3 or 4 of the members of SG1, or sometimes a peripheral character such as Dr. Fraiser, are involved in a relationship beyond friendship.
I write because it shuts up the voices in my head...
Yeah, I know those voices well. Mine, I mean--not yours. *g*
...and i do have an origninal story rattling around in there...
Same here. But in my typical 'start and stop and start and stop' again fashion, none of them may ever get completed.
...but i am sure Freud or Maslow would have something to tsay...
Indeed. ;-)
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but i don't think i can do the OT3 or OT4-that would be more than I could even wrap my beady little brain around.
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yeah, i started my original story-it has been something that has been rattling around for many many years.
Great! I'll be looking for it in magazines in a bookstore near me. :-)
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And I've definitely branched out from where I began, although it's still nich-y.
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By the time I've gone through all that trouble, I don't feel it's mary-suish at all because all the characters are in character.
I hope that's the same with mine. I try, but it's difficult to get into the head of someone so very different from me. Sometimes I say to myself, "Well, what would you do? Okay, so Sam will do the opposite." *g*
Thanks for responding, Allie.
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