meta | fic: writing multiple, varying "takes" on the same characters and events

[expositionary]

1 School starts again for me on the fifth; I'm wasting the remainder of my summer by reading a lot of fic and writing a lot of horrible original fiction and fic. This week I'm doing a bit of volunteering -- the type you actually have to wake up early for -- so that should get me sorted on a regular sleep schedule again. Hopefully. Judging from the

Comments

[expositionary]

Er, yes. Typo. School has nothing to do with stars -- stars are very positive things and school so isn't. xD

I run into that problem a lot with canon/fanon, too; I posted some sort of long-winded essay on that a while back, I think. Whenever that happens now I usually just ask my friends who don't read fic, and if they give me strange looks, I conclude that it isn't canon.

If you're interested in Merope & Tom at all, virginia_bell is working on a fascinating WIP exploring that entire story: A Garden of One's Own. And do you happen to have the link to the fic you mentioned? I checked the author's userinfo, but she doesn't seem to have anything listed in memories, etc.

[jedirita]

Here via Hogwarts Today. I just posted about this exact same topic about a week or so ago. I'm much the same as you on this topic.

1. Have you ever found certain ideas/plotlines/themes "bleeding over" from fic to fic, if you write often about a certain character/set of characters?

Absolutely. Me, I have to create a detailed backstory for my major characters to "understand their motivation" as actors say, and this backstory tends to get reused in other stories.

2. How do you deal with this? If something (i.e. a get-together, a death, a separation) happens a certain way in your mind, and you write it, how can you write another story in which it happens differently?I don't. If I write the Shrieking Shack incident, then I tend not to go back and write another version of the same thing. Or if I have Remus and Snape get together, then that incident continues into other fics. All my shorter fics tend to fit together into one overarching narrative. I've only just recently managed to write "new" fics that don't fit into one narrative, and

[expositionary]

Eep, if I'd realised there was another post about this, I would've found my way over there, instead. Anyhow, it's good to know that other people are having similar thoughts. :)

I've got several things going about Remus also -- he's such an interesting character to focus on in terms of development. The "lost years" have so much possibility, too; we can do whatever we wish with them, as fic writers.

[lupinspatronus]

Firstly: You're writing about Regulus Black?? YAYYY

[expositionary]

Ultimately, it's still the quality of the writing that decides whether I like a certain fic or not; beyond that I don't hold any strong biases.

As a reader, I find that incredibly true. Actually -- really well-written fics have, on occasion, been so good that they've converted me to a certain ship. I won't necessarily write it, but I start reading it like mad.

I have great, great respect for writers who do brilliant character studies without huge drama!

ME TOO. In today's culture all sorts of media seem to rely on drama and excitement and edginess in order to create tension and sell. I have huge respect for writers or artists who can maintain their integrity when creating a piece, resisting that urge for drama, and still do a fantastic job of it.

You write music?! This sounds trite, but that's really, really neat. What instrument(s?) do you write for? What sort of music?

[lupinspatronus]

I'm a classical musician, actually, so I write classical music.. for mostly traditional orchestral instruments. I'm not into all those electroacoustic or experimental sort of music (there's one where you try feeding a bale of hay to a piano.. I'm not kidding) I can't write songs for nuts, I'm horrible at lyrics! Wish I were better, there are so much amazing lyrics out there by incredible bands! HP fandom does inspire me sometimes, because of the intensity of emotions, the depth of issues, and really the whole world that is out there for us to play about in! Haven't really gotten down to creating anything out of that, though.. I should, sometime. Haha!

[celandineb]

Here via HT -- great questions

[expositionary]

all fanfic is in a sense AU, after all, and there's no real reason to pick one over another if both are equally convincing.

Very, very true. :D I think that a lot of what influences the particular AU I choose as "convincing" has to do with the quality of writing; the more well-written a fic is, the higher the chance is that I'll choose its "reality" over the next.

My muse has an annoying tendency to take what's intended as a short one-shot and make me turn it into something much longer.

Oh, I know what you mean. I always get ideas for nice quick fics, and they turn out to be unfinished, sprawling messes five months down the road. Perhaps your muse is trying to hint that you should write a novel. :P

[celandineb]

Perhaps your muse is trying to hint that you should write a novel.

Oh definitely, there's one that is a novel-in-progress, and I've written or cowritten three other novel-length works. Not all as tightly structured as they might be, but I'm improving at that.

I think that a lot... has to do with the quality of writing

Word to that. Although an idea that's not too interesting (even if very well-written) won't usually convince me, a poorly-written great idea has almost no chance of doing so.

[paulamcg]

It’s good to see you are back making your interesting entries. I hope you’ll have some time also for commenting on the fic you read…

Perhaps you’ve alredy noticed that I don’t regard all-encompassing, cohesive narrative as problematic at all

[expositionary]

Sorry for the belated reply! I've had RL stuff to deal with most of this week. And grr, I'm having trouble getting through all of the to-read fic -- did you know, I actually have a full seventy sitting in a bookmarks folder, waiting? School interrupts beginning Monday, too. :(

Reading your response is a wonderful reassurance that writers can write in more-or-less exclusively one universe, enjoy it, and still remain sane. I like the idea of complimentary stories; it's reminiscent of an original fiction author writing different books in the same series (and so, I suppose, a good habit to develop if you have any goals in that area).

I approach my fanfiction as if it were so-called original fiction - with the exception that I can’t sell it.

Which is exactly my approach to fic, as well. I think that fanfic needs to be written well enough to stand on its own without being supported by either canon or fanon -- canon should be a spring-board of sorts instead of the basis.