Fannish Thoughts

[cornerofmadness]

I've been reading a lot of fanfic this month (Yay to free printing) I've noticed some of us have a tendency to write only a handful of characters or one single ship and rarely venture beyond that. Others of us writing just about anything.

This is hardly news, I know. Some, however, I'm noticing write exactly the same story again and again, they just change the setting (especially true of the AU though I rarely read those because without the supernatural I just don't care). In fact, it's gotten to the point with some of the shippy writers I know, that I'm just bored with their new stuff since it's exactly the same as their old stuff, just a new setting. This is especially true of the B/A'ers and the Spuffy writers (not all of them. I'm most assuredly not saying that). I think others might have noticed this as well. I wonder if people think the same of some of my stuff.

So this has gotten me curious (and I'm sure this has been discussed before), what do people think of my stuff. Am I successful in giving the same ships new and interesting story lines when I write them or are people thinking 'oh god, Spike/Dru again?' So...

A) do you write only one or two character and if so why? What is it about them

B) do you prefer writing lots of characters and if so why?

C) do you stick with one ship or do you like to play with any.

D) If you're the one or two shipper kind of writer how do you plan around the I'm gonna bore my readers with the same romantic plot reprocessed yet again? Or do you just really not care and just write for your own enjoyment (well we all should do that but you know what I mean)

As for me, I like writing groups of characters better than just one or two. That said, I do have my preferences. Before Connor showed up, I did a lot of Spike and Dru. After Connor, exploring his relationship with Angel and pairing him off with women I think work became a focus. I still like doing a variety when I can though. Spike and Dru always appealed to me. They're such wicked fun. Connor is an archetype I've been writing for 20 years now so he was a given to appeal to me.

When it comes to the ships, I hopefully make the stories different in two ways, varying the setting and the people invovled. This is especially fun to do with Spike/Dru and Darla/Angelus because I love historical research and I can put them just about anywhere. Secondly I prefer to make the ship the background of the story and the focus something else, usually the bad guy. Hopefully it works.

Thoughts?

Comments

I hope this helps.

[aaronlisa.livejournal.com]

a) I tend to write multiple characters. Lately Willow's been a character that I focus on but I will try almost every character at least once.
b) I prefer to write a lot of characters so I don't fall into the trap of writing the same story over and over again. If I am writing a story about B/A it can't have the same plot as a story about Willow/Angel or Angel/Spike. And although my favourite ship is the Willow/Angel one, when I first started reading I found that a lot of writers would eventually write the same story over & over again.
c) I don't stick with one ship, I've tried a lot of different ones. At one point I'd write any ship. Now I do tend to stick with a few favourites, but I will get plot bunnies for others and I will write them. But lately I've been writing a lot of W/A, how long that lasts I don't know.
d) To avoid the same plot over and over, I try to change certain things, like the season that the story is set in. I try to do things that I haven't seen before in the ship. When I write W/A I really try to avoid the fluff, and the Buffy bashing (sometimes it works to make Buffy the bad guy but I try not to outright bash her, I try to show why she's the bad guy.) And I try to work with different seasons and have different episodes as the starting point.

From what I've read of your stuff, I wouldn't say that it's always the same. You sometimes have the same themes, but who doesn't. Even writers like Stephen King have the same themes from book to book. But the stories that I've read have always been different.

Re: I hope this helps.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

yes you are definitely one of the writers I was thinking about when I was thinking variety. Might want to check out Dragonydreams for Will/Angel (though I think you already do) I should go look at your Willow stuff more.

And thanks. Yes, there is always a bit of repetition of theme but then as you said, there are others where that's all you get

Re: I hope this helps.

[aaronlisa.livejournal.com]

I do read her stuff quite a bit, she's a great Willow author.

And the themes is something that I think most writers repeat. I'd rather see the same themes than the same plot.

Re: I hope this helps.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I think you might be right about the themes...repeated sometimes to the point you just know what will happen. (well that's true of professional writing too, like the last Dead Zone when we all figured it out five minutes into it)