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

[marenfic.livejournal.com]

As you know, I love the B/A but less than half of my fics are strict B/A. I would call myself a Buffy character writer first and foremost, with Faith thrown in as a distant second-place character contender. I'll write Buffy with just about anyone and I've managed to write her with Angel, Faith, Cordelia, Wesley, Gunn, Tara, and Spike. Because I think my writing strengths lie in portraying character emotions, I tend to be a 'shippier writer rather than a plot writer. I think in general I write things that are very tightly focused on one or maybe two characters and I'm sure that my writing style makes things seem "familiar" at times even when the premise is different than other things I've written.

Now you tend to play to your strengths when you write-- and that's developing a plot, a bad guy, and moving the characters toward a resolution. When I want a plotty story, you are one of the writers I turn to. When I want a shippy or emotionally focused fic, I go to other writers (and if I want my B/A heart ripped out of my chest, I go to chrisleeoctaves). I think we all get caught up in "themes" because of the way we see the characters and that can start looking alike even when the premise or setting of a story changes. When I read your Connor and your Connor/Angel, I know what I'm going to get. I don't think that's a bad thing-- I'm sure the same can be said of my Buffy or of any other writer's favorite character. It's the things that surround the character/characters that can make a fic unique. So you write your characters in different settings and I write Buffy in different 'ships and hopefully people don't get too bored :)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I think that you're one of the few writers that I read who'll ship Buffy with just about anyone and do it believeably as well. I think it IS possible to not get overly repetitive even if you're doing as you do, the shippy fic and you do handle the emotions well. You're one of the fanfic writers I'd like to see do original fic and go somewhere with it.

It's the things that surround the character/characters that can make a fic unique. So you write your characters in different settings and I write Buffy in different 'ships and hopefully people don't get too bored :)

I agree with this. And really I'm glad to hear I do plot well. I like writing mysteries when I'm not doing this. Plot's important. One day maybe I'll surprise you all and do something unexpected with Connor (I killed him once, really I did. Okay he was still an infant...)