Jon K. Hayashi wrote:
I'm currently stuck in writer's block over my realistic psychological musical,
so I'm just jotting down some musings over fanfic writing.
Wow! What a cool project! Anyone remember the few pieces of really bad
Ranma musical that went out over this list when it started? *giggle*
Damon, do you have those? If so, drop me a line.
SO YOU WANT TO WRITE A FANFIC
[Some thoughts on the subject by JK, with examples from Ranma fanfictions]
[snp]
Topic 1: No Experience Necessary
[snip]
I believe the problem is impulse; a "great" idea is gotten, then we have to
write the story and post it for comment immediately. The first step is to
write your idea on a piece of paper and hold off on it. If its really a great
idea then the extra time won't hurt, and you can use that time to develop the
idea further (see topics 3 and 7).
A good suggestion! Though you do have a place to post the raw idea (ie.
here) and get some feedback which might help/point out problems that Jon
will be covering in his later topics.
If it is your first time at writing a fanfic, then there is an easy way to get
some practice before you rush your "great idea" and forever irritating
Megazone with revisions. Take a partially completed fanfic and complete it.
This will allow you to discover whether or not you have what it takes to write
dialogue, action, manipulate storylines, and complete a story; it will also
allow you to work through your preconceptions of the characters.
Huum...an interesting idea. A good exercise.
[snip]
Topic 2: Conjunction Junction
[snip]
Internal Continuity can not be violated; it is necessary for the story to
proceed in a logical fashion and for the reader to understand the plot. Facts
or scenes early in the story can not be forgotten/changed later unless it is
a point of view story (e.g. Rashomon), or it can be logically explained how
the previous viewpoint was right for its time but was wrong in the big picture.
Agreed. Internal continuity is the heart of the plot and IMHO one of the
hardest things to do. For me, this is what takes the most time, making a
chain of events piece together in a believeable, logical fashion. It is
so easy to rabbit hat. (What is a rabbit hat, you may ask? Well,
something along the lines of : The villian showing up when it would have
no reason to know where the protagonist is just because you need the
villian to show up then.) I find this one of the biggest problems I see
in a lot of beginning authors. They want to advance the story without
taking the time to explain or figure out how an event occured. And
believe me, I understand that impluse. I'll write an event then have to
go back and add six paragraphs to explain how it happened.
[snip]
Examples of this can easily be seen in Ranma. If you went by the current Viz
releases, Ranma does not yet have either an insatiable appetite or bad study
habits. Yet, these traits seem to be prevalent in the majority of fanfics
written. Does he eventually acquire these traits? I can't say. But the
series has gone for one semester (or four if you count the times that Shampoo
has gone to the beach for the summer) and neither of these traits have been
mentioned yet. If there was a problem, it should have already surfaced during
this time, when people notice these things because it is a new situation.
These fall under the same kind thing as urban myths. Someone wrote a fic
with Ranma having these traits (exagerating on what is hinted in the
anime and manga) and someone else put it in theirs and so forth and so
on until it has taken the feeling of 'canon'.
"Alternate Reality" stories are the exceptions to this rule, as the changes in
continuity are the basis for the story. However, as more changes are made,
faithfulness to the original characterizations becomes increasingly important.
These stories also tend to have the problem mentioned in Topic 1, that
certain character prejudices come to the fore, and favored characters become
emphasized beyond their wont.
I'm not gonna' touch that as I consistantly go harring off on my own
tangets in my fic's, taking them way, way off thier established paths.
Though what if the change to a character is the major point of the fic?
And in something like a Ranma fic, that character change is going to
affect the responses of all the other characters, neh?
Future Topics
Topic 3: Seven Years I Wandered... (story length)
Humm...can't wait to hear your ideas on this. ^_^
Topic 4: Brainstorming, Barnstorming, One Of Those Stormings.... (plot development)
Might want to put this as 3 since it has more to do with the 'I've got
an idea" topic you started with. ^_^
Topic 5: Plot vs. Character (the eternal debate)
Why? A good fic is balanced between the two, neh?
Topic 6: The Consumption of Lemons (sex scenes not included)
*ahem* There is anything to lemons other than sex scenes? ^_-
Topic 7: The Power of the Dark Side (tone)
Hummm...this one sounds interesting also.
Topic 8: I Slept Through High School English (form, basic english)
No. But it didn't make any difference. I still can't diagram a sentence.
It would drive my teachers insane. How could I write well and not be
able to tell a noun from a verb. Answer: I just write it so it sounds
right. (yup. I'd flunk the grammar part of the course and ace the
writting half. Ended up with a C every year.)
Topic 9: Pass The Ketchup (the extras you include)
humm...interested to hear your thoughts on this too.
Topic 10: Where There Was No Path (storyboarding)
Shouldn't this go after #4, or be a sub-heading of it?
Topic 11: The Little Engine That Could (writing the thing)
*giggle* (story starts...I know I can, I know I can...story middle...I
think I can, I think I can...3/4 of the way through and the writers
block hits...I thought I could, I thought I could...a while down the
road, inspiration stirkes once more and the cycle begins again...)
Though we've been lucky here. Most folk do work and post regular
installments to thier stories.
Topic 12: Self-Editing For Fun And Profit
I'm all ears! I don't edit my own stuff well at all. *sigh*
Topic 13: What do YOU know? (outside commentary or lack of same)
Not much. ^_^
Laters.
Windlily
(littlecritter@overyonder.com)