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Fanfic essay.
This is an essay about fanfic definitions (or something), and came about because of this discussion with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
stormwreath. Meta began eating my head, so I figured I might as well just get it down and over with. This stuff has probably been said a million times by people more eloquent than I, but there you go. These are my thoughts. (Kinda short and written down in a morning, but I think I manage to put my main points across.)
Basically I think there are two types of fanfic: story-based and character-based. Not sure these are good names, but let me explain what I mean:
1. Story-based:
This kind can be divided into two subcategories: ‘What happens next?’ and ‘Fill-in-the-blank’. What they have in common is that they do the same job as the show, and the authors essentially try to do the same thing as a show-writer does: Continue or add to the existing story (canon).
Fit-B: On a show there will (if necessary) be flashbacks, and a lot of FitBs fit into this bracket (f.ex. how many ‘William & Angelus meet for the first time’ stories must there have been written before ‘Destiny’ told us what happened?). But fic writers will also take throwaway lines (“I ate a decorator once,”) or scenes we never saw (Buffy telling the Scoobies that Spike had a soul), or things that were never properly explained (why do vampires show up on film?) and try to find suitable explanations. For this to work it is of course of utmost importance that everyone is in character and that the story is plausible.
‘What happens next?’: This kind of fic tries to continue the story we saw on screen. F.ex. post-’The Gift’ there must have been a ridiculous number of fics, trying to work out a way of bringing Buffy back to life. Ditto with Spike post-Chosen. Of course if the show is still on air, the fic will be Jossed sooner or later. But if the show is finished, then this is the main way of still living in the ‘verse we loved. Who lived, who died in the alley? Did Buffy and Spike meet post-NFA? What happened to Illyria? Fics of this type adhere strictly to canon, and try to see where the characters could have gone in the future, given their past and their situation. Keeping them in character is the point.
2. Character based:
This type of fic springs from that eternal question: ‘What if?’ And although I have named this category ‘character-based’, this sort is much more likely to go down the OOC route. Because once you choose the AU path, anything can happen (which, btw, isn’t a *bad* thing!). These kinds of fics branch off from canon at any point (or can be completely AU, such as turning everyone into pop stars), and the possibilities are literally endless. What if Angel had turned Spike? What if Buffy had fallen for Xander? What if Angelus hadn’t been re-souled in ‘Becoming’? What if Jonathan was part-demon? What if Jenny hadn’t been killed? Etc. It is possible to roughly divide this type into two parts: Character-centric ones, where the interest comes from throwing a character (or characters) into a completely different situation and seeing what happens, and story-centric ones where the character(s) is (are) used to tell a different story to the one on the show. (Does that make sense? I hope so, because I don’t have time to delve into it.)
Now post-show fic can of course fall into this category also, but the distinctions become a bit blurry, because obviously category 1 also depends on the ‘What if?’ to have a story at all. I think however that there is still a distinction to be made: post-show stories that ret-con part of canon for the sake of their own story would fall into category 2. It is the difference between taking what’s there and working with it, or taking what’s wanted and discarding (or changing) what’s not.
(And - going back to what started this in the first place - this is why I think AtF fits category 1 and ‘season 8’ category 2.)
Please discuss, but I might not join in, OK? Am horribly busy and shouldn't be here!
stormwreath. Meta began eating my head, so I figured I might as well just get it down and over with. This stuff has probably been said a million times by people more eloquent than I, but there you go. These are my thoughts. (Kinda short and written down in a morning, but I think I manage to put my main points across.)Basically I think there are two types of fanfic: story-based and character-based. Not sure these are good names, but let me explain what I mean:
1. Story-based:
This kind can be divided into two subcategories: ‘What happens next?’ and ‘Fill-in-the-blank’. What they have in common is that they do the same job as the show, and the authors essentially try to do the same thing as a show-writer does: Continue or add to the existing story (canon).
Fit-B: On a show there will (if necessary) be flashbacks, and a lot of FitBs fit into this bracket (f.ex. how many ‘William & Angelus meet for the first time’ stories must there have been written before ‘Destiny’ told us what happened?). But fic writers will also take throwaway lines (“I ate a decorator once,”) or scenes we never saw (Buffy telling the Scoobies that Spike had a soul), or things that were never properly explained (why do vampires show up on film?) and try to find suitable explanations. For this to work it is of course of utmost importance that everyone is in character and that the story is plausible.
‘What happens next?’: This kind of fic tries to continue the story we saw on screen. F.ex. post-’The Gift’ there must have been a ridiculous number of fics, trying to work out a way of bringing Buffy back to life. Ditto with Spike post-Chosen. Of course if the show is still on air, the fic will be Jossed sooner or later. But if the show is finished, then this is the main way of still living in the ‘verse we loved. Who lived, who died in the alley? Did Buffy and Spike meet post-NFA? What happened to Illyria? Fics of this type adhere strictly to canon, and try to see where the characters could have gone in the future, given their past and their situation. Keeping them in character is the point.
2. Character based:
This type of fic springs from that eternal question: ‘What if?’ And although I have named this category ‘character-based’, this sort is much more likely to go down the OOC route. Because once you choose the AU path, anything can happen (which, btw, isn’t a *bad* thing!). These kinds of fics branch off from canon at any point (or can be completely AU, such as turning everyone into pop stars), and the possibilities are literally endless. What if Angel had turned Spike? What if Buffy had fallen for Xander? What if Angelus hadn’t been re-souled in ‘Becoming’? What if Jonathan was part-demon? What if Jenny hadn’t been killed? Etc. It is possible to roughly divide this type into two parts: Character-centric ones, where the interest comes from throwing a character (or characters) into a completely different situation and seeing what happens, and story-centric ones where the character(s) is (are) used to tell a different story to the one on the show. (Does that make sense? I hope so, because I don’t have time to delve into it.)
Now post-show fic can of course fall into this category also, but the distinctions become a bit blurry, because obviously category 1 also depends on the ‘What if?’ to have a story at all. I think however that there is still a distinction to be made: post-show stories that ret-con part of canon for the sake of their own story would fall into category 2. It is the difference between taking what’s there and working with it, or taking what’s wanted and discarding (or changing) what’s not.
(And - going back to what started this in the first place - this is why I think AtF fits category 1 and ‘season 8’ category 2.)
Please discuss, but I might not join in, OK? Am horribly busy and shouldn't be here!
no subject
I'm also possibly an ignoramus here, since I've never seen the shows you're talking about, but I will offer my opinions as a writer. :)
I totally agree with your assessment of plot-based stories, but the character-based feel a bit ... off. You said, of the two types, of character-based stories, "Character-centric ones, where the interest comes from throwing a character (or characters) into a completely different situation and seeing what happens, and story-centric ones where the character(s) is (are) used to tell a different story to the one on the show." I completely agree with the first part; actually, this is how I've defined my own character-based stories in the past. Because they don't necessarily hinge on a single event in my canon, then it is hard to explain to potential readers what the story will be about, so I often explain it as tossing a whole bunch of people in a room together during a certain canonical time period and letting them decide what happens next. Hence, the events evolve directly from the personalities, temperaments, and so on of the characters. For example, in a ridiculously long character-driven novel that I wrote, one of my young male characters is fiercely jealous and needy for his brother's and father's affections. Hence, when I introduce a same-aged cousin who begins to compete for both, the conflict evolves naturally from these characters' traits. Put together two other characters and a different plot would emerge. These stories often feel inevitable to me, the way that I will know that to spend an evening with two friends who don't particularly get along will inevitably result in an argument.
But the second half doesn't seem that it would necessarily have to be character-driven. I agree with the commenter who remarked that to keep an AU hinged to the canon, one must be extra careful to stay in-character. In that regard, it makes sense to me, but staying in-character and being character-based or -driven are necessarily synonymous, I don't think. One could still end up with a very plot-driven story using cookie-cutter characters given by the canon. I'm hampered by our different fandoms to come up with a compelling example, but I'll try. :) Say I have a character whose primary trait is his pride. Even people with cursory knowledge of canon understand him to be prideful to a fault, so writing a story where he is prideful doesn't necessarily say anything new about his character, and the plot isn't necessarily driven on the basis of this trait. However, it is in-character and true to canon. But the story itself remains very plot-based, and I could feasibly toss another canon character into his place, stay true to the new character, and have the same story, with minor changes to accommodate canon, of course.
I hope that this makes sense. :)
Personally, I think that the best stories do something of both: The author is informed enough about his/her characters that the story treats those characters in a thoughtful--but true-to-canon--manner, the plot believably derives in part from the characters' traits and interactions, and yet the plot is compelling, the story moves, and the author doesn't get embroiled in too much navel-gazing. Easier said than done, I know. :)
Thanks for an interesting discussion!
no subject
I got linked on metafandom??? *hides under desk* (Seriously, it had to be the essay I knocked up in a morning, rather than any of those that I agonised over forever...)
Anyway, thank you so very much for your very long and indepth comment - and also sorry that I've not replied until now. Usually I'm very good, but RL has been eating me recently.
but the character-based feel a bit ... off
You know, I think I misnamed the groups (as others have pointed out). I should have gone with 'canon compliant' and 'not canon compliant' - or maybe had three categories. Because you're absolutely right in your examples. (And this is why I should never post something without thinking it through!)
Personally, I think that the best stories do something of both
Exactly. Although sadly not easy, as you say...
Thank you again lots and lots for your thoughts - I love trying to look at the nuts and bolts of writing (I wrote another essay a few years back about what genres inspire fanfiction, and why), so your comment gave me lots of food for thought.