Expectation

Paula Radcliffe was the Great British hope, definate gold etc. Reading about her downfall in the Marathon for some reason got me to thinking about FanFics and in doing so presented me with some questions.

1. Do you write a fanfic to satisfy yourself or do you write in a way that you know will be pleasing to the audience?

2. Have you ever written anything that is so pleasing to yourself, that you have said 'screw the audience, that is good?

3. When writing, what is your end goal from a chapter/story ?

4. How personally do you take constructive criticism?

Hmmm? I like this one.

1) It depends on the fic whether I wirte it for myself or an audience. Most of my stuff is posted on my LJ and if it gets rave reviews I will clean it up and post it on one of the bigger fanfic forums...ie: Fanfic.net...although they've gotten wierd in the last year or so. =/

2) Oh yeah. I have written some things that for me are personal triumphs. I by habit tend to write comedic prose versus anything to serious. Although I have written stuff that was ugly and angsty and full of horrible not funny things that I am truely proud of.

3) I write as a means to relax. I'm not the greatest writer out there and a lot of my stuff is never seen by the general public who might be fans of the particular fandom. And I write for several fandoms, anime and comic alike. I'm also a slash writer by nature so there's at least one set of boys in the fic having a shag on or off page. ^^ I know that slash tends to have smaller followings within the general fandom, and therefore won't be seen by as many fans...some of whom I'm glad DON'T want to see it. =p

4) That would depned on the critique. I've had honest criticism of my work and then just plain nagging whining. The honest critique I can handle well, but whining, especially when it's whining about stuff I know what I'm talking about just gets on my nerves. I write to relax. I write to keep that skill somewhat intact. I write because I have a tonne to say and I'm actually pretty quiet in person...at least until I know ya better...then I have a bit of a problem shutting up. ;)

Well, let me give this a shot, too...

1.) Well, it's a little of both, actually. While I do write for an audience and I always appreciate what they have to say, positive or negative, I also won't write fic with characters that I don't like. Fanfic is an opportunity to take characters and ideas and situations that you like, and play them out to your satisfaction. So the larger part of me writes to satisfy myself. I'm currently writing a Dani Moonstar solo series over at Marvel Omega, which is pure fanboy indulgence for me because she's my favorite character of all time, in any genre.

2.) Can't say that I have. Or maybe I have. Because while I do write for an audience, if I really like what I've written, I won't give a crap what they think of it because I was able to produce something that was creatively satisfying to me personally. If other people receive it will, though, all the better.

3.) My story arcs are generally four-issue deals, so my goal for a particular arc is usually the resolution of the current situation that my characters are facing (now, whether the resolution is in reality achieved is always an open-ended question...), and to show some personal growth for certain characters. I like to move forward with my characters, not have them remain stagnant as they face the same problems and threats.

4.) I take it generally well, but I also take it in context. Not every reader is on my wavelength when it comes to my issues, what I'm trying to accomplish, and where I'm going with the story. So I can take criticism very well... unless people absolutely hate the overall story, and then I can get a little testy. :twisted:

1) It's actually both. I write fanfics both to satisfy myself and, in the case of Alpha, with the audience in mind as well.

2) Maybe I might be tempted to think that the audience doesn't matter, and that I'll write whatever I please, but if I did that, then I might as well not post it at all. If I make a story public, then it's for the audience's benefit as well as my own. (See #1 above.)

3) The end result? A good, solid, complete story with no dangling subplots left over.

4) Constructive criticism is fine, as long as it's in the vein of "This scene could use a little more tightening" or "Resolve this subplot --it's causing the story to drag" or "Drop these characters --they add nothing to the story". I don't mind intelligent, objective criticism; it can be a learning experience. What I DON'T need is the rare fan whose criticism is a personal attack stemming from a neurotic axe to grind, (as happened once in my APA days regarding the zine I was doing. Not fanfic, but same difference. ).

Been awhile since I've written any fanfic, but I'll give this a crack.

1. Do you write a fanfic to satisfy yourself or do you write in a way that you know will be pleasing to the audience?

I guess I'm one of those selfish writers. I tend to write to improve my skills and utilize my imagination. I thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative nature of Second Flight, but I found it difficult to put myself inside the mind of the characters' creators. I guess that was part of the challenge.


2. Have you ever written anything that is so pleasing to yourself, that you have said 'screw the audience, that is good?

No, but I did take liberties with characters that I'm not sure the collaboration agreed with. Tweeking powers and whatnot.

3. When writing, what is your end goal from a chapter/story ?

My goal is to develop the characters. Bring a little more humanity to them. That and getting the story out of my head and on to paper. Half the time that's the biggest challenge. Can I get it on paper before I lose it completely?

4. How personally do you take constructive criticism?

Constructive criticism I'm OK with. It helps to make me a better writer. Unfortunately for the readers it'll take ALOT of constructive criticism to make me a decent storyteller.


Barnacle