BtVS Fanfic Meme

[aadler]

 
I picked this up from ludditerobot, who cites a2zmom as his source (and now I know that it originated with chrisleeoctaves in this post):

1.	What was the first story you ever wrote? What inspired you to write it?
	As previously noted elsewhere, my first-ever fanfic (before the term came into existence) was a multifandom crossover so bad that I’ve never let even my own children read it, though they’ve read every other fanfic-type thing I’ve done. And it doesn’t exist online; I never posted it because 1) it was written before the Internet, and 2) it really is that bad.   My first Buffyfic was “Point of Focus”, done midway through Season 3 in 1999. I’d been reading Buffyfic online for several months, saw a fic contest, thought — familiar words to many, I’m sure — “Heck, I could do better than some of the stuff I’ve been seeing,” and proceeded to write the story. I was taking full-time classes and working two jobs, so it took me three weeks to finish it; ironically, it didn’t qualify for the original contest because that one specified 10,000 words as the limit, and PoF ran nearly 13,000. It got me started, though, and it’s picked up occasional awards elsewhere, so I have to call that a win.
2.	Which of your stories received the best response? Why do you think that is?
	I’d have to divide that into two categories: LiveJournal, and the time before I started posting on LJ.   Pre-LJ, “In Ev’ry Angle Greet” probably got the most (and the best) response, including a Halo Award for Best Action. As far as the reason, that was probably because it was my first ensemble fic, and one of the first to actually feature Buffy (I tend to focus on minor characters).   Post-LJ, I’d guess the response would be more or less equally divided between “Beg to Differ” and “First Do No Harm”. “Beg to Differ” because it was so different and unexpected, “First Do No Harm” because it was just so much darn fun.
3.	Which of your stories received a less favorable response than you expected? Why do you think that is?
	Not so much less than I expected, since it was pre-LJ and I wasn’t on any lists, but I always thought “Shadow and Substance” deserved more notice than it ever received. At the time, it was probably the best thing I’d ever written … but it was a Buffy story that didn’t feature Buffy (or any of the core Scoobies, for that matter), didn’t fit any of the major recognized categories, just didn’t click for most people. Those who responded, responded positively, but there weren’t very many of them.
4.	Which character do you enjoy writing the most? Why?
	Harmony, no question. Harmony is a funny character, but — unlike Xander, for instance — she isn’t trying to be funny. Looking at the world through her eyes, and looking at her through the eyes of others, is always a treat for me.
5.	Which character do you enjoy writing the least? Why?
	Probably Willow. I don’t have a feel for her voice, and beginning in Season 4 I increasingly disliked the character herself. Mainly, though, it’s getting inside her voice. I just have a lot of problem with that.
6.	You wrote it and you loved it. Quote your favorite opening line. Quote your favorite closing line. Your favorite title. (Again, links to the stories are always welcome.)
	Favorite opening: from “Beg to Differ” — Allie was cranky this evening, which was hardly unusual, but just because Will was accustomed to it didn’t mean that he had much patience for it. She was standing naked at the French doors, letting the deepening dusk wash in on her, and he suspected that she was waiting for him to admonish her for carelessness and order her to step back, lest she be spotted by someone on the street.   Favorite closing: from “X-Factorial (the Fray-Adjacent Remix)” — In the final analysis, some people were simply better suited to support roles.   Favorite title: “Walking After Midnight”.
7.	Do you identify with one pairing? If so, do you tend to write mostly that pairing? When you don’t, what inspires you to step off the beaten track?
	I’m not big on pairings per se, and never have been. I personally think Xander is exactly the man Buffy needs (though whether or not she is right for him is an entirely different question), but I’ve only done one fic that paired them and one that suggested it. Probably the biggest departure from my non-’shipper habit was “In Ev’ry Angle Greet”, which essentially ’shipped everybody (Buffy/Oz, Wesley/Harmony, Giles/Anya, Willow/Faith, and Xander/Joyce, with — at the very end — an implied beginning for Ethan Rayne/Catherine Madison). One reader, I think lakrids404, offered the theory that I’d picked the most unusual ’ships I could think of and then tried to make them work in a story. Not too different from what actually happened.
8.	Do you re-read your fic? Why or why not? Do you have a favorite fic to re-read?
	All the time. Whenever I first finish a fic, I’m still delirious about it, and re-read it endlessly until the thrill finally wears off. More than that, though, I follow the central imperative of writing the kind of story I like to read. Sometimes I’ll go back to one because it’s been awhile; sometimes I’ll have been reminded of it by something else; sometimes, I’m just in a particular mood. As a guess, I’d say I’ve most likely re-read “Point of Focus” more than any other of my stories.
9.	Some writers find writing difficult. For others, it comes easily. Tell me about the experience of writing for you. How do you write? When? Where? Do you plot your stories or just start writing? Which of your stories was the easiest to write? Which was the hardest?
	I’ve written in all kinds of locations and circumstances. In general, writing has come most easily to me while on foreign deployment (eight stories during Iraq, nine during Afghanistan, four during Guantanamo). My best output has been 5,000 words a day; usually, I count myself as doing good to maintain 1,000 words a day. I never start a story without a solid idea of where it’s going, and usually I know exactly how it will end. Surprises may (and usually do) crop up during the writing, but experience has told me that I don’t finish stories unless I know what each one is going to be.   Easiest to write, of the full-time stories, would have been “… Than Meets the Eye”, done in longhand over four or five days while sitting on a hilltop in ‘Kurdistan’. Hardest would have to be “the Still, Small Voice”, which took me more than a year, and never really came together until the final two or three weeks.
10.	How has the delivery of fanfic changed since you first started in fandom? Where did you first start posting? Do you have a web site? Do you maintain it? Did you belong to lists? Do you now? How do you find new fic to read?
	Delivery of fanfic hasn’t really changed much for me; I still do my own HTML coding, get the story looking like I want it to, then post it in a place where I can enter any alterations I choose to make. The place may change, but not really the method.   I first started posting on my own site, here. I still maintain that site, though now I tend to lead at LiveJournal and let the site act as a central archive. I was a member of the Sunnydale Slayers community, posting there, at SlayerFanfic.com, and at FanFiction.net. (Select stories are also at other archives, but my own site is the only one that has all of them.) I belonged to the mailing lists at SlayerFanfic, Sunnydale Slayers, and the Yahoo!Groups BetterBuffyFics community; the first two are now defunct, and I now consult BBF only a few times a year.   These days, almost all of my fic recs come in through my FList at LiveJournal.
11.	No shows = no inspiration. Let’s face it, it’s all been done, right? Or has it? How do you find inspiration in the Buffyverse? Do the comics help? Do you consider them canon?
	Inspiration? I’ve got over a dozen story ideas that I’m still looking to work on. Since the majority of my stories take place in a single consolidated universe — the ‘Backstage Series’ — I build some stories on top of others. As far as Season 8 goes, I consider it canon but find that it has less emotional hold on me than did the television serials.
12.	Feedback — how important is it to you? What sort of feedback do you like to receive? Do you leave feedback when you read?
	I love feedback. I most prefer the kind that tells me exactly what worked, and why; next best is when someone points out what didn’t work, allowing me to fix (or attempt to fix) a problem I otherwise wouldn’t have known I had. And, yes, I leave feedback, but not as often as I ought to.
13.	How has fanfiction changed your life?
	Mostly it just gave me something I enjoyed doing (reading and writing), and put me in contact with others who also enjoy those things.
14.	Do you write professionally? Did you before you started writing fanfic, or did fanfic pave the way?
	I don’t write professionally, but I always intended to. I did the first draft of a science fiction novel before I ever heard the word ‘fanfiction’, but never submitted or even finished it. So, no, fanfic didn’t get me started … but my long, pleasant sojourn in the fanfic world has worked to rekindle my taste for writing, and kept me in practice.
15.	Final thoughts. I am sure I missed something — talk to me.
	I deeply enjoy fanfiction, and love the world of Buffy. I don’t think it’s going to last a lot longer for me, though. The prolongation through the Season 8 comics isn’t enough, and with the dwindling of active fandom, what remains is increasingly dominated by currents and elements that — should they continue to grow — will only serve to alienate me. Genfic has all but disappeared; practically everything now is ’shipper, pr0n, or slash, very wearying for those of who actually enjoy reading a story. I don’t relish the thought of leaving fandom, but (with sorrow) that’s what I foresee.

Comments

[lmzjewel.livejournal.com]

I hope that you don't mind aadler but I gakked this from you. I like this it reminds me why I like to write. (:

[aadler]

No problem, you’re perfectly welcome.

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

Cool info! I always enjoy reading how other writers view their craft. I tend to agree with out the current direction of Buffy fanfic. That's one reason I haven't read more than a few drabbles in a long time. But mostly its that for some reason I haven't been able to pin down, reading fiction has largely soured for me unless its from authors like Joe Haldeman or David Drake whom I've read for more than a decade.

You certainly take the cake for writing stories in the most interesting places :)

[aadler]

I’m checking out a site called gen_storyteller, in hopes of finding material that holds more appeal for me (and reducing my exposure to stuff I frankly hate).

As far as writing stories in the most interesting places: getting ready to do it again. Not until next year, but still, back on the merry-go-round.

[frogfarm]

I know exactly what you mean regarding genfic, because there isn't enough of it out there -- I just did a consolidated genrec post and it was scary how few of them I found in my archives. Another reason that while I may ship Willow/Faith 'til the cows come home, I'm trying to keep the relationship a secondary focus throughout most of my series.

Thanks for doing this meme -- it's a great one. Given the awesomeness that is "First Do No Harm", I have no problem believing Harmony is your favorite character to write! And apparently, though I didn't know it at the time, "Ev'ry Angle" was the first one of your stories that I ever read. And now I'm gonna go back and re-read everything you linked to here :)

[aadler]

I’m not actually sure how accurate my observations were; maybe genfic is no less available than it was before, maybe it was always like this and I’m becoming more aware of the proportions. When I first started reading Buffy fanfic, I devoured the Slayer’s Fanfic Archive … and, if the header of a story suggested a slash or ’ship focus, I just skipped past it to something that looked more promising. Such a cherry-picking approach could have allowed me to concentrate on gen without truly realizing just how much other-than-gen was in the mix. All the same, it really does seem to me that the ratios have shifted significantly, and I’m not happy with the change.

Thank you, by the way, for posting in your own entry into this meme the original source (chrisleeoctaves). I named whose example I was following, but it’s always good to recognize the person who got the ball rolling.

And, insofar as your reading the stories I linked in my post … heck, why stop there? Read all my stories. :)

[chrisleeoctaves.livejournal.com]

Thanks for answering all these questions...and for poking me so that I know that you did...


Probably Willow. I don’t have a feel for her voice, and beginning in Season 4 I increasingly disliked the character herself. Mainly, though, it’s getting inside her voice. I just have a lot of problem with that.

Didn't you read a Willow-centric fic in Las Vegas? (I think it was Vegas... I thought it was a very good Willow voice.

[aadler]

Yes, that was me. The story itself, however (“Perish the Thought”), wasn’t exactly an exemplar of good ‘voice’. The primary character, though pretty well recognizable from context, wasn’t formally identified as Willow, and spoke a total of twelve words in the course of the narrative.

I’ll agree, internal voice is also an important part of characterization. It isn’t enough, though, to make up for problems getting a character to speak in the way the original has been seen to do.

[chrisleeoctaves.livejournal.com]

I agree- getting the characters to speak like the characters *is* important....and difficult- but well done internal monologue doesn't hurt. *g*