Fic as meta
May. 1st, 2017 10:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayI was writing a fic yesterday (another Bill fic, I know, apparently I love her that much) and I was reflecting on the things that trigger me to write about a particular character or fandom. I mean, there are a lot of characters out there that I love, but I never write fic for them. Ditto for fandoms and universes. Why do particular ones grab me and make me write?
And one of the conclusions I reached is that I use fic as a way of writing meta. I'm not a person who writes meta essays particularly well. It's not my thing. So when I need to think about a character and their reactions or backstory or my headcanons for them, it comes out most effectively in the form of fic.
Sure, I'm shallow, and sometimes I just want to write a silly or fun story. I've got a fair few of those.
But a huge chunk of my ficcing is about me working through thoughts about a particular character, or relationship, or fandom universe. Even my AUs seem to stem from that.
And I think that's why I'm writing Bill fics right now, because I have so many thoughts and feelings about her and there are so many things I want to explore about her. It's the first time I've had a Who companion I wanted to write about since Donna! I loved Amy, but I never had that itch to write fic for her because I didn't feel any great need to expand on what I saw onscreen. There was nothing in her character that made me think.
But Donna? And now Bill? Even when I wrote my one Clara fic, it was actually about Bill, because it was the only way I could discuss what I was feeling about her. I have thoughts. So many thoughts. And writing them into a meta essay isn't a format I'm comfortable working in, but putting them into fics?
That's how I meta.
And one of the conclusions I reached is that I use fic as a way of writing meta. I'm not a person who writes meta essays particularly well. It's not my thing. So when I need to think about a character and their reactions or backstory or my headcanons for them, it comes out most effectively in the form of fic.
Sure, I'm shallow, and sometimes I just want to write a silly or fun story. I've got a fair few of those.
But a huge chunk of my ficcing is about me working through thoughts about a particular character, or relationship, or fandom universe. Even my AUs seem to stem from that.
And I think that's why I'm writing Bill fics right now, because I have so many thoughts and feelings about her and there are so many things I want to explore about her. It's the first time I've had a Who companion I wanted to write about since Donna! I loved Amy, but I never had that itch to write fic for her because I didn't feel any great need to expand on what I saw onscreen. There was nothing in her character that made me think.
But Donna? And now Bill? Even when I wrote my one Clara fic, it was actually about Bill, because it was the only way I could discuss what I was feeling about her. I have thoughts. So many thoughts. And writing them into a meta essay isn't a format I'm comfortable working in, but putting them into fics?
That's how I meta.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-09 10:20 pm (UTC)The conclusion I've come to over the years is that the urge to fic depends on having a fandom in tension between stuff you like (which is to say, the stuff that makes you a fan in the first place) and stuff you want to fix (either problems you're having with the source text or gaps in the background you want to fill in). Not enough stuff you like and you won't be a fan -- but if you're satisfied with the story as it's being told in canon, there's not much of an urge to add your own material.
no subject
Date: 2017-05-10 02:31 pm (UTC)I think this is a big part of it. There are so many things I adore but I've never had the urge to write fic because they're perfect exactly as they are. And it's not that I don't like something, it's that there are places and gaps I want to fill in, or holes I want to fix, or things that spoke to me that I need to talk about via fic.
If I don't like something, I just don't view it or think about it. If I like/love something BUT, that's where I get the urge to write fic.