fan fiction and genre by wytchcroft

BLUE SUN ROOM

fan fiction and genre

POSTED BY: WYTCHCROFT
UPDATED: Saturday, November 10, 2007 10:28
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VIEWED: 3753
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Monday, November 5, 2007 11:10 PM

well i was pondering on it some - as we all wait on the BSR...

whedon is well known as a genre buster - makes life difficult for tv programming heh heh ...

but fan fiction does it too - the stuff here has flexed and stretched the mold of the show in all kinds of ways from Big Bad Jayne and Amdobell's epic sensibilities to Charlotte's moody character pieces - to Slumming and other's (recent) Hospital dramas to SpaceAnjl's piratical mash ups... to - dare i say it 'ship' which is a form i've been slow to appreciate in some ways.

(yeh i know there's a million other writers i could name - sorry)

anyhow - my own use of genre has been pretty dire - noir basically - um, i guess - with paltry sci-fi trappings and western trappings (funny coz i wrote more pure sci-fi doing Drive fics!)... mainly coz it's always a means to an end for me with firefly... the why of the story... some writers however, Slumming - Jayne0903 (sorry if i got yr number wrong!) etc seem* to have characters directing stories almost autonomously!:) (ah yes am i envious).

my question to those lunatic enough to have read this far is - when you are writing to what extent do you consider GENRE???

for example the western does 'traditionally' limit genre roles - the noir thriller (which i am fond of) also has limits...

so - any thoughts?

.
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*this is a sign of good organic writing obviously.

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007 2:12 AM

COSMICFUGITIVE

A thing that I learned a long time ago, (when it comes to writing any genre), is that you must first find the 'emotional truth' of a character.

There's no point writing a story, if you don't know, firstly, how they would react to, say 'Serenity overrun by tribbles.' :D

Also, whenever I write a story, I like the process to be organic. A horrible word to some people

, but I find that it works better if the characters dictate to me what's going on in their 'lives.' It's their lives anyway.

There's no point coming up with an external issue if their feelings and reactions aren't the primary concern. If I want the story to have a romantic, horror, or comedic feel to it, then I draw in those elements briefly from time to time. I give each of these elements a moment.

Firefly is an almagamation of different genres. It doesn't draw on all of them at the same time. That's what I try to convey in my fic as well.

Select to view spoiler:

In one particular fic, I gave Jayne a witty and meaningful one liner when Simon was getting raped by a reaver - a shocking and dispicable act, but I managed to throw in comedy and action into that scene to take away the edge. When Jayne spoke the one liner, he proceeded to blast the reaver to kingdom come.

I hope this reply has been helpful.

---

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007 2:51 AM

WYTCHCROFT

Quote:
Originally posted by CosmicFugitive:

I hope this reply has been helpful.

---

yes, it was:)

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Tuesday, November 6, 2007 2:58 PM

MERRYK

I consider genre as queen (behind character as king) when writing Firefly fic. I've read good genre fics: horror, angst, fluff, grand epic, action, humor... but while I enjoyed them, I was always missing for something. When reading horror and angst, I missed the warmth and humor. When reading fluff and humor, I missed the real life troubles and problems. When reading the grand epic or exciting action tale, I missed the day-to-day life. I think you're talking more about genres such as hospital tales and westerns, but I think the idea translates to sub genres as well. Firefly is a mix, and the best fics I've read have some of everything. I don't begrudge people who want to do genre fics, and I think that especially works when exploring the backstories of one character (hospital drama style for Simon, boarding school drama for River, action tale for Mal, etc.), but not so much for ensemble fics.

--
"My way of being polite, or however...well, it's the only way I have of showing you that I like you. Of showing respect." Simon Tam, Jaynestown

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Wednesday, November 7, 2007 2:41 AM

WYTCHCROFT

well i think most fic writers are attempting to catch the feel of the show - and what it means to them...
but some writersseem to bolt on a secondary or parallel interest either specific (another show/ an rpg/ a genre) just as other writers EXPRESS their version of the verse and given a natural affinity for certain things (epic battles, reationship strife whatever) their fics come out accordingly...*

i wonder though to what extent writers consider the genre in the process of writing
(even if it's after completing a piece of work) - certainly they've proved that long term the format of the firefly show
was far broader than the space western pitch / tag may have lead people to think!:)

* may be i'm talking style... all my ruttin fics come out noir - they just DO. even if i plan to explore definite elements of the western or comedy or horror or whatever that feel right for the story.

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Wednesday, November 7, 2007 5:46 AM

MAL4PREZ

Hmm. I think nothing of genre. I have no problem with writers who go there, in fact, that's cool. But I can't do it. Don't know how.

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hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

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Friday, November 9, 2007 7:27 AM

SPACEANJL

Quote:
Originally posted by wytchcroft:
SpaceAnjl's piratical mash ups...

I prefer the term 'grindhouse', actually.

Defined as 'a catch-all term for films that played in cheap-jack US cinemas in the 70's - including Hong Kong martial arts flicks, Japanese samurai movies, spaghetti westerns and cheap sci-fi - the hallmarks were anti-social themes, sex, violence (and) outrageous tag-lines.'

See, I have a genre. And I don't consider myself limited by any convention (including that of good taste) - if I can shoe-horn CSI, Deliverance, Apocalypse Now and nuns into the same Firefly fic, I will. I will also crunch Ibsen, Eliot and Pink Floyd into the set of 'Crouching Tiger'.

Actually, my husband has described my usual genre as 'guns, puns and automobiles.' Fanfic frees us from the rigours of standard 'genre'. Particularly if we play in Joss' sandbox.

Accept no limits. We are bounded by nothing but our imaginations. And in my case, that's a pretty freaky place.

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Friday, November 9, 2007 8:23 AM

WYTCHCROFT

Quote:
Originally posted by SpaceAnJL:
[B} Fanfic frees us from the rigours of standard 'genre'.
DISCUSS

there's an academic thesis / book contract for someone in that...

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Friday, November 9, 2007 8:35 AM

MAL4PREZ

Quote:
Fanfic frees us from the rigours of standard 'genre'.
DISCUSS

Maybe because we don't have to worry about selling our stuff, so we don't have come up with a marketing plan, a target audience, a color scheme on the book cover that conveys "noir" or "western" or "space whores R S" or "fluffy chick book" or whatever.

But then, I've always been a little peeved over the hand that the marketing depts of the world stick into the creative process. Seems wrong to me.

Whoa, did I just rant? Where did that come from?

-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

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Friday, November 9, 2007 2:47 PM

STINKINGROSE

Deep, deep within...

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Saturday, November 10, 2007 4:38 AM

SPACEANJL

Maybe 'Whedonesque' is a genre all of its own?

I mean, on the one hand 'high-school-angst meets classic horror'. Or we have 'noir-detective with fangs'. Or there's 'space-western with wu xiao vibe'. The man wrote 'Toy Story' and 'Alien4'. So, 'buddy movie with marketing tie-in', and 'wisecracking space-pirates meets bioengineering warning.'

Joss is the original crossover artist.

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Saturday, November 10, 2007 10:28 AM

STINKINGROSE

Crossoverdressing?

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