Truth or Consequences
Jun. 19th, 2004 09:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
opera142I'm fascinated by understories, double meanings and context. I adore characters who say something, and on the surface it sounds normal, but underneath that there's seething and resentment and heartbreak. I love when an angsty moment comes full circle by one character uttering one apt phrase.
But fan fic is a very what you see is what you get genre. I think part of that is most people aren't looking for deep fic (either to read or to write) from fan fic. Want something fun, read fan fic. Want something good, go the library and get something by a favorite author. The other reason, I think, is that fan fiction retains loyalty to its canon and characters.
We're fans of these people. We treasure the best in them. So when one of them is the narrator in a 1st person pov story or the main character in 3rd, it's always assumed that he or she is relating the events honestly and correctly. Our favorites do not lie willingly. They certainly are smart enough to understand what's going on around them and see through any ruses. They're perfectly emotionally attuned to the world at large and other characters specifically.
Because of my love of understories, I don't always write that way. Because of my love for petty bastards, I have characters who lie. Because of my love for angst, I have characters who hold grudges, bring up long past shit, and try to right wrongs that are better left buried.In my story, The King, Jericho, the narrator wasn't lying as he told his story, but there were tons of events that he didn't interpret correctly. But, I think many readers just assumed he had... that he was relating events and other characters' motivations exactly how they were.
That frustrated me. Part of the story's story was Jericho's fish out of waterness. He was being deceived, played to and performed for. The story was way out of my skill range to handle deftly. I knew that while I was writing it, I used to whine about writing it on the old WSFFF list... but (whine warning) I think a story like that also needed a reader who could understand Jericho's shame in missing the boat, who could realize that what Jericho was perceiving wasn't the whole story.
But then again, as I said, most readers of fan fic aren't looking for those kinds of stories. I'm kinda like a McDonalds that tries to serve nachos. Unless the nachos are fantastic, people are going to want burgers from McDonalds and go to Taco Bell when they want nachos. My nachos aren't that fantastic yet. Although my milkshake...
Another issue I have along the line of intention Vs perception is the idea that what affects a wrestlefic character may or may not affect a wrestlefic reader. To use a very minor/petty example, to me, the word little would be an insult to a wrestler. These are characters who spend hours daily in gyms to bulk up, these are characters who live on egg whites and protein powders in order to bulk up, these are characters who gamble on their future health by taking steroids and unstudied supplements today. Cruiserweights get daily reminders about how their lack of size diminishes their value in WWE's eyes. Men, in general, would rather be taller than shorter. So I use "little" whenever I need a non-specific, quickie insult.
But "little" is not an insult to the female readers of fan fic. Little is what most females strive to be. So, I think that when my characters insult by using "little", it's not being perceived as an insult (one person I used to muse with took it as a compliment).
Here's where my overthinking kicks in. I use "little" as an insult because I feel that the characters would be offended by being called "little". The average reader doesn't think "little" as being an insult, but rather thinks "aww, how cute". So, while solid characterization is important, so is communicating to an audience. If the audience doesn't perceive something as an insult, it's really not an insult... yet, I can't imagine wrestlers getting worked up over some one calling them "ugly"... yet, I can see the 19yo female readers getting heartbroken over that comment.
So which is more important: writing truthful characterization or writing characterization that will be understood?
But fan fic is a very what you see is what you get genre. I think part of that is most people aren't looking for deep fic (either to read or to write) from fan fic. Want something fun, read fan fic. Want something good, go the library and get something by a favorite author. The other reason, I think, is that fan fiction retains loyalty to its canon and characters.
We're fans of these people. We treasure the best in them. So when one of them is the narrator in a 1st person pov story or the main character in 3rd, it's always assumed that he or she is relating the events honestly and correctly. Our favorites do not lie willingly. They certainly are smart enough to understand what's going on around them and see through any ruses. They're perfectly emotionally attuned to the world at large and other characters specifically.
Because of my love of understories, I don't always write that way. Because of my love for petty bastards, I have characters who lie. Because of my love for angst, I have characters who hold grudges, bring up long past shit, and try to right wrongs that are better left buried.In my story, The King, Jericho, the narrator wasn't lying as he told his story, but there were tons of events that he didn't interpret correctly. But, I think many readers just assumed he had... that he was relating events and other characters' motivations exactly how they were.
That frustrated me. Part of the story's story was Jericho's fish out of waterness. He was being deceived, played to and performed for. The story was way out of my skill range to handle deftly. I knew that while I was writing it, I used to whine about writing it on the old WSFFF list... but (whine warning) I think a story like that also needed a reader who could understand Jericho's shame in missing the boat, who could realize that what Jericho was perceiving wasn't the whole story.
But then again, as I said, most readers of fan fic aren't looking for those kinds of stories. I'm kinda like a McDonalds that tries to serve nachos. Unless the nachos are fantastic, people are going to want burgers from McDonalds and go to Taco Bell when they want nachos. My nachos aren't that fantastic yet. Although my milkshake...
Another issue I have along the line of intention Vs perception is the idea that what affects a wrestlefic character may or may not affect a wrestlefic reader. To use a very minor/petty example, to me, the word little would be an insult to a wrestler. These are characters who spend hours daily in gyms to bulk up, these are characters who live on egg whites and protein powders in order to bulk up, these are characters who gamble on their future health by taking steroids and unstudied supplements today. Cruiserweights get daily reminders about how their lack of size diminishes their value in WWE's eyes. Men, in general, would rather be taller than shorter. So I use "little" whenever I need a non-specific, quickie insult.
But "little" is not an insult to the female readers of fan fic. Little is what most females strive to be. So, I think that when my characters insult by using "little", it's not being perceived as an insult (one person I used to muse with took it as a compliment).
Here's where my overthinking kicks in. I use "little" as an insult because I feel that the characters would be offended by being called "little". The average reader doesn't think "little" as being an insult, but rather thinks "aww, how cute". So, while solid characterization is important, so is communicating to an audience. If the audience doesn't perceive something as an insult, it's really not an insult... yet, I can't imagine wrestlers getting worked up over some one calling them "ugly"... yet, I can see the 19yo female readers getting heartbroken over that comment.
So which is more important: writing truthful characterization or writing characterization that will be understood?
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-19 09:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-19 12:40 pm (UTC)Deep versus superficial...
"Some Things Never Change" and "One Wave Short of a Shipwreck" would be the best examples of the former, while "Hell in a Cell" and "Damn the Teacher and Damn the Apprentice" would be good examples of the latter.
And now, ladies and germs, watch me pull a theory from my...
Date: 2004-06-19 06:52 pm (UTC)It's at this point that you get the difference between good writing and "just fanfic", and the difference is made by your attitude toward such things as characterisation, canon, and creativity. (Hey, cool, they all start with C.) The people whose private fantasies (sexual or otherwise) tend toward creativity and complexity (for lack of a better term) write fanfic that tends in the same direction. On the other hand, if your fantasies usually run along the lines of "boy meets girl/boy, they both behave in ways I like and everything goes perfectly", that's the type of fanfic you'll write, most likely.
Fanfic is different from "original" fiction because "original" fiction is structured around creating a story for the consumption of others; fanfic is structured around sharing your own fantasies. That's why fanfic uses someone else's characters. You find something fascinating about those characters. If what you really wanted to do was create a story, you'd create characters from scratch to fit the story you want to tell. Fanfic creates stories to fit the characters you want to fantasise about.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-19 07:01 pm (UTC)So which is more important: writing truthful characterization or writing characterization that will be understood?
In a nutshell in my worldview? Truthful characterisation, and anybody who doesn't get it can so stuff grapefruits in their various orifices. It's not the writer's responsibility to make sure the readers understand (and I think that holds true for all fiction, not just fanfic). If you work to make yourself understood over being true to your vision, then you're dumbing your work down to the Lowest Common Denominator (which, let's admit it, in fanfic is pretty fucking low).
You can't guarantee how your work will be read, because any two given readers may have wildly differing interpretations of the same written work. Ask ten people, you'll get ten answers. If someone wants to read your characters shallowly, fine. Let them. If they enjoy your writing that way, that's great because they're enjoying it. (Besides, then you can smirk to yourself and think, "Hah, this twit is too dumb to get it.")
Keep your audience in mind, yes, but don't write for the shallow morons. Write the characterisation as you envision it, because this is fanfiction. Fanfiction is characters, no matter what the fandom at large may think. If you sacrifice your characters for the sake of being understood, you've sold out.
Remember: All great artists are misunderstood.