rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2007-12-14 05:52 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2007-12-14 05:52 pm
a longish self-indulgent post!
Almost forgot, it's been one year since I started my LJ account. So here's some stuff about writing fanfic, since that's a big part of why I have an LJ.
After less than a month of reading fanfic I woke up one morning in early December 2006 with an idea of my own. Before then I'd thought that writing something would be fun, but no thanks. This idea wouldn't leave me alone, though. So I started writing. The result was Prophecy, set in the future (fleet's on Earth now), Kara/Leoben.
Season three of BSG started off in a way I never expected.* Kara's captivity with Leoben, him acting like the 'loving husband,' her killing him over and over. It was riveting, thanks in large degree to the amazing chemistry Katee Sackhoff and Callum Rennie have when they're onscreen together.** Having been well-taught by shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Leoben tells Kara that he's seen a path where she'll embrace him and tell him that she loves him, my brain immediately went into overdrive trying to figure out how we might get from here (crazy robot imprisoning heroine) to there (love and embrace?).***
In other words, me writing fanfic is really Joss Whedon's fault, since he trained me to believe in TV prophecies. *g*
The basic thought that woke me up was the idea of the Colonial fleet and sleeper cylons on Earth. Other pieces came to me almost immediately: the Colonials are stuck there; the population on Earth doesn't recognize the potential threat.
A lot of the story flowed naturally for me. I've had experience living as the outsider in a foreign culture and I've now lived more than a decade in an area with a high percentage of immigrants in the population. Other details about why those on Earth didn't accept information about the Cylons were easy to resolve as well--language barriers, no known cylons alive because I killed Sharon en route, ships confiscated by a concerned North American military so the fleet couldn't leave...
I couldn't sleep. The experience was terrifying and exhilarating. It didn't matter that I hadn't written fiction since high school because the story forced me to write anyway. In mid-December I set up an LJ account because I knew I wanted to post it somewhere. (Innate vanity--the story wasn't finished yet and I was already scheming where to post it.) I finished during Christmas vacation and posted it to my LJ on December 23. I then asked![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
natalexx to take a look at it. She was very gracious about it and found a few verb-tense problems and comma issues.
I posted it to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
trial_by_water on December 30, 2006. And people commented and said nice things! It was cool!
Looking at it now, the story has some writing flaws. Plus it's a very Kara/Leoben shippy story (I blame that stupid prophecy), which I don't actually like to read as much as Leoben scheming and plotting; he doesn't do that much as a sleeper cylon in my story. At least not on the surface. I think was becoming self-aware near the end but he refused to tell me. Heh. Also, I might have been in full Leoben squishy love when I wrote it.
The story doesn't really have a happy ending (in my opinion, but what do I know?). It does get Kara to fulfill Leoben's prophecy from early season three--that she would embrace him and tell him that she loves him--but that's fleeting. Their 'relationship' can't last. Kara is self-destructive in her connections, Leoben could be activated at any point in time, and can Kara truly love a machine?
One theme that really hit me after writing it was the idea of fairy tales. The whole New Caprica storyline with Kara and Leoben was like a fairy tale nightmare. This story continued that--what if the Monster thought he was Prince Charming? What if no one ever comes to rescue the Princess and she has to live with the Monster forever? (Who do I feel more sorry for, the princess or the monster?)
Happily the whole lose sleep, lose weight phase of fanfic writing faded. I do think that the sense of urgency that gripped me translated to the story itself, even though I was rusty at writing. 'Prophecy' and 'Second Winter' (the other on-Earth fic I've written) have gotten the biggest reaction (measuring reaction by number of comments) of anything I've written. I'm okay with that--I like sleep and having clothes that aren't too baggy. If that means fewer comments on stories, so be it. Plus I doubt I could deliberately recreate the experience.
Stuff I think about my writing:
1) it's fun... sometimes. Occasionally when I'm writing crackfic I walk around with a goofy grin on my face. Writing more angst-filled stuff is fun too, but in a different way. And sometimes I hate everything I write and wonder why I do it.
2) a good beta-reader makes a huge difference (hailjashyr, comma-killer and canon queen!)
3) for me it's not easy but I think I'm improving (again, thanks to helpful remarks from several beta-readers)
4) comments are great, but some of my personal favorite stories received almost no comments; conversely, one of the stories I'm slightly embarrassed to have written and never cross-posted anywhere received more comments than I wanted. Heh.
5) It's hard to write the depressing stuff when I'm in a gloomy mood. Anyone else that way? And some of the funniest stuff I've written was done during really horrible (boring) days.
6) When I'm not writing anything, or I'm stuck on a story, it feels like I'll never have a good idea again.
7) I love my own story ideas *hums 'You're So Vain'* though I'm not always confident I do them justice. I reread my stories from time to time.
8) LJ has a lot of amazing BSG fanfic writers. Makes me jealous sometimes but mostly I'm just pleased to be able to read their stories.
*Yeah, I'm also the same person who never guesses the killer before the end of the mystery novel, so... kudos to you who figured it all out in advance.
**I'm not saying "Yay, Leoben, for keeping our girl captive!" My point is that those two are really watchable. She can stab him, he can play mind games... I like seeing them together onscreen. I love Kara and I have a HUGE amount of sympathy for her even when she's lashing out at everyone else, but I don't usually watch the show worried about what TPTB are going to do to her next. (Kara's not actually real, y'know...)
***Yes, Leoben is a liar. I’m gullible.
After less than a month of reading fanfic I woke up one morning in early December 2006 with an idea of my own. Before then I'd thought that writing something would be fun, but no thanks. This idea wouldn't leave me alone, though. So I started writing. The result was Prophecy, set in the future (fleet's on Earth now), Kara/Leoben.
Season three of BSG started off in a way I never expected.* Kara's captivity with Leoben, him acting like the 'loving husband,' her killing him over and over. It was riveting, thanks in large degree to the amazing chemistry Katee Sackhoff and Callum Rennie have when they're onscreen together.** Having been well-taught by shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, when Leoben tells Kara that he's seen a path where she'll embrace him and tell him that she loves him, my brain immediately went into overdrive trying to figure out how we might get from here (crazy robot imprisoning heroine) to there (love and embrace?).***
In other words, me writing fanfic is really Joss Whedon's fault, since he trained me to believe in TV prophecies. *g*
The basic thought that woke me up was the idea of the Colonial fleet and sleeper cylons on Earth. Other pieces came to me almost immediately: the Colonials are stuck there; the population on Earth doesn't recognize the potential threat.
A lot of the story flowed naturally for me. I've had experience living as the outsider in a foreign culture and I've now lived more than a decade in an area with a high percentage of immigrants in the population. Other details about why those on Earth didn't accept information about the Cylons were easy to resolve as well--language barriers, no known cylons alive because I killed Sharon en route, ships confiscated by a concerned North American military so the fleet couldn't leave...
I couldn't sleep. The experience was terrifying and exhilarating. It didn't matter that I hadn't written fiction since high school because the story forced me to write anyway. In mid-December I set up an LJ account because I knew I wanted to post it somewhere. (Innate vanity--the story wasn't finished yet and I was already scheming where to post it.) I finished during Christmas vacation and posted it to my LJ on December 23. I then asked
natalexx to take a look at it. She was very gracious about it and found a few verb-tense problems and comma issues.I posted it to
trial_by_water on December 30, 2006. And people commented and said nice things! It was cool!Looking at it now, the story has some writing flaws. Plus it's a very Kara/Leoben shippy story (I blame that stupid prophecy), which I don't actually like to read as much as Leoben scheming and plotting; he doesn't do that much as a sleeper cylon in my story. At least not on the surface. I think was becoming self-aware near the end but he refused to tell me. Heh. Also, I might have been in full Leoben squishy love when I wrote it.
The story doesn't really have a happy ending (in my opinion, but what do I know?). It does get Kara to fulfill Leoben's prophecy from early season three--that she would embrace him and tell him that she loves him--but that's fleeting. Their 'relationship' can't last. Kara is self-destructive in her connections, Leoben could be activated at any point in time, and can Kara truly love a machine?
One theme that really hit me after writing it was the idea of fairy tales. The whole New Caprica storyline with Kara and Leoben was like a fairy tale nightmare. This story continued that--what if the Monster thought he was Prince Charming? What if no one ever comes to rescue the Princess and she has to live with the Monster forever? (Who do I feel more sorry for, the princess or the monster?)
Happily the whole lose sleep, lose weight phase of fanfic writing faded. I do think that the sense of urgency that gripped me translated to the story itself, even though I was rusty at writing. 'Prophecy' and 'Second Winter' (the other on-Earth fic I've written) have gotten the biggest reaction (measuring reaction by number of comments) of anything I've written. I'm okay with that--I like sleep and having clothes that aren't too baggy. If that means fewer comments on stories, so be it. Plus I doubt I could deliberately recreate the experience.
Stuff I think about my writing:
1) it's fun... sometimes. Occasionally when I'm writing crackfic I walk around with a goofy grin on my face. Writing more angst-filled stuff is fun too, but in a different way. And sometimes I hate everything I write and wonder why I do it.
2) a good beta-reader makes a huge difference (hail
jashyr, comma-killer and canon queen!)3) for me it's not easy but I think I'm improving (again, thanks to helpful remarks from several beta-readers)
4) comments are great, but some of my personal favorite stories received almost no comments; conversely, one of the stories I'm slightly embarrassed to have written and never cross-posted anywhere received more comments than I wanted. Heh.
5) It's hard to write the depressing stuff when I'm in a gloomy mood. Anyone else that way? And some of the funniest stuff I've written was done during really horrible (boring) days.
6) When I'm not writing anything, or I'm stuck on a story, it feels like I'll never have a good idea again.
7) I love my own story ideas *hums 'You're So Vain'* though I'm not always confident I do them justice. I reread my stories from time to time.
8) LJ has a lot of amazing BSG fanfic writers. Makes me jealous sometimes but mostly I'm just pleased to be able to read their stories.
*Yeah, I'm also the same person who never guesses the killer before the end of the mystery novel, so... kudos to you who figured it all out in advance.
**I'm not saying "Yay, Leoben, for keeping our girl captive!" My point is that those two are really watchable. She can stab him, he can play mind games... I like seeing them together onscreen. I love Kara and I have a HUGE amount of sympathy for her even when she's lashing out at everyone else, but I don't usually watch the show worried about what TPTB are going to do to her next. (Kara's not actually real, y'know...)
***Yes, Leoben is a liar. I’m gullible.
no subject
** Believe me, I think all but a handful of truly crazy people understand this. Speaking of which: (Kara's not actually real, y'know...)
WHAT??? ;)
*** I thought the little girl was Kara's. When Leoben came up with the story about the little girl's path and her surrogate mother with the lovely smile I thought he must be telling the truth. So I assumed they were going to kill Kacey, because of course they couldn't saddle Kara with a kid. Of course, the truth was almost as bad!
3. I know. I so envy those people who can come up with something in a few hours from a two-word prompt and have it be good.
5. Yes! It's hard to read depressing stuff when I'm in a gloomy mood!
8. It really does.
no subject
I was mostly-hoodwinked too... although I did have a few doubts, most of the time I did think she was Kara's. And yes, the truth was pretty horrible, and for me it's really high on the list of awful things Leoben did to Kara. (I never thought about killing the kid off, though it would make sense... yikes.)
8. It really does.
I think I have to agree with
And now I realize I don't think I've ever read any of your fic. besides that one Racetrack drabble. So I'll have to give Prophecy a try.
It would surprise me if 'Prophecy' were to your liking, considering how very K/Leoben shippy it is. I've been making a list recently of most of my fic (stuff I've listed on the LJ comms, the shorter stuff I've written but not cross-posted) and it's here (http://rose-griffes.livejournal.com/48696.html). Hey, I even have a Sam fic, but it's really depressing, so...
But that does make me curious. I'm going to venture a guess that you read a lot more meta about BSG than fic. (You can tell me that I'm way off-base, it'll just make me laugh.) The fact that you have the patience to wade through pages on TWoP and the Skiffy forums are what lead me to make that supposition. And you've already mentioned that you mostly read Kara-related stuff, so you probably don't spend a lot of time reading (fic or meta) about minor characters... and for some reason my brain just loves those less-used characters when writing fic.
My favorite story of my own stuff is Nemesis (http://rose-griffes.livejournal.com/30068.html), which is about Jean Barolay meeting a copy of Leoben on Caprica. But I'll admit, most people wouldn't even remember who Jean is, much less want to read something about her... and that's okay, I really loved writing it and think it's awesome. ;-)