Open Thread: Oracle Hotline
Jun. 1st, 2018 09:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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--Do you try more to be original or to deliver to readers what they want?
This question on the list made me laugh and I couldn't resist putting it here, because I have zero interest in being original! But at the same time I don't particularly worry about giving readers what they want? The big advantage of fanfic for me is that I don't have to focus on either of those things, I can write whatever cliched trope I enjoy. For me the challenge is seeing if I can execute a cliche in a way that's fun to write and also fun to read.
And I'm having a lot of fun with vampire fic right now, and also with the nonfiction! The nonfiction is an interesting case because I'm writing up a history of my two favorite wrestlers (and have been for more than a year now) and it's clear that fanfic has really been excellent preparation for it? A lot of the (non-slash, of course) ideas and emotions I explored in fic about them have slipped into the history at some level and made it a lot stronger, I think. I only have one more essay to go in it and I am suffering horrible separation anxiety, I have to confess! It's been such a fun project, my faves have gotten a lot of pleasure from it, and I am not sure what I'm going to do with myself when it's done.
This question on the list made me laugh and I couldn't resist putting it here, because I have zero interest in being original! But at the same time I don't particularly worry about giving readers what they want? The big advantage of fanfic for me is that I don't have to focus on either of those things, I can write whatever cliched trope I enjoy. For me the challenge is seeing if I can execute a cliche in a way that's fun to write and also fun to read.
And I'm having a lot of fun with vampire fic right now, and also with the nonfiction! The nonfiction is an interesting case because I'm writing up a history of my two favorite wrestlers (and have been for more than a year now) and it's clear that fanfic has really been excellent preparation for it? A lot of the (non-slash, of course) ideas and emotions I explored in fic about them have slipped into the history at some level and made it a lot stronger, I think. I only have one more essay to go in it and I am suffering horrible separation anxiety, I have to confess! It's been such a fun project, my faves have gotten a lot of pleasure from it, and I am not sure what I'm going to do with myself when it's done.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-05 12:18 pm (UTC)Right? It's nonsensical! You never give them what they want, exactly, but you give them what the story needs and it usually turns out that's what they want...
Mailing lists sound like the very devil and I'm glad you had something to keep you happy during that time! :)