Old Fanfic Woes

[moonshayde]

I was looking through some of my older SG-1 fic. Man. LOL It's so funny. Back then, I was so proud of the stories I had written. They were mainly missing scenes and the like, but I was very proud of them. Now I cringe.

Some have the dreaded fanon in them. *dies* The fanon wasn't always used because I believed in it, and was more of a shout out to canon or just to add some humor to a story. But sometimes I took it too far. Farther than I realized.

And the characterization is sooooo off in many of these. I bought into a lot of formatting that I saw in other fanfic which I no longer do myself. My Jack was horrible. He was too much in the dumb!Jack arena. There was not enough balance, even when I was trying to show that he is smart. My Sam isn't too bad, but that is because I busted my butt with her and editted her to death. Teal'c is okay. Daniel...too weak for my likes. And many of these fics had borderline character-worship *blech*

I think my characters are stronger and more balanced now. It's amazing just how much other fanfic and the fandom itself can influence your writing. Even when I was trying to be subversive at times, especially in these early pieces, I am very much a product of different aspects of fandom at the time. It's embarassing but also fascinating all at once.

At least my writing as improved and I have something to laugh about.

Comments

[autumndandelion.livejournal.com]

Well, nobody's going to get characterisation dead-on right off the bat. We're adapting to other people's creations when you write fics, so it's no wonder we're so influenced by fandom.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Just the pervasive nature of fanon fascinates me. It really can influence you in ways you don't notice even if you think you are breaking free. Very interesting to me :)

[autumndandelion.livejournal.com]

Oh, and nobody can blame you for character-worshipping Daniel.

= D

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Indeed!

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

With these characters, is it possible to *not* character-worship a little bit?

I took a look at some of my first fic a while (and two fandoms) ago and there is definitely something scary. I think it's a right of passage to write all the mistakes newbies make and learn how to mature as a fan. And we can keep those mistakes around to keep us humble :)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Humble. Humiliate. Same difference... ;)

Well, I used to write Star Wars fanfic. Never posted it online, but I wrote novels. Ugh. I would say they are worse than my first forays into SG-1. Those had Mary Sues, and horible ship, and tangents and poor storytelling. Oh man. It makes my bad SG-1 stuff look good.

I just chuckle at some of the fic now. I won't take it down or change it and I'm even still proud of it in some ways, but I do know that I've come a long way and that these fics aren't my best.

[eve11]

This is how I feel when I look at my old X-files stuff. There are some that I just look at and cringe.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

I never even attempted XF. I thought about it and then I thought of Mulder and his sarcasm and Scully and her technomedical babble and I was done LOL No need for me to contribute to character assassination.

[whisper99.livejournal.com]

Well, considering tptb can't get the characterizations right sometimes either... :)

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

LOL I know. Hey, at least we have an excuse right? They don't get that pass.

It's really funny though. See, I hate fanon. I really do. I love Daniel. I love Jack. I love Sam. I love Teal'c. I hate fanon. Yet, I buy into it myself. I had a good chuckle over it ;)

[nangi-akki.livejournal.com]

Don't be too hard on yourself. Daniel worship was just so pervasive at the time that it was hard to tell the fanon from the canon (especially if you were reading everything out there). Even if you thought you were going against that trend, looking back you realize that you were just a little less fanonized than some of the other stuff.

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

Yeah I know. It's just wow. I mean, I think I was pretty tame. And I do love Daniel. Daniel is what drew me into the show. And I hit a time where the cast, the characters, and different parts of the fandom were happy to have Daniel back. So I was part of the Daniel love. And I'm very happy about it because I love me some Daniel :)

At the same time, I'm happy now, too, that I've grown to have a stronger appreciation and love of the other characters. I've never hated the other characters. (Except maybe Vala.) But I've always loved Jack, Sam, and Teal'c. Varying degrees? Yes. But for me it was all about the team. Now, I'm missing Jack terribly, but I do like Cam and I'm warming up to Vala. I never hated Jonas. And I miss me some Hammond and Janet. So I never set out to character-bash in any fic of mine or to undermine any characters. Still, to see just how much fanon had influenced me is really interesting.

But on the bright side, it's helped me grow as both a fanfic writer and a writer in general. And now I can squee over just about anything :)

[mysticalweather.livejournal.com]

But on the bright side, it's helped me grow as both a fanfic writer and a writer in general.

Exactly.

I'm not particularly proud of my early fics, either. You just have to see them as a learning experience.

(And just think...some people *never* get better. ;) LOL!)

~Misty

[moonshayde.livejournal.com]

That is true. But in fandom, cliche is what many people want. I would say I received the most positive reviews on my cliche stuff. My newer stuff mostly gets ignored.

And that is one of my fave icons. It always makes me laugh.

[nangi-akki.livejournal.com]

You're right about the popularity of cliche fic. People might spoof it like in Halrloprillalar's "My First Stargate Story"
http://prillalar.com/fic/stories/000253.php
But I can remember seeing quite similar non-spoofy stories being gushed over on the lists :)