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icarusI'm all about the Meta today. This piece is for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
femmequixotic.
I've moved from Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter, and then after being deeply enmeshed in Harry Potter two to three years, I shifted from that to Stargate SG-1 and now am writing Stargate Atlantis. The move from HP to SG-1 was particularly uncomfortable, so I hope this will prove helpful.
How To Write In A New Fandom
Moving from one fandom to another can be challenging (Icarus says in a 'bad infomercial' voice) especially when you're deeply entrenched, have won nifty awards where you are, and a fairly dependable following of readers with whom you feel comfortable. Changing what works can feel like you're on a diving board about to leap off into an abyss.
But you have to write what's in you, and if a different fandom is pulling at you, new stories bubbling out, there's no point in forcing yourself to stick to the familiar. Yes, you can be Mick Jagger and keep doing the same successful formula, but it's probably better for you as a writer to be David Bowie, changing your style and growing.
Prepare yourself: you will have fewer reviews, especially at first. Also, there will be subtle differences. Fandoms have different cultures and it'll take time to adjust. If you're used to writing Meta you might not be the voice of authority in this new fandom, which can seem strange.
Some will feel (to use an SG-1 example) like Daniel Jackson preaching to an emptying room as you post stories in your new fandom and are met with a resounding silence from the old. It will take time before you gain confidence and momentum in the new fandom, and you may never have the same presence. But most multi-fandom writers never abandon their old obsessions. They just simply write them less often. I gamble the last Harry Potter book will have all the oldtimers picking up their pens to bring Snape back to life or rehabilitate Percy.
Step one: Steep in the new fandom canon.
This is so obvious it barely needs mention. If you're interested in a new fandom of course you're reading the source material or soaking up the shows.
Be careful about absorbing more fanfic than canon at this early stage, because your image of the characters will struggle to develop if you're taking in a hundred different fanfiction interpretations. Each writer has their own take on John and Rodney and you need to develop yours. If you've already delved into the fanfic, then before you start writing your first piece, step away and re-read the book or view an episode or two.
Step two: Take a tour of the fanfiction.
Most people will have already done this, but if you haven't, read the main fanfiction stories in your new fandom. These keeps you from falling into that fandom's biggest cliches. Read some bad!fic too, because there's nothing more motivating than seeing a great character done poorly.
Hang out quietly and get a feel for the flavor and style of the fandom. Lord of the Rings is a rather "tweedy" group. Stargate SG-1 is intense and very earnest. Harry Potter is like a big city with teeny neighborhoods of cliques that pass like ships in the night. Stargate Atlantis is like a drunken luau with grinning old timers hanging out in bad Hawaiian shirts. They all have their little cultural norms and group hang-ups: LotR has an anti-slash bias, SG-1 has a painful history from when Daniel was killed on the show, Harry Potter has ongoing legal issues and chan.
Step three: Start with a few short character vignettes.
This gets your feet wet in the new fandom and helps you learn your characters' voices. Tackle the character that's hardest for you.
Post your vignettes and drabbles only in your LJ and for a few friends, where the lack of feedback may not seem to be too much of a problem. You're going to be a little OOC for these, but that's okay. My original John in my very first piece was a little rough, a little too "Jack O'Neill." Your Rodney might sound a bit like a blunt version of Draco Malfoy.
This is normal. It happens to OCs, too. If you look at the characterisation of Rodney in SG-1's "48 Hours" and compare it to "Hide And Seek," there is a marked difference as the writers got a feel for him.
Step four: Write that story that's nagging you.
That's the whole point, right?
Okay, not ready to do that yet? Fine, fine. If you don't feel ready or there isn't a particular story you want to write, participate in a challenge or two. People will give a writer they haven't heard of a chance when they're interested in the challenge or pairing itself.
In the Stargate Atlantis fandom I recommend the![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
sga_flashfic: there's always a great challenge going on, and it's quite open-ended. In Stargate SG-1 there is a yearly Jack/Daniel fic-a-thon, watch the jackslashdaniel for that one. In the sprawling metropolis of the Harry Potter fandom there are so many challenges it's impossible to keep track, but watch daily_snitch for the most recent.
How long will it take?
How much time will it take, do you ask, to establish yourself?
My observation is takes a minimum of ten stories, with at least one longer piece. Individual stories might get attention right away but usually it takes a repetoire before the readers recognize "Oh hey, I've seen this Icarus cat write SG-1 before." Occasionally a writer likemctabby can make a dent with one story, but it has to be the calibre of Two Worlds And In Between for that to happen.
Don't worry though. Chances are, if someone is a good writer in Stargate SG-1, they're still a good writer when they write Oz.
femmequixotic.I've moved from Lord of the Rings to Harry Potter, and then after being deeply enmeshed in Harry Potter two to three years, I shifted from that to Stargate SG-1 and now am writing Stargate Atlantis. The move from HP to SG-1 was particularly uncomfortable, so I hope this will prove helpful.
How To Write In A New Fandom
Moving from one fandom to another can be challenging (Icarus says in a 'bad infomercial' voice) especially when you're deeply entrenched, have won nifty awards where you are, and a fairly dependable following of readers with whom you feel comfortable. Changing what works can feel like you're on a diving board about to leap off into an abyss.
But you have to write what's in you, and if a different fandom is pulling at you, new stories bubbling out, there's no point in forcing yourself to stick to the familiar. Yes, you can be Mick Jagger and keep doing the same successful formula, but it's probably better for you as a writer to be David Bowie, changing your style and growing.
Prepare yourself: you will have fewer reviews, especially at first. Also, there will be subtle differences. Fandoms have different cultures and it'll take time to adjust. If you're used to writing Meta you might not be the voice of authority in this new fandom, which can seem strange.
Some will feel (to use an SG-1 example) like Daniel Jackson preaching to an emptying room as you post stories in your new fandom and are met with a resounding silence from the old. It will take time before you gain confidence and momentum in the new fandom, and you may never have the same presence. But most multi-fandom writers never abandon their old obsessions. They just simply write them less often. I gamble the last Harry Potter book will have all the oldtimers picking up their pens to bring Snape back to life or rehabilitate Percy.
Step one: Steep in the new fandom canon.
This is so obvious it barely needs mention. If you're interested in a new fandom of course you're reading the source material or soaking up the shows.
Be careful about absorbing more fanfic than canon at this early stage, because your image of the characters will struggle to develop if you're taking in a hundred different fanfiction interpretations. Each writer has their own take on John and Rodney and you need to develop yours. If you've already delved into the fanfic, then before you start writing your first piece, step away and re-read the book or view an episode or two.
Step two: Take a tour of the fanfiction.
Most people will have already done this, but if you haven't, read the main fanfiction stories in your new fandom. These keeps you from falling into that fandom's biggest cliches. Read some bad!fic too, because there's nothing more motivating than seeing a great character done poorly.
Hang out quietly and get a feel for the flavor and style of the fandom. Lord of the Rings is a rather "tweedy" group. Stargate SG-1 is intense and very earnest. Harry Potter is like a big city with teeny neighborhoods of cliques that pass like ships in the night. Stargate Atlantis is like a drunken luau with grinning old timers hanging out in bad Hawaiian shirts. They all have their little cultural norms and group hang-ups: LotR has an anti-slash bias, SG-1 has a painful history from when Daniel was killed on the show, Harry Potter has ongoing legal issues and chan.
Step three: Start with a few short character vignettes.
This gets your feet wet in the new fandom and helps you learn your characters' voices. Tackle the character that's hardest for you.
Post your vignettes and drabbles only in your LJ and for a few friends, where the lack of feedback may not seem to be too much of a problem. You're going to be a little OOC for these, but that's okay. My original John in my very first piece was a little rough, a little too "Jack O'Neill." Your Rodney might sound a bit like a blunt version of Draco Malfoy.
This is normal. It happens to OCs, too. If you look at the characterisation of Rodney in SG-1's "48 Hours" and compare it to "Hide And Seek," there is a marked difference as the writers got a feel for him.
Step four: Write that story that's nagging you.
That's the whole point, right?
Okay, not ready to do that yet? Fine, fine. If you don't feel ready or there isn't a particular story you want to write, participate in a challenge or two. People will give a writer they haven't heard of a chance when they're interested in the challenge or pairing itself.
In the Stargate Atlantis fandom I recommend the
sga_flashfic: there's always a great challenge going on, and it's quite open-ended. In Stargate SG-1 there is a yearly Jack/Daniel fic-a-thon, watch the jackslashdaniel for that one. In the sprawling metropolis of the Harry Potter fandom there are so many challenges it's impossible to keep track, but watch daily_snitch for the most recent.How long will it take?
How much time will it take, do you ask, to establish yourself?
My observation is takes a minimum of ten stories, with at least one longer piece. Individual stories might get attention right away but usually it takes a repetoire before the readers recognize "Oh hey, I've seen this Icarus cat write SG-1 before." Occasionally a writer like
mctabby can make a dent with one story, but it has to be the calibre of Two Worlds And In Between for that to happen. Don't worry though. Chances are, if someone is a good writer in Stargate SG-1, they're still a good writer when they write Oz.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2006-04-10 08:05 pm (UTC)Wow. I've never read a more apt description of SGA fandom. I keep trying to explain to people that I watch the show to hang out in this fandom where all my favorite writers from other fandoms hang out. And that there is more crack in SGA fandom than I have ever seen anywhere else. Dear God. The crack.
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:11 pm (UTC)Good to see we're all on the same page.
Icarus *adores the Crack*
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Date: 2006-04-10 08:33 pm (UTC)And now I need another icon ... damn you!
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Date: 2006-04-11 04:50 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-20 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-10 09:06 pm (UTC)I can't handle the fanon!
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Date: 2006-04-10 09:30 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-10 10:27 pm (UTC)*dies laughing* Best description EVER. For serious.
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Date: 2006-04-11 04:50 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-11 01:13 am (UTC)I'm going to attempt to write SGA at Shortfics this Thursday. It's crossover night.... :D I'm hoping maybe I can, er, pop my Rodney cherry that way.
*G*
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Date: 2006-04-11 04:43 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-11 01:29 am (UTC)In this case, that would be J.N. Stroyar. If you've heard of her, I will worship you.
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Date: 2006-04-11 01:46 pm (UTC)And, as a sideline, what's J.N. Stroyar's poison, eh? I'm always on the lookout for the next read, so...
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Date: 2006-04-11 05:04 pm (UTC)Google turned up her home page and a couple of places selling her books. And some places not-in-English (she is German). Various aspects of the series show up on my LJ interests...and no-one else's.
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Date: 2006-04-11 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 11:17 pm (UTC)Sound like a deal?
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Date: 2006-04-12 12:09 am (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 12:51 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 04:43 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-11 10:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 02:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 04:42 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-11 04:52 pm (UTC)Oz rocks. And the fandom is excellent. Small, but the writing tends to be exceedingly good. :)
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-12 07:39 am (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:43 am (UTC)I um, got totally sucked in by my friends' fics. And then Jo Rowling produced Harry Potter and the Growling Penis Monster and I refuse to write to that canon.
(There's a giant HBP-Free-Zone graphic on my RPG ever since I had to tell the fourth person that no, they may not play Humbert Slugbert in my game which has no Gaunts and no Pedo McWolferson in it either.)
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:06 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-12 09:00 am (UTC)But one thing I find interesting about moving fandoms is that it really is a nice reminder that, in the end, you are what you write, and people will read -- or not -- based on the quality of stories one tells. Tell a good story and word will (eventually) get around, even in a Balkanized fandom (having gone from one moderately unified, X-Men, to one highly Balkanized, HP).
So nice essay with some (I think) sound advice!
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:05 pm (UTC)But one thing I find interesting about moving fandoms is that it really is a nice reminder that, in the end, you are what you write, and people will read -- or not -- based on the quality of stories one tells.
It's a great way to confirm that it's not your reputation but the stories themselves that work for the readers. Sometimes when you've been around a while, you start to wonder....
Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:15 pm (UTC)Which is reassuring. :-)
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Date: 2006-04-12 01:14 pm (UTC)And it's not that they're bad writers, some are really good writers style-wise, but they lack backing up substance. If they'd hang around canon a bit longer, make themselves more familiar with it, do a little more research beyond what fanon says instead of rushing to write epic novels in the first couple of weeks already, they could avoid having us bitter geezers rolling our eyes at the old clichés being repeated. :/
Great post, I'll definitely point people here the next time I go pimping my fandoms. ;)
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:09 pm (UTC)This was a particularly bad problem in the Lord of the Rings fandom, where people were imitating fanfic that in addition was based on the movies and not the books. The old book fans Were. Not. Amused. Except in a tweedy sort of way. Puffing on their pipes.
Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 02:33 pm (UTC)Also, I totally agree with your point about having a sense of the fanon (and it might even be enough to look at the meta debates if one's too worried about reading the fic), b/c you don't want to write the trope that ate fandom without being self aware, don't want to hit the soft spot of fannish debates without knowing you did so, etc. But then I'm all about how we interact with one another's writing as much as we do with the source text, so I'd have to say that :D
Thanks for a great guide!!!
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:13 pm (UTC)Oh, I love that slacker ex-boyfriend/debate club geek quote.
Hmmm. I need an icon. I wonder if David Hewlett has worn any bad Hawaiian shirts in his movies.
Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-12 07:18 pm (UTC)Can you believe I'm so hooked on David Hewlett I'm actually going to watch that movie?
Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 07:24 pm (UTC)that's the omg you're lost phase for me in a fandom...when i watch really bad stuff just because ... we could maybe fight whether family album or boa's worse!!!
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Date: 2006-04-13 01:53 am (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-13 01:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-13 02:28 am (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-12 04:06 pm (UTC)Pennames: I know this seems like a minor thing, but it can be an issue if your username of choice is already taken in your new fandom. The last thing you want to do as a newbie is to annoy an old-timer. I write as Pixie in the JAG fandom, but I was glad that I did some research before getting involved in SG1, because there's already a user named Pixie there. Sometimes I feel a little schizophrenic with two different pennames, but it's better than inadvertently causing hard feelings.
Identify your new fandom's modus operandi: Not all fandoms hang out at LJ. Some (JAG as an example) prefer message boards and email lists. If your new fandom tends to hang out in different places than you're used to, it's a good idea to widen your horizons and learn something new, rather than assuming people will find you in your familiar stomping grounds.
Take the time to learn your new fandom's vocabulary: The term "crack fic" was new to me when I started writing Stargate, and we won't even talk about all of the acronyms I've had to puzzle out. It isn't that you can't participate until you've learned the vocabulary, but you might find that you'll enjoy yourself more if you know what people are talking about most of the time.
Heh. That got a little wordy. I hope I didn't overstep. Thank you for opening this subject for discussion. It's one that's near and dear to my heart at the moment. :)
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Date: 2006-04-12 04:50 pm (UTC)Icarus
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Date: 2006-04-14 05:00 am (UTC)i should probably finish reading the rest of this post...
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Date: 2006-04-22 11:01 am (UTC)I've had limited success just dabbling in Angel and Firefly. I was actually rather surprised by the number of comments I received on those pieces from people not on my flist. Of the 6 stories I wrote, I think 3 of them were recced at various places.
I still haven't quite made the jump to HP (mostly because SG-1 has been biting my ass again), but I have been following the steps, as it were. ;)
Oh, and your description of the fandoms?
Stargate SG-1 is intense and very earnest. Harry Potter is like a big city with teeny neighborhoods of cliques that pass like ships in the night. Stargate Atlantis is like a drunken luau with grinning old timers hanging out in bad Hawaiian shirts.
That couldn't be more accurate. I'm often shocked at how intense the SG-1 fandom is and then next door SGA is like a drunken orgy. You'd think the fans would be more similar, but they have such different reactions regarding the shows. People are majorily disgruntled about Season 6, or Season 9, or Sam/Jack, and they just can't get over that and enjoy the rest of it. But over at SGA it's like, "Here's a beer; sit a spell; want to hear some music?" I think it has to do with the age of the fandom. SGA just hasn't had time to get people disgruntled. In 5 years, I think it might look more like the SG-1 fandom...
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Date: 2006-04-22 05:22 pm (UTC)There's an earnestness to Stargate SG-1, a high-flying nobility and attempt to "get it right" that brings out an earnestness in its fans. Precisely because the shows tries very hard to get the military gear right, (as one example), you get fans who follow the military gear and are intense about "getting it right." Because you have a very blunt Jack O'Neill character you have a fandom that speaks its mind.
X-Files was all about secret plots and paranoia, and sure enough, the fandom collected into little back-stabbing groups.
Harry Potter has a cast of... well, not thousands, but lots, and is divided into Houses. Is it any surprise that the fandom is divided by House as well, with this person trumpeting Harry/Draco, while another cheering for Harry/Hermione? HP is one big Quidditch game, where outside the match people barely know what's going on in
SlytherinSnape/Draco.Then there's the Lord of the Rings with it's deep underpinings about death and endings and good-and-evil. Of course the readers emulate Tolkien's stuffy tongue-in-cheek style and are a little full of themselves, though they are relatively polite and hobbit-like when they are offended. Naturally, unlike Harry Potter which allows that there are many sides to an issue, in the LotR fandom you are either in the "good" side or must be outcast.
And so one. Star Trek had BNFs with long novels and egos the size of the Hindenberg...
Then you have the SGA fandom. The show barely takes itself seriously (space vampires...?). You have John Sheppard who's just borderline competent. Oh sure, he's a good soldier, but as a leader? Not so much. Rodney's (Rodney?) out in the field. With a gun. Which is a scary thought. And you have a long litany of Atlantis screw-ups, with all of them sweeping their mistakes under the rug (oops) and hoping no one notices or they don't die as a result. Naturally, the fandom has an attack of the sillies.
Icarus