Torchwood Fan writing...

[fajrdrako]

A meme from jadesfire2808 to amuse me over lunchtime.

A writer's questions and answers.


1. How about a brief introduction?

But you all know me already.

Oh, all right.

My name is Elizabeth. I'm addicted to fanfic, mostly slash - though I admit, Doctor Who and Torchwood fandom has lured me into the realms of het fic and even (occasionally) gen. Who'd'a thunk it?

Oh. Yes. That too. I'm also addicted to Torchwood, and John Barrowman songs (especially when he sings Cole Porter). I'll try to confine my answers here to Torchwood fandom applicability, otherwise this post will look like Marcel Proust -interminable. A reference to Marcel Proust is, of course, a Torchwood reference - you see why I love Captain Jack so?

2. What got you into fanfiction?

I've been writing fic since I learned to write, long before this kind of fandom existed. I waited a long time, and fandom sprang up. I suppose it started with getting a lot of letters published in Marvel comics, back when I was a letterhack. Then there were Star Trek clubs (where I was introduced to slash), and apazines, and fanzines, and conventions, and online groups, and now Livejournal. The fun just never ends.

3. What kind of fanfiction do you write?

Slash or relationship stories. Stories that answer questions that weren't answered in the show. Examination of backgrounds, motivations, ideas.

4. What is your most popular fic/muse, and why do you think people like it so?

No idea, either way. I don't think I'm the one who would know. Ask my readers.

Speaking as myself on the issue, I think my best stories (and the best-received) are the ones in which I come closest to the voice of the characters.

5. Forget other people, what is the fanfic/post/prompt you've written that you're most proud of?

Impossible to say, really, but it's possibly my Captain Jack Harkness/Captain Mal Reynolds crossover story Time Fugitive. Or my examination of Rhys Williams in Mourning Rites. Or Relativity, which showed Captain Jack through Jackie Tyler's eyes.

6. Do you find writing easy? Hard? What aspects do you struggle with?

Yes. All of that. Easy, hard, and everything in between. Sometimes impossible.

7. Do you write for the same pairings/characters?

No. With Torchwood, I've written Jack/Doctor (which is my favourite, especially Jack/Nine), Jack/Mal Reynolds, Jack/Ianto, Jack/Jack, Jack/Estelle, Gwen/Tosh, Owen/Captain John, and so on.... I like exploring relationships, and go for whatever I get an idea for. I'm rather fond of the theme of Owen's repressed love of Jack, and I love the idea of Jack/Tosh. I also like writing threesomes, and I'm working on it - Jack does it so well! - but it's more complicated than writing about couples.

8. Write a few sentences of your favorite pairing or character.

The Doctor puttered around the Hub, curious about everything. "Dangerous," he murmurred as he examined the Rift machine, but then went to look at Tosh's Rubik's cube and the flowers on Ianto's desk. He noticed a button attached to a cord on the side of Owen's keyboard. "What's that?"

"A button," said Jack, grinning.

"What does it do?"

"Destroys the time/space continuum."

The Doctor gave him a withering look. "Stupid Dalek-brain. Tell me, or I'll push it."

Jack shrugged. "The fate of a million timelines on your head, then."

"Jack?"

"Imagine all those worlds going 'ping' at once. The anguish! The loss! The bad poetry, the rock music we'll never hear again -"

The Doctor pushed the button.

A television turned on. It was the middle of the current episode of Spooks.

"Oh!" said the Doctor in delight, his irritation with Jack suddenly forgotten. "I haven't seen this one, yet!" He sat down on the battered sofa, and proceeded to watch.

Jack wondered why the Doctor bothered to watch television in real time, when he could have any episode of anything at his fingertips in the TARDIS. He decided there was no answer for it, it was just one of those Time Lord oddities. Or perhaps a quirk of the Doctor's own - he had so many.

Smiling, Jack sat beside him to watch. Normally he had no time for television, but for the Doctor, he was always willing to make an exception.

(I tried to write just a few sentences, but I have trouble sometimes getting Jack and the Doctor to shut up.)

9. Are there any fanfiction trends/cliches you hate?

Oh, many. Way too many. And themes I hate. But on the whole, whatever it is, if it's well-written, I'll read it. I suppose my hates could be summed up as follows:

1. Unbetaed fics with misplaced random apostrophes.
   
2. Fics in which the writer thinks the word 'alright' is all right to use.
   
3. Fics in which characters are hot for each other and then talk about sex for pages without doing anything.

This is not counting fics that are just genres and types I don't like and never read - Mpreg, for example.

10. Are you guilty of any of the trends you hate?

I have never said 'alright', I think. But I have been guilty of any number of other atrocities.

11. What was the first fandom you wrote for? Do you still write for it?

It depends how you define 'fandom'. I wrote about Beatrix Potter characters when I was six. I wrote about The Man from U.N.C.L.E. at twelve, but it was just me and my friends back then. My first slash fandom would be K/S. My first serious fanfic written for a wider audience would be X-Men.

12. Name your OTPs and explain what is it about them you love to write.

Interesting question. I'd say that the reason I write anything about anything is a combination of loving the character or characters, and having something to say about them - an idea. I focus on favourite pairings (like Jack/Doctor) because I love the characters and there is something about their interaction that I find interesting, intriguing, though-provoking, unusual, and (especially) hot.

13. What would you call your writing style?

George?

Home to supper?

Truly, I don't have an answer for the question. My style is my style. Like the walking formation of the Torchwood team, it varies. But only in certain ways.

14. Do you read other people's writing? If so, what do you find yourself reading the most?

I read a lot. I love to read. I'm reading a lot of Jack/Ianto stories lately, because it seems to be the slash staple of Torchwood fandom. I like to read good well-written stories, and the only way to find them is to sample everyone and everything. First I look for things by writers I like, none of whom are prolific enough to suit me, and then I tend to read NC-17 or R stories randomly to find more good writers - really enjoyed the recent Porn Battle held by oxoniensis. Then I go for interesting titles or pairings on torchwood_three.

15. Name one thing you'd love to write but have been too afraid or shy to do.

Shy? Me? Not when I'm writing.

There are many reasons I don't write - too busy, health troubles, writer's block, lack of ideas, dissatisfaction with my results - but I've never held back on a story I wanted to write through fear.

16. Do you feel uncomfortable taking criticism? Or worse, do you have the dreaded bloated ego?

If we could all judge our own egos, there'd be fewer bloat problems in this world. Sometimes I feel uncomfortable with criticism, especially unasked criticism from someone whose tastes I don't share, or whose judgement I don't respect. I know my writing won't please everyone. Why should it? Everyone's writing doesn't please me.

On the other hand, I wish most of my beta-readers were more critical. I have no difficulty with intelligent criticism. I always have the option of disagreeing with it. (And I always think carefully about it first.)

The thing is, criticism isn't about me, it's about the story, and the quality of the story is always the most important thing.

17. When you write, is there anything that helps?

Inspiration.

18. What inspires you?

Ah, now, there is the question. Good characters inspire me. Good ideas. Good conversations about the characters - sometimes not directly, but it all filters into my brain.

19. Lastly, how would you sum up your fanfiction/RP experiences and you as a writer?

The most fun I've had ever.

20. Tag some friends, because they'll hate you for it.

And why would I want to be hated by people I like? Of course I'd love to hear my friends' answers to this, especially becky_h, smithy161, nina_ds and benbenberi, and now if they hate me for mentioning them, I'll whimper.

Comments

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

My hubby was always much more of a DC fan, so i've read quite a bit of DC too. And Image and other smaller companies.

I've tried to follow X-men on and off, but usually whenever I start to get really interested Marvel does one of it's massive crossovers and I miss some issues and get confused.

*sigh* Gambit. Way to take a good character and mess with him completely...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Crossovers can be a lot of fun - I really enjoyed the Civil War - but they do get confusing and they do tend to make changes, which isn't necessarily a good thing. I liked the status quo with the Marvel Mutants more before the mutant crisis - and yes, the X-Men are very confusing now. It seems to be a bit of a hodge-podge. I've lost track. I don't even know how many x-titles there are, or who is an X-Man and who isn't.

Which just shows I haven't been paying enough attention, but they've made it difficult enough that I don't care.

Of the independents, I really liked Love and Rockets, Zot!, Bone, Akiko, Echo, and Grendel, to name a few.

[donutsweeper.livejournal.com]

Which just shows I haven't been paying enough attention, but they've made it difficult enough that I don't care.

exactly- that was the death knell for me too

I've read some of those, but not recently. I think we have a large run of Grendel around somewhere

We've also collected Xenozoic Tales (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenozoic_Tales) (Marvel and kitchen sink press) and Wildcats and Grifter and team-7 etc (Image) and bunch of others. It's hard to remember them all

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I never read Grifter but I always liked the look of the art - just seeing the covers and such.

I didn't read much from Image for budgetary reasons.

In a pefect word I could afford comics and have time to read 'em.