Moar and Moar Expert Writing Advice: The Finer Points of Fanfic Plots

[triedunture]

Holy crap, you guys, am I really posting another installment of

T's Giant Expert Writing Advice for Writers
and other people who wanna write good too?


I guess I am.

Earlier, I posted some very basic stuff about plot development if you care to look that over as a refresher. But it occurred to me lately that maybe there is something to be said for the plot development of fanfic specifically.

SO HERE IT GOES I GUESS?

1. Using Tropes. Not that there's anything wrong with that!

Fanfic, unlike other fiction writing, comes with a lot of heavy baggage. Fandoms will often create tropes, or ingrained cliches, in their fanfics. Some of these tropes are recognizable cross-fandom: the blanket scenario comes to mind as one of these. For the uninitiated, the blanket scenario involves the two characters, who are both secretly in love with each other, being forced to share a blanket for warmth. Sexual tension reaches a boiling point and you end up with a fresh-baked sexy cake. Wham, bam, thank you, madam.

Now here's the thing. And this is just a personal opinion. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH WRITING CLICHES IN FANFIC. Fanfic exists as a comforting and familiar sort of escape from the everyday. If you can read or write 1200 different blanket!fics, then by all means do so. I will not judge.

But if you are using a cliche, like the blanket scenario, in your fanfic writing, I would encourage you to first of all acknowledge that it is a cliche and second of all try to use that to your advantage. Tropes are good training grounds for pushing your writing. Because the reader already knows what's going to happen, you're free to try and surprise them in other ways.

At the risk of sounding like a self-aggrandizing twat, I took the blanket scenario and applied it to a Jooster fic (here), and tried to create a new sort of mood. It was very different from canon atmosphere because Bertie's narration is given to bouncing all over the place, and I thought it might be interesting to see that focus shrink to a (literally) much smaller space. I had begun writing this story in third person, but saw that it wouldn't be very good unless it was Bertie telling us how everything was changing.

I guess what I'm saying is, there's no shame in taking a cliche and running with it. But it's better to not take the cliche seriously and to try and shake things up.

Other cliches include the "OMG we have to pretend to be together for some reason and then I guess we end up actually falling for each other" plot. Every fandom has tons of examples of this cliche done well and interestingly, or at the very least differently. Folks from the House fandom will probably remember A Modest Proposal by ignazwisdom. (I confess I haven't read all of it. It is a massive fic.)

I seriously didn't remember this until just now, but I have also written this cliche in a Jooster story that was an early effort and not altogether good. Anyway! It just goes to show that cliches make for good practice at the very least, and novel explorations with twists at the very best. I don't want anyone to NOT write a fic just because the premise is cliched. With your own take on it, nothing will be worthless.


2. Pushing Boundaries. But not too far!

This is probably a good time to talk about pushing the envelope when it comes to fic writing. It's tricky. On the one hand I want to say EFF ALL RULES AND DO WHAT YOU WANT. Because this is fandom. And you're allowed.

But on the other hand, I would encourage restraint. Too many bad fanfics are written by people who have taken leave of their senses and written down something that should never, ever have been written down, even in jest.

When I talk about things that should never happen in fanfic, you might think I'm talking about literal plot points: rape, incest, torture, child abuse, the worst things you could think of. But that's not altogether true. I think the correlation between bad fics and those awful, terrifying subjects is more complex than our instinctive reaction to reading about horrible things.

After all, people read about horrible things happening in the news and in horror stories, and we watch horror films with gay abandon, and we're naturally curious about cruelty and terror.

But the reason these things often don't work in fanfics is because there is no room for them in most canons. Think about it: 95% of canon is based on mainstream TV, books, and films. They're not allowed to show someone cursing in most of those mediums, let alone having hardcore sex. (Books, of course, can "show" anything, but for those working in fandoms like HP and Wodehouse, our canons fall within strict age-appropriate guidelines.)

So it's a stretch in the first place for fanfics to show two characters that we know and love from canon gettin' it on. It's a further stretch to show them falling in love when that may or may not be canon. It's a FURTHER stretch to show them doing things we wouldn't ordinarily see them doing in canon, like cursing, fist-fighting, getting plastered, etc.

If they writer is skillful, these stretches MAY work, and the readers will be delighted at the writer's literary gymnastics.

But there's a point where the audience will snap and give up rather than be led down a road that stretches SO FAR from canon as to be ridiculously inconvenient for them. Topics like rape, child abuse, and torture are among these breaking points because very few canons leave room for these things. (OZ, I'm told, is one of the few.) And so few of us can skillfully write about these terrible subjects in a meaningful way. What can we, as writers, possibly say about these awful things? Yes, a skillful writer can mete out the physical details of a scene that involves rape, or can maybe even touch on the horror inherent in a torture scene. But can you, can anyone, put down in plain English what these things are? I certainly can't. And if I can't do justice to something as important and heavy as that, then I don't think I should write about it.

Now, I'm not saying there is no place for awful things in fanfic; some of the very best fanfics use these as plot devices. But those writers are very good, very aware, and very mindful of the fact that if the whole point of the fic is "rape/torture/abuse is bad" then none of us is learning anything new from it, because we all know that already. Does that make any sense? I might be talking rubbish, and I might be distracting from my main point by using rape et. al. as examples of things that one should use with caution.

There are lots of other plot devices that should be used with caution on the other side of the fence. Overly sappy and girly plot devices, especially in slash fanfic, should also be used sparingly and wisely. If you are writing a character as doing something very romantic, I would suggest a level of restraint when it comes to soppiness. Sometimes the most romantic gestures are so personal that they don't fit within the accepted notions of romance. This comes back once more to my theory that, perversely, more people will identify with your writing the more individual and specific it is. IN THE INVERSE FASHION, THERE ARE THINGS THAT CAN BE MADE JUST AS HORRIFYING AS RAPE ET. AL. WITH SOME CREATIVITY.

So the reason a fic is bad isn't because it involves rape or chocolates on pillows. Bad fic is bad because the writer hasn't properly explained to us why these characters are involved in rape, or are putting chocolates on pillows. To do such a thing properly is a tall order, but not impossible. Just impractical.

3. Questions to ask yourself before you start writing.

Am I writing this for myself? Or will other people enjoy this too?

Writing fanfic for yourself that only you will enjoy is fine, but it would be silly to share it and expect lots of positive feedback if that was the case. If the fic involves something only you will enjoy (an obscure kink, let's say), then you should probably try your best to make other areas of the fic interesting to others. If you have the plot to yourself, give readers the characterization, the tone, the setting that they will like.

Would these characters actually ever do this?

Fanfic characterization is a big deal for lots of readers. If your fic could easily replace all the characters' names with Bob and Sue and still make sense, then it's probably not a good fanfic. It might be a great original piece, but it's not a fanfic.

If your answer to this question is a wobbly "maybe?" then you have your work cut out for you. Your task is to show us a logical progression from Point A (canon) to Point Z (your crazy ass plot). You CAN do it. It's just going to be a lot of work. And if you find you can't do it in the end, then don't force it. It's better to give up on a bad idea then make everyone read it.

If someone who didn't know this fandom at all read this story, would they be mildly entertained?

This one is optional. Maybe it's only for Level 99 Ficcers? It's a litmus test for your plot. In my opinion, if your plot is good enough, it will entertain almost everyone, including people who aren't familiar with the characters. Some stories are so character-driven that this is tricky.

Is there a logical sequence of events in my story, where one thing follows the other in a cause-and-effect way?

If your reader can't figure out why A did that or B did this, they are going to give up. And probably hate you.

4. An example of plot formation in motion.

A lot of what you see above is just me babbling on about theory. I will try to put my money where my mouth is and walk you through, step by step, a plot formation in my head.

OK. Let's use a fic that's been in the works for awhile. This is my as-yet untitled Time Traveling Jooster fic.

Here's where the idea began: "Man, I <3 time travel."

And also: "Man, I <3 valet!love.">

It was just a short jump from that to: "MAN. I SHOULD PUT THOSE TWO THINGS TOGETHER."

All right, so now we have a plot bunny. Jeeves & Wooster time travel. That's a good place to start.

So I need to think of how the plot is going to progress. Luckily, time travel is a bit of a cliche, so I have a rudimentary outline already:

1. Some blokes travel through time.
2. Said blokes have difficulties in this strange time.
3. Blokes undergo an adventure in order to make it back home.

OK, so then I needed the following:

1. A reason that propelled them through time.
2. A setting and time for them to travel to.
3. A series of events that would convince them and the readers they were in a different time.
4. A mechanism that helps them in their quest to find a way home.
5. Some hot ghey sex.

(5 is optional, I guess.)

Number 1 became: VAGUE DIMENSIONAL RIFT THAT WILL LATER BE EXPLAINED BY A BOFFIN.
Number 2 became: MY TIME AND PLACE PLZ SINCE THAT IS EASY FOR ME.
Number 3 became: IPODS AND CAB DRIVERS AND MONEY CHANGING AND NEW FASHIONS LOL.
Number 4 will be: A FRIENDLY ORIGINAL CHARACTER WHO SHEDS LIGHT ON THEIR CHARACTERIZATIONS.
Number 5 will be: TOTES HOT BECAUSE IT WILL BE SORT OF EMOTIONAL I GUESS.

Now the trick becomes stringing together all these plot points while keeping Jeeves and Bertie IC. Several decisions have to be made, like which POV to use. While reviewing my mental outline, I might see scenes developing which are funny and good to keep in mind while writing. For example, omg, new fashions? How will Jeeves react? That's going to be a useful plot point.

Part of the reason that I am admittedly stuck on this fic is that my original idea that explained the time travel has been shot to hell. History! Damn yooooou! So I have to come up with a new explanation for time travel. Not hard. I'll just fake it and lend verisimilitude to the plot by having some techie science boffin explain it all away using technical language and then offering a lamp shade defense.

I offer this glimpse into plot building not just to destroy your faith in my skills, but to show that it's really very fun once you get the hang of it. I hope I have helped or at least not hurt your creative process, and now you will all go forth and write write write!

Have I forgotten anything? Am I incredibly stupid about some of these things? You should tell me so. Kiss kiss.

Comments

[jackpy.livejournal.com]

I want to live in your head.

[chaoschick13.livejournal.com]

*vigorous applause*

A hearty yes to all these things.

[hwshipper.livejournal.com]

Yay! I always enjoy your writing advice posts.

I had no idea what tropes were until I came across TV Tropes, where I can now waste far too long browsing anytime.

And am looking forward to time-travelling Jooster!

[mxdp.livejournal.com]

Have I forgotten anything?
Yes. That your awesome. If there's room left, I want to follow Jack's idea and live in your head.

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

I don't understand most of what you're saying here. I'm going to address the last bit, then, and hope for the best.

I'm not saying anything isn't possible in fanfiction. I'm the last person who would be saying that. I like to see people doing new and crazy things. But sometimes I see fics that go past even the AU or OOC border into a land I'm not familiar with, and if I can't recognize the characters and world of the fandom the fic is supposed to be in, then that's not a nice experience. That's all I meant.

If everything conformed to canon, it would be pretty dull, wouldn't it? I hope that's not the impression that I was giving.

[cadeira.livejournal.com]

Oh well, there´s my major problem: Structuring thoughts before writing.
Actually with me the advice should be: Structuring thoughts before doing anything at all.
Not long ago I read first-kiss fic and had the feeling that there are just so many times you paint this situation in an engrossing way. Picking a scenario and then blending all the elements that are "necessary" just doesn´t do it for me to get emotionally (yes, I read slash for emotions *cough*) involved with the story. The "shaking up" as you call it, the things that take me by surprise are what make the stories memorable.

Have you seen that there´s a podfic version of "A Modest Proposal" in jinjurl´s audio archive?

[triedunture.livejournal.com]

Yes I have downloaded it but not got round to listening to it.