I feel like at first a story should come at you bambambam!, but that later on you should know the characters better.
Yup, I agree with that, at least for the type of novel most fanfic writers are attempting. And this is totally my problem, too (which is why I pounced on it): How do fanficcers deseminate complex character info without sounding like an argument on Metafandom? You had it nailed for Angel -- all his character stuff interacted really organically with the plot, dialogue, etc. I think for Buffy it was a matter of quantity. One too many paragraphs in a row of, "As you know, Bob, the Doomsday Device has but one weakness..." and how much of it did we need to know urgently?
This is sophisticated stuff. How much of it changes depending on whether you're writing fanfic or pro-fic would be a good discussion question.
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Yup, I agree with that, at least for the type of novel most fanfic writers are attempting. And this is totally my problem, too (which is why I pounced on it): How do fanficcers deseminate complex character info without sounding like an argument on Metafandom? You had it nailed for Angel -- all his character stuff interacted really organically with the plot, dialogue, etc. I think for Buffy it was a matter of quantity. One too many paragraphs in a row of, "As you know, Bob, the Doomsday Device has but one weakness..." and how much of it did we need to know urgently?
This is sophisticated stuff. How much of it changes depending on whether you're writing fanfic or pro-fic would be a good discussion question.