Fulfillment From Fanfic

[lettered]

Does writing fanfiction make you happy?

Of course it does. That's why you do it. If that's not why you do it, don't tell me.

But what I want to know is, is it a happy that staves off boredom and is entertaining, rather than a happy that makes you want to jump up and down and run in circles and smile all the time because you're secretly thinking of what you're going to write next? Is it the kind of happy that makes it so you can't wait to sit down in front of your computer so you can see what happens next? Is it the kind of happy that every once in a while makes you bursty feeling?

I hope it is.

Comments

[lostakasha.livejournal.com]

Yes.

To everything, except the boredom part. I adore fanfic wiritng and don't do nearly enough of it ... I love channeling the characters and bringing them to the page because it's a physical necessity. It's like ... I don't know, some kind of psychic cleansing or mystical bloodletting. When I get cooking there's nothing like it. It's a survival imperative -- but that's what writing is for me, generally.

Perfect example -- and not a self-pimp but an example that's very fresh -- is the birthday fic for Maren. That was going to be a drabble. Not that I couldn't give it 100 words, but I didn't want to. I loved Angel's mustache and his Xander lust, and Buffy's vague dissapointment with getting everything she dreamed about at a 17-year-old. And it may well become a full fledged fic because they came to me with a story to tell. I truncated it so I could post it on the actual day of Maren-birth, but if I hadn't? I'd still be writing it now.

Do you write character journals with fic nobody will ever, ever read but you have to write it because you can't stand it if you don't? I do.

I love your questions. They bring me Joy! And who doesn't love Joy? And oooh! Don't you love that Tempe's name is Joy, and that her mother named her after two virtues? Just sayin'.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I don't do it because I'm bored, either. I get the impression sometimes that people do it like so many people watch tv--hey, it's there. I only watch tv if it's something I've been waiting all week to see.

Self-pimp away, though. I really did love that fic. Are you going to write more, though? Are you?

What do you mean by "character journals"? The only fanfic I have written that I don't post is stuff that isn't finished. I get crackin' on something, go for weeks, and then just stop, and feel bad posting WIPs because I tried that and feel like I'm killing chrisleeoctaves whenever I don't update. But with me, I write fanfic for myself anyway, and just show other people because I think they might like it, not to say something about myself, you know? So pretty much anything that I can actually finish, I post. Except for that Angel/Connor porn I wrote. That was just for me.

I know, with the Joy, I was like, "um, yay?" I love how often you pun my name. It makes me want to pet you.

[lostakasha.livejournal.com]

I'm leery of writing post-Shanshu Angel, because I've loved a2zmom's so very much. But I'm going to give mine a shot to see what hapens. So, yeah!

I kept a character journal when I was inthe fandom_muses comm, which I've since left. I wrote Jack Hodgins there. I use that journal now when I'm in the mood to write "just Jack!" (hee) because it really is out of context of a fic ... just me getting my ya ya's out. If you want to look at it, you can go here (http://j-hodgins.livejournal.com/). I find it very relaxing and fun, and I don't feel as though I'm spamming every time I want him to say something.

[tkp.livejournal.com]

I love a2z's too. I think definitely the best Shanshu Angel I've read.

And oh, cool. You've got a lot of writing going on, girl! That's so cool. Maybe I should start doing something like that one day. I get a lot of ideas I save in my head to put in stories, and sometimes they get lost. Looks like you've got great ways to just kinda let loose. I think I'm too uptight when I write.