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Let's talk about defining fics you've written.
DAY TWO OF RANDOM METAPALOOZA.
Do you ever feel like you need to write a fic before you can write a fic?
Of course, you need to write one fic before you can write a sequel. And some people write maybe, five big fics, and almost every other fic they write after that takes place in one of those five universes. I'm talking about those kinds of, let's call 'em "origin" fics ('cause. Well. Other fics originate from them?), but also the great big shipper fic you needed to write to get, say, Spike and Xander together in a way that was believable to you--a fic in which you deal with the "Wait, but I hate vampires!" and "Wait, but I'm not gay!" issues, so that in the fics after that, you can deal with the not-quite-as-immediate issues this couple might have. After that one fic that defines the ship for you, you can write established relationship fics, PWPs, bits of fluff, etc. You don't use the universe of that origin fic so much as you use . . . well, I would call it using that fic's justification. You use the initial fic to justify your 'ship, to justify to yourself how you can write an S/X fluff, even though we all know Xander hates vamps and Spike isn't . . . oh wait, he is. Anyway, you don't tell someone on your S/X fluff fics, "Oh! You have to read my S/X justification fic!", because they are not connected by plot or even by fic-universe. But you use that initial justification fic as a springboard, for yourself.
What I'm calling a "justification" fic might not be about shipping at all. For instance, I initially began "5 Ways NFA Probably Didn't End" as a way to write a happy ending for NFA, after which I (thought I) would feel far more comfortable writing post NFA fics in which no one died, Buffy came to help, and everything was hunky dory. The fic didn't quite turn out that way, but even though at the time it was unconcious, that was partially my intention. I'm interested in this concept. To some extent, as with a fic you write that becomes its own universe in which you can write other fic, it's nudging canon into a place we like, or even that is more comfortable for us, so we can bridge from canon into what we really want to write. But this kind of justification fic, the initial fic isn't a bridge between canon and your other fic--they're not sequels, they don't have to take place in the same universe--it's less physical and more mental than that. That is, whether purposely or not, the initial fic got you into the frame of mind you wanted or needed to be in to justify, and finally produce, those other fics you wanted to write. No one else needs to be privy to that mindframe shift; no one else necessarily sees the connection. But you needed to write that initial fic for you, in order to get into a place to write the fics you wanted to write (again, whether you realized it or not).
Another side of the same die is a fic you've written whose meta concepts are the origins of other things you've written, or fics you've written whose meta concepts have changed the way you think about the characters, such that every fic you write after that is written with that slightly changed view. For instance, writing "Bodliless Within The Bodies" helped me to see that Angel really could bear Buffy's death, and why, and that when Buffy came back to life, she could never ever be All About Angel. This helps me focus in the fics I've written since, gives me to understand what they're really feeling, and makes me be careful about keeping the characters in character. Similar to the way my 5 NFA fic was meant to be, this fic put me into a certain frame of mind for writing future fics (but I didn't do it on purpose. It just happened that I realized something about the characters when I was writing it).
(Another side I'm interested in is the way a meta essay plays into all this. I've written some fics that have allowed me to see the characters in new ways, and then I wrote meta about it. Vice versa, I'm sure it's possible to sit down and write an essay about Angel, and come away with a new way of looking at the character that thereafter, goes into and affects all your fics.)
There are fics (and meta) written by others that can fill these roles for you. You can write a sequel to someone else's fic, or write in their universe--though I *strongly* suggest you get permission or you will probably be hurting and angering someone greatly. But as for the other kinds of fic I mentioned, sure, you can read a fic which slowly brings Buffy and Faith together in a way that's believable, in a way that deals with the issues of teh gay and you slept with my boyfriend and you tried to kill me. And after reading that, you may feel inspired to write 50 pages of B/F smut that you wouldn't have been able to write, had you not read that initial fic. And certainly I've read dozens of fics which've made me think about the characters, see them in new lights, and I consider it an asset to bring those new insights into my own writing.
But right now I'm interested in you, your fics, what you wrote for yourself. What fic you wrote do you feel really started something for you? What did it start? What fics you've written are the center of most of your universes? What fics you've written have allowed you to write a certain ship or pairing? What fics you've written have allowed you to write certain situations? What fics you've written have changed your outlook on a character, and affected your future writing about that character? What fics you've written are defining for you, and how did it come to be defining for you, did you start out with that intention? Is it something that's actually not that great, but spawned other good stuff? Is it (are they) the fics you rec people when they ask what you've written? Are they fair representations of you as a writer? Are they something you just needed to dash off to get to the point where you are? What about meta? Is there fic you've written that's spawned meta, or meta you've written that affected your characterizations?
Do you ever feel like you need to write a fic before you can write a fic?
Of course, you need to write one fic before you can write a sequel. And some people write maybe, five big fics, and almost every other fic they write after that takes place in one of those five universes. I'm talking about those kinds of, let's call 'em "origin" fics ('cause. Well. Other fics originate from them?), but also the great big shipper fic you needed to write to get, say, Spike and Xander together in a way that was believable to you--a fic in which you deal with the "Wait, but I hate vampires!" and "Wait, but I'm not gay!" issues, so that in the fics after that, you can deal with the not-quite-as-immediate issues this couple might have. After that one fic that defines the ship for you, you can write established relationship fics, PWPs, bits of fluff, etc. You don't use the universe of that origin fic so much as you use . . . well, I would call it using that fic's justification. You use the initial fic to justify your 'ship, to justify to yourself how you can write an S/X fluff, even though we all know Xander hates vamps and Spike isn't . . . oh wait, he is. Anyway, you don't tell someone on your S/X fluff fics, "Oh! You have to read my S/X justification fic!", because they are not connected by plot or even by fic-universe. But you use that initial justification fic as a springboard, for yourself.
What I'm calling a "justification" fic might not be about shipping at all. For instance, I initially began "5 Ways NFA Probably Didn't End" as a way to write a happy ending for NFA, after which I (thought I) would feel far more comfortable writing post NFA fics in which no one died, Buffy came to help, and everything was hunky dory. The fic didn't quite turn out that way, but even though at the time it was unconcious, that was partially my intention. I'm interested in this concept. To some extent, as with a fic you write that becomes its own universe in which you can write other fic, it's nudging canon into a place we like, or even that is more comfortable for us, so we can bridge from canon into what we really want to write. But this kind of justification fic, the initial fic isn't a bridge between canon and your other fic--they're not sequels, they don't have to take place in the same universe--it's less physical and more mental than that. That is, whether purposely or not, the initial fic got you into the frame of mind you wanted or needed to be in to justify, and finally produce, those other fics you wanted to write. No one else needs to be privy to that mindframe shift; no one else necessarily sees the connection. But you needed to write that initial fic for you, in order to get into a place to write the fics you wanted to write (again, whether you realized it or not).
Another side of the same die is a fic you've written whose meta concepts are the origins of other things you've written, or fics you've written whose meta concepts have changed the way you think about the characters, such that every fic you write after that is written with that slightly changed view. For instance, writing "Bodliless Within The Bodies" helped me to see that Angel really could bear Buffy's death, and why, and that when Buffy came back to life, she could never ever be All About Angel. This helps me focus in the fics I've written since, gives me to understand what they're really feeling, and makes me be careful about keeping the characters in character. Similar to the way my 5 NFA fic was meant to be, this fic put me into a certain frame of mind for writing future fics (but I didn't do it on purpose. It just happened that I realized something about the characters when I was writing it).
(Another side I'm interested in is the way a meta essay plays into all this. I've written some fics that have allowed me to see the characters in new ways, and then I wrote meta about it. Vice versa, I'm sure it's possible to sit down and write an essay about Angel, and come away with a new way of looking at the character that thereafter, goes into and affects all your fics.)
There are fics (and meta) written by others that can fill these roles for you. You can write a sequel to someone else's fic, or write in their universe--though I *strongly* suggest you get permission or you will probably be hurting and angering someone greatly. But as for the other kinds of fic I mentioned, sure, you can read a fic which slowly brings Buffy and Faith together in a way that's believable, in a way that deals with the issues of teh gay and you slept with my boyfriend and you tried to kill me. And after reading that, you may feel inspired to write 50 pages of B/F smut that you wouldn't have been able to write, had you not read that initial fic. And certainly I've read dozens of fics which've made me think about the characters, see them in new lights, and I consider it an asset to bring those new insights into my own writing.
But right now I'm interested in you, your fics, what you wrote for yourself. What fic you wrote do you feel really started something for you? What did it start? What fics you've written are the center of most of your universes? What fics you've written have allowed you to write a certain ship or pairing? What fics you've written have allowed you to write certain situations? What fics you've written have changed your outlook on a character, and affected your future writing about that character? What fics you've written are defining for you, and how did it come to be defining for you, did you start out with that intention? Is it something that's actually not that great, but spawned other good stuff? Is it (are they) the fics you rec people when they ask what you've written? Are they fair representations of you as a writer? Are they something you just needed to dash off to get to the point where you are? What about meta? Is there fic you've written that's spawned meta, or meta you've written that affected your characterizations?