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Writing when you're COMPLETELY OBSESSED with what you're writing . . .
So I finished my IWRY fic. Do I know why I am posting, since I will be posting about it again when it gets posted on my day? No. Do I care? Not really.
It was nice to write Buffy people again. Even if it was really only four Buffy people, one of which was actually an Angel people. I'm surprised I actually remember how to spell Buffy.
Anyway, I do have discussion points for you all. Don't collectively groan. Or do; I can't hear you so it doesn't matter. Here it is: I find it remarkably easier to write fanfic when I'm not knee-deep in the fandom it pertains to. I'll always love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel, but it's not my "thing" right now, and therefore it's easier to write. Remember Man's Best Friend? Which is one of my favorite fics I've written (and yes, I still plan on finishing, so sorry!)? I was not "in" the fandom when I wrote that. I still wanted to write Angel fanfic, obviously, but Angel was not my every waking thought, you know?
I think this is the case because I have So Serious Syndrome. SSS is characterized by general lack of humor, and grim determination. It means you cannot step back from your characters long enough to look at them, or analyze them in a way that isn't completely inside their heads. (In other words, you can't be Spike telling Batman his bat stars are ALL WRONG. <--not a link to that fic, though you should write that fic, yes you; it would be AWESOME.) Also, you're afraid to write anything less than Absolute Perfection, lest you mess them up. The thing is, "perfection", when not suffering from SSS, means a good solid fic with some good ideas and a nice structure and characters doing what they're supposed to and things. "Perfection" under the influence of SSS means that a story has to express everything you love about canon, the characters, everything you've ever thought about them too, and what your grandmother's opinion on this canon would be also, and how you'd address that.
I am suffering from SSS with the novel I am trying to write now. Well, obviously I'm not worried about canon, but I mean, I'm so worried about getting it right, even though I have a backspace button. I stress over it way too much instead of having any fun. That is why I've always hated novels and resorted to fanfic instead, but it sucks when even fanfic makes me contract SSS. I've had SSS for about 2 years now in Harry/Draco fandom, but I think since I'm in another fandom now, I may get over it. Maybe that means I'll be able to write Harry/Draco I actually like?
As for the fandom I'm in now, it's so cracktastic, I think I'm far from the danger of SSS. I had a mild case of it in the beginning, but now it's all ice cream in Commissioner Gordon's mustache, and Bruce Wayne having a daddy kink a mile wide. No one can take that seriously.
So, how 'bout y'all? Ever had SSS?
It was nice to write Buffy people again. Even if it was really only four Buffy people, one of which was actually an Angel people. I'm surprised I actually remember how to spell Buffy.
Anyway, I do have discussion points for you all. Don't collectively groan. Or do; I can't hear you so it doesn't matter. Here it is: I find it remarkably easier to write fanfic when I'm not knee-deep in the fandom it pertains to. I'll always love Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Angel, but it's not my "thing" right now, and therefore it's easier to write. Remember Man's Best Friend? Which is one of my favorite fics I've written (and yes, I still plan on finishing, so sorry!)? I was not "in" the fandom when I wrote that. I still wanted to write Angel fanfic, obviously, but Angel was not my every waking thought, you know?
I think this is the case because I have So Serious Syndrome. SSS is characterized by general lack of humor, and grim determination. It means you cannot step back from your characters long enough to look at them, or analyze them in a way that isn't completely inside their heads. (In other words, you can't be Spike telling Batman his bat stars are ALL WRONG. <--not a link to that fic, though you should write that fic, yes you; it would be AWESOME.) Also, you're afraid to write anything less than Absolute Perfection, lest you mess them up. The thing is, "perfection", when not suffering from SSS, means a good solid fic with some good ideas and a nice structure and characters doing what they're supposed to and things. "Perfection" under the influence of SSS means that a story has to express everything you love about canon, the characters, everything you've ever thought about them too, and what your grandmother's opinion on this canon would be also, and how you'd address that.
I am suffering from SSS with the novel I am trying to write now. Well, obviously I'm not worried about canon, but I mean, I'm so worried about getting it right, even though I have a backspace button. I stress over it way too much instead of having any fun. That is why I've always hated novels and resorted to fanfic instead, but it sucks when even fanfic makes me contract SSS. I've had SSS for about 2 years now in Harry/Draco fandom, but I think since I'm in another fandom now, I may get over it. Maybe that means I'll be able to write Harry/Draco I actually like?
As for the fandom I'm in now, it's so cracktastic, I think I'm far from the danger of SSS. I had a mild case of it in the beginning, but now it's all ice cream in Commissioner Gordon's mustache, and Bruce Wayne having a daddy kink a mile wide. No one can take that seriously.
So, how 'bout y'all? Ever had SSS?