Re: Essay: The Decline of B/W Fan Fiction

["The Watcher" <thewatcherau@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

G'Day everyone,

Just my 2c worth..

> I've been getting the feeling that some of my fellow authors have been
> thrown into a loop since it came apparent at least to me that Willow is
> turning to the dark side during this season on Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

It's been on the cards for a while. Compare mid-season 5 Willow with end of
season 5 Willow

> Although this does affect writers in different ways, those who rely
heavily
> on canon are perhaps more affected by this latest trick Joss has decided
to
> play on us.

Joss very rarely "tricks" people. He actually tells you ALOT about what he's
going to do. Very adept at the long set up. Just go back and see how Willow
and Oz got together.

> I'm all for change and I usually try to embrace when it comes about, but
why
> then do I feel a longing for the golden age of B/W fan fiction? When the
> readers seemed actually interested in what happened in the story and the
> stories themselves were somehow 'better'.
>

I think the "golden age" of B/W fanfic is intimately linked to the "golden
age" of B/W shipperdom. Back when Buffy told Willow everything, when she
cried on her shoulder when Angel hurt her, when they mourned lost loves
together and had sleepovers.. With weapons!

Say and think what you like but the amount and quality of any ships fic is
directly proportional to the screen-time and the shippiness of that screen
time, this even surprisingly enough applies to the m/m slash fics.. :-)
Only one I could never work out was Giles/Oz, but I digress.

One of the biggest things against B/W fic obviously is that it's not canon.
But back in the aforementioned time (first 3 seasons pretty much) B/W was as
close to canon as you're likely to get between them. They had LOTS of screen
time alone and together (epsecially pre-Oz when Willow was single) but with
the advent of Oz and Riley etc, it makes it difficult. Not only to have
shippy moments but for them even to have solo screen time. Buffy and Willow
have a gratuitous shopping expedition to spend quality time together doesn't
really move the plot along.

Lets be honest as much as we say people can write fics within the canon
universe about thier friendship etc. MOST of us here would like to see Buffy
and Willow together as a couple, and this is NOT canon and to be honest I
can't see it ever being.

But as Hamlet has shown there ARE other options (I'm sure other authors have
covered them Hamlet was the first that came to mind) think outside the
square, both in terms of plot and in terms of relationship, as we've seen
more than once on the show a relationship is about more than hopping into
bed togetehr and doing a bit of horizontal folk dancing. Look at other
aspects and feel free to give US your spin on them. Look at how the OTHER
characters might deal with B/W. Look at the upsides but also look at the
down sides, what if they fight, what if it was Buffy, not Tara who was with
Willow now?? How would she deal?? What if Willow not Buffy died?? The
options and the budget are pretty limitless. That's the beauty of fanfic...

On the positive side we should be grateful because B/W would have to be one
of the most popular NON-canon ships I've seen, the only other one that comes
close is B/F and that's coz that was basically psuedo-canon, joss and co
played up the subtext between those two to the max for a number of reasons,
much to the delight of the male audience :-)

> Not to say that there were just got stories back in the day, there will
> always be those not as gifted, but whom too burn with creative ideas,
those
> writers are a part of the writer community and should be saluted for their
> efforts, but pointing out flaws is no crime and doing so does not make the
> reader a bad person.
>

There are two parts to writing, mechanics and imagination.. one can be
fixed, the other can't. In my mind, bad fics are stories that have NO
imagination or a crude story at best ( and dont get me wrong I love PWP as
much as anyone).

Flaws SHOULD be pointed out, it only benefits the community and the writer,
however sometimes the writers don't want to be benefited they just want to
be
told what a wonderful story they have written. These arent the writers we
want... Anyone who will willingly accept criticism SHOULD be encouraged in
every way.. Even if the stuff they are writing isn't that good.. Everyone
needs to start somehwre and not everyone is a James Clavell right out of the
box.. if they have a good basis for their stories then all the better. But
encouragement involves more than "great story keep it up". People are often
reluctnat to ASK for help when writing, it can be an incredibly personal
thing and I'm not saying we should force help upon those who don't want it,
but it should be offered, MUCH more than it is currently.

This doesn't mean you need to turn into a full-time beta for numerous
prolific writers, all you need to do one chapter, just a section of text.
Read it. Read it instead of the next chapter of the 40 part fic that's been
posted to the list. You can read that tommorrow night. read it and BE
HONEST, tell the writer what you liked and BETTER YET what you didn't and
MOST IMPORTANTLY --- WHY!! And don't cop out by saying I just didn't like
it. re-read it a couple of times if you must, speak to the writer about it,
ask them what they were trying to convey. see if there was something you
missed, then ask WHY did I miss it, was it the 3 six-packs of Bud I had
before I read it or was it the writer was trying to be too subtle that the
green-eyed demon was jealous of Buffy and Willow. You're not infalliable and
neither is the writer but you DO have an opinion. Feel free to give it but
also respect whent he writer chooses to ignore it. Having said that PLEASE
use a deft hand (*looks at Hamlet*) don't go scaring off writers by telling
them that you'd have better succes putting 24 monkeys in fromt of your PC,
or that the latin text they use to space fill in example documents to better
to read.

If we want better fic we need to work at it just a little bit. Take a writer
under your wing. If you write give them some tips, if you don't tell them
what you like and don't like. Not everyone knows technical details but
obviously everyone appreciates good story telling (or you wouldn't be
watching Buffy) I couldn't tell a split infinitve from the sound end of a
north facing Buffy-rat. But I know when I like a story and how it affected
me. that's all the writers need to know. You can surmise and prognosticate
and guess all you like about what the writer was trying to acheive but in
the end they are the only ones who know. what you need to do is work out if
for whatever reason that story worked for you. And if it did tell the
writetr and tell them WHY, and if it didn't tell the writer and tell them
WHY and if you aren't sure ask the writer and ask them WHY.. are we seeing a
trend forming here??

> This brings to the question that I'm facing as an writer, is my story good
> or is it as good as it used to be? You see I was used to get all sorts of
> feedback ranging from; "You paint pictures with your words" to "You killed
> Willow you filthy SOB". Still now a day the only feedback I read if any
is;
> good work and keep it up. And this does not just apply to me, a seasoned
> writer, but it also applies those who are just starting out in this world
of
> fan fiction, this does not encourage growth. I may be secure in the
quality
> of my work, but who is to say that those who missed out on the Golden age
> are equally secure in theirs?
>

As I see it the BIGGEST problem with all fanfic communities is when they
become a huge mutual admiration society.. One big lovefest where everyone
tells everyone else how wonderful their fic is and how great they are..
That's wonderful as a comunity and for friendship building but to be honest
it SUCKS in terms of writing.. Sure there are people who are naturally
extremely talented, either that or they work VERY hard at it, but for the
most part a community like that will be the death of fic. or decent fic
anyway..

In many ways to pointless to say "great work keep it up" to some writers,
there are MANY writers out there that writer solely for them selves or
because they have to, they have to get it out and write it down, and they
are going to do this whether or not people approve or whether or not they
even read it.. Saying something like that to someone like that is like say
to anyone else.. good work with that breathing thing.. keep it up...

> I know I'm straying from my subject, but perhaps not. Has it become so
that
> we are more concerned with bulk then quality? When stories are posted just
> for the sake of posting them and small ideas explode into grant epics
> hammered out and immediately posted without a thought to structure or
form.
> Is this for the better? Are we witnessing the decline of B/W fan fiction?
> Has our *Silver Age come at last?
>

I don't think the fanfic community is as likely to descend to those depths
just yet. alot of people seem to forget. MASS fanfiction is only a
relatively new concept, sure the concept and actual writings have been
around for a while and convention goers have been into it for years but the
large amount of fanfic and the consummate ease with which it's available and
able to be published is both good and bad for the community, it means alot
of writers who aren't "fanatical" enough to attend cons etc.. can still get
there writing out there and can read other peoples stuff, but it also means
that any Tom, Dick or Buffy can post a fic too. Back in teh old days of
zines there were editors to filter out (or at least correct) the "rougher"
stuff that we are seeing today. The fanfic community as a whole is still
very immature and unprofessional. It means that it's a real community where
people get to knopw one another and friendships are formed but it also means
there are no real processes for dealing with and helping to fix "wayward"
fic writers. There needs to be a way to encourage those who WANT to write,
coz those of you who do know what a thankless task it can be at times.


> This brings me to the quote I started this with, have we become stuck in
our
> own ship? Is the ship, no pun intended, sinking beneath us as we continue
to
> pump out the same drabbles as were written back in the early days? Where
do
> we draw the line between the fan and the fiction?
>
> Writing a story about two girls, named Buffy and Willow, finding love in
> good times and bad, this is at the core of what we write about. There have
> been many variations on this theme and it's been set against backdrops
that
> vary in time and in space. Written by writers many of whom have great
skills
> and talents, whose works I have enjoyed over the years and through their
> stories we have experience the lives and times of Buffy and Willow, over
and
> over again.
>

The great thing about fanfic is the ready made characters, a lot of writere
have trouble coming up with interesting characters and devloping them, with
fic you don't have to they are ready made and waitning for you to use
backstory and all, and to a certian extent you can even ASSUME everyone
knows the backstory. This means the show itself and it's going ons have a
huge influnce over the propensity of fic.. whilst we sit here bemoaning the
lack of quality B/W fics, the B/S shippers are having orgasmic ecstasy over
the bountiful fruits they have to rifle through.

Alas this is the trend we have to face up to. B/W are growing apart, only
time will tell if they come back together and if they do if they will ever
be the same after the events that have happened. My personal belief is B/S
will hang around for maybe half a season or so. Buffy just needs to play
with the fire and get it out of her system. she'll soosn realise that it
isn't the best thing for her. what will happen to Spike is pretty much
anyone's guess. But I'd say his chip will go bye-bye pretty soon (and I mean
completely) there's already stirrings that people want the Spike of old
back, and I'm sure that'll be the turning point for th new couple.

Willow OTOH is addicted, it was obvious for quite a while and the T/W scene
at the beginning of Tabula Rasa was bringing out into the open. Joss has
always said that the storylines are based on real life. what happened if you
sleep with a guy and in the morning her changes (Buffy/Angel - Angelus)
etc.. So here is your classic drug addiction which from the sounds of
things escalates next week. whether or not that is the pinnacle and the
"straw that breaks the camels back" remains to be seen. There's not much
lower she can go. She's already lost the thing she values most (and the
scene with Amy and the female at the Bronze and the spell was rather
interesting) and I though that hit home in a BIG way. However once again I'm
comforted by the words on the Season 1 DVD of the man Joss who said that he
learnt early on in the piece if he wants to evoke maximum reaction from teh
audience he had to put Willow in danger or pain, he's a little bit in love
with Alyson as an actress and how she handles those situations.. Guess he's
getting his fill hey?

But once again I digress.

> Although this as at the core of our stories, just like an apple there is
> more to it then just the core. So has come to that, have we gone from
having
> a few shining apples to having a basket full of cores? Is that what we
want,
> does the story matter less then having the complementary Buffy and Willow
> love scene with a few scraps of plot thrown in there for plots sake? I do
> not have the answers, but perhaps you do?
>

I think that's some of it.. Some writers perhaps feel how can we have a B/W
love scene after there relationship has changed so much, up until a couple
of eps ago Willow and Tara were INSANELY in love and it was played up to the
nth degree (e.g the reversal of the brain sucking in The Gift). And Willow
and Buffy's relationship has been all over the place, we all cheered during
Weight Of The World, but other than that, when??? and now her "friend" has
dragged her out of heaven, damn that's gott hurt the friendship.. :-)

I think in the end the show will determine the course of the fics and their
abundance the more B/W we see on screen the more B/W fic we see. That's fine
and dandy but in direct contrast to that I think WE as a community and as
fans of B/W will determine the QUALITY of those fics. Not right away but
over time we can encourgae and cultivate a strong core group of B/W
ficcers.. we have the basis here and now all we need to do is expand on it,
and keep expanding as people write what they need to and move on.

So it's up to us..

Until Next Time

-TW




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