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History lesson.
May. 6th, 2001 10:06 amAnother lovely sunny day, perfect for the MTB ride later this afternoon. And since I'm feeling rather foolish after my childishness of last night, I'm going to be even more childish and change the subject. ;)
I joined the fanfic community sometime in *thinks hard* 1998, I think. I was lurking for about a year before that, but I'm reasonably sure 1998 was the year I first posted something. (if anyone knows different, let me know!) I'd actually been hooked by the whole Subreality genre, but had decided I couldn't actually join in on those stories and call myself a Writer unless I'd actually write something first. I'm strange like that.
My first fanfic was a TCP piece; "Road Rage". Blatant self-insertion, really, about a cyclist who has the ability to give people catastrophic car sickness, and does so in retaliation for crappy driving. It's at the TCP Warehouse, for those interested. A fluff piece, really, except for a couple of things. The first was the use of two different tenses. I wrote it in the first person present, using first person past to tell the story of her mutancy. So lots of jumping back and forth, as the cyclist was in rush-hour traffic at the time.
[Sidenote: I actually do a lot of plotting while I'm riding. I can't write anything down, but I just run it through my head several times until it sticks. And since I usually work in visuals (and sometimes sound - the characters talk in my head) this tends to work rather well.]
The other point was that it was a TCP without the usual, "Oh angst, I'm a teenage mutant and the FOH are out to get me, my life sucks and I hate it..." that was common around that time. Not that there aren't good examples of this kind of story - Kielle's "Ghost" is a major one - but we'd had a rash of them, and it was getting old fast. Kind of like the Remy/Rogue mush fics and the spate of bad self-insertions also common on OTL.
I've always loved the TCP genre. Those who read my work have probably realised I prefer to turn things around, have a look at events froma different angle, expand aspects of characters. You'll rarely get a straight superhero action fic out of me, mainly because I get bored after a while. It's one of the reasons why I've turned away from the X-books - when I started erading them, there was characterisation and quirky little side-stories as well as the world-saving and explosions and heroic poses. So the Common People universe, which took another look at the whole mutant concept, really appealed to me. But not the usual angst fests. No, I had to be different.
I've written perhaps ten TCP stories altogether so far (there's plans for another series in the vien of Collective Mutants, once people are ready for another dose). And they'll all pretty varied:
"Road Rage": the above-mentioned self-insert. Humourous, a little clumsy, but generally a fun, take-the-mickey piece.
"Heroes": The whammy. This one was written (obviously) after the Colombine school shootings. I got the idea perhaps the week after, and firmly squelched it as being in poor taste, or perhaps as jumping on a bandwagon. But it wouldn't leave me alone - I kept hearing the 911 call in my head, seeing images of the scene in the library. in the end, for some peace, I wrote it down.
I used the technique I did to avoid getting too embroiled in the material. To keep some distance. There are times when you can get too close to a story, and fail to make your point. By using media reports, transcripts of radio and 911 conversations, autopsy reports adn witness statements, I felt I had the distance I needed without losing the emotional impact. This one's a personal favourite; the feedback was great, but more importantly, people seemed to appreciate the message I was trying to get across without grandstanding. Maybe with recent events it's due a re-release.
"Mind's Eye": An odd little piece that came out of a SPAM! session with Samy and Harlequin and perhaps a couple of others. Around that time, SPAM! spawned quite a few ideas for me. We were discussing transsexuality and whether a telepathic transsexual would appear as male or femal in their astral form, the astral form being the 'true' self. Harle and I decided they'd go with what they thought they were, and hence this story.
I miss Harle. She was great to bounce ideas off, and we had the shared brain thing happening, much like I have with Yasmin as well. ;)
"Collective Mutants": The epic. Seven stories, soon to be eight, if I ever finish the Fish origin fic Yasmin and Acey inspired at my place during AussieCon. I won't go into great detail here, just to say this was a reaction to a discussion about people not writing their own countries in fic. There aren't that many Aussie superheroes, from any genre, so I decided to make this a TCP. I asked myself the question: "What would it be like to be a mutant in Australia?" Collective Mutants is the answer.
I quite miss my kids; by the end of the series, I was sick to death of them, but several months on, I'm feeling nostalgic. And the fact the series was nominated for so many CBFFAs, and inducted into the Fic Hall of Fame, has brought them out of the recesses of my mind, or wherever it is that characters whose stories are finished go. I wok up Anzac Day morning with images of Allison and Fish and the Bachelors and Spinsters (country traditional dress up and piss-up excuse) Ball, getting it on in the back of a ute. *shakes head* Get a room, you two!
I joined the fanfic community sometime in *thinks hard* 1998, I think. I was lurking for about a year before that, but I'm reasonably sure 1998 was the year I first posted something. (if anyone knows different, let me know!) I'd actually been hooked by the whole Subreality genre, but had decided I couldn't actually join in on those stories and call myself a Writer unless I'd actually write something first. I'm strange like that.
My first fanfic was a TCP piece; "Road Rage". Blatant self-insertion, really, about a cyclist who has the ability to give people catastrophic car sickness, and does so in retaliation for crappy driving. It's at the TCP Warehouse, for those interested. A fluff piece, really, except for a couple of things. The first was the use of two different tenses. I wrote it in the first person present, using first person past to tell the story of her mutancy. So lots of jumping back and forth, as the cyclist was in rush-hour traffic at the time.
[Sidenote: I actually do a lot of plotting while I'm riding. I can't write anything down, but I just run it through my head several times until it sticks. And since I usually work in visuals (and sometimes sound - the characters talk in my head) this tends to work rather well.]
The other point was that it was a TCP without the usual, "Oh angst, I'm a teenage mutant and the FOH are out to get me, my life sucks and I hate it..." that was common around that time. Not that there aren't good examples of this kind of story - Kielle's "Ghost" is a major one - but we'd had a rash of them, and it was getting old fast. Kind of like the Remy/Rogue mush fics and the spate of bad self-insertions also common on OTL.
I've always loved the TCP genre. Those who read my work have probably realised I prefer to turn things around, have a look at events froma different angle, expand aspects of characters. You'll rarely get a straight superhero action fic out of me, mainly because I get bored after a while. It's one of the reasons why I've turned away from the X-books - when I started erading them, there was characterisation and quirky little side-stories as well as the world-saving and explosions and heroic poses. So the Common People universe, which took another look at the whole mutant concept, really appealed to me. But not the usual angst fests. No, I had to be different.
I've written perhaps ten TCP stories altogether so far (there's plans for another series in the vien of Collective Mutants, once people are ready for another dose). And they'll all pretty varied:
"Road Rage": the above-mentioned self-insert. Humourous, a little clumsy, but generally a fun, take-the-mickey piece.
"Heroes": The whammy. This one was written (obviously) after the Colombine school shootings. I got the idea perhaps the week after, and firmly squelched it as being in poor taste, or perhaps as jumping on a bandwagon. But it wouldn't leave me alone - I kept hearing the 911 call in my head, seeing images of the scene in the library. in the end, for some peace, I wrote it down.
I used the technique I did to avoid getting too embroiled in the material. To keep some distance. There are times when you can get too close to a story, and fail to make your point. By using media reports, transcripts of radio and 911 conversations, autopsy reports adn witness statements, I felt I had the distance I needed without losing the emotional impact. This one's a personal favourite; the feedback was great, but more importantly, people seemed to appreciate the message I was trying to get across without grandstanding. Maybe with recent events it's due a re-release.
"Mind's Eye": An odd little piece that came out of a SPAM! session with Samy and Harlequin and perhaps a couple of others. Around that time, SPAM! spawned quite a few ideas for me. We were discussing transsexuality and whether a telepathic transsexual would appear as male or femal in their astral form, the astral form being the 'true' self. Harle and I decided they'd go with what they thought they were, and hence this story.
I miss Harle. She was great to bounce ideas off, and we had the shared brain thing happening, much like I have with Yasmin as well. ;)
"Collective Mutants": The epic. Seven stories, soon to be eight, if I ever finish the Fish origin fic Yasmin and Acey inspired at my place during AussieCon. I won't go into great detail here, just to say this was a reaction to a discussion about people not writing their own countries in fic. There aren't that many Aussie superheroes, from any genre, so I decided to make this a TCP. I asked myself the question: "What would it be like to be a mutant in Australia?" Collective Mutants is the answer.
I quite miss my kids; by the end of the series, I was sick to death of them, but several months on, I'm feeling nostalgic. And the fact the series was nominated for so many CBFFAs, and inducted into the Fic Hall of Fame, has brought them out of the recesses of my mind, or wherever it is that characters whose stories are finished go. I wok up Anzac Day morning with images of Allison and Fish and the Bachelors and Spinsters (country traditional dress up and piss-up excuse) Ball, getting it on in the back of a ute. *shakes head* Get a room, you two!
