Intentions, Actions, Results.

[browngirl]

[You'd never guess it from the first paragraph, but this is as much about hobbits as it is about superheroes. Really.]

I should probably keep that title for a Batfamily story. Maybe one involving Cass. (I love Cass. I'm going to have to be careful with her, though: she and Steph tempt me to write about my issues with my parents, and I must remember to temper experience well with art, because the point is to write about *them*, not about myself.) OK, I just *hugely* digressed, but this digression illustrates my point. ()

I've been in Tolkien fandom for well over a year now, and I have written about characters I intended to, as well as ones I didn't. I've written about themes I wanted to see elucidated, and ones that have surprised me. It's been a satisfying experience.

My experience with the DC Comics fandom has, so far, been different, and yet no less .satisfying.

I arrived at the Teen Titans via the cartoon (and one day I'm going to write the Slade/Robin Slade/Terra story I haven't yet seen) and I fell in love with both the current lineup and the second one. (Not so much with the first: sorry, Speedy and Aqualad and Kid Flash I) So I figured I'd write about Robin III and Superboy and Kid Flash II, right? And maybe about Starfire and Wonder Girl and Cyborg and Beast Boy?

Well, except that Robin III led me to the Batfamily (via research for my TimFinity stories, no less) and I fell in love. My fandom loves Dick, and so do I. My fandom also loves Jason, and so do I (though I haven't written about him much--- I hope to change that soon.) So while people such as (but not limited to!) girl_starfish write the sort of OT3 story I thought I'd be writing (and do better at it than I would have, and write lots of others besides) and others are writing the various couples in that threesome, I find myself writing Dick/Tim. Which pairing has other writers as well, but it's colonized my imagination.

Where does that leave the hobbits? I have so much left to say about them (Rosie waiting for Sam to return from the Havens! Frodo, Merry, and Sam settling out their intertwined relationships! Pervinca! Elanor and Frodo Gamgee coming to grips with their heritage! Annuminas and Breredon! Fire, death, and love!), and so much more playing to do in Middle-Earth, which I love. Writing in DC requires a really different narrative voice, beneath the different character voices, from writing hobbitfic, so I've been finding it a little difficult to switch back and forth. Also, I want to post at least as many Tolkien fandom stories as I do DC Comics fandom stories, and drabbles don't count. (ironically, I have several DC drabbleoids sitting on ice, waiting for a day when I need to post something.)

Also, I don't want to overload the DC fandom people with my stories. I know I'm writing a lot because of NRE, and I don't want them to get sick of me before most of them even know me. And I want to make myself make the stories sufficiently different. I still remember that on Fanfic_hate they called me repetitious, and I still remember a comment I read about writers whose stories in one fandom too closely resemble those in another. I don't intend to deserve either of those.

Even so....I have to write what's in my heart and head, and trust my friends to trust me not to leave one love for another. Right?

And I should post this before I chicken out. :)

Comments

[blackbird-song.livejournal.com]

First of all, of course you must write what's in your heart and head. I, for one, quite understand the difficulties of switching between one fandom and another. (Hell, even switching between LotR FPS and Lotrips is hard enough!) I am sure that everyone else here would understand that, as well, probably far better than I.

Second, I, personally, see no point to the existence of Fanfic_hate, so I have never visited it. It's entirely possible that my stuff (quite rightly) has made an appearance there, and I know that I would be unlikely to benefit from criticism designed purely to be vicious. I can take and have taken very harsh and unvarnished criticism that has scared me but will (I hope) make me a much better writer. However, even that stops me in my tracks for a time, and I have to spend much time licking my wounds, however necessary they may be.

It sounds as though you have taken something of what you have seen there about your writing, and turned it into some positive guidelines for your work. I salute you for doing so, as you have greater constitutional fortitude than do many others in this regard. However, if it's going to stifle you, it would be best, imho, to cast aside what was said about you in that ugly forum, and perhaps ask a few writers whom you trust to look over your work and give you honest opinions and/or beta comments.

Finally, thank you for posting this and telling us what is on your mind. You are a very prolific writer, and some people may well have come to expect you to produce something to their taste every single day. Many of us, however, are quite content to wait for what you feel good about posting, no matter how much we may try to beg, plead, cajole and tease you into writing more. I don't read the DC stuff because I'm not as interested in the original subject matter as many people are, and I don't really want to cultivate yet another time-sink in my life! ;) However, if I did read those comics, I'd be reading your stories eagerly. I'm perfectly happy to wait until you feel like writing about hobbits again.

Good luck with your writing, and I hope that you're able to slough off the crap you've gotten from some corners of the world.

*hugs*

Catherine

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

*hugs you tightly* Catherine, you are so wonderful, you know that? You've made me feel far better about *everything*, which can only help me write more.

*hugs you again* Thank you.

[danachan.livejournal.com]

This will be short and sweet (much like me): I like what's in your head. No matter what order it thinks it wants to come out of your head. That aside, I guess -- well, if you write somethin, you know you don't have to post it right away. Sam knows I do that with my hobbitfic, love.

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

Just like yoou. :D Thank you, sweetie. I gues... once I've written a story, I get that urge to send it out into the world and all. :D

*huggles you* At any rate, thank you. :)

[danachan.livejournal.com]

*cuddles you* You're welcome, lovey -- and of course, I do feel like that with my hobbitfic, too, but I -- I, er, am rather set in my ways when it comes to assuming what people will think about it. That's why I hold things back. You'd boggle at the fic I have ready to post, really...

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

Darling, fanfic_hate called me repetitious, too. Er...or at least someone claimed to hate every single fic that I wrote and someone else on the thread said that maybe it's because I repeated the same theme again and again in the 7303948503948534 fics that I had written (yep, the number was something like that). But if a story is in your heart and it's something that strikes a chord, then you can bet it's going to strike a chord in someone else's heart, too, and those people will not be bored of it.

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

But if a story is in your heart and it's something that strikes a chord, then you can bet it's going to strike a chord in someone else's heart, too, and those people will not be bored of it.

This is very true. *feels heartened* *stands up straighter and smiles*

*hugs you*

[aprilkat.livejournal.com]

Writing from your heart cannot be gainsaid. You've set out a good guideline for yourself; just remember that you can change the "rules" just as fast as you made them if you feel something else come up (like another fandom, etc).

You are a quality writer, and we appreciate what you "gift" us...

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

*blush* *beam* Thank you. :) I want to keep being worthy of this praise. *hugs you tightly*

[sharpest_rose.livejournal.com]

Having also been called repetitious (which, much like 'she writes borderline Mary-Sues out of very minor canon characters!' and 'she writes pairings for the sake of pairings!' is an insult which makes me go *blinkity* and say 'Uh, yeah, I thought that was pretty evident, one might even say intentional on my part, but thanks for pointing it out for tedium's sake!'), all I have to say is that

- Hobbits and Robins have both been around since the thirties, so -- what with postmodernism and movieverses and the like -- I don't think you're actually going to end up against the firing-squad wall if you don't have something startling and new to say every time.

- It is a big jump from Hobbiton to Gotham, and I imagine that if I were shuttling between the two with regularity my head would probably hurt a lot. So even if you were risking death by stoning by writing a similar story in both fandoms (obviously nobody in the world of fanfic ever gets stupidly worked up over ridiculous things; I would never imply such a thing about boring cranky killjoys), the difference in character and place would make the story a very different beast. Because, like, if you just wanted to tell the same story again, why would you have switched to a different fandom to tell it?

I know I'm repeating myself a bit, but Tolkien repeated himself all the time (amputation, eagles, what's not to like?) and comics repeat themselves all the time (Batman has issues! Batman needs to trust people! Batman has trouble trusting people! Batman hurts those who love him, due to trust issues!), and the sad fact is that there will always be whiny dickheads who want to piss in other people's corn flakes. I'm sure there's some sort of universal law stating as such.

Write what you want to write, be it Dick/Tim or hobbits or whatever else. Your readers (of which I'm one, but I'm so behind that I haven't gotten through the pile and left comments in, like, ever) don't just read you because of what you write (because hey, know what? Fandom's repetitive, too. Try typing 'pleasure slave' into a star wars archive search sometime), they read you because of how you write.

I'll stop blithering now.

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

*beaming, incoherent joy* Oh, wow. Thank you, a lot, for writing me. (Back and forth between Hobbiton and Gotham. Now I'm trying to decide if one would take a Supercycle or a boom tube...) *hugs you joyfully*

(And wow, yes, the pleasure slave trope is rather thriving in SW prequel fandom, isn't it?)

[danachan.livejournal.com]

Mary, I don't think I say it often enough these days, but I do love you, so. You fill my world with sparkles -- yep.

And now I think I'll stop spamming poor Ruby and go take my nap.

[eggblue.livejournal.com]

I hope fandom_hate isn't as bad as it sounds. I can't even stand fandom *rules*. Anyway, I'm glad you write Bat, and that is that. I may not read all of your Hobbit stuff, but that's because that is not my fandom. If someone is writing good fic, and they're not a pain in the ass, that is all I care about. I guess I am being repetitive now. And maybe I'm a bit of a black pot talking about repetition and fandom-switching when I am all about fixation, and a fixation that follows me everywhere. But what is fandom for if you can't do what you want? Write what you want to, what you have to. People will love you for it still :)

[rubynye.livejournal.com]

So how many beautiful Jason icons do you have? *big smile*

But what is fandom for if you can't do what you want? Write what you want to, what you have to. People will love you for it still :)

*nod* I will.I definetely will. Thank you. :) *hugs you*

[eggblue.livejournal.com]

Sadly, only two Jason icons. Because I'm cheap and have a free account ;) BTW, after reading the DC fics you've written this week, I can't imagine that anyone could possibly lose patience when fics are that good and hot. Suppressing of love is not allowed here. My rules.