innocent_lex | Fic, or lack thereof

What is it about some shows that spawn a thousand fic writers and others that just don't? Is it the characters? The writing? The need to fill in things that the show's writers haven't bothered to address? It's hard to miss all the SG-1 and SGA fic out there, but look for NCIS or Without A Trace and there's very little. Are those shows too perfect, the characters not interesting enough or is it that scifi tends to attract writers? (though that doesn't explain Harry Potter fans).

At this point I should mention I don't read het. It just doesn't interest me as a story. So when I talk about there being very little to read, it's possible there is het fic out there that I skip over due to complete lack of interest.

It takes me a while to get to know a show enough to want to write for it, and much, much longer to get around to actually writing. I'm in the middle of an NCIS/SG-1 crossover at the moment (well, 'in the middle' meaning I've started) as well as another SG-1 story, but there is an urge to write WAT and some pure NCIS. Also maybe a bit of West Wing. And Man From Uncle because that would be oodles of fun *g*. Still, if the world was peopled with lots of mes then there would be not a great deal of fic out there at all.

So anyway, just musing, wondering, pondering.

Threaded | Flat

From:

graculus.livejournal.com

I was at a panel here at MW about why cop/procedural shows attract fans, so I have a few thoughts on this subject courtesy of the panel participants... the consensus of opinion was that certain shows have more space for fanfic to work in, and often those are police shows.

However, it can also depend on what people are into that fandom for, whether it's the A story (case solving) or the B story (character stuff). If they're into the B story, chances are their fic is going to be more h/c if they're gen-inclined, or het or slash if they're into the hot monkey sex. Sometimes the show will go one way and the fans another, depending on how the B story is handled - take Without a Trace, which it was felt started off very A story-heavy and has turned into more of a soap opera with various female agent's revolving bedroom doors. If you like that, then you're away, but if you're into the A story then you're going to be even less impressed...

And then there's the whole fans-not-wanting-to-do-research which also impedes the production of gen stories that are heavy on the A story and case solving. Because heaven knows that anything which involves something less than instant gratification is Bad and Wrong. ;)

From:

readerjane

I think the elements that spark fic (whether about a television show, novel series or movie) are: characters engaging enough to make the viewers care about them, enough worldbuilding to give a basic environment to play with, and holes. Plot holes, characterization holes, thematic holes -- there has to be something missing. It may seem missing only to that particular ficwriter, but there has to be something to make them want the story to go differently than the way canon told it.

It's a tension: if canon strikes a perfect chord with the viewer, there's no urge to meddle. But if canon is repellant, boring or unengaging, the ficwriter won't care enough about the story or the characters to want "better" for them.

From:

lachli.livejournal.com

Coming from SG fandom I was very disappointed in the lack of WaT fic when I discovered it 4 years ago and the lack of fandom in general. It took a lot of hunting around to find the fic, but there was some really good quality stuff and I love to revisit it. Not sure what's written nowadays because I'm so disappointed by the show that I haven't been looking.

Criminal Minds is another awesome show that has so little fic that I could cry. I've come to the conclusion that because they're procedural shows people are put off by how complicated a fic may become if they were to write it. Yet some of the best WaT fic doesn't revolve around the cases at all, just the people, and IMO Danny and Martin.

From:

nialla

Can I go with "all of the above" as an answer? ;)

I can't say much on the writing side, because I can count the number of non-parody fic I've written on one hand, and none of it is online, only in print zines. Yes, I am that old. ;)

As a reader though, I find myself searching for something that appeals to me, and I'm using what has become my default mode for profic -- follow the authors. Once I find an author I like, I tend to follow them (and often those they write with or recommend)even if they change fandoms, as long as it's one I'm vaguely familiar with. I do the same with pro authors too, I'll read them if they cross genres if I like their style.

I often get frustrated when I find a new (or even old, just new to me) show and I can't find a fic archive. Some older shows just predate the group archive concept, or they just never "took off" online to have much.

I came to Live Journal when SGA fandom seemed to set up shop here. A lot of SG-1 fans were part of the migration as well, so I know where to find those pockets of fandom and it's very prolific.

The problem is not all of the fandoms I'm interested in are well represented in LJ Land, and even when I do find fic here, quality is a lot more iffy than what I'm used to in SG1/SGA fandoms.

That's not to say SG1/SGA writers don't put out a fair amount of crap too (as the saying goes, 99% of everything is crap), but I know the fandom and the writers well enough to generally know who to avoid. In other fandoms, I'm sort of flailing around trying to find anything readable (from the personal preferences and/or the writing skills angle), and thrilled beyond measure when I find someone I "know" from another fandom writing there.

Some shows give me enough of what I like onscreen and I don't feel as much of an urge to search out fic. But the bigger problem is even if I do want fic, finding where it's hiding is very difficult for me. I'd love to read more NCIS Gibbs/Tony (perhaps with a side of McGee *g*) or more WAT Danny/Martin, but I just haven't found what I'm looking for, or at least not as much of it as I'd like.

From:

gategrrl.livejournal.com

I think a lot of the answers here are spot on.

I'd like to add, though, that, in addition to the setting and the characters themselves being the turn-ons, I think perhaps the underlying Architype might have a lot to do with it as well, especially when it's mixed with an open-ended 'verse to play in.

With the Harry Potter books (and the Lord of the Rings books) the 'verses there are wide enough that there's enough latitude for the ficcers to play in - and a variety enough of characters living out different architypes that it can be a real fantastical turn-on.

The shows that don't develop fic-followings - from reading the shows listed here, it sounds as if the characters involved aren't engaging or the premise and underlying types aren't deep enough to engage the creative writers in the audience.

In other shows, like Buffy in the first five seasons, especially, the writers covered the architypes and tropes well enough that even though I didn't miss an episode if I could help it, I didn't feel the need to write about the characters or their world at all. Or read fic about them.