(no subject)

[shadowkat]

I really shouldn't do this, there are so many other things I need to do right now. Like fix myself lunch and finish writing my book. Take a walk. But what the hell.

Why do writers of fan fic and fans make such a big deal about canon and get all hot and bothered when the series that they are watching or books they are reading don't fit the fanfic they've created?

If you were that good at guessing what would come next in the story, then why bother reading or watching it? When stories become predictable like that for me, I get bored and watch something else.

Right now the ipod is playing my Madonna CD - I got tired of it going wonky every time I tried to control it's playing choices. So am letting it do whatever it wants at the moment.

There are two excellent posts on lj that explain the television writing and filming process - one is by tightropegirl commenting on House. The other is an interview with Stephen DeKnight regarding the writing and filming process behind the Buffy S6 episode, Dead Things. I recommend people who bash television writers read these two posts carefully. Afterwards, you'll probably want to slap yourself repeatedly in the forehead for being such a nitwit. But it is worth it.

Here's the links: Stephen Denight Interview

And...

Filming and writing an episode of House or Smallville

Imagine working 14 hours a day. Having 3 days to deliver a script. Having it torn to pieces by twenty people. Having 15 minutes to rehearse your lines, memorize them, and deliver them in front of a camera on mark. Imagine doing it after sitting around on a cold set with only one bathroom for 10 hours.

Then imagine after you are done, going on the internet and reading someone bash your work online. Or question your work. Or bash your best friend's work - when you watched them sweat bullets over it.

And you think your job sucks.

Comments

It's about the fantasy

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I know, for me, writing AtS Season 6 and The Destroyer were a way of coping with a serious loss I felt after the cancellation of AtS. I wanted more show, more canon show; the WB took that away from me, and since I don't read fanfic myself, that couldn't replace the show. If the Buffy comics had been published right away, I would have embraced them.

But they weren't, they weren't even planned, so I started writing fanfic myself to fill that gap, staying as true to canon as I could, writing in script screenplay format, casting "actors" in the roles, and in that way, finding closure in the arcs of characters I felt canon left unfinished (Connor and Angel in particular). For me, writing the fanfic literally helped me "heal" the wounds of that early cancellation (and I'm not overstating with that analogy) and gave me an outlet for my writing (really, the first time I've ever let people other than writing class cohorts read my writing).

But the most important part of the fun for me was fantasizing that what I was writing really *was* what happened next. And I was *allowed* that fantasy, because even though I knew I wasn't in charge of canon, the shows were gone and my take on it was as good as anyone else's. And Joss encouraged that with the cliffhanger ending he gave to season 5, even knowing it was going to be cancelled, and his encouragement to fans to write fanfic.

Now I'm not blaming Joss. He didn't cancel the show, and he has every right to find other outlets to continue the stor(ies). It just bursts the little bubble of the fantasy that fueled my fanfic when he writes a post-Chosen Buffy comic or a post-NFA Angel comic that contradicts my story in some major way. Because I'm not a fanfic writer, or I wasn't, before AtS was cancelled. I wrote for the sole purpose of seeing that story continued, and finished. And now that he's doing that himself (in the case of Buffy, and perhaps in the future, Angel), I have no reason to continue my story. And that's disappointing, because I was having fun.

So it helps to whistle little tunes while plugging my ears and covering my eyes, ignoring the comics, or treating them as "not canon" until my tale is finished.

I know everyone has their own reasons for writing fanfic; those were mine, and maybe I'll find other reasons, but I doubt it. When I'm done TD and AtS6, I'll go back to original fiction that can't be Jossed.

[embers-log.livejournal.com]

I had read tightropegirl's post, just as I always read Jane Espenson's and I love the insights into script writing (it really adds to my appreciation of everything I see on TV). But I certainly would have missed the Stephen DeKnight Interview, thank you so much for the link!

The interview really got in there and asked wonderful questions, and of course it is interesting that DeKnight didn't really 'get' the questions (because from his POV Buffy was the character of interest and Spike's character was only there to bring out things in her). Could you imagine the freak out that would have happened in the Spuffy circles if Buffy's beating of Spike had left him an even bigger bloody wreck than Glory's had done the year before? LOL

I'm rewatching a lot of Buffy right now, last night I was sitting in the dark watching 'Hush' and just loving every single frame of it again. I don't think I will ever get tired of this series.

[wenchsenior.livejournal.com]

Considering the constraints under which tv production happens, it's a wonder there is ANY decent tv to watch, IMO.

Thanks for that link.

And I join you in perplexity about the wailing over fanfic differing from canon or, alternatively, being "Jossed". With a universe that is this complex, there's room for a multitude of versions and variations. And unlike many creators, Joss has essentially given his blessing to fanfic. I accept the show as canon, of course, but I have what I consider a 'better' version of Season 7 of BtVS in my head, and I have my own ideas about how certain things went down post-show(s) that won't necessarily align with Joss' new comics. It just extends the universe in a multitude of possible directions, I think. Makes it more rich, not less.