Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Fun with Polls Why Fanfic?

Over on the Clark Quiz thread there has evolved an interesting discussion on the nature of fanfic and what the "goal" of fanfic is (for lack of a better word). Laura U suggested a poll, and I think she had a good idea.

I'll attempt to word the questions and answer choices correctly. If I bungle it, sorry, and please feel free to post another poll that states it better.

Also, I have set this up to allow for multiple answers. This won't demonstrate a majority opinion, but it will allow everyone to answer completely rather than force them to pick a choice they might not prefer.

I had to vote other a couple of times, so I'm being a good and responsible voter and taking a sec to explain.

Why do I read fic? It's not just because I love the characters. It certainly isn't because I loved the show. It was a good show, but I didn't see that much of it at first because my family was more into SeaQuest.

It did eventually become a "must watch" show for me, and the reason for that is the same reason I read fic. Quite simply, it's because of the FoLCs.

I've been a part of this community longer than any other I can think of. I've met some of my best friends through it. I may not get along with everyone, but I still feel that FoLCs are some of the coolest people on this planet. Not only that, but they're great writers. Some of the best quality writers around.

Sure, I love the characters and I love seeing them in new and different situations. Part of that is simply because of who they are, but part of it is because of the quality of the writers who put them in those situations.

Why do I write fic? Well, with FoLCs, I have a readily available audience. People to write for. People who will read what I write and sometimes even let me know what they thought of it. I also have a much easier time creating premises than characters. Having a pregenerated cast helps a lot, especially when I like that cast so much.

What do I find acceptable in fic? Anything you can make me believe, pretty much. I wouldn't want to see some things, like slash, but I'm fairly open. (Good option there, BTW, Lynn.) Of course, it's all subject to my tastes. I prefer not to read tearjerkers, for example. Personally, I'm more of a believer in escapism than catharsis. I like my leisure reading to evoke positive feelings.

So, there you have it. I read because I like the writers and the stories they come up with. I write because I like knowing the readers are there. I do both because I'm a fan of the characters and I like to play around with them. As for what I'll read... Pretty much anything, as long as it's good and suits my mood.

As for the question behind the questions, to me, fic is there to enjoy. The goal is for writers and readers to have fun with characters they know and love. Beyond that, what else matters?

Paul

Lynn, you forgot one important option in the "Why do you write?" question. I write because the ideas get stuck in my head and harass me until I put them on paper! It's completely out of my control!

I'm hiding from them even now...

Stay away, evil plot bunnies that will make me spend my time writing fanfic instead of studying for my exams!

Kaylle

Yep, I picked other a couple of times, too, so here I am.

I was okay with why I read fanfic - I picked the first two options.

Why I write fanfic - I picked "I love the characters and want to put them into new and unique situations." But I don't feel the need to fix stuff, or to know more about how the characters were feeling during existing episodes, or to rework beloved premises. I'm a 'new' junkie, I guess. But what I would have liked to pick was one of the 'read' options: "Because I loved the show but it isn't on the air any longer. This is how I feed my need." Basically, I write the stories I'd have loved to see on the show. I also write fanfic because it's more entertaining than watching a lot of the drivel on TV these days. And I write fanfic because I love being creative with words.

On what I find acceptable, the nearest I could find was "I'm pretty open to unique premises. I do draw the line at certain things (no slash, for example), but I don't mind things that stray over the line a bit." but I didn't pick it because it felt a little too prescriptive. I don't want anything and everything (I *would* draw the line at a love scene between Jimmy and Clark, for example, because I just don't believe there's any way on this earth you could make it work for me), but I'm definitely comfortable straying over the line more than just 'a bit.' If you can convince me, I'll read it.

Yvonne

Yvonne

Good gosh, why do I read fanfic? Well at first I needed a fix after the show went off the air. So I started surfing the net, and lo and behold I ran into fanfic. I didn't even know it had a name until then. I used to pick up my pen and notebook and write down silly things that might happen to the characters years prior.

But that's probably not why I'm still reading fanfic. Generally speaking, I'm too jumpy to stay attached to interests for more than a few years. So sufficed to say, I'm really surprised I've stuck with all of this for the past 7 years. I think I still read and write fanfic because of all of you here. I'll just add a big ditto to what Paul said. Even though my best friends don't come from this group, I still think we have some of the cooler people around.

Oh, I chose other for some option. I don't remember which one. But as long as the writer can make it believable, I'll read anything.

JD

For why I read fanfic , I picked all available options except for other.

I picked do not write fanfic but I guess that's not really true. I do write it only I've never posted. I have a really problem with letting ppl read anything I write (especially when there are so many talented writers here) but sometimes my ideas just need to be let out.

I picked that I would read anything and that's pretty much true. I will give any fic a chance.

I've answered other to the first two questions and said that I'm pretty open to suggestions for the third. I don't think anything goes in fanfic, but that is more a question of personal choice than it is a statement of principle. What is acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another. (For example, I've only ventured into the nfic folders about twice in the last two years, and that was only to post a fic that had a word in it that had to be edited out of the pg version. I'm not going to stop anyone else enjoying nfic, though. Nothing about it bothers me in principle. I just don't much enjoy reading it.)

Why did I answer other for the why read and why write questions? Because no single one of your categories explains my motives.

I think my reasons for reading have changed since I first found the archive, back in 1998. Initially I read LnC fanfic because I couldn't get enough of the show. Now I read for the pleasure of reading, not to satisfy an LnC-shaped craving.

I do want to see some fics that deal with familiar themes; they reflect what drew me to the show in the first place, so how could I turn my back on them? I enjoy seeing a decent fix-it, too. How wonderful to see an author turn something I personally hated in the show into something enjoyable and acceptable? (Well done, Jenni, by the way, for making the Family Hour baby something of a pleasure in your recent This Child Belongs To You.)

But revisiting the same themes (and even the same episodes) over and over does get dull after a while, so I also look for something new.

Why do I write fanfic?

Kaylle got in there first and said it very well. I end up writing what my brain tells me to write. I don't plan a story. I don't set out to rewrite an episode or to create a new alt-world scenario. Somehow my synapses fire and it simply happens.

Chris

I think fanfic was the way I stumbled upon folcdom in the first place almost a decade ago now. The show (I think in its late second season) became a "must watch" for me, so much so that I'd seriously be counting down the hours until 7pm Sunday night. So by the time that ATAI cliffhanger came around and I realized that I'd have to wait *months* before I found out what happened, I was on our new internet connection, finding anything and everything I could get my hands on. In the earlier years of my obsession, fanfic was my way of feeding the need until the next episode.

Why do I still read fanfic? Obviously not because I need to feed my need between episodes (I can watch those anytime I want I know that some of my first fic endeavors were episode continuations - was just about to explode not knowing when or if Clark was ever coming back from New Krypton, so I made up my own story. Now I write because it feels good to write and take the characters I love through emotional journeys. :rolleyes: And then of course, there's always that aspiration of writing something the same caliber of some of my favorite authors.

Are your eyes glazing over yet? Well, I have a little anecdote to share that you're welcome to skip over if you're getting bored.

My sister Mary asked me one day why I was so happy. I exclaimed, "Because one of my favorite authors just said she'd beta read for me (had to explain that phrase :rolleyes: )."

She rolled her eyes and said she was happy for me.

I said, "You don't understand! This is like if Stephen King (her favorite author) offered to help you with you're writing!"

"Not the same."

I gave up at that point, but I'm still excited about it.

My point in all this? I love that we have some of the best writers in the world in this fandom. I love that we're such a close community that I have a direct link to talking with my favorite authors. And I love that I can enjoy myself while improving my writing with the help of people I consider to be experts.

Sorry if I missed the point of the poll, but thanks for letting me get that off my chest.

Done waxing on now, you can wake up.

Sara

The responses to this one so far have been so interesting and even very moving. Thanks for sharing, everyone.

LabRat

Good Poll.

Question 1: Chose other because for me all of the above I guess would fit. I read because I miss the show, I love the work of many of the writers and I often find I like the way a particular show was handle in the fanfic better than the actual episode as well as loving a lot of the orginal story lines.

Question 3: Chose other again although I guess I could have selected the most anything but no slash. I can't picture Clark being gay or Lois a lesbian. It just doesn't fit my concept of Superman. I don't mind straying over the line a bit but I do draw the line at death fics where one of the main characters dies (other than Luthor - kill him off forever, cremate him and toss his ashes in an active volcano). Lois and Clark for me have to grow old together.

I'm not sure whether this is the right place for this question but...

I suddenly remembered that two or three years(?) ago someone was doing a PhD on fanfiction and asked questions of the folcs. Does anyone know what became of that research? It might shed some interesting light on all the recent discussions.

Chris

I'd forgotten that, Chris. I presume that it never panned out. At least, I was promised by the person in question that not only would I be told when her research was complete, but I would be given an advance copy of her paper before she published it.

I heard nothing more and forgot all about it till you mentioned it just now. Did any of the other authors she contacted ever hear from her again?

LabRat

Question 1: I loved the show and because i would like to see how things would have been if things were a little different.

Question 2: Because I like to exercise my english, making it improve by writing about my favorite characters.

Question 3: I find anything acceptable, but i dont like stories much further in the future. oh and i dont like when lex dies... oh well, but i guess i am the only one.


Question 4: What the heck is TNAOS ?

MDL.

"The New Adventures of Superman" abbreviated. Took me a year to figure that one out. Once the lightbulb went off, I did a small victory dance on my bed. :p

JD

Well on qustion #2 I answered other. I don't really write fanfic, however I managed getting 5 stories up on the nfic boards<g> OK so call it dabbling. I like the romantic aspect of Lois and Clark. Usually second generation doesn't do it for me. I like them usually pre revelation and pre marrage. Laura

Been thinking about this... I think I read fanfic because I identify with the characters and live vicariously through them (in a completely normal and healthy way, of course ). I feel more connected to Clark, for some reason, than Lois. I tend to feel what they're feeling. I read to get a certain feeling. I write to try to create a certain feeling. When I re-read something, I tend to skip the a-plot bits (sorry!) in favor of the emotional scene(s) that really resonated with me. (I love a-plots the first time through, really, but that's not usually what I'm re-reading for.)

Don't know if this made any sense. Everyone's been very analytical and rational about their approaches to fanfic lately, so I hate to get out of step, but... to me, it's all about creating a mood. And to that end, there are varieties of OOC behavior that I am just fine with Especially when the *in* character behavior would be the sort that makes me want to scream and bang my head on the keyboard If someone wanders too far, they lose me, but I couldn't even try to define what "too far" means.

I read fanfic 'cause when L&C are happy, it makes me feel happy. I guess that's it, really.

PJ

When Lois and Clark ended I was left reeling a lot because most of the time it was the only thing I really watched and since it wasn't ever really aired again I stopped thinking about it so much. Once I had the Internet and then discovered that Lois and Clark had (and still does) a huge fan base I was really thrilled because my friends aren't really that interested in it.

As for fanfic I've thought about writing some but I never really found the time nor the inspiration to write one. While I enjoy writing I never was able to get it statred maybe now I should stop procrastinating and start because I can come up with stupid things in my head when I should be listening to my lecturer (really who wants to hear about fluid mechanics on a Monday afternoon?) As for storyline I don't particularly mind what is written. Though I do draw the line sometimes when I read a summary of the story and don't like the sound of it, but most of the time I will read anything so long as it keeps me interested. A time or two I got really emotional over some fanfic and I actually began to have tears in my eyes. Believe me for a story to do that it's an achievement because I'm not easily moved, I think I was the only one of my friends who sat through Titanic without shedding a tear! :p

I also read fanfic because I really enjoyed the show and I hate most of what is on TV right now. I don't like any of the reality shows and you can only watch so much of the law/crime shows before it starts depressing you that our world is that violent. I like L&C because there was mild adventure and romantic comedy - but true romance. I just find very little to watch on TV now so I read magazines on photography, work on my scrapbooks and read L&C fanfic in the time I use to watch TV.

Question 1, answer 1 explained me completely. I loved the show, but rewatching old episodes without any new ones is like losing a loved one. You can recall memories or look at photos or videos, but there are no new conversations, no new interactions. That's what rewatching the 88 hours of L&C is like. With the series at an end, that leaves only fanfic.

I see a huge difference between me and much of FoLCdom. I didn't fall in love with the characters of Lois and Clark, the relationship between two outsiders who are soulmates. I fell in love with those particular people, and I want to know more about them. I want to see them evolve and their relationship mature and change as they do because anything less is like having dear friends move away and never hearing from them again. That's why every story I read that isn't in canon makes me feel the way Lois did when she was confronted with the Alt-Clark. He looked and sounded like her Clark, but he wasn't, and being with him would never be enough for her because he wasn't her Clark.

You don't have to tell me I sound nuts. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy AU stories because I do, especially stories whose L&C seem like the ones from our universe. But for me, stories out of canon necessarily mean that the protagonists aren't our L&C, and they don't make me stop missing L&C.

That brings me to question 2, to which I chose answer 1. But the real answer arises from why I read fanfic. I love our Lois and our Clark, and I want to find out--no, more than that--experience the rest of their lives with them. From the very beginning (yes, I started reading fanfic when there were less than 300 stories on the list) fans have always wanted to write alternate revelations or alternate ways to get L&C together, but that didn't satisfy my desire to explore L&C's own uncharted territory. However, writing did, and it let me experience L&C's life in a way that reading didn't. I could write what they said and did, and see and hear them in my mind, as if the series was still on. Maybe if I were still writing about our L&C, I wouldn't miss them so much.

I had to answer question 3 with "other." Both descriptions of in-canon stories were far too limited, and after reading the first two answers and the Clark and Lois polls, it seemed to me that a lot of FoLC don't understand what those of us who like stories in canon mean by it. In canon simply means that everything that occurred in the series is assumed to have taken place exactly as it did. Yvonne's "Purity" and "Addicted," Wendy's "For the Greater Good," and CC Aiken's "When the World Finds Out" are all in-canon stories. With the exception of "In the Beginning," which was written for the charity fanzine and was required to be an AU story, everything I've ever written was in canon. Everything in S5, S6, and TUFS was in canon, as are Nan's entire Dagger and Home series. Jenni's recent story about the baby found at the end of FH, Pam's Alt-Clark trilogy, Nan's Christmas Vacation stories, and Yvonne's "This is Your Life" WIP are also entirely in canon. There are dozens more: "The People vs Clark Kent," "Yellow Fever," Mobile Richard's series about Clark exchanging places with a bad Clark, and so many more that I've enjoyed over the years. The only thing that astonishes me is that anyone would think in-canon stories are boring.

Based on that, I would never want to read only stories that had the same general scenarios from the four years of the show, with small twists but the same outcomes, nor would I think it wrong to go into territory TPTB would never have touched. However, I'm not really interested in premises that don't deal with our Lois and Clark, although I greatly enjoy a number of them (KathyB's When and Momentum series, for example). So the first two choices were far too narrow for me, and the third was way too broad.

Sheila, this interested me immensely. I hadn't thought of that POV before. Thank you for explaining it so clearly.

I don't find in-canon stories boring. Not at all, and you gave some excellent examples of stories that I enjoyed immensely, some of which rank among my absolute favorites. But by their very nature, many in-canon stories are going to take place after our universe’s L&C are married. Now I'm not knocking marriage. I've been married 24 years, and I've experienced a number of the joys and sorrows that being in a marriage can bring. And I do love reading stories where you see L&C keep that spark alive, even through years of familiarity and boring discussions about finances and screaming kids.

But part of me longs for the beginnings of the romance too, when things were fresh and new and they were taking baby steps towards being together. The "getting-together" stories allow me to experience that again. They don't "replace" the show for me; I don't sit there and think that the scenario presented in the story is better than canon so the heck with the show. Dean and Teri gave such vivid portrayals of these characters for me that I can often "see" them in a fic that I'm reading. I can "hear" their voices saying that dialogue even though they never uttered those exact words. I can "feel" the turmoil of emotions that each one is going through. So in many ways, it is like a new episode for me, even if it presents an alternate version to something that we already saw on the show.

And certainly there can be in-canon stories that take place during the timeframe of the show, rather than "after" it. “Fill-in” scenes, even whole adventures that would take place between two episodes. But I would imagine that it's more restrictive, and possibly more difficult, to write something new and fresh that occurs during canon, yet doesn't alter any of it. When you're writing about events after S4, I would think you have more freedom to take the story in different directions, even while remaining true to canon and the characters.

Kathy