Just responding

Saturday, July 7, 2007 12:39 PM

Wow. I seem to have ruffled a few feathers with my last blog, which was - in all honesty - just me letting off a little steam. But somehow I feel the need to take a few moments to respond, particularly as some of the comments have made me reassess a couple of things, such as why I am writing, and who for.

This is easy. Me. I write for my own pleasure, but as part of that pleasure is letting other people read what I’ve written and seeing their reactions, then I’m writing for you too.

Would I continue if there was no option for comments to be left? Probably, but that’s by no means a certainty. Feedback is very important, throughout real life as well as on these pages. And, oddly enough, it had occurred to me that not everyone would like my take on the ‘verse, for whatever reason. If we all liked the same things, it would be a cold and sanitised world we live in, where the height of entertainment would be reality TV shows. And we would all enjoy them. Forever.

When I started uploading, I made the conscious decision to stick with the OCs I created. For me, no matter what Joss Whedon series you look at, he doesn’t just continue with the same characters all the time. New ones enter, die, get absorbed into the gang … And although I am in no way comparing my scribblings with his, his stories are a continuous arc, with characters growing and changing. So what’s good enough for the Master had better be good enough for me!

I understand that other authors don’t work like this. Which is fine. When I sample stories from the archives, sometimes I come across writers who‘ve killed off a major character in one arc, then gone to another story where they’re still alive. And I’d enjoyed these stories too. I’m not going to stop anyone doing that.

I began writing Firefly fanfic because I love the show, and I wanted to see if I could get the written word to sound the same as it does in my head. And no, I’m not crazy. Least, not yet. I’d not put myself out for public comment before, and I found there were a lot of people in this community who were encouraging of me as a new writer. I’m going to be eternally grateful to them, and try to do the same for other new authors.

As for my OCs, I accept that a lot of people feel Freya is a Mary Sue. But I’m not sure why I should apologise for this. For whatever reason I introduced her (not least from the belief that Mal and Inara would never have ended up together, not without some serious character development) I liked her, and she allowed my storyline to develop. There have been plenty of opportunities for me to move her on, kill her off … despite the fact that when I’d appeared to be heading in that direction I’ve had other comments asking me not to, so I must be doing something right! I haven’t, though, because I care too much for Mal. He may be a fictional character, but fiction has to be grounded - at least to some degree - in reality, and to do that would damage him too much. Besides which, this is fiction, and it’s my fiction!

I’m not asking everyone to like my story. I’m not asking for everyone who reads to comment. But I’m not going to apologise for wanting them. I love comments. They inform the characters, and give me ideas. And of course it’s great to know someone else loves my tale, and I get to bask in that gentle glow.

Am I going to stop writing? I don’t know. At the moment I have a lot of ideas. Am I going to go back and not have Freya, Ethan, Hank or Bethie? No. And no apologies for that, either.

If you think this is another rant, then I’m sorry you feel that way. I just figured you should know a little of what goes on inside my head. These blogs seem to carry all sorts of messages. I happened to ask a particular question. Maybe more fool me. And you all have your own opinion. Which is also fine. Hell, in this life if we can’t live and let live, what can we do?

COMMENTS: 7

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