For the most part, K/S editors are looking for something "different."
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| Title: | For the most part, K/S editors are looking for something "different." (This essay is untitled. The title used here on Fanlore is a sentence in the essay that hopefully describes the topic well.) |
| Creator: | Alexis Fegan Black |
| Date(s): | May/Summer 1988 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: TOS |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
For the most part, K/S editors are looking for something "different." is a 1988 essay by Alexis Fegan Black.
It was printed in On the Double #7/8.
Introduction
Due to the numerous requests I've had from fan writers recently, I'd like to offer a brief article on K/S writing - what editors are looking for in a story, what to do and what not to do. Admittedly, the opinions I shall offer herein are my opinions and do not necessarily reflect those of other editors. They aren't necessarily right. Nor are they necessarily wrong. Mainly, I offer this to new writers who keep asking the question, "What do editors want, anyway?"
Some Topics Discussed
- write what you know, do your research
- it's most important to make your readers FEEL
- learn from other K/S fic masterpieces
- be original
- stay in your lane regarding what zines you send you fic to, be aware of tone and content
From the Essay
For the most part, K/S editors are looking for something "different". As someone observed a long time ago, there are only 7 basic stories to be told in all the universe. Love, quest, mystery, vengeance, death and two others that I don't recall off the top of my head. Suffice it to say all of the 7 story types have been done and overdone in K/S. So... It's up to the new writer (or the established writer, for that matter) to tell one of those stories in a fresh and hopefully interesting way.
How many stories have we read wherein Kirk and Spock go on shoreleave? Kirk and Spock face pon farr? Kirk and Spock go camping? Kirk or Spock is dying? And so on. And yet, zine readers continue to purchase zines, writers continue to write and, in my humble opinion, the majority of those stories are still fresh and new, depending on the skill of the writer and the persistence of the editor.
For writers,it's important first of all to know who you are sending your story to. As Dana Angerman pointed out in her article, fandom editors have a wide variety of personal taste. One wouldn't send a heavy-handed action adventure story to CONTACT or a K/S sex-slave story to MIND MELD. Nor would a writer send a Spock/Christine story to NAKED TIMES or a depressing death-downer story to AS I DO THEE. So first of all, a writer should do her homework. Letterzines such as DATAZINE, COMMUNICATIONS CONSOLE and (hopefully) ON THE DOUBLE provide new writers with basic editorial guidelines for specific zines. Read them. If you're still in doubt, send a query letter to the editor, asking for specific guidelines. Most editors have them on hand, and a SASE will save new writers lots of grief and time.
But perhaps most important, new writers should be aware that K/S is what I call a "limited" audience. In short, the story you're thinking of writing has probably already been done. Maybe it's already been done to death (i.e., the K/S camping scenario, for example). But, that doesn't mean you can't do it, too. Maybe you can even do it better. This society revolves around the theory of building a better mousetrap, and K/S is certainly a challenge in that area. There's nothing more frustrating than reading a good story that's nonetheless a tired story. In other words, new writers should try to do a little bit of research before they put pen to paper (or fingers to computer keyboard). Read whatever zines are available to you before you write. You may have an absolutely wonderful idea for a story wherein Kirk and Spock must deal with one or the other being blinded. You may not be aware that at least two wonderful stories have already been done on that theme.
And, again, that isn't to say that you shouldn't do it, too. You may have something different to say, or you may be able to approach the subject from an entirely different angle. But try to be aware of your "past", so to speak - of stories with similar (or, often, identical) themes. Look at it as help with your writing rather than as a hindrance. In other words, try to learn from NIGHTVISIONS and THE EDGE OF CERTAINTY instead of being inhibited by them. Use them as a reference guide for your "blind Kirk" or "blind Spock" story, and take it in an entirely different direction.
The essence of communication in writing -- being able to take your reader away from her mundane life and surround her with the K/S experience. A good writer's goal (one of them anyway) should be to transform common experiences into uncommon ones (i.e., give the reader a different view of something she may see every day. Instead of just telling your reader she is in the desert watching Kirk go through his motions, transform your reader into Kirk (or Spock or whoever), and allow her to feel what he feels, know what he knows, taste what he tastes, etc. A good writer should ideally be able to "mind meld" with her readers, making a story a shared experience instead of just a historical accounting of facts and figures.