Be Gentle With Us Interview: Ellis Ward

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Interviews by Fans
Title: Be Gentle With Us Interview: Ellis Ward
Interviewer:
Interviewee: Ellis Ward
Date(s): 1993
Medium: print
Fandom(s): The Professionals
External Links:
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Be Gentle With Us Interview: Ellis Ward are answers to a questionnaire.

The answers were printed in Be Gentle With Us #8 and #10. It's possible that there were more replies printed in #9, #11, and #12 as well.

The Known Participants

Twenty-One Questions

1. Which of your stories do you like best?

2. Conversely, any you cringe about now with hindsight?

3. Are you inspired by external factors, such as music?

4. How much research do you do?

5. How many drafts do you write before submitting the story?

6. What makes you write slash?

7. How do you react to editor's criticism or reviews of your work?

8. Do you keep a piece of writing to yourself until it is finished, or would you seek the advice of others at a fairly early stage?

9. Do you worry about plagiarism?

10. How do you feel about another writer rewriting the end of your story, or writing a sequel (with or without permission?)

11. Do you prefer to write about the characters in the CI5 setting or is any universe/time fair game?

12. Do you keep rigidly to the characterisation used in the aired episodes?

13. Do you ever deliberately change the characterization, or does it happen unconsciously?

14. Do you work on more than one story at a time?

15. Do you write sex scenes to titillate the reader?

16. How do you go about writing sex scenes? (Resort to strong drink and let your imagination run riot?)

17. Would you like to be a professional writer?

18. Were you a writer before you discovered fandom?

19. If you were a writer before discovering fandom, has the experience of reading fan literature changed your own writing?

20. Have other writers in fandom or stories that you have read influenced your own work?

21. Have you been influenced by writers or writing from outside of fandom?

Some Excerpts

Which of your stories do you like best?

So Much for Wishes, And Memories Die II, Irreparable Damage, Legacy of Temptation, and Harlequin Airs.

Conversely, any you cringe about now with hindsight?

Not so much cringe as squirm. Bits of The Return, the first slash B&D I attempted can make me wriggle like a worm. Shades to Blossom [1] was not as well executed as it might have been, though I still like the idea.

Are you inspired by external factors, such as music?

Only as a mood heightener. Sometimes I hear a lyric that seems perfectly suited to a scene or characterization. While writing Harlequin Airs, I was particularly taken with Rush's 'Bravado', a cynically named paean to high romance.

And if the music stops
There's only the sound of the rain
All the hope and glory
All the sacrifice in vain
And if love remains
Though everything is lost
We will pay the price
But we will not count the cost
That song - tune and lyrics - epitomized the B&D in "Harlequin Airs."

How much research do you do?

Enough to take me comfortable with a subject. I do enjoy the effort involved and will happily go to some extremes to do a proper job of it. (For the most recent story, I even ran the Bank of England!) I also have a keen aversion to looking unnecessarily stupid - and I like to have ammunition for self- defence when taken to task for my liberties. So - whatever it takes!

Why do you write slash?

A relationship encompassing both sex and love makes the participants vulnerable, I believe. I guess I like that vulnerability.

Do you keep a piece of writing to yourself until it is finished, or would you seek the advice of others at a fairly early stage?

It remains with me until I am finished.

Do you worry about plagiarism?

No. [Though] it's happened to me - in spades. The 'writer' took my PROS story, Breaking Cover, changed the names to Kirk and Spock (Bodie and Doyle, respectively), added a new framing story that reflected the ST universe, then lifted pages of the text virtually verbatim though she did occasionally make a word switch here and there; e.g. 'unlooked for' became 'serendipitous'. Her choice of words didn't always work in my opinion - and a couple of instances, was an improvement. Most amusing of all was reading a review of 'her' story in a KS LOC zine in which the critiquer took Kirk to task for saying something Bodie had said! [2] Such cheek.

How do you feel about another writer rewriting the end of your story, or writing a sequel (with or without permission?)

Not bothered.

Do you keep rigidly to the characterisation used in the aired episodes?

I guess, I would argue that the characters of B&D were not all that consistent throughout the 57 episodes. I do try to keep some series- identifiable characteristics - mannerisms, speech cadence, that sort of thing.

Do you ever deliberately change the characterization, or does it happen unconsciously?

I confess to de-emphasizing their more irritating aspects - the puerility, mean-spiritedness, callousness. Enough must be preserved to keep the characters recognizable and to lend some bite to their personalities, but certainly not to the degree some other writers favour. These days I find the ultra-sensuous, ultra-self-centered Doyle intensely tiresome, for example.

Do you write sex scenes to titillate the reader?

No.

Would you like to be a professional writer?

It would be nice to be paid for all this work, certainly!

If you were a writer before discovering fandom, has the experience of reading fan literature changed your own writing?

At first it made me lazy - who cares about POV? Then, I decided the fan-lit market, if you will, presented a great challenge to improve my abilities. It's a relatively painless proving ground, and the feedback is wonderful.

Have other writers in fandom or stories that you have read influenced your own work?

Most certainly. Who can read Rediscovered in a Graveyard, Masquerade or Where the Worms Are without wanting to aspire to that level? More than that, the writing of others allowed me to see the characters in ways the series itself did not explore. For example, the Doyle of the episodes seems far less likely than the Bodie to become romantically involved with his partner. HG, O. Yardley, CP, Jane and many other present his character in such a way that it can sees a natural progression. Thanks to them, I didn't have to re-invent Doyle's ability to love (or lust).

References

  1. ^ "Shades to Blossom" was written as L.S. Willard.
  2. ^ "I liked this story altogether. The only thing I didn't like so much was one of Kirk's sentences (on page 9) "Better is having your first officer still alive, Tom."). I don't think Kirk would use such a low sentence, even if he is very annoyed and all mixed up." -- from The LOC Connection #42
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