The Best of Trek Fanfic Interview with Laura Taylor

Interviews by Fans
Title:	The Best of Trek Fanfic Interview with Laura Taylor
Interviewer:	The Best of Trek Fanfic
Interviewee:	Laura Taylor
Date(s):	February 2000
Medium:	online
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: DS9
External Links:	An Interview with Laura Taylor, Archived version
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The Best of Trek Fanfic Interview with Laura Taylor was conducted in 2000.

It is part of a series of nineteen interviews, see The Best of Trek Fanfic.

Excerpts

[What is your favorite series to watch? To write for? To watch?]: It really depends on what I'm looking for. DS9 is my favorite for thought-provoking plots and a diversity of strong, compelling characters. OTOH, none of the series, IMO, can match VOY's talent for humor and fun. If forced to choose, I'd have to go for DS9. I'm a sucker for weird aliens, and the Cardassians are at the top of my list.

[What type of fanfic do you like to write?]: Whatever challenges me. I rarely stay within one specific genre for too long, and as a result I've written hurt-comfort, Mary Sues, action-adventure, UST, romance, smut, character studies, parody, satire, you name it. I've never written TOS or slash, although I have occasionally hinted at slashy relationships. I've also never written romances that featured the 'classic' pairings--P/C, R/T, W/D, O/K (with the slight exception of "Expiation"), J/C, P/T. I don't like to write relationships that are 'destined to be' by virtue of their popularity; if I'm going to write about a relationship, I want it to be one hindered by obstacles--even insurmountable ones. I love the pathos of unrequited love stories :-)

[How did you get started writing fanfic?]: I first got into Trek fandom (and fanfic) through alt.fan.q. At the time, variations on the Q-loses-his-powers theme from "Deja Q" seemed to be all the rage, with Alara Rogers' superb (but, alas, unfinished) "Only Human" the benchmark. I got it into my swelled head that I could do the same, but better (with the exception of "Only Human"), and my career as a fanfic writer was born :-)

[Do you have any advice for other fanfic authors?]: Don't shortchange yourself, or the rest of us, by saying, "It's only fanfic."

Fanfic, the family stories our grandparents tell at the dinner table, the prizewinning novels of William Faulkner, the Jack Tales of Appalachian storytellers, Goethe's Faust, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, the Bible, the Ramayana, the Gilgamesh Epic, all draw upon the same sources and all serve the same purpose. Remember them when you write. I'm not suggesting you should strive to produce Great Liter-AH-ture, but care enough about what you're doing to tell the best damn story you can.

Once you say, "Oh, it's just fanfic, who cares?" your lack of passion and dedication will manifest itself in your stories. Give a damn about what you're doing--remember that storytelling is a *communal* activity that finds meaning not only in the telling but also in the hearing--and I promise your commitment and sincerity will come through.