The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview: Antennapedia
| Interviews by Fans | |
|---|---|
| Title: | The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview: Antennapedia |
| Interviewer: | |
| Interviewee: | Antennapedia |
| Date(s): | April 12, 2015 |
| Medium: | online |
| Fandom(s): | Doctor Who |
| External Links: | Antennapedia Part One, Archived version Antennapedia Part Two, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview: Antennapedia was posted at The Doctor Who Fanfic Review on April 12, 2015.
See: The Doctor Who Fanfic Review Interview Series.
Some Excerpts
TDWFR: You are quite a prolific writer with many stories up on A03, dating back to as far as 2006 with your early Buffy work. After writing so much for the Buffy fandom, what led you to start writing for Doctor Who?
Antennapedia: I got into Doctor Who really late! I started watching in the middle of David Tennant’s run. I started with the Ninth Doctor, caught up during the year of Tennant’s specials, then started watching classic Who. My very first Who fic (“Banana Daiquiris”, Nine/Jackie, no really, Nine/Jackie) was written for a ficathon, and for a while it was only ficathons that could get me to dare write in Who. The fandom had a reputation for being really brutal, and I was in a happy corner of the Buffy fandom, a nice quiet closed canon, where all the drama was in the past.
I wandered away from active fandom for a couple of years, but I did continue watching Doctor Who. And then the Twelfth Doctor happened. My eyebrows went up when his attack eyebrows got introduced, and he & Clara started bantering. After “Time Heist”, I was shipping them hard. After “The Caretaker”, I was reading fic. After “Mummy on the Orient Express”, I was writing fic. Boom! Back in fandom with a vengeance! On Tumblr this time instead of LiveJournal.
TDWFR: Sometimes it can be daunting writing for a new fandom. Have you found the Doctor Who Community to be supportive of your efforts so far?
Antennapedia: I alluded to the past reputation of the Doctor Who fandom above. This did make me nervous. I have no idea still if the mainstream of Doctor Who fandom is as grumpy as they used to be, because I’ve avoided them. I’ve stayed away from traditional fandom spots like the Teaspoon and an Open Mind archive, and it’s been fine. The Tumblr community has been lovely. I got hooked up with the Whouffaldi shippers right away, as well as the Peter Capaldi fans, and they’ve been the most welcoming people.
TDWFR: It is possible to write a fantastic story, get tons of page views and only a handful of reviews. What do you think holds people back from reviewing fanfic?
Antennapedia: The culture has changed over the years. Mailing lists used to be about discussing fic. Somebody would post a story, then people would talk about it for a while. Of course, they’d have flame wars and personality conflicts along with that. The trend has been steadily away from any kind of personal connection, and I think some fan writers are to blame for it. Back in the LJ days I’d see commenters flamed to hell and back for expressing their liking for a story the wrong way. That flamed reader is a reader who’s never going to comment again. The kudos button on AO3 is the most they’re going to do, if they even do that.
So I have that in mind when I wait for reactions to fic: it’s not me; it’s not my story; it’s just fandom as it is today. If somebody does leave a lovely comment for me, I’m going to respond with gratitude because I want more of that! I want to be friendly. I want to talk about fic. I love it best when somebody responds to fic with more fic exploring another variation on the same setup. If I can do anything at all to encourage that, I will.