The True Depth of Fan Fiction
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| Title: | The True Depth of Fan Fiction |
| Creator: | Susan M. Garrett |
| Date(s): | March 1992 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | multifandom |
| Topic: | |
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The True Depth of Fan Fiction is a 1992 essay by Susan M. Garrett.
It was published in A Writers' Exchange #2.
Some Topics Discussed
- why are some fics better than others
- develop a theme
From the Essay
More often than not, you finish reading a fan story, file the zine, and never think about it again...except when you're zine shopping at MediaWest and can't remember whether or not you have that particular issue. There are a few, special occasions when you finish a story, lean back and bask in the glow, then put it away knowing full well that you'll return to that story again and again, or that bits of it will come to mind at the most unexpected moments.
When pressed for a reason why they continue to go back to a story or think highly of it, most fans can't articulate their reasoning; perhaps the characters were true to the show that they know and love, or the plot was extremely tight, or there was a bit of dialogue that seemed to ring true...or perhaps there's something about the story that can't quite be put into words, something just beyond the reach of cold hard fact that makes it a damned fine story. That 'thing' more often than not, is depth.
Why has Star Trek survived so long? One of the reasons is that there's always something behind the plot, some basic question of human existence that the audience can understand, whether consciously or unconsciously. The plot may be as simplistic as Kirk stopping the Klingons from taking over a planet or Picard trying to save his ship from a 'fictional' holodeck creation, but the problems behind the simple plots are far more complex, inyolving questions of whether one culture has a right to interfere with the development of another and whether a single man should make such a decision, or just what the difference between reality and fiction might be, especially in a world based on "I think, therefore I am." Literature or fiction is considered great because it applies to each generation-the questions never really change. The plot of Casablanca is just plain silly in spots, but the film rises above itself not only because of the technical excellence of the acting and production, but because the question of how a man balances the various loves of his life (duty, romantic love, friendship) was important not only to movie-goers in the '40s, but is still part of the human dilemma and will be for generations to come.
For many writers, putting in subtexture comes naturally, to the point' where the plot itself becomes almost incidental. Other writers struggle and fight with the theme of the work, trying to artificially impose external or inappropriate themes on a plot, never realizing that theme is inherent in and integral to the plot. When I receive a story and ask my writer what the story's about, I want to hear not only that this character is shot and that one gets the guy that did it, but that the story is about the conflict of duty and friendship with morality, or personal freedom versus the freedom of a society.
The next time you develop a plot, think about what your story says about the human condition and the questions that surround us. Don't force a theme on your story, but accept and strengthen what the story is trying to say, the true inner voice of fiction that will speak to fans today, and tomorrow, and the day after. Maybe, in time, you'll find people telling you that they go back to your stories again and again, even though they don't know why. And, if you're in a particularly good mood and there's not a lot of business in the dealer's room, maybe you can tell them.