Thoughts on Writing

Meta
Title:	Thoughts on Writing
Creator:	Barbara Mater
Date(s):	December 1991
Medium:	print
Fandom:	multifandom
Topic:
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Thoughts on Writing is a 1991 essay by Barbara Mater.

It was published in A Writer's Exchange #1.

Some Topics Discussed

• a bit of a primer about fanfiction writing
• encouragement

From the Essay

Our discussion of writing at the recent STAR (Star Trek Association of Rochester) meeting, along with the excellent panel discussion on fanzines, prompts me to offer a few thoughts. Writers will write, whatever the circumstances, and editors-well, who knows what dark forces drive their pursuits? Like test pilots flying a new design, like explorers where no one has gone before, they assemble supplies, material and ideas and venture forth to artfully combine the works of many contributors and push back the frontiers of literature.

Damn, that was a good line. Can you tell I love to write? I suppose it starts with imagination, and the feeling of kinship I develop with my favorite characters. I know they're not real people; they're larger than life, but they deal with situations like mine, or perhaps a bit more interesting than mine. It's fun to make them do the brave or funny things I like to think I'd do if I were there, in the story, instead of sitting at a desk pretending.

Sometimes I write science fiction. (Not Star Trek; that takes a special talent, a particular vision of the future, and an ability to work within a very structured framework which is the world of Starfleet. That's a place I like to go with an experienced guide; I don't organize my own tours.) But SF concerning possible futures or alternate worlds of my own devising.

In fan writing, you're much more restricted, because you're writing somebody else's characters and the stories ought (in my humble opinion) to ring true for those characters. But there are still a lot of possibilities for creativity. Ever since the 30s, when it was hard to tell the pros from the fans because of similarities in production costs and methods, people have been borrowing each other's ideas, for their own amusement and amazement.

In the 60s, when Tolkien fanzines were popular, fen wrote filks like "The Orcs' Marching Song" and "High Fly the Nazgul, Oh!" set to familiar tunes, and artists drew marvelous pictures of dragons and hobbits and wizards just for the love of it. The Basement Press was still going strong, and it is today. In the 80s and 90s, though art and filks are still wonderful, and some fans write successful novels set in established universes, the most frequent type of writing I've seen is the short story. This is often in the form of a one-page "vignette," based on an episode from a TV show, which restates a character's reaction to something that happened in the show, or examines the scene from the point of view of another character whose experience is more interesting to the writer but who was not originally the focused character. (e.g., what did Marion feel when she saw the Sheriff of Nottingham about to victimize DeBracey's daughter? Did she want more than ever to put an arrow through him? I'll bet she did, but I haven't written that story yet. Maybe somebody will beat me to it.)

Also popular is the favorite character meeting a new challenge, one that has not been dealt with by the professional writers. This type of story may use characters from the movies (Ladyhawke, Lethal Weapon]], Star Wars) or literature (Pern, "Swords"), as well as TV. Often writers invent new characters who mayor may not represent themselves, and let them interact with the borrowed characters. These can be fun to do, but another type of fan story that's also fun and very popular is the cross-universe, or crossworld story. It's amusing to place characters from one book, movie or TV show in the setting of another book, movie or TV show, introduce them to characters who are already at home there, and let them deal with the problems that arise.

To aspiring writers: be encouraged; you can do it. And if it's in your heart, you will do it, and you'll find your place as a writer, whether it's in fandom, small press, or commercial publishing. Don't worry about whether people will like your ideas. They're yours, and you have a right to write. Somebody will understand. In fandom, there's a market for anything; you just have to find it. As Ray Bradbury said, to begin writing, apply the seat of your pants to the chair and your fingers to the typewriter. Best of luck!

Fan Comments

I appreciated Barbara Mater's "Thoughts on Writing." Insight combined with historical perspective. The observation she makes, that in the '30s it could be hard to distinguish pros from fans because of similarity in their production methods intrigued me. Part of the problem for writers is the business of money. While I'd like to believe that we might one day have a society that values the arts as it does the practical sciences and will reward them financially, I'm not recommending holding your breath. For now, most of us have to do what we want to do because we love it, not because we hope to be paid for it. I think this is at the heart of the fannish enterprise. So I agree with the advice to aspiring writers: Sit! Type! It might not feed your bod, but it's liable to fuel your spirit.