Working Stiffs Interview with Sister Zooey

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Interviews by Fans
Title: Working Stiffs Interview with Sister Zooey
Interviewer: Megan Reilly (with Nicola Simpson)
Interviewee: Sister Zooey
Date(s): 2000
Medium: online
Fandom(s): X-Files
External Links: interview is here; reference link
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Working Stiffs Interview with Sister Zooey was conducted in 2000.

It was posted to the website Working Stiffs.

Other Interviews in the Series

Some Excerpts

I have no favorite authors. I love them all. My favorite color is yellow. I'm left handed. I play the violin and I once sang at Carnegie Hall (no joke). As I am typing this, I am listening to a bootleg of Jeff Buckley's concert at Club Logo in Hamburg, Germany (thank you Napster!). I recommend that everyone listen to Jeff Buckley. He's good for you, like iron or vitamin C.

I accidentally found the fic link on Haven and the first stories I read were Rachel Anton's, I think. The first story I distinctly recall reading is "Pandora's Box." It blew my mind. It was filthy and funny and well-written. I spent my down time between my two honors English seminars (two hours, twice a week) reading everything on Hidden Gems, Chronicle X, and Haven.

I was amazed at how quickly I was accepted. Before I started writing, I had been talking to other Philes who were trying to get some attention for their fic and failing. I was expecting to have the same problems. I posted the first Redhead Dancing Girl story to Ephemeral and started getting feedback immediately. It also helped that I was friends with both Michelle of the XFFA and Kimberly at Hidden Gems. They were big early supporters of my fic.

The best advice I can give is to have friends in high places. It doesn't help if your initial contact with them is "Hi. This is my first story. Will you post it?" Unless you're the James Joyce of fic, that's never going to work. I had been talking with Michelle for a long time before I asked her to consider Redhead Dancing Girl for her site. The other writers were great, too. I got lengthy feedback emails early on from JLB and Exley61. JLB and I are now a mutual admiration society. :) She gives the best feedback and is the sweetest girl.

Feedback - I would say that about 50% of the feedback I get is excellent. It's well thought out, constructively critical, and generally positive. The other half... I have to be honest. About 40% of the feedback that I get goes exactly like this -- "I LOVED (insert story name here)!! I've read it (insert number) times!!!! When are you going to write a sequel?!?! :) :) !!" Now, I really do appreciate this sort of feedback. It makes me happy and I like to know that people are enjoying my work. However, it's not very useful. Fanfic authors really like it when you tell them why you LOVED their story. You don't have to go on for three pages and provide examples (like JLB *always* does). Just mention something specific. It brings us no end of joy. 5% of the feedback I have gotten are fans that turned on me when I told them that there wasn't going to be any sequel to "A New Commandment." Hence, the signature I now attach to all of my e-mails. The other 5% have been very rude, nitpicky e-mails that usually do nothing but prove that the author has too much time on her (and it's *always* a her) hands and didn't read my story closely... Pretty much any piece of fic with "Hey! I wrote this in 20 minutes at three a.m. while I was high on NyQuil and NoDoz!!! Isn't it funny how little effort I put into this!? Now everyone e-mail me and tell me what a great job I did anyway!!!" in the Author's Notes is poorly conceived.

The Witches - I love the Witches because I am terrified that I am going to visit their site one day and find one of my stories eviscerated there. Because anyone can post a story to Ephemeral, because I have seen inferior stories heaped with praise because they were loaded down with sex or contained some gratifying yet convoluted plot twist, the Witches are necessary in this community. I am the first to admit that I am a snob and that my standards for anything that I care about are very high. I have voiced this opinion in several different Phile forums and it is always received poorly. Generally, people tell me that this is just for fun, that I shouldn't be such a jerk, and that not everyone is a good writer. I do agree that fic is pretty much solely for fun. But that doesn't give us carte blanche to post any un-revised, hastily composed story that stumbles off our fingers. No, everyone isn't a good writer and I personally loathe egalitarianism....

Zooey's Controversial Opinion of Beta Readers - I could never use one because it's my writing and I am very protective of it. I have never met anyone that I trust well enough to let them have some say in my work. I take feedback from fans and from other writers to heart and I give it serious consideration, but, simply put, I'm just not very comfortable with the idea of involving someone in any of the early stages of writing. I think that learning how to edit my own work goes a long way toward making me a stronger writer. Not that there aren't strong writers who use betas, I just feel as if being able to be judge, jury, and executioner of my own writing really helps me be a better writer....If I am going to be honest, I don't really care if people read that as an egotistical statement. It very well could be. It's a completely honest statement, though. I am a very young writer. I am still trying to find what I want to say, where I want to write from. Fic has been a part of that search for me. At this point in my development, I need to listen to my own opinions much more than I need to listen to the opinions of others. As I said, I adore constructive criticism, but only after I have finished a story. When I said "better writer" I didn't mean a superior writer in terms of skill or talent. I meant a stronger, more self-assured writer. I need that more than I need interaction with other writers now.

Truthfully, I really don't know what writers get out of their interactions with Betas. I've never done it myself and I don't know any writers personally who use them. I would assume that a lot of it is about getting an objective opinion and boosting confidence. I may be totally wrong. In a nutshell, I think that people should do whatever makes them comfortable when it comes to writing. I am uncomfortable with the idea of a Beta reader, so I don't use one.

Season Eight (I was wondering when this was going to come up...) - I despise the turn the show has taken. In all honesty, I haven't been able to watch it for several weeks. If there is a Witch reading this, I have a suggestion for you, sister: CC and company are not above reproach. I would like to see if one of the scripts could stand up to the Witches' intense scrutiny. I recall a banner slogan that was floating around for a while - "It's Chris's fic" - which implied that we should have respect for him and the creative decisions that are being made. There's a flip side to that slogan, though: It *is* Chris's fic. And you know what? It's riddled with sloppy characterization, glaring errors in continuity, and laughable plot devices. If it were on Ephemeral, no one would read it and the author would get trashed. So have a go at it, Witches. There's no reason that we have to take what he says as the gospel truth. I know many fic writers and fans who exhibit more care and concern for his characters. I think those are the people who Mulder and Scully really belong to, all legal rights aside.

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