What about stuff like shared worlds? Borderlands? (I have no idea what their process is like). Or collaborative writing teams? Though two people is a more manageable group than infinity.
My understanding -- and sleigh would have a much, much better grip on this, having written in the Wild Cards shared world universe -- is that the bible, much like a television bible, is hashed out first. Hashing out fact, pointing out inconsistency and improbability is far more comfortable for something that's a set of facts than it is if one's arguing about fiction. After this has been hashed out, it differs. I think the Borderlands people were given free play; I think the Liavek people referred to each other more.
Collaborative writing teams vary hugely. In most of the collaborations that I can think of, one of the writers comes up with a relatively detailed outline; the other writer writes the actual novel. This is how most of the Baen collaborations are done, and it's usually the bigger name that does the outlining. There is some back and forth; often the person who outlined also has final edit.
But teams of long standing -- like Sharon Lee and Steve Miller -- must work in a different way, and I have no idea what that is. I know that when Steve Stirling and Shirley Meier were collaborating, they practically stood over each other's shoulder, taking turns at the keyboard and going back and forth (or at least this is what was said).
I do think its easier when the canon is a given and what you're arguing is the interpretation than when you're creating from scratch. Though I think I could write a shared world that was collaborative from the get go -- heck, pro TV writers do it all the time, they rarely if ever get to go it alone -- but I'd have a hard time starting out with it as all mine and then accepting other people's takes as equally valid.
The latter point is probably the reaction that sets many writers' teeth on edge. The sense of ownership is profound, and I do include myself in that number to a point. But… I don't find it easier when working in a given canon. I find it harder. I have to find a way to wedge the story into the form; I can't go off on a tangent in the wide-open way I can if it's my world, and I can't change or break things as the story also demands. I find it much, much harder to play in another person's sandbox, and I also find it harder because I have a much better idea of what the readership expects of that given franchise or universe.
I'm one of those writers who attempts to write what I would like to read, but in the end, I don't really think about the audience beyond that when I'm doing the actual writing. With the Luna novel, there was a lot more conscious effort to achieve a certain tone and pace, and I have no idea if that will fly. I was trying to channel Tanya Huff. I think I managed to get a line or two out of the effort <wry g>.
And yes, I think you're right. There are plenty of people who write fanfic who wouldn't write original fic. And while there are many different reasons for that, one of them for some folks may well be that they work better in a quilting bee than an isolated sewing room.
One good reason not to: it turns a hobby into a business. It changes the nature of the writing process. I don't think that fanfic writers are wasting their time; my perception now is that they're doing something out of love, as all hobbies are done. Some people who are writing fanfic do want to get published, and they can learn a lot just doing the writing -- but I don't think one has to lead to the other.
imagine the way that every time travel story plays off every other time travel story, either by taking bits or avoiding bits or breaking for new ground. And then imagine that all the writers knew each other personally and were writing at the Con That Never Ends.
Good analogy. I think that some of us would go nuts at this Con, but many of us go a little crazy at conventions anyway. I love to talk about the process of writing, but not so much the actual work itself -- I live in mortal terror of being derailed or losing the sense of emotional immediacy that drives to write in the first place.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-10-20 09:02 pm (UTC)My understanding -- and
Collaborative writing teams vary hugely. In most of the collaborations that I can think of, one of the writers comes up with a relatively detailed outline; the other writer writes the actual novel. This is how most of the Baen collaborations are done, and it's usually the bigger name that does the outlining. There is some back and forth; often the person who outlined also has final edit.
But teams of long standing -- like Sharon Lee and Steve Miller -- must work in a different way, and I have no idea what that is. I know that when Steve Stirling and Shirley Meier were collaborating, they practically stood over each other's shoulder, taking turns at the keyboard and going back and forth (or at least this is what was said).
I do think its easier when the canon is a given and what you're arguing is the interpretation than when you're creating from scratch. Though I think I could write a shared world that was collaborative from the get go -- heck, pro TV writers do it all the time, they rarely if ever get to go it alone -- but I'd have a hard time starting out with it as all mine and then accepting other people's takes as equally valid.
The latter point is probably the reaction that sets many writers' teeth on edge. The sense of ownership is profound, and I do include myself in that number to a point. But… I don't find it easier when working in a given canon. I find it harder. I have to find a way to wedge the story into the form; I can't go off on a tangent in the wide-open way I can if it's my world, and I can't change or break things as the story also demands. I find it much, much harder to play in another person's sandbox, and I also find it harder because I have a much better idea of what the readership expects of that given franchise or universe.
I'm one of those writers who attempts to write what I would like to read, but in the end, I don't really think about the audience beyond that when I'm doing the actual writing. With the Luna novel, there was a lot more conscious effort to achieve a certain tone and pace, and I have no idea if that will fly. I was trying to channel Tanya Huff. I think I managed to get a line or two out of the effort <wry g>.
And yes, I think you're right. There are plenty of people who write fanfic who wouldn't write original fic. And while there are many different reasons for that, one of them for some folks may well be that they work better in a quilting bee than an isolated sewing room.
One good reason not to: it turns a hobby into a business. It changes the nature of the writing process. I don't think that fanfic writers are wasting their time; my perception now is that they're doing something out of love, as all hobbies are done. Some people who are writing fanfic do want to get published, and they can learn a lot just doing the writing -- but I don't think one has to lead to the other.
imagine the way that every time travel story plays off every other time travel story, either by taking bits or avoiding bits or breaking for new ground. And then imagine that all the writers knew each other personally and were writing at the Con That Never Ends.
Good analogy. I think that some of us would go nuts at this Con, but many of us go a little crazy at conventions anyway. I love to talk about the process of writing, but not so much the actual work itself -- I live in mortal terror of being derailed or losing the sense of emotional immediacy that drives to write in the first place.