more on self-indulgent writing

[mamajoan]

I was pondering my yesterday's post on self-indulgent crap and realized I don't have a clue what I mean by that. I mean, it first came to me when I was pondering a PWP. So, okay, PWP is self-indulgent. I write it when I'm horny, basically. And when I can't find the exact story out there on the 'net that I'm picturing in my head. (Darn those inconsiderate fic writers anyway, not writing exactly what I want to read at any given moment!)

Sometimes I attempt to "justify" my PWPs by saying that they also comprise mini-character-studies. Well, that's true, but it doesn't work as a way to make the story suddenly Not Self-Indulgent. Cause I don't write stories with bad characterizations, dammit. Even PWP. What would be the point?

All fanfic could be considered self-indulgent in some senses. I don't buy into that either, but there's a point to be made. It *does* encourage sloppy writing habits in certain areas that tend to rear their ugly heads when you try to write something original again at long last. Which I've been struggling with, you betcha.

So I guess I conclude that there are no guidelines (as yet) to separating the self-indulgent writing from the not. Which raises another question, must all fiction have a Point? Must it Make A Statement? Hell no, say I. I mean, if being entertaining and having an interesting plot is making a statement, okay. Or if it's PWP, the statement is "Sex is hot." But if you mean a deep meaningful statement about Life The Universe And Everything, then no.

In other words, I don't know what the hell I'm talking about. But I also think I'll be trying not to do PWP again for a while. At least until this desire to be meaningful passes. I'm bleeding now, so it could be any minute.

Comments

[tiggrrl.livejournal.com]

Pardon my non-fanficness, but what is PWP?
I never really wrote any fanfic, although I was on the Highlander (the series) list for a while, and wrote a couple of funny stories, but about the people on the list, not the show characters, so I don't think it counts (devafall will argue that point though).I see what you mean about it potentially being hard to write original stuff after having done a lot of fanfic, I mean, it's so much easier when the characters are already there for you to play with.

[big-al81.livejournal.com]

PWP = Plot? What plot? (ie bring on the sex)

As for writing fanfic, I tried that a few times, and well... I failed. Couldn't ever finish the damn thing. Then I tried original fiction and while I did get further along in that and had very detailed character sketches, plotlines, and such... again, I failed. I have this problem with finishing stuff I write. Heh... come to think of it, I have problems finishing a lot of

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

PWP stands for either "Plot, what plot?" or "Porn without plot" depending who you ask, but it means the same thing either way -- a story that's basically all sex, with just enough plot to get the clothes off. Sometimes not even that.

And yeah -- fanfic is great, it's a lot of fun and often can be very deep and extend the onscreen stuff in really interesting ways ... but as a writer it allows your "establishing the characters" and "setting the scene" muscles to atrophy. I mean, all you have to do is write "Captain Picard walked onto the bridge" and already your audience knows a HUGE amount about who the characters are, where they are, why they're there, and so forth. In original-fiction writing you don't have that luxury, and in sci-fi especially, establishing your setting is so important. And difficult.

And no, writing stories about the members of an email list doesn't count as fanfic. Actually, there's a word for that; it's called archive fic, if I recall correctly.

[tiggrrl.livejournal.com]

Hey, my very own genre, just what I wanted for (fill n Winter Holiday of choice)!