lovinjackson, but with the meeting expectations and travel times, I will not be able to turn a ramble around very quickly. I would say that I'm just skipping this one, but you and I both know I'll have to post something.So, the Ramble for 7.13 will be delayed until Thursday the 9th, and will most likely be an abbreviated version. A 'ramblette,' if you will. *grins* But I wanted to at least make an attempt to keep up the tradition and offer those of you who come by weekly something to read. I, for one, very much look forward to your comments.
The Ramble for 7.14 (which airs on Friday the 10th) will be on time (assuming international travel doesn't drain me like green kryptonite and I don't fall asleep on my keyboard while typing). I hope you guys will come back and chat with me about our boys!
Now...I have a writing query for those of you who read my fanfic -- or fanfic in general. I'll LJ-cut it to spare the rest of you.
I am working on a new fic and I am really, really enjoying it. The thing is, I like the SPN aspect and what the storyline is doing with Dean (and to Dean...Sam comes into play in the periphery in this one), but I am also finding that I'm actually really enjoying the original character I've created, as well as his backstory and purpose to the plot.
There have been a few OC's that I've really liked. Abe Nakomis from Ramble On and In the Light. Brenna Kavanagh from HOTLG, Within My Hands, Into the Fire, and Weapon and the Wound (like her enough to bring her back one last time). Cooper from On the Surface. Oh, and I really had fun with Eugene from Unseen Heroes.
But they all were created for and fit inside the SPN universe spun by the story that brought them alive. I couldn't see any of them standing outside of their stories. Even Brenna only feels 'right' inside of this universe.
This new guy, however...he's different somehow. He's starting to take on this life inside my head and I can see ways to lift his story and the plot and set it outside of SPN... still within the supernatural genre, but not the Winchester version of Supernatural. The idea for it is coming to me so much easier than the previous "original story" I'd been working on...the one I'd had playing around in my head for a decade, the one I tried to write for NaNoWriMo. Suddenly, that idea seems like I was trying to fit into my little sister's clothes, while this idea feels like a pair of my oldest jeans, so worn and comfy they're like sweat pants.
Here's where you guys come in. Is it possible to plagiarize yourself? If I write a fanfic, then take the plot, setting, original characters and revise it so that it's more-or-less similar just Winchester-free...is that cheating? Or perhaps...frowned upon?
I'm kind of thinking no...I mean, I know we say "not mine" all over every fanfic, but really what we mean is anything pertaining to the show isn't ours, right? Everything else, though....
I don't know. I'm looking for input here. Because if the vast majority of responses (if there are any responses) come back saying Gaelic, you're crazy, girl. You can't go around recycling your own fanfic as original stories! Well, I'll believe you and I'll just focus on the story I'm writing with this character and leave it at that. But if you don't say that...well, then, I may play around with this idea a bit more....
Talk to me, peeps.
Also, PS random LJ spam-bots...cool it with the gucci bag posts already. Sheesh!
- Where Am I?:home office
- How Do I Feel?:
contemplative - Feeding the Muse:After the Storm by Mumford & Sons
Who Is Gaelic?
- gaelicspirit
- Gaelicspirit
- Storyteller's Journey
Comments
I am excited for this new story but to answer your question I know someone that HAS done exactly what you are suggesting and actually gotten published legitimately :) So I'd say go for it :)
Also, knowing who this original character is looking like in your head ... i'd be happy to make a video for the fic if you have one in mind. I have PLENTY of footage hehe
Word, Rodge!
Okay, so you know someone who has done this? That's actually VERY cool.
And I'd never say no to a vid of yours. I was actually just thinking about your vid to the song "Bother" by Stone Sour and how that fit my story Wearing and Tearing so well. I still think about it when I hear the song. That and "Snuff" by Halos...always makes me think of Weapon and the Wound.
Let me get the story going and see what you think of it, though, before I make you promise me a vid (because you know how relentless I get once that's happened). :)
I think I will go for it!
...after I write the fanfic. LOL!
As for your writing dilemma, I don't see an issue with what you have in mind. You had a author's note on one of your stories (might have been The Weapon and the Wound) about using fanfic as a crutch - here's a chance to use it as a stepping stone! Go for it. :)
Edited at 2012-02-01 03:16 am (UTC)
I'd almost forgotten I'd said that in my a/n. Now that you bring it up, though, I remember that a friend of mine told me that -- she was trying to encourage me to spread my wings, but ended up making me feel like fanfic was a lesser form of writing. Like what I was doing wasn't really writing since I was using someone else's characters.
Thus the 'crutch' analogy.
But since that time, I've embraced the reality that I really enjoy this. I thought I'd have to stop fanfic to write "original" work, but I just have so much fun with fanfic that I don't really know if I want to stop, y'know?
However, that said, I do realize that if I wanted to branch out -- maybe even some day be paid for this -- I have to deWinchesterize (hee) my work and see if it stands on its own.
I like that you used "stepping stone" because maybe that's what this story will be. A way to test the waters and decide if I want to go this way or that way.... :)
Thanks for taking time to comment.
You should absolutely go for it! (Go for whatever makes you excited -- but know that you're in good company here!)
I'm all for it if I'm in good company! :)
Just let us read about him in your SPN story before you make your millions off him =)
And you most definitely will read about him in SPN. The story right now is too interwoven with Dean to be anything but an SPN fic, but I can see the potential.
Thanks for coming by!
& Gaelic, I've never written a fic but I did use some material from a previous paper in a more recent one (at university), almost copy & paste - it was my work & I have no moral issues stealing from myself ;)
So I say why not? What you write belongs to you! I'm actually excited to see you excited :) about your OC, don't miss this chance to write what feels so right & comfy.
I am glad you agree -- what you write belongs to you (as long as you're not claiming to own other people's characters....)
I hope you end up liking this character as much as I do. There are a few scenes with him from Dean's POV that are eating my brain. LOL!
Not in the slightest. This is ridiculously common in the RPS realm, where a J2 AU, for instance, is already practically original fic anyway. People post the fic, see what the fandom response is, and if it's good they take the fic down (because of course who's going to pay to read their original story if they can read the same thing for free on the 'net) and recycle it with new character names.
As for your trip, I hope it isn't too hard on you and yours, and that you're actually able to enjoy the Land Down Under (which is a place I've always wanted to visit and still hope to someday). *hugs*
So I told someone above that I feel like I've been living under a rock -- I didn't realize this was done by so many other writers. I feel kinda silly asking the question now. But, hey! At least now I know that I can do this if I want to, right?
Also, wouldn't have thought to pull it down until you and impala1967 said something about it, so thanks for that. *facepalm Gaelic*
I am excited about seeing Sydney (and Tara) and being there. I'm nervous about the long flight (though I do have my iPod, computer, and Kindle -- plus paper and pen), and I'm nervous about leaving the fam (because the hubs had another migraine this morning...ugh), and I'm REALLY frakkin' nervous about the training I'm there for because I've been killing myself developing content for it and while I don't have to stand up in front of people and deliver it, they are going to be delivering what I wrote training-wise and gah! *NERVES!!!!*
But still. Sydney! I'll post a "How I Spent My Whiplash-Quick Work Trip In Australia" recap. :)
If you want to recycle one of your fanfic's into an original story, you would not be the only one to have ever done so.
I have enjoyed reading your stories, so I'm sure I would love your new one. Your a wonderful and talented writer. I like your OC character's, especially Abe and Cooper.
I will admit that out of the different writers that I know who published, I've only bought books off Amazon from two of them. One author's first book was very popular with her reworked "SN" story and I have no idea why.
The other author didn't get the recognition that she should have and her two books were wonderful. She wrote a completely new story about two brothers facing a new world. I shared the books with family and friends, before reading them again myself.
So if you want to 'recycle' a "SN" story, go for it and let us know when it gets published. :)
Take care.
WHICH I WILL BUY - IF I HAVE TO ROB A BANK TO DO IT!!
*FLAILS*
*FAINTS*
I don't know that I'd 'recycle' any of the others -- just really want to take this one guy and do other things with/to him.
...which sounded a lot less dirty in my head.
You make me smile so big.
You know, that feeling that this is all old hat.
PS I think you are wrong about Brenna not having enough whatever to exist independent of an SPN story. :D
LJ spambots are flooding my posts with Timberland ads. Obviously I am at the middle class part of the spectrum while you get Gucci!! LOL
This is a really good point. I hadn't really thought about it that way. I get what you mean -- I don't want to be predictable, even if you read my fanfic and then give the original fic a go.
*ponders*
And thanks for your vote about Brenna. I really dig her and her druid roots. Funny thing -- though I refer to my daughter as Mo Chuisle here, her real name and my druid astrological sign (for January) are the same. And that wasn't even planned. ;)
HA! Timberland...I swear the spamming is out of control lately. Craziness.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It helps a lot!
You'll see it -- I'm writing the fanfic first, so if ya'll end up hating him, I may rethink this venture. LOL!
I may not have much interesting to say, but I don't feel like a bot just yet. I'll let you know if things change.
As for the subject that matters: KNOCK YOURSELF OUT!!!
Whatever original character you add is all yours. Play with it, dye its hair, shave its eyebrows, give it a bicycle pulled by a rabbit, 2 rabbits, 2 rabbits & a tortoise (wouldn't want the rabbits to get tired too fast), drown it in the Loch Ness, have it get attacked by a shark (I hear that tends to happen in Australia these days - please stay out of the water, I'd miss your stories... I mean you, I'd miss you)... you get the picture.
What if your story is awesome (which, hello!!! they all are!!!) but the whole Sam & Dean thing limits it to the Supernatural fandom world... IMAGINE!! You'd want to deprive the rest of the World (and as much as SN fans want to believe they are legion, 98% of the World has no idea that Winchester isn't just the rifle but a pretty whumpable ass too - I say ass, but it's not restrictive) deprive the rest of the World, I was saying, of the awesomeness that is your writing??!!! That would just be selfish and maybe even cruel.
Most of all, if you feel inspired and comfortable writing it, don't hold back. Isn't it the best, when a story and its characters start to take control and you're just there to tell what you're seeing, what they are telling you to write?
Your characters are yours.
Your story is yours.
Your talent is yours.
You just sometimes borrow other instruments, more well known ones, to make your symphony more appealing. They are just like giant Arrows pointing to it so more people can find it, like directions "This way". In no way does it mean that if you take them away, the symphony will lose its magic; it only means the listeners/readers will have to pay more attention, focus more, to learn to appreciate the other instruments.
WOW... no idea where that came from. It must be the cold. My brain is frelted. (Frozen + Melted = Frelted dixit Deeks from NCIS-LA)
I'll shut up now and let you get back to playing with your new story. I'll be there frozen in the corner waiting for it.
In the end all that matters is that you have fun writing!!
Take care!
Lizz
This made me laugh almost as much as your subject line. I swear those spam-bots drive me NUTTY!
LOVE your symphony analogy. That was beautiful. This feedback has me really pumped to dig into this story and see what happens. I really hope that when ya'll read the fanfic, you like this character as much as I do...we'll have to see... ;)
So take your own advise and go for it, sweetie!!!!!
*hugs and love*
I would love to read anything you wrote that was original!!!!
But really...I'd have to change a lot to make it deWinchesterized, so...yeah. It's not really that different from what you and I had talked about.
Duh, Gaelic.
Hope you have a great time 'down under', but I'm still eager to ramble (even if it is a bit late)!
Is it possible to plagiarize yourself?
I would say no. Let me explain myself. I view writing as an art form and if we're talking about art there are lots of instances where the artist takes the same subject, setting, and elements and creates a new work. Like Thomas Kincade, he paints the same cottage over, and over, and over...well you get the idea. I think if you want to change some elements and un-Winchester-ize your story, you should go for it.
I'm kind of thinking no...I mean, I know we say "not mine" all over every fanfic, but really what we mean is anything pertaining to the show isn't ours, right? Everything else, though....
I agree. The plot line and original characters are yours. If they pop up in an original story of yours, that is totally acceptable since you created them.
Hope this helps!
Can't wait to read this new story!
See ya on the flip side!
pandi19/Mandi
I didn't think about Kincade's cabin. Huh. That's a really good point. :)
Thanks for taking time to comment. I appreciate the insight.
Now, as far as the story goes...oh my goodness, WRITE IT!!!! This is what you NEED! If this makes writing original stuff easy, then DO IT! TODAY!!
I had an OC take on a life of her own so that I couldn't write her in fanfic anymore because she wanted to be the star. I need to write her story one of these days. She's not even posted here on LJ, and only a couple of people even know about her. DON'T FOLLOW MY PATHETIC EXAMPLE!!! :)
The ramble will be up eventually; I'm sorry to make you miss it. I'll be thinking of all ya'll getting to watch our boy while I'm 30K feet in the air. ;)
I promise not to follow your example. I'll just do what you say. ;) Hee. Take care of you!
I hope you have a great trip, by the way, and I'll catch you when you get back.
*hugs*
Edited at 2012-02-02 07:52 pm (UTC)
I'm hopeful this idea keeps hold beyond the SPN fanfic. :)
Getting ready to leave for trip now. :) See you soon.
Jane :)
As everyone else says, by all means, go for it. He's YOUR character, and you are generating YOUR ideas when you cast him in some universe other than SN. By definition, there is nothing to plagiarize when the idea/character/plot/concept originates from you. And I love the word "deWinchesterize", you should coin it. ;)
I had a feeling that something wasn't clicking with your original fiction and I think you've found what it is - you didn't like your concept/character like you needed to in order to throw yourself into the writing.
So as Ellen would say, "Kick it in the ass!". Enjoy your trip as much as a whirlwind will allow.
Until your return,
Irish
Getting ready to leave for trip now. See you when I get back. :)
And if I do take this character further, I'll probably pull down the SPN story I'm currently writing -- but not until those who'd like to read it have read it. ;)
Take care!