[HPFGU-OTChatter] Fanfic Ideas and the Creative Process... (was Quidditch!Ron)

[ender_w]

Hi, Ebony and everyone else,
I agree totally with what you said.  I'm a writer and sometimes the ideas crowd my head so much I can't bear it.  I want to write every idea that crosses my mind and I can't.  not only don't I have time, but I have chronic illnesses that limit my energy.
The program at your school sounds very impressive.  I'm jealous.  I teach at a private school for children with dyslexia.  My mom and I (both of us are writers, though she's had a bit more professional success), teach writing at the school.
I'm in the process of writing some HP fanfic as well as a fanfic for Susan Cooper's the Dark is Rising Series.  I also wrote an X-Files fanfic some years ago that was published in an amateur fanzine.
As far as original work goes, I've been working on two screenplays.  One is nearly finished and the other is in the beginning stages.  Outside of that, most of my original writing is usually done only for the benefit of my students.

ender
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Ebony Elizabeth Thomas 
  To: HPFGU-OTChatter at yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Monday, June 04, 2001 11:29 PM
  Subject: [HPFGU-OTChatter] Fanfic Ideas and the Creative Process... (was Quidditch!Ron)


  Simon wrote:

  >Has fanfic run out of possible ideas? Or are there still different
  >possibilities that have yet to be explored?
  >

  What a question, Simon!  *Definitely* the latter.

  I've had ideas for fanfics I'd like to see written ever since I learned 
  there was such a thing as HP fanfiction... in all the broad fandom 
  categories:  MWPP, AU, post-Hogwarts, you name it.  Just check the PoU list 
  archives from Summer 2000 for my musings:  "I wish I could read a fanfic 
  about..."  In fact, if anyone wants to write a fanfic and just doesn't have 
  any ideas, *e-mail me*.  Among the plot bunnies I have floating about are a 
  couple for Sirius and Snape (an espionage-type gen deal--I stink at writing 
  mystery), an action-adventure kidfic for Harry and Friends in an AU Year 1, 
  and one centered wholly around Hagrid and Maxime written in an almost 
  picture-book format (meaning I'd want companion illustrations).  I have a 
  zillion Harry Potter ideas I'd love to get off my hands.  None of them are 
  even remotely anything like the fic I'm currently writing.

  Why haven't I written them?  They simply are not my stories to tell.  Every 
  writer has their own forte, and over the past decade I've noticed a definite 
  pattern in my work.  I'd love to *read* the above fics, but I cannot *write* 
  them.

  Anyone who has been cursed with the label "writer" never suffers from idea 
  famine.  As a teacher, I find lessons in all of life... as a writer, I see 
  stories absolutely everywhere.

  The problem for anyone who writes (and not just fanfic--people who write, 
  period) is never a lack of ideas but a lack of time and/or inclination.  
  Most professional writers I've worked with say that they have no lack of 
  ideas, but certain ones are more pressing than others.  For me that means I 
  write snippets of things here and there, just to keep my quill sharp, while 
  actively writing the story that *demands* to be written.  Plot, characters, 
  settings, and everything else just come gushing out... which is why I think 
  that while one can teach the craft of writing, the spark that ignites it has 
  to be intrinsic.

  To me, the fanfiction that interests me most explores possibilities that JKR 
  most likely will not.  That is why I *abhor* snobbery in the HP fanon world 
  in all its forms--even the 11 year old writer who misspells every other word 
  in her 1 K fic has a place among us.  I don't like everything on ff.net, 
  disagree with certain interpretations of canon, and there are certain types 
  of fics I find extremely boring... but I have recommended fics I feel are 
  nothing to write home about to readers who I know like their cup of tea 
  served that way.

  The most thrilling thought is that this is just the beginning (unless WB, 
  Bloomsbury, or Scholastic shuts us down--right now we have JKR's blessing).  
  After Book 5, there'll be an entirely different set of possibilities to 
  contemplate.  Same with Book 6--and even when the series is done, there'll 
  be fanfics written about what could have happened, or even what *should* 
  have happened.

  BTW, I am THRILLED to be teaching high school Creative Writing next year. I 
  just came from a meeting downtown... my new school was just selected for a 
  Pen/Faulkner Writers-in-Residence grant sponsored by Ford Motor Company.  
  That means that *six* times next year, a number of *really* famous pro 
  novelists will be teaching half-day classes in fiction to my creative 
  writing students.  People like Maxine Hong Kingston, Frank McCourt, Amy 
  Tan... and the writer confers with the creative writing teacher before and 
  afterwards... *faints from happiness*  Just had to share.  I'm so excited 
  about this.  It's been a success in D.C. and elsewhere... thank goodness to 
  Ford for bringing it to Detroit.

  Which begs another question.  How many OT-Chatter members are aspiring 
  creative writers?  Narrow is the road that leads to publication, and few are 
  they that find it... how has *your* journey been?  Please share your tales 
  of triumph and tribulation... both are part of the writer's lot.

  I'll save my story for another post, as this is already getting quite long.

  --Ebony AKA AngieJ
  _________________________________________________________________
  Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com


        Yahoo! Groups Sponsor 
       
       

  To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
  HPFGU-OTChatter-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com



  Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]