fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #3055 ]

[ SECRET POST #3055 ]

⌈ Secret Post #3055 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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I'd like to ask the serious fanficcers a question, the people who write those wonderful long and mainly genfics. That take care to craft a story the sits comfortably within, and often stands up as well as, their chosen canon fandom.

How do you manage to keep your characters "voices" in keeping with their canon sources. Are there any tricks you use to make sure your characters sound, in vocabulary, speech patterns, and general mindset, like they do on page or on screen? I've tried writing fanfic, and inevitably, sooner or later, my versions of the characters always seem to lose their own voice and become generic and flat. How do I avoid this, have you guys got any advice to retain their individuality? I feel I'm at a point in my writing that I'm hitting this wall and struggle to keep my characters' individuality, and I've no idea how to overcome it.

Well, I mainly write more minor characters... but I definitely read or re-watch scenes those characters are in, and think about how they talk there. However, I also consider exploring facets that are implied but not obvious, or even just possible. It's about balancing, I think.

Thanks, my fic is more about one of the main character's or at least the main secondary character, if you see what I mean, of the ensemble, so there is a lot less scope for getting it wrong. Thank you though.

Hmm, this one is difficult because I don't really analyze what I'm doing to get the result you're talking about.

However, I would suggest really researching a character. If your canon has a lot of character history, really internalize what's being said and think about how that history affected the character. If there isn't any history, try to think about what kind of history the character could've had (and think critically if that history is consistent with what you know or not).

Then, once you know where the character's been, think about how that affects his/her worldview. How would it clash with other characters? What kinds of situations would make the character angry or sad or happy? What are the character's goals? His/her fears? How would his/her past affect his/her vocabulary?

Before I write, I sometimes put boundaries on a character's speech. So, for instance, a lower class-type of character would use more contractions and colloquial phrases and wouldn't use very many big words. Sometimes I find a few words that are regional or specific to the character's time and place and canon to pepper in (sparingly!) to help remind me that this character is not me.

I personally spend a lot of prep work while forming the story itself. In doing so, I have a lot of opportunity to see if the characters would be in the situations they find themselves and ask myself how would they really react. If they're doing something to begin with that's unlike them, then it's hard to stay in character. And if I do want them there, then I have to figure out what would drive them to be there and how they would react. Then it seems to flow from there.

That helps, thank you. So just keep referring back to their scenes and keep with them?

Yes, and when something starts to feel flat, just keep asking questions about if the character would really do or not do something and why.

I guess there is no single universal recipe, but what helps me is 1) planning the story out beforehand and making sure that the plot is IC (all the twists that depend on the characters' reactions to things) and 2) asking myself why I write this or that description/scene/piece of dialogue. In my experience, flat, generic characters are flat and generic because their arcs are full of filler scenes that do not serve a characterization purpose and are just there because the author needs a smooth transition from one bit of the plot to another. You could try sitting down and specifically asking yourself: "how can I make my filler scenes distinctly IC? what would my character do in their leisure time? What would their feelings be about this arc I've just finished?"

Basically, ask yourself explicitly what and why you're doing, plan ahead, and look at the larger structure.

I admit I struggle with the tightly plotting out. I generally have an idea and rough sketch, but it is keeping the characters on track through that. I'll try plotting more carefully though.

How do you write transition scenes?

By making them short, making them a brief travel bridge between two locations, and giving out essential information and some interesting character interaction during them.

I've got a set of scenes I just finished - I've got two characters that were working a crime scene for an investigation. They're not two people that usually team up, so I've got some potential for fresh dialogue there. I need to get them to another city for direct plot reasons, and one of the characters is not only normally close-mouthed but he has a lot of reason to not divulge where he's taking them both in that investigation scene.

So that gives me a chance to put them in a car for a few paragraphs. During this scene I establish where they're going through bantering dialogue, a few hints of why (but not everything, to keep the reader curious), and let the characters deal with a minor traffic jam. All of this not only gets them moving, but lets their personalities show while providing story info.

Next scene, bam, they're in Philly. Repeat as needed.

But then you've created two more transition to deal with. Transitioning them to the car and transitioning from the end of their banta and into Philly.

Re: DA

(Anonymous) - 2015-05-17 12:16 (UTC) - Expand

Re: DA

cenobitic_anchorite - 2015-05-17 13:12 (UTC) - Expand

Implying a fic has to be genfic to be serious? Kind of narrow minded there, OP.

That aside, I like to work in lines (sometimes edited, sometimes not) from the source material into whatever I'm writing just for the added flavour. It helps the audience connect and recognize a character, even if I want to stray from the exact canon a little bit with whatever theme I happen to be writing about. I also spend a good long while coming up with a personality that follows from what is given in the source material, since a lot of the time there isn't too much to work with.

If you're going to be doing a lot of work with a character it's also best to have a backstory in mind, even if you're never going to write it, just to have some inspiration to draw on for the way a character might respond (for example, to a certain political viewpoint e.g. gay marriage). It keeps a character fresh, for example, to know already before you start writing that your version of them was probably a stoner/rebel as a teenager, or came from a deeply religious family with a history of domestic abuse, or spent his/her time bouncing between foster homes, etc. As long as the way the character acts now logically follows from the backstory you have chosen, it should help to lend more conviction to the way you write them.

I specified genfic because I want to discourage people that write crackfic and high school AU fic and the like from replying. Those guys tend not to care about keeping their characters in canon and if they need a character just to have a generic voice, they say go for it, because their thing is the background more than the character.

Re: Question for the serious Fanficcers

(Anonymous) - 2015-05-17 04:55 (UTC) - Expand

Re: Question for the serious Fanficcers

(Anonymous) - 2015-05-17 15:23 (UTC) - Expand

I don't worry about it in the first draft; I concentrate on putting down the general content and flow of the dialog first. Once I'm nearer to the final version I do a "character edit" right after a canon refresher (so that their voice and cadence are fresh).

With some characters it also helps to do an analysis of their speech patterns in comparision to other characters in the canon, and see if there are specific differences. Do they speak in long sentences or short? Flowery speech or plain? Colloquial or formal? Do they move around while they talk, fidget, have long pauses?

It's not just form, though it's also content. What they talk about (including themselves) that helps distinguish them as individuals. Some characters are always criticizing others; some are self-deprecating. Some are always telling anecdotes; some are always serious business and never make any sort of personal statements.

I, uh, hope some of that was useful.

I think it does help a lot, it is reassuring to know I don't have to worry too much on the first go through. I think I've been over thinking that and wanting too much first time around. And to kind of act out and vocalize what the characters are saying compared to their canon counterparts is going to be helpful. I mean if I get a character to has to keep others out of danger it is alright just to have them yell "stand back everyone" on the first go through and not worry too much that they are not usually so confident or competent and also kinda terrified themselves until the follow up when I can have them actually be terrified themselves and demonstrate the need to keep back by pushing and shove and yelling "aaaargh" as they try to get away themself and yell to stay away after climbing a tree. Which was one of the scenes I was stuck on, so you've helped me understand one scene at very least. I can describe how their face has gone white, and their expression panicky. Yeah, that kinda works. Thanks.

Re: Question for the serious Fanficcers

silverr - 2015-05-16 22:52 (UTC) - Expand

A really good trick (stolen from here: http://mightygodking.com/2007/09/10/on-voice/) is to rewrite a monologue that you know really well, but as it would be if the character were saying it. Do that a couple times, you'll have a deep feel for it.

I reread episode scripts and take note of speech quirks, but to a degree, those vary between different canon writers. I think it's more important to take note of the reactions they have in different canon situations. Once you have their emotions and behavioral patterns down, you have a bit of leeway in phrasing and diction before suspension of disbelief fails.

I usually watch the canon/read the canon a LOT. Sometimes I practice RP scenarios with other big fans of the series who can point out if I'm doing something wrong.

But usually I just obsessively read/watch the canon a lot to get them down.

Definitely helps. Sometimes there's more canon to go on than others and you end up trying to get details from other sources (like where did the actor go for inspiration? Where did the writers of the script?) and I'll drown myself in that for a while.

Re: Question for the serious Fanficcers

dani_phantasma - 2015-05-17 02:48 (UTC) - Expand

One piece of general-purpose advice to add to the good suggestions you've already received: always read your dialogue aloud to yourself. If you can't deliver it in a way that sounds natural--as if a real live person were speaking the lines--chances are you're using the character as a mouthpiece, which is always something to avoid.

If I find I'm having trouble, I revisit the canon and pay very close attention to the characters' speech patterns, mannerisms, etc. I also always pay special attention to dialogue when I'm editing, and tweak it as necessary. And because I know that I'm going to be doing that bit of tweaking, I don't worry about it too much when I'm writing the first draft. I know that I can and will massage it and make it work later.

I'm one of those people that can recreate a voice I've heard in media in my head well enough to 'listen' to it speak new dialogue. If it sounds 'right,' the dialogue stays. If it's 'off' - and I know, because the voice shifts and doesn't sound like the actor any longer, then I need to stop and redo. It's instinctive, honestly.

To get to that point, it's just really listening to the character as much as possible in canonical media.

I know some writers of period works (original fic, although some fan authors probably do the same) who use dictionaries and such from the time period they're writing about, to make sure no modern slang creeps in. And someone (on FS, I think) mentioned making a dictionary of all the words spoken by whichever characters they were writing about, possibly with a computer program of some kind because otherwise that'd be tons of work. So then you set up your spellcheck to flag stuff that's not in the custom dictionary.

I try to imagine the scenes I write as if they're another scene of the TV show/movie. If the canon is a book, then I try to reread the canon on a regular basis specifically to pay attention to the dialogue, what slang/phrases/syntax each character uses, etc. I also try to know the characters, very, very well, which sort of goes without saying. A lot of writers have this problem where they have their plot or scene carved in stone and they force the characters to play it out. It's the opposite, you have to think of the characters first, what their opinions and worldviews are, how they'd react, what they would think, etc. and then the scene plays out according to those "rules".

I can't catch a character's voice well unless I've read their words. So I look for online scripts, transcripts, or quote collections. Sometimes I'll go and make up my own list of that character's dialogue in a document, and highlight core areas.

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