Fanfic - where have all the guys gone? Or how we discuss things in Fan Fic...

Darth Marrs coughs in embarrassment and steps back onto the soapbox.

Not only did it make sense, I'm even quoting you.

I'm probably a minority here, and it's probably a function of age. I grew up during the OT. I remember clearly seeing ROTJ and standing in a line that wrapped around the theater in 100 degree heat. It was a religious experience, an epiphany. If God and his Angels had appeared, I could not have been more excited. I believe I was 11. I felt none of that magic in the PT because it simply wasn't there. Sure, there was the cool factor of seeing Jedi Knights fight Sith and fly around, but the chemistry and magic that made the first films more than what they should have been was simply gone.

I feel the same way about the books. We went from Truce at Bakura and Zahn to...Sacrifice. [Shudders]. I read up to the NJO. I got about fifty pages or so into Vector Prime, until I saw how Jacen was being portrayed. That was it. I quite honestly have not read ANY of the NJO books. I know that's embarrasing to admit for a Star Wars fan, but here's why.

The best stories end. There's simply no other way to put it. It's inherent in Western literature that all narratives have to have a climax and end. Those that don't suffer as a result or just are one-shots. The OT ended the story for me in many ways. I think Zahn was successful in creating a new story within the universe, but for me the story really did end at Endor and all the books that followed were mere curiosities that happened to share names from the OT. There's a reason fairy tales used to end with "Happily Ever After." You weren't supposed to find out about the spousal abuse and divorce that followed Cinderella's dream wedding. It kind of makes the story as meaningless as real life can be sometimes.

So, I understand why there might be a decline in interest in the books for both male and female writers. I certainly have a declining interest in them. But it's a testament to the sheer magic of the first and truest movies that I'm still here, writing Star Wars fanfic and talking to all my friends across the world about one of my favorite subjects.

Darth Marrs blushes, ducks his head, and once more steps off the soapbox.

 

I think a lot of this has to do with that fact that the percentage of vignettes and one-post stories is so much higher than it was years ago.


Without getting into the merits of writing action versus romance, I believe that the "mush" fics have an advantage in that the story arcs can be simpler and considerably shorter if the plot of the fic is solely about romance.

A five page romantic fic can easily make an emotional connection with the readers.

A five page action fic would have a much more difficult time establishing the scene, the conflict, the action and the resolution in the same amount of space.

In short, most everyone has a level of familiarity with love, loss, anger, pain and angst. The writer has the opportunity to forego much of the set-up process when combining this with characters that are already well known by everyone in the audience.

 

I never have had a lot to contribute to these lenghty debates or comment forums.

I prefer writing and reading vigs, first of all because I don't have the time or the patience to read epics online. Especially, it it is already 10 post in and only a quarter done. Secondly, I am not a good plotter. I can make a blind start, but get bogged down immediately on where I want it to go. Thus, vigs remain my thing.