Fanfic in an ongoing series

[watervole]

I'm just hitting a problem that I've hit before. When I write fanfic for a show, no matter what the show or the kind of story, I want to do stories that delve into the background. If I'm doing Blake's 7, I may touch on politics. If I'm doing Stargate, I might write about the tok'ra. If I'm writing about 'Life on Mars' I want to bring in Sam's coma.

And therein lies the danger. The series is still ongoing and may be for quite a long time yet. I write relatively slowly and don't want to write a story that I'll have to rework if the established canon changes. I got caught that way with Stargate. I had to change my plot arc to allow for changes that occurred in the series after I started writing.

There is nothing canonical as yet to say how Sam came to be in 1973. I have one theory; it's probably not the one the script-writers had in mind, but it fits the facts to date as well as any other theory.

What I seem to be writing is a slash story, but I already know that it's as much about Sam's sense of identity as anything else. His background could become a major part of the story if I decide to make it more than a few pages long.

How deeply is it worth me getting involved when canon may come out next season and cut the ground from under my feet?

Comments

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

One way would be to write AU fanfic

[pinkdormouse.livejournal.com]

Write the story with an author's note that it was mapped out and begun before S2 aired. That usually worked with Buffy, etc.

[steverogerson.livejournal.com]

Gosh yes, that happened all the time with Buffy, at the end of every season. As soon as the last episode finished, people were writing fanfic about what happened next, zines full of the stuff. And of course it was all non-canonical the second the next series started at Joss told us what happened.

[kalypso-v.livejournal.com]

Well, waiting another 24 hours before doing anything irrevocable seems like a plan!

[sugoll.livejournal.com]

Do you need to write this story? Are you driven to write it?

If so, write it. If not, wait.

steve

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

There are two points here. If your hesitancy is because of your readers, then forget it. Readers, as I know very well, can cope perfectly well with a split-off alternate universe, and may end up preferring it to the real one. You've published loads of stories, including mine, that were conceived and written in between series of B7, and did not fit with what was finally produced.

If your hesitancy is for yourself, then you have to ask yourself why you are hesitant. Is it because you want to second-guess the writers (who may not, themselves, know what they are doing and, if precedent is anything to go by may eventually produce a solution that contradicts series continuity - see B7, above) and want your solution to be 'real'? Is it because you are desperate to write true-to-series? Hell, it's only a TV show, and most of us end up writing AUs at one stage or another. You have yourself.

If you are driven to write it then write it, if only for yourself.

[watervole.livejournal.com]

If I could write quickly, it wouldn't be a problem. I don't mind in the least doing an AU when I intend it to be an AU. I've written loads of them over the years.

When a series is complete and you write an AU, you know exactly what you want to change. Most of the rest is left intact.

The problem is when you're writing and you get a change that you're not expecting - then it can be very demoralising. It isn't the big changes that kill you, it's the little ones. I wrote a long Stargate AU that took off just before Daniel died. Most of the later changes in the series caused me no problems as they took place after the date of my story. However, one later episode set up as canon something that had happened a few thousand years ago and was directly relevent to what I was writing. That was frustrating. I worked around it, but it was still a hassle and was one of the reasons why I still haven't finished the third part of the trilogy (I think I will do it eventually - the canon change wasn't the only factor that stopped me writing)

I can see one possibility in Life on Mars that would stop me dead. It isn't that likely, but if Gene turned out to be Sam's father, that would be a real killer to what I want to write, even if I chose it not to be true in the context of my story.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

How deeply is it worth me getting involved when canon may come out next season and cut the ground from under my feet? How annoyed will you be if it does? :)

Seriously, write it and call it an AU if it becomes necessary. Some of my greatest fictional loves have gone off on their own sweet path without apology (Machiavelli Factor, anyone?)