Stargate, Harry Potter, and the places in between.

[prillalar]

I've been trying to hook into some Stargate writing, some serious writing, and I've been having a hard time getting started. I love the show, the characters fascinate me, and they're all in love with each other, so what's the problem?

On the other hand, I have far more Harry Potter story ideas than I'll ever be able to write. They spring into my mind unbidden and keep me up at night.

I think I've figured it out -- it's all about scope and focus and Stargate and Harry Potter are at opposite ends of the scale.

The stories I want to write are relationship driven. Stargate has a tight focus on a small group of characters. We see them almost exclusively at work. And their work environment is not conducive to relationships between them, especially due to there being regulations against it. The scope is small.

Harry Potter, on the other hand, has a large number of characters of all ages, more than one time-period covered in canon, and we see most of the characters in all aspects of their lives. Not to mention none of them have any real constraints on who they have relationships with. There's magic to play with. The scope is immense.

Harry Potter is a source of endless speculation for me too -- there are so many loose ends and mysteries and things to figure out. Stargate is much more tied up -- I don't puzzle over things and wonder what the secrets are.

If there's a Scope Continuum, Stargate is on one end and Harry Potter is on the other. All my other fandoms, past and present, fall somewhere in between. I'd rank them like this, I think:

• Stargate
• X-Files
• Lord of the Rings
• X-Men Movie
• Star Wars
• Harry Potter

Lord of the Rings would push closer to the HP end if Tolkien hadn't given us info on how everybody ends up. There's not a lot of room to maneuver. And I didn't include Buffy since that's not a writing fandom for me.

Anyhow, I'm sure I'll crack Stargate soon -- I just have to drown out the HP voices in my head.

Comments

[dejla.livejournal.com]

I enjoy SG-1, but not in an appointment-tv way. And although I like Sam very much, and I think I could probably find my way into her head, I don't have any real urge to write it. My one half-scribble was Teal'c having a discussion with an Air Force chaplain about the nature of God... which probably explains why I'm not writing SG-1.

I think -- when I write, in the long run, I do better with a universe where I feel as if I have some freedom. The first SWars movie was like that, wonderful, where you could stretch out, explore, invent some things, work in established background.

I don't mind relationship stories, but I'm a plot slut. Give me a good plot and I'll read almost anything.

I never had any urge to write LotR fanfic; it was all there already, and I had no desire to do anything with it except read, reread, and enjoy. I can't, actually, think of a book or book series where I had any wish or urge to write fanfic -- and I'm damned if I know why.

[prillalar]

Writing in lit fandoms is different from TV fandoms, I find. The canon is doled out so differently. Books tend to wrap everything up, give closure. TV, of course, is always looking ahead to the next episode.

Lit fandoms seem to engage me more than TV fandoms these days, for the most part. Movie fandoms are something in the middle -- canon like books, voice like TV.

[dejla.livejournal.com]

Now that I think of it, I did my first piece of fanfic on a book... I was probably about 8...

But then I always knew that Laurie should end up with Jo and not snotty Amy.

Sigh.