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resonantWhen I posted my HP WIPs, I said, "A pox on open-canon fandoms," and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
arby_m said, "I totally agree, but what about SGA? (Does the openness of canon not count, because it is SGA after all and the writers are on crack?)"
Crack helps, but really I have two problems with writing in HP fandom now: (1) unity vs. episodic-ness, and (2) how much I trust JKR, which is not much.
There are no spoilers in this post, but it's the sort of discussion that could easily generate spoilers in the comments, so beware.
A TV show is episodic, pretty much by definition. And when your canon is episodic, there are multiple conflicts, multiple antagonists, multiple resolutions -- and thus multiple points of entry. You can come in in any episode.
And because there are so many episodes, you also have the feeling that what you've been told isn't comprehensive, that the characters are having many other adventures in between the episodes we've been shown. Often an episodic story will also make you feel that the adventures could go on after the end.
Take Stargate:Atlantis. You can be fairly certain that they won't end the series without dealing pretty comprehensively with the Wraith, but maybe it's Atlantis vs. the Wraith and maybe it's Earth vs. the Wraith and maybe the Atlantis people trick everybody so it ends up being the Genii vs. the Wraith. Or maybe the Wraith find Earth and it ends up being the Wraith vs. the Common Cold. Or maybe (this would be unwise, but not impossible) they wipe out or humanize the Wraith day after tomorrow, and the rest of the series is devoted to the Genii or the Replicators or some other antagonist. You just can't predict right now what the climax is going to be.
Some novels are episodic (The Hobbit is, and so are most of the Hornblower books; that's why they make such a lovely miniseries), but it seems to me that the current novel market places a high value on unity in novels.
The HP series is kind of an extreme example of this; six volumes so far, all basically telling one story. One antagonist, one conflict, one confrontation for the climax, two possible outcomes depending on who wins that conflict. The climax of Book 7 can't possibly be anything but Harry vs. Voldemort, can it? And either Voldemort wins or Harry does, and at that point the series is over.
Now, problem 2, which is related, is how much I trust JKR, which is not much.
Please understand, this isn't a literary criticism. The choices she's making are perfectly legitimate from a literary point of view. But they're choices that make it difficult for fanfic writers to find a place in her universe. In a nutshell, I don't trust her to value her characters as much as I do.
Think of the death of Dumbledore. Of course it was inevitable -- I killed him myself in Transfigurations -- but I was very surprised that she killed him so soon. Placed that early in the series, his death really served almost no purpose except to throw suspicion on Snape.
No, think about that for a second. She threw away Dumbledore in order to throw suspicion on Snape.
Basically this tells me that she's only telling one story, she's only got one conflict, and she's going to throw everything she's got at it.
Now I myself think there are lots of stories to be told after the war; when I was writing HP, I had a sort of a minor concentration in stories that amounted to "Voldemort's dead. Now what?" But I don't think that interests JKR much. I think she's going to tie up every loose end, and some of them she's going to tie up in shrouds, because once the Harry vs. Voldemort conflict is finished, she's done.
That's as closed as a canon can be. Too closed for me.
arby_m said, "I totally agree, but what about SGA? (Does the openness of canon not count, because it is SGA after all and the writers are on crack?)" Crack helps, but really I have two problems with writing in HP fandom now: (1) unity vs. episodic-ness, and (2) how much I trust JKR, which is not much.
There are no spoilers in this post, but it's the sort of discussion that could easily generate spoilers in the comments, so beware.
A TV show is episodic, pretty much by definition. And when your canon is episodic, there are multiple conflicts, multiple antagonists, multiple resolutions -- and thus multiple points of entry. You can come in in any episode.
And because there are so many episodes, you also have the feeling that what you've been told isn't comprehensive, that the characters are having many other adventures in between the episodes we've been shown. Often an episodic story will also make you feel that the adventures could go on after the end.
Take Stargate:Atlantis. You can be fairly certain that they won't end the series without dealing pretty comprehensively with the Wraith, but maybe it's Atlantis vs. the Wraith and maybe it's Earth vs. the Wraith and maybe the Atlantis people trick everybody so it ends up being the Genii vs. the Wraith. Or maybe the Wraith find Earth and it ends up being the Wraith vs. the Common Cold. Or maybe (this would be unwise, but not impossible) they wipe out or humanize the Wraith day after tomorrow, and the rest of the series is devoted to the Genii or the Replicators or some other antagonist. You just can't predict right now what the climax is going to be.
Some novels are episodic (The Hobbit is, and so are most of the Hornblower books; that's why they make such a lovely miniseries), but it seems to me that the current novel market places a high value on unity in novels.
The HP series is kind of an extreme example of this; six volumes so far, all basically telling one story. One antagonist, one conflict, one confrontation for the climax, two possible outcomes depending on who wins that conflict. The climax of Book 7 can't possibly be anything but Harry vs. Voldemort, can it? And either Voldemort wins or Harry does, and at that point the series is over.
Now, problem 2, which is related, is how much I trust JKR, which is not much.
Please understand, this isn't a literary criticism. The choices she's making are perfectly legitimate from a literary point of view. But they're choices that make it difficult for fanfic writers to find a place in her universe. In a nutshell, I don't trust her to value her characters as much as I do.
Think of the death of Dumbledore. Of course it was inevitable -- I killed him myself in Transfigurations -- but I was very surprised that she killed him so soon. Placed that early in the series, his death really served almost no purpose except to throw suspicion on Snape.
No, think about that for a second. She threw away Dumbledore in order to throw suspicion on Snape.
Basically this tells me that she's only telling one story, she's only got one conflict, and she's going to throw everything she's got at it.
Now I myself think there are lots of stories to be told after the war; when I was writing HP, I had a sort of a minor concentration in stories that amounted to "Voldemort's dead. Now what?" But I don't think that interests JKR much. I think she's going to tie up every loose end, and some of them she's going to tie up in shrouds, because once the Harry vs. Voldemort conflict is finished, she's done.
That's as closed as a canon can be. Too closed for me.
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(no subject)
Date: 7/19/07 01:39 am (UTC)I think the richness of her universe is such that it's impossible even for her to close off every story line, to leave everything that tied up.
Well, I hope you're right. Somehow in the middle of book 6 something happened in my head and I no longer felt like that universe was giving my stories enough oxygen.
(no subject)
Date: 7/23/07 03:31 pm (UTC)Anyways, because I love your HP fic, I was very interested to see what you'd have to say about DH, and I'm still interested to read your reaction once you get it.
With respect to what you say above, though, OotP was the book that got me interested in HP fan fiction. I read everything I could get my hands on until HBP came out and then... I just didn't care anymore. You're right that something happened during Book 6 that just made the universe less compelling.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with DH. Despite its flaws (and there are many), it practically makes ME want to write fic, and I don't write. I'll check back later to see what you think after you read it.
(no subject)
Date: 7/23/07 03:33 pm (UTC)