Still at 3.1 - Story Types Specific to Fanfiction

(again with songs)

I've been enjoying myself the last two chapters. You probably already knew this.

This chapter, however, might be just the slightest bit different. You might be surprised to hear this, but I actually classify the songfic under 'perfectly acceptable story format' instead of 'oh my god, what the hell were people thinking?'

I know. Shocking, isn't it?

Nevertheless, I can always find thing to gripe about...

3.1.3. Songfics (Type 1)

(the ones with bits of lyrics between bits of fics and vice-versa)

Consider; the word songfic. It is made of two parts; the song, and the fic. Possibly because of the way song comes first, people think that the defining part of this word is the song, and that the fic comes next. But English being the kind of language it is, it doesn't really work that way.

Fic here is the noun. Song is merely the adjective used to add a little emphasis to the noun. The very etymology is tugging at your unconscious here- when writing a songfic, what you have to focus on is the fic, and not the bloody song. And seriously; that's pretty much ninety percent of what you need to be careful about.

The thing with fanfiction is this; you need to add something new into whatever you're writing. By this, I don't mean coming up with an 'ohmygod, this makes me squee!' plot, the likes of which has never been seen in the fandom before. I wouldn't advice against it, of course; but a necessity it ain't.

By something new; I mean anything. A scene. An observation. Something which hasn't been stated to the reader already via the books. For instance, everyone knows Thalia had a hard home life and was at least halfway in love with Luke before things went to hell. Having her sitting down somewhere narrating, "My life was hard. My Mom was a bitch. My best fried turned evil etc." does not tell people anything new. It's just information distilled from the books and regurgitated with really similar words.

PJO Fanfiction is for frosting the cake Rick Riordan's made us. Add in anything. Filler scenes. Alternate interpretations, alternate pairings, scenarios, whatifs. The possibilities are endless. And also very often ignored.

With songfics, they're most often outright thrown out of the window because hey; the song forms the backbone of the story. It's already got something new, something which was not there in the books.

Which brings us back to the whole fic-noun, song-adjective thing.

Here's the shocking truth: most people don't give a rodent's backside about the song. To any reader, a songfic is still a fic; because they probably already know the song and reading through all those lyrics is a boring and pointless. So, they usually don't.

And here's the challenge. Make them.

In my opinion, an effective songfic is one which uses the song to a degree that the reader reads the entirety of the lyrics posted, and reads it with feeling. Because those few lines you've posted not only connect to the story, but serve to accent and emphasize it. Without dominating it.

And to help navigate those tricky, tricky waters, I present the following guidelines;

The first thing you have to do to makes sure your reader reads your lyrics is something that is simple, effective and has repeatedly been honoured by the leaders of humanity.

Which is to say, you have to cheat.

Or, to be specific to the case, cull. Chop, slice, mince. Cut up your fish/vegetarian option. Discard all the parts you think are unappetizing. Keep just the prime meat/veggie option.

In any song you're using, not all of it is willing itself to be used. There are weird bits, corny bits, bits which don't make much sense and bits which are completely and totally not applicable to the story outline you have in your head.

Don't feel sorry for these rogue lyrics and try to fit them into your plans. Be an oppressive capitalist and show them who's boss. Sack 'em. Discriminate in particular against repeats of choruses and anything which goes na-na-na/la-la-la/ooh-ooh-ooh/insert-any-croon-I-might-have-missed-out-here. Retain the words who meekly obey your orders and indulge in an evil laugh (the Corrupt Corporate Executive version) for dramatic emphasis. Also, I hear it's therapeutic.

Your song will get a hell of a lot more attention as a stanza of italicized lyrics than as a page of them. Less lyrics mean more attention. It's all delightfully oxymoronic.

Second, the concept of your song must not dominate the concept of your fic.

The people who write songs write them with something in mind. Their song tells a story of it's own, and in many cases, people who're writing songfics adopt that story as their own.

In other words, it doesn't matter if the canon character is nothing like the character in the song. If the song's about somebody wearing 'short skirts' and 'high heels', you can be pretty sure than a somewhat weird girl who prefers paint-stained jeans will suddenly morph into a Cheerleader avatar.

I'm telling you; this is not healthy. It paves the way to accepting character derailment as an unavoidable consequence of fanfic-writing. And that's just… no. If the song doesn't quite fit, the PJOverse isn't what should undergo massive transformation.

Third, don't rely on the song for your scenes.

Just like songs have a story, they also have a series of events with which to tell the story. And here again, the song dominates the fic and scenes in the fic look almost exactly like scenes in the song, except with changed names.

Needless to say; original this ain't. And it leads to amplification of that last point.

When writing a songfic, come up with your own scenes. Sure, use elements from the song lyrics, but don't copy them outright. For instance, if the song says something about that wedding dress looking like a large pastry, don't ever follow it up with your female lead thinking the exact same words. Repeating the words the song-characters say is also a bad idea.

Fourth, remember the Golden Rule. Your fic should not take up less space than your song does. In fact, it should take up a LOT more space than your song does. Remember that whole noun-adjective thing.

Because really. It's your fic and you shouldn't be allowing any song, however wonderful, to drag it away from the spotlight.

Notes:

To Everyone who sent in Suggestions: Sorry about the lack of individual replies, but I assure you I'm keeping track of them, and that they will eventually see the light of my laptop. Hopefully soon.

In the meantime, keep them coming, please.

To You Know Who: Anyone who reads the Dresden Files is someone I love to hear from. :) I fangirl over those books so much... and it doesn't help that I haven't liked any other neo-urban fantasy I've tried to date. This obsession of mine is frighteningly singular. :-/