I just can’t wrap my head around writing gen
So today I got an email from FanFiction.net that someone added me to their Author Alert subscription. That’s cool. I think it means they clicked Follow on my user profile so they get notified whenever I post a new story. I think, rather than know, because Fanfiction.net’s Help is utter crap.
I post all of my stories (mostly slash but also some gen) on AO3 and I’ve also posted some on the S&H Archive.
I also have an account on FFN so I can post gen stories there exclusively, in case my mom or someone wants to see what I’ve written. But I really don’t like FFN’s user interface and I don’t get as many readers as I do on the other platforms (with the exception of one story).
But now that this person is following me, I feel somewhat motivated to post a new gen story on FFN. I might have other followers there as well, but I can’t figure out where to see that in my user profile, because like I said, their interface sucks.
Sooo…here is my dilemma. The first fic I ever wrote was gen, but the second was slash. And over the past year or so, I’ve had a harder and harder time writing gen stories, because the slash part of my brain makes them feel disingenuous to me. I want to write slash because that’s how I see the guys in my head. I want to write slash because that’s what makes me happy. So in order to write gen, I feel I have to turn off part of my brain and ignore the desire to put them together as a romantic couple.
Most of the gen stories I’ve written actually have a slash counterpart. Meaning — that either I wrote a gen version first, wasn’t satisfied with it, and wrote an alternate slash version — or, I wrote the slash version first and then removed any traces of romance/sexual attraction for the gen version. Either way, I personally prefer the slash versions.
I’ve only written three gen stories that have no slash counterpart. The first is a short crack fic suggested by my then-12-year-old son. The second is a short h/c fic where I wanted to concentrate on the friendship/comfort and decided that the slash part wasn’t necessary and wouldn’t have added anything more to the story that wasn’t already being conveyed. And the third is a deathfic which focuses on friendship, loss, and grief, and that didn’t require a slash component. (Although a couple of months later, I wrote another deathfic that absolutely required a slash component).
So now I have to try to come up with an idea for a gen story that I can post on FFN. And then I’ll probably end up doing a slash version of it anyway, which is the REAL story I want to tell.
Writing to spec is one thing, but I can’t imagine writing gen when I want to write slash.
I accidentally wrote some (shippy) gen several times. Just because they were lovers in the premise, it didn’t make it to the page explicitly (no I don’t mean sex, I mean confirmation that they were lovers) because the story was too short to be more than the plot of the scene. If there was another scene, then it would’ve made it in.
So I tagged those as ‘shippy gen’. Definitely gen, because it’s not confirmed anywhere by any action or words that it’s slash, but the story is all about their relationship and what they mean to each other. Not exactly a case-fic, gen story situation.
I’m thinking the more gen you post, the more people will follow you because they like your gen stories. So why not turn it around, and post more slash. That way you can keep writing slash, and people will follow you for your slash stories.
This hobby is for fun, after all, right?
big hugs!
Are your shippy gen stories on AO3? I don’t see them.
I can’t write pure gen either. I mean what is there to write about? (Ok, yeees. Tons of stuff.)
And yes, I looooove that scene where they hold hands. (Like in ACFS, swoon)
Yeah, I can start out by writing gen, but then I feel like it limits me and I need it to become slash. In a gen story (or episode), there are only specific instances where they can hold hands while having a platonic, straight relationship (either when one of them is dying-ACFS, or when one of them is mourning their ex-girlfriend-Lady Blue).
But in a slash story, they can hold hands whenever I want them to.
Speaking of holding hands, I was wondering recently how many episodes they do that. There’s Lady Blue and ACFS, but I think there might be one or two more. I want to do a Tumblr post with gifs of them holding hands.
Not just on Tumblr please! Post it here too. There’s a severe hole where the gifs of their hand holding should be!
Thanks!
– your fan <3
I’ll do that, thanks!
Forgot about the Plague! Starsky holds Hutch’s hands in the hospital, although Starsky is wearing gloves.
“And then I’ll probably end up doing a slash version of it anyway, which is the REAL story I want to tell.”
You will not hear me complaining about this compulsion.
And you are not alone. I’ve had to go back and remove what could be seen as slash from fics, too. I start writing and there they go!
Hey, are you creating a blog? I clicked the link to your WordPress site.
Nope.I just squatted there so I could ‘like’ and comment on others works. I get my quips, puns, double entendres and snark release on the bRomance group or the watch parties.
How about you post a ‘mild’ slash story and see what the reactions are. If you get comments of horror and umbrage and/or anyone unfollows you, don’t post there any more. 🙂
LOL.
Actually, I just looked at their rules and we’re allowed to post slash (and violence) as long as they’re not explicit.
But I actually found a gen Christmas story that I wrote last year and never posted on FFN for some reason, so I just posted it.