The interesting question at this point is not whether fan fiction can be
good, by familiar literary standards. (Of course it can; cf. Virgil.)
Rather, it’s this: What is fan fiction especially, or uniquely, good at,
or good for?
Whooo, awesome review in the New Yorker of Francesca Coppa’s book and fanfic in general. ❤ ❤ ❤
2. There is no problem with a story so great that it cannot be fixed in revision. Keep going.
3. If your story is as uncreative as you think it is, you wouldn’t want to write it so badly. You want to write it because there’s a unique spin on it you have never seen, and want to express. Many people may write similar stories, but it’s the details that make it personal. You may not know it now, but there is someone who is looking for exactly what you’re writing. If you don’t finish it, they’ll never see it.
4. You can write something amazing and still be met with silence. There are myriad reasons for this that have nothing to do with the quality of what you produce.
4.1 It’s okay to repeat post your work if no one has seen it.
4.2 It’s okay to post your work in multiple places.
5. You don’t have to agree with every criticism (but take it gracefully anyway).
6. Most writers are scared of the same things you are.
7. Don’t judge your works in progress against the archives of finished, polished stories other writers have put together. Archives are Internet portfolios and generally don’t show all the multitude of failures, incomplete, and draft-form works those writers are also struggling with. They aren’t perfect and you don’t have to be, either. Keep working and you will have a portfolio of your own.
8. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas with other writers. It’s not annoying as long as you’re not self-important about it. Be humble and gracious, and others will reciprocate.
8.1 You can’t write as well in a vacuum; the more people know that you are working on something, and what, the more support you will get for that work. Starting a dialogue before you post something will make it more likely people will read it when you do post it.
9. It’s okay to take breaks. If the ideas just aren’t coming, go do something else for a while.
10. Be kind to yourself. Don’t call yourself names. You are not stupid, or uncreative, or boring. You wouldn’t call other people those things, so don’t do it to yourself.
I don’t know if these are helpful to other people, but they are helpful to me, so just in case, here they are!
Aaaah yes the inevitable Cudvac playlist – this one was hard to finish for reasons I’ll put under the cut, but it’s also a playlist that describes the arc in my Cudvac daemon au, so there will be discussions of that too 🙂 I do make these playlists to help me write 😀
curious as to how many fic writers in the pasta +rawhide fandoms would enjoy a fic writing discord? Just a group chat space where we can vent about our WIPs, offer suggestions, share snippets that we’re proud of, mostly geek out and be encouraging to each other 🙂
people who leave detailed reviews on fanfiction are a gift to the world
all fanfic writers, ever, awake at ungodly hours doubting everything they’ve ever written or thought of writing until they see that one (or more, hopefully!) magical, long-ass comment that makes every bit of struggle totally and completely worth it (via rudderless-in-an-ocean-of-stars)
“Alright, look Cudlip– don’t think I’m uh…being rude with you, but is it necessary for you to follow me around all the time?”
“I know, I know– you just look like a soft little thing that doesn’t need any help and protecting, huh? But the minute my back is turned, you’re gonna outdo me and ten more like me? Don’t try it.”
If you haven’t seen this film, don’t miss it. Daft plot, ridiculous villains, but a lovely slashy relationship, and an unexpectedly dramatic ending.
There’s rawhide fics?? Oh man I haven’t read em yet
Yes! There is! And I’ve been kind of wanting to make a reclist for a while tbh, so here we go.
Most of my favorites are by Poohblaze. She does a nice mix of fluffy, plotty, silly and dramatic, much like the show, and I like her take on the characters and their relationships. (She writes Rowdy & Favor as clearly meaning a lot to each other, but in a way that could be interpreted as purely platonic if that’s how you see them… or as potentially full of unresolved romantic and/or sexual feelings, if that’s how you see them). Asterisks mean highly recommend.
Long, action-adventure fics that feel like they could be episodes on the show:
**Incident of the Long Afternoon – Boss and Mushy go to the bank. Things happen. Characters: Favor, Mushy, Wishbone, Rowdy. (Rowdy/Favor if you squint.)
**Philadelphia Story – Rowdy and Pete visit Mr. Favor’s home. Might be helpful to watch s3e15: “Fish Out of Water,” where we meet his family but it’s not totally necessary. Characters: Rowdy, Favor, Pete, Gillian & Maggie Favor (Favor’s daughters), Eleanor (Favor’s sister-in-law).
*Incident of the Quarantined Town – Favor wakes up from an illness. Things have happened. Then more things happen. Characters: Favor, Wishbone, Rowdy.
Incident of the Ramrod – A man who used to ramrod on a previous cattle drive with Mr. Favor shows up. Characters: Rowdy, Favor, Pete, Wishbone.
Incident of the Hacienda – Favor and Jesus go off to buy some cattle. Things happen. Characters: Favor, Jesus, Rowdy, Pete, Wishbone.
Jim Story – It’s Jim Quince’s birthday. Quince, Scarlet, Collins. Quince/Scarlet if you squint.
Winter Blues – Again, Quince/Scarlet if you squint.
Strays – The drovers aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Quince, Scarlet, Wishbone, Mushy, Rowdy, Clay Forrester (he joins the team in season 4 or 5, I think? replacing Pete as scout), Jesus and Favor.
Best Day – Rowdy takes a tumble while he and Mr. Favor are riding ahead of the herd.
For The Guy Who Has Everything – Rowdy tries to get a birthday present for Mr. Favor. Appearances from Quince, Scarlet, Wishbone. (Rowdy/Favor if you squint.)
River Cave – Pete and Favor get caught in a rainstorm while scouting.
Looking For Miss Laura – Favor, Pete, Wishbone, and Rowdy sit around a saloon table at the end of a drive.
*My Fair Rowdy – OK, this is actually a pretty long one, but it doesn’t feel like it quite belongs in the “could be an episode” category, because it’s shorter, sillier, and fluffier, but it is more involved and complicated than the others in this category, which are mostly one-shots. This references an event from S2E9: “Stalking Death” (and also makes references to Rowdy’s dad, who we meet in S4E1: “Rio Salado”). Characters: Wishbone, Mushy, Rowdy, Favor, OCs.
Missing scenes or followup scenes for episodes:
Missing Scene Ficlet for S1E9: “Incident of the Town in Terror” – Favor tries to help Rowdy through his fever.
Followup Ficlet for S1E12: “Incident of the Missing Chubasco” (and S1E15: “Incident of the Calico Gun” too) – Rowdy and Favor talk.
*Followup Ficlet for S2E5: “Incident at Jacob’s Well” – Pete, Wishbone and Mr. Favor chat. Rowdy joins them eventually. (This one stands well on its own without the episode actually.)
*Folloup Ficlet for S4E12: “Twenty-Five Santa Clauses” – the drovers end up celebrating Christmas in August. Rowdy and Favor talk.
That’s not even everything by Poohblaze – she’s prolific! – but those are my favorites. There’s stuff on fanfiction.net from other authors, of course, but I haven’t looked at much of it. And there’s more at this archive site too.
That archive site is connected to this yahoo group, and some fic posted there never made it to the public archive, including fics by my other favorite Rawhide fic author, Mirna (mcicioni on AO3). Her fics are all Rowdy/Favor slash. So, if you are like me and that’s a thing you want, it might be worth making a Yahoo account and joining the group just to get those fics!
**Incident at Halfway – News of an old acquaintance’s death gets under Gil Favor’s skin. Rowdy tries to help him figure things out. Rowdy/Favor! Explicit!
*Incident of the Pan Pipe – The crew comes across a group of Mexicans on the run from a corrupt cattle baron. Rowdy, moved by their plight, tries to do something for them. Things happen. Rowdy/Favor, explicit.
*Incident of the Misplaced Romans – A group of Italian drovers introduce the crew to some novel concepts, like workers’ rights and free love. Rowdy finds these ideas fascinating; Favor’s not so sure. Rowdy/Favor, explicit.
mici's campfire 