Necessary?

[kriadydragon]

I read a fic review that discussed something ocurring in the story that the reader (readers, actually) had not understood the purpose of and so felt it an unecessary situation that had no real purpose in the broader spectrum of the plot. It got me thinking about, as writers with particular fetishes, how we sometimes try to force something into a story that is either mildly unecessary or so totally unecessary that it actually ruins the fic. I've been guilty of this myself with both original stories and fanfic. I love whump but have a tendancy to get a little to explicit or heavy with the whump (that might be an understatement). The whump might have been necessary, but not how far I took it.

But when it comes to any of my stories I try hard to make everything that happens within the story count for something. If it doesn't have a purpose, whether big or small, I won't put it in.

A lot of what's necessary and what's not necessary might be more a matter of opinion. What the writer might deem as an important situation or scene to the plot, the reader might not see the purpose of. However, it is pretty dang obvious it's not intrigal when it's something you're squeezing into a chapter or scene for the mere sake of having it. Either because it's something you like or something you think would make the book more popular. A sex scene, for example, or a very violent whump scene where the one whumped recovers not long after, forgetting the whump had ever happened.

I've come across fics - slash, het, and H/C - that have left me wondering "was that really necessary?" Normally such stories will have a slash or het scene that comes out of no-where (with the story's genre label staying as gen), and had the scene been left out the story would have worked just as well if not better. I've also come across stories where a whump scene comes out of the blue because the writer, knowing how popular whump is, will plug it in in hopes of drawing in more readers (I will admit to being guilty of this myself, but mostly because I feel bad that I never give the McKay whumpers anything.) Most of the time it's no big deal. Other times, especially in the case of a slash or het scene popping into a story originally labeled as gen or not labeled at all, it's annoying.

But whether annoying or tolerable, you should always ask yourself "am I putting this slash/het/whump scene in because it has some importance, or just because I want a slash/het/whump scene?" Which sometimes means having the story end up not being slash, het or H/C.  But that's okay if you're story ends up the better for it.

It also got me wondering if there was such a thing as unecessary friendship in a fic. When it comes to friendship fics, the plot usually centers around them, but I still had to wonder. I've personally yet to come upon something like that myself.

Comments

[bratfarrar]

Yeah, I have yet to come across unnecessary friendships in fic - most of the time the main character's friends are vital to the plot and story (which aren't always the same thing). I think it might have to do with the nature of friendship vs. that of slash/het/whump. Friendship just sort of is, whereas the others all have implicit in them some sort of action - whether it be sex or getting beat up on.

[karri-kln1671.livejournal.com]

I don't think there is such a thing as unnecessary friendship in fiction. As for unnecessary other stuff... Well, that's one of my pet peeves, so I shan't go on long enough to get to worked up into a rant. I will say wordiness is over-rated, unnecessary romance is just icky, and over-use of detail (usually for the purpose of showing of the writer's knowledge than to enhance the story) just numbs my brain and takes all the fun out reading.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Ew, wordiness *shudders.* Whether describing something or the writer just trying to be "poetic", there's nothing I can't stand more than chapter after chapter of mind-numbing exposition. I always say the more you can convey with the fewest words possible, the better. Just look at all the highly recommended one-shots out there that say so much in just a few paragraphs.

There was a fic I was reading where the writer did just that - had chapters totally fat with overly wordy, descriptive exposition. And they ended up leaving stuff out! They kept focusing too much on what one character was going through, describing their angst endlessly. Then, when we finally get the other character's POV, the angst is still centered around the first character even though it was the second character doing the suffering.

I think that's something else to watch out for - character focus, where the story's plot centers around two characters but the focus is on a single character, pretty much snubbing the other. Which I think you probably see a lot of in het romance, where it's Sheppard and Weir or Shep and Teyla, both being whumped or something, but all the concern and angst going toward the female rather than the male.

Anyways, rambling.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

True. I was just considering if there was such a thing. Which I completely doubt as it's not as explicit as, say, something romantic where emotional reactions become more broad and sharpened. Friendship is too subtle to ever be too much, and if it is too much that's because the author is inadvertantly turning it into romance without admitting it (which I have read. The story is labeled friendship but the emotions involved scream pre-slash.)

[a-pilgrim-soul.livejournal.com]

I have to say one of my pet hates is when people just don't know when to stop. So many times I'll be reading a fic, usually whump, and it'll appear to be coming to a nice natural conclusion when suddenly they'll decide to whump the main character again... and again and again until it feels like you are reading a completely different fic to the one you started.

And you also get the "too much information" paragraphs where we get charming descriptions of vomit and my personal favourite urinary catheterization. I've started to think that for some people the latter is some kind of weird fetish as they tend to refer to it at every available opportunity. I know that you personally find sex to have a high ick factor but for me it's descriptions of other bodily functions that I find off putting and they are so often totally unnecessary.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, detailed descriptions of certain body parts *shudders*. Saying the name of those body parts over and over again. *Gag* There was a story I was reading - a rape fic - where the author would not lay off all the dang details. Details that weren't necessary (as I have read other rape-fic that don't even go anywhere near such details) It not only chased me away from the fic but I heard other readers as well.

It's also part of the reason (one part out of many) I hate sex scenes as the writers will also get rather "detailed" about it. There have been a lot of good stories tainted for me because of such scenes.

[a-pilgrim-soul.livejournal.com]

Actually rape fics are something else I have a deep hatred of. Rape is not an issue that I feel should be dealt with in fanfiction especially as it is so often dealt with in such an unpleasant and insensitive way.

It's one of the most horrific things a human being can go through, a violent and soul-destroying act. So when I read fics where a character is raped but sex with their "one true love" makes everything magically alright again or even worse the character actually enjoys it, I'm left feeling physically sick. If I come across even the hint of a rape scene I stop reading.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I've yet to come upon any of the "healing-sex" fics although that one I mentioned I'm pretty sure was going in that direction. I've only read four "rape fics", only the one explicit, the other more a violation than a sexual act but the story itself incomplete, and the third without the details but still "ick". The fourth, skipping the details and the act to focus on the healing, I thought handled it fairly well, but it was pre-slash and some of the stuff mentioned... eh.

But it's obvious from what I heard that there has yet to be a rape fic that's handled the way it should be. Those who have tried regretted, while most tackle it for slash or kink purposes, which is even worse. Rape fics are just... gross. If it's about achieving one character's dominance over another, there's other ways to accomplish this without it resorting to anyone being raped.