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Date Posted: 16:18:47 06/15/08 Sun
Author: Pixie
Subject: Inside, because I guarantee I'll go over ...
In reply to: usmgrad 's message, "My observations - as a recent arrival to the JAG fandom ( after about season 8) I have noticed . . ." on 15:59:29 06/14/08 Sat

<<< ... many of the early writings while the show was on were "case" oriented. Stories around court cases, military law and aviation, romance was an under lying plot line - similar to how the show as being written. Now that we all know how the series ended, the stories lines have changes. There's more romance and less court room.>>>

This is what I've noticed, as well. The interesting thing is, I don't think the "older" writers, with a few possible exceptions, knew more about courtroom drama than the newer writers do. More and more, I find myself wondering ... is romance all that JAG readers want?

Few writers delve into the rich earlier seasons for source material, preferring, apparently, to pick up where the series ended or leap into the future, and I wonder if that's because the romance/love between Harm and Mac is out in the open at that point? Is it more fun to write open romance than the more subtle, hinted-at variety that showed up in earlier seasons?

And here's a chicken and the egg question for you. Is it a case of writers putting romance out there, getting good feedback, and then writing more (because it gets such great feedback) - to the point where romance seems to be the bread and butter of the boards these days? Or is it a case of readers not supporting drama/case oriented stories in their feedback which led writers to stop writing it?


<<< It's easier to take the end of the series, with Harm and Mac leaving JAG headquarters and continue it into the future instead of keeping them at JAG. >>>

I actually have a harder time with stories set in the future, because to me, once you take Harm and Mac out of JAG Headquarters, they become different people, and it's hard to hear their voices in my head the same way. It's not that the stories aren't good, they just aren't, to my mind, pure-blooded JAG stories.


<<< Newer writers, like me, have to rely on the viewing of reruns and DVD releases to get our "JAG fix". There are no "new" story lines. We are inspired but also influenced because we know how the series ended. >>>

This is true for both newer and older writers. We're all stuck with reruns and DVDs at this point. But I'll agree that we're definitely influenced by the way the series ended.

<<< Also the characters are "fully developed". A writer has to take what is "given" and uses it. There is no need to develop the main characters. A writer must introduce a new character and have it interact with the existing cast to get "fresh blood" into a story. >>>

Those who wrote when the series was still on the air had the same restrictions. More so, because they always ran the risk of getting "jossed" (a fanfic term where a fanfiction story written for an active series is turned on its head by something the show later does in canon. Joss Whedon is famous for this, thus the term). A story written in a closed-canon universe doesn't have to worry about that chance. I do agree about needing to add new characters, but that can be done with many types of stories - not just romance.


<<< Besides delving into the future, I have also noticed some fan fictions using existing JAG characters in a non JAG story. Again I think because there are no new story lines to work with. >>>

I've seen this, as well. Lots of kid-fic running around out there these days. And I'm not knocking them. They're fun to read. They just aren't "JAG" to me in the same way some of the older fics are.


<<< How many of us can write about life on a carrier or a murder on a Navy base? >>>

I think, with research, most of us could manage a credible story. Here's a question, though. It's common knowledge that the show's writers didn't always stay true to military (or medical) reality. The goal was to write an entertaining drama, staying reasonably true to life. But they didn't knock themselves out trying for accuracy. You only need to look as far as the series finale for proof of that. And yet, fanfic authors are held to a stiffer standard, with readers out there who are quick to point out any departure from reality. Why do you suppose that is?


<<< But we all can remember a childhood story and replace the main characters with JAG characters. I'm not saying it's bad or good, I have actually enjoyed most of this type of work, what I'm saying again is the difficulty in coming up with new stories when there is no new show to watch, no scenes for next weeks show so we can speculate on what is going to happen. >>>

Personally, I'm a big fan of mining military news and history for story ideas. That said, these types of stories tend to be longer than most of what gets written these days. Could that be another part of the issue? Are readers not interested in reading multi-chaptered, drama oriented stories these days? Do they actually prefer the shorter, fluffier pieces? Or is that just what's getting written because it's what everybody has become accustomed to since the series ended?

There, now. Didn't I tell you I'd run long?

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