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WRITING ANGEL/FRED
by Kizmet
A lot of my writing depends on pre-work, before I start writing a story I've
already laid out a number of aspect of the story, where it starts, where it's
going, major issues and how people will react to them. In terms of a story driven
by an unconventional relationship like my A/Fr one, the things I work out before
putting pen to paper are:
1) Why are these characters getting together. What personality traits would
appeal to the other, basically why would they fall in love. With a cannon relationship
that's already been done for us by the pros. When writing a non-cannon couple
it's up to the fanfic writer to establish that these two are in love and if
it simply appears out of the blue then the impact is diminished for the reader.
I know why I look at A/Fr and see romantic possiblities, but I can't expect
anyone reading the story to have read the subtext the same way. By spending
some time letting the subtext build into text it's easier on the readers.
I've read excellent fanfiction on almost every imaginable pairing in the Buffyverse (but the most unlikely couple award still has to go to a Star Trek: Voyager story featuring Paris/Neelix). Any couple can work if the writer takes the time to show why they would become a couple.
2) What are the things keeping this couple apart. For me a fictional relationship just isn't interesting unless it's got at least a few problems. With any Angel pairing the curse is going to be an issue, also (this is the B/A'er in me speaking) his feelings for and relationship with Buffy can't just be dismissed. Beyond that, ignoring this aspect of the story makes it feel less developed, if there aren't obstacles then they'd be together on the show, which isn't the case. Even if the biggest obstacle is simply that they've never thought of each other in that light it's still an obstacle that needs to be addressed: what is the incident that starts them thinking that way. (This is strictly a personal peeve, but I can't stand third party romances, I'd rather not have someone come along and tell them how great they are for each other. Even if someone does tell them, still take the time to let them verify this opinion on their own.)
3) How everyone else react. The new couple probably doesn't exist in a vacuum and chances are they will be affected by their friend's opinions. Which isn't a contradiction of my apathy toward third party romances, the rest of the gang should have an impact on the new couple (positive or negative), but I like to see that the couple's feeling for each other have a basis outside of their friend's opinions.
4) Finally, I like to have a specific point where a story either diverges from cannon (a given with an UC ship) or where does it fit into the show's timeline.
The fun of writing Fred with a starting point of the end of 2nd season is that we know next to nothing about her, there are plenty of hints/suggestions from the Pylean episodes about her personality, but the writer still has a lot of freedom in developing her character to fit their story. Angel on the other hand has a whole lot of set history, which can't be disregarded without loosing something of the character. Given this I think it's better to develop Fred around Angel's character rather than trying to get him to change drastically to fit with her.
When I'm writing dialogue I usually like to talk it out, actually hear it spoken, espeically during the rewriting process. Does it sound natural and does it sound like the character. It's all but impossible for me to determine that unless I'm saying it out loud. Go back watch episodes with the characters talking to each other and really listen just to the dialogue to get a feel for how they speak to each other.
Always know your character's motivations and what's going on in their heads during your story. Even if you never spell it out you should know it. If you have someone take action simply because you need it to happen to progress your story without understanding exactly why that person would take that action it shows. One thing I like to do is write short POV peices simply to practice getting into everyone's head. Most of these are so short I never bother typing them up, but they really help developing motivation and voice for the characters.
I also try to pick out real people I know and compare them with characters in the show. Usually you can only find one or two traits that match, but if the character is reacting from that trait then think about how the matching real person would react.