Interview with Sheryl Nantus (AKA Sheryl Martin)
By Nicola Simpson

Part Two

Etiquette is dead. Period. It died when "authors" decided that there was no reason to spell check their stories before posting them and then whining that someone dared to criticize their spelling errors; it died when "readers" decided that if you didn't outline everything in your summary that was going to happen, then they had the right to whimper that you'd ruined their life by not including "Warning - EVERYONE dies" or some such thing. It died when the "new" authors decided that anyone who had written before they arrived were "old" authors and therefore hogging all the cyber glory for themselves and began whining that no one read their stories. It died when the "old" authors set themselves up as personal critics and began to dictate how people should be writing and who they should be corresponding with and who they shouldn't.

Common courtesy, as in the real world, is scarce now in the fanfic world. People see no problem with slagging authors and their stories when they feel that they haven't been "served" properly or that their demands haven't been met. Authors get upset when readers give feedback or don't give feedback and threaten to stop writing. Readers scream when you don't produce fifty stories a day.

If you can't get off your duff and activate your spellcheck or send feedback to an author to say "thank you!" for a good story or ask permission, then it's a much sorrier world. And it's become that way, unfortunately.

Gee, Sheryl, tell us how you *really* feel. You and I have been around since the beginning (in fact, I think I've been around longer than you!). What do you think is the difference in "personality" between the "Old Guard" and the "New Guard"? How has each group put their stamp on XF fic? Is current fic very different from "classic" fic, and how?

Well, the "Old Guard" can still be a rather nasty bunch of people, so don't think I'm going to portray us/them as being Gods of ATXC and whatnot — we brawled and fought and many feelings were hurt big time. But I think we differ from the "New Guard" in that we don't feel the need to drag everyone down if they've been around longer than six months. Every few months I see posts denouncing the fact that certain authors have a fan base and "new" authors don't/can't get read, and somehow that's the fault of the older authors (sometimes just a few months old!) that the new kids on the block (of any age) aren't automatically acclaimed as the Second Coming of Fan Fiction. Those of us who were around a few years ago never thought about competing really, we just wanted to write. The idea of an Archive was a new thing to us, much less fan mailing lists and awards. I think the competitive edge has put a damper on a lot of the authors out there who now see getting a nomination for this award and that award as being the have all and be all of their fanfic existence, and will do anything to get and win that award - no matter the quality of their fanfic...

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with saying this author is better than that one (though you'd think so in some threads!) but the awards have now become a political statement for various factions to display their friendships and support in public instead of just WRITING THE DAMN STORY!!!!

How did/do you find the time to be so prolific? Could you walk us through the process of writing a story? Does the plot come to first, or something else?

The majority of my stuff usually came to me just by looking around and seeing situations that I thought would be fun to write about. "Paint By Numbers" came out of a old paint can in the washroom at work. I wondered about Scully painting her apartment and how much help (or NOT!) Mulder would be... and of course, smut always is fun to write...

With longer plot-based stories I usually find a certain scene and write around that one, focusing the story on that single image that drives the entire story. It's the main conflict or the final resolution of the story or the ending image that I want to achieve, and the story is how you get there.

Fluff, well... the first Paperwork came to me literally in a migraine-induced hallucination. Honest. And quite a few short shorts have come to me in the same way, making at least something good come out of that pain.

Gryn...

Actually, I go totally against the lessons I spent good money learning in college and just write - I have a basic idea of what I want to happen and how I want to get there, but there's no storyboarding or anything like that... I know the goal and how I want to travel, so I just let the fingers do the walking...

I do and I don't - the problem is that I tend to realise the entire story in my mind BEFORE I ever set my hands on the keyboard, so that it's clear as can be mentally for me in my mind - then I just let it go... I've gone back and tossed out scenes; tossed out entire stories where it's just seemed... wrong. I was about twenty pages into a Dragon with First Person from Jackie's perspective and it just stopped. Period. It wouldn't flow and nothing I said or did helped. I tossed it all and went back to the other style and finished it. You can't be afraid to toss stuff out if you don't feel comfortable with it. You can't trap yourself into believing that it's ALL good and that it's ALL immune to editing.

Oh, God... no.. and never...

I'm one of the few writers, I suspect, who have great fears of working with beta readers. My concern (and it's MINE, so don't state this as a fact for the majority of writers) is that beta readers aren't really qualified to tell you how to rewrite your story. They're in the same spot as you are; wanting to tell a good story. They're NOT editors or emotionally disengaged from wanting to make you happy by telling you that it's a good story.

Maybe it's just the stories I've seen, but I"ve seen a lot of "beta-read" stuff that is truly horrible. Bad grammar, bad spelling... and the dedication to the "good friends" who helped make this atrocity get about five paragraphs of thanks. You can't have a beta reader who's a good pal and just wants to snuggle up with you for the credit.

I don't/can't use one for two reasons, mainly. First, when I was in my heyday I didn't have the time to send stuff off to a reader who might get it back to me in a month or so - I wanted it to be posted now or ASAP... Second, and it's my ego talking here, so bear with me - I went to college for two years to learn how to write. I spent thousands of dollars learning how to construct stuff. Excuse me for not wanting to hand it over to anyone under an assistant editor to trash it. Trash it, yes - but please be at a level where I can respect and assume that it's not motivated to suck up to me and gain my thanks in the disclaimer or for my fan base to grow 'cause if you read mine, I have to read yours.

Yah, it's a very biased view. Sorry if it offends, but I've seen too many beta readers (and authors!) who should spend a few bucks picking up an actual BOOK and learning some of the basics. <shrug>

First, read and read and read - you can't give any opinions on someone else's writing unless you know of whence you speak. Take a night course in writing. Buy the books. Don't think that by just liking the content you're going to be a good beta reader. Think of it as applying for a job - why should this author let YOU decide what works and what doesn't? (Other than that she's your bestest friend in the whole wide world!)

For authors, it's harder. You can't see someone's resume online, nor should you expect the same skill from paid professional editors and friendly enthusiastic fans. Sorry, but it's true. What you can do is make sure that your considered beta reader has actually something to say about the story, other than "I LOVE IT!" and "Gosh, this should win XXX award!" Give real criticism and weigh it against what your gut tells you.

The other problem is beta readers who want to be authors but can't get the urge up to do it. They tend to tell you to rewrite EVERYTHING and suggest up the wahoo what you should do - like, do it yourself then! I've seen this type around a lot and they tend to dictate what they want, rather than working WITH the author to produce a good product. If your beta reader tells you to change a plot or to warp your goal, I’d take that as a bad sign.

And do you really NEED one? I see stories today that have been supposedly vetted by a dozen betas, but still has Skully in the credits. And there's NO reason why an author has to submit their work to ANYONE before sending it to a list/archive/newsgroup. You are not obligated to have approval by anyone before you post, sorry. I think a lot of the beta readers out there are just part of friendship clubs that want to get in on the credit of the story without doing the actual work, sorry. I don't mean to tar them all with the same brush and there are probably great betas out there, but I’m sure as hell not impressed with a lot of the stories I see that have been supposedly approved by a gross of betas.

Hmmm.... not sure yet - I'm doing some "real life" writing and find that the ability to say a lot in a few words to be a great help in writing Internet fluff for sites. Do I think that writing fanfic has helped me as a writer? Sure - right now I'm working on a real novel with Jackie as the main character - outside of all XF and all that...

In a way it's a lot like the Dragons in the beginning, with having to introduce Jackie as a whole new character to people who don't know her. But the character is the same, sorry to say... Not to mention that I've made her a bit more... realistic... gryn...

It's interesting to go back and attempt a full novel with the realization that I'm now totally in charge of the events and characters without having Mulder or Scully to lean on - Jackie's on her own, though she does have this fellow hanging around to... oh, tell ya when it's published... But yes, it's different but the same - having such a fully-fleshed out character like Jackie makes writing much easier, as anyone can tell you...

Certainly. While I had written a novel right out of college that went nowhere, fanfiction made me hone my skills so that now I'm much more able to visualise and impart the information I want in a direct way. I know my writing voice and how it sounds; which is important for any new writer to find and keep. It's also helped in the nonfiction fluff I write as well - being able to be precise and quick counts in that world, and fanfiction helped me distill the story down to the basics and then fill it out - kind of the same thing.

Write, write and write more. Find out what works for you; what tells your heart and soul that it's a Good Thing and that it feels good to look at. Listen to conversations between people on the street and imagine what that looks like in print. Read some classic novels, read some zines with wild print. Watch television and figure out what works for YOU and what doesn't and then sit down and write. Toss it out, and write some more. Keep on doing it until you see what you like and then hug it to death and keep on writing.

Simple, eh?

Well, I'm happy with it - chuckle...

Honestly, it's changed my life greatly - I met Marty online and that refocused my life to a major degree, obviously. When I was diagnosed with cancer just over a year ago the help and support from the online community helped me a helluva lot to keep my sanity and focus in on the important things in life. I can't say that fanfic ever did anything negative in my life - other than make me yearn for the perfect word processor speech interpretation program.

Actually, I wrote very little during my cancer treatment in the Fall of 1999; only because I had the immigration details to deal with; the outpatient surgery and planning to leave my job/my country/my life. There were some requests for another "Downtime"; but I was in no shape to attempt the annual writing exercise. Besides, I was beginning to feel that I was becoming rather... stale as a writer and not delivering anything different or new to the readers, just rehashes of old concepts and writing for the sake of writing, not to entertain. And that's a Bad Thing.

"Green Tea" was one of the few that I remembered doing and enjoying in a way, since it related personally to me. I did only one Dragon during that time, and I think it'll be the last one. I just couldn't get into doing fanfiction when not only was I having problems myself, but I was beginning to have problems with the show and how to perceive the characters. The last Dragon hurt to write since it had almost no relation to the Mulder and Scully I was seeing on the screen, and having written in canon so long... well, it was a hard project to finish.

I toyed VERY briefly with having St. George deal with the cancer issue and couldn't - I think it would just have been too self-serving to have her become my outlet for dealing with the cancer, as strange as that sounds. It just wouldn't have been right to impose that on the readers who don't care as much about me as they do about Jackie - and rightly so, if I've done my job right.

Get Rid of The Awards. Get Rid of The Personal Mailing Lists. Get Rid of The Egos.

Not going to happen, but I had to say it. I think a lot of the fan fiction being written today isn't for personal exploration and fun, it's to gain acceptance into the cliques that they want to hang with - the New Kids on the Block vs. the Old Timers vs. the Youngsters vs. the (fill in your favourite character here) ists...

They don't write because they have a story to tell, they write because they want the instant fame and acclaim of being with a group who then brawls with the other group for supremacy on the boards. Yawn. They don't do it for fun and that's sad. Even the Old Timers are guilty of this; writing crap and then advertising it as the Next Coming since they miss their feedback smack and need a fix.

And don't believe anyone doesn't want feedback. It's addictive and yes, it's great to be told you're a hot writer. God, it's great. It's addictive as hell and hard to break.

How to avoid it?

Get A Life.

Really.

Step Away From The Computer and see it for what it is - fun and a great way to communicate. It's not going to Save The World, although some fanfic writers have taken up great causes and made it work wonderfully, AGAINST the outcry that met many of their writings. When the first rapefic hit the board, the screaming that came back should have scared the writer back into hiding for good. Thank god it didn't.

Don't write unless you have something to tell; something you want to show the audience. Every story I've done has a basic theme - the majority of the Dragons are simply about love; love for each other and forgiveness and how to darn well make this world a better place with the guilt everyone carries.

THAT'S what makes the world a better place in the end. Not gathering personal lists so you can snag some fan fiction award and slap up a banner on your site.

Not really. I think that's because they see that I'm writing from the heart; not from any urge to earn acclaim or awards or gather my flock around me to toss rocks at anyone or anything. Judging from the feedback, I've hit a lot of soft spots in people and that's great to me. I've gotten feedback full of personal notes that conveyed how this story or that story helped them over a crisis or helped them deal with something in their life, and THAT'S the true reward of writing. Not awards, not getting your name in a magazine under "fanfic writer"; not getting a banner for your site.

Maybe I'm an anomaly in the writing world. I like to think I'm not, but maybe I am. I think I’m the first fanfic writer to have a UFO encounter, though!

On Sept. 30 we're on the way to see Marty's grandmother in Uniontown and had just hopped onto the highway a few blocks from the house. I look up to my left and see this bright shiny object just above the trees. I think, hey - it's a plane with the sun reflecting off it. Cool. I point it out to the Wookie and he looks at it and nods. We both see it. A few seconds later we lose sight of it due to a clump of trees. Come out, no plane. No nothing.

Marty looks at me and says. "That was no plane. I know planes, and that was no plane." Me, I'm busy craning my neck around to see where it went - it's a lovely day with not a cloud in the sky. We're nowhere near an airport, so it's actually quite an event to see something in the sky.

I look at him.

He looks at me.

I say "You're telling me what?"

"I'm telling you we just saw an unidentified flying object."

"A UFO?"

"That's what it stands for."

"I had to come all the way down to Pennsylvania and marry you to see a UFO?"

"You're welcome..."

The funniest thing about this was that neither one of us actually realised what we were seeing - US!

Needless to say, we filed reports with MUFON and can now safely join the list of people waiting for the MIBs to appear at our front door...

They’ll have to get in line after the fans. For more on Jackie St. George, read Sheryl’s article on "How do I build an original character?", and check out her fanfic (if you’ve got a spare few months!) at http://www.oocities.org/Area51/Chamber/7976. You can also e-mail Sheryl at xfdragon1@aol.com.