This is Alyse's brain. This is Alyse's brain on drugs...

[alyse]

So, apparently I need far more sleep than I am getting, because I have been in that silly sleep deprived state I reach for the last couple of days, where a combination of too much diet coke and too few zzzzzs gets me to that giggly, whee! state.

This is not of the good and yet, not necessarily of the bad.

There have been some very interesting posts about remixes over the last couple of days, with some of those participating in sga_remix giving some good insights into how they approach remixes, and setting out their remix philosophy.

My approach is very simple:

Cool! ::signs up:: ::gets mail:: Flail! Panic! Flail! Panic! Wibble! Write like a thing possessed! Wail! Flail! Panic! Post.

I've not participated in a remix before. I've been vaguely aware of them, but since I usually have a hard time writing my own stories, never mind rewriting anyone else's, I've managed to avoid the whole thing.

But on the other hand, the lack of energy I've had recently, combined with work and health and nibble issues means that I've lacked the drive to write, and I do tend to find that setting a deadline that is enforced by an outside entity (like, oh, the mod of a challenge and the fact that you are not just writing to the challenge but writing for a recipient who will not get anything unless you pull your finger out!) focuses the mind marvellously.

So, I signed up, got my recipient, went to their website, and got... nothing. Nada. Zip. Elvis had left the building. Actually, he never arrived, and was still ensconced in his limo outside, scarfing down burgers.

Now, that isn't a reflection of my... it's not really a recipient, is it? My assigned author. It's not that anything she wrote is uninspiring - it's the fact that nothing short of a two by four to the head was going to inspire me. And it was largely going to inspire me to go, "Ouch! What the fuck are you doing?'

So, in the end, after staring at various stories for days, and clicking aimlessly, I did the only thing I could. I aimed davechicken and whined. In fact, I said to her, 'Pick one. I don't care which one, just select a random name from the list of stories, and tell me to write it.' Because I am quite possibly the most indecisive thing ever, and if she hadn't picked one for me and put me on the spot it's entirely possible I'd still be there, wibbling.

So she closed her eyes and picked Day One, and I opened it up and, thank God, inspiration finally hit. I suspect it's that 'end of the line' thing. It's amazing how my brain waits until the last possible second, and then finally, finally (and grudgingly) gives me something to work with. It hates me. I have long thought this.

So, I had the idea, which was kind of dark and twisted and therefore made me immeasurably happy, because I have this evil brain, in case you haven't guessed by the fact that it torments me! But then I had another moment of panic when I reread the rules more carefully, and wasn't sure whether my idea was permissable before seeking confirmation that it was (and god bless z_rayne for putting up with the panicky 'It's my only idea!' whiny e-mails and telling me it was fine).

So, I'm always interested to read the scientific approach of others, and how they plan it out and approach it as a remix, about how they consider whether to keep the setting and characters, and change the point of view, or to change the tone from angst to humour or something similar.

Me, it's all seat of the pants, instinctual stuff. I don't actually tend to analyse what I do until I've done it, at least not consciously. I do suspect that a lot of these things percolate beneath the surface, because the occasional 'this would be cool' and 'this elaborates on that' bubbles up, so I know that somewhere in this twisted mind of mine, some plotting and planning is going on to make it tie together themetically at the same time as my conscious mind is dealing with the traditional plotty elements, like the characterisation and science and logic.

There is a reason my site is called Unconscious Mind - it's because all of the interesting stuff is going on in there, and just letting the rest of me know when it's worked it out. Slowly. And tormentingly.

I must admit, however, that once the original idea struck me, I was interested in trying something new. I've never tried omniscient narrator voice before (is that what it's called?) and this seemed an ideal opportunity. I like trying new things - I get bored otherwise, only maybe 'bored' isn't the right word. I get itchy feet and fingers and I'm looking for the next challenge, something that will stretch me and make me burn, whether it works or not.

And sometimes it doesn't. You're all tired of me whining about this one anyway ::g::

But anyway, this is what I finally came up with. End of Days, a remix of zortified's Day One.

And also :

I've seen some discussion about how you need more than a simple POV shift to make a good remix, and I'm not entirely sure I agree. I think it's entirely possible to write a remix with a different point of view and have effectively the same story as the first version, and for that to be boring, but I think that shifting the point of view can also really shift the dynamics of the story and make it fresh and new. And I think that because I'm the kind of writer who has always been less interested in writing what goes on out there ::waves vaguely around:: than what is going on inside the characters.

I'm all about the introspection. I write fanfiction because I like to take the characters apart and see what makes them tick. I like the angst for that reason too - put someone under a lot of pressure and watch as they implode. In fanfiction, obviously ::shifty look:: It's about paring someone down to the essentials and building them back up again.

This is why I don't write a heck of a lot of traditional gen. If I want traditional gen - the team stuff, the mission stuff - then I shove one of my DVDs into the DVD player and watch an episode. This doesn't mean I don't like reading a good gen story, but I'm largely interested in reading and writing what I don't get on screen.

So, for me at least and given the types of story I like to write and read, shifting the POV, even while you keep the events and dialogue the same, can result in an entirely new story, because you've crawled inside someone else's head. The way that two characters perceive the same set of events can be wildly, wildly different because characters - and we as readers - bring their own interpretations and baggage and insights to the table. And, you know, that can actually be incredibly interesting.

Same dialogue, same events. Totally different story. And it's seeing the differences that can actually make the whole thing very, very cool.

There was an advert on the telly here a few years ago for a newspaper. It was either The Guardian or The Independent, I forget which. It showed a set of events, from different camera angles, with a skinhead running down the street, someone chasing after him, him knocking an old lady out of the way... All these different camera angles and shots.

Then it pulled back and showed you the whole scene. Someone running down the street to push someone else out of the way of something falling from scaffolding. The tag line was something like 'For the whole story read whatever', which was quite clever.

Now, can you imagine telling that same set of events from the different participants points of view? Very, very different stories. That's what isiscolo did with her remix of Fisticuffs - taking a minor character from the original story and telling events from their point of view, and it worked. And even if all of the characters witness the entirety of the same events - such as in Triptych - switching the point of view can still result in a very different story, because the emotional resonances are so different as well, and that's what wickedwords did with Diablerie, switching to Rodney's POV from Elizabeth's, and that worked too.

I do see how that won't work unless the original story, and the new story, are in very tight points of view, and it won't work for stories that switch points of view throughout the narrative, because you already know what the other party thinks of things.

So it works better for stories that are more introspective in nature.

But sometimes I really want to see something from the other character's point of view, and sometimes I think it's the point of view more than the events of the story that make it interesting. I would have loved, for example, to have seen the events of Alone in Your Mind from John's point of view, because the story is primarily from Beckett's point of view, with Rodney expounding - at length because this is Rodney ::heh:: - on his point of view in order to persuade Beckett into bed with him and John.

But I always wondered what John's take on it was. Was he really that cool about sharing his boyfriend? How did he feel knowing that he wasn't enough for Rodney? Was he cool with it? Did he want Beckett as much as Rodney did, or was it a compromise to keep what he had of Rodney rather than lose him entirely?

Some of those questions have been answered in later parts of the series, but John is so guarded, so internal most of the time in canon it is fascinating to poke around inside his head. But it was zortified's safe fic, so it was out of bounds to prying fingers ::g::

But I wondered what John thought of it all, just the way I wondered what Rodney or John thought of it all in Triptych (although I was planning to touch on John's reactions at least, but still filtered through Elizabeth's eyes, if I ever, ever get around to writing the other two panels).

And now some of those questions are answered.

And personally I think that whole thing is fascinating. As fascinating as seeing what someone else takes from your story, the little nuances they pick up that you knew were there and the ones you didn't realise you'd incorporated.

And it's all good. So, I'm like zen or something.

And possibly, I need to drink less diet coke.