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Salad Bo
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song fics
Aug 31, 2014 7:35:37 GMT
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Post by Salt on Aug 31, 2014 7:35:37 GMT
Hi,
I need some help with songfics. I've been using songs to form ideas for a project (not fanfiction but still) and I've been having troubles. So I need some help.
Shohld you follow the lyrics of the song to write, like do you follow individual lines and write from there? Or should you look at the song as a whole and write based on the big picture? Should I have an idea of my story and link it to the song, or should I base my ideas on the chosen song? Linking to some song fics would be nice (haven't seen any around), thanks!
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Post by Theropod on Aug 31, 2014 22:33:45 GMT
I think it depends on what you yourself want from the fic. Last time I used a song to inspire a fic, the song was A Little Fall of Rain from Les Mis so I had the character feel unrequited love for another then die in the other character's place. I didn't have her sing to him though.
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Post by Kappa on Sept 1, 2014 0:50:08 GMT
Usually when I think of a songfic, the actual lyrics are a part of the fic and that's what helps shape the story. That's what I did when I wrote my songfic, since the song was like a story itself, I let the lyrics handle the question of "What is going on?" while I wrote in the details. I've seen people do it differently with different songs, like including the song lyrics in the fic, but just using the general idea of the song in their plot. Examples of such: mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/800432.html mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/787632.html But it I've also based stories around the ideas of songs. I wouldn't call this a songfic since the lyrics aren't an actual part of it. More examples: mindcracklove.dreamwidth.org/505025.html (apparently I can't post anymore examples because my ipad is being annoying ) But really, do what you want! I just wouldn't call it a songfic if the lyrics aren't a part of the story itself.
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Salt
Salad Bo
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song fics
Sept 2, 2014 8:17:52 GMT
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Post by Salt on Sept 2, 2014 8:17:52 GMT
It really depends on what one's definition of a song fic is, then?
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Post by giggleworthy on Sept 10, 2014 2:05:45 GMT
I did one a while ago from one of Freeze's prompts for a Secondhand Serenade song. I followed the theme, and didn't really pay attention to the lyrics, though they did help me starting out. Then again, when i write i never really know where the story is going. But i suppose that i does look like you have a couple of options. 1. Literal lyric to fic story 2. story with the lyric thrown in ( saw a really good one on DW, just cant be bothered to find the link for it, sry) 3. Thematic
Good luck!
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Post by yamina on Sept 10, 2014 11:36:36 GMT
Usually when I think of a songfic, the actual lyrics are a part of the fic and that's what helps shape the story. That would be the general definition of a Songfic, yes. But I would advise not to do that. More often then not it distracts from the story that you are writing/reading and interrupts the storyflow. Most people will get angry/annoyed when they realize they've stumbled uppon a songfic of this kind and will either skip reading the lyrics frustrated or stop reading the story entirely. It is very difficult to pull this off in a way that works. This is assuming you are writing a OneShot. If you write a reasonably long Multichapter story and only add very few lines of the song right at the start or right at the end of a chapter, then things will work out better. They are on the same level as an Authors Note, more or less, altough it is an entirely diffrent category. Also, while this is an accepted category in FanFiction writing, Songfics of this kind especially should not be touched outside of that. For many reasons. As for the core question: it really depends on what you want to do. Look at the song as you would at any other kind of inspiration. If you happen to listen to something and an idea for a story comes to you mind, go with that. It doesn't matter if you follow the plot of the song or just the general idea behind it. A good songfic has a strong story of it's own, but references the source material - not quoting it! - and the song is mentioned in an Authors note. If the reader looks at the story and at the lyrics and thinks "Oh. I didn't realize...that actually works!" or something along those lines, then you've usually done a good job =)
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Salt
Salad Bo
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Posts: 19
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song fics
Sept 10, 2014 14:34:27 GMT
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Post by Salt on Sept 10, 2014 14:34:27 GMT
Thank you! I've definitely learnt a lot from this thread If anyone else has suggestions/opinions, do keep this thread alive for others! Otherwise, thank you all that have replied!
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