Whump Fic Question

[kristen999]

I'm stuck on a road block in this one chapter I'm writing so while I wait for the magic muse to come up with an answer, I thought. Hey let's have a poll. This is just for my personal interest in future projects.



[Poll #1098735]

Comments

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

My answers are a trifle paradoxical, so I figured I'd explain. *g*

I love to read anything once. I love well-researched and detailed descriptions of any subject ... the first time. Subsequently, it becomes "same old, same old".

At this point, I feel like I've read enough detailed infirmary/intubation/post-surgery scenes to last me a lifetime. I'm much more interested in reading about the characters' emotional reactions than the nitty-gritty of what the injured character is going through. Worry and angst and character-bonding doesn't get old for me the way that reading about a gazillion ways of feeding someone ice chips does. For example, I'd rather see a scene with the injured characters' friends playing cards and bickering while waiting for them to come out of recovery than see the same time period from the viewpoint of the injured character waking up from anesthesia, getting sick all over a nurse and having a catheter inserted ... if you know what I mean!

On the other hand, I checked yes to both of the last two because I don't think I've yet read a detailed, well-researched surgery scene, and that sounds interesting. (Field or battlefield surgery especially!) And, while I'd generally prefer NOT to read a story of the cyclical, never-going-anywhere type in which a character gets hurt and hurt again and suffers setbacks and so on and so on and SO ON ... I've been very interested in the all-too-rare stories that address consequences in a way that h/c usually doesn't; I would love to read a story that dealt with a character learning to live with a physical or mental disability (with no magic Ancient tech fixes), and things along those lines.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I wondered at some of your answers..hehe.

Its odd, I get tired of writing infirmary scenes sometimes, how many times can you describe all the stuff that happens? Yet, as a writer if I spent time on injuring someone, I like balancing the recovery which includes some of that nitty gritty stuff.

For now I keep things detailed but quick, quick quick. Like a few punches, like I did in "Ties That Bind".

For me its a paradox because even though I get tired of the infirmary writing I like to think I'm decent at it...and sometimes its fun. Could be the research nut in me :D

I asked the surgery scene question because I know I can write those, and it would be interesting. I used to write in the ER fandom where accuracy in such things was actually somewhat required..at least in the e-mail list where many were in that field, so it's occurred to me every once in a awhile to try one from Carons's POV.

If I ever did another long recovery fic, I don't think I could leave them with a disability even if it were realistic, it'd be a real recovery..but it'd be a full one...just detailed.(like my happy endings)

Anyhow this was just food for thought type stuff, two fics ahead of anything that might use this, but the early questions I was really curious about...if people enjoyed less or more.

Thanks for your input.

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

Heh ... one of the things I really like about your stories, actually, is the quick pace of the infirmary scenes and the way you don't dwell on the angst and pain, on either side. In your stories, the infirmary scenes are always there for a reason -- they advance the plot and/or character development, and never feel gratuitous.

I certainly don't feel that it should just be ignored (unless the story itself, for plot reasons, cuts off at the rescue, or something like that). But it would feel wrong to jump straight across it without acknowledging it in some way. At the same time, I've read so many of them that they've lost their ability to move me. In order to hook me, the author needs to do something a little different from the usual, or at least make me feel as if the infirmary scene is an integral and necessary part of the story.

I think it would be quite interesting to read a detailed medical story from the POV of Carson or Keller. There really aren't too many doctor POVs out there in this fandom. And, again, that's mostly what I look for in a story -- that it's something new, fresh and original that I haven't seen a dozen times before.

[alipeeps.livejournal.com]

I try to make the medical stuff in my fics as realistic as possible. I'm not medically-trained but I worked for a couple of years in admin in a major hospital so I'm familiar with terminology and I understand a lot of the basic concepts etc.. the rest comes from internet research. I do like reading well-written ER/infirmary scenes and I would be very interested to a read a detailed/accurate surgery/ER/infirmary scene - so many writers gloss over this aspect (because of the level of detail required, no doubt) and go straight to, as Sholio said, the somewhat overdone waking up/intubated/ice-chip scene etc. I tend to be very detailed in my writing and find it hard to skip over stuff and be brief/concise - :lol: - and the medical stuff very much interests me.

I enjoy medical scenes in TV shows and would love to see something similar in a good SGA whump fic. For example.. in the episode Beyond the Sea of The X-Files, Mulder is shot and instead of jumping straight to him recovering/waking up in a hospital bed with Scully by his side etc, we had a wonderful scene of him arriving at ER and being rushed into theatre, with Scully watching, her face a picture of misery and fear. That short scene added so much tension to the episode and from the medical details (the EMTs and Drs calling out his condition and mentioning how much blood he'd lost etc) we really got a feel for the urgency of the situation and how critical his condition was. It made my whump meter go practically off the scale! :D

Anyhooo... lot of waffle to basically say that yes, I'd love to read medically detailed whump fic. :)

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

As I said I'm on the fence. I co-wrote a CSI fic which was very heavy on the medical aspects of recovery and I like to read those and write them form time to time. In "Honor Bound" I tried to balance the need to move the plot forward while not skipping too much of what happened to Sheppard.

I like detailed medical stuff, I like to read them and write them...I just find trying for different creative ways of doing it daunting. I used to write in the ER fandom where it was expected at least on my e-group list to write accurate trauma scenes.

I'm a fan of one shots that are medical heavy, hence why I like to read your whump fics. Sometimes in a whump fic that's say an eppy tag, I eat up the type of drugs, tests and procedures, to me it adds realism. That why I liked your season 3 tags of whumpy fics..you stuck close to canon and you tried to stay realistic. Your POV jumps around a lot and that drives me crazy :-P But I still love it.

BTW you still have lots of opportunities for this season *hint hint*

This poll was just to get a gauze of people's feelings on trauma and ER scenes because as much as I like to write them, I find it difficult to keep them creative.

I'm seriously thinking of doing an all Doctor fic which would include surgery hence why I was curious about that.

Thanks for your input.

[parisntripfan.livejournal.com]

For me the biggest thing a writer needs to keep in mind is how well versed the point-of-view character would be in medical-babble. All to often I get the impression the writer is trying to show-off how much s/he knows/has researched.

For example, John Sheppard should not have the same medical knowledge as Carson Beckett or Jennifer Keller. If he were watching Carson/Keller try to save a member of his team view of it should not include the techo-babble that we would see if the scene were written from Carson's/Keller's POV.

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I totally agree. Every ER scene or such... I've written from the POV of the character witnessing it and thus how much they understand.

Sheppard or Ronon's POV could be confused by what they hear and see and have no understanding of it. They can ask later or be told, but we still might get snippets of what they witnessed.

If its from Keller or Carson's POV then one can go in more details because we're in their head and through reading their thoughts details can be written, but thats a very rare thing.

This was done in parts curiosity and just gauzing general feelings on things.

[rednz.livejournal.com]

stuff the whump, write me some SEX, woman! Shep is having a pants emergency. they need to come off, STAT.
please. puhleeeeeessssssseeeeeeeeee.
*takes deep breath*
puuuuuuuuhhhhhhhlllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeesssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeee

*grin*

[kristen999.livejournal.com]

I just can't write him in that way, hon.

lol

[rednz.livejournal.com]

oh poos...

I think you're selling yourself short

:-P

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I'm with Friendshipper - infirmary scenes are fun for a time but do get old fast. And I cannot stand it when a writer immerses the scene into techno-babble. Yes, techno babble is necessary, but as someone else said, some seem to write it for the sake of "hey, look at how much medical stuff I know!"

Personally, I'm more for the aftermath, the comfort - and not the aftermath where the character is unconscious and every is angsting. I mean the aftermath where the character is awake and able to talk with his friends.