Writing SG-1's voices

[aurora_novarum]

Since I am INSANE and signed up to do the tealc_ficathon on top of jacksamfriends and stargate_summer, I started thinking about what/who I write. And it made me think about who I write and when and how for ALL of SG-1 and how I write the characters.

I go in phases in my writing. Sometimes I'm very much Sam focused, other times Teal'c, other times Daniel...it's funny because even if I'm doing character focused fics, I'll tend to always have team moments if nothing else. Or if I'm writing "team" I'll try and give "moments" to each character. It must be the libra in me. Anyway...



Daniel Jackson
Daniel is my absolute favorite character of all the team and will get me to *read* a fic more often than not. But writing him... While I don't shy away from his point of view, I do enjoy writing "about" Daniel more that writing his pov. I started "Just a Scientist" partly because I couldn't bear to "whump" Daniel myself, but wasn't sure I was going to do Bill's POV all the way at first. I then found I liked doing the outsider perspective on him. I find I can relate to Daniel's expressions and movements and other people's observations of his words and actions are easier than writing Daniel's own perspective (because would he really think about how his face and movements are betraying his emotions?) Daniel has...layers to me, and I like keeping that hint of mystery to what he's really thinking. When I write his pov, I have to go through the maelstrom of thoughts and feelings in his head: Daniel thinks emotionally, and he thinks FAST. It's fun to play in his head, but it's exhausting.

Samantha Carter
I'm not sure how well I do Sam's voice, actually. I mean, I try and be true to her, but she intimidates the hell out of me for her techno-know-how since I have no science/engineering knowledge. I have a civilian's perspective of the military. But I do relate to Sam in being a professional in a male dominated arena and social settings. In fact, I find when I do infuse Sam with little personality quirks that are outside canon (not contradictory to, but extemporaneous), she is defaulted with what I like or may do. I hope this isn't just because she's "the girl" on the team. I don't hear Janet or Vala in my head this way. But Sam I feel connected to on a personal level.

Teal'c
Teal'c I stumbled into writing in one of my earliest stories because I saw a scene in Avalon 1, and his expressions just spoke to me as something to explore. And it shocked me how easily I could hear his voice when writing. I don't tend to think too much with Teal'c's tone outside of the plot. It flows naturally to me. Whether I get him right or not, I don't know. He doesn't sound like a Vulcan, or a Klingon. He's got a wicked sense of humor, a literal view of many aspects of the world, both a bone-weary history and an innocence at things. In truth, he should be damn intimidating to write. But I don't find him so. However, it wasn't until Fig's meme about Teal'c being awesome (she uses the term "pwnage"), that I realized I could only list about half my "teal'c related fics" because I focus on his introspection and angst as much as his humor and coolness aspects. So...I may have very warped ideas on Teal'c.

Jack O'Neill
Jack is the hardest character for me to write, and I'm still struggling when I find his voice. Reading a good Jack "voiced" fic is a beautiful gem I'm always greatly impressed with. It's a delicate balance because on the one hand you have a caustic and childlike sense of humor, but on the other there's an intelligent and dark feeling man. On the show, I tend to find there's more going on beneath the surface in any of Jack's expressions, but it's hard for me to pierce the veil to do justice to them. Jack is very calculating, but he's not self-conscious about it, so how he acts and speaks is almost an instinctual thing. Writing in his voice, it's hard to portray that without sounding clunky. His dialogue has to flow more than just checking boxes to "trees" and "oz" jokes, so maybe Jack's lack of self-analysis makes me analyze him MORE. I dunno.

Cameron Mitchell
Cameron isn't too difficult to write. I strangely have a better handle on him than Jack. He's got the wide-eyed optimistic joy and wonder factor--he always tends to see the glass half-full, but yet, he's still aware it's half a glass. He's been through too much in his past for there not to be some edge to him. But unlike Jack or Daniel, or even Teal'c with a mere expression, Cam lays it all out there. He's constantly thinking and speaking on his feet, with an eye for pop-culture trivia I can almost relate to. The trick is relaying the bouncy quality to him shown on screen to a prose concept without making him look silly. Sometimes I wonder if the way I portray the team's teasing of him sounds too harsh, because I'm not sure if the new guy but cared for teammate balance comes off in the story that well (then again, I'm not sure how well the writers portrayed that onscreen either).

Vala Mal Doran
It's no secret that Vala bugged the crap out of me in early Season Nine. When she asked Daniel in "Ties That Bind" "Miss me?" I yelled how he couldn't because she NEVER GOES AWAY! I still think Vala would've been better suited for a Harry-like role in swinging in and out of the SGC with new adventures. It's not that I don't like CB, or hated her per se. But I found she was an over the top character and would've been better in small doses. Why I am going on about this?

Because then I started to write about her in "Many Roads". It's not Vala's pov (heck, it's sort of not Daniel's), but I had to think about what makes her tick, because I won't write characters without being true to who they are, at least as best as I perceive it. And I realized how much depth and layering there was to her character...and how intriguing she was. I sympathized with Bridge's attraction to writing Vala dialogue. It's addictive. She comes up with the witty responses with no moral filter to stop her from saying them. But she has her own code...it's broad and grey and hard to figure out, but it's there. When Vala returned in S10, she had softened, but so had I in my reaction to her.

Jonas Quinn
I've only had Jonas in three of my fics, and one was more as a cameo, but I like him. I'm not sure how three dimensional I portray him. He has the bouncy exuberance of life like Cameron, but it's not filtered by the training and experiences of military people. He's young, he's smart, he's got a photographic memory, and loves food and the weather channel. Everything seems one part puzzle, one part magic to him. He's also a serious people-pleaser. I think after Season Seven, he's become more hardened and less naive, but he shares the idealism. I think I'm still working through my own ideas on Jonas, so I tend to write him clunkily, but there are moments his voice does ring clear.


I thought about naming the authors I think write really good Jack/Daniel/Sam/Teal'c/Cam/Vala/Jonas but I knew I'd invariably leave someone off and what I think is a good Daniel voice is someone else's OOC. Now that I've blathered on, how do others wrestle with their muse/voice in SG fic. How do *you* all see the characters in writing them and how do their voices sound in your heads? Do you find yourself nodding along that those are aspects you focus on in writing the team, or are you going "Aurora is so full of crap, that's not what the heart of X character is at all!" ;-)

Comments

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

OTOH, when I'm writing about other aspects of Sam, she flows quite well. Or maybe I just think she does.

Hee! See! That's what I'm talkin' about. I think I overanalyze and wonder if she's *too* easy. (which come to think of it, may be a Samantha-like trait. Maybe we're channeling her after all!)

I haven't yet managed to write real introspection with him, though.

Yes, am I weird for being so fascinated by it? I mean, an eyebrow says SO MUCH!

And again, word with Jack, who I want to get right and am reluctant to imagine that I can.

Sometimes he comes out easier than I think if trying to do his perspective, but fear is a big barrier. Also other times...like "Flights of Ingenuity" was supposed to be Jack's POV. It was another exercise to write his voice, but it never worked. As soon as I switched to Teal'c's pov, that story clicked for me. I think it was the right choice, but I also wonder if because Teal'c *is* easy for me, I gave up too soon.

I don't know, Jack's voice...when it's right, you know it, when it's wrong you know it, but trying to analyze how and what makes it that way...that's the question.

I'm interested in your saying you can't write Mitchell or Vala (as opposed to just never trying Jonas). If you don't mind saying, what do you think made them not "click" for you? Personal disconnect to S9 & 10? Their voices not sounding unique? Spreading the squee has been a curiosity factor as much as anything else, and I *do* genuinely love Cameron. He sold me at "Bullets bounce" into the like camp.

Multi-version team love is just how I roll. :-D

One other thing you're very good at, Aurora, is writing original characters and their perceptions of the team. You get that distant voice right.

Aw, thank you. I do love exploring outsider POV because to me it ironically makes the team more like real people. Others have lives and interests that may or may not intersect theirs. I don't know if it's a cheat because we have that somewhat already from the show though. That too comes naturally to me so I wasn't really thinking of it as a "p of v" per se.

I agree that it's not wise to try and create a "complete" list of authors with good character voices

Oh, I wouldn't dare to try for complete. ;-) Just thinking of listing a couple for each, but it is all subjective and even doing those couple I'd angst too much, so I figured I'd just dartboard myself. Heh.

It's funny you bring up Random, because I was thinking about her writing style in wondering about my view on the character voices. I love Random's stories. Her plot and characterization are extremely complex and rich. However, she writes Daniel and Jack in no way like I see them in my head. She focuses on aspects I would "peripherize" (it *could* be a word) in writing, and passes over other character traits that I would go after with an anvil. And yet even though it's not my perception of Jack and Daniel, her characterization is still recognizable to the show canon.

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I'm using this icon to show that I know I'm probably being unfair. :) But no, Mitchell never worked for me. Vala even less so, although I do like how many people write them in fic. But the team - the team has always and forever, for me, been Jack and Daniel and Sam and Teal'c. Mitchell feels like an artificial plug-in in comparison, and Vala... no comment of Vala. ;)

Jonas, OTOH, I haven't tried. I haven't watched enough S6 to know how intrusive he would feel, in contrast to Daniel being there. I do know I resent quite a bit the many many fanfic writers who loved Daniel and hated the show for taking him away and demonized Jonas as an outlet for their frustrations, because it definitely colored my perceptions of the character when I was first reading fanfic (before I started watching the show, I mean). So no, I haven't tried writing him yet. Maybe after Redial does S6, I'll be interested to try.

Re Random: I have the same exact reaction that you have, in terms of what she picks up and what she doesn't. And it's entirely different from the aspects that Tallulah Rasa chooses to highlight and play with. And yet? Both work just right for me. The characters feel incredibly real when they write them, even if I may not nec'ly choose those aspects myself when I choose to try their voices.

It's the edges, I think. Too many people forget all the angles and edges and raw sharpness of Jack and Daniel's friendship. It's why I love them so much, because they click despite the contradictions. Am I making any sense?

Perhaps you shouldn't answer that. ;)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Well, at least you did TRY Mitchell and Vala (even with your own colored glasses). A lot of people adore classic team as the sole soul of SG-1. I guess the whole is more than the sum of its parts to me. But I did discover I can take most teams so long as they have Daniel (no idea about Teal'c-less team yet...and Sam may be tough to judge since I've known she was returning in S9).

Knowing Jonas through fanfic is a very scary characterization...especially that written during season six era when tempers were high. But who knows how you'll feel *when* you watch Season Six. :-D (Since I'm so Daniel-centered, I never even THOUGHT I'd write Jonas, and now three stories!)

I'm not overly familiar with Tallulah to accurately compare. But it is funny. And something about fanfics and metas that I find *fascinating* in how we can all see and explore so many different aspects of the same core product.

ETA: Something I just realized responding to a different comment. My writing Cam and Vala may also have to do with how/when I entered fandom. I only came in late Season 8. And started writing fanfic during that hiatus. Season 9 and 10 were "new/fresh" eps for me, and thus an influence on what I would write. Although I know and love classic team too, I had been watching seven years of it as a casual viewer (and not knowing such a thing as fandom existed). So...that may play a part in it too. IIRC, you mainlined Stargate and came into fandom after seeing it "all" on DVDs and/or seeing the fic? Even though you weren't too much after me when it comes to entering fandom, it could give a different perspective on everyone too. (Then again, I may be completely misremembering)

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I had a very... odd introduction to SG-1. Which, admittedly, is par for the course for me.

In the OT forum at the LnC fanfic message boards, someone started a thread on Reckoning and Moebius when it first aired. I read it out of idle curiosity and became intrigued by the references to Daniel, especially what some called his journey from starry-eyed idealism to "Action Jackson." So I hunted down the transcripts online and started reading them... and read... and read... :)

Then I started hunting down actual eps, picking and choosing by which transcripts seemed most interesting. And started reading fanfic at the same time, and stumbled on stargatefan as one of the first archives I read (which is why I grumbled on the Jonas thing above). By the time I finished reading all the transcripts and watching a dozen odd eps, I'd fallen in love with the show, unquestionably.

By that time, about the first six eps of S9 had aired already. So I hunted down those, all excited at the idea of being part of a fandom in real time!

...And was really, really disappointed. Although, come to think of it - I wonder if I would have been more kindly disposed towards S9 SG-1 if Daniel hadn't been sporting face fuzz? :) (Don't get me wrong - my own husband has a beard, and I like him juuuuust fine. But on Daniel? Really bad.)

But my point is that a large part of me wanted to like the new version of SG-1, if only to be part of the excitement as it happened. And to be fair to Mitchell, he wasn't the problem as much as the lack of Jack and the inclusion of Vala all at the same time. The Ori storyline, which read (to me) as a thinly-disguised swipe at world politics and as boring antagonists, didn't help all that much. But I've never engaged him as a character. Not sure why.

Regarding Jonas - I want to get to know him, and I'm looking forward, in a vague sort of way, to watching S6 to find out if I'm going to like him. But I really do want to Redial S6 with the comm, because I think it'll go better for me than watching the eps without the online feedback. Squee is contagious, y'know!

And something about fanfics and metas that I find *fascinating* in how we can all see and explore so many different aspects of the same core product.

And I love that, yes. That the Daniel I see and love is slightly different from Daniel and Tallulah Rasa's Daniel and Random's Daniel and Aby's Daniel and everyone else's Daniel. But much as some people's characterization might surprise me, I'd say that if a story clicks, then even if it's not an aspect of Daniel I'd write or even expect, then that author is speaking to the core of the character. I do hope that makes sense. :)

[aurora-novarum.livejournal.com]

Cracks me up how you found Stargate through LnC.

Don't get me wrong - my own husband has a beard, and I like him juuuuust fine. But on Daniel? Really bad.

Yes. I agree. MS looks very handsome with or without beard. But for Daniel...just looked...odd to me.

But that's interesting what you say about Cam. He is more unstated as a presence--and to be fair, his characterization was a lot of flailing and inconsistent in Season Nine. For some, they were predisposed to accept him or loved him in spite of that (or because it was Browder), for other people it prevented connecting to him.

I hope you like jonas too (or at least Season Six with or without him).

And I love that, yes. That the Daniel I see and love is slightly different from Daniel and Tallulah Rasa's Daniel and Random's Daniel and Aby's Daniel and everyone else's Daniel. But much as some people's characterization might surprise me, I'd say that if a story clicks, then even if it's not an aspect of Daniel I'd write or even expect, then that author is speaking to the core of the character. I do hope that makes sense. :)

It does to me. And I'm still not sure if it's so much our views are the same of the core of the character or the writer's so good, they've convinced me their view of the character is right. Perhaps a combination thereof?

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

I've always been very monofannish in terms of online activities. So yeah, I needed LnC to introduce me to SG-1! :)

And I'm still not sure if it's so much our views are the same of the core of the character or the writer's so good, they've convinced me their view of the character is right.

That is a delightfully twisty way of looking at things. Is it the good writers that get the characterizations right, or the good writing that makes the characterization seem right? I'm going to have to think about that one for a while.

[aelfgyfu_mead]

I think you're right about Random--I really enjoy her stories, and they're very well written, but I would never write Jack and Daniel as she does. She tends to show them when they're at odds--and yet sometimes they understand each other and I'm still going "what?"

[sg-fignewton.livejournal.com]

Heh, yes, precisely my reaction. "How did you get there?" and at the same time "Yes, that's them!" And I keep coming back for more, even though I'd never write them in the same fashion.