There is a question, or maybe it is a group of questions, that I have been trying to figure out how to ask for the last two or three months. Having gotten no closer to figuring out the proper way to phrase it, I just decided to throw it on the table, like a half a hog, and see if something can be made of it.
How important do readers want the TG aspect to be in a TG story?
Should a significant part of the narrative and a story’s conflict be based around the emotions and activities of the transition or desire to change? Does having a TG character as protagonist make a TG story?
My reason for asking is based upon the stories in my mind, waiting to be written, and those that have already been typed. I find that I wish to write stories about things around characters who were once male and now are mostly female (and rather feminine at that), where other things are more important to them in the story than the change. In general they have just dealt with it. However, it seems to me, that most of my stories would, with simple tweaks, be as easy to write with a female (likely even a male) character.
Does a TG story require the TG character to be irreplaceable by a non-TG character?
There likely is no real answer to these questions, but I am sure people have specific likes (example: there is a contingent of readers who prefer not to see Sci-Fi or Fantasy type of stories - which tend to be my story types), and I am interested in readers’ thoughts.
Curiously,
Arcie Emm
Comments
Very good questions
Very good questions, Arcie.
I too would like to know what the masses out there would like to see. My current TG story is focused on a transition, but will 'hopefully' evolve to a story that just happens to have a TG element.
I like both styles, Arcie. I like the stories that focus on the transition, whether it be Sci-fi, Fantasy, or otherwise. I also like stories such as 'Price to Pay' where the TG element just seems to be a secondary element to the plot.
For me, I guess, it is a question of good writing. or writing styles that I like.
Did all of that confuse more than just me?
A.A.
Ummm Not an easy question...
IMO, it doesn't need to be central to the story, (for posting here), but it has to be there. It's pretty much a requirement of the site. :-) It's what people "expect" here.
Also, IMO, the story is more important than throwing in "gratis" TG elements just cause they "maybe" belong. If the TG elements detract from the story, they should be downplayed.
Hope that little bit helps. Those are my opinions, and I'm SURE many here will disagree.
Annette
TG Content
In answer to your question, check my first "Lizzie Jane" stories and you will find a higher number of readers than you will later when I drifted away from the TG (intersexed) subject.
Love,
Billie Sue
Billie Sue
I know what you mean
and I try to take my stories beyond the change. However, for most of us who have, are contemplating or wished they could, the need for the gender identity component is important. This is especially true when trying to show that those with GID are otherwise ordinary people with everyday issues to resolve, just like everyone else. At the same time, there are some which might be specific to the interest group, like prejudice. Perhaps how characters deal with their problems in their search for themselves, which most stories contain, helps readers to consider ideas they hadn't before, which may translate to their own issues.
On the other hand, I could be completely barking - which is a bit embarrassing being my cat's paw-maiden!
Angharad
Angharad
I Think It Depends
If you are looking for "hits" then I think you will do better if the TG element is central to your story. On the other hand you will get a lot more comment and discussion if it is incidental to your main theme. Of course I could be wrong.
Original Themes & Plots
For me, at first (in days of yore and Compuserve), any TG theme was exciting. I was searching for information as well as excitement. How many hours I sat at my terminal, scrolling thru posts in the hope I'd learn something that would help me deal with gender confusion.
That may be the case for most newbies at BCTS, too. After a while, however, the average reader must tire of the same old plot elements (evil auntie, how I made my transition, and so on). That's when the reader is receptive to, maybe seeks, stories with fresher plots, which inevitably means many stories where the TG element is there but not the whole story, and not so much there that it interferes with the development of a coherent and interesting narrative. That's my two cents, hugs, Daphne
Daphne
My Two Cents Worth
Is the story itself. There are great stories where the T.G. element is the main focus and others where the focus is on T.G. characters. Me, I like a variety of stories.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Wordy, wordy
You ask, "Does a TG story require the TG character to be irreplaceable by a non-TG character?"
No. For the long version of this answer, see below:
I want to read about *human* experience. Seeing (and feeling) the parallels between a gender-complex character and one with a more conventional gender expression, whether implicit, explicit, or unstated, are enough TG content for me.
In other words, any story of personal expression, growth, transformation or interrelationship based on same is fine by me, and one I'll read.
Michelle
Listen up and no one has to die
Sorry, haven't had a cigarette for fourteen hours and the users are just starting to trickle into work...
As a reader I don't care much for SF or magic if it makes the character's journey too pat (that's 'journey' rather than 'transition' as sometimes you can run all day and find yourself happily in the same place), it's the journey that makes TG fiction unique. I find it hard to get excited about serials... but that's true in other things too - I simply cannot understand what people see in 'Lost' and 'Heroes' - dribbling out plot in pennypackets always brings the fear of a deus ex machina lurking - for me you need to know how the journey (or a particular stage of it) ends to write about it.
As a writer, I've found that the few stories I've written that feature TS characters do significantly better than the majority of my output which is about TV characters. I'm not TS, I've not made a single step of that journey, so generally when I create TS characters it's through other eyes... writing about TVs is a bit frustrating (this may be a nicotine deprived whinge) - at one end of the spectrum they're only seen as a subject for erotica (a rather grim version of erotica at that), while at the other end I fear they're viewed as incomplete, a pale shade of TS, devoid of emotional value as a subject... maybe we are, and that's why mine tend to have quite involved adventures!
TG and the story
IMHO, the more read or "hit" stories tend to have the TG theme central to the story. On the other hand, if you want to have a story that has TG elements that are not the be all and end all of the story, then these tend to be read less.
As regards the "universe" or "style" whether that be Sci-Fi, historical or whatever, I don't think that's particularly consequential. I think it's simply whether the TG part is at the forefront.
I have seen stories that are really good, get fewer votes and hits because of this, where less well written pieces that are based around TG, tend to get more.
It's just an opinion
NB
not sure
Don't know that I can really answer that, but.... it comes down to the story and how it tells itself to you. Most of mine will in some way deal with the TG dynamic and how it affects a character, possibly not the major character, but often. Sometimes it will be purely how a situation hits and the ripples from that. As I am sort of stumbling my way through things that will to some degree be reflected. Maybe a single facet from a particular perspective, it always depends.
On a site like this a TG element should I think be present but need not be dominant. Now whether one type or another is more popular.. it seems to me the light and more 'easy' stories with a central character that is TG do best for hits and comments. Many seek an escape from and do not want too much reality. Understandable... it can be a bitch.
Then we have the styles that some love and others don't. There will be crossovers but limited. We sort of take it for granted here that a story will be basically well written and presented. After that it's down to personal taste. The story is the story and it's yours and that's it... hopefully someone likes it. How you word it and people it and phrase those pars is what makes it yours. If you write other than the story, well you might win... but you lose. Truth and feeling is what drives it... at least it should. And after a bit you get a little better and a little better and maybe... someone will like it.
Kristina
Answer to ALL of Your Questions
There is a simple screening device that will answer all your questions.
Does what you want to do in the story move your story forward or not. If it doesn't advance the story, it shouldn't be in the story. This applies for whatever it is you're questioning, including a TG element.
If your story is boy moves to the big city to seek his fame and fortune only to find his small town virtues are now a handicap, it might not be handy to insert a TG element. If your story is boy moves to the big city to solve the mystery of why he feels so unfulfilled, the TG element could be an important part of the story.
As a secondary issue -- finding an audience for your story is a major part of writing. For some that can mean just one significant reader. for others that would mean cracking the NY Times bestsellers list. For a significant number of others, the author is the primary reader and the one they seek to satisfy. For that last group, and it is a large group, the only rules that apply are "no rules."
Those seeking to please only themselves are seeking to heighten a fantasy that might best be viewed through a fog of uncertainty that allows you only to feel what is happening without ever engaging the other senses. What many consider "good writing" strives to have us see, hear, taste, and smell -- as well as feel. Fantasy doesn't demand good logic. Think of your most enjoyable dreams. They seem complete and quite vivid. Yet scientists have found they last seconds and are only snapshots riddled with incomplete thoughts. The equivalent of drabbles, or less. In a fantasy world, meant only for you, everything moves the story forward -- as everything is the story.
Write for your reader(s). Tell me who your reader is and tell me what story you want to tell that reader -- and I will tell you what elements have a place in your story.
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Use it as a crutch
I use TG as a crutch for my stories. Having a character be TG brings a certain element of suspense to a story. Will I be found out, will I be accepted? Sometimes it helps with a story plot, such as with Runway, and Show Me The Money. How's that for shameless plugs. I use TG to help tell a story and try to balance the theme. Essentially I'm telling two stories at the same time. Is the person TG, and what is she like as a person. I've started another novel with Brenda from Runway, but don't consider it to be a TG novel. I think Angela Rausch said it best, if it doesn't help the story than don't use it, Arecee
TG or Not TG
I've never taken a story and said, let me add TG to this story so I can post it at BC. I HAVE taken an ordinary situation or a mainstream sort of plot and said suppose one of the characters were TG, would that make the story different?
In "Sam I Am" I took the idea of a sort of coming of age for a young girl and gave it a TG twist, she believes she used to be a boy. Without the TG angle, there would still be a story there but TG gives it a twist, a poignancy, a sharpness it would be hard to give otherwise.
In "Sledgehammer" I went with the idea of friendship being stressed and perhaps strengthened by the TG feelings of one of the friends. How does the other friend deal?
"Urban Renewal" is a straight ahead superhero story with a TG detail or two. The details are integral to the storyline but not necessary, they move things ahead in the story by providing character depth. Leaving them out would weaken the story but not greatly. I took some common elements from superhero stories and gave them a TG twist, but they are minor elements. The main story is about finding out about yourself, and the TG is held up as an odd reflection in a distorted mirror. It's not made into a big thing, it just happened. Lots of weird stuff happens in superhero universes.
In "Thirty Million Reasons" I tried to experiment with the idea of a reluctant TG being facilitated by a wealthy patron. I kind of wrote myself into a corner there but I may be able to return to it. Some readers seemed to want a darker story than the one I thought I was telling. I see this happen to other writers here at BC, too. When I got to the part where I had planned for the story to turn darker for a bit, I got paralyzed by trying to figure out how to tell it without making a villain out of anyone.
I've taken a bit of a vacation from TG writing with "Birdsong" and "Cliff Hangeur" over at Fictioneer, but on the side I'm working on a VERY dark story called (for the moment) "Girl of His Dreams. I'm not posting any of that yet.
"Birdsong" could easily have been TG, like a couple of spy stories recently on BC, that kind of thing can be done and done well. But I saw adding TG to Birdsong as being a distraction from the story I wanted to tell.
Cliff Hangeur is a comic strip script with a talking animal, TG details may emerge but they will just be that, TG incidents or details. Again, a central TG element would be a major distraction to the parody I'm doing. Cliff is enough of a stranger in a strange land without TG.
Just some thoughts :)
- Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.