Subject: I remember a while back
Author:
Posted on: 2009-05-25 09:01:00 UTC
someone (forgot their name) announced to give up PPCing and deleting their missions from their livejournal, because they had found an agent and a hardcover deal for the novel they wrote.
Has anyone ever wondered if a few of the best PPCers, working together, could conceivably write something of a high enough quality to be published? Either a novel or a collection of short stories?
Not something of the PPC, of course. Fanfiction and its tropes are not well-known enough to write novels about, and the "meta" side of fanfiction (Mary Sues, 'shipping, etc) is only studied by a handful of Internet nerds. But the general concept of a bunch of cynical and Genre Savvy characters exploring fictional universes, with loads of unconventional humor (Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett-style) and a healthy dose of postmodernism, certainly has a place on the shelves of a library.
It's just an idea thrown in the wind, not a project.
Maybe if you want to avoid the whole copyright issue, you could restrict your fictional universes to something like fairy tales? Just a suggestion, and I'm not sure how many people it would appeal to.
The problem, of course (and yes, I know you said not a project, but I'm a thinky sort) is that involving fictional universes brings to pass all sorts of unpleasant licensing issues. Using public domain works brings it uncomfortably close to the works of Jasper Fforde (which I have recently started reading), so my mental telescope can already see a rock on one side, a hard place on the other.
Unless, of course, a bunch of PPCers were able to publish their own original works and then set stories for this in those... but that's a bit over-ambitious even for the Board, methinks.
Anyway. I'd read it (probably the short stories would work best, for consistency), but that's just me.
hS
And the parts I've read made me immediately think 'PPC' for some reason.
I haven't written a single real mission for the PPC, and English is not even my first language. Besides, as I mentioned on my LiveJournal account on the off-chance that there's someone who glances at it once in a while, I am already losing interest in the PPC and in the universe created by Jay and Acacia (yeah, I know... that's pathetic). So this is certainly not something I will have a hand in. Just an idea, nothing more.
While reading some of the old missions by Jay and Acacia, it struck me that this stuff is much more addictive and original than many of the professionally written novels you find on the shelves. It is not deep, but it is very funny and light-hearted, and it features great characters in a great setting. Once you start reading, it is hard to stop. The original series is nothing short of brilliant, and even though Jay and Acacia are no longer with us, some of us may have what it takes to aim higher. I'm not saying that a novel written by PPCers would have any success, but getting something published is already quite an accomplishment — and not, I think, one that is out of reach for the best of us.
It's funny, with characters you know and care about... But they are, whatever else, fanfiction characters. They therefore have no sellable characteristics, because you cannot legitimately sell fanfiction.
Jay and Acacia are a dynamic that work. That doesn't mean they're characters with a plot that works - not one that could be sold. This stuff works because we're all a part of it and we all see it and we all recognise it. That doesn't mean there's a non-derivative story in it. Jay and Acacia and their idea works within the bounds of fanfic; it works online where we all know the boundaries. But there isn't a plot behind Jay and Acacia. There isn't a story about them that needs to be told. The only story to tell draws far too heavily on copyrighted subjects. So we leave well be.
That's why I don't think it should be a PPC story, just something that incorporates the same two main elements as the PPC:
1. Metafictional humor
2. A quirky and random world that makes little or no sense
Because it's plot you need. Characters help, but you need a plot.
Though I don't think I could in any way be counted among the best of the PPC.
*is going to send her tall ship characters into this mess. Including the Infernal Trio.*
If this ever does become something, I'd love to take part in it.
Though, I have had ideas about writing a story (not necessarily about the PPC itself) where a race of sparkly, ethereal, perfect monstrosities attempts to spread light and sappiness on the universe, while a small army of 'normals' rises to oppose them. Probably will never do it, though, because I'm working on the original fantasy that has Deuce in it.
I know several of us have tried to get published, at least. I defer to anyone with a better memory than mine on the subject.
It sounds like a genius idea - count me in for a short story or two.
someone (forgot their name) announced to give up PPCing and deleting their missions from their livejournal, because they had found an agent and a hardcover deal for the novel they wrote.