Week 8: Brief 2

So this is the last week of this brief! I have really enjoyed writing my fan-fiction, and have also benefited from reflectively working on it. By using my new-found reflective skills, and linking this page up to my portfolio on Mahara, I have managed to successfully create a new plot for The Office (US version).

Pam glanced nervously from Jim to Phyllis, twirling her engagement ring on her finger. She slipped it off and back on. Unsure. That was the word to describe it. Phyllis smiled over at Jim, catching his eye. He did his one-sided grin, the grin that made Pam's heart just melt. She pulled her ring off again, before delicately sliding it back down her finger. That was a golden opportunity missed. Pam thought back to that night after the work casino evening, how he'd held her with his large and gentle hands.. How he'd kissed her softly, his eyes closed firmly and earnestly.. She missed that night. She'd do anything to relive it, go back, have him touch her arm playfully or let her into a prank on Dwight. But those times were in the past. She'd let Roy overpower her for one day too long, and just like that Jim had moved on. She couldn't blame him. This was entirely her fault. Engaged to a drop-kick of a guy for 3 years, not even phased that he wasn't ready to set a date. 

"I'd be all over that if I wasn't dating Pam," he'd said.

"Dating? We're engaged," Pam had replied, stopping mid spoonful to glare at him in shock.

"Right, yeah. That's what I meant."

Pam stood up and left the room, headed straight to the bathroom to cry. Jim had been there waiting for her, right outside the ladies' bathroom door, when she came out. She'd nuzzled into his shoulder and quietly let the tears flow down her rosy cheeks. He held her. He held her and he loved her and she felt him and she loved him back. Things were perfect, more so than they had ever been with Roy. More so than they probably would ever be. She knew that, yet she couldn't summon the courage to break it off with him. Besides, by this point Jim was already interested in Phyllis. 

Pam was making copies when she heard giggling coming from the break room. Following the sound, she came across Jim, holding Phyllis in his strong arms. Both the thought and the sight of it sickened her. Phyllis' fat bulged under her shirt, especially around her protruding bra straps. Jim was holding her large, flabby hips and kissing her on the mouth. Foul. Pam backed up suddenly, hitting a wall on the way out of the break room, capturing the attention of the office's new (and totally mismatched) couple. 

"Pam," Jim said, loosening his previously firm grip on Phyllis' waist and looking slightly shy. Colour rushed to Phyllis' cheeks before she stifled a giggle. 

"He's cute huh?" she asked Pam. "I've always liked a younger man." She looked cheekily into Jim's blue eyes and he winked back. The pit of Pam's stomach burned and squelched simultaneously. 

"Yeah, well... I guess for me I'm marrying someone older, but in the sack!-"

"Let's not go there," Jim said, entwining his fingers with Phyllis'. Pam noticed but tried not to stare. 

"Why not?" she challenged. "You two seem perfectly happy displaying your affections at work."

"Yeah, well, y'know," said Jim, smirking. He was so sexy. Pam gazed but had to stop herself. 

"No. I don't know." Pam was getting frustrated. Surely, she thought, surely somewhere in his heart he still had feelings for her. Surely it wasn't all lost. 

Week 7: Brief 2

Phyllis always knows what's going on in Jim's love life, and is always there to comment when things go wrong. Coincidence? I think not. This week I have completed a continuation of my fan-fiction. This is my final draft before next week when I will fully edit and complete my writing. This week I worked more on the imagery of Phyllis!

Pam glanced nervously from Jim to Phyllis, twirling her engagement ring on her finger. She slipped it off and back on. Unsure. That was the word to describe it. Phyllis smiled over at Jim, catching his eye. He did his one-sided grin, the grin that made Pam's heart just melt. She pulled her ring off again, before delicately sliding it back down her finger. That was a golden opportunity missed. Pam thought back to that night after the work casino evening, how he'd held her with his large and gentle hands.. How he'd kissed her softly, his eyes closed firmly and earnestly.. She missed that night. She'd do anything to relive it, go back, have him touch her arm playfully or let her into a prank on Dwight. But those times were in the past. She'd let Roy overpower her for one day too long, and just like that Jim had moved on. She couldn't blame him. This was entirely her fault. Engaged to a drop-kick of a guy for 3 years, not even phased that he wasn't ready to set a date. 

"I'd be all over that if I wasn't dating Pam," he'd said.

"Dating? We're engaged," Pam had replied, stopping mid spoonful to glare at him in shock.

"Right, yeah. That's what I meant."

Pam stood up and left the room, headed straight to the bathroom to cry. Jim had been there waiting for her, right outside the ladies' bathroom door, when she came out. She'd nuzzled into his shoulder and quietly let the tears flow down her rosy cheeks. He held her. He held her and he loved her and she felt him and she loved him back. Things were perfect, more so than they had ever been with Roy. More so than they probably would ever be. She knew that, yet she couldn't summon the courage to break it off with him. Besides, by this point Jim was already interested in Phyllis. 

Pam was making copies when she heard giggling coming from the break room. Following the sound, she came across Jim, holding Phyllis in his strong arms. Both the thought and the sight of it sickened her. Phyllis' fat bulged under her shirt, especially around her protruding bra straps. Jim was holding her large, flabby hips and kissing her on the mouth. Foul. Pam backed up suddenly, hitting a wall on the way out of the break room, capturing the attention of the office's new (and totally mismatched) couple. 

"Pam," Jim said, loosening his previously firm grip on Phyllis' waist and looking slightly shy. Colour rushed to Phyllis' cheeks before she stifled a giggle. 

"He's cute huh?" she asked Pam. "I've always liked a younger man." She looked cheekily into Jim's blue eyes and he winked back. 

I also got feedback this week on my writing, from the same friend who I asked about my ideas last week. He said it was a good twist on the original screenplay, and that I perfectly captured each of the characters and how they would deal with the situations at hand. He also said that he was impressed with the way in which I portrayed Jim's new fascination with such an older woman. 

Week 6: Brief 2

Hey there, friend.

So this week I decided the all-important subject and material for my The Office fan-fiction. I chose to follow on from the idea of Phyllis and Jim's love affair. In all fairness to him and his character, pursuing Pam would have gotten really difficult to maintain. Especially following the continuous rejection from Pam in his pursuits, it would be understandable that he give up and seek another office love. Phyllis, in the series, is in her mid 50s and is rather overweight. She dresses in very frumpy clothing, is unmarried, is clumsy, and is, in essence, the direct opposite of Pam. This would be interesting to both non-viewers of the show, and dedicated fans who know the ins and outs of the characters involved. It is a complete alternate reality- exactly what a fan-fiction should consist of.

Below I have the first, unedited version of my reflective practice in my own fan-fiction writing!

Pam glanced nervously from Jim to Phyllis, twirling her engagement ring on her finger. She slipped it off and back on. Unsure. That was the word to describe it. Phyllis smiled over at Jim, catching his eye. He did his one-sided grin, the grin that made Pam's heart just melt. She pulled her ring off again, before delicately sliding it back down her finger. That was a golden opportunity missed. Pam thought back to that night after the work casino evening, how he'd held her with his large and gentle hands.. How he'd kissed her softly, his eyes closed firmly and earnestly.. She missed that night. She'd do anything to relive it, go back, have him touch her arm playfully or let her into a prank on Dwight. But those times were in the past. She'd let Roy overpower her for one day too long, and just like that Jim had moved on. She couldn't blame him. This was entirely her fault. Engaged to a drop-kick of a guy for 3 years, not even phased that he wasn't ready to set a date. 

"I'd be all over that if I wasn't dating Pam," he'd said.

"Dating? We're engaged," Pam had replied, stopping mid spoonful to glare at him in shock.

"Right, yeah. That's what I meant."

Pam stood up and left the room, headed straight to the bathroom to cry. Jim had been there waiting for her, right outside the ladies' bathroom door, when she came out. She'd nuzzled into his shoulder and quietly let the tears flow down her rosy cheeks. 

I feel that my fan-fiction is so far going very well, and I've been taking advantage of the websites that provide alternate examples and different styles of writing. They have assisted me in writing reflectively, and considering all aspects of the story as I tell it.

Week 5: Brief 2

This week I decided to talk to a few of my friends who are also fans of the TV show The Office. I thought it would be similar to an online fan-fiction forum if I ran my ideas past others who have the same sense of humor. One of my friends in particular said that he found the idea of making characters homosexual a little too far-fetched, and possibly offensive to the gay community. Although I don't entirely agree with these points, I did take my friend's opinions on-board. He suggested other options, that included:

- Making Dwight Schrute the boss of Dunder Mifflin in the place of Michael Scott. I didn't really consider this as an idea, however, because this idea has already been explored in the series itself and I wanted to do something original. My ideas seemed more unusual than this, as they hadn't been found in the screenplay.

- Roy (Pam's fiance and Jim's enemy) developing a love for Jim himself. I agreed that this dynamic would be ironic, as the entirety of the series Roy openly despises Jim and his blossoming romance with the woman he loves. 

I am yet to decide which of my ideas would make for the best fan-fiction.

Aside from these developments in my assignment, I also researched how you can effectively and believably alter the attributes of various characters. I did this by reading fan-fictions online, focusing mainly on those based on The Office to better aid my plot. Some of my findings, in my own words, were as follows:

-Reflect on the contrasting traits of other characters who you want your main character to interact with.

-Once you've decided on a situation to put your chosen characters in, ensure that there aren't any key moments in the actual series that occur in that place. That will confuse familiar audiences and cause for mix-ups of alternate story-lines.

-Try to use the correct vernacular voice of the character you are channeling. 

Week 4: Brief 2

This week I decided to research and look into other fan-fictions that are based on the same topic as mine; that is, The Office (US version). It was difficult to find them- apparently this isn't a very well-covered base for fanfic. However I did manage to find this site that has hundreds of amazing fan-fiction pieces. They are generally very well-written and explore the many possibilities in the love life and encounters of Jim and Pam. After reading these pieces, I decided that I would prefer to steer clear of exploring these possibilities. I wanted to do something that was original and hadn't already been done by others.

While brainstorming my own original ideas for my twist on The Office, I thought of the following options:

-Jim falling in love with Phillys. I am completely aware that many people are not familiar with this TV show or any of its stock characters so I will quickly sum up what this plot would entail. Phyllys is an overweight, and much older, character. She is dithery and fumbles around the office with little to no purpose. Jim, on the other hand, is a handsome go-getter with a fetish for grape soda. He's well-meaning and earnest, and he typically (according to the original screenplay) is in love with Pam. He pursues Pam regardless of her engagement to Roy throughout the entire first 3 series of the show. Audiences are enthralled with the blossoming of their romance, and how they finally get together. But what if Jim had given up after being slammed constantly in his attempts? That is, I feel, what fan-fiction is all about. It's discovering the 'what ifs' of  series, and completing the back story for them. If Jim had given up on Pam and gone for Phillys instead, things would have become very interesting. They would be a mismatched couple and no-one would have seen it coming. The dynamic would have been both captivating and entertaining.

-If Dwight had developed a crush on Michael Scott. Throughout the entire series of The Office on television, Dwight constantly seeks Michael's approval and praise. Often, his attempts are pathetic and sickening. I think it would interesting to channel this into a crush on his boss. Not only would it be believably because of his back story, but it would also be a challenge to write as I have never written anything even remotely homosexual before.

-If Michael was actually in love with Toby. There is a definite tension between Michael and Toby, very much a love-hate thing. Toby loves Michael- or more blatantly, wants his approval. On the other hand, Michael appears to hate Toby's guts.Tapping into that would be hilarious, and a challenge for the same reasons that the above would be.

Week 3: Brief 2

Hey!

So this week I made a solid start on my own fanfiction. When I was reading some of other people's work, I found that they had often taken their writing to one extreme of the other. Either they made it SO different from the original that you could hardly tell what it was based on, or they made it so similar that it could be confused with the original. This showed me that it is difficult to find middle ground in this aspect. It's hard to make the writing far enough from the original to be its own, and yet close enough that the topic is clear.

I wanted to find this middle ground in my own writing. For that reason, I kept all of the stock characters that can be found in the original screenplay of The Office, but changed attributes to match that of characteristics in other comedies, such as the movie 'Stepbrothers' and the TV show 'IT Crowd'. My fanfic consists of the characters Michael Scott (the boss), Dwight Schrute (the self-proclaimed assistant manager), Jim Halpert (the hilarious and sweet middle management persona), and Pamela (the secretary). Other characters involved in the original screenplay have comical benefits to the series, but I felt that using too many of the stock characters might detract from my story-line.

Week 2: Brief 2

Hi there!

So this week I came across a website filled to the brim with Harry Potter-based fanfiction called MuggleNet. If you wanted to check that out, click this link- there are some awesomely inventive pieces of work on there! Backing up what I said on my Mahara portfolio, Harry Potter is the number one most popular topic of fanfiction worldwide, so I don't know why I was so surprised by the millions of works. I myself read the first few Harry Potter books as a child, and watched the first couple of movies, however I wouldn't really consider myself a fan. In fact, I didn't even go to see the latest installment of the films. It just doesn't interest me. However, some of the works I found on this site were very entertaining.

As with all online writing, plenty of the entries on this site had spelling and grammar mistakes. Though this certainly niggles me, I found that it was easier to forgive because I was reading it on a screen and not on paper. In fact if anything, it almost seemed that it added to the originality and authenticity of the writing. However, despite this, I will not be writing my fanfiction with spelling and grammar mistakes as I find that to be 'clunky', in the words of Frank, and messy.

As my second week of working on my own fanfiction work progresses, I am becoming more and more certain of my topic. I have chosen to do my fanfiction on the US version of the hit TV show 'The Office', and this is my final decision. NOT Harry Potter. NOT Twilight. NOT Glee.


FYI: The site also has a forum for all the writers to discuss their fanfiction work and the reasons why they decided to change certain aspects of the storyline or character development. They also have links to purchase a Harry Potter fanfiction writing guide on Amazon online.

Week 1: Brief 2

Hello there!
This is my very first blog entry for brief 2 of iRefect, semester 2 2011.

I have chosen to work on a fanfiction of my own while simultaneously comparing my work to the work of other writers in an online forum.

For the first week of this digital assessment I made a start on seeking out various fanfics online to compare my work to. There is a very large forum of people writing fanfiction online, and it has become something of a trend in the last 5 years. For that reason, it wasn't difficult to find examples of fanfiction to compare my work to.