Shipping 101 · 3:37am Jul 22nd, 2014
Shipfic is big business on fimfic. Lots of authors write it, leading to many admirers and, of course, many amateur attempts. After reviewing quite a bit of shipping, I would like to offer my two cents as to what works, what does not work, and how to approach the topic in the first place.
What is shipping, anyway?
At its core, shipping is about taking canon characters and involving them in a personal, exclusive, self-donating relationship with each other. To be personal means that the relationship has its own unique flavor that combines elements from each partner's character. Exclusive means that this relationship is, by its very nature, something that can only be shared between the participants. This is different from friendship, which can be expanded to include any number of characters. To be self-donating means that each character in the relationship invests a part of themself in it. It is more or less an emotional necessity for each partner to continue with the relationship. This is why breakups are so hard: the one you trusted with a part of yourself is telling you that you will never have that closeness again.
With this definition in mind, let us take a look at some of the more common problems of shipping.
Generic character interaction:
Media has given us a collective idea of what couples do. However, making your couple do these things does not in itself result in a ship. No matter how much Applejack snuggles Luna, if their entire interaction consists of nothing but that and trading "I love you" over dinner and movies, then there is no personal element to the relationship. You have set out to show two characters in a relationship, but have completely wasted the characters.
While pony snuggling can be cute, remember that it needs to fit in the context of the two characters' personalities. Before you write large segments of your story dedicated to public displays of affection, consider what unique opportunities this ship offers your characters. What can they share exclusively between themselves that they can never get with any other person? For instance, Zecora could show Fluttershy the workings of the Everfree forest, while Fluttershy could share her closer connection with animals and let Zecora actually talk to the strange creatures she has lived amongst for so long. Sharing a unique opportunity is much more meaningful than even the most passionate snuggling.
Though characters will find themselves kissing, snuggling, and whatnot now and then, they will go about it in their own way. Cherilee might be content to enjoy Big Mac's strong embrace, while Rainbow Dash might make snuggle-time into a competition. The more you can tie your characters' unique traits into their interaction, the better their chemistry will be.
Finally, be wary of characters exchanging tokens of their relationship before you have introduced the significance to the audience. Dropping an early "I love you" is the prime offender because it promises so much, but on its own it is three dead words. Try to save those words until you have shown us a little of what the partners' love means to them personally.
Assuming a couple is an item:
Your characters are not together because they are together. They are together because they want to be together exclusively. Ask yourself what makes your couple more than friends. What dynamic exists between them that is theirs and theirs alone and could not exist with the inclusion of another person? Without considering the elements that drive your characters to be exclusive, you are left with two maybe-friends artificially following the generic romance trope checklist because the plot says so.
Failing to build reader investment:
If you open on two characters together with the narrator calling them <gender>friends with no explanation, the reader is going to have a hard time buying it. This does not necessarily mean that you have to give a detailed backstory of how the two came to be together. No one wants to be hit with an infodump right off the bat. Instead, the reader needs assurances that the characters are in the relationship for a reason. Try to open on a scene that emphasizes what each one wants from the other and how they enjoy their interaction. If you can establish what personal investment each character has made in their relationship, then it becomes reasonable to roll with the ship even without the full history. If you can get a sense of what would be lost were the two not be together, then the reader has something to root for.
While you are at it, try to avoid using "<gender>friend" frequently, as it is a clunky word. One use is fine to declare the relationship, but if you find yourself using it like a pronoun, find another word. It comes off as the narration waving their relationship status in our face when it should be obvious from how they act. Annoying at best, informed attribute at worst. Try not to lean on it.
Of course, knowing what not to do does not exactly help you to know what you should be doing. Here are a few tips in that regard:
Write about "characters who want to spend time with each other" rather than "characters in a relationship":
Contrary to popular belief, dating is not actually an activity so much as a vague something we do because we have seen it in the movies forever. This is why the 'what do I do on a first date!?' trope is a thing: you say you want to 'date' someone, but when it is time to actually do the activity, you find it is a nebulous word without much substance. Sure, there are vague connotations of going to a restaurant together for some indeterminate reason where awkwardness ensues, but if pressed for a reason why to date, a lot of people will just tell you 'because that is how things are.' The same can be said for many other romance conventions.
Unless you want to discuss teenage romance or Twilight dating by the book, you will probably benefit from forgetting about that word entirely if you are not romantically experienced. Instead, use 'spend time with each other.' If your characters can spend time with each other, they will get to know one another, and, if the romance is going to work, they will find they want to spend more time with each other. Then all you have to do is figure out who wants to start a relationship with who, what each of them actually likes to do, and what they think the other actually likes to do and you have got a framework for starting the relationship.
Allow your characters to be selfish
Why these characters want to spend time with each other? What need do they have that they reasonably think can be fulfilled by spending time with this person? Make a short list for each, and be as specific as possible. Perhaps they wonder what the other person is like, or maybe they just want to be seen in public with the popular girl on their arm. I even have a friend who fully admits he only goes out with women when he really wants to see a movie but all the bros have things to do.
This all may seem cold and calculating, but another thing to keep in mind is that selflessness is boring. It is one person giving entirely and another person getting entirely, so it does not get much of a mutually-donating relationship going. Even if someone is a very generous person, there needs to be an underlying need of theirs that is being met so you have a basis for characters to interact as characters. For instance, if Rarity is giving a tramp a pity date, she might be invested in finding a diamond in the rough or inspiring him to be more of a gentlecolt. She has a need to know she is having a positive impact and will be upset if she decides it is not going to happen.
Remember the shipped characters are people first:
You can take the cold, calculating edge off of the above by having each character answer this question: 'how am I supposed to treat other people?' You do not go into a relationship completely focused on what you want because most people will see that as mooching. People want to be good people more often than not, and being good people is watching out for each other and making sure things are equal for whatever definition of equal they run on. So while they certainly want something out of the other person, they also will usually feel the need to get what they want without taking advantage. This leads them to keep an eye out for how the other person is responding to them and draws the characters out of themselves to pay attention to the other person.
Do your homework but know when to show it:
Note that they do not have to be consciously aware of what they want. We rarely know what is going on in our subconscious. However, you, the author, need to know so it is easier to see where you are going with the relationship. When the characters spend time together, pick the one thing that each character MOST needs right now and have them attempt to fulfill that need in your scene. They don't need to actually be able to fulfill each others' needs (in which case they may end the scene in failure), but the point is they think the other can give them what they want and they are willing to take the risk in the hope of finding what they desire. This will keep you from writing the stereotypical awkward aimless "lovey dovey" relationship.
Just remember: lovers are not slaves to some abstract emotion. They are their own persons with specific needs and gifts that find they can get more of what they want together than apart.
shechive.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/post-28431-jgl-well-said-well-said-gif-im-s5dg.gif
2305582
what ChaoticLightning said.
Another good writeup from you. I know it hasn't been easy sometimes reading the same thing over and over in shipping fics. As always, well thought out and well said.
And now to ask for a favor.
I would be interested in your thoughts on the start of a romance that I'm working on... if you have a moment or two at some point I would really appreciate your thoughts. I haven't gotten it to the point where I'd be comfortable taking your time to take a peek, but I thought I'd put in a request ahead of that time.
I was going to say that a polyamorous relationship might be an exception to that rule, then I reconsidered. In polyamorous love, each and every single character in the love has a special relationship with each and every other character in the love -- and that is precisely why stable polyamory is difficult to attain.
I discuss a version which exists (but as an uncommon marital variant) in my Equestria in "Morgan-Marriages." The relevance of this is that -- if polyamory is part of your Equestria and is stable and anything but very rare -- it probably exists within some sort of institutional expectations, rather than just being made up on the spot by the participants.
It's also a very weak word. "Lovers" or "beloveds" is better. And yes, without any explanation of why and how the two characters love one another, it's also very artificial -- it's something being told rather than shown, and not even being told very well.
What interests do they share, and what new knowledge or capabilities do they bring to these interests. Also, keep in mind that if the characters are not good at being close friends, their love won't work -- if it ever even gets started.
On the other hand, if characters have known each other long, they may have loved each other long before they decided to become romantic or sexual. In that case, "I love you" might be a perfectly-natural thing to say converting friendship into romantic love. Indeed, in that case they might both have known they loved each other before they decided to get romantic about it.
In rural and small town Pony society, the couple may well have grown up together as childhood friends. I discuss this possibility (and other aspects of small-town romance) in "Country Courtship." My speculations are hardly authoritative, but they take into account the differences of a society in which everypony knows one another -- something rare in today's West.
On "dating" -- "dating" actually referred originally to the couple arranging to spend some time together -- agreeing on a date and time. So yes -- the couple and what they want do together is more important than a ritual "date."
Your acting training is, as always, very much evident here, especially in the advice to have characters begin with something they want from the other character. I heartily second your opinion on the progression in much Pony shipfic:
1) Friends
2) Awkward confession, followed by
3) Snogging and instantaneous "I love you," followed by
4) The mandatory Dress Up And Go To The Restaurant.
I don't know why it's always a restaurant. Ponyville always seems to acquire a four-star Very Expensive Restaurant just for the occasion. This makes no sense. From what I can remember, we've never seen a fancy restaurant, whereas we've seen plenty of other potential date spots (Sugarcube Corner, the movie theater, the bowling alley). Also, maybe I'm not reading the best shipfics, but it always seems to be a generic Restaurant. No food description? No waitstaff? No ambiance? I had a lot of fun writing a restaurant scene in which the waiter dropped down to his knees and said "let me explain to you the way our menu works," and that wasn't even a shipfic.
And then, as you point out, the succeeding references to each other as "marefriend" and "coltfriend."
I'd like to hear your further thoughts on "assuming the couple is an item." How can one avoid this in a shipfic where the romance is already in progress?
2305699
This is very true. However, my overall point was more reader-focused. Their love may be deep, but if we have not seen it yet, the reader is still going to feel left out. I suppose if you have a longstanding relationship already, you might get away with dropping an "l love you" in the first few pages, but you would still be advised to find a way of delivering that "I love you" with a piece of each person in it.
Actually, the more I think about it, establishing the "personal" aspect of shipping for the reader as quickly as possible is far and away the most crucial thing to do as early as possible. Without that, you are writing middling grade pulp
2305643
Feel free to PM or skype any questions you may have as they arise. I'm always happy to help.
2305616 2305582
Thanks, guys
2305935
Kinda rushed that paragraph. Oops.
This is more author-facing advice than reader-facing advice. In essence: do not go into your story thinking of your couple's relationship as a given. It is easy to declare "let there be two characters in a relationship" and then work off of the assumption that the relationship is a fact of life rather than a living, breathing entity in its own right.
How can you prevent this? Do a few mental exercises. Even if you are working with the most secure relationship in the world, take a moment before you write to imagine the breakup scene. What lead to it? How is each character impacted? What do they lose when they're apart? Could they get back together, and how would they go about doing that? Having this alternative to the relationship fresh in your mind will help remind you that you are working with two persons rather than a trope.
2306204
I'm niggling a bit -- I always try to not merely tell but also show that two characters love one another, even if it's a long-established relationship in my continuity. In Collateral Damage, I emphasize repeatedly that Strawberry and Falcon love one another (in context, they've been married for ten years) because if I didn't show it in action then his death would not have had the same dramatic impact.
Scoots2 is of course talking about her excellent Cheese Pie series (both of them, one about a Pony Cheese Sandwich and Pinkie Pie and the other about a pair of Humanoid ones) which has just such a progression with some affect being established by the later stories. I'd also see them as a story series and possibly something that might be folded together into a pair of novellas or novels. But she does generally write at least something at some part of the story that emphasizes just why they love each other -- and in their case, they are very unique individuals with a very non-standard mutual affection.
2305935
Maybe the writers are hungry? Seriously, I've written at least one detailed food description scene in part because I was hungry at the time of writing.
Ponyville in canon has at least one nice restaurant (shown as early as "The Ticket Master") but yeah, it's a small town. Admittedly, a small town which is economically an exurb of the capital, but still it's still not going to be downtown Manehattan. (Hmm, I remember now that there was a scene where the Manehattan Nightstallion was thinking about all the nice restaurants in Manehattan while eating a sewer rat, and I don't think I was hungry when I was writing that scene).
I've noticed that a lot of fanfics and especially ask blogs tend to add new restaurants, cafes etc. to the town to the point where it seems like a very upscale touristy kind of place. I'm actually trying to incorporate this with a reason into my writing -- namely that Ponyville in YOH 1500 (the year of the Return of Luna) was just a small town with at most a tourist crowd day-tripping from the capital during festivals or coming in for multi-day vacations every now and then; but that it then grows with great rapidity mostly because of the presence of Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends there. Ironically, Twilight Sparkle herself, despite her obvious origin from the gentry, seems to have rather simple tastes in food.
The reason of course why everyone does the Restaurant Date thing is because Hollywood also does it. This is in part an example of Hollywood delusions of normalcy -- just as Hollywood Homely is what most people in reality would call "beautiful but not quite stunning" and the Hollywood concept of a normal apartment or house is what most people would call a luxury suite or a small mansion, the Hollywood concept of the place a normal couple would dine out at is something which would cost them easily $100 or more in real life. Mind you, real people do do this (or such restaurants wouldn't stay in business) but it implies things about either their tastes, their dedication to fine dining, or the desire of whichever one is paying for the meal to impress the other with his wealth.
With little variation. Which is a shame, since the show itself has offered at least one alternative formulation ("special somepony") in addition to all the standard ones ("lover," "beloved") from real life and any others which the specific couple might come up for each other and their relationship.
2306216 At first, I didn't understand what you meant by imagining their breakup scene. I thought, "wait--but I'm not going to write a breakup!"--and then I realized that in fact I DO think about the specific things that draw them together (among other things, the very real fact that no one will ever understand them as well as they do each other) and the things that could drive them apart (his peripatetic vocation, his tendency to put her on a pedestal, his nightmare of a mother, and on her side, the inability to understand why this is all so complicated.) You're right. That does have to be at the back of the author's mind, even if readers never see it.
I'd even push it further and suggest that for general purposes, it's a good idea to consider that what attracts a couple in the first place is often the very thing that causes a breakup. "I love his sense of humor" becomes "why doesn't he take anything seriously?"; "she's so elegant and glamorous" becomes "why does she take so long in the bathroom?"
Sigh. Jordan's right. Of course I was thinking of my own work.
2306264 I've known some small towns that have one very fine restaurant, and sometimes more than one, plus an antique store. I think Rarity would very much like for Ponyville to become that sort of place, given her theme of "Small Town Chic," but I also don't think it's there yet. Having a resident Princess with a castle, even a castle which looks like that one, may well push it in that direction.
My Dad has a thing about Fine Dining, meaning going to places with frightening high ratings: the kind of place where they do start you out with an "amusement" and do explain "how the menu works" and the sommelier comes over and recommends a wine at some stratospheric price--and that's at the bottom of the list. He's reached the age when he really doesn't want more "stuff," so a few times I've taken him to one of these places for his birthday and his eyes light up, and he is extremely happy and I ruefully watch my wallet smoke for months.
As for Hollywood ideas of what's "normal": if you live in Southern California, as I do, you can't help but snort and think that--
1) you recognize where that exterior was shot. We've got a regular spot in the paper showing locations for movies, TV series, and reality TV being shot in different neighborhoods, and
2) that "simple little family home" is worth about a million dollars--except, of course, when it's suddenly worth 100,000 dollars.
But when you're writing a shipfic, that's only an incidental detail. If I'm thinking about or even noticing the lack of detail in the obligatory restaurant scene, it's a dead giveaway that the author hasn't made the relationship interesting enough and is falling back on so many cliches that it's a distraction.
Very good read, and advice, for that matter. Now this is probably just my opinion showing through, as I make no claim to be an expert on literature, but I find "shipping" stories easy for the author to miss the mark.
Now, romances aren't a genre that I search out to read, but that's not to say I dislike romance or serious relationships in what I do read. They can really add to the significance of a story, but they need to be cohesive and fit into the rest of the narrative.
Which brings my to my point. I think lots of "shipping" stories make the mistake of having the relationship be the reason for the narrative, which seems like a rather weak start. Rather, the focus should be on an event or situation that heavily impacts the relationship instead. I see the relationship as a stock, or a heavy base for the literative stew the author is brewing that brings out and marries the other elements of a romance story together. Without it you would have chunky disjointed chaff, and if the relationship was all you had it would be bland. Filling, but boring.
Once again, just my thoughts.
Nice job!
2306878
That's true as well. Without a conflict or some desire for growth, a relationship-focused story can tend to stagnate. I might have to consider adding a paragraph about that.
Of course, you have to be careful with the balance, because the plot and the relationship are going to be competing for screen time. If you are not careful, the audience that came for the plot might find the relationship to be filler, but the audience here for the romance will think the same thing about the action. You have to find some way for the two ideas to work together.
This is difficult because character moments are easier to write quiet, and action scenes are generally loud and proud, and whichever the main context of the scene happens to be will demand the full attention of the characters. You can either focus on having a heart to heart or ramp a battleship into the sun. Once you choose your focus, the other becomes a distraction. Its possible to do well, but I have not seen it done very often.
2306253
Makes sense.
2306682
Yep, the underlying problem is people forgetting to remember that characters are characters. If you can do that, you should be on the right path. Shipping is the absolute LAST genre that you want to write a plot-driven story in
2307494
That's the word I was looking for, "conflict". I didn't mean to imply action as much as I did, that is a fine line to walk if you're trying to mesh those two together.
2307494
Yes. A story about love in which nothing happens but love is boring. The issue is how the love affects the other aspects of the lovers' lives, what obstacles stand in the path of their love, etc. etc. Otherwise it would be pure sugary fluff.
Though note that if you take Scoots2's corpus as a whole, that's not what she's doing . Some stories may be primarily about the love, but they are linked to others which are about their powers, their personalities, and the obstacles to their union.