Doctor Who: On Writing for a Fan Site
By Leah Tedesco
Writing lots of articles can be difficult… And the struggle just got super real.
When you write for a fan site of a television program, the off season can be a particularly tricky period. Oh, there is a trickle of news, but the big stories are few and far between. Until Doctor Who returns with the 2016 Christmas special, we at Doctor Who Watch have been tasked with the challenging endeavor of continuing to generate at least the minimum number of articles each month (50) for almost an entire new-episodeless year. I imagine that madness will soon ensue… well, more madness than is already involved.
We do have the option of writing about old episodes, comics, novels, fan-created content, conventions, etc, but that can get tedious and repetitive after a while. (That, and we do not always have time to do things like watch a bunch of episodes. You may or may not be surprised to learn that this is not our main occupation.) Anyway, one sometimes just wants to shake things up as a writer — to generate content that will establish one’s site as something special.
Many of our articles possess a writing style that is not always appreciated, or even understood by fans. We get it. We are certainly not for everyone. Some of our staff love to be silly and sarcastic in their writing, myself included. Because of this, we fancy ourselves a sort of mild Cracked of the Doctor Who fandom. (We would be more extreme, but the powers that be will not allow it.) We also pride ourselves on going beyond simple news with thoughtful analysis of the show, and how it fits into and reflects the current surrounding culture in which we live. As our mission statement says:
"Doctor Who Watch is dedicated to providing top-notch Doctor Who news, views and original content. This site also serves as a community for like-minded fans to come together to catch up on the latest news and to discuss their passion."
There are even times when we have article titles that appear to be clickbait, but are really just introductions to genuine discussions.
More from Doctor Who
- Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor Who Christmas special is a “complete reinvention”
- Ncuti Gatwa is “so nervous” to take on Doctor Who role
- The Doctor and Donna are better than ever in “Wild Blue Yonder”
- Take the Black: House of the Dragon season 2 trailer hints, the Fallout show, and more
- Jodie Whittaker didn’t pick up on any of the hate for her version of the Doctor
Also, it is fine to disagree, but even some of our basic opinions have been met with downright rude criticism. We fully expect this, as it is common to find such arguments amongst any fandom. It can get frustrating, but it gets easier for some of us to laugh it off over time. We have, however, formed a niche following who seems to really enjoy what we do. They are thoughtful, polite, and share our sense of humor. A big “thank you” to them!
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Next: Doctor Who and Reflections of a Couple