Feature Author: Lara Means

With XFMU, the Charlie Scully Fanfic archive, X-Infinitum, her own fanfic site and her own recommendations site, Lara Means is one of the most ardent voices in keeping the XF Community alive. Her name appears on almost every newsgroup and XF board on the internet. Her stories have been multi-finalists in the 2001 Spooky Awards and they have won other various prestigious fanfic awards...too numerous to name!!

When did you start writing XF fanfic? How did you start?

I found XF fic during the summer after Season 6, and started writing it that
fall. My first story was posted in November of 1999, a post-ep for
"Millennium." I got started writing it because I was really impressed by the
quality of the stories I read, and also because I knew it would be my only
chance as a writer to explore these great characters.

Have you written fanfic for other fandoms?

Nope. XF is the only show I've ever felt so passionately about. I'm a
*huge* TV fan, though, and I watch lots of other shows -- read fic for some
other shows too, although not much -- but I can't see myself writing fic for
anything else.

What else do you write?

I used to write for television -- I've written half a dozen episodes for TV
shows no one's ever heard of -- and I used to write a column on TV writing
for a screenwriting magazine. No plans currently to branch out into RL
fiction -- fic fills my creative needs right now.

What kind of process do you undertake when you write? Do you write a whole
story in one sitting? Do you make story outlines or let it flow?

It really depends on the story. Most of the time, though, I like to have the
whole story written in my head before I put pen to paper or fingers to
keyboard. If I don't have the ending in mind before I start writing, I
usually get hopelessly lost in the middle. I've written stories in one
sitting -- one in particular, "Completion," I wrote and posted in one night,
because it was a very personal story.

You run two popular fanfic archives. What inspired you to create archives for the
Charlie Scully and XFMU?

With CharlieFic, I'd read several Charlie stories and went looking for more.
When I realized there were archives for Bill Scully and Melissa Scully but
not Charlie, I decided to start one. Unfortunately, that one's kind of
stopped right now -- there haven't been many Charlie stories lately, plus
Geocities won't let me update with Front Page anymore -- so while CharlieFic
will remain on the web, it won't be updated again until I feel the need to
move it off of Geocities.

I started XFMU when XFC declared all Season 8+ fic and characters banned. At
first it was just going to be a mailing list for Doggett and Reyes fic, but I
figured we needed an archive too -- now there are almost 1,200 stories there,
and over 200 members on the mailing list.

Does XFMU cause you much controversy?

The only real controversy XFMU has caused was about the time it launched -- a
few people on atxc were a little peeved that I'd twisted Mulder's very first
ever line on the show ("Nobody down here but the FBI's most unwanted") into
an archive name for the new characters (The X-Files Most Unwanted). I felt
it was perfect, though, since the reaction of some fic fans was that Doggett
and Reyes *were* unwanted.

As you mentioned, you used to write for television. How did your experiences affect your
fanfic? Or vice versa...

Screenwriting is about two things -- what the characters say and what they
do. You can't show how they might feel except through their actions and
their words. Without that restriction in fic writing, I've become a better
writer, able to draw characters who are much richer and more
three-dimensional. Having written this way now for about three years, I
can't see myself going back.

Has the series ending affected the way or what you write?

I go back in time sometimes to find my inspiration -- the "View From the
Outer Office" stories have been my way of expressing that. And I like the
idea that canon can't change anymore. <g>

Any upcoming stories to look out for?

I've gone back to the first series I started writing, "Conversation Hearts,"
and have finally written the next installment, called "Renewal." It's with
my beta reader now, and should be posted soon. And I'm working on the next
parts of the "Sara Mulder Stories" and "View" series. There's something else
I'm thinking about, another 'going back to the beginning' thing -- what if
Reyes had been assigned to work with Mulder instead of Scully way back when?
This thought grew out of another story I started which was an attempt to
write a Mulder/Reyes relationship piece that respected the MSR (MRR fic set
in Season 8 or 9 usually doesn't work for me because the MSR is so firmly
established) -- as I wrote and looked at the Mulder/Reyes episodes and Reyes'
backstory, I realized I'd have to ignore too much canon, so now I'm thinking
about an AU series.

Is there's anything else you'd like to tell readers out there?

As much as we writers talk about doing it for love, we really do it for the
readers. Without readers, I don't think fic would exist. We love feedback,
even short "I liked your story" feedback. So readers, don't stop reading.
We need you.

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