Angst.

Dictionary.com defines angst as(I paraphrase) unfocused anger and dread.
Though I'm sure this is accurate, angst has, in our daily lives, become
more than a throwaway word. Angst has taken on a life and existance of its
own, through many channels, and many societies.

In this rant/document, I hope to explain some of my own theories on angst
and why it has become so prevalent in one community especially: neurotic
fans who write 'fanfic'.

Digression: I'm one of them. End digression.

Angst itself as an emotion is documented as "Emotion of the Millennium" by
John Scalzi, and he does an excellent job of explaining what *real* angst
is at http://www.scalzi.com/whatever/m991214.html. However, the angst that
I am going to be dealing with falls further toward that 'annoyance' and
less toward 'unfocused dread'. Or, rather, angst in fanfic tends to be
'unfocused dread' in a character that creates 'annoyance' in the reader.

In order to get my point across, I pulled up a few stories to dissect. The
most flagrant abusers of angst are those with little to no action; fanfics
in which things actually happen usually don't have characters sitting
around and contemplating how awful life is. Which is, of course, the root
of fanfic angst - characters brooding about how horrible their situation is
in order to get a reaction either from the other characters or, more often,
the readers. I've read enough angst that my reaction probably isn't what
writers are hoping for - I cheer when the suicide finally gets around to
happening.

The simple conclusion that arises from this is that angst in fanfic is
caused by characters sitting and dissecting their situation - much like
Prince Hamlet in Shakespeare's play. And while this is true, angst is not
simply sitting in one place whining(mentally or out loud) about the
situation at hand. Whining can come *from* angst, but it is not the emotion
itself. And angst doesn't always lead to whining.

Let's take an example of concentrated angst from White Star 2's story
Soliloquy; an X-Files fanfic wherein Mulder sits and, for a few hundred
lines, thinks about how much his life sucks before succumbing to temptation
and shooting himself.

Short digression: I gave that description of the story to a friend of mine,
who replied:

* Zibblsnrt ponders how that'd look in a movie.
<Zibblsnrt> *sits there* *sits there* *sits there* 
  *BLAM* *thud*

... the fact that I find this thought, and, indeed, the mental image it
generates *incredibly* amusing and appealing probably illustrates why I'm
not succeptible to angst. I simply don't have the faculty to empathize with
Mulder on this one. End digression.

Digression the second: I don't want this taken as some sort of comment on 
White Star 2's writing - at least, not negatively. The main reason why I 
picked this story was because it was a) done well enough for me to read it 
and b) conveniently located where I could find it(i.e. on my hard drive.) 
Truth is that she wrote this story so poignantly that if I could ever have 
a paroxyism of human feeling in my veins I'd probably be weeping at the end 
of it, but then again, I've already explained how this stuff doesn't affect 
me. End second digression and plug.

Anyway. The second paragraph of the story goes:

     He wondered why, above all. Why was he still alive? 
     Why was he still in the Bureau? That Black-Lunged Son 
     of a Bitch had more to do with it all than he wanted 
     to know. Mulder had guessed by now he was behind 
     practically everything. He'd also accepted he could 
     do nothing about it.

This paragraph is an excellent introduction to what characters do when they
angst, mostly because that's all that Mulder does in this story(besides the
aforementioned gun>head *triggerpull*.) He sits around thinking about his
situation, and in the process generates an emotion that a good number of
human beings find repulsive and pseudogoths seem to revel in. Let's take a
closer look at the process.

The first line, "He wondered why, above all," has the character asking the
fundamental angsty question: "Why?" This question is reminiscient of a
teenager attempting to get around parental rule; the parent(or the
universe) seems to be incredibly unfair. Nothing is going right, and the
character can't figure out why it's all happening to *him.* The thought
that he might have gotten himself into the situation is sometimes brought
up, leading to various what-ifs and more guilt, reasonable or otherwise.
Other times, it's more or less God's fault - everything is going wrong, and
the character sits there feeling sorry for himself.

More of this paragraph reveals the helplesness of the character: The
"Black-Lunged SoB" as the immovable object, the force he cannot overcome.
In the final line, Mulder has passed beyond motion and action, and is
basically sitting there helpless. He's come to the conclusion that he can't
do anything, action is worthless, and he's just going to sit here and dwell
on it. This is most of the time accomplished by having the character lose
something and then pine away because of it, instead of taking useful action.

The rest of the vignette(the technical term for "Characters do fuck all"
stories) is passed with more of the same; Mulder throws away every single
option open to him, then puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger on
the same note that Javert throws himself into the Seine. Heartbreaking. Of
course, the option that he could *live* was discarded by the author in
order to turn Mulder into a tragic figure. I pretty much did the same thing
myself in "Who am I", however instead of having our viewpoint character
driven to suicide(Nobody would cry for Thailog, I'm sure,) I had him driven
to action. Then, since the story was focused on angst and nothing else, I
had to end it there.

Now, for most or all of the proceeding, I've probably given the impression
that angst is a horrible thing in writing, that it should be avoided at all
cost lest your stories be whining pieces of slushpile reject. While that
may be true for some stories, I don't want to give the impression that
angst is *all* bad. Not at all! A little angst, however, goes a long way.
It's like paprika, almost; a sprinkling gives your deviled eggs a festive
flair and tasty topping, while a lot makes it look like someone in _The
Andromeda Strain_ up and bled all over your kitchen.

Angst is best used as a moment of painful reflection after actions where
the character really *did* screw up, or is about to do something unwise or
stupid. If a character was simply battered about by circumstance, angst
seems an incredibly selfish emotion. Anger, focused either on whoever did
the pushing or at the character himself, seems a much more profitable
emotion. At least, when you get your characters angry, they can do things
like going out and doing stupid things to advance the plot. And that's much
more amusing to read than characters sitting there and moaning.

But when a character really *has* done something wrong, having him realize
it can cause character growth. If a character went on a killing spree, for
example, having him grieve for the suffering he's caused and suffer himself
can cause him to have a new outlook on life. Or if a character is about to
reject an aspect of his personality or old life, it's perfectly reasonable
to have him reflect for a moment on what this will likely do. Hey, I do it
myself in _Love and War_, and that has more action than most of my other
stories.

Angst does not have to be about oneself. A character can also feel guilt
and pain and sorrow about another character. This is probably best
illustrated by X-Files fanfic as well.

Digression: For the Goddess' sake, people, I honestly don't know another
community with so much undiluted angst packed into its fanfic. Most of it
centered upon a relationship with no business coming into being, as well.
It's not just that this community has stories covered in angst, it's that
they have *multiple* stories on the same subjects, all of them *covered* in
angst about the same *things*. I think this happens because it's very easy
to fall into the initial traps with that series, and it's very easy to come
up with angst. Too easy, in my opinion. Seven and a half seasons worth of
plot holes means the fans have plenty of places to stick their dirty
fingers. End digression.

So. The haven of a good deal of these co-angst stories is
muldertorture.com, a site that collects fiction wherein Mulder is harmed,
either physically or mentally. However, all these stories(Even the one
where he was whacked on the cranium with a tire iron) had one thing in
common - they all featured angst as their main point. Me, I'd write a story
with Mulder getting whapped in the head with a tire iron and then *do*
something with it, but that's just me... and having Scully sit there and
angst about how her partner's now mortally wounded again does *not* strike
me as an effective use of resources.

Angst, whether used in a vignette or in a longer story as the main 'plot',
can cause a fanfic to simply reek of ennui. In smaller doses, however,
angst can be used as a catalyst for action, or as a way to slow down the
plot and get the readers to empathise with the characters. Remember,
though, that in terms of angst, less is more and more is too much. This
goes for those real-life people who can't cope with Valentine's Day, as
well. Buck up, people. Take it as another day, or not at all, and quit
complaining. Otherwise I'll have to hit you with the Stick Of Unfocused
Dread, and you'll really know what angst is about.