There are times when a fan fiction writer throws battered manuscripts, laptops and ball point pens into the air and fall to the ground in worship, muttering; "I am not worthy."  This occurred to me on a frosty afternoon when, without any prior warning, I fell across some writing which caused so much laughter that my family suspected that I may have finally gone round the bend.  The cause for this hilarity?  A scene from the Ryo Sen and Jo March story, Wordplay.

For two writers who have only been writing since September 2000, Jo and Ryo have amassed piles of stories and awards for their work.  As Jo says, "Considering how much stuff we've produced, it's a bit frightening to realize that it's been less than a year."  Among the fiction they have produced are four series of stories, A Winning Strategy, Scar Tissue, Exit Strategy, and the newest series, For the Good of the Party.  They have also written a number of stand alone stories and created whole universes for the West Wing characters.

It was these universes which first alerted me that there was something different about these writers.  Their characters and events are so crisp and well defined, that you're just itching for it to be shown on TV.  So in order to find out what and who was behind these unique worlds, I turned to Ryo and Jo to find out about their inspirations, their character portrayals and how they go about writing fabulous fiction.

Jo and Ryo both write together and alone.  Their series, A Winning Strategy and For the Good of the Party are written as a pair, while the other two series are a collection of points of view, written back and forward between the two of them.  This partnership began with Jo's story, An Innocent Kiss, which was written in Donna's voice, to which Ryo responded with Witless: An Innocent Kiss, thus beginning their West Wing fan fiction partnership.  But writing together went back further than this with Jo saying that "we'd worked on some non-fanfic writing together prior to this, which I think made the process easier when we started writing about these characters.  We were already good friends, and we knew how to bounce ideas of each other."

From An Innocent Kiss, the Jo and Ryo partnership continued.  "We basically fell into writing together in AWS [A Winning Strategy] by sort of . . . merging what we'd been doing with the An Innocent Kiss stories, which was complimentary first person stories from Donna's and Josh's points of view, respectively.  Because they were becoming so intertwined, we decided to try writing AWS as one story, which turned out to be an incredibly good idea," Ryo explains.

Jo and Ryo write by sending emails across the United States to each other.  Ryo told me how they usually get started on their journeys.  "Usually, one of us will either say, 'Hey I have this idea...' or just send a scene that's been floating around, and then we'll try to figure out basic plot structure.  After we have the general idea of where we're going, we just write whatever scene strikes us." 

Jo adds to this, "We do tend to talk things out via email.  Plus I'll write a scene from Donna's point of view and then cackle maniacally when I think about the dilemma I just set up for her to resolve.  When we were working on Exit Strategy one weekend, I wrote a scene where Donna leaves a message on Josh's answering machine.  I had absolutely no idea where that would go, but I was checking my email every half hour to see if she's written the next scene yet."

One of the strongest points of Jo and Ryo's stories is the characterizations, both of old and new characters.  Both writers are fond of CJ.  Ryo explains this:  "I just 'get' her.  My CJ stories have been the easiest for me to write, and the quickest, even when they feature the entire cast (e.g. Drunk and Quartered).  Usually when I get too many characters in a room together, I get a little lost; but with CJ telling the story, it works.  I think it's the sarcasm. ;)" 

Jo also finds CJ easy to write; "CJ and I aren't that far apart in age or in professional experience."  Jo also has a fondness for Donna that she can't explain:  "I had no intention of writing first-person Donna stories.  None whatsoever.  I sat down to write my first WW story, An Innocent Kiss, because I wanted to now what Josh had written in the book he gave Donna for Christmas in IED.  It was going to be third-person past-tense, I swear it was.  But I was trained in journalism; I had the importance of writing a catchy lead drilled into me; and the next thing I knew there was Donna reciting the first paragraph.  By the time I'd finished my second story, Alabaster, Donna's voice was stuck in my head, and now she won't go away."

Ryo on the other hand, is a fan of writing Josh.  "I think I do a pretty decent Josh, but he can be difficult to write.  The problem -- for me -- with writing him is that he's so contradictory. . . especially writing Josh/Donna stories, it's hard to strike the balance between sweet and arrogant that's 'Josh'; purple prose and flowery declarations are just Not Him." 

Both writers are unanimous in the most difficult character to write.  "TOBY, Toby, Toby, Toby."  Ryo says, "I can actually write dialogue for Toby with relative ease, but I've been stuck halfway through a Tobyfic for a good few months now.  My problem writing from Toby's point of view is that he's so precise with words and sentences and making points, and I find that paralyzing." 

Along with existing characters, Jo and Ryo have also introduced us to new characters including Josh's mother, Adira Lyman, CJ's husband (For the Good of the Party) Evan, Donna's wacky family and a variety of republicans who you would cheerfully push into the Potomac.  Ryo explained Adira's creation:  "She was sort of a refutation of sorts to Donna's crazyass conservative judgmental family; I wanted Josh and Donna to have someone on their side, and I wanted to meet the woman responsible for Josh Lyman, so...  The feedback we got for that AWS outing [Wordplay] was incredibly positive, especially about Adira Lyman.  We ended up bringing her back a couple of times 'off-screen' (i.e. by phone)... by the time we introduced her 'in person', ... she was (at least in my head) fully fleshed out."

Evan was introduced in For the Good of the Party, as a symbol that one member of Bartlet's team had moved on after Bartlet's loss and Josh's departure.  According to Ryo, he moved on from a shaky idea in Persona Non Grata, and was extended in Alliance to his present incarnation.

 Jo also discusses new characters, giving Ryo credit for Adira and Evan:  "Me, I'm responsible for the unsympathetic, Republican, anti-Semitic Moss clan.  And for Irving Seymour Hackenbush, who showed up because I needed some sort of plot complication while Josh and Donna were non-divorced in A Winning Strategy, but I didn't want to do the hackneyed 'Donna gets a boyfriend and Josh gets jealous' story line.  So I ended up having Donna create a fictional boyfriend with Josh's help."

Universes don't just spring up from nowhere.  Jo and Ryo have put an amazing amount of thought into their storylines, taking their characters to some new and at times frightening places in order to get the best out of them.  Both authors get their inspiration from wherever they can find it; strong personal feelings, conversations, books and newspapers and the show itself.  They are both political junkies, with histories with social issues and politics, and they use this experience to create strong political themes in their stories, aligning them closer with the series than a lot of stories.  Reading plays a big part in writing the political aspects of their stories, Jo "follows the news compulsively," while Ryo suggests books such as Jim Hightower's If the Gods Had Meant Us To Vote, They'd Have Given Us Candidates; the writings of commentators such as Molly Ivins and magazines and news on current political issues which can be put into stories.  Jo also attributes the accuracy when it comes to legal matters to their "invaluable Legal Goddess Kristen" and adds that when they've decided to write about something; "we do have the tendency to research it as much as possible.  Donna and her eighty-seven index cards have nothing on us!"

Personal experiences also play a part in their fan fiction.  Jo says that her experiences work their way into stories, sometimes as background, other times as focal points of the story.  "The story about Donna's niece being obsessed with Peter Pan comes out of my niece's similar obsession.  The photograph that Donna talks about in Trials is one that I saw years ago and never forgot.  And I think the reason I became obsessed enough to write about Josh and Donna's relationship is because I spent several years involved with a sarcastic, occasionally sweet, very witty man who is the grandson of Holocaust survivors."

Ryo also uses her own personal experiences in writing fan fiction:  "I lost a friend to suicide three years ago, which certainly affected the way I wrote both Event Horizon and a conversation has in the Exit Strategy-verse in which [CJ] discloses that her sister killed herself during college.  I've volunteered at a domestic violence shelter, so Beginning to Blur was a very personal story to me, and it ended up being quite cathartic.  I consider myself a strong feminist, which is why I wrote A Doormat or a Prostitute, in which CJ and Ainsley discuss feminism, etc."

As well as strong characters and plot, Jo and Ryo have produced a number of well written sex scenes, a task that paralyzes many fan fiction writers.  Jo has a quick explanation for this:  "I look at Josh with the sunglasses and the attitude and the HOT <tm Ryo Sen>, and I find it strangely inspiring."  Ryo agrees with this sentiment but also says, "I think the main thing is that I've read enough bad smut to know what to avoid. ; )  Or to know what to try to avoid.  It's not all about the physical actions, it's about the emotional connection between these two people."  Jo explains that the characters themselves also aid the process:  "It helps that Josh and Donna can't shut up; the banter has saved many a scene.  The most difficult sex scene I ever had to write was the one in For the Good of the Party for just that reason.  I was trying to get across the idea that their ability to communicate was falling apart, so I didn't want them to say anything there.  The temptation to have them start talking was very great, and I had to resist it throughout the scene."

So what do they do when the dreaded writer's block kicks in?  While Ryo jokes that she cries and Jo that she throws things, their actual remedies seem to include more writing.  Ryo usually has a variety of stories hanging around with which she can play with and Jo just writes anything down, without thinking about its quality, remembering that it can always be revised later.  They both talk of the Annie Lamott book, Bird by Bird, which advocates the idea of "shitty first drafts," and uphold this method as a fantastic way to get the writing flowing again. 

When it comes to the fan fictions that were hardest to write, Ryo points to Beginning to Blur, Chiaroscuro, Event Horizon, Background and AWS: Trials.  "Those are all stories that touch on very serious issues, and it's important for me to try to do them justice.  It's also incredibly hard to put myself into these emotional pits to 'get' what the character is going through.  I'm not a black man; can I ever really understand what it's like to be called a 'nigger'?  Probably not.  Can I remember in my life a moment when I was called something that hurt like hell?  Of course I can.  It may not be the exact same situation, but I think that there's an emotional reality that can be captured."

Jo also found Trials difficult to write.  "We spent two weeks dealing with hate crimes and with Josh having a nervous breakdown.  I remember emailing Ryo about how I'd been depressed lately and I couldn't figure out why.  At which point, she wrote me back to the effect of 'Well, look at what we're spending our free time on here.  How could we not be depressed?"

Despite the difficulties they come across in writing their fictions, Ryo and Jo have received great enjoyment out of their universes.  Both of them point to Adira Lyman as their favourite part of A Winning Strategy, though Jo also loves the hidden codes which Josh and Donna carry throughout the series (philately and winning Texas), and to the enforced celibacy in Exit Strategy.  In Scar Tissue, Ryo points to the bond between Donna and CJ over their concerns over Josh as one of her favourite aspects.  In For the Good of the Party, the interest lays in determining the future of this little band of characters, as well as the characters of Evan for Ryo and the idea of a female presidential candidate for Jo.

Another clearly enjoyable aspect of their writing for both of them is working with each other.  Ryo has this to say:  "Jo rocks. : )  First and foremost she bring a wonderful, distinctive, witty and unforgettable Donnatella Moss (-Lyman) to the table.  Her writing is incredible, and she pushes me to write better so my Josh won't look lame and cardboard-ey in comparison. ; )  Second, it's much easier to get around potholes and overcome writer's bloc with a co-author to harass you <g> or send you ideas and/or scenes.  I can be totally stuck and unable to write what I need to write for a story, and then Jo will send me a scene for later on and it'll be exactly what I needed to read to get me back to the Writing Place.  Third, between the two of us and our obsessions with media, politics, an (in my case) science, we've go a much wider array of issues and plot complications we can toss into any given story."

Jo also enjoys the benefits of writing as a team:  "I suck at plotting.  Just suck at it.  I can come up with all kinds of situations ('Josh and Donna get secretly married,' 'Josh gets a job offer from Hoynes'), and then I have no idea where to go with them.  I can talk things through with Ryo, and eventually we'll work out the plot details.  Also, I can be terribly insecure about my fiction.  I've been writing nonfiction professionally, in one form or another, since I finished my undergraduate degree; I have no qualms about my professional stuff.  With fiction, I'm just worried about whether I 'm getting the characters right, whether I've moved from dramatic to melodramatic - you name it, I'll worry about it. I can trust Ryo to tell me what works and what needs reworking.  And she's an incredible writer.  Simply having to write a companion scene to something she's written forces me to be better."

Finally, because it's a question I know many people ask, what is with the names in Donna's family.  Ryo explains it like this:  "LOL!!  A combination of my obsession with my baby names book and Jo's ability to unerringly zero in on the strangest name in any group.  We were trying to come up with a decent, absurd middle name for Donna, and some of the other names we considered ended up going to other characters (e.g. Francesca Caprice).  And then it became a thing."  Jo adds, "When we had to come up with Donna's middle name for AWS, we figured anyone who would name a child 'Donnatella' would come up with an equally outrageous middle name.  Frances got the leftover names, and her children's names kept getting more and more outrageous.  But that let to Molly, who we adore, so it's all good."

Summer, 2001