Discussion: Writing Jack

Umm. Hello. If this is in the wrong place could you redirect me please.

Anyway, having a conversation a few days ago with a friend who apparently has trouble writing Jack's POV. So I figured we could have our own little discussion about Jack as a character as well as personal preferences for him when writing.

If you have trouble, why? Is it his enigmatic nature? If you are quite happy writing Jack, any advice for those not so confident?

I find that I have trouble keeping my Jack consistent, mostly because I get mad at him or love him or am disappointed in him based on what he did that week. It tends to bleed through in my writing.

He can be hard, though, because it can be *very* difficult following his motivations and/or relating to them. I think it's partly a failing of the writing (motivations either unclear or discongruous) and partly from them trying to represent an "alien" set of mores and values.

I find Jack a challenge to write. I waited to write him until I had seen his appearances on Doctor Who (I watched everything out of order) but even after watching those he seems to be a very different character .

So, yeah, he's a tough nut to crack. What is the real Jack like?

*nods* yup. I have that problem too. But mostly it's because I'm trying to make a point by having Jack say something, and Jack doesn't make points by saying things, no matter how much I want him to. A lot of what we've learned about Jack's character is from what we know he has to say, and watch as he still doesn't say it.

I find Jack difficult to write as well because we've seen so many sides to him, it's difficult to know who the 'true' Jack is.

I'm another person who has trouble writing Jack and what you say sort of represents why to me - because you're absolutely right there are so many sides to him.

I've seen Ianto described since Fragments as a "role-player" as a personality characteristic rather than simply a sexual choice - and I think I agree with that. But I think Jack is a role player in a similar way as well. Where I think they differ is the reason for the role playing - I think for Ianto it's a tool and a survival technique, whereas for Jack it's much more of a defence mechanism (although also a tool - after all he was a con man). He has those layers and layers of personality to defend what I think is probably a pretty tender interior and it really is hard to tell what bits are really him and what bits aren't.

For example, I think the vast majority of his flirting isn't actually caused by sexual desire but as a means to both hide his true self behind a persona and make easy connections which help him get what he needs from people. Of course that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy it as well.

As a result I find it difficult to trust the vast majority of things he says. But that's probably just me.

But I'm still not absolutely sure that's a valid way to read him - he mostly confuses me.

It's not just you. I think that Jack - possibly as a holdover from his conman days - chooses carefully what information he lets people have, and if he can, he'll distract them with a smutty innuendo rather than tell them a truth.

Example, Countrycide. Jack doesn't answer the 'last snog' question, he simply brings up the subject of alien snogs and avoids an honest answer.

Example 2, To the last man. Ianto asks if Jack would go back to his own time if he could, Jack's response is to avoid answering, and instead turn a question back on Ianto. This time though he doesn't get away with it because Ianto doesn't let the issue lie.

I find depressed/miserable Jack and Flirty Jack easy to write, seperately. I think it becomes difficult when trying to blend both of them into one story.

Jack's extremely hard for me to write for the same reasons I find difficulties writing the Doctor. Or Elrond. Or Gandalf.

Simply put, experience.

Here's Jack, born 3000 years ahead of his time, he's over 100 years old, he's seen and fought in wars I've only read about, he was a conman and an expert in torture and he's had sex with aliens.

I can't understand all that. I can try. I can attempt to get into that headspace, and I might succeed for a short piece. But for anything more, it's just...hard. My brain bends at the notion of understanding a character like that.

When I write my own original stuff, I have an easier time approaching a character like that because I create their world. But Jack, on the other hand, has so many experiences that for a fanfic char, I don't have the time/brainpower to dissect the rationale behind his actions.

If that makes any sense.

And if you think Jack is hard? Try writing a 6000 year old ring-bearing Elf lord.

He definitely seems to be the king of distraction.

Thanks for the examples, the first is one I keep coming back to when I think about Jack, but I'd never thought of the second in terms of a failed attempt to do the same.

Very useful.

I write Jack a lot because he's probably the only character in TW whose headspace I can get into on a regular basis.

When I write a character, I look for a "frame" that robustly describes the basics. Once I have that frame, I can hang interactions, subtle details, nuance, and development from it. To use a non-TW character as an example, Lilo (from Lilo and Stitch) is a frightened child. She has lost her parents horribly, and she is terrified about losing her sister. Using that framework, her acting out, trying to make Stitch into Elvis, alternately fighting against her sister and clinging to her, etc, all fit within the frame whilst still making her an interesting character. Frames can be as 2-D or 3-D as I make them; a picture frame and a house frame both provide support, but there is a lot more interaction going on in the house frame.

In Jack's case, the frame I use is a soldier. The quintessential "Jack" moment, for me, is in S1 of Who when he's standing on the box rallying the humans at the Game Station against the Daleks. When he's up there, he's absolutely riveting--as viewers, we can't take our eyes off him, and as followers, the supporting cast hears him out even if they disagree. In Who, Jack plays the soldier/tactician most of the time while the Doctor plays the general/strategist. In TW, Jack is now the general/strategist, and I get the feeling it's not a position he feels innately comfortable in. He still reacts like a soldier under pressure--witness the reactions to Lisa, the cannibals, and Beth in Sleeper--which is a source of conflict within the team. It is worth noting that all three of those situations required immediate tactical decisionmaking, and that for larger, strategic questions (who stole the SUV?) he will typically defer to other team members (Owen, singularity scalpel, SB).

The idea of Soldier!Jack is more explicit in S2 than S1, particularly with the recruitment of Tosh in Fragments, giving orders to Tommy in TTLM, dealing with Beth in Sleeper, and creepy dude in Reset. I brought the last one up on purpose. Jack is doing a general thing, political stuff, and botches it with the guy. He just isn't that good at it. When it comes time to do a tactical thing, send in Martha and the team, they do fine. The way he gave orders to Tommy was VERY much commander-to-soldier, and Tommy knew it. That whole episode was very poignant to me and I'm sure it was to anybody else who has ever been in the military or grown up in a military family.

We know that he grew up in wartime, lost a parent and sibling, was recruited at a young age, saw friends get killed in spectacularly bad ways, and died in a war with the Daleks. When he was made immortal and came back to earth, he had to soldier on through several more battles in declared wars and in the ongoing "battles" involving Torchwood (both those he agreed with and those he didn't). Putting aside immortality for a moment, there's enough right there to explain the appalling level of emotional damage he's sustained over his very long life. No soldier ever comes back from war free of emotional damage. It's been 40 years since my father went to Vietnam and he still wakes up shaking with fear when the neighbour kids shoot off fireworks on New Year's. In Jack's case, the battles are never over. He has to live with the fear, the pain, the separation, and the anxiety over and over and over, and he responds by closing himself off emotionally. He covers up with flirting and stories and makes himself appear shallow. This is where (IMO) the Doctor did him so badly wrong--when he finally allowed himself to open up, he was abandoned and later shunned. This is also where the whole Jack/Gwen thing comes into play. After closing himself down for the better part of a century, Gwen refused to take "no" for an answer, and forced him to open up.

(It's a testament to Jack's character that in hiding himself from pain he only comes across as shallow. Owen, also in pain, hides himself by making himself into a prickly bastard who lashes out first and asks questions later.)

One last thing about Jack is that except in times of immediate and life-threatening duress, he is a gentleman. I'm counting Rhys in Meat in the duress; he was blowing off steam after his operation got blown and the lives of his team risked in the process. He wouldn't have called Rhys' mum an ugly bitch had he not honestly believed she was the Nostrovite. With Rhys in the stable, he was every inch the gallant. His best "officer and gentleman" moments tend to be with Toshiko. From the way he championed her in Captain Jack Harkness to the alternating support and giving of orders in TTLM to springing to her defense in GBG, he's there. We know from Fragments that of all the team, Toshiko IS his soldier, and he treats her as such.

Does that help?

That is the second time Jack has answered Ianto's question openly and honestly in S2. The first was in KKBB when Ianto asked Jack why they were helping John.

I interpret that as he's serious about his intentions toward Ianto, and he shows it by being honest in ways he is not with the rest of the team. Same thing with their little fireside chat in FOOTR. Jack blows off his carnie time with the rest of the team, but tells Ianto all about it.