Pam, You make an excellant point on what the writer can and cannot assume his audience is already familiar with.
One of the major advantages of writing fanfiction over something 'original' (which many of us have been finding out of late) is all the 'backstory' that one can assume the reader already knows.
As you said, this is mostly a Lois and Clark fandom site and as such one can be confident that those who play here are fairly conversant with the basics of Lois and Clark television show. That is not to say that they would have to have every episode pratically memorized, but a reasonable knowledge is logical to assume. This gives the writer a huge advantage in not having to explain a lot of 'characterization' or personality traits. You don't have to explain what Lois' federal disasters were every time, nor the fact that she's a driven over acheiver. You don't have to spend a lot of time on Clark's motivations to do good. How is parental upbringing had such an impact on him. These things can, and are often mentioned, but rarely need extensive explanation.
But if you are bringing in something from 'outside' the series, the writer can't assume that the gentle reader is familiar with it. Using Pam's example of Maggie Sawyer (who has been used in fanfics several times) there can be a range of knowledge. L&C never used her, so your readerships largest component of background doesn't know her. Maggie Sawyer exists in three different versions of the Superman mythos. Smallville, Superman the Animated series, and of course, the comics. Each version is a little different so her use would need some sort of 'justification and explanation' anyway. In Smallville she is just a generic 'tough cop'. In the animated version she is paired with Dan Turpin and has been fleshed out a little more. In the comics (over the course of years) she has been turned into a 3 dimensional supporting character. She's a tough cop, who is partnered with Dan Turpin. She's also the head of Metropolis PD's SCU department (as she is in the animated series) but we've also seen some of her 'personal' side. If I'm not mistaken, she's a single mother who also happens to be gay.
So, when using a character that isn't automatically familiar with the core readership it does fall to the writer to give the character enough dimensionality to explain their part in the story. If all you need to know is that Sawyer is the head of the SCU, that's fine. But if her part in the story require us to understand her 'motivations' for certain actions, then the writer has to explain those. He/She can't assume the reader knows that Maggie has a kid, or whatever.
Anyway, this was a lot of words to say a simple thing. The writer has to know who their audience is, and has to be aware of their core knowledge even when writing a fanfic.
Tank (who wonders how many of the multitude of folcs have more than the passing contact with the comics)
