It was bizay today at work, but I conquered all that I suveyed. Boo-YA!!!
Anyway, back to things that *matter* ...
Closed vs. Open Canon, Writing Aus
Having been weaned on Farscape fic, and specifically Maayan’s fic, the AU is probably, for me, the best part about fandom. When writers can see their way past canon, whether it’s closed or open, and into Uncharted Territories (pun intended).
Dark!fics: definition, and the endless 'vs. fluff' debate.
That’s so curious. I always think of dark in terms of theme. Hopelessness, despair, suicide, etc. And it isn’t always good. I think someone mentioned well written fluff is harder to write and I think it’s true. I also think that my tolerance for poorly written dark!fic is higher than my tolerance for poorly written fluff because fluff can become so trite and clichéd so very easily. But dark is dark and fluff … fluff is happily ever after but that doesn’t make it any less worthy. In fact, if you can get me to *believe* in that happily ever after you are amazing and I am pea green with jealously because I can’t seem to be able to get the characters there under my own steam. There’s always more dirt to rub on their faces and a deeper well to drop them down. Truth be told, I like to see how they react under pressure, how they fracture. I like to see if I can break them but keep them *in character*.
That need ties into fanfic as wish fulfillment. For me it kinda isn’t. Reading fanfic is definitely wish fulfillment but writing it is … different. There’s a dark corner of my brain that likes to torture them and make them beyond real. I can’t just let them be happy. If it were wish fulfillment the only thing I can think that I would write is lots o’ porn because there’s *never* enough sex in my shows. But again, maybe not, cause I always think that as dark as my shows were, are, it could be worse. Hence things like Let Me Start to Fade Away. So, perhaps by extension, the characters that I love the most, want to write about the most, are the ones whose, Adam Haslett wrote, pain seems the most real to me. Willow’s grief, Buffy’s despair, Dawn’s alienation
What's so intimidating about the blank page/screen? I have this writing quirk I think others must not share: starting to write on the blank page tends to be easier for me than continuing to write after I've already written 50,000 words of text. That is, I like to start things. I'm always starting things.>/i>
Hallelujah!! Starting things is THE BEST. Finishing it, closing the deal, that’s the kicker and the pain in my ass!! I always feel like I cop out on the end of my fic. Very, very seldom does it come together for me in an ending that feels organic enough. But the beginning … the beginning is a dream and I think it goes back to that “shape”. It is, for me, rhythm and I can hear it in the beginning and it’s usually very strong but then it peters out or disappears or the tone changes because suddenly I’m heading in a different direction and I have to fine tune what I have to mesh with what’s changing within the fic. The Angel NFA thing has been so hard to work on because I find myself LOATHE to cut anything and I am going to be a sucker for you when it’s ready for the next beta round (if you’re still up for it). You’re going to get to take a machete to it, I’m sure and I’m going to let you cause I’ve Lost My Perspective completely.
And as far as the end of your post is concerned … Hallelujah and Amen.
late to the party as usual
Anyway, back to things that *matter* ...
Closed vs. Open Canon, Writing Aus
Having been weaned on Farscape fic, and specifically Maayan’s fic, the AU is probably, for me, the best part about fandom. When writers can see their way past canon, whether it’s closed or open, and into Uncharted Territories (pun intended).
Dark!fics: definition, and the endless 'vs. fluff' debate.
That’s so curious. I always think of dark in terms of theme. Hopelessness, despair, suicide, etc. And it isn’t always good. I think someone mentioned well written fluff is harder to write and I think it’s true. I also think that my tolerance for poorly written dark!fic is higher than my tolerance for poorly written fluff because fluff can become so trite and clichéd so very easily. But dark is dark and fluff … fluff is happily ever after but that doesn’t make it any less worthy. In fact, if you can get me to *believe* in that happily ever after you are amazing and I am pea green with jealously because I can’t seem to be able to get the characters there under my own steam. There’s always more dirt to rub on their faces and a deeper well to drop them down. Truth be told, I like to see how they react under pressure, how they fracture. I like to see if I can break them but keep them *in character*.
That need ties into fanfic as wish fulfillment. For me it kinda isn’t. Reading fanfic is definitely wish fulfillment but writing it is … different. There’s a dark corner of my brain that likes to torture them and make them beyond real. I can’t just let them be happy. If it were wish fulfillment the only thing I can think that I would write is lots o’ porn because there’s *never* enough sex in my shows. But again, maybe not, cause I always think that as dark as my shows were, are, it could be worse. Hence things like Let Me Start to Fade Away. So, perhaps by extension, the characters that I love the most, want to write about the most, are the ones whose, Adam Haslett wrote, pain seems the most real to me. Willow’s grief, Buffy’s despair, Dawn’s alienation
What's so intimidating about the blank page/screen?
I have this writing quirk I think others must not share: starting to write on the blank page tends to be easier for me than continuing to write after I've already written 50,000 words of text. That is, I like to start things. I'm always starting things.>/i>
Hallelujah!! Starting things is THE BEST. Finishing it, closing the deal, that’s the kicker and the pain in my ass!! I always feel like I cop out on the end of my fic. Very, very seldom does it come together for me in an ending that feels organic enough. But the beginning … the beginning is a dream and I think it goes back to that “shape”. It is, for me, rhythm and I can hear it in the beginning and it’s usually very strong but then it peters out or disappears or the tone changes because suddenly I’m heading in a different direction and I have to fine tune what I have to mesh with what’s changing within the fic. The Angel NFA thing has been so hard to work on because I find myself LOATHE to cut anything and I am going to be a sucker for you when it’s ready for the next beta round (if you’re still up for it). You’re going to get to take a machete to it, I’m sure and I’m going to let you cause I’ve Lost My Perspective completely.
And as far as the end of your post is concerned … Hallelujah and Amen.