My, how things change. Google will one day rule the world... Bwahahahahaha.
Couldn't get into my blog, because I'd forgotten my password. Figures. You try to come up with a password that can't be hacked, and it's so good, you can't remember it yourself. Now, THAT's irony, Alannis.
From now on, I'm going to stop being coy, and just embrace the fact that I'm a writer. I'm not going to go around calling myself a fledgling writer, or a wanna-be writer or an unpublished writer (all of which are true...well, except for the last one, if you consider college publications.) From now on, I'm simply going to say, i am... a WRITER. --period-
Mostly, I'm writing fanfiction (yeah, laff it up) because I'm able to just experiment with an already created universe, concentrating on plot, dialogue and characterization. Right now, I'm in the middle of a WIP of colossal proportions based on the X-Files. It's mostly paralleling canon, but I'm trying to weave a wicked AU relationship between Scully and Krycek. This caught me some flak, at first -- a couple of ugly posts telling me, basically, to SHUT UP! SCULLY LURVES MULDER!!! KRYCEKS A LOSER!1!!!1 (hee) But mostly the reception has been very gracious.
It's funny, I used to be so into Mulder and Scully -- I never thought they should be romantic (their relationship transcended the merely sexual, imo) but I got kind of MAD at Duchovny with all his "I'm staying/ I'm going" bs... and I thought, Go! Don't let the door hit ya, ya ingrate!
And besides... Nick Lea is so beautiful it hurts to look at him.
So, yeah. Obsession + passive aggression = I want to make my Scully and Krycek action figures (snigger) do it. So sue me.
DISCLAIMER!!! I don't own the characters, and am making no (michael) muhney (another minor obsession) on them!!111!!1
Hee -- that always makes me laugh. Like anyone writing fanfiction would ever actually cut into the profit margin of the Big Brother(s). I know the disclaimers are a necessary evil, but they STILL make me laugh.
What? A point? Oh, yeah.
Okay, things I've learned from writing fanfiction:
1) Write something every day. Even if it's a sentance that you backspace through a hundred times. Writing takes metaphorical muscles -- if you don't exercise them, they will atrophy. NO, really. Be Nike. Just do it.
2) Try to write the stuff that pleases YOU -- not your readers. It's not being selfish; you only know your own tastes -- what makes you sit up and take notice -- and, chances are, there are others out there who enjoy the same things you do (otherwise, there'd be no Nielson Ratings) Instead of trying to figure out what will draw readers, write what would draw you. Remember Field of Dreams? If you write it (and you like it) they will come.
3) Have a 'spot' that you write in -- it can literally be the same seat at the dining room table, size doesn't matter. But, it's important to have it, and stake your claim on it: "THIS... is my writing spot!"
4) When you're writing (fiction, especially) get into the head of your primary character. In your mind's eye, take a few moments to visualize the scene you will be writing; see what your POV character sees, and describe it. It's that simple. And that hard. Because the trick is ---
5) ...try to describe it as succinctly as possible. (something that's really hitting home with my current X-Files fic, lemme tell ya... ) The more tight the writing (especially in action-driven fiction) the more the reader is drawn in and will be caught up in the writing.
6) Spell check, spell check, spell check. It should be like a mantra, man. Nothing takes someone out of the moment of your story quicker than baad spillink.
7) Accept constructive criticism gracefully. Let me go further -- encourage it, court it, solicit it. I like strokes... a LOT; who doesn't? But, sadly, strokes don't help me improve my writing. (although... they do inspire more writing...)
8) Read other good writers. Shamelessly copy them. NO -- don't steal their words (plagarism is NEVER cool)... but learn from them, imitate them (it's the best form of flattery) and try out their different styles. Always with the mind toward, finally, finding your own.
9) Try to get an objective person to read it before you post it -- a Beta reader. You are too close to your own writing, and sometimes -- like a doting parent with an unruly child -- can't always see the faults that need correcting which would stare the less-involved Beta in the face. It can only help.
10) Even if you do have a Beta tell you, "Cut this entire paragraph!" and it's something that you feel reeaally needs to be included? Trust your gut. You, after all are the crafter of that little slice of heaven... and if it's something you feel strongly about, keep it.
11) Sometimes, the chapter you're working on just ...isn't happenin'. Don't sweat it. Try writing a future chapter, or reworking an old one, or just go back and read older chapters to get back into the timeline you've established. Or, you know, take your dog for a walk, or shoot baskets with your kid... Don't, absolutely DON'T fear the Writer's Block. It happens, yes. But like with most things -- it, too, shall pass. Don't give up on your passion. If you do? You will live to regret it.
So, that is what I've learned, so far. It's been a wonderful, frustrating, enlightening, frightening thoroughly rapturous journey.
Till next time --
