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So I only ever talk about stories
May. 18th, 2014 02:52 pmFrom my journal this morning:
I think about writing and stories all the time. I don't think this is different from how I always have been, except that the stories are more often purely fiction, rather than memory rehashing, and that thinking about writing turns into written work.
. . .
The stories that we tell ourselves are powerful. I've always been a daydreamer, though what I remember as a kid -- I was not particularly self aware until age fifteen or so, which is when I started a diary -- is that as I stared off into the distance, I was seeing magical epics and fantastic imaginings. From early adulthood on, that daydreaming more often became the twisted mirror, the spiraling ride of why didn't I do that better and if only it could be different.
So it's better if I'm daydreaming about fictions that are meant to be fictions.
I have a lot of projects, but I really am getting better about focus and completion. I get excited about a lot of things, and I need to be doing more than two or three at a time, though one will have the primary spot. Right now, the top item is a multi-chapter fanfiction in the Frozen (Disney) fandom structured on the 9-block plot form. The problem is that there is too much in that middle block, so I don't think I distributed the plot points accurately. It's not very plotty, anyway; it's a fairly straightforward what-if AU. I want to see if I can really write a planned out long form story from beginning to end, fully fleshed out, on a schedule.
Why am I writing this now instead of working on an existing original fiction? Because my interest in the fandom won't stay fresh, and right now, it's fun. I've thrown in the added experiment of updating at least bi-monthly, preferably every ten days, and keeping the installments to two thousand words (ish), to see if I can crank up the hits. With four chapters, it's already over 550. (I usually write in an older fandom, where 50 hits would be a high hit count for me.) I consider this practice for the other thing that I'm curious about: JukePop Serials.
Quality is all over the map at JukePop, but it's still a new site, so while there is plenty to read, the catalog is not overwhelming. I'm toying with the idea of writing something for JP. As of now, I favor doing a superhero story, basically a fluffy thing. And of course by fluffy, I mean fluffy like a Smiths song.
Digital format opens up what a story can be in terms of topic, length and style, and JukePop is revitalizing the written serial. Ye Olde Curiosity Shop would be half its length -- and greatly improved by the edit -- if "traditionally" published today, but so would The Count of Monte Cristo, of which I love every chapter. The Sherlock Holmes stories would be episodes of a cable TV series with the novels as movies. *cough* The pacing of any story is in the structure, and serial structure is as relevant to the story being told as sonnet structure is to the purpose of a poem.
( Off topic: I had a revelation about Tarantino and Dickens )
Sometimes, I think that I should stick to a genre or world. It only takes about two seconds before I discard the thought. I write what I want to write, whether it's poetry, fanfiction, short story, novels, or serials, about real life, fantasy worlds, vampires, faeries, clones, robots, superheroes, fierce women, or heartbroken men.
These are stories that I can share, unlike the unhealthy fictions to which an unhappy mind is prone. I know it does harm to tell those kind of "what if" stories to myself. So I don't. It means that I don't talk about personal things so much anymore, either. I think that's OK. I mean, if my friends want to know, they can always ask me privately, which gives me a better forum to say, "I don't want to talk about that," if need be.
I think about writing and stories all the time. I don't think this is different from how I always have been, except that the stories are more often purely fiction, rather than memory rehashing, and that thinking about writing turns into written work.
. . .
The stories that we tell ourselves are powerful. I've always been a daydreamer, though what I remember as a kid -- I was not particularly self aware until age fifteen or so, which is when I started a diary -- is that as I stared off into the distance, I was seeing magical epics and fantastic imaginings. From early adulthood on, that daydreaming more often became the twisted mirror, the spiraling ride of why didn't I do that better and if only it could be different.
So it's better if I'm daydreaming about fictions that are meant to be fictions.
I have a lot of projects, but I really am getting better about focus and completion. I get excited about a lot of things, and I need to be doing more than two or three at a time, though one will have the primary spot. Right now, the top item is a multi-chapter fanfiction in the Frozen (Disney) fandom structured on the 9-block plot form. The problem is that there is too much in that middle block, so I don't think I distributed the plot points accurately. It's not very plotty, anyway; it's a fairly straightforward what-if AU. I want to see if I can really write a planned out long form story from beginning to end, fully fleshed out, on a schedule.
Why am I writing this now instead of working on an existing original fiction? Because my interest in the fandom won't stay fresh, and right now, it's fun. I've thrown in the added experiment of updating at least bi-monthly, preferably every ten days, and keeping the installments to two thousand words (ish), to see if I can crank up the hits. With four chapters, it's already over 550. (I usually write in an older fandom, where 50 hits would be a high hit count for me.) I consider this practice for the other thing that I'm curious about: JukePop Serials.
Quality is all over the map at JukePop, but it's still a new site, so while there is plenty to read, the catalog is not overwhelming. I'm toying with the idea of writing something for JP. As of now, I favor doing a superhero story, basically a fluffy thing. And of course by fluffy, I mean fluffy like a Smiths song.
Digital format opens up what a story can be in terms of topic, length and style, and JukePop is revitalizing the written serial. Ye Olde Curiosity Shop would be half its length -- and greatly improved by the edit -- if "traditionally" published today, but so would The Count of Monte Cristo, of which I love every chapter. The Sherlock Holmes stories would be episodes of a cable TV series with the novels as movies. *cough* The pacing of any story is in the structure, and serial structure is as relevant to the story being told as sonnet structure is to the purpose of a poem.
( Off topic: I had a revelation about Tarantino and Dickens )
Sometimes, I think that I should stick to a genre or world. It only takes about two seconds before I discard the thought. I write what I want to write, whether it's poetry, fanfiction, short story, novels, or serials, about real life, fantasy worlds, vampires, faeries, clones, robots, superheroes, fierce women, or heartbroken men.
These are stories that I can share, unlike the unhealthy fictions to which an unhappy mind is prone. I know it does harm to tell those kind of "what if" stories to myself. So I don't. It means that I don't talk about personal things so much anymore, either. I think that's OK. I mean, if my friends want to know, they can always ask me privately, which gives me a better forum to say, "I don't want to talk about that," if need be.