A Writer's Monologue
I was working on 'Savarna' (sequel to 'The Flying Dutchman', just in case you were wondering), and it made me thing about some writery type things. See, I starting writing fan fiction a couple years ago after having gastric bypass surgery. I wrote an Inuyasha fic over the course of about 6 weeks (30 chapters!) and I was so excited to be writing anything at all after such a long dry spell, I began to entertain delusions of grandeur. After a couple more one-shots fics, I made the decision to give up fanfic so that I could focus on writing something I could actually have published one day.
But I hit a lot of road-blocks, and my book never got written. In the mean-time, I was avoiding 'wasting my time' on fanfic, even though I had like, fifty ideas running around my brain. This year I had another major surgery (circumferential paniculectomy) and made the decision to get into the habit of writing every day by doing more fanfic. I'm so glad I did, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have done TFD, or now, Savarna. I intend to stick with it, even as I go back to writing my own book, because I've been learning so much about my writing style, and things I want to look at more closely.
Which brings me to this rant, which maybe three people will read, but oh well. As I mentioned, I was working on Savarna, and unlike its predecessor, the plot has a ton of detail that needs to come out relatively quickly. I've found that on three different occasions, I've had a lot of exposition delivered by a single character. No one who's reading (and there are several writers among them) have said anything about it, but I wonder if this is improper somehow? I was thinking about a book I read on writing once, and how information pertaining to background was related in ways such as, "The storm clouds reminded Jim of the para-troopers in 'Nam." I suppose I could do Jack's background in flashback, but unless I intend to do more 30 chapter fics (which would be fun, but school starts in a few weeks, so no), there just isn't the time for it.
It only really bothered me when I did my first chapter with Captain Teague's character, who's really hard to write. He's so taciturn, but he's got only 11 or so pages to explain himself and convince the other characters in the scene, so he gives a long, if rather tersely delivered, speech. Was there a better way to do this? I don't know. If anyone has been reading either of my PotC fics has any thoughts on my writing style, I'd appreciate the feedback.
I also notice that when I describe a scene, I'm writing what I see happen in my mind's eye. Instead of using a lot of internal emotions, I tend to focus more on their physical expressions. Jack's eyes, William's smile, Elizabeth's hands. I believe that people's emotions are very evident in their physicalities, but even when they're not, you can tell a lot by how the react to a situation. I don't know if I overdo this though, which is why I bring it up. When I read, I notice other writers doing different things with characterization, and I know there's no real right answer, either.
I've been writing for a while, but I've only taken one formal class, and that was in short stories. I know I can tell a good story, but to be a published writer, it takes a bit more finnesse than I feel I've achieved yet. Which is why I'm here, writing fan fiction. So the more feedback I get, the more I learn. It's fun to try and capture characters that are so unique from one another, so that I can play with creating people who don't all sound and act alike. I have a tendency to be kind to my characters, and I should probably toy with getting them into trouble and having them do increadibly stupid things once in a while. It's hard in fanfiction because you love the characters so much that you want that happy ending. I guess my training regime isn't perfect, but at least I'm writing daily, and that's the first step in becoming a professional writer!
But I hit a lot of road-blocks, and my book never got written. In the mean-time, I was avoiding 'wasting my time' on fanfic, even though I had like, fifty ideas running around my brain. This year I had another major surgery (circumferential paniculectomy) and made the decision to get into the habit of writing every day by doing more fanfic. I'm so glad I did, because if I hadn't, I wouldn't have done TFD, or now, Savarna. I intend to stick with it, even as I go back to writing my own book, because I've been learning so much about my writing style, and things I want to look at more closely.
Which brings me to this rant, which maybe three people will read, but oh well. As I mentioned, I was working on Savarna, and unlike its predecessor, the plot has a ton of detail that needs to come out relatively quickly. I've found that on three different occasions, I've had a lot of exposition delivered by a single character. No one who's reading (and there are several writers among them) have said anything about it, but I wonder if this is improper somehow? I was thinking about a book I read on writing once, and how information pertaining to background was related in ways such as, "The storm clouds reminded Jim of the para-troopers in 'Nam." I suppose I could do Jack's background in flashback, but unless I intend to do more 30 chapter fics (which would be fun, but school starts in a few weeks, so no), there just isn't the time for it.
It only really bothered me when I did my first chapter with Captain Teague's character, who's really hard to write. He's so taciturn, but he's got only 11 or so pages to explain himself and convince the other characters in the scene, so he gives a long, if rather tersely delivered, speech. Was there a better way to do this? I don't know. If anyone has been reading either of my PotC fics has any thoughts on my writing style, I'd appreciate the feedback.
I also notice that when I describe a scene, I'm writing what I see happen in my mind's eye. Instead of using a lot of internal emotions, I tend to focus more on their physical expressions. Jack's eyes, William's smile, Elizabeth's hands. I believe that people's emotions are very evident in their physicalities, but even when they're not, you can tell a lot by how the react to a situation. I don't know if I overdo this though, which is why I bring it up. When I read, I notice other writers doing different things with characterization, and I know there's no real right answer, either.
I've been writing for a while, but I've only taken one formal class, and that was in short stories. I know I can tell a good story, but to be a published writer, it takes a bit more finnesse than I feel I've achieved yet. Which is why I'm here, writing fan fiction. So the more feedback I get, the more I learn. It's fun to try and capture characters that are so unique from one another, so that I can play with creating people who don't all sound and act alike. I have a tendency to be kind to my characters, and I should probably toy with getting them into trouble and having them do increadibly stupid things once in a while. It's hard in fanfiction because you love the characters so much that you want that happy ending. I guess my training regime isn't perfect, but at least I'm writing daily, and that's the first step in becoming a professional writer!