what you take won't kill you but be careful what you're given
I had a lovely weekend full of RL friends, a little bit of booze and a good bit of schoolwork, and almost nothing fandom-related whatsoever, and I've got to say? I love fandom, but taking a break from it sometimes is pretty awesome, too.
I'm about to have a story workshopped in my creative writing class this afternoon! I always sort of end up hating the world after I get things workshopped -- I love getting con crit (you are always, always welcome to give it to me here, btw) but it's always a little hard to put your story up in front of the room and then have people tell you everything that's wrong with it to your face, y'know? Anyway, I've already rewritten that particular story twice, and part of the problem with it was verb tense-related -- so I'm curious as to how you guys feel about verb tenses. Have a poll!
Poll a few writing style questions
I always write in the present tense these days. Correction, ALMOST always. My first J2 (the one for spn_harlequin in August) was in the simple past, but everything since then has been in the present tense. Except for the SGA fic, that is, and it drove Merrin crazy to beta it, since I was writing it at the same time as two CW RPS fics that are both in the present tense, so I'd have all these sections where I'd just get distracted and forget that I was meant to be writing in the simple past. If you're like me and occasionally or often switch between tenses (I mean between STORIES, not within the same story for flashbacks or whatever), what are your reasons behind it? Does one tense feel more right for a certain type of story than another?
I'm just totally illogical. With the Harlequin J2 I got about 800 words in before I realized I'd been writing it in the simple past, so I just said, "Huh," and went with it. Same for the SGA fic. When I'm writing SPN fic, though, the simple past just seems weird -- for writing, not for reading. For reading, I'm fine with whatever. Like I said, illogical.
I'm about to have a story workshopped in my creative writing class this afternoon! I always sort of end up hating the world after I get things workshopped -- I love getting con crit (you are always, always welcome to give it to me here, btw) but it's always a little hard to put your story up in front of the room and then have people tell you everything that's wrong with it to your face, y'know? Anyway, I've already rewritten that particular story twice, and part of the problem with it was verb tense-related -- so I'm curious as to how you guys feel about verb tenses. Have a poll!
Poll a few writing style questions
I always write in the present tense these days. Correction, ALMOST always. My first J2 (the one for spn_harlequin in August) was in the simple past, but everything since then has been in the present tense. Except for the SGA fic, that is, and it drove Merrin crazy to beta it, since I was writing it at the same time as two CW RPS fics that are both in the present tense, so I'd have all these sections where I'd just get distracted and forget that I was meant to be writing in the simple past. If you're like me and occasionally or often switch between tenses (I mean between STORIES, not within the same story for flashbacks or whatever), what are your reasons behind it? Does one tense feel more right for a certain type of story than another?
I'm just totally illogical. With the Harlequin J2 I got about 800 words in before I realized I'd been writing it in the simple past, so I just said, "Huh," and went with it. Same for the SGA fic. When I'm writing SPN fic, though, the simple past just seems weird -- for writing, not for reading. For reading, I'm fine with whatever. Like I said, illogical.