Working on my fic

[estepheia]

I'm working on my Ethan-fic. Sometimes I really wonder if all the tinkering is worth it.
For instance, in the first version I say "he placed the cup in the cup holder", then I rewrite it so it reads: "he slipped it into the cup holder," just so I arrive at a slightly more phallic image. Or I use war images, and temperature contrasts, and a location

Comments

[mefnord]

Hmm, I think it's important that this kind of close-up work on a text fits the character. For example, I can imagine Wee!Xander as kind of an astronomy dork, so I think the image is one he himself could come up with, maybe. But if the bottles had been compared to, say, the electrons of an atom in the 12th Atomkernschale (now that is a word I've never needed to use in English) I'd be suspicious about Xander's knowledge about things like that. (There has to be a better example, though

[estepheia]

Of course you're helpful!!
Yes, you may be right in that some stories feel bland because they do not use theme...

The book I'm referring to is called Lycidas. By Christoph Marzi. In fact, he's already published two sequels.

[estepheia]

Right, after reading at least 20 reviews of the book I just posted my own Lycidas- review at Amazon.de - but it won't appear until it's been checked.

And yes, you're right. Images should fit. Which is why I keep tinkering with my fic. I decided to use war imagery - and now I'm a bit self-conscious about it.

[timeofchange]

Interesting post. I think that when the writing is good, images such as the asteroid belt of empty bottles give a reader pleasure and enhance the story. Your example of slipping the cup into the holder...that did immediately call up a sexual connotation for me. Labored descriptive writing, on the other hand, is painful in the extreme. There are certainly some fanfic authors who work so hard at it, and not in a good way, that I cringe and abandon the story. I think it comes down to the writer's ear. Can you tell when you've written something leaden? If it clunks to you, it will clunk to the reader. Some writers don't have a good ear, or are blinded by love for their own words. I'm thinking of a fanfic writer who has decent ideas, but overwrites to the point of extreme pain. She doesn't always know exactly what her words mean, either, and sometimes uses the wrong words to--imho--hilarious effect. And yet, this woman has a huge following...and an ego to match. This person isn't on my flist, of course. I've been reading "The

[estepheia]

Thanks for replying

[estepheia]

Thank you!

Yes, I believe you're right, the effect should be cumulative. It's the kind of change that you can make, once your conception of a story has clarified. It's like holding a strong magnet next to your story and causing parts of the story to realign, so that all the electons point in one direction.

I write the first scene or chapter, and I often don't know where I'm going, but once I've found a theme, something that I can use as a leitmotif, I often find it easier to go on.

And yes, some images make me linger, they give me a pleasant little breather, but they don't kick me out of the story. However, I do remember the first time I read some of Eliade's stuff. I found it terribly over-written. Maybe I was just lazy, because her language was difficult (for a non-native speaker, anyway). these days, I find her language wonderful. It's the reason why I enjoy rereading her stories.

Which reminds me: I really have to reread your Doctor Who fic about the sick house...

[azdak]

I absolutely notice if a writer has a feel for cadence and rhythm and turns of phrase and imagery, and I don't think that has anything to do with artificiality (though there are, of course, styles of writing that feel artificial, whether this was deliberate or not). Writing without this kind of thing feels very workmanlike, and I end up thinking "That was a neat idea" rather than "That was a wonderful story." I like to read the kind of fic where you can pick out individual sentences and savour them, because they're so well-structured or witty or ecapsulate a lot of information very elegantly. That's what I think of as good writing.

[estepheia]

Yup, that's the old craft vs art discussion. Some readers just want the craft, others want the art, and I like to think that my taste runs somewhere in the middle. I like to pick out individual sentences - but only if they stand out like a jewel and if they don't compete with other very "visible" sentences in the same paragraph.

[shapinglight]

My two pennorth is that the tinkering is worth it.

[estepheia]

Thank you for your two pennies.

Usually, I think so too, that it's worth it. And then there are times where all the tinkering kills a fic stone dead, and then I have my doubts.
I have to find a way to turn the tinkering off and just write whatever comes to my mind until the story is finished and THEN tinker. :-)

The Snape/Ethan fic is one such casualty. I got so self-conscious about the fact that it starts with Ethan waking up in unfamiliar circumstances, that I ended up spending all my energy trying to un-cliché it. *glares at fic*

[shapinglight]

I have to find a way to turn the tinkering off and just write whatever comes to my mind until the story is finished and THEN tinker. :-)

That's usually the best way. I try to do that, not always successfully. Of course, sometimes you go back months later and realise you didn't tinker enough.

:Sigh: