Overwriting / Feeling Called Out ;)

[fawkesylady394]

So, I tripped over this video just now. The premise is that fanfic writers have "tells" that spill over into original/professional writing - things that need to be fixed. Alexa Donne is interesting and makes good points (does come off a bit preachy but duh... that's the point!)

The breakdown is:

1- Messy Dialog Tags. (Very little use of "said

Comments

[fawkesylady394]

On the one hand, I was joking, but on the other hand, I guess I wasn't completely re: called out. One of the things that I've enjoyed about writing is that my writing is improving with practice, but from my real life career I've observed that there are sort of "localized cultures" that do things one way, and stretching beyond those borders is an important way to continue to foster growth. So that's why this video got my attention -- it was like she was looking straight at me and saying : "Well, if you want to get paid for writing someday, these are habits that tend to be fostered by your culture." It behooves me to reflect on some things that I've been blind to, or firmly ignoring in favour of joy.

You are correct that our individual voices are influenced by others, and my own shelves from literary education are indeed lined with works that are dominantly by white men. That said, language should differ, but it doesn't have to go over the top into purple. The boundary for "over the top" is somewhat arbitrary and determined both by the author and the audience. The latter doesn't always give feedback.

Re: Bond Villians, I was thinking personally that sometimes the villain becomes more interesting than the protagonist - so that's a two-edged sword.

Re: lifetime experience of blushing -- eh. I guess you have to write what you know. You could write something along the lines of "Dammit I won't blush, I won't. DAMMIT." Which implies she did. Dunno. It is a problem. It is specifically the responses of the POV character. I suppose that to tell the difference, if you change from third to first, you wouldn't want to say, "My eyes widened in shock." It doesn't feel natural. You might say, "My heart stuttered in shock as I tried to process what just happened." You feel the heart thing, but the gasp/eye-widening thing would normally be lost in the moment of being shocked. It is subtle, I guess and it feels like an area for growth.

I know what you mean about "allergic reaction." It is probable that there's a whole set of prejudices that follow a fanfiction author in the editorial comments.

I'm always interested in improving, and it is nice to hear that you (and others) find the stuff interesting too.