It hits you so much harder than you thought, but you don't worry, 'cause you've got soul.
One mustard catfish filet, two large scoops of greens and macaroni & cheese, and a dish of peach cobbler later, my grandfather has actually eaten, proving there's precious little that can't be cured with a healthy dose of good old-fashioned soul food. God bless BJ's Market.
The crack!fic is almost wrapped, and queenie__b's Brotherhood ficlet is nearing the end of its rambling (hold tight, Q, it's coming).
syrenslure asked about chapter length in multi-parters, and it made me think. I'm kind of at the other end of the spectrum - my chapters tend to be epic, and I'm forever trying to cut them back (they tend to get out of hand, like weeds in dire need of pruning). As a student of the Roswell school, though, I think tending toward the epic is encouraged - most of us seem to write, if not long chapters, than long stories (case in point - my HWY master, still unfinished, is upwards of 100,000 words, and the Roswell/Angel crossover, just three chapters and a two part prologue, is almost 30,000). The fandom in general, or at least the Polar side, seems to love telling tales - stories with a beginning, middle and end, in that order and leaving nothing out in between. Look at our flagship fics. Nemesis Game, 107,000. Healing, 112,000. Point of Origin, 189,000. Memory of Her, 341,000. I don't even know how long The Polar Novel is. Even my one-shots and PWPs are five, six, ten thousand words.
(Yeah, ask me to tell you the whole story behind Moment of Truth sometime. Q and I set out to write one chapter of unabashed fluff. Four parts, 26,000 words and countless incidents of Michael torture later, we've got pages of stuff that ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor, and we still haven't even written the epi.)
Recently, in branching out to other fandoms, I've been trying to teach myself the Art of the Ficlet. As in one moment in time, Courtney, not the story of their lives. Not totally sure if the switch is what's made me more productive, even with my limited time these days, but I'm sure it's connected. I'm just not sure if it's what's ultimately going to doom my WIPs. Lately, the allure of sprawling stories and happily-ever-afters just doesn't intrigue me nearly as much as some little slice of life that I can tell in two or three pages. And then, bonus of bonuses, it's done, and I never have to look at it again.
I do think that some fandoms lend themselves to certain types of storytelling, at least for me. Firefly loves quick cuts and little shots of character introspection, usually told in the present tense. Smallville, I'm finding, is a lot less dialogue-heavy than I'm used to (of course, that could just be my muse's reaction to crappy writing). Chloe seems to talk to people in her head, as if she's saying things aloud. Supernatural is all about the symbolism - everything means or relates to something else, or at least ends up meaning something later, so it ends up being a bit cyclical, in a way. Like Finnegan's Wake to Roswell's Ulysses. Angel is all sarcasm and darkness, with a dash of pop culture. And the boys of the Brotherhood, such a departure for me, live in a world all their own, where there's almost an extra sense to consider, a different plane of existence, and there are specifics to everything ("SUV" becomes "Escalade" and guns go by their proper names).
In the end, I guess, I don't think fic should follow hard-and-fast writing rules where length is concerned. Or style, for that matter. Stories have a way of unfolding the way they want to be told. Far be it for me to get in their way.
---
Ripped from darkvixen1979 - yet another Movie Meme.
(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 8
(x) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
( ) Saw II
(x) White Noise
(x) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 16
(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 24
(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 32
(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 39
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG (the original? the Peter Jackson epic? Either? ...Ah well, I've seen both.)
Total so far: 46
( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 51
(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell (does it count if I fell asleep? I need half an "x".)
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 61
(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 70
(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
(x) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin (Best. Movie. EVER.)
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
( ) Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 81
(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
(x) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 91
( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 103
(x) X-Men
(x) X2
(x) X3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday (Haley Mills, people. Say no to LiLo.)
(x) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
() Shrek 2
Total so far: 115
(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th Street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
(x) Ice Castles
(x) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Total so far: 122
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 128
(x) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 132
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 136
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
() Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 Days Later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 139
(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
(x) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 144
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 150
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total: 157
You know what's really sad? How many of those I own.
The crack!fic is almost wrapped, and queenie__b's Brotherhood ficlet is nearing the end of its rambling (hold tight, Q, it's coming).
syrenslure asked about chapter length in multi-parters, and it made me think. I'm kind of at the other end of the spectrum - my chapters tend to be epic, and I'm forever trying to cut them back (they tend to get out of hand, like weeds in dire need of pruning). As a student of the Roswell school, though, I think tending toward the epic is encouraged - most of us seem to write, if not long chapters, than long stories (case in point - my HWY master, still unfinished, is upwards of 100,000 words, and the Roswell/Angel crossover, just three chapters and a two part prologue, is almost 30,000). The fandom in general, or at least the Polar side, seems to love telling tales - stories with a beginning, middle and end, in that order and leaving nothing out in between. Look at our flagship fics. Nemesis Game, 107,000. Healing, 112,000. Point of Origin, 189,000. Memory of Her, 341,000. I don't even know how long The Polar Novel is. Even my one-shots and PWPs are five, six, ten thousand words.
(Yeah, ask me to tell you the whole story behind Moment of Truth sometime. Q and I set out to write one chapter of unabashed fluff. Four parts, 26,000 words and countless incidents of Michael torture later, we've got pages of stuff that ended up on the proverbial cutting room floor, and we still haven't even written the epi.)
Recently, in branching out to other fandoms, I've been trying to teach myself the Art of the Ficlet. As in one moment in time, Courtney, not the story of their lives. Not totally sure if the switch is what's made me more productive, even with my limited time these days, but I'm sure it's connected. I'm just not sure if it's what's ultimately going to doom my WIPs. Lately, the allure of sprawling stories and happily-ever-afters just doesn't intrigue me nearly as much as some little slice of life that I can tell in two or three pages. And then, bonus of bonuses, it's done, and I never have to look at it again.
I do think that some fandoms lend themselves to certain types of storytelling, at least for me. Firefly loves quick cuts and little shots of character introspection, usually told in the present tense. Smallville, I'm finding, is a lot less dialogue-heavy than I'm used to (of course, that could just be my muse's reaction to crappy writing). Chloe seems to talk to people in her head, as if she's saying things aloud. Supernatural is all about the symbolism - everything means or relates to something else, or at least ends up meaning something later, so it ends up being a bit cyclical, in a way. Like Finnegan's Wake to Roswell's Ulysses. Angel is all sarcasm and darkness, with a dash of pop culture. And the boys of the Brotherhood, such a departure for me, live in a world all their own, where there's almost an extra sense to consider, a different plane of existence, and there are specifics to everything ("SUV" becomes "Escalade" and guns go by their proper names).
In the end, I guess, I don't think fic should follow hard-and-fast writing rules where length is concerned. Or style, for that matter. Stories have a way of unfolding the way they want to be told. Far be it for me to get in their way.
---
Ripped from darkvixen1979 - yet another Movie Meme.
(x) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(x) Grease
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean
(x) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
(x) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(x) Neverending Story
(x) Blazing Saddles
(x) Airplane
Total: 8
(x) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
( ) Napoleon Dynamite
(x) Labyrinth
(x) Saw
( ) Saw II
(x) White Noise
(x) White Oleander
(x) Anger Management
(x) 50 First Dates
(x) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 16
(x) Scream
(x) Scream 2
(x) Scream 3
(x) Scary Movie
(x) Scary Movie 2
(x) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
(x) American Pie
(x) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
Total so far: 24
(x) Harry Potter 1
(x) Harry Potter 2
(x) Harry Potter 3
(x) Harry Potter 4
(x) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(x) The Wedding Singer
(x) Little Black Book
( ) The Village
(x) Lilo & Stitch
Total so far: 32
(x) Finding Nemo
(x) Finding Neverland
(x) Signs
( ) The Grinch
(x) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
(x) Butterfly Effect
(x) 13 Going on 30
(x) I, Robot
( ) Robots
Total so far: 39
( ) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
(x) Universal Soldier
( ) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
(x) Deep Impact
(x) KingPin
(x) Never Been Kissed
(x) Meet The Parents
(x) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(x) KING KONG (the original? the Peter Jackson epic? Either? ...Ah well, I've seen both.)
Total so far: 46
( ) A Cinderella Story
( ) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
(x) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
(x) Final Destination
(x) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
(x) Halloween
(x) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving X-MAS
( ) Flubber
Total so far: 51
(x) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
(x) Practical Magic
(x) Chicago
(x) Ghost Ship
(x) From Hell (does it count if I fell asleep? I need half an "x".)
(x) Hellboy
(x) Secret Window
(x) I Am Sam
(x) The Whole Nine Yards
(x) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 61
(x) The Day After Tomorrow
(x) Child's Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(x) Ten Things I Hate About You
(x) Just Married
(x) Gothika
(x) Nightmare on Elm Street
(x) Sixteen Candles
(x) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(x) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
Total so far: 70
(x) Bad Boys
(x) Bad Boys 2
(x) Joy Ride
(x) Lucky Number Slevin (Best. Movie. EVER.)
(x) Ocean's Eleven
(x) Ocean's Twelve
(x) Bourne Identity
(x) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
(x) Bedazzled
(x) Predator I
( ) Predator II
() The Fog
(x) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 81
(x) Independence Day
(x) Cujo
(x) A Bronx Tale
(x) Darkness Falls
(x) Christine
(x) ET
(x) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(x) War of the Worlds
(x) Rush Hour
(x) Rush Hour 2
Total so far: 91
( ) Best Bet
(x) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
(x) She's All That
( ) Calendar Girls
(x) Sideways
(x) Mars Attacks
(x) Event Horizon
(x) Ever After
(x) Wizard of Oz
(x) Forrest Gump
(x) Big Trouble in Little China
(x) The Terminator
(x) The Terminator 2
(x) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 103
(x) X-Men
(x) X2
(x) X3
(x) Spider-Man
(x) Spider-Man 2
( ) Sky High
(x) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
( ) Catch Me If You Can
(x) The Little Mermaid
(x) Freaky Friday (Haley Mills, people. Say no to LiLo.)
(x) Reign of Fire
(x) The Skulls
(x) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(x) Shrek
() Shrek 2
Total so far: 115
(x) Swimfan
(x) Miracle on 34th Street
( ) Old School
(x) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf's Tribe
(x) A Walk to Remember
(x) Ice Castles
(x) Boogeyman
(x) The 40-Year-Old Virgin
Total so far: 122
(x) Lord of the Rings Fellowship of the Ring
(x) Lord of the Rings The Two Towers
(x) Lord of the Rings Return Of the King
(x) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(x) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(x) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 128
(x) Baseketball
( ) Hostel
( ) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
(x) Highlander
(x) Mothman Prophecies
(x) American History X
( ) Three
Total so Far: 132
( ) The Jacket
( ) Kung Fu Hustle
( ) Shaolin Soccer
(x) Night Watch
(x) Monsters Inc.
(x) Titanic
(x) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 136
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(x) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(x) Hook
() Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
(x) 28 Days Later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
Total so far: 139
(x) Kill Bill vol 1
(x) Kill Bill vol 2
(x) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
(x) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave aka the Day of the Woman
( ) The Last House on the Left
(x) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: 144
(x) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(x) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(x) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(x) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(x) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(x) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks The Battle For Endor
Total so far: 150
(x) The Matrix
(x) The Matrix Reloaded
(x) The Matrix Revolutions
(x) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
(x) Red Dragon
(x) Silence of the Lambs
(x) Hannibal
Total: 157
You know what's really sad? How many of those I own.