Featured Story of January: Lessons and Obsessions

[lennanightrun]

Hello H&V!

Wow, this is so unexpected! I hadn't prepared a speech.

Well, needless to say I'm quite honored. I've finally reached the point where the time since I finished Lessons and Obsessions has almost met the time that it took me to write it. Having been away for it this long, it's such a treat for it to be brought back to my attention in such a

Comments

[lennanightrun]

:D Thanks!

1) When a work is done, a different kind of feedback is useful than when you're in the middle of it. Since L&O is done, the most useful feedback would be pointing out things I could tweak that might fix an inconsistency or make something clearer. If a project is done, there's only so much I can do to change it after the fact. A helpful review for me when a work is in progress might include feedback on how characters are acting or interacting, what's working well or not so well for the reader, and sometimes guesses or hopes about what might happen next. The last bit can really help me gauge how what I've written thus far is leading to waht I'm hoping to write. Something that's useful both during and after is corrections on spelling/grammar/terminology. For instance, I used incarcerus once when I meant incendio early on and someone pointed it out. That was really helpful. Essentially, don't tell me to make any drastic changes because I can't do that, or tell me you dislike something without telling me why. It's the "whys" that are really helpful. That's how I learn.

2) It's certainly possible, but most likely not another big project. Like I said, L&O took me fifteen months. My second biggest project, the D/R for Draco Big Bang, took me a few as well, and that was like 1/4 as long. This is compounded by the fact that my beta+best friend twist_shimmy has pulled me into the Dragon Age fandom, and I'm working on a project with her there. I certainly don't intend to abandon HP, and I think that I'd be interested in doing some shorter works if some good prompts/opportunities came my way, but there's nothing huge HP-wise (and therefore not D/Hr-wise) on my radar right now.

3) It's tough to say because there are quite a few good HP fics out there, and I like them for quite a few different reasons. Obviously, I'm partial to my own style and interpretations, so nothing out there fits my quintessential idea of how I'd write a given fic, but one of the ones that inspired me and affected me is ilkee's Claiming Hermione. Honestly, though, in some ways I don't wish I'd written any of the fics I like, because if I'd written them, I wouldn't be able to enjoy them as much! :)

(continued in a second comment XD I am so wordy!)

[lennanightrun]

(continued from previous)

4) I loved it. This comes back to my belief that adaptations and interpretations should employ the new medium's strengths and downplay its weaknesses. Books can do things that movies can't. There's a lot more space and a lot more left to the imagination when it comes to the way things look and sound. Film is constrained by time, but can give you music and spectacle and facial expressions and tones of voice that maybe weren't in your head but you like anyway. If HP were made into a comic book, that medium would have its own advantages and disadvantages too. Were there things I thought could have been better explained or changes I thought were unnecessary in DH1? Of course. Did that ruin the movie for me? Absolutely not. Many of the changes brought new meaning and drew attention to aspects of the book I hadn't focused in on before. For instance, I thought that the friendship between Harry and Hermione was very moving in the film, though it didn't affect me as much when reading the book. I don't think that any of the HP films can stand alone apart from the books, but I don't see them as in competition with one another. That's how I feel about all the HP films, and about similar film/stage/page adaptations.

I do think that my writing has improved by reading both fiction and fanfiction. Reading as much as you can is the best way to learn how to write, in my opinion, and can give you confidence to try your hand at it. But for my part, I don't see myself as a true fiction writer. I think that Lessons and Obsessions improved my writing dramatically, and part of the reason for that was because I was given a framework within which to play without being daunted by having to do all of the worldbuilding and character creation.

At the end of the day, I feel that I'm a critic, not a fiction writer. I majored in Literature and not in Creative Writing because I enjoy immersing myself in the work of others rather than creating my own. I see the difference every day in the way my husband, who is a creative writer, approaches things compared with how I do. Writing fanfiction for me is an extension of reading; a way to continue to be a part of something a writer gave me that I love.

I think you and I have significantly different ideas on the role of a good editor. My beta and I don't simply copy edit one another's work; we brainstorm together and work in a relationship of collaboration that I believe produces the best work when all's said and done. I think that I might like to be an editor if given the chance to edit fiction. That's been one of the joys of being in love with a fiction writer--I get to be a part of the worlds he creates and help him make them better.

In that way, the work comes from more than one heart :)