stuffs
So... I will have pictures up as soon as they come in... it was a great weekend! Though the after-wedding stuff kinda sucks - I'm not looking forward to all the legal changes, lol.
And go figure, the week I'm not on, all the wank about fanfic (good, bad, immoral, etc.) happens. I think everyone has made some great points, but just to add what I've always said about it (and I'm sure it's already been stated), is the fact that it really bothers me when people claim individuals only write fanfic when they can't write their own original fic. I personally think that is bullshit - not only for all the great writing and learning opportunities, but also because sometimes it really IS harder to write fanfic, especially if the author is trying to stay close to cannon. It can be much easier to just do whatever you want with your own characters and you have no rules or set-ups to follow, and while it's not uncommon by any means for fanfiction authors to completely branch out and make the characters, settings, story ideas etc (such as AU) complete different from canon, most authors still pull in vital details. Instead of running away with something original, you have to reconstruct what is already there, in a reasonable fashion, and make something new out of it - and that's just one way writing fanfic can be difficult.
This doesn't just apply to fanfiction either - years ago, we had to do similar exercises in a writing class, where each person would take and completely describe 3 characters and a setting, down to the minute details, THEN you had to turn them in and choose someone else's descriptions to write a story about. That was one of the hardest writing assignments I've ever done, because the whole time I was describing my characters and settings, I had an awesome idea for a story, then I couldn't even use it. I had to build an entirely new story out of someone else's ideas (and there were NO plot lines given, JUST details). I wracked my brain for weeks trying to think of something that would work with the pieces I had chosen, and even then, the whole story never really sat right with me, because it wasn't how I would have chosen to describe the characters or the setting (and we weren't allowed to change the details that the other students had written down). Now I know fanfiction is not as strict in any sense, but I've always associated these two examples together because most fanfiction writers are trying to do justice to the original works, and it can be incredibly hard to come close - following a set path, but still trying to be original.
That isn't to say that writing original works isn't difficult, because it really can be. Very few people have the natural gift to just be able to put words to paper (or computer) and have it turn into something amazing, and even then, it still takes editing, reviewing, editing, reviewing, editing, reviewing... and so on quite a few more times :-) But I really don't think that fanfiction is the 'easy' way, or the way for people who just can't write their own stories. It's still writing, and it can be difficult in any form that you do it. Heck, I'd started my book nearly 6 years ago, and for almost 4 1/2 years, I'd only written 25k on it. A few years ago, I started writing fanfiction (instead of just reading it), and I also started writing more short stories and poetry (not that I'm good at the poetry part), but the practice, persistence, working with my betas and friends, and general stress of finally posting something online really made me improve my writing, not just because I wanted to, but because I had to practice and perfect (as much as I could) and become COMFORTABLE with my own writing style. Then, going back to my book, and setting deadlines for myself, helped push me forward and complete it. But it'd probably still be sitting on my computer, untouched, if I hadn't started working on other projects to help better my writing, because I would have never been happy with what I had already written. And it really is amazing, the difference between the older sections of my books and the newer parts. The first 25k still have a LOT of work to be done so that they sound more like how I write now, but it doesn't mean it was bad, it's just not how I write currently. But even with all of the struggling I've done through my book, I still have a couple fanfiction pieces (some that have never been even posted) that were 10 times harder for me to write.
So yeah... done rambling for now... not even sure if this all makes sense because I'm too tired to check it, but hopefully the comparison came off somewhere in there :-)
Here's a teaser pic for now! (okay... well... maybe a few...)
And go figure, the week I'm not on, all the wank about fanfic (good, bad, immoral, etc.) happens. I think everyone has made some great points, but just to add what I've always said about it (and I'm sure it's already been stated), is the fact that it really bothers me when people claim individuals only write fanfic when they can't write their own original fic. I personally think that is bullshit - not only for all the great writing and learning opportunities, but also because sometimes it really IS harder to write fanfic, especially if the author is trying to stay close to cannon. It can be much easier to just do whatever you want with your own characters and you have no rules or set-ups to follow, and while it's not uncommon by any means for fanfiction authors to completely branch out and make the characters, settings, story ideas etc (such as AU) complete different from canon, most authors still pull in vital details. Instead of running away with something original, you have to reconstruct what is already there, in a reasonable fashion, and make something new out of it - and that's just one way writing fanfic can be difficult.
This doesn't just apply to fanfiction either - years ago, we had to do similar exercises in a writing class, where each person would take and completely describe 3 characters and a setting, down to the minute details, THEN you had to turn them in and choose someone else's descriptions to write a story about. That was one of the hardest writing assignments I've ever done, because the whole time I was describing my characters and settings, I had an awesome idea for a story, then I couldn't even use it. I had to build an entirely new story out of someone else's ideas (and there were NO plot lines given, JUST details). I wracked my brain for weeks trying to think of something that would work with the pieces I had chosen, and even then, the whole story never really sat right with me, because it wasn't how I would have chosen to describe the characters or the setting (and we weren't allowed to change the details that the other students had written down). Now I know fanfiction is not as strict in any sense, but I've always associated these two examples together because most fanfiction writers are trying to do justice to the original works, and it can be incredibly hard to come close - following a set path, but still trying to be original.
That isn't to say that writing original works isn't difficult, because it really can be. Very few people have the natural gift to just be able to put words to paper (or computer) and have it turn into something amazing, and even then, it still takes editing, reviewing, editing, reviewing, editing, reviewing... and so on quite a few more times :-) But I really don't think that fanfiction is the 'easy' way, or the way for people who just can't write their own stories. It's still writing, and it can be difficult in any form that you do it. Heck, I'd started my book nearly 6 years ago, and for almost 4 1/2 years, I'd only written 25k on it. A few years ago, I started writing fanfiction (instead of just reading it), and I also started writing more short stories and poetry (not that I'm good at the poetry part), but the practice, persistence, working with my betas and friends, and general stress of finally posting something online really made me improve my writing, not just because I wanted to, but because I had to practice and perfect (as much as I could) and become COMFORTABLE with my own writing style. Then, going back to my book, and setting deadlines for myself, helped push me forward and complete it. But it'd probably still be sitting on my computer, untouched, if I hadn't started working on other projects to help better my writing, because I would have never been happy with what I had already written. And it really is amazing, the difference between the older sections of my books and the newer parts. The first 25k still have a LOT of work to be done so that they sound more like how I write now, but it doesn't mean it was bad, it's just not how I write currently. But even with all of the struggling I've done through my book, I still have a couple fanfiction pieces (some that have never been even posted) that were 10 times harder for me to write.
So yeah... done rambling for now... not even sure if this all makes sense because I'm too tired to check it, but hopefully the comparison came off somewhere in there :-)
Here's a teaser pic for now! (okay... well... maybe a few...)