And some things that should never have been forgotten...
Once again I should have written earlier... been watching The Return of the King and had forgotten quite what a long film it is.
Was reading in my 'how to write a novel' book this morning about telling the story in the simplest language possible and it occurred to me that LotR is a really good example - the language is by and large simple and straightforward - and it succeeds brilliantly in conveying the author's vision. At any rate there are lots of scenes in the film that are uncannily similar to the ones I've had in my head since first embarking on the books at the age of nine or ten - and surely that must mean that the film-makers visualised the stories in the same way that I did (and clearly many others did too) rather than that they are mind-readers...
I hope the select few who read my own stories see them in the same way that I do. I guess with fanfiction it's easier to convey an image, as we already 'know' what the characters and settings look and sound like. What I really want is for people to see the story unfold without necessarily being conscious of the words at all. Although (thinking on feet here) perhaps that only applies to the action and not the dialogue, where the words are more important and have to sound right...
I'm rambling now, aren't I. It is definitely past my bedtime.
(I may have been riveted by LotR at age 10 but it certainly is a lot more interesting through slash goggles...)