Fic DVD Commentary: To Have and to Hold Down - Part 1

[kat_lair]

To Have and to Hold Down - Part 1
Fic DVD Commentary

A number of you expressed interest in reading a DVD commentary on some of my fics. Consider me flattered.

First on the list is To Have and to Hold Down. Commentary on this was requested by pushkin666 who perseveres on her delusion that before I somehow corrupted her with this filthy BDSM fic, her love

Comments

[claudia_writes]

Oh man, this is so interesting. You hit the nail on the head with so many issues that I have about writing sex scnes, and about kinks and especially the sexyness of ones own work. I don't think I could ever be this articulate about any fics of mine.

It's interesting to read what the author's motivations are, because we all read things so differently. Especially the these that you wated to bring up and the underluing dynamic you wanted to expose.

[kat_lair]

Thank you! It was interesting and challenging to write, but a perfect counterbalance for hitting my head to the screen with some academic text I'm struggling with.

It's interesting to read what the author's motivations are, because we all read things so differently. - Oh absolutely. There are always things author wants to convey that don't necessarily come through to the reader, or don't come through quite the same way. Subjective interpretation of text and all that...

Thanks for taking the time to read and comment. I wasn't sure how many people would find this of interest, so even though I quite enjoyed writing it, it's always nice to know it gets read - just like fics, I guess :)

[entangled_now]

This is really interesting, and much credit to you for picking apart your own work. I'm fairly certain I'd just end up with a rambling mess if I tried this. It is lovely to see the authors layers, which always do seem to be slightly different to what we pick up as readers. Seeing what you think about the characters in a certain scene is enlightening too, because being in someone's POV is not always an indication that you are concentrating more on that character

[kat_lair]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it.

much credit to you for picking apart your own work - it's a fine line between semi-interesting commentary and nauseating wankery. Someone slap me if I stray over to the wrong side.

There are certain things/themes/issues/whatever we want to bring into our writing, but most of them probably go past the reader. You can't spell everything out, which means that a lot of things are "too subtle" to the reader, not because they're somehow too stupid to understand them, but simply because they are rarely if ever as invested in the text as the author is and therefore do not look for any hidden meanings.

And thanks for rambling! It was really interesting to read about someone else's experiences about writing porn/erotica.

Mine personally gets filthier and blunter the less focused I get - this especially was a fascinating point and I sort of know what you mean. I can't be to focused on the detail (what body parts go where) when writing a sex scene. It's more about being focused on the mood and feel of the

[moth2fic]

I really enjoyed your post - and the comments so far. I agree absolutely that a writer needs to enjoy the sex scene to write it adequately. That's why some writing doesn't work - the tab A slot B variety that comes across as boring! (And which provides one of the dividing lines between erotica and pure porn, to my mind). But I'm not surprised we can write about things that are not our personal sexual preference. We are putting ourselves inside someone else's skin and reacting to their preferences. A good writer is like a good actor in being able to get into an 'alien' head (sometimes literally alien) and make the audience believe it. So if I write about e.g. a man who likes BDSM, I have to get into his head first (especially being a woman who doesn't!!!) and then if he enjoys the sex, so will I. I was thinking about this when I read Laurell Hamilton's Merry Gentry books - which you, Kat, among others, recommended. She persuades us that torture and multiple partners amongst a semi-human race are hot - and most of would run screaming

[kat_lair]

I'm really surprised this many people took time to comment - clearly my F-list wants to talk about writing as much as I do *gg*

We are putting ourselves inside someone else's skin and reacting to their preferences. - yes. Or: I'm a gay man stuck in a straight woman's body. (I want a t-shirt with that in the front :p )

Seriously though, I like your the parallel you draw to acting, because that works very well. I don't necessarily need to understand it on a intellectual level, but it's important to feel it.

I remember the scene you talk about in the Merry Gentry books (or at least one of them). Reading it was like "oooh, hot, mmm... oh wait TENTACLES WTF? mmm hot...)

I'd love to do a similar deconstruction exercise with one of my fics but I don't currently have time! - I would absolutely love to read that. In fact I'd like anyone of my F-list to do something like this. I've read other Fic DVD Commentaries before, but it's different when you actually know the author.

[moth2fic]

*takes deep breath*
Which one shall I do? It will, you know, take some time! :)

[kat_lair]

Uhm, I could be like really evil and ask for a commentary on Shalott. But you might kill me as it's so long... If not that, then maybe the Heyer one. Or the new LoM one. Commentary on any of these would be of interest.

[zeitheist]

I agree with everybody else- getting an insight into your brain and your writing process is genuinely interesting. It was fascinating to see the things you focused on whilst writing this fic, the way it evolved of it's own accord, and the way you wrote the BDSM aspect, (which for me seems like it'd be the most difficult part to keep in character). I don't usually like BDSM, but writers like you make it work for me, probably because, as you said, "I have to have some reason for the characters to behave the way they do". Just... absolutely, yes. That's the problem I've found with a lot of PWP, particularly with new writers, is that what they write is so thinly characterised it essentially becomes faceless, choreographed smut. To quote my subconcious, in a fairly bad Jazz voice: "they ain't got no soul". (wtf, subconcious. wtf?!).

Anyway, I'm rambling. Heh. I just wanted to say: well done on the commentary, it was fascinating, as were your preface notes about porn and the writing of.

[kat_lair]

getting an insight into your brain and your writing process is genuinely interesting. - why thank you. Although... *suspicious eyes* This reminds me of what my art teacher used to say ("It's very... uh, interesting?") when she clearly couldn't think of anything else to say. Hee!

RE: your comments about porn/BDSM aspect. I find I can't really read straightforward porn anymore. Well, I can but it doesn't really do anything for me. Nor does watching porn. I jsut get incredibly bored, it's the whole "tab A into slot B" thing (like moth2fic so elegantly put it). There's nothing inherently sexy about sex, it's the people and their thoughts, feelings, and motivations that give meaning to the physical act.

Anyway, thanks for rambling. It's been really great to read people's thoughts on the topic.

[inkblot_fiend]

Like everyone above, I thought this was fascinating... and whilst I haven't written any straight-forward porn (yet, muahaha) I agree that there are many things a person doesn't necessarily have experience of (or would ever *want* to have experience of) but the skill of the writer is to make any scenario believable on a very human, believable level. Which you do incredibly well with this fic.

I also very much enjoyed your comments on the writing of the fic - especially about the character motivations and stuff. I think sometimes when you read you don't think about that stuff consciously, you just kind of absorb it from what the writer infers, so it's good to read what you were originally thinking, and how that shaped the fic. :D

I must just add, this fic made my brain melt in several different ways, which was awesome.

[kat_lair]

I haven't written any straight-forward porn (yet, muahaha) - yes, it's usually only a matter of time. I find that fandom slowly but inevitably breaks your squicks and blurs all the lines.

Thank you for the comments, both on the commentary and the fic itself.

when you read you don't think about that stuff consciously, you just kind of absorb it from what the writer infers - yes. and everyone brings their interpretation to the text, so what the reader gets out of the fic can be very different from what the author intended. Both readings are as valid.