I found the pieces in my hand. They were always there, it just took some time for me to understand.

[lithiumlaughter]

I've got a question for all of you who write fic; particularly those who post on the Pit. This is going to be weird and potentially elitiest/pretentious/etc., but stick with me here. I need the input, and I can think of no better group to bounce this whole thing off.

I'm working on the next chapter of Lex Talionis, and there's a literary reference

Comments

[xenokattz]

The last one. I'm all about the footnotes/author notes. The way I see it, it's YOUR story, dammit, with the narrative best served in that manner and if, through your narrative, someone picks up a poetry anthology book to understand "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" then more power to you! I'm pretty sure that's how I got into the classic 19th century poetry back when I was a painfully pseudo-emo Gr. 9.

[lithiumlaughter]

...if, through your narrative, someone picks up a poetry anthology book to understand "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" then more power to you!

You've just tickled my inner teacher, I'll have you know. Thank you.

(I've also added "The Wind Blows Backwards" to my to-read list. Looks promising.)

[xenokattz]

It's terribly emo and ZOMG teen angst; in other words, PERFECT for a 12-14 year old. *L* But, hey, I explored Walk Whitman because of it so all's well that ends well.

Oh, and I think I wrote a fic for that book for a creative writing project and got an A. ;)

[lithiumlaughter]

But, hey, I explored Walk Whitman because of it so all's well that ends well.

It's that very reason I kinda wanna check it out. Amazon says that there's a whole bunch of poetry references, quotes, and the like.

See? Fandom IS fun! AND academic!
(I actually designed a final project for a novel study that I had to do up that involved writing fic for "Fahrenheit 451". It made me happy.)

[proudofthefish]

I would use an Authors Note. I read a really good Bones fic that dealt with the oil industry an the author used oil terms that fit the chapter as chapter titles and explained in the beginning with an A/N. It worked really well and brought an extra dimension to the story.

[lithiumlaughter]

That sounds fascinating, actually. I'm currently reading a fic called 'The Ante' (it's X-Men, written by the lovely Lucia de Medici), and she titles her chapters after card-game things, explaining them in a footnote at the end of the chapter. It does bring a little something extra to the story.

At this point, I think I'm probably going to write a fairly detailed author's note so the readers will know what it means as they come across it, as opposed to them being confused until a footnote at the end.

Thanks for the input!

[missi_marie]

Well, although I use Author Notes quite frequently, they are often less about what's actually in the story (unless I'm changing something mainstream into AU or a disclaimer) and more about personal thoughts and random stuff. Like plot bunnies

[lithiumlaughter]

My author's notes very rarely hold anything of substance. Generally they're comprised of assorted 'thank yous' to people who made the chapter possible, short commentary on the writing process or characters, and not much else. Incorporating necessary information in to ANs is new to me. Your perspective is actually rather interesting, not to mention useful.

I guess I'm just of the belief that even one person getting it is worth the fifty or so that won't.

That's true enough. However, I'm a teacher at heart. It's my life's mission to develop understanding in as many people as possible. An unfortunate curse. :)

Yeah -- it's been decided that the reference goes in, though I've also decided that a carefully worded author's note is in order as well.

Thanks!

[lithiumlaughter]

Srsly, though, if one person gets something that's super obscure...rendering any initial concern moot anyway.

I like this. You've stated the exact attitude I ought to be taking here.

Footnoting is a bitch. This is why Chicago style citation needs to DIAF. Soon.

More to the point though, yeah. I get this. There's the occasional thing I'll slip in to my writing for my own amusement, but I'll tend to burry it so deeply that I'm the only one who really knows it's there. That's why this is different -- it needs to be there, and it needs to be understood.

Fifty to seventy? *whistles* Wow.

I do, but selectively.

Care to define this a little more?

...if its really pronounced I will likely take the lazy route of asking WTF you were writing.

The Albatross thing will be explained, likely through an author's note at the beginning so readers will (hopefully) come in to the chapter with the understanding necessary to get it. It's not particularly pronounced at this time, just a brief exchange between two characters...but you've still

[lithiumlaughter]

See, I see ten footnotes and the first thing I think is that the author's got some post secondary under their belt and can't quite shake the academic writing habit...not to mention slightly anal retentive tendencies. *grins*

Thanks for the advice.

[mwffj]

Footnotes, bb. (I'm posting this from the beach, I'm allowed to use ridiculous fashioista-ONTD slang.) I love it when something I don't understand in a fic is explained at the end since it brings a ...fullness of understanding to the story that I wouldn't have had otherwise. If someone doesn't read the footnotes, then that's their own fault (it is, after all, your story) and if they send you a message/review saying "dur, wtf is that?" all your responsibility is then to direct them to said footnotes.

[lithiumlaughter]

Footnotes as valuable resource for understanding and ass-covering. I like it. :)

BTW, I <3 what the Joker's done with your icon.

Hope the beach was a blast, hun. Muchas gracias for your perspective.