In which I actually talk about the Matter of Chicago
and I don't mean just apologizing for not having written more yet
( Story discussion, some problems I have with the story, and what it means to me as a writer )
( Story discussion, some problems I have with the story, and what it means to me as a writer )
You may have outgrown your story. That's not a bad thing, but it's an itchy situation to be in, like finding out that Santa is actually your dad but still taking the presents anyways. Eventually, the shift becomes meaningful in a new way, as you look back on yourself through the story and can reflect on yourself as a changed person.
I think you've got a good instinct when you try to finish the work- the end and the beginning can go in different directions, and that's not a flaw. The story still speaks to you, and if you find yourself letting hints of a different aspect of Bakery!Marcone through, changing the old MoC1!characterization, that shows us something.
You can acknowledge the issues the story has, while still working to make it better. And, if you really need to, you can go back and re-write the whole thing from chapter 1 all over again and make it perfect. (Robin McKinley did something like this, no?)
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oh god, don't even mention that. I can't rewrite MoC, it's so big.
And, to be serious, the issues the story has are in a way so intrinsic that... if I did have 100+ hours to sit and rehash the whole thing, I don't think it'd be the same story in the end. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have written MoC, I think. Or at least, not in this form. If that makes sense.
(McKinley is Sunshine, isn't she? I keep meaning to read that...)
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Sunshine is awesome, but I meant something else.
With McKinley, she did an interesting thing. In '78, she wrote "Beauty" which retells Beauty and the Beast in a really awesome way- it's one of my favorite books. And then in '97 she retold it again as "Rose Daughter" doing something completely different with it. Both are really good books. Both are doing really different things. The ideas mattered to her, so she spent time working them out.
Now, I don't think it makes sense to do that with you unless you want it, but when I read the DVD style commentary on fanfics, I'm oftentimes surprised by how much the final version of a fic differs from what the author thought she was trying to do. The fic finds a way to come out the way it wants to, so to speak, and MoC might have to be the baby steps to finish the really awesome fulfilled thing that you want MoC3 to be.
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Sunshine is on my list of Books I Was Really Enjoying But Had To Stop Reading And Need To Pick Up Again. Right next to American Gods.
Oh, that's interesting. Exploring the same concept from two radically different angles is actually how the Bakery AU is going to turn out. I've written Harry's POV, and Grene is writing John's, and after that's posted I am probably going to write a stupid long essay about how Harry and John's perceptions were colored by Harry thinking he was in a tragedy and John thinking he was in a magical realism romance. /SO MANY FEELS MAN
I hope you're right, there. Man, MoC3. Live up to my own hype for you, baby.
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