to smooth the long tough reach
Since Criminal Minds was a repeat (again!) last night, I ended up writing! Only 500 words, and not on my remix (which I have picked out, and if you know me, you will know it's mine by the title alone), on an idea that really needs someone who can write long plotty gen, but which has instead landed with me, and I will muddle through in my own (less plotty, gencesty) way.
I really wish my writing brain could grasp the intricacies of suspense/mystery plotting. I get it in theory, but I just can't do it. Or, I should say, I can't do it with any kind of regularity. I did it once, way back in XMM, where I think it was more a question of hewing to the noir formula, but even there, it kind of all came together for me without any planning - it was more one of those, 'OMG THAT'S WHY THAT HAPPENED!' light bulb kinds of things where I realized why certain things in the story had happened in hindsight, once I realized what the big reveal would be. And I still love it when that happens - and it does happen quite often to me, which is possibly why I really don't like planning things out too much, because that moment of epiphany is a sweet rush - but it's usually not with the plot-type stuff - it's usually the emotional arc that reveals itself to me that way.
(And when I say "plot" etc. I mean external action/adventurey plots - I write casefiles, but they're very straightforward, with very few twists that aren't telegraphed from paragraph one, and I wish I could make them more suspenseful and twisty, but I have a hard time coming up with obstacles that are hard enough to stymie Our Heroes without being too hard to actually solve. I guess because it's usually the less important part of the story for me? That the casefile stuff is usually there to reveal something about the characters, and once it's done that, I get frustrated by being held up by the casefile bits and make it "good enough" and let it go, instead of spending the time to make them as strong as the emotional and character bits; now I'm wondering whether if I liked hurt/comfort better I could use all that physical damage as a way of building suspense, but since I don't, it never occurs to me that causing the characters an injury is a good obstacle to them solving things too quickly. I know that's generally not why people who like h/c like it, but I wonder if it isn't a kind of plot spackle. Hmm...)
I read a story the other day that had been recced and I mostly enjoyed it, but it ended before I expected it to - the ending felt rushed to me, like the writer had gotten the main couple together, so she didn't care about the plot stuff anymore and so wrapped it up as quickly and easily as she could, but it wasn't particularly satisfying. Like, I get that if you shipped the main pairing, which I enjoy but don't feel OMG OTP about, you probably would be satisfied? but I felt like there was still more story that was just not told.
And then I thought, this is probably how it feels to read one of my stories when you're not me. So I should probably work on that, huh.
***
Today's poem:
Getting This Far
It can get cold here on the open road,
way past the old roadblocks and graves.
Still trying to teach away the demons,
praying to live another day.
I thought it would end long ago.
Said and done,
no loose ends,
quiet and simple.
The Raven still circles,
whispering his lame proclamations.
Leaving me tired and hurt,
filled to overload with history.
We...we are what is left.
Comforting with clean soft words.
Taking time to caress,
to smooth the long tough reach.
~Mark Hebard
***
very Sam and Dean, no?
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/162797.html.
people have commented there.
I really wish my writing brain could grasp the intricacies of suspense/mystery plotting. I get it in theory, but I just can't do it. Or, I should say, I can't do it with any kind of regularity. I did it once, way back in XMM, where I think it was more a question of hewing to the noir formula, but even there, it kind of all came together for me without any planning - it was more one of those, 'OMG THAT'S WHY THAT HAPPENED!' light bulb kinds of things where I realized why certain things in the story had happened in hindsight, once I realized what the big reveal would be. And I still love it when that happens - and it does happen quite often to me, which is possibly why I really don't like planning things out too much, because that moment of epiphany is a sweet rush - but it's usually not with the plot-type stuff - it's usually the emotional arc that reveals itself to me that way.
(And when I say "plot" etc. I mean external action/adventurey plots - I write casefiles, but they're very straightforward, with very few twists that aren't telegraphed from paragraph one, and I wish I could make them more suspenseful and twisty, but I have a hard time coming up with obstacles that are hard enough to stymie Our Heroes without being too hard to actually solve. I guess because it's usually the less important part of the story for me? That the casefile stuff is usually there to reveal something about the characters, and once it's done that, I get frustrated by being held up by the casefile bits and make it "good enough" and let it go, instead of spending the time to make them as strong as the emotional and character bits; now I'm wondering whether if I liked hurt/comfort better I could use all that physical damage as a way of building suspense, but since I don't, it never occurs to me that causing the characters an injury is a good obstacle to them solving things too quickly. I know that's generally not why people who like h/c like it, but I wonder if it isn't a kind of plot spackle. Hmm...)
I read a story the other day that had been recced and I mostly enjoyed it, but it ended before I expected it to - the ending felt rushed to me, like the writer had gotten the main couple together, so she didn't care about the plot stuff anymore and so wrapped it up as quickly and easily as she could, but it wasn't particularly satisfying. Like, I get that if you shipped the main pairing, which I enjoy but don't feel OMG OTP about, you probably would be satisfied? but I felt like there was still more story that was just not told.
And then I thought, this is probably how it feels to read one of my stories when you're not me. So I should probably work on that, huh.
***
Today's poem:
Getting This Far
It can get cold here on the open road,
way past the old roadblocks and graves.
Still trying to teach away the demons,
praying to live another day.
I thought it would end long ago.
Said and done,
no loose ends,
quiet and simple.
The Raven still circles,
whispering his lame proclamations.
Leaving me tired and hurt,
filled to overload with history.
We...we are what is left.
Comforting with clean soft words.
Taking time to caress,
to smooth the long tough reach.
~Mark Hebard
***
very Sam and Dean, no?
***
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/162797.html.
people have commented there.