you're finding it's nail-biting and teeth-grinding
You know, I have never considered myself a masochist (I really don't like pain) but the fact that I can't stop playing bubble spinner, combined with the fact that I started four (FOUR!) new stories this weekend and hate everything about every one of them, is leading me to believe that maybe I am. I don't usually hate my writing. I mean, sometimes I hate that it's not working as easily as I'd like it to, or I don't know where the story is going, or it's not going where I thought it was, or I've written myself into a corner, or that I don't think I'm capable of doing justice to the idea, but I generally like my stories - I reread them when I need a pick-me-up - but right now I look at these four new wsip and I'm just like, 'ugh, why does all of this suck so much? WHY?' and then I shake my fist at the universe and wait for dramatic lightning and thunder, but the universe denies my need to be vindicated by the pathetic fallacy.
In the meantime, let's do day 4 of the fanfic meme.
30 days of fanfic:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 - Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the story isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
Oddly enough, despite my user name, I don't like the term "muse." I think it adds a lot of bullshit mystical mumbo jumbo to the writing process. I mean, I'm not gonna lie - when writing is working for me, when I'm really in the zone, as it were, I do "hear" the dialogue in my head, but it's because I'm telling myself the story. It's not some outside mystical force speaking through me, and I feel like talking about writing as it if were obfuscates the real work of it. I think it becomes really easy then to be like, "Oh, the muse is on vacation" when really, what it is is that I just am finding the act of writing too frustrating or loathsome to attempt at the moment. I mean, see above re: writing myself into a corner or getting in my own way and thus being blocked (though I don't really ever feel "blocked" in the sense of not having words so much as I feel either drained of ideas and lacking in creativity and/or interest or I desperately want to write but can't make myself settle down and do it, and instead play two hours of bubble spinner or spend the night looking at tumblr) - I get not wanting to put your ass in front of the laptop and write, but that's all you, or me, in this case; it has nothing to do with some outside airy-fairy construct of "the muse" and whether or not it's "with you" or whatever. Inspiration is great but you can't count on it to get anything done, you know?
And I know that most people don't really mean that they think of the muse as an outside force, but I think it's a metaphor that has outlived its usefulness, so I find it kind of irritating when people frame the discussion of their writing that way.
Obviously, mileage varies.
ANYWAY.
In some fandoms, I find certain characters are much easier to write - Sirius and Remus in HP; Mal Reynolds in Firefly - he definitely liked to try to take over stories that weren't even about him, just because I find it so easy to slip into his voice while writing. River's voice comes fairly easily to me, as well, that mix of half-sense and poetry, the way a lot of it means something but because she can't convey the context, it sounds like gibberish. I enjoy writing her because it means I can do things that I can't with other characters, in terms of using language in ways that other characters don't. And I probably overidentified with Rogue in XMM, which made it easier to write from her POV. I also find Cordelia Chase an easy character to slip into.
Right now, oddly enough, in the DCU, the only character whose voice comes really easily to me is Kon's. I don't know what that means, but there it is.
5 -If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a story, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
6 - When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7 - Have you ever had a story change your opinion of a character?
8 - Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
9 - Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
10 - Pairings - Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
11 - Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12 - Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13 - Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14 - Ratings - how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
15 - Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a story?
16 - Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17 - Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the story? Also, if you do chaptered story, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18 - Where do you get the most inspiration for your stories (aka "bunnies") from?
19 - When you have bunnies ideas, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20 - Do you ever get bunnied inspired from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
21 - Sequels - Have you ever written a sequel to a story you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
22 - Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
23 - When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24 - Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your story? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
25 - Music - Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your story? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26 - What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a story?
27 - Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28 - Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your story?
29 - What is your current project or projects?
30 - Do you have a favorite story you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/360647.html.
people have commented there.
In the meantime, let's do day 4 of the fanfic meme.
30 days of fanfic:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4 - Do you have a "muse" character, that speaks to you more than others, or that tries to push their way in, even when the story isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
Oddly enough, despite my user name, I don't like the term "muse." I think it adds a lot of bullshit mystical mumbo jumbo to the writing process. I mean, I'm not gonna lie - when writing is working for me, when I'm really in the zone, as it were, I do "hear" the dialogue in my head, but it's because I'm telling myself the story. It's not some outside mystical force speaking through me, and I feel like talking about writing as it if were obfuscates the real work of it. I think it becomes really easy then to be like, "Oh, the muse is on vacation" when really, what it is is that I just am finding the act of writing too frustrating or loathsome to attempt at the moment. I mean, see above re: writing myself into a corner or getting in my own way and thus being blocked (though I don't really ever feel "blocked" in the sense of not having words so much as I feel either drained of ideas and lacking in creativity and/or interest or I desperately want to write but can't make myself settle down and do it, and instead play two hours of bubble spinner or spend the night looking at tumblr) - I get not wanting to put your ass in front of the laptop and write, but that's all you, or me, in this case; it has nothing to do with some outside airy-fairy construct of "the muse" and whether or not it's "with you" or whatever. Inspiration is great but you can't count on it to get anything done, you know?
And I know that most people don't really mean that they think of the muse as an outside force, but I think it's a metaphor that has outlived its usefulness, so I find it kind of irritating when people frame the discussion of their writing that way.
Obviously, mileage varies.
ANYWAY.
In some fandoms, I find certain characters are much easier to write - Sirius and Remus in HP; Mal Reynolds in Firefly - he definitely liked to try to take over stories that weren't even about him, just because I find it so easy to slip into his voice while writing. River's voice comes fairly easily to me, as well, that mix of half-sense and poetry, the way a lot of it means something but because she can't convey the context, it sounds like gibberish. I enjoy writing her because it means I can do things that I can't with other characters, in terms of using language in ways that other characters don't. And I probably overidentified with Rogue in XMM, which made it easier to write from her POV. I also find Cordelia Chase an easy character to slip into.
Right now, oddly enough, in the DCU, the only character whose voice comes really easily to me is Kon's. I don't know what that means, but there it is.
5 -If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a story, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
6 - When you write, do you prefer writing male or female characters?
7 - Have you ever had a story change your opinion of a character?
8 - Do you write OCs? And if so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues, and if not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
9 - Pairings - For each of the fandoms from day two, what are your three favorite pairings to write?
10 - Pairings - Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
11 - Genre - do you prefer certain genres of fic when you're writing? What kind do you tend to write most?
12 - Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
13 - Do you prefer canon or fanon when you write? Has writing fanfic for a fandom changed the way you see some or even all of the original source material?
14 - Ratings - how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?
15 - Warnings - What do you feel it most important to warn for, and what's the strangest thing you've warned for in a story?
16 - Summaries - Do you like them or hate them? How do you come up with them, if you use them?
17 - Titles - Are they the bane of your existence, or the easiest part of the story? Also, if you do chaptered story, do you give each chapter a title, or not?
18 - Where do you get the most inspiration for your stories (aka "bunnies") from?
19 - When you have bunnies ideas, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
20 - Do you ever get bunnied inspired from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
21 - Sequels - Have you ever written a sequel to a story you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
22 - Have you ever participated in a fest or a Big Bang? If so, write about your favorite experience in relation to one. If not, are there any you've thought about doing? And if not, why not?
23 - When you post, where do you post to? Just your journal? Just an archive? Your own personal site?
24 - Betaing - How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your story? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?
25 - Music - Do you listen to music while you write? Do you make playlists to get into a certain "mood" to write your story? Do you need noise in general? Or do you need it completely quiet?
26 - What is the oddest (or funnest) thing you've had to research for a story?
27 - Where is your favorite place to write, and do you write by hand or on the computer?
28 - Have you ever collaborated with anyone else, whether writing together, or having an artist work on a piece about your story?
29 - What is your current project or projects?
30 - Do you have a favorite story you've written? What makes it your favorite? And don't forget to give us a link!
This entry at DW: http://musesfool.dreamwidth.org/360647.html.
people have commented there.