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Hmmm. I've been seeing this meme around and have really enjoyed reading what some of my favorite authors have to say about their writing and their processes - the details have been fascinating and the frankness has been admirable. But I haven't felt comfortable about commenting to others unless I also have the nerve to do the meme myself. So, I'll ( Read more... )
No, don't run away and hide, I'm teasing. On the self-knowledge, it would be pretty busted axle to keep writing w/o ever having some idea of where I could stand some improvement and where I could apply the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" maxim. Plus, I have betas who are willing to tell me when I'm jumping the shark, so it's easy to be self-aware with a little help.
Regarding "The Effigy" - I'm neither surprised nor offended. First, I'd far rather you abandon a fic of mine out of discomfort than boredom, and it prolly IS my most disturbing work, not least because the disturbing elements are not right out front, so it's subversive. It's based on one very disturbing recurring dream I have, plus a nightmare I'd had about a friend being in danger, it has a fatalistic subtext that suggests that everything that happens in life has happened before and may still be happening now, and the sexual interaction in it is some of the darkest and most perverse I've ever written for this pairing. Sure, the bizarre trio in "The Effigy" may be having fun, but they are all whistling past a graveyard too, and they know it, and all three of them are moving well outside their own comfort zones to please their partners (and maybe to spit in death's eye, as well). Stuff like that is really not for everyone, and I wouldn't want anybody to finish reading a story of mine that genuinely gave them the creeps.
Besides, I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me without dreading some batshit insane response, Maggie, you sweetheart!
On the editing process, I am just incredibly lucky and I am certain my fic (and everything I know about writing itself)has been improved and expanded by having such a process available.
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And about "The Effigy," I'm glad that you didn't take offence. I figured I didn't need to add that I've read your other stories multiple times and it had to do with the subject matter and not with you. *smile* You know that, right?
I also was thinking about your best and worst comment and wanted to add that I really loved "The Shape of His Hands." For whatever it's worth--and I know I'm only one reader--that story stayed with me. Something about the simplicity of the storyline and the vividness of Harry's confusion and the way you let certain ideas stay unresolved.
Maggie
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