You, Ozymandias
This is an "I'm thankful for" post; BE WARNED!
About a week ago I had a bit of an ego bust when someone 3-4 years younger than me wrote something so complex I had to read it about 16 times. bellicosus, in her usual wisdom, told me to stow it and just be thankful someone that good existed in fandom. Wounded as I was at the time I did not really think about this but it hit me today that fandom is not a singular point, it's a weird mobius strip of sorts and that I should be thankful for all those writers who came before me and all those who will come after because to restrict creativity is the real crime, hem it in with rules and conventions.
I don't believe writing can be taught. Although I do think teaching can be useful, I am wary of anyone who name-drops their author-teachers or the number of writing classes they've taken. After I finished the graduate level writing course in Berkeley I swore to bellicosus that I would never take another one, and that she wasn't to let me if I was tempted. There are benefits to these classes, but I learned more in 30 minutes of office hours than 2 weeks of arguing with Jeffrey D. about the realism validity of his mattress tag proofreader MC (yeah, right?), and really what I learned was when to think critically, when to take advice and when to entirely disregard it and trust the gut feeling.
I've always been thankful for being a "self-taught" writer, meaning that I formed my own ideas from what I read rather than being taught "the rules". But when I say self-taught it's not entirely true, I have fandom to thank as my teacher and all the glories of its many narrative styles, it's erotica--bad and good and scary--it's taken me on many rides (ha!), thousands of stories, thousands of lessons without the whip-crack of publisher fear that I see so many of my other friends suffer under. If I want to experiment, do something crazy or outlandish or NC-17 I can. I have the preparation and skills and I have the freedom and means, and most of all I could not have done it without all of you, teachers and friends <3:
ronsard, tofty, rhoddlet, imochan, librae, questofdreams, erisabesu, kat7077, nthcoincident, tom_canty, ourmutualfiend, dorkofic, peripheralsight, pollinia, onthecount, vogueanthem, versacefrolic, hansbekhart, oselle (My current crush!), kokanshu, devosama, flambeau, rondaview, and more. So many more.
Most of you do not know me and probably never will; I would not assume to know you, but I know your writing. It has made me laugh and cry, cherish moments and feelings I'd thought indescribable, and no doubt grind my teeth at night hoping to improve myself in your example. Thank you for letting me walk in the shadows of giants.
About a week ago I had a bit of an ego bust when someone 3-4 years younger than me wrote something so complex I had to read it about 16 times. bellicosus, in her usual wisdom, told me to stow it and just be thankful someone that good existed in fandom. Wounded as I was at the time I did not really think about this but it hit me today that fandom is not a singular point, it's a weird mobius strip of sorts and that I should be thankful for all those writers who came before me and all those who will come after because to restrict creativity is the real crime, hem it in with rules and conventions.
I don't believe writing can be taught. Although I do think teaching can be useful, I am wary of anyone who name-drops their author-teachers or the number of writing classes they've taken. After I finished the graduate level writing course in Berkeley I swore to bellicosus that I would never take another one, and that she wasn't to let me if I was tempted. There are benefits to these classes, but I learned more in 30 minutes of office hours than 2 weeks of arguing with Jeffrey D. about the realism validity of his mattress tag proofreader MC (yeah, right?), and really what I learned was when to think critically, when to take advice and when to entirely disregard it and trust the gut feeling.
I've always been thankful for being a "self-taught" writer, meaning that I formed my own ideas from what I read rather than being taught "the rules". But when I say self-taught it's not entirely true, I have fandom to thank as my teacher and all the glories of its many narrative styles, it's erotica--bad and good and scary--it's taken me on many rides (ha!), thousands of stories, thousands of lessons without the whip-crack of publisher fear that I see so many of my other friends suffer under. If I want to experiment, do something crazy or outlandish or NC-17 I can. I have the preparation and skills and I have the freedom and means, and most of all I could not have done it without all of you, teachers and friends <3:
ronsard, tofty, rhoddlet, imochan, librae, questofdreams, erisabesu, kat7077, nthcoincident, tom_canty, ourmutualfiend, dorkofic, peripheralsight, pollinia, onthecount, vogueanthem, versacefrolic, hansbekhart, oselle (My current crush!), kokanshu, devosama, flambeau, rondaview, and more. So many more.
Most of you do not know me and probably never will; I would not assume to know you, but I know your writing. It has made me laugh and cry, cherish moments and feelings I'd thought indescribable, and no doubt grind my teeth at night hoping to improve myself in your example. Thank you for letting me walk in the shadows of giants.