second draft || [written]

[poorneedyand]

All right, I've got to know: Are there any publishing outfits here? In a town this size, the chances seem slim, but for all I know, there's a paper no one's mentioned to me. I've got a story or two started, and if I could see them in print, I wouldn't mind dropping my asking price to zero cents a word. It won't hurt them to sit in handwritten

Comments

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

...you write stories, miss?

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

Weird tales of all kinds. Why do you ask?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

...I was trying to write a story, actually.

It's not going well.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

Well, what's it about? Sometimes it helps to talk it out.

I'm Kay Eaton, by the way. It's always nice to meet another writer.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Rupert Giles. Not a writer, actually, which is...part of the problem. Just dreadfully bored and trying to fulfill a promise I made to a friend of mine.

...it has to have a horse. Preferably a pony. And a happy ending.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

Nice to meet a would-be writer, then. Once you've written the story, you get the title, even if you never write anything again.

A pony and a happy ending? Well, you could always write your friend a western.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Really? That's nice to know. I seem to be in need of a new title. ["Ex-Watcher" is getting tedious, and "Watcher" is...just unacceptable.]

Westerns? You mean like those awful American films with the unreasonable deserts and ridiculous costumes?

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

It's not a bad title to have, if I do say so myself.

...We have to find you some Zane Grey, clearly. You can imagine whatever costumes you life if you read the stories. But if you're not keen on the genre, we can come up with something else--what kind of books does your friend usually read?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

...romances?

Yes, I think she likes romances.

[He remembers a conversation with Buffy, last time he was here. About their hobbies. About the library. "I like romances."

...hadn't he promised to bring her some?]

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

Romances? Hmmm.

[You've come to the right woman, Giles--she's fond enough of romances herself, albeit when they're secondary to the plot.]

Dime store romances, you could write something about the girl taming a wild horse and falling in love with a ranch hand, I guess. If the romance is just background, you could write just about anything you wanted. In that case, it's more a matter of the kind of thing you like. Since you're writing the story and all.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

[Good, because Giles is absolutely and utterly lost, in this case. Especially considering the "friend" in question.]

Any designated romances should...probably be secondary, actually. To save embarrassment on my part, and I'm not sure either of us has a very conventional definition of the subject.

...I like horses. Books. Music. Traveling.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

They can drag the story down if you don't have a good plot to involve them in, anyhow. So what kind of books do you read?

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Fantasies, mostly. Myths, legends. And plays - I've read a lot of Shakespeare.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

A man after my own heart. [The smile's as evident in her voice as on her face.] You've got some good options, then. Let's see...you could retell a myth with a horse in it, if you want the plot built in for you. Or you could write some kind of fantasy, if you'd like a little more freedom there. As for Shakespeare - I can't think of anything that features horses and happy endings both, but the beauty of borrowing from other people is that you can write all the happy endings you like.

Re: [Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[consultmybooks]

Kind of you to say so. [Giles can read the tone of her voice well enough, even if he can't see her face right now.

It's comforting, especially considering how ridiculous he felt making this request in the first place.]

I don't think she's terribly fond of myths and legends.

A proper fantasy is probably best. I'm not sure how much she'd appreciated Shakespeare.

[Voice - Filtered from Buffy - 10% unhackable]

[poorneedyand]

Fantasy it is. Are you thinking some kind of sword and sorcery tale, or something based more in the real world? [Whatever constitutes "the real world" for him, she realizes belatedly.]