OT: Authorial Question
I don't like bringing up this sort of thing on my regular journal, because I suspect my friends look at it, oftentimes say, "Oh, Kelly's gone off on writing again," and have a good laugh at my expense. At the very least, they skim it and move on with their lives. However, since I am a writer and this is a writing journal, I'm hoping for a stronger response. At the very least, I doubt I'll be laughed at.
Now, I enjoy occasionally reading over at housefic_meta even if my intent is mostly to laugh at the pretentiousness of their Hall of Fame, and they often bring up The Craft of Writing. (No, I'm not mocking them at all, why do you ask?) More recently, I've been bored and skimming over the journals of people on this friends list, mostly to get an idea of who has me friended, and rue_du_hoquet linked to commodorified's entertaining commentary on comments, specifically of the "Squee!" variety. (I didn't completely agree with the author--the "Squee!" variety, while good ego fodder, doesn't do much for me, but it's a good read anyway.) She brought up the question of Authorial Intent. (Not mocking this time; the capitalization is hers.)
I don't know about the other authors on this particular friends list, but I don't have Authorial Intent. Certainly, I love to know I've moved someone; the best review I've gotten is here, on my Chase-centric piece Found. My only goal, honestly, in writing is to move someone, and get inside my character's head. (Well, and to become a successful, published author.) Authorial Intent, to me, is not that. I see Authorial Intent as having a much more specific goal, such as Stephen King's--and I love King's writing; he's the author of my favorite book, The Stand, which is a fifteen hundred page monster I've read over a dozen times and still notice new details in, though I know some scenes nearly by heart--apparent goal of traumatizing everyone until they literally have nightmares about evil clowns. (Don't laugh unless you've read It and not had nightmares. The movie does not count.) Beyond that, King's work stays with the reader (unless the reader is of the sort to treat King's work like romance pulp and skims through it), and usually has some sort of lasting impact. Sure, that'd be nice, but my goal is to get people to keep reading my work--which I'm apparently failing at, since Full Circle was so ignored. Disappointing, because it was great in my mind, but I'll live.
At any rate, this is not about my rampant ego, which really needs to be confined somehow. No, it is about Authorial Intent and writing. Of course, I think I proved myself wrong and showed that I, in fact, have Authorial Intent, of which Full Circle is an excellent example, much like Bastard (a M*A*S*H almost-drabble), New York (Law & Order), Ties and Signs (House), or any others tagged as an author's favorite. So perhaps I do have Authorial Intent, after all.
The Craft of Writing is another thing that I don't pay anywhere near as much attention to as some writers seem to. Take, oh, Ties and Signs. I've seen authors, not just on housefic_meta, discuss how they outline and take hours to craft a fic like that properly, well enough so they're proud of it, and then hold off on posting so they can mull it over. That took me an hour and a half, with sarcasticsra actively beta-reading as I wrote, and it was posted that night. Is it just me, or do other authors write like I do? Or look at Full Circle again. That one took me fifteen minutes, and was posted as soon as amazonqueenkate read it over. I don't think I've had a single solo-written piece that has been pondered and rewritten. In fact, the only one I've really outlined ( Pretty Pet) was far below par for me. My fics build themselves in my mind, fully structuring themselves, before I write a word. If I don't wait properly and try to start, I'll end up with about two unsatisfactory pages and have to put the story down. Then, probably months later, I'll come back to it, rewrite the two pages, and finish it in about...two hours, max, for a ten-page story. Is this typical for other authors? I honestly don't know. (What I'm looking forward to, actually, is when my novel finishes structuring itself. It'll mean days of non-stop typing, I'm sure, but it'll be excellent.)
Where was I? Oh, yes, the Craft of Writing. I've talked to authors who agonize over word choice, carefully building a framework, and it seems so thankless to me. I write because I have to for my own happiness, but to be happy with what I'm doing, it has to also be fun. How fun can putting yourself through mental pain possibly be? (There is, of course, the possibility that all writers of the type I've described are masochists, but I somehow doubt it.)
Talk to me, fellow writers. What do you think about Authorial Intent? What about the Craft of Writing? How does each influence you and your style? I'm honestly interested.
Now, I enjoy occasionally reading over at housefic_meta even if my intent is mostly to laugh at the pretentiousness of their Hall of Fame, and they often bring up The Craft of Writing. (No, I'm not mocking them at all, why do you ask?) More recently, I've been bored and skimming over the journals of people on this friends list, mostly to get an idea of who has me friended, and rue_du_hoquet linked to commodorified's entertaining commentary on comments, specifically of the "Squee!" variety. (I didn't completely agree with the author--the "Squee!" variety, while good ego fodder, doesn't do much for me, but it's a good read anyway.) She brought up the question of Authorial Intent. (Not mocking this time; the capitalization is hers.)
I don't know about the other authors on this particular friends list, but I don't have Authorial Intent. Certainly, I love to know I've moved someone; the best review I've gotten is here, on my Chase-centric piece Found. My only goal, honestly, in writing is to move someone, and get inside my character's head. (Well, and to become a successful, published author.) Authorial Intent, to me, is not that. I see Authorial Intent as having a much more specific goal, such as Stephen King's--and I love King's writing; he's the author of my favorite book, The Stand, which is a fifteen hundred page monster I've read over a dozen times and still notice new details in, though I know some scenes nearly by heart--apparent goal of traumatizing everyone until they literally have nightmares about evil clowns. (Don't laugh unless you've read It and not had nightmares. The movie does not count.) Beyond that, King's work stays with the reader (unless the reader is of the sort to treat King's work like romance pulp and skims through it), and usually has some sort of lasting impact. Sure, that'd be nice, but my goal is to get people to keep reading my work--which I'm apparently failing at, since Full Circle was so ignored. Disappointing, because it was great in my mind, but I'll live.
At any rate, this is not about my rampant ego, which really needs to be confined somehow. No, it is about Authorial Intent and writing. Of course, I think I proved myself wrong and showed that I, in fact, have Authorial Intent, of which Full Circle is an excellent example, much like Bastard (a M*A*S*H almost-drabble), New York (Law & Order), Ties and Signs (House), or any others tagged as an author's favorite. So perhaps I do have Authorial Intent, after all.
The Craft of Writing is another thing that I don't pay anywhere near as much attention to as some writers seem to. Take, oh, Ties and Signs. I've seen authors, not just on housefic_meta, discuss how they outline and take hours to craft a fic like that properly, well enough so they're proud of it, and then hold off on posting so they can mull it over. That took me an hour and a half, with sarcasticsra actively beta-reading as I wrote, and it was posted that night. Is it just me, or do other authors write like I do? Or look at Full Circle again. That one took me fifteen minutes, and was posted as soon as amazonqueenkate read it over. I don't think I've had a single solo-written piece that has been pondered and rewritten. In fact, the only one I've really outlined ( Pretty Pet) was far below par for me. My fics build themselves in my mind, fully structuring themselves, before I write a word. If I don't wait properly and try to start, I'll end up with about two unsatisfactory pages and have to put the story down. Then, probably months later, I'll come back to it, rewrite the two pages, and finish it in about...two hours, max, for a ten-page story. Is this typical for other authors? I honestly don't know. (What I'm looking forward to, actually, is when my novel finishes structuring itself. It'll mean days of non-stop typing, I'm sure, but it'll be excellent.)
Where was I? Oh, yes, the Craft of Writing. I've talked to authors who agonize over word choice, carefully building a framework, and it seems so thankless to me. I write because I have to for my own happiness, but to be happy with what I'm doing, it has to also be fun. How fun can putting yourself through mental pain possibly be? (There is, of course, the possibility that all writers of the type I've described are masochists, but I somehow doubt it.)
Talk to me, fellow writers. What do you think about Authorial Intent? What about the Craft of Writing? How does each influence you and your style? I'm honestly interested.