I'm no longer so obsessive about comments because I don't feel insecure and apologetic for being a woman any more. I'm a woman who writes, and I'm happy being a woman who writes.
Huh. It's been about feeling apologetic for being a woman? I've had the same comment-anxieties as everyone, but we're all just people writing. I've been anxious about being a possibly shitty writer, sure, but the X/Y divide has never really entered my considerations of my own writing.
What I mean is, writing is where I get to be just a writer. Writing is where I get to be a genderless narrator -- or, at least, where I get to feel like one.
This may be why I don't put enough thought into the genders of other writers, hm.
Your bulleted list is -- well, accepting it feels like a serious indulgence, because as I read it I 'tested' it (or tested me?) by mentally pasting my different stories' responses onto it, and the results were such a relief.But yes, overall, on the subject of comments, you're saying many many things about your past mental state that my
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What I mean is, writing is where I get to be just a writer. Writing is where I get to be a genderless narrator -- or, at least, where I get to feel like one.
That's pretty much exactly how I felt about it. And it was true enough, too. I honestly thought it, and still do to an extent.
But that's the thing about stuff like encultured sexism -- it sneaks in all around the edges of everything. Like, for instance, if gender is really so unimportant, then what's the biggie about being a woman who writes? Why does writing need to be a genderless act inside our heads? Why the fannish obsession with male characters
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what's the biggie about being a woman who writes? Why does writing need to be a genderless act insie our heads?Well, for me, it's necessary in order to represent characters unskewed by genderstuff. I don't want to be a male narrator either. I want to be not of a gender, but able to understand both. As for the fannish obsession with male characters - I suspect it's related to so many fannish authors being heterosexual and female. We're falling in love all over the place. ^_
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Well, for me, it's necessary in order to represent characters unskewed by genderstuff. I don't want to be a male narrator either. I want to be not of a gender, but able to understand both. Right. But think of it this way: men and women are more alike than not. We are adults of the same species; we are very, very alike. The differences culture gets us to focus on are actually tiny. Even if we move away from biological determinsim, there's going to be more difference between my world view and that of another adult woman from a very different culture (say, Egypt a millennia ago), than between me and most of the men I'm likely to bump into on the street here and now
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I'd never sat down and thought about it specifically like that, but your list of different types of comment patterns definitely resonates with me. My favourites are the ones that get longer and thinkier comments -- which usually lead to some pretty long comment threads, even if the number of people commenting isn't really that high.
As for me... I do love getting comments, and when a fic doesn't get too many comments, I do usually find myself, on some level, wondering what I did wrong -- even though I often know, while I'm writing, that this particular fic isn't going to tap into the "lizard brain" as you call it. Ah well.
I'm glad the comment patterns was helpful to you. It's something I used to think about a lot. I know exactly what you mean about that process of wondering what you did wrong; it's kind of crazymaking, and I really don't miss it.
Ha ha ha ha h:-) My dear Cathy you have no idea how much I heart you :-) You know that this post is not going to get many comments, but that I will answer it at length...ha ha ha h:-) Did you write it just for me? To see how far out of the ball park you could hit and still have someone catch it on the full and wave it in the air cheering?
Oh Cathy, seriously.... mark this post in your mind as when you looked back and realised that after you had passed through the stage of writing jeuvenalia, you then settled even more, became more confident in yourself and in your unique gifts, and then also passed through your writer's adolescence. :-)
PS Now that you have looked back and seen where you were in the past, now look forward and imagine yourself in the future building on what you have already gained and continuing to develop well. Imagine how wonderful that feels and how inspiring it looks when you tell yourself about your life journey and the relationships between you as a person, the development of your craft, and your relationships with all the people you interact with through both yourself personally and your writing. Isn't that wonderful ? Or is it just me.
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Huh. It's been about feeling apologetic for being a woman? I've had the same comment-anxieties as everyone, but we're all just people writing. I've been anxious about being a possibly shitty writer, sure, but the X/Y divide has never really entered my considerations of my own writing.
What I mean is, writing is where I get to be just a writer. Writing is where I get to be a genderless narrator -- or, at least, where I get to feel like one.
This may be why I don't put enough thought into the genders of other writers, hm.
Your bulleted list is -- well, accepting it feels like a serious indulgence, because as I read it I 'tested' it (or tested me?) by mentally pasting my different stories' responses onto it, and the results were such a relief.But yes, overall, on the subject of comments, you're saying many many things about your past mental state that my ( ... )
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That's pretty much exactly how I felt about it. And it was true enough, too. I honestly thought it, and still do to an extent.
But that's the thing about stuff like encultured sexism -- it sneaks in all around the edges of everything. Like, for instance, if gender is really so unimportant, then what's the biggie about being a woman who writes? Why does writing need to be a genderless act inside our heads? Why the fannish obsession with male characters ( ... )
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As for me... I do love getting comments, and when a fic doesn't get too many comments, I do usually find myself, on some level, wondering what I did wrong -- even though I often know, while I'm writing, that this particular fic isn't going to tap into the "lizard brain" as you call it. Ah well.
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You know that this post is not going to get many comments, but that I will answer it at length...ha ha ha h:-) Did you write it just for me? To see how far out of the ball park you could hit and still have someone catch it on the full and wave it in the air cheering?
Oh Cathy, seriously.... mark this post in your mind as when you looked back and realised that after you had passed through the stage of writing jeuvenalia, you then settled even more, became more confident in yourself and in your unique gifts, and then also passed through your writer's adolescence. :-)
You delight me Cathy :-)
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Isn't that wonderful ? Or is it just me.
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