Comments | snarkywench_64: Ten Things ...

snarkywench_64

Ten Things ...

Feb 14, 2008 11:36

... That Make It a SnarkyWench Story.

I saw this going around on the fantasy writers communities a couple of months ago. Several fan fic writers have done it, as well, and since bambu345 said she'd be able to do one for me (since she's my beta) I thought I'd do it and see if my ten things agree with her ten things.

( Take a Peek At My Trademark Traits )

Comments 23

bambu345 February 14 2008, 18:51:32 UTC

This is almost exactly what I'd point out except I'd also mention that there is some finger-licking to be found in many of your stories, not to mention more than a goatee here or there.

::laughs::

But really, I'd have substituted first person for timeline foreshortening. Your timelines are always distinct and finite, and in your early work I'd have categorized them as 'what a difference a day makes.' ::grins::

I look forward to the day I get to plonk my twenty bucks down on a counter and buy your book.

snarkywench_64 February 14 2008, 19:44:35 UTC

Wait ... wait ... you had the finger licking, if I recall (powdered donuts, remember??). As for the timeline thing, I'd have to agree, although I consider it more of a weakness than a trait. I'm working on getting a story to cover more than a 24-hour period. It's hard!

$20? Nah. You'd get one of the complimentary copies. I'd make sure of it. **wink**

bambu345 February 14 2008, 20:57:29 UTC

Really? The finger-licking was only me? ::sigh:: I was such a young writer then, wasn't I?

snarkywench_64 February 14 2008, 21:33:24 UTC

Relatively speaking, I think you were more ... adolescent. You were definitely growing. It seemslike such a long time ago, though, doesn't it? Three years? Sheesh. How far we've come.

**is depressed ... feels old**

Thread 13

ozratbag2 February 14 2008, 19:03:20 UTC

*waves* :)

I really do like this meme (and I am beginning to sound like a broken record) because I love the way everyone looks at their own writing. It's been really interesting to see this snapshot.

I like all of your stories for the reasons you've noted, and it makes me want to wander off and read them again and again.

...but I find it attractive because it gives me an opportunity to delve more fully into the main character's mind, to share their unspoken thoughts, to watch the story unfold through their eyes. ...

Most definitely, and it's a style of writing that I never thought I'd enjoy, but having written it, I've grown to love it most of all. It's hard to keep the integrity of a story with first person POV which is, I think, why a lot of people veer away from it. Without it though, I doubt I'd be able to get inside the characters heads and see their motivations etc up close and personal.

snarkywench_64 February 14 2008, 19:49:50 UTC

**grabs you ... twirls you around**

It's been forever since I've talked to you, darling! How are you? Still working so much?

Thanks for the nice comment about my stories. Honestly, this meme is harder than it looks. I was really struggling after #7 ... those last three were like pulling teeth.

I really do like first person. It's fun to write and it's a real exercise in character building. A great many mysteries are written first person -- that way you can experience the thought process as the detective firgures out the whodunit. And I've found quite a few romances and other novels written in that POV, too. Like you said, it can be limiting. By focusing on ony one character, we fail to get inside other characters, and we can't witness any action that our protagonist isn't privy to. But it's definitely rewarding in its own way.

ozratbag2 February 14 2008, 21:29:40 UTC

*hugs you back* :D ( ... )

snarkywench_64 February 15 2008, 00:45:53 UTC

Wow! Well, I'm certainly glad you had a week off. You definitely deserved it!

I've been working longer days and more hours, trying to get caught up financially from Christmas. Even though hubby and I promised ourselves we weren't going to overindulge the kids, we still ended up spending a good bit on them (their toys get more expensive as they get older) and we haven't really recovered yet. Needless to say, my online time is very limited -- while I can surf at work, I don't go anywhere near LJ. I don't need the IT guys blackballing me. Sometimes it's days and days between LJ visits, and I only get caught up on the most recent posts. I'll have to skip on over to your LJ and check out your list and what you've been up to.

I don't read too much historical fiction, but I don't think any that I've read has been first person. That would make for a very interesting read. Have any recommendations?

Thread 5

acciobook7 February 14 2008, 20:51:08 UTC

I love your first-person pieces.

*swoons*

And YAY for happy endings!

snarkywench_64 February 14 2008, 21:27:54 UTC

**waves smelling salts under your nose**

Thank you, my sweet! You're a doll. Happy endings are the icing on the cake, aren't they?

harmony_bites February 14 2008, 21:33:44 UTC

And a lot of the above is what I love in you ( ... )

snarkywench_64 February 15 2008, 01:11:53 UTC

Some time in the 20th century the verdict came down that only unhappy endings are SERIOUS and PROFOUND.

OMG! OMG, OMG, OMG! I have struggled with this concept for a very, very long time! That anything where the characters are even remotely happy is less legitimate than those gut-wrenching, thought-provokers that leave me miserable. Bambu almost has me convinced that its a shameful fallacy, but she definitely had her work cut out for her. (And no, I wasn't predisposed to write those literary works, therefore I felt that I wasn't a legitimate writer. Oh, the pitfalls of growing up in an academic community ( ... )

harmony_bites February 15 2008, 22:50:37 UTC

OMG! OMG, OMG, OMG! I have struggled with this concept for a very, very long time! That anything where the characters are even remotely happy is less legitimate than those gut-wrenching, thought-provokers that leave me miserable.

I remember early on you dismissing yourself as "just a fluff writer" and I can't tell you how sad that made me feel, because I do love your stories. (And I came fresh from a fandom where words like "angst" and "fluff" would be seen as insults, not as genres you pick on an archive). Similarly, there's a disdain in modern literature for heroes, for sympathetic characters. I think it comes from a disdain for the popular--because people *want* heroes--they want characters they can root for--and they want happy endings for them.

Bambu almost has me convinced that its a shameful fallacy, but she definitely had her work cut out for her. (And no, I wasn't predisposed to write those literary works, therefore I felt that I wasn't a legitimate writer. Oh, the pitfalls of growing up in an academic community.)And yet I ( ... )