basic fiction operating assumptions
Been meaning to write this up for a while, so I can add it to my userinfo along with the basic operating assumptions about the journal and I don't have to keep reassuring people over and over again. *g*
I write what I write. Sometimes people ask whether I consider myself a slash writer, a het writer, a gen writer, etc -- I don't; I'm likely to write any and all of them if I think the story has something useful or interesting to say. I don't label or categorize my stories except in a very half-assed fashion, and I don't warn for just about anything, ever, as a rule, for reasons I don't feel like getting into because it always turns wanky. You're likely to find just about anything around here if you hang in long enough; caveat lector.
I'm always willing to explain what I meant by something or what I see in a story after the fact or what I was thinking of when I was writing it. (Willing? Hell. Eager. Look at any one of the thousand awesome conversations we've had in the comments here, and you'll start to see what I mean.) If you're ever interested in seeing the authorial response (although I don't believe in authorial intent, and do believe that my reading is just one of a thousand possible -- plus, in the end, I'm capable of believing fifteen contradictory things before brunch) just ask.
Likewise, I want to hear whether you agree or disagree -- because the more I know about how an audience reads something, the more experience I get in narrowing the gap between What I Meant and What I Actually Said, which is a problem that plagues just about every damn writer everywhere.
I do not believe in the ownership of ideas. Things I think up -- in meta, in comment responses, in stories, in AIM conversations, in email threads, in stories, what-have-you -- aren't "mine"; I have no claim over them in any way! If I ever say or propose something that makes you think "huh, I'd like to write that story someday" or "huh, I disagree, and I'd like to write the story that says why", by all means, write it. (And then tell me where to find it, so I don't miss it accidentally -- my LJ time is often limited, but I really like seeing that kind of thing.) I believe in the tradition of the responsive creative work -- where I write a story to "respond" to something you wrote which is a response to something she wrote which is a response to something I wrote, etc. Anything I say in public is fair game.
Likewise, want to remix/sequel/prequel/parody/MST/podcast/etc something I wrote? Bring it on! I love seeing those sorts of responsive interactions. (And, uh, sequels I don't have to write myself? Where's the bad?)
In fact, let's just boil that down and make it official:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.
You may alter, adapt, remix, re-vision, perform, reproduce, or transform any of my work in any way, shape, or form, as long as you include a reference to synecdochic (and/or http://synecdochic.livejournal.com).
(And really, that link-back is just so I have a good chance of stumbling across it. *g*)
Once something's done and posted, any kind of discussion, commentary, critique, dissection, etc is welcome, whether it be here, elsewhere, what-have-you. Need an example for the meta point you're making? Feel free to pick something I wrote to little pieces, and I mean that in both the literary-dissection sense or in the more typically-used send of the word "critique", namely, the pointing-out of what didn't work for you in the story.
However, if it's still in progress, for God's sake, please don't critique it. I am embarrassed to admit that, while I am totally a WIP slut and will merrily fling bits and pieces and scraps of stuff I'm working on at just about anyone, the wrong word in the wrong place at the wrong time can totally kill any enthusiasm I have for a story. (This is an interesting side-effect of the fact that I have Creative Brain and Editing Brain, and in order to keep Creative Brain happy, Creative Brain and Editing Brain don't speak. Ever.) If something's labeled a WIP, or it's posted as a teaser, or it's just a scrap or what-have-you, unless I'm specifically posting it as part of writing meta for dissection (which means that it is fair game, because I don't post something to use as an example unless I can handle being critical and dispassionate about it), tell me you love it even if you have to lie. It is the only time I will ask you to lie to me.
And that about covers it. I might add to this later as more crops up.
I write what I write. Sometimes people ask whether I consider myself a slash writer, a het writer, a gen writer, etc -- I don't; I'm likely to write any and all of them if I think the story has something useful or interesting to say. I don't label or categorize my stories except in a very half-assed fashion, and I don't warn for just about anything, ever, as a rule, for reasons I don't feel like getting into because it always turns wanky. You're likely to find just about anything around here if you hang in long enough; caveat lector.
I'm always willing to explain what I meant by something or what I see in a story after the fact or what I was thinking of when I was writing it. (Willing? Hell. Eager. Look at any one of the thousand awesome conversations we've had in the comments here, and you'll start to see what I mean.) If you're ever interested in seeing the authorial response (although I don't believe in authorial intent, and do believe that my reading is just one of a thousand possible -- plus, in the end, I'm capable of believing fifteen contradictory things before brunch) just ask.
Likewise, I want to hear whether you agree or disagree -- because the more I know about how an audience reads something, the more experience I get in narrowing the gap between What I Meant and What I Actually Said, which is a problem that plagues just about every damn writer everywhere.
I do not believe in the ownership of ideas. Things I think up -- in meta, in comment responses, in stories, in AIM conversations, in email threads, in stories, what-have-you -- aren't "mine"; I have no claim over them in any way! If I ever say or propose something that makes you think "huh, I'd like to write that story someday" or "huh, I disagree, and I'd like to write the story that says why", by all means, write it. (And then tell me where to find it, so I don't miss it accidentally -- my LJ time is often limited, but I really like seeing that kind of thing.) I believe in the tradition of the responsive creative work -- where I write a story to "respond" to something you wrote which is a response to something she wrote which is a response to something I wrote, etc. Anything I say in public is fair game.
Likewise, want to remix/sequel/prequel/parody/MST/podcast/etc something I wrote? Bring it on! I love seeing those sorts of responsive interactions. (And, uh, sequels I don't have to write myself? Where's the bad?)
In fact, let's just boil that down and make it official:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License.
You may alter, adapt, remix, re-vision, perform, reproduce, or transform any of my work in any way, shape, or form, as long as you include a reference to synecdochic (and/or http://synecdochic.livejournal.com).
(And really, that link-back is just so I have a good chance of stumbling across it. *g*)
Once something's done and posted, any kind of discussion, commentary, critique, dissection, etc is welcome, whether it be here, elsewhere, what-have-you. Need an example for the meta point you're making? Feel free to pick something I wrote to little pieces, and I mean that in both the literary-dissection sense or in the more typically-used send of the word "critique", namely, the pointing-out of what didn't work for you in the story.
However, if it's still in progress, for God's sake, please don't critique it. I am embarrassed to admit that, while I am totally a WIP slut and will merrily fling bits and pieces and scraps of stuff I'm working on at just about anyone, the wrong word in the wrong place at the wrong time can totally kill any enthusiasm I have for a story. (This is an interesting side-effect of the fact that I have Creative Brain and Editing Brain, and in order to keep Creative Brain happy, Creative Brain and Editing Brain don't speak. Ever.) If something's labeled a WIP, or it's posted as a teaser, or it's just a scrap or what-have-you, unless I'm specifically posting it as part of writing meta for dissection (which means that it is fair game, because I don't post something to use as an example unless I can handle being critical and dispassionate about it), tell me you love it even if you have to lie. It is the only time I will ask you to lie to me.
And that about covers it. I might add to this later as more crops up.