Future novelist

[vilakins]

Another meme gacked from astrogirl2's blog Maximum Verbosity. Actually I knew it already but I was interested to see if they'd get the right answer.

Comments

[pinkdormouse]

I got Suspense, which is about right, given where I am in the novel.

Gina

[vilakins]

Hah, it must be more accurate than the questions led me to think. :-)

[mistraltoes]

It has me correctly pegged as Fantasy.

[vilakins]

You should write us some then! Harry Potter, or even B7. I once read a very good story (in a zine unfortunately) in which Vila ends up in a fantasy world where he has to solve the locks to a castle, defeat the dragon with a riddle, and get the treasure. They asked him to stay and be their champion against other monsters but he decided Scorpio was safer. It was very funny and well-written; the wizard asked for a thief but assumed from Vila's clipgun that he was also a wizard with a powerful wand.

[kerravonsen]

Oh that sounds fun! Can you remember the title and zine?

[vilakins]

I think it was a Vilaworld zine. [goes to look at zine shelves] Oh, it's by someone I think you know--Narelle Harris, another Australian. It's called Dragonrider and it's in Interface 12. I really love how it uses the conventions of fantasy stories and subverts them; e.g. Vila objects to having to walk to the mountain."Does it have to take weeks? If it was possible for you to bring me though time and space, surely you could teleport us all to this Stone Mountain."

"But, Vila Restal, the journey is half the task..."

"Bull! I don't see how getting most of us killed on the way there can possibly be essential to the quest."
Gintar the wizard gives in and teleports them. :-)

And hey, I think you did the cover illo! [looks on title page] You did!

[kerravonsen]

Oddly enough, I got Literature. "LITERATURE! - You have a story... Oh yes you do! You are not quite sure what it is, but it burns! It burns to be poured onto the page! Write! Write I say! And thrill us with your unique view of the world. YOU are your own inspiration!"

I think it was correct to this degree: I have a story and I don't know what it is! 8-)

[vilakins]

I thought you'd get SF too. I suppose the importance you give factors like romance and style affects the results.

[kerravonsen]

And possibly that I consider character more important than world-building; but maybe that's because since I write mostly fanfic, the world is built already.

The romance questions were practically impossible to answer, because on the one hand, I'm perfectly happy if there ain't no romance at all, but on the other hand, when there is, I want it to be happy, true and honourable love.

And I was all over the place with style. I *like* atmosphere, but I don't write it well, I'm strong in dialogue, but I couldn't decide whether to pick "realistic but witty" or "melodramatic with hidden meaning".

[vilakins]

I went for 'realistic but witty'. :-)

I'm totally with you on romance; it can be good if it's done right but even then I get annoyed when it takes over. I'm going to have a pairing in my PGP but it will be implied and mostly humorous. No mush or 'on-screen' sex. I think that was the problem with some of the questions--if I'd said what sort of romance I prefer, it would have implied it had a an importance in my writing which it doesn't.

[sallymn]

I got Fantasy, which makes sense :)

[astrogirl2]

I was also fantasy, for the record, and given how often the supernatural and the mystical tend to crop up in my fic, maybe it's got a point. :)

[vilakins]

Yeah, I was thinking about that when I saw your result in your blog. You do write that more often than hard SF. Maybe you have too much science in your day already. :-P

[astrogirl2]

Yeah, hard science feels like work to me. It's also harder to make relevant to characters, I think, and I am definitely a character-based writer.

Then again, I have been down to pull out the calculator and a table of energy conversions and calculate how much energy my mystical energy beings would have to have. :)

[reapermum]

I got History, which seems right for me. But, in that case, why am I here?

[vilakins]

Because you'd write history but enjoy reading other genres for relaxation?

[reapermum]

When I'm not on-line I only seem to read history and poetry (and railway magazines)

[vilakins]

Apart from the poetry, you'd get on so well with Greg. Next time we're in the UK, we'll have to meet, possibly at York and the NRM. :-D