Writing and more writing

[icarus]

In the works:

Beg Me For It
I think I've finished the next chapter of 'Beg Me For It' - 'Hey You.' (Yes, based on the Pink Floyd song - it is my first songfic, lyrics provided by justacat.) tboy has kindly offered to Beta, as CLS is now out of town.

I read the series-thus-far beginning to end, and am not quite satisfied with 'Hey You' as a stand-alone story (explaining what's happened so far is getting unwieldy, and while 'Beg Me For It' stands solidly on its own, and 'Death Eater Rock' wobbles but still holds it own, 'Hey You' I think stands about as well as a three-legged table), but I do like it as a chapter. I just wish I could take Percy's intro out. Or rewrite it with something more appropriate to the mood of the piece and less obvious to people who've read the other parts.

SSFF
I'm working on my SSFF story, which, quite frankly, I've been drawing a complete blank on for weeks. Thank you to tradescant whose boredom and prodding (and likewise tinderblast's and her singing tumbleweeds!) provoked this story and provided the mood. Now I just have to figure out what happens next.

Yes, unlike all my other, carefully outlined and plotted stories, this one was written completely off the cuff and I've no clue where it's headed. I very rarely do this, (though Harry and Percy did ambush me on 'Skinny Dipping'), and I find it alarming. Oh no, I think, what if I don't think of an ending? What then? Will I run off the edge of the edge of the earth? *beyond this point there be Dragons.*

I think the SSFF story has been difficult because now that Snape is less-maligned, I've switched camps to defend poor, unloved 'let's-all-hate-Percy.'

I see a pattern, yes I do.

Good Lord That's Huge
Good god I've written a lot though. I printed all my stories out (minus Guy Talk, Rising Sun, Animagick, Skinny Dipping and all the drabbles - you know, the recent stuff), and spiral bound them -- it's about 350 pages. All since November.

I admit, I was surprised, but very pleased.

Whimper, I've Been Flamed
I realise that this is a rite of passage, but this is the first time someone has really let me have it on my writing. My ego's in a sling.

Comments

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I love your icons. *attempts to pet kitty, but she's not in the mood and shies away...*

I think that she just really hated my short, blunt sentence structure. That's what she mentioned first, and most emphatically. Then she noticed a grammatical inconsistency somewhere and added that to the fire.

I changed my writing style, made it a lot tighter and more present. Partially for the internet, and partially to imitate Rowling. Here's a sample from very first (utterly ignored) fanfiction, in the Lord of the Rings fandom:

The stone was cool under his feet, pleasant after the humid Gondor summer, and each turning was broken by deep blue slits in the walls, open to the sky. Peering over a ledge, he spied a rolling lush green in every shade, trees mere scattered dots beneath. A land like this recovered quickly from war. Gulls whirled and cried lazily about the rooftops below him, stirred by the fresh breeze that blew in from the south. It made the tower a fair wind tunnel, causing Merry to pause and blink as it ruffled his hair. The torches, in ornate brackets, were unlit, though it was hard to say if they had started the morning that way, or if this wind had snuffed them, one by one.
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.
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It's drastically different from how I write now. I think for Lord of the Rings I would still write very visual, low-penetration, lyrical prose. But it doesn't play well on the internet. Too big a bite, so to speak.

Icarus

[justacat.livejournal.com]

You are so kind about my icons! It inspires me to keep making more! (As for not-in-the-mood kitty: my own cats have taught me well that a kitty's moods are beyond the ability of mere humans to predict or understand, and certainly must always be indulged ;)

I won't even bother to comment on the silliness of a "grammatical inconsistency" as grounds for flaming, but as for your "blunt" style, though I do not profess to be an expert on prose/literary style or in lit crit for that matter, it does work for me, particularly in HP. I am impressed that you were able to change your style - as someone whose prose would tend toward the lyrical (at least I like to think so; perhaps better words would be "wordy" or "verbose" or "long-winded," but self-delusion is a wonderful thing!) if I wrote prose, I can appreciate the self-discipline required to tighten up.

That said, based on your example, I think I would also be quite fond of your visual, lyrical prose - maybe it's just because the books are in my head now, but I am actually finding it somewhat reminiscent of Patricia McKillip's style in the Riddle Master books. But what exactly do you mean by "low-penetration"? (And perhaps more to the point, is it something I want from my slash ? I admit I have more than an iota of smut-slut in me!)