The madwoman out of the attic
Sep. 26th, 2005 07:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
indriRecently ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
peasant_ pointed me towards this post on storytellers versus cathartic writers. I recognise myself more in the description of the cathartic writer -- I write mainly to get the buggery images out of my head -- although of course, it's nice to entertain people as well. (I wrote for years without anyone reading what I wrote; it's the writing itself that's most important to me.)
But last night I was struggling with the Fred-Illyria story I've been working on for months and I realised it was the sort of piece that I wanted to have written but it's not the sort of thing that I wanted to write. I really want someone to write a story about the heart-warming but slightly odd Burkles and their fractured relationship with their much-changed child (Illyria as a metaphor for PTSD) but it's not going to be me. I was playing with second-person POV and enjoying the cadences of east Texan speech, but most of the plot over-relied on dramatic irony, on the audience knowing much more than the viewpoint character. And I've been there and done that and, faced with yet another piece of dialogue that had to mean three different things simultaneously, I threw in the towel. Begone, formerly-tentacled bane of my existence!
And then I sat down and wrote two thousand words of Drusilla story. Two thousand words! I can't tell you how long it's been since I wrote that much in a single day. Apparently, Drusilla's just been sitting there, impatiently, waiting for Fred to get out of the bloody way. It was glorious. I had begun to think that I couldn't remember how to write at all.
We'll see how long I can keep this up and whether Angelus comes to the party, as he really has to for the story to work.
While I was writing, my first piece of concrit from the Concritathon arrived. I haven't looked at it yet, in case it jinxes the flow. I will look later. And I seem to have helped at least one of the people I was critiquing.
Now I have to go to work after writing until one am and then waking at six with another scene in my head. Lord, but Drusilla's demanding.
peasant_ pointed me towards this post on storytellers versus cathartic writers. I recognise myself more in the description of the cathartic writer -- I write mainly to get the buggery images out of my head -- although of course, it's nice to entertain people as well. (I wrote for years without anyone reading what I wrote; it's the writing itself that's most important to me.)But last night I was struggling with the Fred-Illyria story I've been working on for months and I realised it was the sort of piece that I wanted to have written but it's not the sort of thing that I wanted to write. I really want someone to write a story about the heart-warming but slightly odd Burkles and their fractured relationship with their much-changed child (Illyria as a metaphor for PTSD) but it's not going to be me. I was playing with second-person POV and enjoying the cadences of east Texan speech, but most of the plot over-relied on dramatic irony, on the audience knowing much more than the viewpoint character. And I've been there and done that and, faced with yet another piece of dialogue that had to mean three different things simultaneously, I threw in the towel. Begone, formerly-tentacled bane of my existence!
And then I sat down and wrote two thousand words of Drusilla story. Two thousand words! I can't tell you how long it's been since I wrote that much in a single day. Apparently, Drusilla's just been sitting there, impatiently, waiting for Fred to get out of the bloody way. It was glorious. I had begun to think that I couldn't remember how to write at all.
We'll see how long I can keep this up and whether Angelus comes to the party, as he really has to for the story to work.
While I was writing, my first piece of concrit from the Concritathon arrived. I haven't looked at it yet, in case it jinxes the flow. I will look later. And I seem to have helped at least one of the people I was critiquing.
Now I have to go to work after writing until one am and then waking at six with another scene in my head. Lord, but Drusilla's demanding.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-09-27 06:43 am (UTC)I think we all find it hard to give up on a fic once we've started, but really if it isn't working it is perverse not to. One just has to be strong and ignore the insistent voices that tell us we should finish things we've started - but the whole point of this being a hobby is that we don't need to.
And I can't say I'm not biased because I really do want to see what you do with Dru.
I am available for beta/encouragement at any stage you need it :o)
no subject
Date: 2005-10-03 07:23 am (UTC)I promise to take full advantage.
Also, I want to say I understand your present plan of action regarding your writing. But I hope you are inspired over the next weeks.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-03 08:32 am (UTC)Thanks. We shall have to see what happens.