My writing experiment has begun
Monday, 9 November 2015 07:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarasa_catI have many reclaimable 5-minute periods during my 9-5 that are perfect for (micro)editing fiction. Add in carpool/commute time assuming I also feel like editing then. That adds up to a lot of editing time.
Editing by phone in Google Docs appears to favor a certain style of editing. My space-limited phone screen causes me to dwell on each sentence, one at a time, and micro-edit for style: change a word, move a comma, delete a superfluous phrase, sharpen an image. And then reread a couple of sentences immediately above and below. Does it flow? If no, wash-rinse-repeat. If yes, move on.
While using my laptop to look at the bits I edited earlier via phone, I notice how I gravitated to shorter sentences. Crisp, clean, punch. Not certain what I think of this because it could become monotonous if I am not careful, but I suspect that the majority of readers read on phones, kindles, or tablets so... *shrug*
...
Have been thinking about the stories that I queued into neatly organized GoogleDocs files. All have stuck with me over the years. My brain refuses to forget them and, trust me, I have forgotten most of stories that I have written (either stuck in draft hell or posted).
I've queued:
- a few shorter things in my DA "A History of Lies" universe (haven't had time to copy all of AHOL to GDocs, just Anthem and Merrill's ABO story for now, more next weekend, perhaps?) [plot bunny initially bit in 2012]
- my very alt-canon DAO "This Bird Has Flown" [plot bunny initially bit in 2011]
- as much of my extremely AU FFXII "Sacred & Profane" as I could find over the weekend (there is more, will try to find the rest next weekend). [plot bunny initially bit in 2008]
- a few parts of my it's my canon dammit FFXII "Surveyors of the Past" universe that were already in GDocs. So much of it is elsewhere (to be copied later) or already posted (but potentially stuck behind my locked LJ during the 2010 lockdown). My Surveyors universe is giant and spans a hundred years of time with so many stories... oh my. [plot bunny initially bit in 2007-08]
When I think about the 1.5 to 1.75 million words I have barfdrafted in fanfic land, these four universes are only a fraction (admittedly, a large fraction).
For a while I've wanted to think about why these have stuck with me over the years, but I haven't had the time/inclination to think this year until now. I suspect (or want to believe) that if I poke at this question long enough while organizing, finishing, and re/publishing these stories, my brain will suddenly have a lightbulb moment where I am able to express what a universe needs to have for me to want to write it forever and ever.
I have personal (professional) reasons for wanting to explore this question.
I don't yet have an inkling of an answer for AHOL + Bird + S&P + Surveyors ... but I think I know a reason or two why all of those many many other words feel so disposable.
1. A staggering pile of mostly NSFW kinkprompt fic, all but forgotten: Easy-write ideas for instant consumables. Some play their trope straight. Many deconstruct or invert or subvert their trope. A bunch (the published ones) have serious fans. Even those these are my most popular stories (when I've posted them), I always feel like they are cheap tricks. Some are (supposedly) fapworthy. Some (many) are shocking and/or horror. Many do something unexpectedly Clever(tm) with their trope. And ... idk. Readers like them but I never really feel anything after the fact other than the thrill of writing something cheeky or clever or in-jokey or absolutely horror bangshocky.
2. A smaller but notable pile of novellas and short novels in progress that are based on Good Ideas That Have Legs but ... but. They mostly feel like fiction I wouldn't mind reading by someone who writes in a style/flavor I like. Writing is effort. A lot of effort. Why spend my time and effort writing stories that are base good ideas and the intellectual challenge of writing them captures me in the moment but, in the long run, they don't quite light my fire (for reasons I cannot yet put my finger on)?
Not sure these are answers but sketching out the negative space is a start.
Editing by phone in Google Docs appears to favor a certain style of editing. My space-limited phone screen causes me to dwell on each sentence, one at a time, and micro-edit for style: change a word, move a comma, delete a superfluous phrase, sharpen an image. And then reread a couple of sentences immediately above and below. Does it flow? If no, wash-rinse-repeat. If yes, move on.
While using my laptop to look at the bits I edited earlier via phone, I notice how I gravitated to shorter sentences. Crisp, clean, punch. Not certain what I think of this because it could become monotonous if I am not careful, but I suspect that the majority of readers read on phones, kindles, or tablets so... *shrug*
...
Have been thinking about the stories that I queued into neatly organized GoogleDocs files. All have stuck with me over the years. My brain refuses to forget them and, trust me, I have forgotten most of stories that I have written (either stuck in draft hell or posted).
I've queued:
- a few shorter things in my DA "A History of Lies" universe (haven't had time to copy all of AHOL to GDocs, just Anthem and Merrill's ABO story for now, more next weekend, perhaps?) [plot bunny initially bit in 2012]
- my very alt-canon DAO "This Bird Has Flown" [plot bunny initially bit in 2011]
- as much of my extremely AU FFXII "Sacred & Profane" as I could find over the weekend (there is more, will try to find the rest next weekend). [plot bunny initially bit in 2008]
- a few parts of my it's my canon dammit FFXII "Surveyors of the Past" universe that were already in GDocs. So much of it is elsewhere (to be copied later) or already posted (but potentially stuck behind my locked LJ during the 2010 lockdown). My Surveyors universe is giant and spans a hundred years of time with so many stories... oh my. [plot bunny initially bit in 2007-08]
When I think about the 1.5 to 1.75 million words I have barfdrafted in fanfic land, these four universes are only a fraction (admittedly, a large fraction).
For a while I've wanted to think about why these have stuck with me over the years, but I haven't had the time/inclination to think this year until now. I suspect (or want to believe) that if I poke at this question long enough while organizing, finishing, and re/publishing these stories, my brain will suddenly have a lightbulb moment where I am able to express what a universe needs to have for me to want to write it forever and ever.
I have personal (professional) reasons for wanting to explore this question.
I don't yet have an inkling of an answer for AHOL + Bird + S&P + Surveyors ... but I think I know a reason or two why all of those many many other words feel so disposable.
1. A staggering pile of mostly NSFW kinkprompt fic, all but forgotten: Easy-write ideas for instant consumables. Some play their trope straight. Many deconstruct or invert or subvert their trope. A bunch (the published ones) have serious fans. Even those these are my most popular stories (when I've posted them), I always feel like they are cheap tricks. Some are (supposedly) fapworthy. Some (many) are shocking and/or horror. Many do something unexpectedly Clever(tm) with their trope. And ... idk. Readers like them but I never really feel anything after the fact other than the thrill of writing something cheeky or clever or in-jokey or absolutely horror bangshocky.
2. A smaller but notable pile of novellas and short novels in progress that are based on Good Ideas That Have Legs but ... but. They mostly feel like fiction I wouldn't mind reading by someone who writes in a style/flavor I like. Writing is effort. A lot of effort. Why spend my time and effort writing stories that are base good ideas and the intellectual challenge of writing them captures me in the moment but, in the long run, they don't quite light my fire (for reasons I cannot yet put my finger on)?
Not sure these are answers but sketching out the negative space is a start.
