Birds, dogs, writing
May. 25th, 2005 03:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
la_belle_laideWhat do I usually blog about? Dogs. Birds. Work. Movies. Writing.
Today will be birds, dogs and writing, in that order.
Birds:
I have thirteen birds. 12 of them are starlings in various stages of fledge. They are beastly. The 13th is a song sparrow named Ewan, who is about to fledge. He is pwecious.
Dogs:
Sano has been out of control in the past few days. But the thing I'd like to remember today is that just a few minutes ago, Trisky hurdled both Sano and Belle without seeming to put any effort into it. Sano and Belle were running around maniacally as they usually do. Trisky chased Belle with more spirit than she normally does--usually she just seems like, "get out of my face, pathetic creature," when she chases her, but today she seemed to do it for kicks. Trisky was chasing both Sano and Belle, when they both stopped up short in the narrow archway, right in front of her. Trisky's front end cleared Belle, and directly afterwards, her back legs just flew over Sano, and she didn't even look at him. I swore in that first moment that she was going to crash into them and break her legs, but she cleared them both, like an obstacle course. It's a joy to watch Salukis fly. More of a joy to watch a ten year old Saluki fly. ^_^
Writing:
Downpage, an anonymous commenter made my day by commenting: This isn`t related to this entry, but you talk about the books you`re writing a lot. I was wondering if you have an idea yet of when they`ll be published. I want to read them!
I answered in that thread, but then I obssessed over it for a few minutes and decided to write a whole entire entry on it. Never let it be said that I don't self-obssess with the best of them. My answer was as follows:
Gosh, I have no idea when, or even if they will be publish-worthy. I'm nearly finished with the first one. The plot is done, I would like to re-write it, though. I've begun the second one and am about about four chapters in. I think maybe next year or even next fall I'll start writing query letters.
What I don't want to do, though, is super-hype myself as The Next Big Thing, complete with character bios and snippets of oh-so-inspired prose and tease people over this book that may or may not ever see a bookstore. When I mention the novels, it's mostly because I'm stressing on it, and I use my blog to de-stress.
Sometimes (rarely) I'll post a chapter, if it's on my mind a lot. Partly it is for feedback, I'll admit. It's hard (for me) to write in a vacuum. It feels good to be read. There's no way around it. Partly, though, it's because I like to remember what I wrote at a certain time.
I could, if I thought it would be good form, talk about writing a lot more than I do. I could spend hours talking about the characters and the world. But I don't think that's good form, actually, because I don't want anyone to feel obliged to care. I'm happy when they (once in a rare while) do care, but I don't like to bombard people. It's hard for an excited writer to shut up about her work, but it's good to shut up, too. :)
Whenever I post a snippet or whatever, it's f-locked. I'm funny that way. One, I have a wee fear of being ripped off. But mostly, I don't feel polite overhyping this half-assed project. ;)
Whoever you are, I really, really appreciate your asking after these books. I can't deny that interest in them really gets me going. I do hope that someday they may be good enough for publication. If they ever are, I will absolutely be posting all over my blog about it. And, like I said, maybe by late this year I will have the gumption to write those query letters. ^_^
That was my reply, but now I feel like I want to add more. I hope that I don't talk about the books too much. Mostly when I ramble about it, I try to make it more about writing in general, rather than my own world and characters. I feel super funny writing about the characters, because as of right now, they don't exist anywhere but in my head and on my Word program, so why should I try to make other people care? It's true that a few of you know some of the later characters that will eventually have their own story (Sahrek, Hisoka, Irissa, Lillia and Jin, especially,) and some of you are even pretty familiar with them and how I've chosen to characterize them. That's so awesome to me; I'm glad that a few of you are aware of them and that you liked them back when I used to post fanfic spinoffs that involved them. Those characters will remain who they were. As for everyone else, I'm sort of still making them up as I go along. I feel like if I write too much about them specifically, I'll be shouting nonsense into everyone's ears. Because who the hell cares? No one knows who they are yet, why should anyone be interested?
I try very hard not to assume that anyone will be interested anyway, so it surprises and pleases me when anyone is. My thought is this: so I can string a few sentences together, so who the hell can't? So I have this made up world with made up people--that doesn't make me special, most people have that. Everyone who thinks they are OMFG WRITERZZZZ!@!! has that. I don't see why my characters and story should be any different, at least not until someone aside from me sees that they are, so why should I spend all this time arrogantly trying to convince people of their (my) specialness?
There are tons of writers on my f-list who have a very clear edge over me when it comes to writing.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
minrho has always been one of them, tongari is another. Both of those gals can draw, too. I have no right to wave my own writing around like dirty underwear in every entry when either of these two girls has double the talent. d_r_o_n_e and I met through a Pirates fanfiction comm, where she totally blew everyone out of the water. There's no question in my mind that this chick is going to be successful in writing (and when she liked something I wrote back then, I just about peed the floor. That was validation, yo.) And I suspect _flame_god_ would make my own writing look amateurish by comparison, too. I haven't read any novels or snippets or anything like that, but I've read a good number of his posts and ideas. (Writing is writing, whether it's fanfiction, original fiction, or posts in a forum.) I feel silly sometimes if I find myself getting proud of something I wrote; I remind myself that there are people who are close to me who hardly ever say a word about their own projects, who could flatten me with a paragraph.
Of course I'd be jazzed if people read my books, though: it's a world I enjoy, and it would be made more real for me if other people witnessed it, like the tree falling in the forest kinda thing. I'm not one of these "pure" artists or writers who could write all day and be perfectly all right with no validation ever. It's totally awesome if someone likes something I've written. It's totally awesome if they have something to say about it. It's pants-crappingly awesome if they've got something meaningful to say, something they noticed, something specific that they liked. It's easy to read a story and say to oneself, "meh, that was fun," but it takes effort to come out and tell the author what you thought about it. When someone takes the time to do that, it changes your day, sometimes your week. (Why, there was one comment I got on a FFVII fic called "Tent" that meant so much to me I actually saved it.)
But if I'm ever proud of what I write, that doesn't mean that I have any pride. ;) The true reason I decided to go on with these stories is actually pretty pathetic, to tell you the truth. Back when I was writing a lot of fanfictions, I'd sometimes get guest art. This was the biggest surprise to me, but more surprising was how I felt about it. It felt great. I'd stare at the drawings over and over again. I'm a visual person and I like things represented visually. One drawing can sum up and entire chapter for me. There's a reason why I can spend literally hours on a fanart site--I can't get enough of looking at drawings that I like. (In a perfect world, these novels would not be novels, but graphic novels. If I could draw, there's no way I'd waste my time on writing every little detail. But since the world is not perfect, and I can't draw, I pretty much have to write it down. In a perfect world the next universe over from the one in which I can draw, the written novels eventually get animated into feature length films, the style of Rurouni Kenshin, or maybe Please Save My Earth or something. Uhh, that's my perfect world, by the way, not the unsuspecting public's perfect world. ;) ) So my hope is that someday I could be good enough, and lucky enough, to be published. And then someday down the road, people on the internet who have read my books will decide that they would want to draw a scene from it or something.
Or, dude, fanfiction. I would totally be one of these writers like JK Rowling who would be okay with fanfiction. Me, I would encourage it, even. I'd read it on the sly, too, even the bad ones.
That's in a perfect world. ^_^
In this world, I'm a hackish sort of writer who may someday get picked up by a halfassed publishing company if I try really hard, and have a few fans here and there who are also creative. In the meantime, I will totally try to keep stuff about the actual stories to a minimum--as hard as that is for any hack--and try to keep my posts on the topic of writing in general. I will probably occasionally spill over, and sometimes post snippets of stuff I've written that I like or am proud of. This in no way obliges anyone to read them, though. It's nice if they do, but I like people to read because they are interested in it, not because they like me personally or feel guilty. I flatter myself that I've learned a lot about readership in the last few years: I no longer expect readers, I try not to coerce people into reading, and I'm not a review-whore. Which, in a way, makes it so much nicer when someone does express interest.
However, I often can't stop myself from posting character drawings that I've done. :/ I know that's lame. Drawing is so difficult for me, and can sometimes take me hours. All that work, I have to put it somewhere. ;)
So to the all of three people? anyone who has ever expressed interest in my original books, I can't thank you enough. I'm sorry if I've been all talk and no show; I will try to someday get them published, for real. I hope that a few of you are still interested by the time that happens, if it does.
In the meatime, can I interest you in some of my fanfiction? ;D (Stay away from the Zelda ones and the FFVIII, though. They weren't ripe yet. The FFVII ones aren't bad, though. Some of them.)
/whorishness
Today will be birds, dogs and writing, in that order.
Birds:
I have thirteen birds. 12 of them are starlings in various stages of fledge. They are beastly. The 13th is a song sparrow named Ewan, who is about to fledge. He is pwecious.
Dogs:
Sano has been out of control in the past few days. But the thing I'd like to remember today is that just a few minutes ago, Trisky hurdled both Sano and Belle without seeming to put any effort into it. Sano and Belle were running around maniacally as they usually do. Trisky chased Belle with more spirit than she normally does--usually she just seems like, "get out of my face, pathetic creature," when she chases her, but today she seemed to do it for kicks. Trisky was chasing both Sano and Belle, when they both stopped up short in the narrow archway, right in front of her. Trisky's front end cleared Belle, and directly afterwards, her back legs just flew over Sano, and she didn't even look at him. I swore in that first moment that she was going to crash into them and break her legs, but she cleared them both, like an obstacle course. It's a joy to watch Salukis fly. More of a joy to watch a ten year old Saluki fly. ^_^
Writing:
Downpage, an anonymous commenter made my day by commenting: This isn`t related to this entry, but you talk about the books you`re writing a lot. I was wondering if you have an idea yet of when they`ll be published. I want to read them!
I answered in that thread, but then I obssessed over it for a few minutes and decided to write a whole entire entry on it. Never let it be said that I don't self-obssess with the best of them. My answer was as follows:
Gosh, I have no idea when, or even if they will be publish-worthy. I'm nearly finished with the first one. The plot is done, I would like to re-write it, though. I've begun the second one and am about about four chapters in. I think maybe next year or even next fall I'll start writing query letters.
What I don't want to do, though, is super-hype myself as The Next Big Thing, complete with character bios and snippets of oh-so-inspired prose and tease people over this book that may or may not ever see a bookstore. When I mention the novels, it's mostly because I'm stressing on it, and I use my blog to de-stress.
Sometimes (rarely) I'll post a chapter, if it's on my mind a lot. Partly it is for feedback, I'll admit. It's hard (for me) to write in a vacuum. It feels good to be read. There's no way around it. Partly, though, it's because I like to remember what I wrote at a certain time.
I could, if I thought it would be good form, talk about writing a lot more than I do. I could spend hours talking about the characters and the world. But I don't think that's good form, actually, because I don't want anyone to feel obliged to care. I'm happy when they (once in a rare while) do care, but I don't like to bombard people. It's hard for an excited writer to shut up about her work, but it's good to shut up, too. :)
Whenever I post a snippet or whatever, it's f-locked. I'm funny that way. One, I have a wee fear of being ripped off. But mostly, I don't feel polite overhyping this half-assed project. ;)
Whoever you are, I really, really appreciate your asking after these books. I can't deny that interest in them really gets me going. I do hope that someday they may be good enough for publication. If they ever are, I will absolutely be posting all over my blog about it. And, like I said, maybe by late this year I will have the gumption to write those query letters. ^_^
That was my reply, but now I feel like I want to add more. I hope that I don't talk about the books too much. Mostly when I ramble about it, I try to make it more about writing in general, rather than my own world and characters. I feel super funny writing about the characters, because as of right now, they don't exist anywhere but in my head and on my Word program, so why should I try to make other people care? It's true that a few of you know some of the later characters that will eventually have their own story (Sahrek, Hisoka, Irissa, Lillia and Jin, especially,) and some of you are even pretty familiar with them and how I've chosen to characterize them. That's so awesome to me; I'm glad that a few of you are aware of them and that you liked them back when I used to post fanfic spinoffs that involved them. Those characters will remain who they were. As for everyone else, I'm sort of still making them up as I go along. I feel like if I write too much about them specifically, I'll be shouting nonsense into everyone's ears. Because who the hell cares? No one knows who they are yet, why should anyone be interested?
I try very hard not to assume that anyone will be interested anyway, so it surprises and pleases me when anyone is. My thought is this: so I can string a few sentences together, so who the hell can't? So I have this made up world with made up people--that doesn't make me special, most people have that. Everyone who thinks they are OMFG WRITERZZZZ!@!! has that. I don't see why my characters and story should be any different, at least not until someone aside from me sees that they are, so why should I spend all this time arrogantly trying to convince people of their (my) specialness?
There are tons of writers on my f-list who have a very clear edge over me when it comes to writing.
minrho has always been one of them, tongari is another. Both of those gals can draw, too. I have no right to wave my own writing around like dirty underwear in every entry when either of these two girls has double the talent. d_r_o_n_e and I met through a Pirates fanfiction comm, where she totally blew everyone out of the water. There's no question in my mind that this chick is going to be successful in writing (and when she liked something I wrote back then, I just about peed the floor. That was validation, yo.) And I suspect _flame_god_ would make my own writing look amateurish by comparison, too. I haven't read any novels or snippets or anything like that, but I've read a good number of his posts and ideas. (Writing is writing, whether it's fanfiction, original fiction, or posts in a forum.) I feel silly sometimes if I find myself getting proud of something I wrote; I remind myself that there are people who are close to me who hardly ever say a word about their own projects, who could flatten me with a paragraph.Of course I'd be jazzed if people read my books, though: it's a world I enjoy, and it would be made more real for me if other people witnessed it, like the tree falling in the forest kinda thing. I'm not one of these "pure" artists or writers who could write all day and be perfectly all right with no validation ever. It's totally awesome if someone likes something I've written. It's totally awesome if they have something to say about it. It's pants-crappingly awesome if they've got something meaningful to say, something they noticed, something specific that they liked. It's easy to read a story and say to oneself, "meh, that was fun," but it takes effort to come out and tell the author what you thought about it. When someone takes the time to do that, it changes your day, sometimes your week. (Why, there was one comment I got on a FFVII fic called "Tent" that meant so much to me I actually saved it.)
But if I'm ever proud of what I write, that doesn't mean that I have any pride. ;) The true reason I decided to go on with these stories is actually pretty pathetic, to tell you the truth. Back when I was writing a lot of fanfictions, I'd sometimes get guest art. This was the biggest surprise to me, but more surprising was how I felt about it. It felt great. I'd stare at the drawings over and over again. I'm a visual person and I like things represented visually. One drawing can sum up and entire chapter for me. There's a reason why I can spend literally hours on a fanart site--I can't get enough of looking at drawings that I like. (In a perfect world, these novels would not be novels, but graphic novels. If I could draw, there's no way I'd waste my time on writing every little detail. But since the world is not perfect, and I can't draw, I pretty much have to write it down. In a perfect world the next universe over from the one in which I can draw, the written novels eventually get animated into feature length films, the style of Rurouni Kenshin, or maybe Please Save My Earth or something. Uhh, that's my perfect world, by the way, not the unsuspecting public's perfect world. ;) ) So my hope is that someday I could be good enough, and lucky enough, to be published. And then someday down the road, people on the internet who have read my books will decide that they would want to draw a scene from it or something.
Or, dude, fanfiction. I would totally be one of these writers like JK Rowling who would be okay with fanfiction. Me, I would encourage it, even. I'd read it on the sly, too, even the bad ones.
That's in a perfect world. ^_^
In this world, I'm a hackish sort of writer who may someday get picked up by a halfassed publishing company if I try really hard, and have a few fans here and there who are also creative. In the meantime, I will totally try to keep stuff about the actual stories to a minimum--as hard as that is for any hack--and try to keep my posts on the topic of writing in general. I will probably occasionally spill over, and sometimes post snippets of stuff I've written that I like or am proud of. This in no way obliges anyone to read them, though. It's nice if they do, but I like people to read because they are interested in it, not because they like me personally or feel guilty. I flatter myself that I've learned a lot about readership in the last few years: I no longer expect readers, I try not to coerce people into reading, and I'm not a review-whore. Which, in a way, makes it so much nicer when someone does express interest.
However, I often can't stop myself from posting character drawings that I've done. :/ I know that's lame. Drawing is so difficult for me, and can sometimes take me hours. All that work, I have to put it somewhere. ;)
So to
In the meatime, can I interest you in some of my fanfiction? ;D (Stay away from the Zelda ones and the FFVIII, though. They weren't ripe yet. The FFVII ones aren't bad, though. Some of them.)
/whorishness
