Well, now... I don't think I've written anything since my last entry, but since I'm still sort of focusing on TWC1's rewrite, I think it's a good time to write about it some more.
So. Characters. To start with I'll say that my style of writing is very character-based; I like to write about why characters do things, feel a certain way, behave or act in a particular style. I like to explain actions. The end result of this is that when I write fanfic for most shows (or whatever I'm writing for), nothing much happens; you might get an insight but you're not going to get a lot of development.*lol*
I'm going to digress for a moment and share my theory on fanfiction: I think most people - not all, but most - write fanfic when there is something they want to see in a series that they aren't getting from the series itself. That might be a particular pairing, a particular mood, a use of a specific character, etc. Some people like to write darker versions of DWD, some really like a character and create a character to pair them with (...ahem. *looks guilty*). There ARE writers who just like a series and want to write their own episodes or whatever and I always admire those people. I discovered that I am more likely to write fic when there's something I want to change and/or see; if I'm enjoying what I'm being given, most of the time I won't even *read* fic, let alone write it. When I do, it's the speculative "nothing happens" fic I spoke of. SO! There's my digression. :)
Anyway, what I guess I wanted to "change" with TWC was not so much a change as an addition, ie the obvious one, Beth. And yeah, you can tell that this was mostly just a matter of liking the series and kind of wanting to be "in" it more, and Beth was a character I could sort of slide right on in there, have the characters react to her, and become invested in the series. I went through this already, but I swear, I *never* thought of her as a representation of myself. I already explained all that in an earlier post, though, so I won't go into it again. ^_^ To tie this back into the second paragraph: I will make the admission that the ideal fic for me is one where almost nothing happens, except maybe some people have a lot of deep conversations about things in their life. And at the end maybe they kiss (or, if that's inappropriate for the characters in question, they don't). *G* That's an oversimplification and a poke at me, all in one! But because I focus on characters, focussing on *plot* is very, very hard for me at times.
Having said that... I thought I'd talk a little bit about my take on the characters, as they are in the beginning of the series.
To start with, there aren't really any major characters on DWD that I don't like. Ironically, I adore Honker; he's one of my favourites. And I almost never use him, probably because Beth usually fills the role he usually filled (the brainy awkward one... the one "nerding it up" to quote the Simpsons, as I so often do). But I don't have any characters who have been in more than three episodes that I don't really like, and pretty much NO characters who were in more than one episode that I actually *dislike*. I like 'em all as they are, more or less, which again is par for the course for me: if I like a character I usually am faithful to their portrayal on the series, because I figure if I wanted something about them changed then I wouldn't be such a fan of the character. Doesn't mean I don't want them to grow, I just want to acknowledge who they are and what I *like* about them that way. (Um... in this case I'm actually thinking specifically of "Xena", not DWD, when it comes to growth and changes. For the record.)
But I have a little trouble writing the characters for Darkwing, because they are *not* deep characters, they are cartoons, and were always written as such. To add a lot of depth makes them more serious and erases some of the fundamental simplicity of their characters. They're two-dimensional because that's how characters usually are on kids' programs, and it doesn't mean they're badly done or not realistic, but it does make it hard to write a fanfic that is terrifically character-driven because... well, because you just can't write a fic about a character and only show one or two personality traits, as the series often did, and have that character be relatable.
The end result of this was that, in the original version of TWC1 (and subsequent fics), Drake is... um... not terribly likeable. I love Drake; I love that he can be an arrogant jerk, and I stand by my belief that he makes snap judgements of people, those judgements are usually (8 times out of 10) more negative than they should be, and he definitely thinks he is smarter than most people. He also has the patience of a gnat. But if that's all you present of someone in a fic written from their POV, how do you justify it? If you don't, if you can't, you're not writing a character who is believeable and you're not writing a character who is likeable.
I had the fundamental problem in the first version of this fic that I was certain Drake should NOT like Beth. I've tweaked my portrayal of Beth to give a few good reasons why he would not (reasons I tried to sort of portray early on, but wasn't really strong enough in my characterizations to get it out there) - mainly that she is awkward and, unwittingly, a hindrance to him. But those reasons aren't really strong enough to carry him out-and-out DISliking her and still not make him look like a creep.
The thing about Drake is that he's pretty certain he's always right - or, at least, in many situations and at many times he's certain of that. There are exceptions; he'll acknowledge when he has no idea what's going on, he admits that people know more than he does about certain things, and of course there's the old ego-shattering that happens fairly frequently when DW goes from puffed-up ego to punctured-balloon ego. *G* But in general, he's the kind of guy who makes a habit out of taking in his surroundings, interpreting them, and refusing to listen to anyone else's take on it. When he thinks he is an expert at something, he's totally confident in that expertise.
(Sidenote: general cartoon inconsistencies taken into account, I'm mainly talking about how *I* prefer to write DW. YMMV and I believe any given episode can provide evidence to contradict my interpretation; but then as I've said, I'm looking for chances to write a fully-rounded version of the character and this is how I'm piecing him together.)
I like writing DW as fairly competent, more than half of the time. The episodes go back and forth with this, sometimes he really knows what he's doing and sometimes he's bumbling through a case. I definitely like a good gag about DW making a dumb mistake - particularly if it's actually funny, heh - but some episodes go waaaay beyond what I'm comfortable with and it makes you wonder why he still has all his limbs intact. I like to see a vigilante who mostly knows what he's doing, within limits. DW limits himself, of course, but I also enjoy the idea that some of his ego comes from a well-deserved confidence in his ability. DW believes his own press -he has to, since he's the one writing it - and a majority of the time he lives up to it. So I like to show him succeeding, having moments of greatness, perhaps tripping himself up in the process but ultimately not only coming out on top but figuring out how to come out on top. I'm not going to necessarily be consistent in it; I think part of DW's appeal is that he's not perfect, after all. But I would rather see him know what he's doing than luck into something and I don't think I'm alone there.
These two things align into Drake's initial reaction to Beth. He is competent enough to recognize what he interprets as incompetence in Beth; he is irritated with anything that does not provide him quickly with something he wants; he is impatient. He also believes in his own *right* to be annoyed with anything that's sort of... standing in his way, I guess; the fact that he's in a bad mood the morning/afternoon that he meets her doesn't change anything. To Drake, it is not a bad thing to judge someone quickly, it's perhaps a necessity since you have to trust your instincts on people if you're going to fight crime. Nor does it occur to him that someone's feelings could be hurt by his being snide; I think that often he's used to most of his comments going over peoples' heads. But this is a tricky balance to write properly, because you have to set up that the character doesn't think it's a bad thing to dislike this other character, you have to give the character's totally (within their own mind) reasonable explanations, and you have to also just cross your fingers and hope that the audience will not AGREE with the character's assessment of the other character.
Last note for this entry: I've developed, over the years, a tendency to write Drake as a sort of cynical crank. This has moved away from the TV series. It started because I was trying to find a middle ground with him for Beth, and that became something where he would be cranky around her but like her underneath it, and it's sort of gotten to a point where if something isn't the kind of thing he's directly interested in, he won't even fake an interest. Not that he will tune it out completely, just that he'll view it with a kind of resigned indifference, even get annoyed if he's asked to pay too much attention to it. Drake lives with a certain element of expectations - one of which is that HE will always be the center of attention - and he will not alter those expectations. So I don't mean to imply that I think the way I write DW is dead-on canon, though I do *try* to make him as close as I can to the Drake of the TV series. Because I love that Drake. But my writing for him has evolved over the past decade and I'm in a pattern now that I don't think I can really escape. Oh well. :) I like my Drake, too. ^_~
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Begin at the Beginning
Rewriting the Webfoot Chronicles.
Hm. There's so much I could talk about with this that I don't know where to start.
I guess the first question to answer - not that all that many people are likely asking it, but you know, just *rambling* here - is "Why?" That eternal question, why. Much like "Goobers or Raisinettes?" in which case the answer is OBVIOUSLY Goobers, because Raisinettes = UGH, but who actually eats either of those candies at the movies anyway? Junior Mints is clearly the only option.
Anyway. WHY rewrite the Chronicles? WHY revisit a bunch of stories I wrote in 1994? A bunch of fics that have been online almost as long as the Internet itself has been active? I mean, the question is why bother: everyone who is ever going to has read these fics and it's not as if the fact that they're shoddily written and full of cliches has turned people away from reading the later stories. Well... let me put that another way. It's not as if the fact that they're shoddily written and full of cliches has turned everyone away. ;)
The reason though is because I just... well, I realize that the stories are up in numerous places where I cannot access them and therefore cannot CHANGE them. They're up at the DAFT Archives, for example, and those versions are going to be there potentially forever. And I think in the long run those are going to be the "definitive" versions and I don't think I can change that.
But I, in all honesty, cannot reread those stories. Which is too bad, because sometimes I need to go back for research purposes and sometimes I just plain want to reread my own work because yes, I am something of an egotist, and when I read something I want it to be *good*. And - see previous egotist comment - I know I can write better than that now. I know I can write things that I enjoy rereading, because I've seen it. So it BOTHERS me. If these were fics I was no longer interested in, I could just turn aside and be a little embarrassed, but I'm still atively writing the Webfoot series and it pokes at me that the first few - especially the first three - are so... well, I guess the right word is "immature".
I have the excuse of youth when I wrote those fics. I was only 16 when I wrote the first set, really everything up through the first seven or eight - I was so darned prolific then it's astounding in retrospect but it also shows in the tone of the fics. Because they feel rushed - you know they do. You can tell I wrote them in, like, two weeks each. (Sometimes less.) Anyway, I don't really mean to imply that all sixteen-year-olds are bad writers, because like at any age it varies tremendously, but I am proud enough of myself to say that I have developed extensively as a writer since then. Could I be pro? Good God no, but I think I have learned to better craft a story, slow down, make things mean a little more and that's just a good thing all around. And yes I'm rambly, as I am right now, but usually I write so slowly these days that I can rein myself in. ;)
So: I've gone all around and I have not really actually answered the question. The question is: Why bother to rewrite these, when enough time has passed, enough people are still interested in reading (and are understanding about the reasons why the earlier fics suck)?
Because I can, I guess.
The nice thing about the originals is that each one serves as a highly functional outline for the new version. So far, with the first one, I've been able to keep almost every single plot point from the original and just expand on it, and add a few new scenes. It's a relief to know where I'm going and not have to figure out nearly as much. You know, I started the first scene of the first fic's rewrite back in 2000. It took me SEVEN YEARS to finish it - just that scene. I'm hoping to have the first fic finished by the end of summer (the end of spring would be even nicer) but who knows if I'll ever even start to rewrite the second. Well, as long as my momentum on these fics holds up, I hope I'll continue to both rewrite and just - write new ones.
R.
Hm. There's so much I could talk about with this that I don't know where to start.
I guess the first question to answer - not that all that many people are likely asking it, but you know, just *rambling* here - is "Why?" That eternal question, why. Much like "Goobers or Raisinettes?" in which case the answer is OBVIOUSLY Goobers, because Raisinettes = UGH, but who actually eats either of those candies at the movies anyway? Junior Mints is clearly the only option.
Anyway. WHY rewrite the Chronicles? WHY revisit a bunch of stories I wrote in 1994? A bunch of fics that have been online almost as long as the Internet itself has been active? I mean, the question is why bother: everyone who is ever going to has read these fics and it's not as if the fact that they're shoddily written and full of cliches has turned people away from reading the later stories. Well... let me put that another way. It's not as if the fact that they're shoddily written and full of cliches has turned everyone away. ;)
The reason though is because I just... well, I realize that the stories are up in numerous places where I cannot access them and therefore cannot CHANGE them. They're up at the DAFT Archives, for example, and those versions are going to be there potentially forever. And I think in the long run those are going to be the "definitive" versions and I don't think I can change that.
But I, in all honesty, cannot reread those stories. Which is too bad, because sometimes I need to go back for research purposes and sometimes I just plain want to reread my own work because yes, I am something of an egotist, and when I read something I want it to be *good*. And - see previous egotist comment - I know I can write better than that now. I know I can write things that I enjoy rereading, because I've seen it. So it BOTHERS me. If these were fics I was no longer interested in, I could just turn aside and be a little embarrassed, but I'm still atively writing the Webfoot series and it pokes at me that the first few - especially the first three - are so... well, I guess the right word is "immature".
I have the excuse of youth when I wrote those fics. I was only 16 when I wrote the first set, really everything up through the first seven or eight - I was so darned prolific then it's astounding in retrospect but it also shows in the tone of the fics. Because they feel rushed - you know they do. You can tell I wrote them in, like, two weeks each. (Sometimes less.) Anyway, I don't really mean to imply that all sixteen-year-olds are bad writers, because like at any age it varies tremendously, but I am proud enough of myself to say that I have developed extensively as a writer since then. Could I be pro? Good God no, but I think I have learned to better craft a story, slow down, make things mean a little more and that's just a good thing all around. And yes I'm rambly, as I am right now, but usually I write so slowly these days that I can rein myself in. ;)
So: I've gone all around and I have not really actually answered the question. The question is: Why bother to rewrite these, when enough time has passed, enough people are still interested in reading (and are understanding about the reasons why the earlier fics suck)?
Because I can, I guess.
The nice thing about the originals is that each one serves as a highly functional outline for the new version. So far, with the first one, I've been able to keep almost every single plot point from the original and just expand on it, and add a few new scenes. It's a relief to know where I'm going and not have to figure out nearly as much. You know, I started the first scene of the first fic's rewrite back in 2000. It took me SEVEN YEARS to finish it - just that scene. I'm hoping to have the first fic finished by the end of summer (the end of spring would be even nicer) but who knows if I'll ever even start to rewrite the second. Well, as long as my momentum on these fics holds up, I hope I'll continue to both rewrite and just - write new ones.
R.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Perils of Ficcing
*lays head on desk and sighs*
Well, first of all I just posted another chapter on FF.net of All About Elizabeth, which is y'know. Fun on wheels. ;) No, I like it, actually. Present-day stuff (if you consider 1993 to be "present day" which for the sake of this fanfic we shall), and I get to introduce Beth's younger brother, whom I still know next to nothing about. I don't know yet if he wears glasses or not (Candy does - or rather, she needs them, but she has contacts; Beef doesn't need 'em) but I *think* his hair is slightly too long. I am pretty sure it's brown.
Eventually I'll work Kit, the youngest, in there too. I mean if I didn't it would just be danged lazy, you know? ;P
However, I have the spare time to write tonight and I've been in a real writing "groove" lately but what happens all too often is that I spend my days thinking of what I will write next, then I sit down to do it when I have a free evening and all my drive goes *poof!* out the window. Or um... out something that would make a "poof!" noise. (Baby powder bottle?) The problem I run into is that I don't want to write any of the scenes I am currently at in my fics. I only have two that I'm working on right now - AAE, and the rewrite of TWC1 - and I don't feel too much like doing TWC1 just yet but I am getting annoyed with Beth's therapist and don't feel like writing him. Nor do I feel like doing a flashback. This is all a little maddening since, with a handful of exceptions, that is all this fic is about, so I'm kind of stuck.
That's the problem I run into now. For years and years I've been teasing myself with the romance stuff - I don't write it all that well, so I try to limit myself with it and mostly just write the sort of tension of it. But I really want to write it for real, and sometimes it reaches the point where everything else is just the stuff I have to get through before I can write a good romantic and/or romantic tension scene; I have destroyed myself a little, I think. *sigh*
(Can you believe I've been drawing this relationship out for 14 years now? What the heck is wrong with me? :P)
Does this happen to anyone else? Do you ever get writer's block specifically because you want so much to write a particular thing, and get bored with/don't feel like doing the in-betweens? Fortunately sometimes it does pass and I can get good blocks of actual STORY done; sometimes however, it gets really bad - and this is the worst - it gets so bad that I can't actually even skip ahead and write a scene I've been wanting to do, because it doesn't come out right, so instead I sit and stare at it with even more self-induced block. AARGH. This is why I was not cut out for this.
I'm serious about that question, though. I'd like answers if anyone has any to give; discussion is totally cool by me. I believe I have it set so that you can post here without having a blogger account - if not, leave a message on LJ and I'll see if I can change my settings.
Aaaaand this? This right here? Is called procrastinating. :P Give me strength, folks. Deep down I would like to maybe get some part of a chapter done on TWC1 or something, tonight; I'd settle for making it through the first section of a flashback if I can't do TWC1. But c'mon. SOMETHING.
Well, first of all I just posted another chapter on FF.net of All About Elizabeth, which is y'know. Fun on wheels. ;) No, I like it, actually. Present-day stuff (if you consider 1993 to be "present day" which for the sake of this fanfic we shall), and I get to introduce Beth's younger brother, whom I still know next to nothing about. I don't know yet if he wears glasses or not (Candy does - or rather, she needs them, but she has contacts; Beef doesn't need 'em) but I *think* his hair is slightly too long. I am pretty sure it's brown.
Eventually I'll work Kit, the youngest, in there too. I mean if I didn't it would just be danged lazy, you know? ;P
However, I have the spare time to write tonight and I've been in a real writing "groove" lately but what happens all too often is that I spend my days thinking of what I will write next, then I sit down to do it when I have a free evening and all my drive goes *poof!* out the window. Or um... out something that would make a "poof!" noise. (Baby powder bottle?) The problem I run into is that I don't want to write any of the scenes I am currently at in my fics. I only have two that I'm working on right now - AAE, and the rewrite of TWC1 - and I don't feel too much like doing TWC1 just yet but I am getting annoyed with Beth's therapist and don't feel like writing him. Nor do I feel like doing a flashback. This is all a little maddening since, with a handful of exceptions, that is all this fic is about, so I'm kind of stuck.
That's the problem I run into now. For years and years I've been teasing myself with the romance stuff - I don't write it all that well, so I try to limit myself with it and mostly just write the sort of tension of it. But I really want to write it for real, and sometimes it reaches the point where everything else is just the stuff I have to get through before I can write a good romantic and/or romantic tension scene; I have destroyed myself a little, I think. *sigh*
(Can you believe I've been drawing this relationship out for 14 years now? What the heck is wrong with me? :P)
Does this happen to anyone else? Do you ever get writer's block specifically because you want so much to write a particular thing, and get bored with/don't feel like doing the in-betweens? Fortunately sometimes it does pass and I can get good blocks of actual STORY done; sometimes however, it gets really bad - and this is the worst - it gets so bad that I can't actually even skip ahead and write a scene I've been wanting to do, because it doesn't come out right, so instead I sit and stare at it with even more self-induced block. AARGH. This is why I was not cut out for this.
I'm serious about that question, though. I'd like answers if anyone has any to give; discussion is totally cool by me. I believe I have it set so that you can post here without having a blogger account - if not, leave a message on LJ and I'll see if I can change my settings.
Aaaaand this? This right here? Is called procrastinating. :P Give me strength, folks. Deep down I would like to maybe get some part of a chapter done on TWC1 or something, tonight; I'd settle for making it through the first section of a flashback if I can't do TWC1. But c'mon. SOMETHING.
Friday, March 7, 2008
All About Elizabeth, act II chapter IV
Why do I do "Acts", you may wonder? This isn't actually what I was intending to write a post about but as I wrote the subject line I kind of thought that. It goes back to when I first started writing DWD fanfic and instead of writing in chapters I wrote in three acts. This was because I thought of the fics in terms of "scripts" (even though they weren't in script format) and I was trying to have good commercial break space. XD So all my first fics have three acts, and I used to get very frustrated when I had to break from that format. Then my fics just started getting longer and longer and I realized it was time to loosen up somewhat. (It's important to remember that I was fifteen when I started writing these fics; it explains a little bit more about my Idiot mindset. ^_~)
Anyway, I do like the idea of "acts" and though I do tend to separate them into chapters I still think of the acts themselves as having some kind of either unifying theme or unifying timeline. I also like to have as close as possible to an equal number of chapters in each act - HDF had 4 chapters per act and initially AAE was going to have either 2 or 3 chapters per act, but it's been growin' lately. Later maybe I'll write a post about longer fics and how I don't like them (er, writing them - love reading them, don't be fooled ^_~), it's rather confusing even for me.
ANYway. First of all this post was supposed to let anyone reading know that I've posted chapter 6 of All About Elizabeth on ff.net, which closes out Act II. This fic is pretty explicit about the themes in each act but Act II was Beth's early years at school. It's the "School" Act because it focuses specifically on her time there; it's not the only section that will deal with her childhood, nor is it the only section that will deal with her school life, which I know seems counterproductive but in this case the Act was about her school life, rather than just making use of it.
...Yeah.
So! The experiences Beth goes through in school. If you haven't read the chapter yet you might want to before you read the rest of this post. *G* As I was writing it I kind of wondered if I was being accurate. I, like a LOT of kids, did not have a great time in school (particularly elementary school which is what this time period covers); I was not one of the popular ones and was alternately ignored and/or made fun of. However I didn't really ever have an experience like Beth did... I never had a friend turn on me that way and I was never exactly a "group" target. So as I wrote the whole thing I tried for realism but worried constantly that I was overdoing it.
It was, and is, important to me not to give the impression that Beth has it worse than anyone else. Part of why Beth's shrink talks about Nicola being unhappy in the final part of the fic is because - well, first of all I think Beth needs to have that pointed out to her (even though she STILL doesn't get it), but also because I wanted to reinforce the fact that Nicola was not really *just* a jerk, not just a girl who turned mean for no reason. Similarly I think most kids who appear to be jerks are like that, because ANY kid can be mean. My daughter, sweetest kid you will ever meet if she's in the mood, is now two and she's at that stage where she'll just walk up and hit another kid, especially if he's smaller than she is. They're all like that at her daycare. It's weird to watch. XD Then they're like "whaaat? I didn't want to HURT him, I just wanted to kick him hard and see what he did!" 9_9 Point being: kids are just selfish, contrary, and on occasion mean-spirited little beings, even the good ones. Even Beth, who can be goaded into betraying a confidence and saying the most hurtful thing possible. If I had written this chapter from Nicola's POV we'd have had a very different story.
Well, there's me preaching. ^_~ I will say that I've had some very good feedback from a couple of people regarding Beth's experiences being something they can relate to, so I feel rather good about this section. I never want this story to be a "poor BETH, look what she's going through!" story even though I think it'll come across that way by necessity... growing up is HARD but this is an exploration of what has made Beth who she is now, not an excuse to look back at how hard she's had it. Everyone has had it hard. It's hard to get that across in a fic written almost exclusively from one POV, but I'm trying. :)
See the latest chapter here.
Anyway, I do like the idea of "acts" and though I do tend to separate them into chapters I still think of the acts themselves as having some kind of either unifying theme or unifying timeline. I also like to have as close as possible to an equal number of chapters in each act - HDF had 4 chapters per act and initially AAE was going to have either 2 or 3 chapters per act, but it's been growin' lately. Later maybe I'll write a post about longer fics and how I don't like them (er, writing them - love reading them, don't be fooled ^_~), it's rather confusing even for me.
ANYway. First of all this post was supposed to let anyone reading know that I've posted chapter 6 of All About Elizabeth on ff.net, which closes out Act II. This fic is pretty explicit about the themes in each act but Act II was Beth's early years at school. It's the "School" Act because it focuses specifically on her time there; it's not the only section that will deal with her childhood, nor is it the only section that will deal with her school life, which I know seems counterproductive but in this case the Act was about her school life, rather than just making use of it.
...Yeah.
So! The experiences Beth goes through in school. If you haven't read the chapter yet you might want to before you read the rest of this post. *G* As I was writing it I kind of wondered if I was being accurate. I, like a LOT of kids, did not have a great time in school (particularly elementary school which is what this time period covers); I was not one of the popular ones and was alternately ignored and/or made fun of. However I didn't really ever have an experience like Beth did... I never had a friend turn on me that way and I was never exactly a "group" target. So as I wrote the whole thing I tried for realism but worried constantly that I was overdoing it.
It was, and is, important to me not to give the impression that Beth has it worse than anyone else. Part of why Beth's shrink talks about Nicola being unhappy in the final part of the fic is because - well, first of all I think Beth needs to have that pointed out to her (even though she STILL doesn't get it), but also because I wanted to reinforce the fact that Nicola was not really *just* a jerk, not just a girl who turned mean for no reason. Similarly I think most kids who appear to be jerks are like that, because ANY kid can be mean. My daughter, sweetest kid you will ever meet if she's in the mood, is now two and she's at that stage where she'll just walk up and hit another kid, especially if he's smaller than she is. They're all like that at her daycare. It's weird to watch. XD Then they're like "whaaat? I didn't want to HURT him, I just wanted to kick him hard and see what he did!" 9_9 Point being: kids are just selfish, contrary, and on occasion mean-spirited little beings, even the good ones. Even Beth, who can be goaded into betraying a confidence and saying the most hurtful thing possible. If I had written this chapter from Nicola's POV we'd have had a very different story.
Well, there's me preaching. ^_~ I will say that I've had some very good feedback from a couple of people regarding Beth's experiences being something they can relate to, so I feel rather good about this section. I never want this story to be a "poor BETH, look what she's going through!" story even though I think it'll come across that way by necessity... growing up is HARD but this is an exploration of what has made Beth who she is now, not an excuse to look back at how hard she's had it. Everyone has had it hard. It's hard to get that across in a fic written almost exclusively from one POV, but I'm trying. :)
See the latest chapter here.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Soundtracks, and A Question
First the question. Amanda asked how to subscribe to the posts here... I have noooo idea. *lol* I'm sure there's a way to set up a feed so people could get it sent to their LJ friends' lists or something... which would be way convenient. As it stands I don't know what to do to do that, and I'm too lazy to look into it right now. Part of the reason I'm lazy is because what I want to do is ultimately have this blog housed on my website, specifically in the same spot I'll be housing my fics, in which case you can just pop in to the main site there and catch up on any updates I've made. However right now I don't even know how to get email notifications when people comment on my posts. *lol* I know housing it on my webpage is totally possible and involves something to do with FTP, but right now I don't have any info on FTP so it's something I'll have to research at least slightly, and I don't want to do that right now. Haha. XD
Well, moving on. I don't have any kind of segue at all for this so I'm just gonna bounce right on in!... From the number of "songfics" out there I assume most people have a kind of soundtrack, at least in a minor form, for their fics and/or characters and/or "universes". Naturally I do, for nearly every series I've ever written for. In fact I have an EXTENSIVE one, in two parts, for my Darlingverse series... but I digress. :) My Webfoot soundtrack, in terms of a solid thing, is still growing - rather slowly at that - but I had been thinking about it recently as I wrote and I came to the conclusion that the soundtrack to Beth's life, just in terms of the general sound of it, is mainly comprised of 80s music. There's some 70s music in there too, and perhaps a bit of very early 90s (and of COURSE, if I find contemporary songs that fit, I'll go anachronistic and use them for inspiration), but mostly Beth follows a particular time period for the sound of her life. I wish I had good examples... LOL, I don't really, it would just be a lot of the stuff you might hear on the radio at any given time. "Walkin' On Sunshine" is as much a good choice as Blondie or Hall and Oates. It's not necessarily stuff I like (though I do love Blondie) as it is just the time period, because I figure most of Beth's formative years were in the 80s.
I've never really actually out-and-out specified the timeline I work with, I realized. I'm kind of doing that in AAE, but for the record to explicitly state it: Beth was born in 1967. The first story in the Webfoot Chronicles takes place in late summer of 1992, and Beth has just turned 25 (her birthday is in July).
Going back to the subject of soundtracks, I do have some specific songs for specific scenes and I've been playing with the idea of getting an account with, um, what's that set-up called? "Jigg It" or something? Anyway I've thought of getting an account with them so I can put up streaming versions of these songs here. :) I'll post about them more in later days!
Now we get to the point where I HOPE I'll be able to keep up on this blog. My work is about to get heavy-time crazy since a coworker just left, another is having surgery next week and will be out for 6 weeks, and in another two weeks a third coworker is going on vacation (it was planned and paid for way in advance or else she'd reschedule, but she can't). So... KABOOM. ;D
Well, moving on. I don't have any kind of segue at all for this so I'm just gonna bounce right on in!... From the number of "songfics" out there I assume most people have a kind of soundtrack, at least in a minor form, for their fics and/or characters and/or "universes". Naturally I do, for nearly every series I've ever written for. In fact I have an EXTENSIVE one, in two parts, for my Darlingverse series... but I digress. :) My Webfoot soundtrack, in terms of a solid thing, is still growing - rather slowly at that - but I had been thinking about it recently as I wrote and I came to the conclusion that the soundtrack to Beth's life, just in terms of the general sound of it, is mainly comprised of 80s music. There's some 70s music in there too, and perhaps a bit of very early 90s (and of COURSE, if I find contemporary songs that fit, I'll go anachronistic and use them for inspiration), but mostly Beth follows a particular time period for the sound of her life. I wish I had good examples... LOL, I don't really, it would just be a lot of the stuff you might hear on the radio at any given time. "Walkin' On Sunshine" is as much a good choice as Blondie or Hall and Oates. It's not necessarily stuff I like (though I do love Blondie) as it is just the time period, because I figure most of Beth's formative years were in the 80s.
I've never really actually out-and-out specified the timeline I work with, I realized. I'm kind of doing that in AAE, but for the record to explicitly state it: Beth was born in 1967. The first story in the Webfoot Chronicles takes place in late summer of 1992, and Beth has just turned 25 (her birthday is in July).
Going back to the subject of soundtracks, I do have some specific songs for specific scenes and I've been playing with the idea of getting an account with, um, what's that set-up called? "Jigg It" or something? Anyway I've thought of getting an account with them so I can put up streaming versions of these songs here. :) I'll post about them more in later days!
Now we get to the point where I HOPE I'll be able to keep up on this blog. My work is about to get heavy-time crazy since a coworker just left, another is having surgery next week and will be out for 6 weeks, and in another two weeks a third coworker is going on vacation (it was planned and paid for way in advance or else she'd reschedule, but she can't). So... KABOOM. ;D
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