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on writing
May. 20th, 2005 03:49 pmFic-writing is an interesting process. And I don't just mean the bit where 90% of my writing time is spent re-reading and editing what I've already got down, instead of writing anything new.
No, the most interesting bit is the process itself, and how it is different every single time. This is especially noticeable with my Monico series that I've been working on since last summer - with eight episodes complete and published, and number nine now roughly half finished. Because I've been writing them so continuously, and episodically, it is more obvious how differently they all come together. Some stories are completely planned and plotted out before I begin to write, even down to detailed conversation sketches. And others start life as nothing but a concept, and the plotting and planning is done pretty much fluidly as I go along, with no grand master plan to conform to. And still others are a mixture of the two.
It's interesting. And I'm learning so much as I go along, about how to tell a (hopefully) good story, with fairly complex plots and sub-plots, and character development, and whatnot.
It's just frustrating that the majority of readers don't care about any of that. The only stories they are interested in gushing over are those that conform to mass appeal and involve hugely unlikely pairings of the most popular and therefore overused characters, bodice-ripping, blood, gore and red-hot sex, no matter how little actual plot there is, or how bad the spelling, grammar and presentation, or how far out of character they take the characters. Those of us who actually care about lovingly crafting our stories, who edit and re-edit to remove every tiny typo, research every detail, stick to a strict internal consistency and who make sure the presentation is just right - for us there is no gushing, no reward, and no recognition. Just the satisfaction of having done it properly, the way we wanted to.
No, the most interesting bit is the process itself, and how it is different every single time. This is especially noticeable with my Monico series that I've been working on since last summer - with eight episodes complete and published, and number nine now roughly half finished. Because I've been writing them so continuously, and episodically, it is more obvious how differently they all come together. Some stories are completely planned and plotted out before I begin to write, even down to detailed conversation sketches. And others start life as nothing but a concept, and the plotting and planning is done pretty much fluidly as I go along, with no grand master plan to conform to. And still others are a mixture of the two.
It's interesting. And I'm learning so much as I go along, about how to tell a (hopefully) good story, with fairly complex plots and sub-plots, and character development, and whatnot.
It's just frustrating that the majority of readers don't care about any of that. The only stories they are interested in gushing over are those that conform to mass appeal and involve hugely unlikely pairings of the most popular and therefore overused characters, bodice-ripping, blood, gore and red-hot sex, no matter how little actual plot there is, or how bad the spelling, grammar and presentation, or how far out of character they take the characters. Those of us who actually care about lovingly crafting our stories, who edit and re-edit to remove every tiny typo, research every detail, stick to a strict internal consistency and who make sure the presentation is just right - for us there is no gushing, no reward, and no recognition. Just the satisfaction of having done it properly, the way we wanted to.
