Construction Zone

So, I participated in Yuletide this year. It was my sole fandom endeavor. That is just SO SAD.

I would really like to get involved with fandom again, though. It's a tremendous source of joy that I am missing in my life.

So, because it seems I need motivation - what ficathons/writing things are people participating in that I can still timely join?

Thanks!

PS - Yuletide write up coming soon. :)

There are a lot of interesting discussions going around the Internets right now about narrative and character choices and what, if anything, it reveals about the author. Many of them have made me think (always a good, if dangerous, thing) and now I have questions for you, oh Internets.

Is it possible to write a narrative that contains characters who are *ist (racist, sexist, misogynist, homophic, transphobic, fat-phobic), and wherein the fic structure isn't designed to provide either cosmic retribution of an after-school special teaching moment, and not have the fic be inherently *ist itself?

If the fic is *ist, to what extent is the author perpetuating the *ism on the world?

To use an example from my own work (which is the only way I can think to explain what I mean, without putting anyone else on the carpet), I wrote a Merchant of Venice fic (yes, Shakespearean even!), wherein Antonio and Bassanio basically have sex in front of a mirror. The fic contains this conversation:

"Dear Bassanio, do you have no trust for me? My heart, my home, my life… all yours for the taking."

Bassanio's voice hitched. "What we do is a violation of God's law."

"Aye."

"We damn our souls."

"Aye," Antonio breathed.

At no point afterward did I have the characters address the homophobic nature of that conversation. At no point did I ever bring religion into the story again. At no point did I include any hint that I - as the author - have a knee-jerk reaction when Christians (which is the faith embraced by these two characters) start preaching about how homosexual acts are sins.

So, tell me Internets, was that homophobic? Does the fic perpetuate homophobia? Does it therefore exist as proof of perhaps my own unexamined homophobia?

Or does the fact that I told this story, about two white men fucking each other, to the exclusion of exploration of the themes of the play involving anti-semitism, classism, sexism, and racism - of which the source material is rank - mean that I somehow embraced those *isms in my own story, and therefore perpetuated them by virtue of ignoring them?

To what degree am I, as the author, guilty of the sins of the characters?

(I am aware that this question may seem extremely combative and I honestly do not mean it that way. I am simply asking for opinions. I do not promise to agree with any of you, however! But, the thought-process is provoking introspection and I would like to engage in a dialogue. I will do my best to keep my ego out of it, I promise.)

So, I've got a draft of Remix now.

*starts breathing again*

I'm going to let it sit and poke it again tomorrow, but then it will be off to beta and posted on time! (We can make edits after the posting date, before it goes live, right? Best part of Yuletide AO3 shenanigans, if I remember correctly!)

How is everyone else doing?

If you're done and posted, I'm jealous. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!!

I have no idea how one goes awasselling, but it sounds like fun to me. I could use more fun, I think. Speaking of fun, two days left until the end of the Recathon and three days until Yuletide! Both of these events fill me with fannish glee. I'm excited about reading and plan to spend a large part of the last of the year doing just that.

Yuletide:

* My story is written and the betas have returned it to me. I posted in advance of the deadline, so I do need to make edits... but I'll consider it a victory at this point.

* I wrote a very random treat. It wasn't even the one I went looking for, but I kind of like it.

* Does anyone know if the pinch hits from this morning were claimed? I don't see an email one way or the other and that makes me fret. I want to be able to upload treats and I want to know that everyone will have a story. *fret*

* I definitely plan to write at least one more treat. Maybe two. Of course, if I run out of time, so be it. :)

How are you guys doing? Everyone done with all their holiday related ficathons? I'm nosy and would like to know, so... hit me with details!

Hi folks! It's Friday!

This puts me in a good mood, despite the amount of stuff I have to finish today.

I just wanted to take a minute to say hi to all the new people here. Hi! :)

I'm pretty sure most of you are here for the Recathon. Don't blame you at all. It is going to be AWESOME!!!

On that note, I have the best flist EVER. I can't tell you all how much I appreciate your help. I have only ONE fandom that still needs an advertiser. Come on, guys, I know you can do it!

Supernatural - It's the fandom that ate the internet and no one is active enough to drop a few advertisements for me? Pretty please? I will beg. *begs*

Everyone should keep an eye out on this space in the next 36 hours for more information on how you can advertise the Recathon and for those who have volunteered, I'll have a list of instructions/suggestions. ♥

In other news, I've got to finish my therealljidol piece for later today. O.o

I'd best get working. Happy Friday all!

* My femgenficathon fic is now over 5,000 words. I think it's probably about halfway done. I hope, anyway. I already think there may be an audience of about five for a Brand fic, and that's before it gets to 10,000 words. Oh well.

* I'm really liking the story that I'm getting to tell in the Brand fic, now titled, "Dancing with the Devil."

* My heroines_fest fic is not progressing that quickly, but it will also not be nearly as long. Thankfully. Especially since it's due first.

* I slept a lot this weekend. I mean a whole lot. I didn't make it out of bed until noon today. It's kind of scary how tired I am. But, I do feel better, so I'm glad that I canceled my plans and instead played the part of a slug today.

* Nanowrimo is around the corner. I'm planning to play again this year. Hell, I'm planning to win this year, which will be a first! *lol* Anyone else signing on for the insanity?

* xmen_on_lj is hosting it's first fic challenge. Details can be found here. I encourage all X-fen to go and check it out. It should be amazing.

That's it for now. Night all!

I'm about to head to bed. But I really do wish I'd remembered that I needed to make my bed again after washing the sheets. Fail.

So, instead of doing that, I thought I'd ask some questions of you, oh, flist. These are writing questions, but they are of a general sort of nature.

1. Have you ever reread something you've written and found it to be more intense than you remember when you wrote it?

2. Have you ever laughed aloud, or alternatively, cried, when rereading your own work?

3. Who is your absolute favorite character to read? Is s/he from your favorite fandom? Is s/he your favorite character to write?

4. When you start to plot a story in your mind, what's the first thing you think about?

5. Do you outline your stories before you start writing, or just go with the flow? Whichever you do, do you think it's the best way to write?

Thanks for indulging my nosiness!

Bed now.

Is anyone around tonight? I think I'm going to write, and was wondering if anyone was about. :)

Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern.

( First Lines )

This was interesting. I didn't count drabbles or comment fics for the 25, nor did I count fics that are complete and not yet posted, as those are all subject to changes until they are finally put up for public consumption.

I think the most obvious thing I do is start with somehow indicating the character the fic is going to be about. Almost all of the first lines have a name in them.

I only started with dialogue twice, and even one of the dialogue quotes has a name in it.

In fact 22/25 first lines has a name in it. *fascinated*

Also, only 1/25 is in first person. 4/25 are from a female character's POV and one of the others is an observation on a woman from a man's POV.

The other most noticeable thing I do is give a setting. 11/25 first lines provide some form of setting, whether it be a city, a room, or a state (dreams).

I also tend to introduce the main conflict of the fic immediately. I'd say about 40-50% of the fics name the main problem immediately.

Fun meme!

I need to write a quickie fic with the prompt temptation for tamingthemuse. Is anyone here to toss out a more specific prompt, because I've got nothing...

Thanks!