samsom | Randomness

I said this recently, but I'll say it again here. Writing is hard - hard to coax the words out, hard to put them into some kind of order on the screen, to not use the same word repititiously, to find some new angle, a new light, to an old scene. Or to properly set up those between canon moments that live in my head. Hard to slip into a character's head, and sometimes hard to jump back out again. If I had a free hour or two, I swear I'd spend the time surfing flists and comms, instead of working the word doc WIP I've opened up. Other times I've got a little elbow digging into my thigh, and my husband nudging me every two seconds because The Man Show just did another funny skit -

-and the characters are speaking right then.

I wonder if this is what it means to be an artist. I never considered myself one before, there's such pretention down that road, but what if I am? Because why else would I be driven to write? Is that the difference, when you're driven to do it?

I've been writing, in one form or another, since I was twelve. So even though I've never been published, or even close to it, does that make me a writer?

Or is this still something I do instead of scrapbooking or backpacking?

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

You'ra a writer, m'dear. You don't need your name on the cover of a published book to give you the entitlement, - you just need to feel the need to write until you wanna scream in frustration if you can't find the right words or your Muse is being totally uncooperative.

you're a writer/artist if something- anything makes your fingers itch to put something on paper.

Its both frustrating and adrenalin hopping.

And it's FABULOUS.

Mostly. :P

if it makes you feel any better, Ch 5 of GTKY is nearly done- with an added surpise scene ;)

*hugs you*

Sach xxxx

I think we all go through this, where we suddenly realize, shit, I've been writing forever. But I'm not published, so am I a writer?

Yes, you are. And you are published. Fandom counts. It also gives you the practice (and sometimes the courage) to submit work for publication in "real" places. Though I use the term "real" loosely since most of the writers I know professionally can't write nearly as well as my fandom friends.

I would add that I would much rather read fanfiction than the majority of published works I come across. A wide variety of talent exists in fandom, and some books I've read have been truely awful. I find your stories in particular much better written than certain published 'Angel' works I could mention, which I think speaks for itself. You are a writer, and don't ever doubt it. A true artist creates not for profit, and the very fact that the internet is your publisher of choice I think is proof of your merit. :)

*knocks the heads of your muse and mine together and pokes them*

Yay! Can't wait:P

And I so agree, writing is like crack, but damn, when it won't come out right, the crash sucks. But the compulsion has always been with me, and I can't imagine it ever going away.

Let's just hope I never get to a point where I cut my ear off for my art:)

See, I've never called myself a writer before, to other people. I say "I like to write" and leave it at that. Writers, to me, get paid for their work, or that was how I felt in the past. Lately though, I've had a redefinition of sorts, about what it is to be a writer.

And you're so right, Kel, fanfiction blows me away with the quality. But I think for me it has to do with how much I care about the characters I'm reading about - I know their history, their behaviors, and such, so a really good story or 100 word drabble will just hit me in a way that original fiction doesn't. And that makes me wonder how many professional writers are running around our fandom, because sometimes...

You are very sweet for saying that:P

And I agree wholeheartedly with fanfic being a better read than original fiction. I'll always buy books, but I love fanfic and thank god every day I found it. You're allowed to do things, go places with a character that you just aren't in regular works. It's like the books you find in stores follow a formula on what has to happen, what the 'hero' can do, and can't, and whatnot. There are no rules in fanfic. I love that. You can take Wes and twist him four different ways without ever violating his character, and Angel - Lord, the things you can do with Angel. LOL! And frequently do!

And I've never read the Angel novels. I've heard enough about them that, as a C/A girl, I probably won't enjoy them the way others would. Plus, I heard when you write in a certain universe, there's a bible you have to follow. That pretty much means it has to appeal to a broad range of people, which means, to me, it's too vanilla.

And I really need to get a couple of Wes icons, just to use for your posts.

*g* Your beautiful Cordelia icons are always welcome, of course! She creeps closer to Wes for my favourite character with the more fanfic I read.

And vanilla is precisely the word I was looking for but couldn't think of when replying originally. The Angel novels, and even original fiction to an extent, must conform to a certain standard of acceptable story-telling. Angel writers mustn't upset too many of the fans, and those setting up their own story must spend time building characters in a way that's already done for us in fanfiction.

I think that's why I find fanfiction so much more satisfying. The - I don't want to say boring - bits have already been covered in canon, so the fanfic writer can take their creativity to a much more complex level without sacrificing background.

I this making any sense? *scratches head*

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