my twilight fear
Feb. 11th, 2010 07:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
first off - thank you so much to everyone that has been so informative in response to my avatar out of character question. It helped me hugely - and the fact that everyone gave reasons was a God-send. Thank you so, so much.
You see, I've got this fear with my writing. I've possibly always had it - but it's come into focus since the last Twilight book was published and it's regularly in the back of my mind when I write.
For clarification, I've never read the Twilight books so I can't say they're good or bad. I find myself indifferent to the story idea and seem to have an inbuilt prejudice against things that are flamingly popular anyway. That said, several of the communities I hang out in or visit do have Twilighters and the anticipation when the last book was coming out was... vast. Then the last book came out.
The wailing was able to be heard even in the non-Twilight forums.
Not having read the books I can only speak from what I heard but according to a vocal number of fans, the characters in the last book were out of character noticeably and the ending was disappointing - a let down when they'd had their hopes so high. Granted, there's no way any author can live up to every fan's desires and hopes (and with Twilight I'm sure the hopes were sky high). And granted, there are always going to be readers that think you're not writing your characters properly *cough*. But the amount of negative response to the last book seemed excessive to me to simply be a few fans who were disappointed their 'team' didn't end up with Bella. It seemed, to me, reading what I did, that the author had lost her thread and simply written a book because a book needed to be written. When original characters you've created aren't acting in-character anymore - that's a sure sign something went wrong.
As a writer, I take very seriously the trust my readers give me when they start one of my stories. I do this because I've been on the reader side of the fence often enough to know how it feels. As a reader you invest yourself both time-wise and emotionally in someone else's world and you hope - God, you hope - that it pays off in the end. Writing, I admit, I have to follow my story where it goes and there's not much choice for me on that path (hell, half the time I'm not even consulted!). That doesn't mean that, as I get close to the end I don't start obsessively checking for loose ends and gnawing away at whether the ending is going to be satisfactory or not. It was the major concern of mine when I wrote Tales Within Tales for instance. I needed so badly for that last chapter(s) to leave the readers with the sense of satisfaction and completion and healing that they'd invested all that energy of theirs into reaching. I asked two other author's I respect and trust to read those last chapters before I posted just to make sure it ended right. Not necessarily the way someone wanted it to end but in a way that was right and felt as right to the readers as it did to me. Granted, I may not have accomplished that for everyone (I've had at least one wistful notice that I didn't include a sex scene - lol) but it seems I managed for the majority. Commandment One of writing is: Thou shall NOT bore thy readers. Somewhere shortly after that should come 'thou shall not betray their trust'. Which isn't the same as running them through the emotional wringer - heck, what kind of author doesn't enjoy doing that? It's just that everything has to be worthwhile at the end.
Following closely behind that for me is that the characters have to be believable. What author doesn't worry about one of their main characters being an unnoticed Mary Sue? But I also worry, I think we all do, about keeping our characters consistent. Perhaps even more so when we're borrowing a character we love from a fandom. We can play with them and twist them through new hoops but we love the characters we love for a reason and that's the core of them that we try never to change. Sometimes, experimenting too far with how much I can twist them, I worry about losing them. My readers trust me to love and respect the characters as much as they do (and more than some writers *cough*ffnet*cough* seem to). so yeah, I worry when someone tells me I'm abusing Cloud and he's drastically out of character. I worry because I'm well aware that I could easily be so close to the situation that I can't actually see what's really going on anymore. I worry that I might have lost him and not even realize it. And so I need eyes other than mine from writers and readers that I know know what they're talking about to tell me 'yes, no, stop, go'. It means the world to me when those people come up along side me and bring in clarity with them.
on that note, I've started chapter 4 of avatar ;) Since I can't glomp everyone, that's going to be my 'thank you'. You guys were all just exactly what I needed.
I love the internet.
You see, I've got this fear with my writing. I've possibly always had it - but it's come into focus since the last Twilight book was published and it's regularly in the back of my mind when I write.
For clarification, I've never read the Twilight books so I can't say they're good or bad. I find myself indifferent to the story idea and seem to have an inbuilt prejudice against things that are flamingly popular anyway. That said, several of the communities I hang out in or visit do have Twilighters and the anticipation when the last book was coming out was... vast. Then the last book came out.
The wailing was able to be heard even in the non-Twilight forums.
Not having read the books I can only speak from what I heard but according to a vocal number of fans, the characters in the last book were out of character noticeably and the ending was disappointing - a let down when they'd had their hopes so high. Granted, there's no way any author can live up to every fan's desires and hopes (and with Twilight I'm sure the hopes were sky high). And granted, there are always going to be readers that think you're not writing your characters properly *cough*. But the amount of negative response to the last book seemed excessive to me to simply be a few fans who were disappointed their 'team' didn't end up with Bella. It seemed, to me, reading what I did, that the author had lost her thread and simply written a book because a book needed to be written. When original characters you've created aren't acting in-character anymore - that's a sure sign something went wrong.
As a writer, I take very seriously the trust my readers give me when they start one of my stories. I do this because I've been on the reader side of the fence often enough to know how it feels. As a reader you invest yourself both time-wise and emotionally in someone else's world and you hope - God, you hope - that it pays off in the end. Writing, I admit, I have to follow my story where it goes and there's not much choice for me on that path (hell, half the time I'm not even consulted!). That doesn't mean that, as I get close to the end I don't start obsessively checking for loose ends and gnawing away at whether the ending is going to be satisfactory or not. It was the major concern of mine when I wrote Tales Within Tales for instance. I needed so badly for that last chapter(s) to leave the readers with the sense of satisfaction and completion and healing that they'd invested all that energy of theirs into reaching. I asked two other author's I respect and trust to read those last chapters before I posted just to make sure it ended right. Not necessarily the way someone wanted it to end but in a way that was right and felt as right to the readers as it did to me. Granted, I may not have accomplished that for everyone (I've had at least one wistful notice that I didn't include a sex scene - lol) but it seems I managed for the majority. Commandment One of writing is: Thou shall NOT bore thy readers. Somewhere shortly after that should come 'thou shall not betray their trust'. Which isn't the same as running them through the emotional wringer - heck, what kind of author doesn't enjoy doing that? It's just that everything has to be worthwhile at the end.
Following closely behind that for me is that the characters have to be believable. What author doesn't worry about one of their main characters being an unnoticed Mary Sue? But I also worry, I think we all do, about keeping our characters consistent. Perhaps even more so when we're borrowing a character we love from a fandom. We can play with them and twist them through new hoops but we love the characters we love for a reason and that's the core of them that we try never to change. Sometimes, experimenting too far with how much I can twist them, I worry about losing them. My readers trust me to love and respect the characters as much as they do (and more than some writers *cough*ffnet*cough* seem to). so yeah, I worry when someone tells me I'm abusing Cloud and he's drastically out of character. I worry because I'm well aware that I could easily be so close to the situation that I can't actually see what's really going on anymore. I worry that I might have lost him and not even realize it. And so I need eyes other than mine from writers and readers that I know know what they're talking about to tell me 'yes, no, stop, go'. It means the world to me when those people come up along side me and bring in clarity with them.
on that note, I've started chapter 4 of avatar ;) Since I can't glomp everyone, that's going to be my 'thank you'. You guys were all just exactly what I needed.
I love the internet.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-12 01:19 am (UTC)And a new chapter? Wow, you spoil us :D
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Date: 2010-02-12 01:33 am (UTC)and - you're animeAngel90 over on ffnet - aren't you? If so, I can't tell you how much your reviews for TWT have been making me grin (like the village idiot in fact).
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Date: 2010-02-12 01:41 am (UTC)*takes a bow* why yes, I am she :P And I'm glad I made you smile - only fair i return the favour for how much squeeing you made me do over the course of your story, lol. It was just so awesome...I kept having to leave and jump around squeeing before i went to the next chapter (i.e. after Tifa/Leon kiss, and the part way back at the beginning when they were posing together and Cloud showed up, Cloud/Tifa kiss, when the kids were alive....basically every few chapters :P)
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Date: 2010-02-12 04:08 am (UTC)But don't worry about your writing. I always thought your fics were consistent. You've always made Cloud amazing and yet soe completely human and flawed. So nothing to worry about. Whereas with Stephenie Meyer... YOU DON'T SEE ANY FLAW WITH THE CHARACTERS CUZ SHE TRIES TO MAKE THEM SO DAMN PERFECT >:[
Okay I'm done ranting lol.
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Date: 2010-02-16 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-22 02:28 am (UTC)It ended up being so much of a behemot that I had to dedicate a whole LJ entry to the comment. So, go to read it.
And about 'The Twist'? I know perfectly well how you feel. There´s nothing quite like comming with a good, perfectly subtle ironic comeback and nobody understanding that you won! Nobody to laugh evily with you! Well, from now on, we shall share an evil smile whit every update till the truth comes out and I´m finally able to get my plushie. Me and the whole plushie army are looking forward to it ;)
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Date: 2010-02-23 05:45 pm (UTC)Anyway, I read through this entry and just wanted to say THANK YOU. It was very insightful and so true. More writers should pay attention to this sort of thing. This bit in particular: Writing, I admit, I have to follow my story where it goes and there's not much choice for me on that path (hell, half the time I'm not even consulted!). UGHHH yes. Isn't that just how characters work?
Anyway, thanks for sharing, and I'll skedaddle out of your LJ now. ;)
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Date: 2010-02-24 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-24 10:18 pm (UTC)I'm Qwi-Xux on ff.net. I'm also
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Date: 2010-02-26 03:21 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-02-26 05:45 pm (UTC)Publishing is such a tricky business; you sound like you've had quite a journey so far, too. What sort of books do you write?
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Date: 2010-03-02 12:35 pm (UTC)In the meantime though, I've ended up with another book idea I'm enjoying playing with and the concept that internet publishing might just be the next logical step in book sales. The idea of print on demand like what you're working with makes a heck of a lot of sense for instance. I'm still in the exploring stages I'll admit and I'd like to get my next story finished before I get too carried away. Each time I finish a book I feel as if it's better than my last so I'm never quite satisfied with what I've already finished (if that makes any sense).
Uh, first book was a historic romance. Second book was set in a nearby distopian future. Third book will be - heh, I guess I'll know when I've finished it ;)
I'll admit, going through your posts has given me both hope and a lot of new ideas. I'm glad you're doing that. Let's me not feel so much like the lone ranger with my dreams.
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Date: 2010-03-02 03:57 pm (UTC)I completely know what you mean about how each time you finish a book, you feel as if it's better than your last. I think that's just a part of writing. I'm the same way, whether it's with a novel or a fanfic.
I'm glad that going through some of my posts has been at all helpful to you. I'm not sure which ones you saw...I'd have to go see which entries I left unlocked. 98% of my LJ entries are friends-locked, but I try to remember to leave some of the writing/publishing posts public. Speaking of which, would you mind terribly if I friended you? I have a tendency to do a lot of
headache-inducing ramblingtalking, but I'm harmless. ;)I think it's great that you're continuing to write. You may find in your publishing quest that it's one of your earlier books comes back around and smacks you upside the head. Maybe it will be a brand new book. You just have to find one person who thinks it's publishable--and you might have to go through a LOT before you get to that one person. I just remind myself it's a business, and maybe some authors will write things specifically because it's marketable. I don't know about you, but I can't write that way. I have to write whatever characters and story are demanding to be told, and if it turns out that no one wants to publish it, then that's okay. And if it turns out they do want it, then brilliant. Either way, I'll still be over here plugging away on the stories that are demanding my attention.
But as you said--there are a lot of options for publication, and while the traditional route is lovely, there are other options that still get your book into readers' hands. I'd love to hear more about your process as you continue down your writing road.