“Writetalk” is a series of posts in which I post new, rewritten chapters of AST and point out my reasoning behind what I’ve changed, and ask for input and criticism. Beta by consensus? Writing in public? Actually, writing in public kinda sorta almost fits. If you just want to read the story, do that. If you just want the meta, do that. Both is cool; neither is cool.

Last Word:

This is an experiment, and my responses and posts and most of the comments you’ll read (crosses fingers and hopes there WILL be comments) will likely reflect that. Feel free to comment and tell me if I have put the word “hammer” in this post where it Should Not Be, or if I really want to clarify some point, or if there is a ready-made comm I can actually positutely do this in fo’ realz ALREADY. I’m likely going to go continue looking for one as soon as I post this, but I’m not holding my breath.

If you would much rather talk in private but feel odd about emailing or IMing me, go hither to this screened comment entry and put forth thine comments, and lo, we shall converse in great privity and, erm. I think I used a couple of those wrong :-/

Why this is here: To let people know what my reasons for writing are, and to give a very very general idea of how I write as quickly as possible. [NOTE: This is short right now, and though it might grow a bit, it will always aim to be short, so as not to waste your time ;)]

I write for myself first, and my readers first and a half. Er, it works out, I promise. I am a rabid, mostly unapologetic review whore; luckily for you, I also like to gab critically about my fic, and am in this business to improve my writing as well as share it with others.

I write what I love to read. Fave authors include Lois Bujold first and a bunch of other fabulous authors second, Scott Westerfeld, Robin McKinley, David Abraham, and so on. I hope to write something that lasts and is filling and satisfying to read; something that takes something out of you, that demands effort of you, but not so much that you can’t curl up and rest with the book in your hands. I don’t know if I’ll ever be there, but that is my goal.

I write all the time, because I love doing it. Or, I should say, I invent all the time. I am constantly peering at my characters, adjusting their makeup, poking at them, dropping them into all sorts of hypothetical situations, and all because it is great glorious fun. Actually shoving stuff onto a page is just as fun, only you actually have to work at it, and it is work as well as fun. Sometimes it is the easiest thing ever, and sometimes I feel like I’d rather shoot myself than look at a sentence again. But I keep doing it anyway, because I find it fun.

I write with other people’s characters. Because that, too, is fun. I’ve never gotten round to posting my (mostly incomplete) original fic because of several reasons, and I suppose one of them could accurately be called being lazy. But what’s the point of being hardworking when there’s already a story you want to write, a hard story with some stuff that you didn’t have to make up and some stuff you had to make up because the story wouldn’t make sense otherwise? I say there isn’t one. I also say I want to finish my hard, close-to-hand story first, and that if that ends up taking till I die, it is quite all right so long as I had gobs of fun along the way.

Which, because writing is fun, because writing with other people’s stuff is fun, is kind of a given. Forever and amen.

Other WRITETALK policy posts: writetalk:policy