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Uh, what the hell just happened?
'Uh, what the hell just happened?' otherwise known as 'Annerb's written another weird and vague fic that makes my brain hurt.'
I've been thinking a lot about styles of writing, specifically in relation to how much the writer needs to explain and how much they can leave up to the reader to connect in their own. Mostly this stems from the disparate reactions to my latest fic, Roanoke. This fic was written as a ghost story, specifically from the point of view of a character that would never know exactly what happened, but have to extrapolate from her experiences and the snippets that are shared with her in the process of the tale, much like the reader themselves. In fact, for that story the cast of characters themselves were rather secondary, the background for other things. The main star of the story was actually the setting, Atlantis, her moods, her motivations, her secrets. Some people seem fine with this, but there are also people who at the end of the story feel a bit cheated, I imagine, because everything wasn't made clear in the end. I waffle back and forth between just seeing it as a difference of taste, and seeing it as a failing on my end. It's probably a little bit of both.
It's a tough balance, I think, trying to find the sweet spot between over narration/excess explanation, and vagueness to the point of confusion and disruption of the reading process. I like writing a fic where someone might feel the need to read it again once they finish, a la The Sixth Sense, or my Cassie apocafic Revelations. When you get the big reveal at the end, you feel the need to read/watch again from the beginning to see if any strings are showing. I'm fine with that. But I don't want my reader to have to re-read a section five times just to figure out what the heck is happening.
On the other hand, one of the major things that can stall out my writing (and my reading) is when I get too engrossed in narrating and explaining. The whole story just grinds to a halt and it usually takes me a while to figure out why. This actually happened in an earlier draft of Roanoke, where I sat down and realized I had four straight pages of the main character thinking things out, rather than talking to someone or reacting to things around her. 'Actions and Conversations!' I had to remind myself. Solid narration is difficult to write and damn boring to read. It's important for me as the author to be aware of the entire plot and everything that is going on, but it isn't important for me to include all of that, in fact, as the author, it is my job to cull all non-essentials, to keep the story flowing and readable. (Though I swear sometimes I feel like I need to write Commentary for fic or something, like an annotated author's edition. So many of my stories had other things going on in the background that the narrating POV character isn't necessarily aware of, things that weren't vital to the process of the story that I'd love to share. Man, like Beneath The Stains of Time, particularly.)
So I think these days I tend to err on the side of leaving things out rather than including too much, but really, it depends on the type of story I'm writing. And I think I will always have a soft spot for vague and dreamy stories. I just want you all to know that I am not torturing you out of maliciousness, or at least not without feeling bad about it. ;)
I will say though, that if some of you are out there still scratching your heads over Beneath The Stains of Time or Acceleration, I apologize! Lol.
In other news: MALOMARS. YUM.
I've been thinking a lot about styles of writing, specifically in relation to how much the writer needs to explain and how much they can leave up to the reader to connect in their own. Mostly this stems from the disparate reactions to my latest fic, Roanoke. This fic was written as a ghost story, specifically from the point of view of a character that would never know exactly what happened, but have to extrapolate from her experiences and the snippets that are shared with her in the process of the tale, much like the reader themselves. In fact, for that story the cast of characters themselves were rather secondary, the background for other things. The main star of the story was actually the setting, Atlantis, her moods, her motivations, her secrets. Some people seem fine with this, but there are also people who at the end of the story feel a bit cheated, I imagine, because everything wasn't made clear in the end. I waffle back and forth between just seeing it as a difference of taste, and seeing it as a failing on my end. It's probably a little bit of both.
It's a tough balance, I think, trying to find the sweet spot between over narration/excess explanation, and vagueness to the point of confusion and disruption of the reading process. I like writing a fic where someone might feel the need to read it again once they finish, a la The Sixth Sense, or my Cassie apocafic Revelations. When you get the big reveal at the end, you feel the need to read/watch again from the beginning to see if any strings are showing. I'm fine with that. But I don't want my reader to have to re-read a section five times just to figure out what the heck is happening.
On the other hand, one of the major things that can stall out my writing (and my reading) is when I get too engrossed in narrating and explaining. The whole story just grinds to a halt and it usually takes me a while to figure out why. This actually happened in an earlier draft of Roanoke, where I sat down and realized I had four straight pages of the main character thinking things out, rather than talking to someone or reacting to things around her. 'Actions and Conversations!' I had to remind myself. Solid narration is difficult to write and damn boring to read. It's important for me as the author to be aware of the entire plot and everything that is going on, but it isn't important for me to include all of that, in fact, as the author, it is my job to cull all non-essentials, to keep the story flowing and readable. (Though I swear sometimes I feel like I need to write Commentary for fic or something, like an annotated author's edition. So many of my stories had other things going on in the background that the narrating POV character isn't necessarily aware of, things that weren't vital to the process of the story that I'd love to share. Man, like Beneath The Stains of Time, particularly.)
So I think these days I tend to err on the side of leaving things out rather than including too much, but really, it depends on the type of story I'm writing. And I think I will always have a soft spot for vague and dreamy stories. I just want you all to know that I am not torturing you out of maliciousness, or at least not without feeling bad about it. ;)
I will say though, that if some of you are out there still scratching your heads over Beneath The Stains of Time or Acceleration, I apologize! Lol.
In other news: MALOMARS. YUM.
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I rather liked the unsettled ending, for the record.
the balance between assumption and exposition is something I struggle with. I'm OCD and have to know more or less what everyone is thinking and feeling and doing. it isn't so bad when I'm writing regular fic, but when I write total AUs or original stuff I have to constantly remind myself to pull back. This past Sga big bang (http://sgabigbang.talkoncorners.net/?view=fic&id=56) was a HUGE exercise/learning experience when it comes to that balance. I totally get you there :D
I like writing discussions :D What fic do you think you've written that's been the most successful at hitting that balance? one of the ones you mentioned? another? DO you think you've put up any fics which you feel you just failed to get your point across?
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What fic do you think you've written that's been the most successful at hitting that balance? one of the ones you mentioned? another? DO you think you've put up any fics which you feel you just failed to get your point across?
These are hard questions to answer, because I'm usually (and necessarily) in love with whatever my current project is. :) I guess I would say I am pretty happy with Gravity and Wreckage. I think I manage to strike a pretty good balance there, even though they are really plot heavy.
I do think I have put up fics that failed to get my point across, but I don't really beat myself up about it, I just want to be able to learn from them. Plus, I have some amazing betas that never let me get away with anything. I think that must be why betas are so essential, we need them to point out our blind spots. :)
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...but there are also people who at the end of the story feel a bit cheated, I imagine, because everything wasn't made clear in the end.
I wrote an original story with this very same scenario, and got a lot of flack because the ending was "vague". It was perfectly clear to me, and to some others, but a lot of people just didn't get it. And hey, I love the ending of that story, so I'm keeping it the way it is (even if it really should be fixed).
Don't worry too much about this stuff. One of the biggest things successful authors and writing teachers will tell you is that you should "show, not tell". And I think you do a tremendous job in this department. Telling too much will dumb down a fic, and alienate your readers who don't need to be told.
As for "Roanoke", I was a little confused because I never watch SGA, but I still understood what was going on why. The vagueness of who was who leaned toward a mysterious feel, which gave the story a wonderful creepy feeling. And I couldn't stop reading because you had me hanging on the edge of my chair to the very end, wondering who the ghost really was!! Wonderfully written,
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Yay for lessons learned!
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It's something I toyed with in betaing the story (since I was thoroughly confused the first time) but the mystery is part of the heart--and as you say makes the focus on Atlantis as the protagonist, which was so beautiful. The core of it was it didn't matter who the dream mystery woman was or who Addy could be. I worried my advice and your various changes made the ending *too* clear and thus took away the beauty of it.
You want to have the clues, but not make them obvious. What's the point of reading a whodunnit if you know the butler did it on page 3? And what this was was a type of whodunnit. Even experienced mystery authors seem to struggle with this.
The beauty of fanfic is you can enjoy the wonder of the story, and if you're still feeling a bit confuddled, can *ask* the author. Is it a failure of author? Of reader? Or just a lack of meeting of the minds in that instance? Could be any one of those factors.
Basically, it's what
You should totally do a dvd commentary on some of your fic (and write more).
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That's what is so funny. Some people had it all figured out in the first three paragraphs, others probably read the whole thing six times and still left confused. It's very interesting. It makes a story pretty much like a painting or something. There's what the artist intends, but the viewer brings their own set of preconceptions and knowledge and experience and what they see in some ways is completely independent of what the artist might intend. It's hard to be on this side of that relationship. But my intent was THIS! Only it doesn't matter what my intent was, only what each individual gets out of the experience. It's a loss of control for the creator, which makes us twitchy. Lol.
But as I said above, this whole battle between over-telling and being obscure, is just another reason the beta is so damn important, someone who can look at it with fresh eyes and point out all the blind spots. You've always been great at that for me.
I still remember how much I HATED hearing 'show, don't tell' from people because I just had no idea what the hell they were talking about. One of those lessons you have to learn the hard way, I imagine. Lol.
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I think a lot of interpretation of a story has to do with the reader's state of mind going in. I will admit that I'm only about half way through Roanoke because this has been the week of 1001 distractions and about five paragraphs in I realized that this is a story I'm going to want to curl up with later and read start to finish without interruption, really get into the atmosphere of it, so to speak.
I think a lot of fic readers follow their favourite writers because of a certain something, be it theme, style, characters and pairing, whatever, so when that certain something they expect is not there, they have a bit of panicked 'ohmygod what is this?' moment that pulls them out of the feeling-space they were expecting and colors their perception of the story slightly. Of course this isn't true of all readers, but fic readers can be fickle. (I know I am if I'm in a certain mood)
The other issue, as a reader, is the 1001 interruptions. How many of us open up a story at work to read over lunch, or while we're waiting for that pot to boil while we're cooking, or when ever we have some time to kill? As a reader, you're not giving 100% attention to the story, and as such, you're missing out on the subtle details. So many times I've flagged stories to go back and read again and I'm convinced I'm looking at a completely different story.
I'd have to say though, I've never come across any of your stories where I've had a 'wtf moment' because of lack of description or narration, nor have I been bogged down by too much. You've got the right balance. Now I just need to find some place to hide and read, un-interrupted. :D
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To each their own.
Writing is a bit like painting because you're putting images (and thoughts) into your audience's brain. Are you a cubist, or an impressionist, or a landscape painter? Is there anything wrong with experimenting with different styles?
I don't understand a lot of modern poetry, much like I don't get cubism. I do prefer stories that have a definite beginning, middle, and end, and if you cornered me, I'd probably confess that I enjoy stories that wrap things up in a nice, neat, little bow at the end more than those that don't, but I'll also admit that I read fanfiction for escapism, not to be challenged intellectually. I might say differently on another day when I'm in more of a mood to have my horizons expanded and my brain tweaked.
The point is, though, while it's always interesting to see your audience's reaction, you aren't going to be able to please all of the people all of the time because people's preferences are going to differ. However, it should be expected that the further you stray from established norms, the more people who won't get it, or won't like it. It just comes with the territory of being a writer.
I respect and admire those writers who are willing to stray from the norm, to try different things and occasionally challenge their readers, even if I don't always want to hang the results on my wall, so to speak. :) Someone else may want to hang it prominently in their living room. Besides, if it's the picture you wanted to paint, who am I to quibble with the results?
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But seriously, I'm a computer engineer/project manager whose sheer analness and compulsiveness is something to be cultivated for professional ends. I'm just one of those people who has to figure out every single puzzle or it will keep me up at night. My mother stopped letting me do the crossword puzzle (this is pre-Suduku) at the breakfast table as I would make myself late to the school bus over trying to figure out the late few clues.
I really enjoy the more experimental stories - the day you stop trying new things is the day you become a dinosaur. Yeah, sometimes those things aren't as perfect as you would like. But experiments results in things like the amazing DC series or in Beneath the Stains of Time (amazing, amazing, amazing).
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I appreciate you giving the story a try! :D