disgruntled_owl | Entries tagged with writing

I've been lucky to be able to write Horror of Dracula fic for several exchanges these past few years. I'm delighted to know that Hammer Horror fans are out there, and it's been a lot of fun to share a love of the studio's unique take on Dracula with them. My story this year:

Fascination (10,671 words)
by disgruntled_owl
for rosecake
Archive Warning: Graphic Depictions of Violence (vampire staking and references to decapitation)
Fandoms: Horror of Dracula (1958), Dracula & Related Fandoms
Relationship: Jonathan Harker & Van Helsing (Hammer)
Characters: Jonathan Harker, Van Helsing (Hammer), Arthur Holmwood, Lucy Holmwood, Mina Holmwood
Additional Tags: Minor Original Character(s), Bavaria, Vampires, Obsession, Vampire Hunters, hammer horror, Hammer films, 19th Century, Backstory, Vampire Staking, Minor Character Death, Vampire Decapitation, Pre-Canon, Friendship, Libraries

Summary: An elegant stranger arrives at the Karlstadt Municipal Archive, seeking the histories of Bavarian nobles for a mysterious purpose. Librarian Jonathan Harker aids the visitor in his research and becomes captivated by him and his secret mission. As sinister events begin happening in Karlstadt, Harker sinks deeper into his obsession until he learns the dark truths that will change his life forever.

( Notes and Thoughts )

If you like Star Wars, and cyborgs, and creepy things happening to Clone Wars-era Obi-Wan Kenobi, then maybe this is for you!

Warrior's Body
by disgruntled_owl
for shanlyrical

Collection: Trick or Treat Exchange 2018
Rating: Teen and Up
Word Count: 1,388
Fandoms: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media TypesStar Wars - All Media Types
Tags: Grievous | Qymaen jai Sheelal, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Psychosexual Encounter, envy - Freeform, Nudity, Trick or Treat: Trick, Fight Scene, cyborg, Jedi

Summary: Obi-Wan is compromised during a stealth mission and wakes to find himself wounded, exposed, and in Grievous's clutches. As he tries to make his escape, the Jedi is forced to reckon with the creature within the machine.

Notes and thoughts:

One of the blessings I've experienced writing for exchanges is that I have gotten better at empathizing with, or at least appreciating, characters that don't naturally attract my interest. Here's hoping these experiences are making me a better writer overall. At the outset, I struggled with what I was going to do with Grievous, but by the time I finished the story, I found him to be a lot more intriguing (and I found Obi-Wan a lot sexier, too). It helped to watch both Clone Wars TV shows, which put the horror villain Grievous in horror-type settings (as opposed to sunny jungle planets surrounded by giant lizards). He's actually at his most terrifying in Tartakovsky's cel-animated Clone Wars series, where he's this nigh-unstoppable murder machine.
I've seen countless Force pushes and throws in Star Wars movies and TV shows, but writing about how the Force works and how Jedi use it turned out to be pretty hard.
I debated whether I could define this as a slash relationship when I was tagging it. I wanted to include a sexual undercurrent, but it's probably one the characters only subconsciously realize. There's no actual sex, but a lot of weird touching. I'm still feeling my way towards where the slash boundary actually lies, and what tags might be false advertising.

What a great haul I had for this year's Trick or Treat Exchange! I really appreciate how generous these three authors were with their time and creativity as they wrote these stories.

First, a deliciously gloomy scene set prior to the events of Horror of Dracula, which reveals a dark moment in Van Helsing's past.

Dusk
Fandom: Horror of Dracula (1958)
by WilliamLazenbyotch
Tags: Abraham Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, Count Dracula, Trick or Treat: Trick

Summary: Harker and Van Helsing meet one last time before the young man's ill-fated journey to Klausenburg, and the good doctor remembers an earlier brush with their adversary.

Next, a scene that explores the vulnerabilities, loyalties, and fortitude of Walter Dornez, my favorite character in one of my favorite Dracula-related fandoms.

Dereliction and Duty
Fandom: Hellsing
by AceQueenKing
Tags: Alucard & Walter Dornez, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Background Relationship: Alucard/Integra, Alucard (Hellsing), Walter Dornez, Offers to Turn, Temptation, Old Age, Discussion of death and aging

Summary: Walter's hand shakes. It’s a quick quiver, nothing major; the china teacup rattles on its saucer in an ominous warning, but not a drop is spilled.

But it does not go unnoticed.

“Oh ho,” Alucard says, leering as he sips from his own cup, though it is filled with a more profane liquid. “Losing your grip, old man.”

And finally, a heartbreaking alternate ending for a a battle between friends set during the Clone Wars.

A Trick of the Light
Fandom: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
by LittleRaven
Tags: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Ashoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Character Death Implied/Referenced Character Death, Dark, Lights, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe, Angst, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Ambiguous endings, Gen Work Ratings: G, Bad Ending, Eldritch, Mortis (Star Wars), Episode Related, Episode Tag, Episode Remix, Friendship, Holding Hands, Horror, Trick or Treat: Trick, Trick or Treat: Chocolate Box, vices, Episode: s03e16 Altar of Mortis

Summary: His reactions are so often reckless.

I'll risk writing an mediocre review of Cary Tennis and Danelle Morton's Finishing School: The Happy Ending to that Writing Project You Can't Seem to Get Done, because 1) I've been struggling to get to it, 2) I've got library overdue fines to pay on it, and 3) most importantly, I really want to tell you about it. This book focuses not on the craft of writing so much as the sheer act of getting words on the page at all. It covers two main topics: the emotions that create roadblocks to writing, and the author's Finishing School model of finding buddies and setting up a system to get projects done. I value this book because it's more than a breezy pep talk about why writing is worth the effort. It's a strong, supportive hand on the back that reminds writers that others share their struggle that and steers them out of their own heads and towards other people that can provide help and encouragement.

In the first half, Tennis and Morton explain that "six emotional pitfalls" are what stand between writers and their work (as opposed to laziness or a lack of self-discipline):

Doubt: I'm not capable of the work or not "good enough."
Shame: I am ashamed of not finishing and too ashamed to finish.
Yearning: The work has to be perfect to be worth doing, and if it is perfect, I will be perfect, too.
Fear: Failure of any kind with respect to the work is too painful to risk.
Judgment: I don't want people to discover my mediocrity, or to be angry with me about things I've written.
Arrogance: I don't need anybody's help to get this done, or, my suffering around this work is "more exquisite" than what others experience.

The authors spend a lot of time on the nuances and manifestations of each emotional pitfall and provide examples from their own writing lives. They also explain how these emotions tend to travel in packs. It's tempting to skip ahead to the action-oriented parts of the Finishing School model, but true success depends on acknowledging and then working past these emotions. Each chapter in this first section concludes with descriptions of how to summon the will to keep going, or how to channel the power of that emotion into the work itself. These passages are longer and meatier than a pithy phrase, but I've found that walking with the authors through the logic of these strategies makes them easier to accept.

The second part of the book describes how the authors created and/or implemented local Finishing Schools to help fellow writers complete long unfinished projects. They formed small groups that met weekly and carried out a standard set of deceptively simple tasks:

Physically block out on a calendar when they were going to write each week, and set goals for that writing time. Show that plan to a buddy. This type of planning typically happens at in-person Finishing School meetings.
Contact (typically by text) your buddy when you start and finish your writing periods, and when you need encouragement to keep going.
Report to your buddy and/or your group about what you've accomplished and whether you've met your goals.
Lather, rinse, repeat, until the project is done.

The authors outline a series of principles to support this framework. The writing groups don't show each other what they've written or ask for craft-oriented help because Finishing Schools aren't critique groups. They're solely about getting the work finished, which puts everybody on the same playing field regardless of their project type, genre, professional experience, or talent. They provide a therapeutic outlet for writers who are struggling, but they are more about listening than about providing specific solutions to problems. The group also provides a place to celebrate successes--Tennis and Morton describe an amusing ritual of members dropping print copies of their finished work on the ground so they can hear the satisfying thuds. They add in other suggestions for finishing well, including creating a "detailed scenario of doneness" and writing a declaration that you deem the work done (and won't monkey with it anymore).

Online fandom seems to be pretty good about creating similar supportive communities for fanfic writers, which leverage social media so we can support each other. That said, I can see how the in-person nature of Finishing School would do more to encourage me. I find it easier to be accountable to a small group of people, especially those that I know and/or will physically see, than a broader online community. The one-to-one intimacy of texting a buddy has and likely would continue to help me power through inertia. I don't think I can handle creating a formal Finishing School in the near future, but I intend to implement a few of these tactile ideas in my writing life.

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thanks for participating in the exchange! I love all the buzz leading up to the exchange and the cozy thrill of reading the stories in the winter darkness. I can't wait to read what you write! Here’s a bit about me and my requests.

In General

Relationship Interests: I enjoy het, slash, and femslash. Poly relationships are of less interest to me, but I am open to reading them about it if you find it makes for a compelling story. I’m particularly intrigued by romantic possibilities for older characters, sexual extortion, and relationship power dynamics and imbalances (particularly between villains and protagonists). I also like to read and write gen, including mentor/student relationships and brief moments of connection between characters that might otherwise remain strangers or enemies.

Other Likes: Gothic tales, noir, intrigue, atmosphere, vampires, ghosts, period settings, spooky monsters, ruins, fairy tale motifs, nature (forests, deserts, oceans, shores, and swamps), villains and their motives and psychological characteristics. My tastes in fic trend dark and serious, but if you'd like to write something lighter, fluffier, or sillier, please go for it.

Do-Not-Wants: cannibalism (vampires drinking blood is okay), bestiality, zombies, mpreg, gratuitous graphic violence, scat/watersports, tentacle porn, underage, body horror, animal or child abuse. Please no reader insert stories.

Gray Areas: I’d prefer not to read stories about infidelity or very explicit rape/non-con. Given my relationship interests, dub-con is okay. I understand this territory is murky, so don’t worry too much about crossing a line. I’m primarily trying to avoid really extreme or violent situations.

Story Characteristics: I’m good with missing scenes and canon divergence, but I like to stay in the world of the story, so I’d prefer the story not be set in a dramatically different AU (coffee shop, high school, etc.). I'd also prefer not to receive a story written in the second person.

Fandom Specifics

Brides of Dracula (1960)

Requested Characters: Any

Help me build up this fandom! I have a bunch of Brides of Dracula WIPs, and any story you'd write for this fandom would not only entertain me but encourage me to wrap my stories up. This sumptuous gothic film gives Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing more of a center stage than he had in Dracula, but there are so many fascinating characters in this story that I’m sure I’ll enjoy anything you write about. In case it helps, here are some suggestions:

What did the Baroness and Greta do when they first realize the Baron has become a vampire (if they did not call for a priest or a doctor)? How did they learn that his affliction is vampirism, and not something else? How does she trap him with the silver chain in his wing of the castle?
Tell me about a time when the Baroness successfully ensnared a woman or man for the Baron’s consumption. How does she find the victim, and how do both she and the Baron lure the victim in? You could show this ritual happening for the first time. What internal conflicts and fears does the Baroness overcome as she commits to keeping her son alive, even if it means that others will die?
Dig deeper into the fraught relationship between the Baroness and her vampire son. Show me a scene between the two of them. This could be just after she traps him in his wing of the castle, after she brings him his first victim, or just before he turns her into a vampire and escapes.
What becomes of Gina and the village girl, now vampires without a master? Does Van Helsing pursue them?
What happens to Marianne? She begins the movie as a plucky but naive character. How does she change and what does she decide to do with her life in the aftermath of her encounter with the Baron?

I adore Peter Cushing and his characters so rarely have romances, so if you’d like to go that route, please feel free. Van Helsing and Marianne is the obvious pairing, but feel free to explore others that come to mind.

Frankenstein - Hammer Movies

Requested Character: Victor Frankenstein

I really enjoy how these films showcase Peter Cushing’s capacity for acting clever, calculating, sinister, and intimidating (and sexy, quite frankly). The Baron is a force to be reckoned with, and what I love about Hammer’s portrayal is that he’s so committed to his scientific advancements that he’s convincingly blind to all the horror and evil he does (as compared to Frankenstein in the novel, who seems to prevaricate about what he’s done the moment he lays eyes on his creation). So far, I’ve only seen The Curse of Frankenstein and Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed, but if you’d like to build a story off of the events in one of the other films or a situation of your own invention, please do.

The Curse of Frankenstein is one of the few instances I’ve seen where a Peter Cushing character gets to be sexy on screen (referring to his dalliance with Justine, where both his arrogance and his desire are delicious.) If you want to put him in a romance or play up his sexuality, go for it. That said, please keep it in character. This includes considering how seriously the Baron is likely to take a relationship with a particular character (he can clearly compartmentalize his fondness for Elizabeth and his lust for Justine in Curse) and whether he’d even be considering lust, romance or violence depending on where he’s at with his work. (In this latter case, I’m referring to that ill-conceived rape scene in Must Be Destroyed, which is not only troubling to watch but made no sense for the Baron or Anna’s characters, and seemed to aggravate everybody involved in acting in or producing said scene.)

Horror of Dracula (1958)

Requested Characters: Dracula, Van Helsing

I love this version of Dracula. Christopher Lee's portrayal of the Count is at once terrifying and sensual, grand and feral. Peter Cushing is his match as the clever, noble, indefatigable Van Helsing. The screenplay puts some interesting twists on the original Dracula story, such as Harker going on a stealth mission to infiltrate Dracula's lair instead of just selling him real estate. I’ve listed both Dracula and Van Helsing as requested characters, but I would be happy with a story focused on one or the other, or involving some of the other characters. Some story possibilities:

Van Helsing hunting Dracula once before and failing, almost meeting his doom.
Van Helsing recruiting Harker to hunt vampires. Is Harker Van Helsing’s first apprentice, or has he had others (and did those precedecessors meet similar grisly fates)? Why does Harker decide to help him, especially given he’s about to settle down with Lucy?
Dracula claiming and initiating his bride. What was their relationship like before Harker’s arrival at Castle Dracula?

I don't necessarily ship Dracula and Van Helsing, but if you want to go that route, feel free.

Prince of Persia Sands of Time - Video Games

Requested Characters: The Prince, Farah

I only play about 8 video games, and three of them are the Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones from the Prince of Persia series. I love the slow-burn romance between Farah and the Prince that begins in Sands of Time and continues in the Two Thrones. That said, if you'd prefer to write about only one of the two, or to bring in other characters (the Dark Prince, the Vizier, Kaileena, etc.), please do. Some ideas:

What kind of life does Farah lead between the events of the Sands of Time and when she encounters the Prince in Babylon?
As she grows up, does Farah suspect the Vizier, her father's adviser, of something treacherous? (I'd be open to a Farah/Vizier ship).
Is there more of the Kakolookiyam world that the Prince and Farah can explore together? What other lore does Farah know about the world and what do they discover?
An extended, intimate scene between Farah and the Prince, either alone in the beautiful ruins of Azad or in Babylon, would be delightful.

Happy writing!

Dear Trick or Treat Creator,

Thanks for participating in the exchange! I hope you're as excited about it as I am. Here’s a bit about me and my requests.

In General

Relationship Interests: I enjoy gen, het, slash, and femslash. Poly is less of a thing for me, but I am open to reading about it if you find it makes for a compelling story. I’m particularly intrigued by romantic possibilities for older characters, sexual extortion, and power dynamics and imbalances (particularly between villains and protagonists).

Gray Areas: I’d prefer not to read stories about infidelity or very explicit rape/non-con. Given my relationship interests, dub-con is okay. I understand this territory is murky, so don’t worry too much about crossing a line. I’m primarily trying to avoid really extreme or violent situations.

Story Characteristics: I’m good with missing scenes and canon divergence, but I like to stay in the world of the story, so I’d prefer the story not be set in a dramatically different AU (coffee shop, high school, etc.). I'm also not into reader inserts or stories written in the second person.

Fandom Specifics

Dracula- Bram Stoker

Characters: Dracula, Bride of Dracula, Van Helsing, Renfield

Requests: Trick or treat, art or fic

Some suggestions for this fandom:

Exploring Dracula’s dark deeds as a vampire before the events of Dracula
Exploring Van Helsing’s past pursuit of Dracula, or the dark/unsavory things he might have done in his quest to rid the world of Dracula
Stories about Dracula acquiring his Brides; about the Brides encountering Renfield or Harker; or about them taking over the castle once Dracula leaves for London
Renfield’s experiences in Castle Dracula before the story begins

Hellboy - All Media Types

Characters: Trevor Bruttenholm, Abe Sapien, Hellboy

Requests: Trick or treat, art or fic

I find Trevor Bruttenholm to be such a compelling character, and would love a story that focuses on him. Though slight and bookish, he is clever and brave, and capable of mercy in the face of great horror. His vampire-hunting exploits in BPRD: 1946 and 1947 are fascinating--especially his encounters with Soviet occult expert Varvara--and I loved his gravel-voiced portrayal by John Hurt in the 2004 Del Toro movie. You could write about some of his experiences raising Hellboy in New Mexico, or hunting monsters of all kinds. I'm also fans of Hellboy and Abe, and would enjoy stories about their relationships with Professor Broom or on adventures of their own. I'm most familiar with the Hellboy comics and animated films (Blood and Iron, Sword of Storms), but would enjoy fic or art based on the Del Toro movies or the BPRD series.

Hellsing

Characters: Integra Hellsing, Alucard, Walter Dornez

Requests: Trick or treat, art or fic

I’d love stories centered on Alucard, Integra, and/or Walter, particularly character or family histories, spooky tales, or romances. My preferred pairing is Alucard/Integra. Walter is one of my favorite characters, and I’d be glad to read him in a pairing with any of the protagonists or with an original character. I’m most familiar with the first Hellsing anime, as opposed to the Hellsing manga, the Hellsing: The Dawn manga, or the Hellsing Ultimate anime. That said, if you would prefer to write or create art for these latter sources, that’s fine by me (though I’d prefer no evil/vampire Walter stories or artwork).

Horror of Dracula

Characters: Dracula, Van Helsing

Requests: Trick or treat, art or fic

This is my favorite cinematic version of Dracula. Christopher Lee's portrayal of the Count is at once terrifying and sensual, grand and feral. Peter Cushing is his match as the clever, noble, indefatigable Van Helsing. Also, the screenplay puts some interesting twists on the classic Dracula story, such as Harker going on a stealth mission to infiltrate Dracula's lair instead of just selling him real estate. I'm sure I'll love anything you'd write for this, but here are some suggestions anyhow:

Van Helsing hunting Dracula once before and failing, almost meeting his doom
Van Helsing bringing Harker into his cabal of vampire hunters

I don't necessarily ship Dracula and Van Helsing, but if you want to go that route, feel free.

Logan Lucky

Characters: Jimmy, Clyde, Mellie, Joe Bang

Requests: Trick or treat, fic

I'd really like a glimpse of Jimmy and Clyde's (and, if you're so inclined, Mellie's) sibling relationship, especially during or after their first robbery attempt. Or, do they have specific childhood encounters with the Logan family curse? Silly moments featuring Joe Bang also welcome. Please no sibling incest.

Star Wars - The Clone Wars - All Media Types

Characters: Ashoka, Anakin, Barriss, Rex, Luminara, Padme, Obi Wan

Requests: Trick, art or fic

I enjoy requesting Star Wars fandoms for this exchange because they offer a whole new universe to explore the meanings of horror, terror, gloom, and dread. The Clone Wars offers great settings to delve into these themes: the shadows of Umbara, the murky depths of Mon Cala, or even the vast emptiness of space. The battles of the Clone Wars leave behind trauma and destruction capable of haunting their survivors. Opposing armies conjure monsters or cyborgs like General Grievous to protect them or fight on their behalf. Please dig into whatever you find scary about The Clone Wars. Any or several of these protagonists can be a guide into these chilling situations.

Happy writing or drawing! I am looking forward to checking out your Halloween treat!

It’s been great fun participating in the Multifandom Drabble Exchange (see also Multifandom Drabble on Dreamwidth) for a second year. I had been really looking forward to it this time around. Maybe it's because the short word count makes the drafting part go quickly, so I can get to the more satisfying tinkering and polishing stage of writing. This was a relief after trying to do some original fiction writing for the first time in a while.

The gifts I received, each of which were delightful, made for a cephalopod bonanza.

1. Kraken's Foundling
Fandom: The Little Mermaid (1989)
By: sweetcarolanne
Tags: Ursula (Disney), The Kraken, Sea Monsters, Witches, Little Mermaid Elements, Lovecraftian, Creepy,
Adoption, Magic, Creepy, Fluff, Drabble, Extra Treat
Summary: A glimpse into Ursula's early life with her adoptive mother...

2. What The...?
Fandom: Octopuses and other Cephalopods (Anthropomorphic), Original Work
By: sweetcarolanne
Tags: Original Characters, Original Non-Human Character(s), Octopi & Squid, Mystery, Attempt at Humor, Based
on a True Story, Drabble, Extra Treat

Summary: Something weird's happening at the local aquarium!

3. Going Viral
Fandom: Octopuses and other Cephalopods (Anthropomorphic), Original Work
By: Isis
Tags: Humor, Internet, Drabble
Summary: The octopus mastermind sees her plans come to fruition.

My own offerings include some pre-Rogue One Baze/Chirrut romance and a childhood scene featuring Thomas and Lucille Sharpe of Crimson Peak.

1. Most Devoted
Fandom: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Tags: Chirrut Îmwe/Baze Malbus, Chirrut Îmwe, Baze Malbus, Pre-Canon, Kyber Crystals, Kyber Temple, Drabble,
Budding Love
Summary: Baze reveals a tender soul in the heart of the Kyber Temple.

2. Learn to Face the Storm
Fandom: Crimson Peak (2015)
Tags: Lucille Sharpe & Thomas Sharpe, Thomas Sharpe, Lucille Sharpe, Pre-Canon, Childhood, Drabble
Summary: Lightning strikes, but Lucille won't let young Thomas escape his fears.

Barbara DeMarco-Barrett’s book Pen on Fire: A Busy Writer’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within is less about writing craft then the previous books in this series, but I was drawn in by the words “busy woman” and “ignite” in the title. I’ve been stressed about getting myself to maintain any kind of writing habit and the prospect of keeping the habit going if/when Mr. Owl and I have kids. My hope was that this book would help me get in gear and give me some reassurance that all won't be lost if I become a parent.

DeMarco-Barrett’s thesis is that by taking advantage of 15-minute scraps of time in your day, you have the power to transform your creative life. In 5-7 page chapters, Pen on Fire covers a lot of different aspects of the writing process: finding time, avoiding obstacles and distractions, coming up with content, craft, navigating the publishing process, and dealing with rejection. DeMarco-Barrett has spent years interviewing writers for the radio program Writers on Writing and so her book includes snippets and suggestions from a lot of different writers, as opposed to just her point of view. The bite-size chapters, each of which ends with a 15-minute writing exercise, made for good bus reading. The downside is that the topics all get a light treatment (especially those on craft), but DeMarco-Barrett includes a decent circa-2004 bibliography.

I would be inclined to seek out Pen on Fire for general encouragement and thoughts and suggestions about how to integrate writing into the rest of my life, including a life with kids.
( Writing life details under the cut... )

There were also some decent nuggets about craft.

( Notes about craft under the cut... )

Dear Drabble Writer,

Thanks for participating in the exchange! I hope you're as excited about it as I am. Here’s a bit about me and my requests.

In General

Other Likes: Gothic tales, noir, intrigue, atmosphere, vampires, ghosts, period settings, spooky monsters, fairy tale motifs, nature (forests, deserts, oceans, shores, and swamps), villains and their motives and psychological characteristics.

( Fandom specifics under the cut )

Happy writing! I am looking forward to reading your drabble(s)!

I wrestled with the second book in this series, Donald Maass’s Writing 21st Century Fiction. Unlike novelist Francine Prose, who wrote the book I covered in the last post, Donald Maass is an NYC-based literary agent who represents authors writing in an assortment of genres, including supernatural fiction and "women's fiction." He’s written a few other books about writing but no novels (to my knowledge). In this book, he discusses the commercial side of writing and the literary fiction/genre fiction dichotomy, sorting books into categories like so much supermarket produce. I lead a pretty insular reading and writing life, which I someday hope to change, so placing my toe in the chillier waters of publishing and sales felt both jarring and necessary. Several pieces of his writing advice also forced me out of my comfort zone, but I am optimistic that I've come away with enough tools to get comfortable in this new territory.

Maass’s main premise is that to produce highly successful fiction in the 21st century, writers must meld the best attributes of genre and literary fiction to create “high-impact” novels and stories. To write such high-impact fiction, writers must be very personal. He writes, “to create a novel’s emotional landscape, you must open yourself to your own...to put authentic emotions on the page, you need to own them...your deepest hurts are a wellspring of passion.” Readers, he insists, are craving emotional transformation, even when it involves intense emotions they initially resist. Big emotions, when they are authentic and unique to a situation, can satisfy that need.

I recognize all of this to be true, but I struggle with the practicality of pulling it off. ( Feelings under here... ) Maybe my lesson here is that I need a more-structured survival strategy when mining my emotions. The thought of developing such a strategy reminds me of Hopper and Joyce entering the Upside Down in Stranger Things—I’ll need some manner of protective suit, breathing apparatus, a tether back to normal life, and something to restore me once I’ve returned to the other side.

His second recurring theme is that when writers make storytelling choices, chances are they’re playing it too safe. He encourages writers to consider how to guide, or manipulate readers to certain emotional experiences, and in offering his explanation, he anticipates their resistance:

“So don’t plan [your novel], manipulate, or do anything else that offends you, but do recognize that your artistic sensibility pulls you away from strong feelings. It pushes you toward what’s subtle, nuanced and delicate, which can be another way of saying what is small, nebulous, and weak….if that’s all you do, the result will be a novel of light impact.”

This tendency manifests itself in characters who languish in inner angst and indecision and description-heavy passages that “try to make a story out of poetry.” (Ouch.) I’m getting better at outlining and narrative structure, but I’m definitely guilty of some of these hesitant practices. I’m rarely confident that I know when I’m being bold and direct without being maudlin or artless. Good thing that for this theme, there's more help: Maass exhorts writers to go bigger and bolder throughout the book, and offers more structured advice on how to get there. For example, he pushes writers to externalize, and then creates a hierarchy of externalizations that writers can use as criteria: visual actions are stronger than internal moments; acting is stronger than reacting; surprise is better than playing out the obvious; changing the situations or characters is stronger than maintaining the status quo. These types of suggestions make for good checklists when it comes time to review chapters or checklists. Maass offers solid technical guidance in other areas as well.

( Some of my favorites... )

He ends each of his chapters with a set of questions that prompt writers to reexamine the choices they’ve made in their manuscripts. The full list of questions and some other bonus materials are available on the Writer’s Digest website. Some of them may be hard to respond to without the material in the book, but others may be useful on their own.

Up next, I’ve chosen a library pick designed to help me with my Grub Street ghost story class: Rick DiMarinis’s The Art and Craft of the Short Story. That said, I’m open to suggestions of what to read next!

A month or so ago, I started a reading project I call "Craft on My Commute" to a) build my skills as a writer and b) encourage/gently guilt myself into writing more often. My plan: to read a craft-of-writing-oriented book on the morning leg of my commute each day. I've got a number of these books sitting crisp and hopeful on my bookshelves and I intend to pluck them off, one-by-one, to dog-ear and devour them.

Today I finished my first book, Francine Prose's Reading Like a Writer. I read one of Prose's novels, Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932, a few years ago, and I remember the prose being vivid and heady, though the details of the plot escape me. Reading Like a Writer discusses exactly what I found memorable about the novel, which is fiction at the atomic level: words, sentences, dialogue, and gesture. Prose emphasizes the importance and delight of close reading for the use of language, as opposed to the political/ideological context in which the work was produced (which seemed to be the focus of most of her literature courses in graduate school).

I appreciated being reminded of the pleasure that can be found in close reading, despite the time it can take. Since starting the book, I've slowed down when reading novels, taking more time to consider the many tiny decisions that have shaped what I'm reading. That refresher alone was worth the read. Also, Reading Like a Writer introduced me to excerpts from a wide range of authors I haven't read, many of whom wrote decades or hundreds of years ago. Prose offers these examples to encourage readers to seek out brilliant writing for inspiration (a complement and counterpoint to criticism of one's own work), but she pragmatically adds that these authors also offer solutions to more mundane problems, such as how to write an effective party scene featuring many characters. While these works can be intimidating, they can also be encouraging. She notes, "Reading can give you the courage to resist all of the pressures that our culture exerts on you to write a certain way, or to follow a prescribed form...Reading can show you how capacious and stretchy fiction is, how much it can accommodate, and how far it has expanded beyond the straight and narrow path from point A to point B (page 258-9)."

( More highlights... )

Naturally, what's missing from this book focused on language and close reading are discussions of the bones of stories: plot, character, and theme. I think I'm decent (not perfect, but decent) when it comes to imagery and prose-styling, but these latter elements intimidate me, and should probably be the ones I face down in my future reading.

Tonight, I've been thumbing through my volumes to pick book number two, which might be Donald Maass's Writing 21st Century Fiction.

If you have any suggestions of craft-of-writing books I should read, I'd love to hear them!

I’m trying to get better at writing alluring taglines and summaries for my fic, and would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

What often catches your eye when you're scrolling through options of fic to read?

Do quotes or excerpts intrigue you, or do they tend to be a turn-off?
What features of your own tag lines have made you particularly proud?
Do you find the techniques that draw your attention vary by fandom?
What plays a bigger role in your decision to click on a piece: the summary or the tags?

Please share your thoughts in the comments!

Dear Trick or Treater:

Thanks for participating in the exchange! A little bit about me:

Relationships: I enjoy gen, het, slash, and femslash. Poly is less of a thing for me, but if it’s fun to write, go for it.

Likes: Gothic tales, May/December relationships, noir, silver foxes, mentor/student relationships, atmosphere, vampires, ghosts, period settings, sexual extortion, power dynamics, nature (forests, deserts, shores and swamps).

Squicky about: cannibalism, bestiality, zombies, gratuitous graphic violence, scat/watersports, underage, body horror. Dub-con is okay; explicit non-con is iffy but not a deal breaker.

I’m good with missing scenes and canon divergence, but I like to stay in the world of the story, so I’m less interested in other types of AUs.

( Fandom Specific Suggestions )

I'm looking forward to reading what you put together!

My entries for the recent Multifandom Drabble Exchange (and treats!)

Awake for mergatrude
Fandoms: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Characters: Cassian Andor, K-2SO (Star Wars)

Additional Tags: Pre-Canon, Drabble

Words: 100
"The rebirth of a droid"

Feast for theprokaryotekid

Fandom: Dracula - Bram Stoker

Relationship: Brides of Dracula/Mina Harker

Characters: Mina Harker, Brides of Dracula, Abraham Van Helsing
Words: 100

"En route to Dracula's castle, Mina is tempted by strangers in the forest."

Our Moment

Fandoms: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel - James Luceno, Star Wars - All Media Types

Relationship: Galen Erso & Orson Krennic

Characters: Orson Krennic, Galen Erso, Jyn Erso, Lyra Erso

Additional Tags: Double Drabble, Drinking, Coruscant, Project Celestial Power
Words: 200
"During a toast, Orson Krennic contemplates his and Galen Erso's rise to greatness."

Stuff on Screens

The Beguiled (Siegel, 1971). In my continued pre-gaming for the Coppola remake, I watched this one. A wounded but lusty Union soldier recuperates in a Southern boarding school full of repressed girls and ladies, and things get out of hand. It’s as lurid as you’d expect a movie made in 1971 to be, but disappointing on a number of counts. The screenwriters promptly trade in the suspense for the sleaze, revealing a major piece of character backstory within the first several minutes. This reveal both neuters said character and eliminates the slow burn unfolding of that information, which made the book interesting to read. I came for the Southern Gothic atmosphere, which takes a distant backseat to softcore sex scenes and gauche visual metaphors. While the book shows both sexes struggling under the confined, upside-down circumstances the war has brought, this movie seems to be more sympathetic to Clint Eastwood’s injured soldier than most of the women, who either want to possess him or castrate him, regardless of their age or backstory.

Still, if you have three minutes, the trailer is hilarious. It’s a solid example of the “so bad it’s awesome” trailer formula: Authoritative Voice Man barks craziness over the most sordid or ‘splodey parts of the movie.

I’m still interested in seeing where Coppola will go in her version. So far I agree with those criticizing her for not including the black house slave character in her adaptation, which is a loss not in only terms of representation but also as a counterpoint to the privileges and restrictions the white women experience. But I’m holding out hope that she’ll bring back the mysterious environment and languid pace, and approach the story from a feminist direction.

Big Trouble in Little China (Carpenter, 1986). So, okay. I didn’t do my homework on this movie. I went on Netflix looking for 80s goofball craziness and landed on this one. At first watch, it makes negative sense. I never figured out who some of the characters were or what motivated them. Exposition is either shouted over gunfire or occasionally blurted out as though the characters were being given Heimlich maneuvers. With its underground booby-trapped labyrinth filled with Claymation and puppet monsters, it looks an awful lot like The Goonies for grownups.

Then there’s the pan-Asian-pop-culture candy coating poured over the whole thing. ( Gonna stumble through my thoughts about this, from a white perspective. )

Life Stuff
Last weekend I was in Geneseo, IL for my cousin-in-law’s wedding. The wedding was enjoyable, the bride lovely, and the events on either side--a firefly lit barn party and a small-town Father's Day parade--were quite fun. The parade was like drinking America from a fire hose: marching bands and tractors and beauty pageant winners and Trump and Jesus. While I had a good time, the heavy dose of religion I encountered throughout the weekend (wedding ceremony + fundamentalist Lutheran community) and the youthful innocence of the bride brought up some complicated, bittersweet thoughts and feelings. I found myself mourning my past as a religious teenager, when life often seemed more straightforward and I had fewer regrets (thought maybe that’s just because I was younger…). But I also reflected on the many reasons--intellectual and spiritual--why I’m not that person anymore.

This week I'm competing in the Grownup Field Games, including work wardrobe shopping and *gulp* dipping my toe into the waters of the metro Boston real estate market by meeting with a realtor. It’s all making me long for simple summers with nothing but my library's summer reading program to worry about. But I had a good time at Sunday's Fannish Brunch, which is a good reminder that you can be random and nerdy and fun no matter what age you are.

Projects
I’m taking a break from Hunchback to write a Rogue One Orson Krennic fic that came to mind in (relatively) whole cloth while reading James Luceno’s Catalyst Star Wars novel. I’m learning that “one does not simply write fic in the Star Wars Universe.” There is lore for fucking everything. For what it's worth, I am now very adept at writing about bug people.

Looking forward to…
July 4th weekend in Acadia National Park. Atomic Blonde (opening July 28). Charlize Theron AND John Goodman AND Toby Jones? Oh, my!

Stuff on Screens

My Cousin Rachel (Michell, 2017). After reading and seeing the 1940 adaptation of du Maurier’s Rebecca, I was excited to see this, especially with Rachel Weisz as the star. An heir to an English country estate flits between infatuation and suspicion after his cousin’s beautiful but mysterious widow comes to live with him. The acting was solid, particularly by Weisz, and the setting, costumes, and cinematography were really beautiful. I did fall prey to being distracted by actors I recognized, which in some cases enhanced my experience (waves at Simon Russell Beale and Holliday Grangier) and in other cases detracted from it (sorry, Iian Glen).

The film made me want to know more about de Maurier’s life experiences and how they might have shaped her ideas about women and power. No woman seems to be safe for long in what I’ve read or seen of her stories. Those with personal charisma become dangerous, but not enough to keep them out of the crosshairs. I found myself a little unsettled watching the film ask the question “did she or didn’t she?” (as opposed to “did he or didn’t he?” in Rebecca), but that kept me thinking about it long after it was over.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Dieterle, 1939): The Disney version borrows heavily from this adaptation, and well it should, because it is AWESOME. ( Lots of fangirling under here )

Stuff on Paper

The Beguiled (Cullinan, 1966). I read this one in anticipation of the movie at the end of the month. A wounded Union soldier is taken in by the students and headmistresses of a girl's boarding school in the Civil War South, but more time they spend in close quarters with each other, the more their lives begin to unravel. The book is chock full of Southern gothic elements, and the prose is rich without being too flowery. I also found the book really useful in terms of how to tell a story from multiple points of view, including how to distinguish narrators when writing in the first person. Still, the book left me with the same question, I had after watching My Cousin Rachel: what drives the way the author approached gender? Cullinan is a man, but he tells the story exclusively from the point of view of the women living in the school; we only hear about the singular male character from their perspective. Several of the characters--male and female--prove capable and/or charismatic, but practically everyone is deeply flawed: vain, prideful, manipulative, jealous, debauched. I’m still mulling over whether Cullinan’s narration choices were purely structural ones to create suspense; if there’s a misogynistic subtext; or if he might was trying to demonstrate that anyone, regardless of sex, can be corrupted.

Projects

A summer cold sidelined my progress this week. I kept waking up to write, but I usually ended up just staring and sniffling at my laptop, and then wandering over to Pinterest. Speaking of Pinterest, you can find me here, where I have a board of findings from my ongoing writing advice scavenger hunt, among other things.

In an attempt to escape the loneliness of my Hunchback fic project, I’ve signed up for the 2017 Multifandom Drabble Exchange. How distracting can one 100-word project be? Let’s find out!

Writing under of the influence of the dreaded ‘Quil. If you ever want nightmares about taking a pop math quiz written entirely in alchemical symbols, try the ‘Quil.

Stuff on Screens

The Boss (Falcone, 2016). I suspect this movie was a lot more fun to act in than it was to watch. Melissa McCarthy plays a ball-busting mogul who gets put in jail for insider training and has to decide what kinds of sacrifices she’s willing to make to get back to the top. McCarthy gets to spar with Peter Dinklage and show off her grade-A physical comedy, but all the characters (even hers) are so thinly drawn and the stakes so low that not even the gags make up for it. Which is a bummer, because I like McCarthy and want her and her husband Ben Falcone to succeed. I hope they at least got some epic backstage shenanigans out of the experience.

Mother, May I Sleep with Danger? (Aitkenhead, 2016). I guess this movie was the right kind of trashy, although its messages were pretty garbled. Lesbian vampires + overbearing moms + date-rapey douchebags + criminally unmonitored college drama departments + James Franco ogling the whole damn thing. Every major plot point of this movie felt like the characters were playing D&D: someone declared an action and then rolled a 2, and then everyone had to play out the worst possible version of that action, be it coming out to a parent or turning someone into a vampire. Still, I would have watched a full length performance of the characters’ Skinemax version of Macbeth with a bottle of cheap Shiraz. And it's always fun to eat snacks and boo at feckless scumbags with the ladies of Fangirl Movie Night.

I have high hopes for the sumptuous-looking My Cousin Rachel, and The Beguiled later this summer. I’ve also been watching Season 1 of The Borgias while putting in eardrops or waiting for cold-and-flu meds to kick in. It has its Game of Thrones pretensions, although with better weather, less dirt, and way more Catholic overtones (each episode is a new round of “how can we abuse this confession booth?”). So far I am enjoying following the members of the dastardly family around and watching Jeremy Irons snarl, growl, and chew scenery as the Pope. And, as a person writing fic set in the 1480s with an elegant, holier-than-thou but fundamentally corrupt villain, the show is a godsend.

Projects

I’ve kept up with writing for a half hour every morning for over 2 weeks now, except for yesterday. Sometimes it's made me late for work; other times I’ve given in and taken a Lyft to work and gritted my teeth at the expense. I’m propelled by a terror that if I stop doing it, even for a day or so, I won’t pick the habit up again. I’m also driven by a [conflicted] rush to finish this story, but that’s a subject for a lengthier post. The words come, or don’t come, in varying degrees each day, but I’ve toughed my way through Chapter 9 of my (sigh) 17-Chapter HoND fan novel. This was one of the more challenging chapters to write; it’s hard to convincingly portray protagonists doing dumb things and making bad choices. I’m trying to celebrate getting through this part of the murky-middle slog and powering my way through to the end.

Movies

For (fic) business:

Gajdo Dilo [“Crazy Stranger”] (1997, Gatlif): I first watched this movie a year or two ago when trying to get my Hunchback of Notre Dame fic off the ground, and have come back to it for another dose of inspiration. A French drifter wanders through Romania searching for a Romani singer and is taken in by a Romani violinist, who shows him the highs and lows of life in his village. This movie is raw at every turn, which makes the sweet stuff [sex, music, weddings, bonding with little kids, hilarious swearing] sweet and the painful stuff [prejudice, death, and violent retaliation] all the more painful. Also, it is loud. Really, really loud. I want to make sure that I make the Romani characters in my fic three-dimensional, and while I worry that I’m still not nailing it, this movie definitely helps.

For pleasure:

Night Creatures [“Captain Clegg”] (1962, Scott): Watched it for the first time in honor of the 104th birthday of my favorite actor, and damn if Peter Cushing didn’t swash all of the buckles in this. An 18th century-booze smuggling ring on the east coast of England operates under the protection of mysterious marsh phantoms and under the watchful eye of the town preacher. When the King’s Navy comes to town to investigate, everyone must bring their A-game to stay one step ahead of Captain Collier and his men.This movie is a ton of fun, and reminded me of the delight and surprise I felt watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, before they ran the premise into the ground. The villagers are savvy, the villains are genuinely threatening, and Cushing is gorgeous as the Reverend Dr. Blyss. Crafty preacher-man with high cheekbones and a “Rogue-streak” in his hair - yum.

Projects

For the past seven days, I’ve gotten up and written for a half hour before I’ve gone to work or otherwise gotten on with my day. I’ve tried to build this habit in the past, but I typically fall out of it after a few weeks. I’m hoping I can stick with it, now that my work schedule is a little less insane than it has been. Putting words down at this hour feels like pulling teeth because I’m still half asleep, but the upside is that my pump is primed to write in fits and spurts throughout the day (such as on the train) or to think of new ideas or ways to solve narrative problems.

Life Stuff

Lots of opportunities for friend bonding this week. I had a tasty tapas dinner with bironic

on Wednesday, which healed me from my harrowing T commute. Friday featured a co-worker happy hour, and I got to see and hopefully cheer up my friend B at Mr. Crepe on Saturday morning.

We now have friends in town from Chicago, and we kicked off our weekend with a matinee performance of Arrabal at the Loeb theater in Harvard Square. It was inspired by Bajofondo, a tango-electronica outfit of which I’m a big fan, and included both a number of their specific songs plus music I suspect was written just for the show. Arrabal intertwined a young woman’s coming-of-age story with tales of the violent reign of Argentine dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, and mixed in the kind of sauciness you’d expect of an performance inspired by the tango. The narrative had its share of gaps and missteps, but these shortcomings were overwhelmed by the incredible dancing and music. The set design was also really cool; the physical set pieces were sparse, but they did a lot with lighting, projected images (particularly photographs of arrested dissidents), and video. If you can put up with a bit of narrative incontinuity, I highly recommend it. It’s playing till the middle of June.

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disgruntledowl

January 2022

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Page Summary

Fascination: My Horror of Dracula Yuletide Story
My Trick or Treat Entry
Trick or Treat Gifts
Craft on My Commute #4 - Finishing School
Dear Yuletide Writer
Dear Trick or Treat Creator
Drabble Time
Craft on My Commute #3 - Pen on Fire
Dear Drabble Writer Letter
Craft on My Commute #2 - Writing 21st Century Fiction
Craft on My Commute #1 - "Reading Like a Writer"
Crowdsourcing Opinions: Tag-lines and Summaries
Trick or Treat Exchange 2017 Letter
Drabbles!
(6/12/17 - 6/24/17) This week (plus) in:
(6/12/17 - 6/20/17) This week (plus) in:
(6/5/17 - 6/11/17) This week in:
(5/22/17 - 5/28/17) This week in:

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