So, I finally finished my draft and sent it off to edity-peoples. I've thought of one or two changes since then, but overall, I'm satisfied that the story is now better than before.
It took way longer than I thought it would, mainly because of two reasons: one is competitive LoL with some e-friends, and the other is two months of sickness with something we still haven't quite figured out. I should know soon, though.
*runs off to do summer assignments*
-
Random thought, but it's somewhat annoying to me when someone reads or writes a slash story and feels the need to defend himself by claiming, "I'm not gay!"
Maybe this is important to some people, but I don't really care so much about anyone's sexuality. I don't preface my slash stories by saying "I am gay and think this pairing is hot; only gay people can really appreciate it.". (Nor do I preface my het Foxtal dabbling by saying that I don't like the pairing--and that would be true.)
I mean, it's always flattering to hear that a reader who normally dislikes slash likes my stories. But when a reader or writer seems annoyed or overly-defensive about it, it's a bit annoying.
7/2/11
More revisions
I've been silent lately, but I've been whittling away at my stories, both original and fanfictiony.
The editing on "Six" is starting to come together. Revisions on the first three chapters are now mostly completed, and they were the chapters that were giving me the most issues. I've still got quite a bit to do, but I belive the most intensive chunk of editing has passed.
(Also, I graduated high school. Cool. More on this may follow.)
The editing on "Six" is starting to come together. Revisions on the first three chapters are now mostly completed, and they were the chapters that were giving me the most issues. I've still got quite a bit to do, but I belive the most intensive chunk of editing has passed.
(Also, I graduated high school. Cool. More on this may follow.)
3/19/11
News, plus stories?
Over the past few days I've been trying to warm myself back up into writing/editing "Six," so I can finally start tackling the task of editing or writing it again. I anticipate that I will probably have made some progress by the end of next week, so maybe all the "Six" fans out there won't have to steal my soul.
There's another thing on my mind, too. Writing original stories has become such a part of my routine that I can probably say that I spend more time with originals than fan fiction now, with exception of maybe a few periods a couple months ago when I was doing serious revisions for "Six" almost daily. I still have lots of old, unfinished, unedited stories out there that I started and left open for me to finish later in the world of fan fiction. This includes expected novel-length works like "The Ambassador," which I eventually put aside because I couldn't think of any advantages of working my butt off for fan fiction when I could write original stuff instead.
So, my question to you guys is: would you like to see these stories released? A while, I was thinking about posting a story on FFN that was nothing but a collection of story fragments, things that I'd never completely developed enough to be stand-alone stories.
Lemme know what you think.
There's another thing on my mind, too. Writing original stories has become such a part of my routine that I can probably say that I spend more time with originals than fan fiction now, with exception of maybe a few periods a couple months ago when I was doing serious revisions for "Six" almost daily. I still have lots of old, unfinished, unedited stories out there that I started and left open for me to finish later in the world of fan fiction. This includes expected novel-length works like "The Ambassador," which I eventually put aside because I couldn't think of any advantages of working my butt off for fan fiction when I could write original stuff instead.
So, my question to you guys is: would you like to see these stories released? A while, I was thinking about posting a story on FFN that was nothing but a collection of story fragments, things that I'd never completely developed enough to be stand-alone stories.
Lemme know what you think.
3/9/11
Hey look, a post!
It's been a while since we've seen signs of life in this place, but I assure you that I am still alive, though school is making it difficult to focus on much of anything.
In the upcoming week or so, I might have time to write and edit, so we'll see how that goes. I doubt I'll be able to accomplish enough to release new material, but it is possible that I could post more writing advice and whatnot on the blog, if there's anything interest. We'll see.
In the upcoming week or so, I might have time to write and edit, so we'll see how that goes. I doubt I'll be able to accomplish enough to release new material, but it is possible that I could post more writing advice and whatnot on the blog, if there's anything interest. We'll see.
1/10/11
More revisions
As of today, I've finished drafting revisions for chapter two of "Six to Bereavement." It's added around 1000 words, so the total that I've added so far comes to at least 3000.
It looks like the number is slacking off the farther I go. Let's hope I don't end up changing the later chapters too much!
It looks like the number is slacking off the farther I go. Let's hope I don't end up changing the later chapters too much!
1/9/11
"Six" revisions (and music)!
So, a little bit of news for "Six:"
Over the past few days, I've been going back and revising "Six," starting with the beginning. Basically, I'm tired of having to deal with a beginning that doesn't sufficiently set up for the rest of the story (at the time of posting the beginning I was thinking that the fic might reach a max of 15,000 words and three days).
It's been fun doing this, as I get to see the kinds of choices I made in the beginning again, and how they fit the original intention, but not my current one. I'm sure most of my revisions will be made on only the first few chapters, so I don't think the later parts of the story will be affected too much.
In other news, I've composed a small orchestral symphony for "Six to Bereavement." I'll be posting it with the next chapter. (Expect the next chapter to be relatively short, as I have a lot of authors-notey things to say when I release it.)
(These things are my ways of saying, "I meant to release the next chapter on Christmas, but I got distracted and decided to do other things instead.")
ETA: I posted part of a draft of the first chapter's revisions up on jaslazulstories.blogspot.com.
Over the past few days, I've been going back and revising "Six," starting with the beginning. Basically, I'm tired of having to deal with a beginning that doesn't sufficiently set up for the rest of the story (at the time of posting the beginning I was thinking that the fic might reach a max of 15,000 words and three days).
It's been fun doing this, as I get to see the kinds of choices I made in the beginning again, and how they fit the original intention, but not my current one. I'm sure most of my revisions will be made on only the first few chapters, so I don't think the later parts of the story will be affected too much.
In other news, I've composed a small orchestral symphony for "Six to Bereavement." I'll be posting it with the next chapter. (Expect the next chapter to be relatively short, as I have a lot of authors-notey things to say when I release it.)
(These things are my ways of saying, "I meant to release the next chapter on Christmas, but I got distracted and decided to do other things instead.")
ETA: I posted part of a draft of the first chapter's revisions up on jaslazulstories.blogspot.com.
12/24/10
Six to Bereavement FAQ
Q. What's with the wonky update schedule?
A. At school, I usually have classes until six, with a few small breaks crammed in for homework and practice. Afterwards, I have individual practice time (I play in about four ensembles and I have private lessons), a few chamber music rehearsals per week, club meetings (also I'm crazy and am trying to start another club), homework, etc. It's a rarity that I go to bed before midnight.
Oh. And I have a roommate and there are crazy vocalists who like to stalk me. I can't write with people watching me, plus I don't like explaining why I'm writing gay furry fan fiction (still trying to figure that out myself).
Q. Will there ever be sex?
Maybe. Will it be explicit? No.
I think explicit sex can play an important role in a story, depending on how realistic you're trying to be, or what kind of message you're trying to convey. But any good I'd gain from it would be negated for these reasons:
1. Explicit sex is illegal on FFN, and I don't like having my stories taken down. If I tried to Break The Law by putting it up anyway, I'd have to at least put the fic as M, and then it's off the front page and nobody sees it.
2. Most of my readers are underage, and some of them probably aren't old enough to be reading even a T-rated fic. My view is that sex does not equal porn and rating systems result in a lot of unnecessary censorship, but my view is neither the law nor the common belief here on FFN. Plus, the last thing I want is having someone whose profile says they're thirteen telling me my story is hot.
3. On FFN sex is too big of a deal, probably because the majority of people who write it write porn. Instead of a story with sexual content being a story, it's called a lemon. I write stories, not lemons. (Consequently, if I were to write sex, it would not be porn, which I think is what a lot of people would want anyway.)
Q. I found a plot hole! Will you give me a nickel?
No. Chances are that I've already found it myself, or that you're overlooking something that makes a plot hole less holey. Chances are more likely that the plot hole isn't really a hole, but it's contingent upon something that's implied and not directly stated. If I wrote a story where everything was completely explained and justified, it would be a history textbook.
If it really is a plot hole, tell me about it. But note that my job isn't to completely fill all of the gaps; it's to fill enough of them so that the readers can fill in the rest. That sounds a bit crude, and people will probably accuse me of being lazy, but it's true. If I have to add a paragraph that will confuse 200 readers and clarify a hole to one, I will choose to omit the paragraph and have that information be implied instead.
Q. I found a typo! Will you give me a nickel?
No. But tell me where it is so I can fix it. I edit my stories extensively, but I have no editor or beta-reader, and trying to catch all of my own typos is impossible. It's not that I don't try to find them; it's that when I do, I just read straight through them and never notice.
A. At school, I usually have classes until six, with a few small breaks crammed in for homework and practice. Afterwards, I have individual practice time (I play in about four ensembles and I have private lessons), a few chamber music rehearsals per week, club meetings (also I'm crazy and am trying to start another club), homework, etc. It's a rarity that I go to bed before midnight.
Oh. And I have a roommate and there are crazy vocalists who like to stalk me. I can't write with people watching me, plus I don't like explaining why I'm writing gay furry fan fiction (still trying to figure that out myself).
Q. Will there ever be sex?
Maybe. Will it be explicit? No.
I think explicit sex can play an important role in a story, depending on how realistic you're trying to be, or what kind of message you're trying to convey. But any good I'd gain from it would be negated for these reasons:
1. Explicit sex is illegal on FFN, and I don't like having my stories taken down. If I tried to Break The Law by putting it up anyway, I'd have to at least put the fic as M, and then it's off the front page and nobody sees it.
2. Most of my readers are underage, and some of them probably aren't old enough to be reading even a T-rated fic. My view is that sex does not equal porn and rating systems result in a lot of unnecessary censorship, but my view is neither the law nor the common belief here on FFN. Plus, the last thing I want is having someone whose profile says they're thirteen telling me my story is hot.
3. On FFN sex is too big of a deal, probably because the majority of people who write it write porn. Instead of a story with sexual content being a story, it's called a lemon. I write stories, not lemons. (Consequently, if I were to write sex, it would not be porn, which I think is what a lot of people would want anyway.)
Q. I found a plot hole! Will you give me a nickel?
No. Chances are that I've already found it myself, or that you're overlooking something that makes a plot hole less holey. Chances are more likely that the plot hole isn't really a hole, but it's contingent upon something that's implied and not directly stated. If I wrote a story where everything was completely explained and justified, it would be a history textbook.
If it really is a plot hole, tell me about it. But note that my job isn't to completely fill all of the gaps; it's to fill enough of them so that the readers can fill in the rest. That sounds a bit crude, and people will probably accuse me of being lazy, but it's true. If I have to add a paragraph that will confuse 200 readers and clarify a hole to one, I will choose to omit the paragraph and have that information be implied instead.
Q. I found a typo! Will you give me a nickel?
No. But tell me where it is so I can fix it. I edit my stories extensively, but I have no editor or beta-reader, and trying to catch all of my own typos is impossible. It's not that I don't try to find them; it's that when I do, I just read straight through them and never notice.
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