(no subject)

[rispacooper]

So...you ever have someone in a comment or in feedback on a story point out something about your story (or you) that you had never really thought about before?

It's a little...unnerving for the first second or so.

I know art imitates life or however you'd like to phrase it. But still...when I'm writing it, it's fiction to me. I'm imagining *whoever* in a situation and how they'd react. Someone who *is not me*. Except it is me, I know that on some level, but at the time, that's not important. So when I get comments about how well I capture obsession or just perfectly depicting the frustration of being inappropriately attracted to someone or a remark that the story was tense and real when to me it was just a cute moment between two made-up people...

It kind of snaps me out of my little fanfic daydream. And I go...oh! And am forced to kind of smile awkwardly and think about my life for a minute.

But that's probably only true for us repress and deny types, right?

I am such a dumbass sometimes.

Comments

[paraxdisepink.livejournal.com]

Hmm I think it's just that when we write a character and their responses to something, all of us really only have our own logic to go by. Some people though can't write repressed characters at all. They write them in these completely exaggerated charicature-like ways. Sometimes though, you work with a character who makes you realize how much like them you are, and it's disconcerting. You are good at obssessions though, which isn't a bad thing, and you do have a thing for secret attractions . . .

Now I wonder what weird thing I consistantly write well so that I can feel weird about myself . . . heh

[rispacooper.livejournal.com]

you know i think it's more noticeable in fanfic, because its more clearly your version of someone, your angle on everything. but in original fiction the reader will ignore stuff as just being part of the character...

unless you write a lot of books, and there's an obvious pattern
:P

[paraxdisepink.livejournal.com]

Like RJ who continually talks about spankings . . .

Yeah, with its like, people are sitting there going "The basis for that totally wasn't on my DVDs . . ."

[rispacooper.livejournal.com]

omg like the ateam people with the face/hannibal ICK


they are reading daddy issues into it that shoudl not be there

[utterfrivolity.livejournal.com]

Ack! I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I'm completely aware that my reading of a story says far more about me than it does about the author, but I guess I'm not in the habit of using qualifiers like "To me" or "I feel". Perhaps writing on lit and film has made me too quick to impute motivations to authors/directors when I'm really just expressing my interpretation. What I mean to say is more along the lines of, "You're a great writer, and this story allows me to experience the characters/relationship in X way that I really enjoy."

I suppose I should think before I comment, huh? I don't, really; I've always just kinda gone with whatever was on my mind after reading. But I could stand to take a step back and consider what I'm saying.

[rispacooper.livejournal.com]

oh no no. first, because it wasn't all what you said. and second you were probably right.

see when i'm writing i guess i use it as escapism, so as i'm writing, even when it's personal, it's still distant, if that makes sense.

then usually once its done i'll notice things, or a reader will notice things.

i'm explaining badly. anyway, don't worry about it. an unexamined life is not worth living. :)

go on and just say whatever a story made you feel or think of. even if it honestly wasn't the artists intention, it's still interesting.

[utterfrivolity.livejournal.com]

What you're saying makes sense, and I'm glad to know that I didn't offend you with my comments.

It's also really interesting to me that you can distance yourself from what you're writing. I don't write fiction, and recently I've been surprised by a couple conversations with writers about what comes naturally to them. One author whom I particularly adore claims that she can't read a story and pick out lapses in tone and pacing, which boggles my mind because, well, she creates such perfect tone and pacing, how can she not think that way? It's fascinating to learn a bit about how different writers work.