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(no subject)
July 18th, 2005 02:14 pmOkay, I realised what was missing from the last post, and it was my overall reaction to the book. I think in order to understand that, though, you have to understand what OotP was to me.
In retrospect, I was really wound up about OotP. I tried not to have a lot of specific ideas of what to expect, though of course I did, but my one great expectation was that JKR was going to surprise me. There would be a unique and brilliantly creative plot which nobody had predicted. There would be a fabulous and unexpected twist at the ending.
And it didn't happen. It just plain flat-out didn't happen. Instead we got a stupid prophecy, which half the fandom had predicted, saying that Harry and Voldemort were going to have to fight to the death, which the entire fandom, including most of the lunatic fringes, had predicted.
Even finding out what the Order of the Phoenix was -- a secret Voldemort-fighting group established by Dumbledore -- wasn't at all surprising.
Adding injury to insult, she killed one of my two favorite characters.
I can't say I disliked the book. Parts of it were enjoyable. But to this day, I haven't gotten around to reading it more than about three times. Compared to the number of times I've reread the rest of the series, that number is just pathetic.
Part of my reaction was that OotP was the first book that had come out since I'd discovered fandom. I had devoted way more obsessive thought as to what it would be like than to any of the the previous books. I had built it up onto a pedestal from which it could hardly help but fall.
This book, I went into differently. I had my ideas about what would or would not happen, yes, but I wasn't really attached to them at a visceral level. I was really surprised, actually, about how not-worked-up I managed to remain. So I got the book, read it through, but on some level I kept the attitude of, okay, whatever. JK's human, the book will go however it goes, and I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.
( Extremely vague spoilerish material; totally safe to read, but cut just to be on the safe side )
It'll be interesting to see reactions -- my own and others' -- to book seven. I'm a little afraid right now that I may not be able to maintain this nice detachment, but I guess I've got a couple of years to work on it. :g:
In retrospect, I was really wound up about OotP. I tried not to have a lot of specific ideas of what to expect, though of course I did, but my one great expectation was that JKR was going to surprise me. There would be a unique and brilliantly creative plot which nobody had predicted. There would be a fabulous and unexpected twist at the ending.
And it didn't happen. It just plain flat-out didn't happen. Instead we got a stupid prophecy, which half the fandom had predicted, saying that Harry and Voldemort were going to have to fight to the death, which the entire fandom, including most of the lunatic fringes, had predicted.
Even finding out what the Order of the Phoenix was -- a secret Voldemort-fighting group established by Dumbledore -- wasn't at all surprising.
Adding injury to insult, she killed one of my two favorite characters.
I can't say I disliked the book. Parts of it were enjoyable. But to this day, I haven't gotten around to reading it more than about three times. Compared to the number of times I've reread the rest of the series, that number is just pathetic.
Part of my reaction was that OotP was the first book that had come out since I'd discovered fandom. I had devoted way more obsessive thought as to what it would be like than to any of the the previous books. I had built it up onto a pedestal from which it could hardly help but fall.
This book, I went into differently. I had my ideas about what would or would not happen, yes, but I wasn't really attached to them at a visceral level. I was really surprised, actually, about how not-worked-up I managed to remain. So I got the book, read it through, but on some level I kept the attitude of, okay, whatever. JK's human, the book will go however it goes, and I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the ride.
( Extremely vague spoilerish material; totally safe to read, but cut just to be on the safe side )
It'll be interesting to see reactions -- my own and others' -- to book seven. I'm a little afraid right now that I may not be able to maintain this nice detachment, but I guess I've got a couple of years to work on it. :g:
(no subject)
July 18th, 2005 02:21 amOk, as I couldn't sleep, here's a more complete summary of events. First part has no spoilers, but there WILL be major spoilers later, under the cut.
I went to the midnight sale for this book, which has not happened before, but as siblings were flying back home in the morning, they obviously needed a copy of HBP to read on the airplane, so I bravely and generously volunteered to go get a copy for them, and while at it, one for me too. ;D So I got there circa nine-thirty, bought a small book for the waiting in line, and was out around twelve forty-five.
Came home and said to self, Self? The smart thing to do here is to leave the books in the bag, go to sleep, and read in the morning.
Self whined back, But I really really really want to read it! Pleeaase, just a little?
No, self, you know perfectly well 'just a little' will turn into 'the whole thing'!
Yes -- well -- it might not! And I really really want to read it!!
-----
So I read the whole thing. Finished @ eight fifteen, then out the door to take Dad and sibs to airport, where we waited at the curb for my brother to finish the last five pages of a library book he'd checked out on my card here, and then said goodbye and drove home. Had to work from eleven to seven-thirty, but only got, I dunno, twenty minutes sleep before then. Came home, slept twelve hours, went to work again, read internet reactions, exchanged opinions with sibs (who had finished with a couple hours to spare on the flight using the special New HP Book Technique of putting the book flat open between them and holding some pages straight up in the air so that both could read at their own pace) and now am finally getting around to posting my own reactions to the book.
BEYOND THIS POINT THERE BE SPOILERS
( SPOILERS, HEAR? )
I may post more as I think of it, perhaps upon my second reading, but that's it for now. *waves merrily and heads off to bed*
I went to the midnight sale for this book, which has not happened before, but as siblings were flying back home in the morning, they obviously needed a copy of HBP to read on the airplane, so I bravely and generously volunteered to go get a copy for them, and while at it, one for me too. ;D So I got there circa nine-thirty, bought a small book for the waiting in line, and was out around twelve forty-five.
Came home and said to self, Self? The smart thing to do here is to leave the books in the bag, go to sleep, and read in the morning.
Self whined back, But I really really really want to read it! Pleeaase, just a little?
No, self, you know perfectly well 'just a little' will turn into 'the whole thing'!
Yes -- well -- it might not! And I really really want to read it!!
-----
So I read the whole thing. Finished @ eight fifteen, then out the door to take Dad and sibs to airport, where we waited at the curb for my brother to finish the last five pages of a library book he'd checked out on my card here, and then said goodbye and drove home. Had to work from eleven to seven-thirty, but only got, I dunno, twenty minutes sleep before then. Came home, slept twelve hours, went to work again, read internet reactions, exchanged opinions with sibs (who had finished with a couple hours to spare on the flight using the special New HP Book Technique of putting the book flat open between them and holding some pages straight up in the air so that both could read at their own pace) and now am finally getting around to posting my own reactions to the book.
BEYOND THIS POINT THERE BE SPOILERS
( SPOILERS, HEAR? )
I may post more as I think of it, perhaps upon my second reading, but that's it for now. *waves merrily and heads off to bed*
(no subject)
July 12th, 2005 12:38 pmFor anyone who wants to know, I haven't been around fandom much the past few weeks. Family's here to visit, I got a job (!!!), and we just got back from a four-day trip in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (northern Minnesota, lots of small lakes and canoe portages and not much of civilization -- funfunfun!)
So I haven't even read much of my flist. Let me know if you want about all the interesting stuff I missed. My immediate future atm is still a little up in the air, but I'll at least check in. :)
So I haven't even read much of my flist. Let me know if you want about all the interesting stuff I missed. My immediate future atm is still a little up in the air, but I'll at least check in. :)
Well, I have now discovered that my flist will let me go back 450 entries.
. . . Obviously, I haven't been keeping up the past few weeks.
Have been reading lots of actual books, of all things, from the library as well as more TV stuff than normal. The other day I actually had a headache from spending so much time straining my eyes (not as in reading in dim light or in the car, though I have done both lots, so much as just reading for hours, like ten, more or less, reading every day for weeks). Umyes, I am an obsessive reader.
On TV front am finishing off my determination to watch every single episode of Buffy, and will be relieved when it is over next week (2 eps a day, five days a week). Also saw the opener of The 4400, which is a miniseries being turned into a series, and which I would very much like to see more of except that they won't show me more, grrrr (seriously, they say they will Sat in the Weekly TV guide and then not on the daily, and then it's not on, for two weeks now, though they're still showing the Season 2 ads) Library doesn't have DVD, either, which means I either buy it or give up on it. Probably will buy, but GRRR.
Watched Hidalgo (very good), read Honor Harrington series, Wayfarer Redemption series, other random books that looked good, etc.
Strange feeling sneaking up on me that I need to get a life.
. . . Obviously, I haven't been keeping up the past few weeks.
Have been reading lots of actual books, of all things, from the library as well as more TV stuff than normal. The other day I actually had a headache from spending so much time straining my eyes (not as in reading in dim light or in the car, though I have done both lots, so much as just reading for hours, like ten, more or less, reading every day for weeks). Umyes, I am an obsessive reader.
On TV front am finishing off my determination to watch every single episode of Buffy, and will be relieved when it is over next week (2 eps a day, five days a week). Also saw the opener of The 4400, which is a miniseries being turned into a series, and which I would very much like to see more of except that they won't show me more, grrrr (seriously, they say they will Sat in the Weekly TV guide and then not on the daily, and then it's not on, for two weeks now, though they're still showing the Season 2 ads) Library doesn't have DVD, either, which means I either buy it or give up on it. Probably will buy, but GRRR.
Watched Hidalgo (very good), read Honor Harrington series, Wayfarer Redemption series, other random books that looked good, etc.
Strange feeling sneaking up on me that I need to get a life.
OotP has some very useful spells in it. So it bugs me when I see the same old "he picked up his wand and threw locking and silencing spells at the door." Remember when we learned Silencing spells? We cast them on the things making noise and thus no more noise was made.
So unless we are dealing with one of those annoying doors which won't stop making lewd comments and belching loudly, a silencing spell is canonically a pretty pointless thing to throw at it. Most doors already are the silent type.
In canon, when people want to avoid being overheard, they cast an Impenetrable charm, which is presumably also useful in that objects and people cannot get through it, and so the occupants of the room are pretty much assured of privacy.
If this is not good enough, we might also remember Hermione's squelchy door-sealing spell in the DoM. (Colloportus, I think the word is.) And don't forget that handy spell for cleaning up messes, Evanesco. JKR provides us with some very useful spells, the least we can do is to use them.
"Locking and silencing spells" is just plain lazy writing. Pre-OotP it can be forgiven, but now that we know better, shouldn't our writing reflect this? Or is it a habit just too deeply ingrained to change?
Of course, this is the fandom which nine times out of ten willfully ignores the fact that Pepper-Up Potion has the side effect of making steam shoot out of its taker's ears. :/
[/ranty thing]
So unless we are dealing with one of those annoying doors which won't stop making lewd comments and belching loudly, a silencing spell is canonically a pretty pointless thing to throw at it. Most doors already are the silent type.
In canon, when people want to avoid being overheard, they cast an Impenetrable charm, which is presumably also useful in that objects and people cannot get through it, and so the occupants of the room are pretty much assured of privacy.
If this is not good enough, we might also remember Hermione's squelchy door-sealing spell in the DoM. (Colloportus, I think the word is.) And don't forget that handy spell for cleaning up messes, Evanesco. JKR provides us with some very useful spells, the least we can do is to use them.
"Locking and silencing spells" is just plain lazy writing. Pre-OotP it can be forgiven, but now that we know better, shouldn't our writing reflect this? Or is it a habit just too deeply ingrained to change?
Of course, this is the fandom which nine times out of ten willfully ignores the fact that Pepper-Up Potion has the side effect of making steam shoot out of its taker's ears. :/
[/ranty thing]
(no subject)
November 10th, 2004 12:09 am
YOU ARE MOLY
What herb are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Heh . . . I think I like this meme. It's very complimentary. ;P
Oh, nearly forgot . . . gacked from
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
aome(Damn, I need to get better at remembering this sort of thing.)
(no subject)
November 8th, 2004 09:01 pmMary Sueage thingy, huh?
Sadly, nothing in the HP fandom. I did too much reading here, before writing ANYTHING.
But there is this one . . . Okay, I read all the Tarzan books, all twenty-four or whatever-the-count-is, but I never even looked up the Tarzan fandom. This was in my pre-fandom years. I did, however, write this huge seventy-page (the longest continuous piece of writing EVER, for me) story about Tarzan's granddaughter, Tarra. Who was very Mary-Sue-ish, even though she didn't actually interact with canon characters (well, barely) and so could scarcely be accused of twisting them to suit her own self.
She had a supporting cast of a lioness, an ape, and a five-member human family, one of whom would eventually be her love interest. This guy was actually quite wimpy, especially when compared to Tarra, who had lived with her animal friends in the jungle since age four. The whole thing was on some level a protest against Edgar Rice Burroughs's persistently chauvinistic ideas about women, and anything Tarzan could do, Tarra could do better. Mom had the unenviable task of gently telling me that it was sort of unrealistic for my heroine to singlehandedly strangle two lions at the same time.
Sadly, I don't have any of it here, or I would share an excerpt; it's still on my computer at home in Alaska, but I'm in Wisconsin. I didn't foresee any need for it, strangely enough. ;)
Sadly, nothing in the HP fandom. I did too much reading here, before writing ANYTHING.
But there is this one . . . Okay, I read all the Tarzan books, all twenty-four or whatever-the-count-is, but I never even looked up the Tarzan fandom. This was in my pre-fandom years. I did, however, write this huge seventy-page (the longest continuous piece of writing EVER, for me) story about Tarzan's granddaughter, Tarra. Who was very Mary-Sue-ish, even though she didn't actually interact with canon characters (well, barely) and so could scarcely be accused of twisting them to suit her own self.
She had a supporting cast of a lioness, an ape, and a five-member human family, one of whom would eventually be her love interest. This guy was actually quite wimpy, especially when compared to Tarra, who had lived with her animal friends in the jungle since age four. The whole thing was on some level a protest against Edgar Rice Burroughs's persistently chauvinistic ideas about women, and anything Tarzan could do, Tarra could do better. Mom had the unenviable task of gently telling me that it was sort of unrealistic for my heroine to singlehandedly strangle two lions at the same time.
Sadly, I don't have any of it here, or I would share an excerpt; it's still on my computer at home in Alaska, but I'm in Wisconsin. I didn't foresee any need for it, strangely enough. ;)
(no subject)
October 24th, 2004 11:33 pmMeant to mention this at the time, but I posted a drabble on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
trio100 which I think is a good idea for a community and y'all should go join and post something too. Er. Not to be pushy or anything. ;P
Anyhow, here is my hundred-word drabble: In Which There Is Paint.
trio100 which I think is a good idea for a community and y'all should go join and post something too. Er. Not to be pushy or anything. ;PAnyhow, here is my hundred-word drabble: In Which There Is Paint.
Lots of whinging
October 23rd, 2004 02:54 amI have not posted in nearly a month.
I may say that there was the week I spent over thirty hours babysitting (sometimes dealing simultaneously with Puppy -- luckily, Baby's Grandpa was there too).
I may say that I am generally a quiet person and only speak or write when it must all come pouring out.
I may say that the last several days I have been dealing with the Very Painful Ear Infection WAH. Although I dealt with it by reading about five books in three days and getting out of housework, so, not all bad.
But these are meagre excuses and leave much time unaccounted for. Whither has all my time gone? A mystery. And it is three o'clock AM and I have just had to skip 90 to catch up on my friendslist, which is not huge, because of all those real books I was busy reading. Which is still no excuse to be speaking pretentiously, even though the books included Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, and the Silmarillion, and the Dog Who Wouldn't Be. Perhaps even moreso then.
I have also been feeling homesick. I was never ever homesick as a child. I was somewhat baffled by the occasional breakdown of my peers on sleepovers or Girl Scout camping trips. But now, having spent more than six weeks away from home and gotten an infection when my mother is not here to coddle me, now I am homesick. Not in a sudden stabbing pain way but in a slower wistful "I would like to go home sometime soon, vacation's been fun but it's time it was over" way. The problem being that I am not on vacation, really.
I miss our well-trained, calm, smart, and wonderful dog, because even though the Puppy is very cute and all, he is also energetic and into everything and must be watched every second and he does not know not to pull pillows off of chairs or that the word NO means he should not be doing that or dragging my shoes all over or jumping up and nipping me. I have heard a bazillion different things to do to stop nipping and I should probably just pick one and get really serious about it, but in the meantime he is still nipping and it's still early but I sometimes feel like I can't do this.
And I miss our bookshelves. Younger sibs once went around and counted all the books (and magazines, but they were a minority mainly consisting of lots of National Geographics) in our house and there were over three thousand. The two main bookshelves in the loft run along the hallway for, I don't know, eight feet, on each side of the staircase, and there are four shelves each, filled with young adult and adult fiction novels. It was not at all unusual for me to hear about a book in English and come home and hear (or find out for myself) "Oh, we have that." And Mom would eventually pick up my favorite books, too, and then there were the books that I would maybe get around to reading someday . . . and I never realized how much I took it all for granted until now, when I DON'T have that.
Damn. Now it all sounds like a valuable learning and growing experience for me. Which was so not the point. The point was feeling sorry for myself because I want my personal library back.
There are books here, too, but not nearly as many and there is, like, NO FANTASY. I am a fantasy person. I love fantasy. I will read animal stories too, which there are a few of, hence the Dog Who Wouldn't Be, and really pretty much anything if I get desperate enough, but I want fantasy. Grandpa is a sci-fi person, but he gets his fix though devoted patronage of the public library, and Grandma is a non-fiction person, which I do not understand at all.
I need to get to the library.
I need to wrap up this post. There are actually a lot of things in here that I wanted to elaborate on, but . . . it's long enough already. If you're curious, comment and I will happilywhinge chatter some more.
I may say that there was the week I spent over thirty hours babysitting (sometimes dealing simultaneously with Puppy -- luckily, Baby's Grandpa was there too).
I may say that I am generally a quiet person and only speak or write when it must all come pouring out.
I may say that the last several days I have been dealing with the Very Painful Ear Infection WAH. Although I dealt with it by reading about five books in three days and getting out of housework, so, not all bad.
But these are meagre excuses and leave much time unaccounted for. Whither has all my time gone? A mystery. And it is three o'clock AM and I have just had to skip 90 to catch up on my friendslist, which is not huge, because of all those real books I was busy reading. Which is still no excuse to be speaking pretentiously, even though the books included Eats, Shoots, and Leaves, and the Silmarillion, and the Dog Who Wouldn't Be. Perhaps even moreso then.
I have also been feeling homesick. I was never ever homesick as a child. I was somewhat baffled by the occasional breakdown of my peers on sleepovers or Girl Scout camping trips. But now, having spent more than six weeks away from home and gotten an infection when my mother is not here to coddle me, now I am homesick. Not in a sudden stabbing pain way but in a slower wistful "I would like to go home sometime soon, vacation's been fun but it's time it was over" way. The problem being that I am not on vacation, really.
I miss our well-trained, calm, smart, and wonderful dog, because even though the Puppy is very cute and all, he is also energetic and into everything and must be watched every second and he does not know not to pull pillows off of chairs or that the word NO means he should not be doing that or dragging my shoes all over or jumping up and nipping me. I have heard a bazillion different things to do to stop nipping and I should probably just pick one and get really serious about it, but in the meantime he is still nipping and it's still early but I sometimes feel like I can't do this.
And I miss our bookshelves. Younger sibs once went around and counted all the books (and magazines, but they were a minority mainly consisting of lots of National Geographics) in our house and there were over three thousand. The two main bookshelves in the loft run along the hallway for, I don't know, eight feet, on each side of the staircase, and there are four shelves each, filled with young adult and adult fiction novels. It was not at all unusual for me to hear about a book in English and come home and hear (or find out for myself) "Oh, we have that." And Mom would eventually pick up my favorite books, too, and then there were the books that I would maybe get around to reading someday . . . and I never realized how much I took it all for granted until now, when I DON'T have that.
Damn. Now it all sounds like a valuable learning and growing experience for me. Which was so not the point. The point was feeling sorry for myself because I want my personal library back.
There are books here, too, but not nearly as many and there is, like, NO FANTASY. I am a fantasy person. I love fantasy. I will read animal stories too, which there are a few of, hence the Dog Who Wouldn't Be, and really pretty much anything if I get desperate enough, but I want fantasy. Grandpa is a sci-fi person, but he gets his fix though devoted patronage of the public library, and Grandma is a non-fiction person, which I do not understand at all.
I need to get to the library.
I need to wrap up this post. There are actually a lot of things in here that I wanted to elaborate on, but . . . it's long enough already. If you're curious, comment and I will happily
(no subject)
September 16th, 2004 08:36 amTwo days ago, a puppy came to live with us. A six-week-old Viszla that we named Kenai. He is very cute and adorable and time-consuming. Which is why my fandom participation has been less than prolific lately.
Also, there's this online writing course. Which has a looming deadline because I am a huge awful procrastinator. And so I feel too guilty to produce fandom things, because if I am going to be productive, it ought to be on the damn course.
So I have another Trio story in mind, and also have been collecting lots of links for my planned Triofic compendium, but will not do anything about them until the course is out of the way. Which will be in about ten days, for good or ill.
Also, there's this online writing course. Which has a looming deadline because I am a huge awful procrastinator. And so I feel too guilty to produce fandom things, because if I am going to be productive, it ought to be on the damn course.
So I have another Trio story in mind, and also have been collecting lots of links for my planned Triofic compendium, but will not do anything about them until the course is out of the way. Which will be in about ten days, for good or ill.
(no subject)
September 2nd, 2004 08:37 pm
Which flock do you follow?
this quiz was made by alanna
Hee! I can agree with that. I was really wondering as I was taking the test where it was going to put me. Oh: and even if you don't want to take the thing, giggle with me at this option in the Computers question:
"Mine's a Linux. 3meg RAM, 100 gig harddrive, sound and graphics card so advanced they haven't been discovered yet, and I don't have a mouse, I've programmed it to respond to my eyebrow movements."
I've been really busy. Just last night flew from home to Grandparents' house in WI, where I will be spending the year. A little freaky. I've never been away from home for more than, like, six weeks.
I also wrote a smutty triofic, which is twice as long as it used to be and currently at the beta's. *bouncy*
ETA: I forgot to mention two things. One, I gacked the sheep thing from
wolf_cat. Two, my sheep result is made even more perfect for me by the fact that the background is my favorite colour. Wheee!Also in RL news, well, two months ago I got my learner's permit, four years after I was technically allowed to. And then one month ago I started driving, and practiced a lot, and then less than a week ago I got my liscence! So now I can drive! [/boast]
Beta request
August 26th, 2004 05:08 pmOkay, so I've written a triofic! Eeee! It's at 1169 words, and could someone please beta-read? I'll email it to you if you comment on this post.
(no subject)
August 23rd, 2004 04:51 pmThis was something I wrote and posted at ff.n a while ago, only shortly before I discovered the wonder of Menage a Trio, and it's more of a character study than anything else, although I've been told it's very sad. I just now went over it again, and added a bit of between-the-lines trio-shipping, and also a couple of commas. :-)
( Perspective )
( Perspective )
(no subject)
August 22nd, 2004 02:21 amI am somewhat fascinated whenever I notice that an author has a really distinctive voice. The kind where, if you read something of theirs but you don't know it's theirs and the subject material has nothing to do with other things they've written, you can still tell who's writing by the manner in which they're stringing words into sentences.
My attention was first called to this by a middle school English textbook which was going on about how distinctive Gary Paulsen's writing was. And after that I noticed the voice of my all-time favorite author, Robin McKinley. It was totally different from Paulsen's voice, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever that I could actually recognize these voices.
I read something awhile ago about a guy who did meticulous research on the subject, and could identify practically any individual's writing with other pieces of his or her writing. He used the method to attribute a eulogy or something to Shakespeare that had never been recognized before.
But I'm nowhere near that good. I can only get a sense of a voice after reading and rereading a couple novel's worth of writing, and only if the voice is distinctive. In the fandom there's only a few that I know. Cassandra Claire has her own voice, definitely. And also Iniga, although hers is more subtle and harder to catch.
I had never fully realized, I don't think, that JKR had a unique voice too, until I reread a series of short stories that had been on my favorites list but I'd forgotten why. They were Angie Astravic's, which I gave an extended rec of a few days ago here on LJ.
But what I found so fascinating about them was that in some ways she managed to imitate JKR's voice. I'd never seen that before, in all the vast pages of fanfic I'd read, and she did it well. And I know I wasn't the only one who saw it, because a lot of her reviewers noticed the JKR-esque-ness and commented on it.
Anyway, in that rec I didn't elaborate on what I meant by referring to JK's style, and I realized I maybe should have, but more than that, I just wanted to post about my perceptions of voice and see if maybe others had noticed some of the same things, or different things, and wanted to discuss.
Because I have been dying for a good discussion on this topic for ages.
My attention was first called to this by a middle school English textbook which was going on about how distinctive Gary Paulsen's writing was. And after that I noticed the voice of my all-time favorite author, Robin McKinley. It was totally different from Paulsen's voice, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever that I could actually recognize these voices.
I read something awhile ago about a guy who did meticulous research on the subject, and could identify practically any individual's writing with other pieces of his or her writing. He used the method to attribute a eulogy or something to Shakespeare that had never been recognized before.
But I'm nowhere near that good. I can only get a sense of a voice after reading and rereading a couple novel's worth of writing, and only if the voice is distinctive. In the fandom there's only a few that I know. Cassandra Claire has her own voice, definitely. And also Iniga, although hers is more subtle and harder to catch.
I had never fully realized, I don't think, that JKR had a unique voice too, until I reread a series of short stories that had been on my favorites list but I'd forgotten why. They were Angie Astravic's, which I gave an extended rec of a few days ago here on LJ.
But what I found so fascinating about them was that in some ways she managed to imitate JKR's voice. I'd never seen that before, in all the vast pages of fanfic I'd read, and she did it well. And I know I wasn't the only one who saw it, because a lot of her reviewers noticed the JKR-esque-ness and commented on it.
Anyway, in that rec I didn't elaborate on what I meant by referring to JK's style, and I realized I maybe should have, but more than that, I just wanted to post about my perceptions of voice and see if maybe others had noticed some of the same things, or different things, and wanted to discuss.
Because I have been dying for a good discussion on this topic for ages.
writing quirks
August 18th, 2004 06:05 pmWhat is my greatest strength, mechanics-wise, in writing? I always know which homonym I mean and write it correctly.
What is my greatest weakness, mechanics-wise, in writing? I don't do paragraphing. I almost always have to go back through and divide my big blocky chunks of text into manageable pieces.
What is my preferred way to assure writing privacy? I learned the greek alphabet some years ago, and can write it longhand or interpret the computer font. Thus no one can read over my shoulder. :P
More recently I have been learning Tolkien's tengwar script, but I need to practice more in order to read it with any speed. Also downloaded tengwar computer font, but cannot yet figure out how to get it usable. Sigh.
What is my greatest weakness, mechanics-wise, in writing? I don't do paragraphing. I almost always have to go back through and divide my big blocky chunks of text into manageable pieces.
What is my preferred way to assure writing privacy? I learned the greek alphabet some years ago, and can write it longhand or interpret the computer font. Thus no one can read over my shoulder. :P
More recently I have been learning Tolkien's tengwar script, but I need to practice more in order to read it with any speed. Also downloaded tengwar computer font, but cannot yet figure out how to get it usable. Sigh.
(no subject)
August 18th, 2004 01:23 pmJust wondering . . . has anyone done an essay or research or anything on how the Gred'n'Forge thing got so inflated in fanon?
I was reflecting once more on how, in canon, it is a very specific one-time joke, but now about half of the stories featuring Fred and George seem to assume that these are regular nicknames. WTF?
I have about five things I should be writing, and yet I cannot sit myself down to write. *sigh* I suppose things could always be worse.
I was reflecting once more on how, in canon, it is a very specific one-time joke, but now about half of the stories featuring Fred and George seem to assume that these are regular nicknames. WTF?
I have about five things I should be writing, and yet I cannot sit myself down to write. *sigh* I suppose things could always be worse.
