starfishstar (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
starfishstar) wrote2016-02-21 09:47 pm
starfishstar) wrote2016-02-21 09:47 pm
Of Water Horses and What to Write Next
More thoughts about writing...
(Can you tell I only really get a chance to get online on the weekends these days, and have to post all my thoughts all at once then??)
Anyway:
Perhaps surprisingly – given that Harry Potter is one of my favorite things – in my original writing I've never felt particularly drawn to write either fantasy or YA. My writing tends to be quite serious and realistic, looking at questions of life and human connections, and character-focused almost to the exclusion of all else. (Er, much like my fic, yes. And yes, even in my Harry Potter fic I've often had to remind myself to add magic bits in, because I'm so focused on my character explorations, I almost forget to even nod to this whole fantasy setting that was the source of it all!)
When I made a stab at writing a novel a couple years ago, though, I quickly realized that going on about character development for 50,000 words is not actually enough. A novel needs a framework, be that "mystery" or "quest" or "romance" or whatever other type of plot, to form the scaffolding; then the character development can drape elegantly over and around that structure. Or at least that's how I've come to see it.
So I've put my energy into writing fic (yay!) and especially into trying out stories with more plot, stories based around a mystery or action or adventure, where the character stuff is woven in around that, rather than being the sole focus. It's been really fun! I'm learning a lot!
But every now and then I check back in with myself to see whether I have any ideas about what kind of story I might want to tell whenever I do circle back around to writing original stuff, and every time the answer seems to be...uh, nope, sorry, still no ideas.
Which brings us to:
I'm finally reading a book by Maggie Stiefvater. (I say "finally" because her name seems to come up constantly in YA circles, so I decided I really needed to pick a book of hers and get to it!) This one's called "The Scorpio Races" and I'm really digging the world-building. The premise involves "capaill uisce," or water horses, scary mythical beasts of Celtic legend, and the author both draws on the folklore about these creatures and also plunks them down in a quite mundane setting of cars and shops and tourists, and lets you figure out gradually how the particular magic of these creatures works, in this modern-day context.
And I love stuff like that! I've contemplated the idea of a Sherlock/Song of the Sea fusion (i.e., as selkies), and for Holmestice I wrote a fic where Sherlock was a dryad and Mrs Hudson was a griffin (and Lestrade was a very baffled, normal cop trying to figure out what the hell was going on around him) and it was so much fun! Also: I have loved writing the werewolf pack OCs for "Raise Your Lantern High," and researching Celtic/Pagan traditions for them has been one of my favorite things about that story.
So maybe there's something there for me, some potential to play in the fantasy genre by discovering and reimagining something out of this kind of folklore/mythology and turning it into something "original". (As much as any story in our collective storytelling tradition is ever completely new!) I mean, I know I would also still have to come up with an actual plot, and not just "hey, look, it's got this cool mythical creature in it." But it's an idea and a start, and the first thing that's pinged my "ooh, that might be fun to write about!" sense in a while. (Outside of fic, I mean. I have "ooh, I want to write that!" moments about fic constantly.)
(Can you tell I only really get a chance to get online on the weekends these days, and have to post all my thoughts all at once then??)
Anyway:
Perhaps surprisingly – given that Harry Potter is one of my favorite things – in my original writing I've never felt particularly drawn to write either fantasy or YA. My writing tends to be quite serious and realistic, looking at questions of life and human connections, and character-focused almost to the exclusion of all else. (Er, much like my fic, yes. And yes, even in my Harry Potter fic I've often had to remind myself to add magic bits in, because I'm so focused on my character explorations, I almost forget to even nod to this whole fantasy setting that was the source of it all!)
When I made a stab at writing a novel a couple years ago, though, I quickly realized that going on about character development for 50,000 words is not actually enough. A novel needs a framework, be that "mystery" or "quest" or "romance" or whatever other type of plot, to form the scaffolding; then the character development can drape elegantly over and around that structure. Or at least that's how I've come to see it.
So I've put my energy into writing fic (yay!) and especially into trying out stories with more plot, stories based around a mystery or action or adventure, where the character stuff is woven in around that, rather than being the sole focus. It's been really fun! I'm learning a lot!
But every now and then I check back in with myself to see whether I have any ideas about what kind of story I might want to tell whenever I do circle back around to writing original stuff, and every time the answer seems to be...uh, nope, sorry, still no ideas.
Which brings us to:
I'm finally reading a book by Maggie Stiefvater. (I say "finally" because her name seems to come up constantly in YA circles, so I decided I really needed to pick a book of hers and get to it!) This one's called "The Scorpio Races" and I'm really digging the world-building. The premise involves "capaill uisce," or water horses, scary mythical beasts of Celtic legend, and the author both draws on the folklore about these creatures and also plunks them down in a quite mundane setting of cars and shops and tourists, and lets you figure out gradually how the particular magic of these creatures works, in this modern-day context.
And I love stuff like that! I've contemplated the idea of a Sherlock/Song of the Sea fusion (i.e., as selkies), and for Holmestice I wrote a fic where Sherlock was a dryad and Mrs Hudson was a griffin (and Lestrade was a very baffled, normal cop trying to figure out what the hell was going on around him) and it was so much fun! Also: I have loved writing the werewolf pack OCs for "Raise Your Lantern High," and researching Celtic/Pagan traditions for them has been one of my favorite things about that story.
So maybe there's something there for me, some potential to play in the fantasy genre by discovering and reimagining something out of this kind of folklore/mythology and turning it into something "original". (As much as any story in our collective storytelling tradition is ever completely new!) I mean, I know I would also still have to come up with an actual plot, and not just "hey, look, it's got this cool mythical creature in it." But it's an idea and a start, and the first thing that's pinged my "ooh, that might be fun to write about!" sense in a while. (Outside of fic, I mean. I have "ooh, I want to write that!" moments about fic constantly.)
no subject
I love this! That feels very accurate, IMO.
Also, yay about getting on the Maggie train! I really enjoyed Scorpio Races. :D
no subject
no subject
no subject
From what I've read so far of "The Scorpio Races" (only about 1/3 of the way through) Maggie Stiefvater seems to be doing that exactly right – it's certainly character-focused, but it's also got this captivating world-building (the capaill uisce feel genuinely terrifying!) plus a plot to drive things forward - the races, the danger of the races, the characters' need to enter (and win) the races despite the danger. Without that plot framework, no matter how wonderfully well-drawn and interesting the characters, it wouldn't be a very engaging read. Or at least, that's how I've been thinking about it lately.
(Like, in the old days at least, if I'd written this book the characters would have spent 90% of their time discussing their thoughts and feelings over cups of tea, rather than having those same thoughts and feelings while racing terrifying horse-monsters atop deadly cliffs while possibly also having their house repossessed!)
no subject
i've not read scorpio races, but i'll probably check them out at some point. :)
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
Scorpio races has a really interesting premise, but from the summary I gather that there's likely going to be a hetero love story in it, so I'm saving that for sometime later when I'm feeling less hostile towards that sort of thing.
no subject
I agree the premise of the Shiver stories sounded lame to me too (yet another entry in the "paranormal romance" vein which is generally just "thinly veiled romanticization of actual straight-up stalking behaviors, WTF, how is this STILL the standard for "romance"?? I'm looking at you TWILIGHT) but I was willing to give it a try since my impression of Maggie Stiefvater is good so far. But maybe I'll read something else of hers instead!
Scorpio Races is, yes, partly a hetero romance storyline, but I found it refreshingly atypical - very understated but powerful, no manufactured "DOOMED LOVE" obstacles thrown up to create tension, no sickeningly eye-rolling love triangle - just two very fierce, tough people finding a way to survive in a fairly harsh existence, and quietly learning how to lean on each other a little along the way.
no subject
no subject
Erggg, this makes me want to go hole up in a library for a couple months just reading up on mythical/folkloric creatures, and then see what bubbles up spontaneously in response...
no subject
no subject
no subject
Do you happen to have links of the artist residency and the group in Berlin? I do travel a lot, so I might be able to do that some day... I imagine it's not cheap, though? And yes to the self-imposed retreat, I always enjoy writing on planes, too, so I'm sure I will do a lot when travelling next month.
no subject
Though I should further explain that mostly what they do is offer a variety of writing classes (over the course of several weeks), and occasional one or two day workshops or retreats (for example, I see there's a "Berlin writing weekend" coming up in March). They also do cool stuff like an all day event where you first go to an art museum for inspiration, then spend all afternoon writing, and there's also dinner included I think. But I'm not sure if "writer's retreat in a rural location" is something they do often or at all at the moment. They're a great group, though! I'm sad that they started up just around the time that I was leaving; I took one fiction-writing class with them, then I was already moving away.
The place near where I live now (in the US) is more for artists/musicians, and I know you have to apply for it and I don't really know anything about how it works... BUT I can only imagine there are so many things like that! Writer's workshops, retreats, colonies, etc. are all over, at least in the US, though you generally have to pay/apply/get a grant to go. Probably easier just to rent a house by the sea for a week with a couple of writer friends and hold each other accountable for writing every day. Actually, I'd sign up for that!! :-)
no subject
no subject
To which, actually, ditto on the build-your-own writers' retreat... *IF* I do get to come hang around Europe all summer, I could totally imagine doing a rent-a-holiday-cottage-on-the-sea-and-write thing... Right now it's too far in advance for me to actually plan anything for the summer, but it might not be as crazy as it sounds!!
no subject
Berlin, ah, sorry! I don't have any definite plans yet so I could probably adjust my dates? Depends on what else I do in summer, I think I'll be quite busy in July, but not so much August. It would be really fun to meet you! :) I'd definetly be up for it. Same for renting something by the sea and writing, aaah! Yes! Okay, we definetly need to talk when it's a bit closer to summer. I would probably need to know when in May or early June? :)
no subject
no subject
no subject
Enjoy Thailand! I lived there for a year as an exchange student, and it was one of the best years of my life. :-)
no subject
You lived here for a year, I'm jealous! Funny, I was an exchange student to the US! :)
no subject
no subject
Where were you in Thailand?
no subject