fic tone

[lobelia321]

It occurred to me today that when I write a fic there is a sense that the fic has a particular *place*. There is a tone that is unique to it, and if I can only catch that tone, if I can only inhabit that place, the fic will be all right. It's more than word choice -- in a way, if I have found the story's place, it can govern the word choice. It's more than characterisation and pairing. It does have to do, for me, with setting and dynamics between the characters. But it's even more than that, it's quite gut deep-down. It's like striking the right chord on a musical instrument. Sometimes I try to psyche myself into it by listening to particular bits of music over and over, because music can serve to shut out rational planning and get at the intuitive muse or whatever to call it. But psyching doesn't always work. Sometimes it just comes with the flow of words: I look back at a paragraph or section and think, *that*, that just there is *it*.

It's a tone, a mood, a voice, a place. I can recreate it without being at the computer or with my notebook; I can sort of withdraw and settle into the fic-tone. And they are all quite different: Boring!Orli, for example, requires a completely different set of mind from Desert Prince, although both have Orlando and both are a series. They almost have different colours and shapes in my brain. They ask for different words and moods.

Some of my stories don't have a special tone or place. They were written in a hurry, as improvs, or they fell apart and never got posted. They remain on the surface.

Comments

yes...

[pippinspeach.livejournal.com]

absolutely. And if I can't get there, it doesn't work.

Re: yes...

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Yes. Or it's sort of wooden or clunky or on the surface. Difficult to pinpoint.

[brightest-blue.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, absolutely. My worst instances of writer's block happen when I can't get to that place. I can sometimes use music to get there, or I re-read prior parts that I felt worked particularly well.

It makes sense to me though, because reading boring!Orli or Desert Prince!Orli create very different "places" for me as a reader, that it would be similar for the writer.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

My worst instances of writer's block happen when I can't get to that place.
Yes! And sometimes you think you'll never be able to go back!

or I re-read prior parts that I felt worked particularly well.

Yes, I do that.

And thank you for saying that about the reader -- that is very interesting. I suppose it's true for me as reader as well but perhaps less vital, because without the tone I cannot create the story (or allow the story to create itself) while as a reader the enjoyment lies in immersing myself in something that is already out there, can't be changed, *is*.

[freyafloyd.livejournal.com]

Yes, there is a tone. Even if a new character comes into a fic, they instantly have the same tone as the other characters. So, for example, Fota Orli can only bring along a Sean Bean that has the Fota tone. I keep thinking about this muse/muse challenge, but I don't know if I could write two Orlis that already exist in my fic, because the tones would clash. I'd have to have a pre existing Orli and a new Orli.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

muse/muse seems very weird to me, and outlandish, and only doable in crack!fic. And yes, it's very interesting what you say about new characters having to bend themselves to the existing tone. That is absolutely true. In a sense, that makes every character anew for every fic - no matter that it's Bean or some other previously "written" person.

[giglet.livejournal.com]

No, not quite, but maybe I've got something analogous to that. When I'm nearly finished with a story (whether it's a multi-chapter or a drabble), sometimes a lightbulb will go off in my head: "Oh! That's what I was trying to say!" -- and then finishing up the story and taking away anything that doesn't belong becomes so much easier. I never get to that point with some stories and I'm never quite satisfied with them afterwards.

The thing that's similar to your "place" is when my epiphany happens early in the writing, and I spend the rest of the session knowing exactly what I'm trying to build (instead of muddling around).

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

That is very interesting. The epiphany and what I'm trying to say sound very similar experiences, the sort of "clicking" that is the satisfaction of having somehow got it "right". I suppose with me it comes (often) less as a one-off aha moment and more as a continuous mood. And sometimes that mood can be an effort to sustain, and sometimes it's a pleasure to fall into it. But I absolutely know that feeling of looking back and realising, oh *that* what's this been all about.

[viva-gloria.livejournal.com]

Yes, absolutely -- though for me it's not so much 'place' as .. well, I'd use the term 'soundtrack', which here is a placeholder for an emotional tone as well as a place (or type of place) that may be extremely specific. When I have hold of tone and mood and music (not necessarily an actual piece of music, but the sort of music that would be a suitable soundtrack for a fic) then I can write extremely fast and generally stay within the initial constraints of the fic-as-I-began-it. When I don't have those starting points, I tend to start in a random place and meander around for a while before I get to somewhere consistent.

My metaphors aren't blending nicely tonight, I'm afraid!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's interesting how what I'm trying to get at may have different shapes for different people, so that for you it's less of a place and more of something else. I guess it comes down to a similar thing, though, a sort of mood, tone, sense of something.

[cupiscent.livejournal.com]

Yes, absolutely. I know what you're talking about. I'd describe it as a feel, maybe a texture, but it's not as surface as that. It permeates. It's the aura (eurgh, hate that word) of the story I'm trying to tell. It's the atmosphere. The essence? That which is intrinsic. And it governs everything. Character and pacing and plotting and scene shifts and language and rhythm and even punctuation. ("No, Evans, you can't use a semi-colon there, this isn't a semi-colon story.")

In some stories, it goes deeper that others. Some stories can be easily knocked off because the whole thing is quite superficial, the story told on the surface, the tone is easy. But others get very deep, and it's like wading through surf. (Difficult, but enjoyable and giving that warm burn glow.)

The same 'story' (or maybe 'narrative' is a better term) written in two different tones renders two completely different end products. It's one of the brightest joys of writing, I feel.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Evans? Who's Evans? Is that *your* surname, oh cupiscent one? Are you Welsh??

>>In some stories, it goes deeper that others. Some stories can be easily knocked off because the whole thing is quite superficial, the story told on the surface,

Oh yes! That resonates absolutely! *wallows in agreement*

>>The same 'story' (or maybe 'narrative' is a better term) written in two different tones renders two completely different end products.
Yes! Yes! What more to reply? Just yes.

Evans

[cupiscent.livejournal.com]

Slightly guilty as charged. I'm Australian. But my Dad's name is David Evans... as he says, you don't get much Welsher than that without being born down a coalmine. (Welsh at heart though, I guess. A lot of singing happens in our house, and Rugby isn't a sport, it's a religion.)

And yes, I do frequently berate myself in the third person using surname.

Re: Evans

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know you're Australian, dear, but Welsh way back type of thing. Heh. I'm married to one, remember, and I know the generation game, *g*.

Now I will know what name to use if ever I want to berate you.