the public face of orig

[lobelia321]

Here's a difference between origfic and fanfic that hadn't really occurred to me in such sharp profile before doing this nanowrimo lark. I can actually tell people about origfic, and even feel quite sort of special about it. I can say 'I'm writing my month-long novel' to t'family. I could not say, certainly not to the boys, that 'I'm writing some porn based on movie actors'. I can even sit in public and full view of t'family and t'reference library and type away into my document, with only the occasional naughty scene. When I wrote 'fuck' the other day in t'ref libe, I followed Chris Baty's advice (I tend to do this) and whited it out with the helpful font color function. I can't do that with fanfic: one look at my computer screen will reveal the words 'Draco' or 'Cristiano Ronaldo' and 'came up his arse', and that is something I want to confine to a select audience, thank you.

So. That's been an interesting side effect of all this orig writing.

By telling people, I don't, btw, mean telling people what the novel is about. I haven't breathed a word about that.

Comments

[giglet.livejournal.com]

Well, yes, origfic is more publically acceptable. But, for me, it's also more lonely. I really miss the support structure available for fanfic (at least in popular fandoms): The comms, the archives, the mailing lists, the chat groups, and the casual betaing.

I suppose that a good writer's group could help, but the only time I've had something even vaguely similar was in group houses shared with English majors, editors, and publishers.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

Interesting about the group aspect. It is the group thing that has lured me from orig these past five years. Or rather, that has made orig seem about as interesting as an aphid. (Actually, I take that back: aphids are pretty interesting!) Now I'm so busy doing this nano thing that I have no time for LJ hardly! So that's weird.

I'm still pondering this. I have no coherent thought on it yet. It's interesting, though. I'd never give up fandom. Doesnt' nanowrimo try to overcome this lack of support by getting thousands of people all to write novels at the same time and get everyone together in writing marathons and so forth?

[giglet.livejournal.com]

Aphids are interesting!

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

I know. How could I dump on the poor aphids like this???

*stabs self*

[sheldrake.livejournal.com]

I have spent all day working on my novel. I have written lots of words! Unfortunately, only one sentences of it was part of the actual novel, and I will probably end up scratching it anyway.

I know everything about my characters except anything that is going to happen to them during the course of this novel.

It is slightly doing my head in.

[lobelia321.livejournal.com]

You are??!! You are also doing it??!!! This is so exciting. Are you nanoing or just noing? I have decided that in this month no word is a bad word. Mister Chris Baty (my guru) says 'don't delete, italicise', and if you can't stand seeing the drivel even in italics, white it out with font color.

I think it's so fabulous that your characters are doing your head in! It is more important, I think, to know lots about your characters than about what will happen. This means that if something does happen to them, you will know how they will react, and that is what is the interesting bit. I've had plenty of stuff happen to some of my characters but because I don't know them well enough (where oh where is CANON when you really need it??!) I'm unsure of how they respond.

Maybe you needn't worry about what will happen to them. They can just be Boring. Which, in my experience, inevitably leads to Plot.

[junalele.livejournal.com]

Well, reading through the comments here - funny how completely reverse some things are... the public acceptance of origfic which is accompanied by creative isolation vs. the public non-acceptance of fanfic (or at least slash) accompanied by the creative support of fandom. It's like the fact that fanfic needed to find itself a niche it also created a tightly-knit support group...