meridian_rose

Sep. 6th, 2011

I've been posting snippets of original fiction but until yesterday I hadn't been able to write any fanfic for months - ideas were there, but they refused to be typed out.

Sunday was an okay day until the evening when there was some [minor, though it didn't feel like it at the time] family drama which led to me feeling very upset and going to bed early. I actually slept quite well and woke up feeling pretty good.

First thing Monday morning I checked my email and found the hiatus challenge card for angst-bingo. I pondered all the possible options, and suddenly decided I could work 'electrocution' and 'emails/letters' into the fantasy setting that 'dungeons' suggested, and squeeze in 'unfaithful' without too many problems. I wrote the initial draft in about an hour, edited it, asked for - and got - a beta. The fic was posted, and cross-posted everywhere I could think of.

I was so thrilled by this I signed up for one, and am contemplating signing up another, big bang fest. But part of me wonders if my creativity is linked to conflict, and what that means for me long-term. Some of my most intense fic, original and fannish, has been written or conceived of, during dark times. Some of my favourite works however, have been written during more happier times. It's not something I need all the time, obviously.

So, creative people: your moods and emotions, personal circumstances, dramas or joys; how, if at all, do they affect your creative output?

11 - Are you a realist or a stylist? Do you record every detail, every moment indiscriminately, or do you prune your prose for the sake of style and story focus?

I've struggled with this question because I wasn't sure of the meaning of the terms. Realism seems to be mostly associated with:objective, unbiased perspective; detailed descriptions of everyday life in realistic settings; natural human speech. themes of socioeconomic conflict; urban environments. [ref: http://www.enotes.com/realism] Therefore I'm guessing stylists are the opposite in approach, using fantastical prose to describe extraordinary events in unusual or exotic places.
Since I write for a lot of fantasy and science fiction fandoms, I'm going to say I'm more of a stylist than I am a realist. That said, I'll often ground the fantasy with real life concerns – birth control, bodily functions, remembering to lock the door when leaving a residence; I'll sometimes include these things – or their fantasy/sci-fi equivalents because at the end of the day most characters are [or were, eg vampires] human. I hope I record enough detail to make things interesting and real for the reader without losing focus, but sometimes it takes a beta reader to point out where tighter prose would be an improvement – and of course, where more description would benefit the story.

I'll make an index post when I've completed the meme with links to all my answers; they will all be tagged #how fiction works meme. You can find the full set of questions at