Early Morning Update -- Yes, 8:00 is early
Nov. 6th, 2003 08:00 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lierdumoaI see it's time for another early morning update. I found another fic to squee over.
Title: Flame and Shadow
Author: Maya
Pairing: Ron/Pansy -- yes, it's het
Summary: Just a love story. Sometimes love's ugly when it's perfect. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, but then again, it really, really does. And maybe, just maybe, Hermione's not right for Ron after all.
After reading this, I find myself unable to imagine Ron with Hermione without thinking *wrong, wrong, wrong!* I wonder how this will affect my long abandoned Harry/Draco fic when I start writing for it again. Hmmm....
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daylight_shadow, I know Ron doesn't get you hot, but you should read this anyway, because it's not always about the thinly veiled homoeroticism.
So lately I've been thinking about writing lemons -- well, lets face it, I think about writing lemons a lot. I mean, they are my favorite thing to write. See, I was re-reading some ofdahlia_777's fics. For those of you who aren't familiar with her work, she's been writing a very long Harry/Draco series with a very engaging plotline, good characterization, and did I mention the sex. Oooooh yes -- the sex. There's sex in every chapter. There's *loads* of sex and it's all so *good* and there's love and romance and yet it isn't shmoopy at all. I discovered this fic about a year and a half ago, I think, and fell in love with it then, and I'm still in love with it now.
It's interesting, though, going back and reading the lemons. I think I'm a bit more critical now then I was when I first read them. I suppose after a few re-reads you stop looking at a lemon thinking "OMG it is, liek, teh HOT!!!!!!11!!!" and start noticing the literary aspects of it. Or maybe it's only after writing a good many lemons myself that I've started noticing these things (though thankfully I usually don't notice these things the first read through, or I'd be unable to enjoy lemons at all). Here is an author who has managed to maintain variety and make each of her lemons unique and memorable, despite having written at least one and and up to, oh, three per chapter of a 27 chapter saga.
Some of it is, of course, inspiration. Sometimes you just get a really good idea and it works. Sometimes you don't get a really good idea but plotwise, your story calls for a lemon and you have to deliver. For example, my Harry/Draco fic, which I haven't updated in forever, has a good deal of the plot tied up in sex. So much so, in fact, that it would be impossible for me to write an R rated version. Of course, that fic was originally intended to be a ficlet -- a standalone PWP[1] -- so it's easy to see how any plot that developed out of that original chapter would have serious ties to sex. A lot of the sex came as inspiration. Some of it came out of brainstorming and hours of experimentation (with syntax, I mean).
Now comes the problem with repition -- and isn't it ironic that I've discussed this particular difficulty before? This time, though, I'm not going to talk about the problem of repeating metaphors. This time, its about the kind of sex that's easy to write, versus the kind of sex that challenges me. For instance, there's rarely much dialogue in my sex scenes. In fact, I've written one sex scene where the guys were actually bespelled not to talk, screaming themselves hoarse yet not making a sound. I've been pondering the possibility of writing an all-dialogue sex scene, just to challenge myself, because most of my lemons tend to have virtually no dialogue. I wonder, could I write an all-dialogue lemon? Could I write a hot all-dialogue lemon?
Another thing -- my hand fetish. I like hands. I like to describe them. On one occasion I started waxing poetic about hands and one of my betas told me that it kind of interrupted the mood I was trying to create. I refused to remove the scene because I was just too emotionally attatched to it.
I mean, I really like hands.
Some times, I just have to suck it up and talk about something else. Because lets face it, ideas get old.
So why am I pondering all this? Well, you see, I recently got feedback for Bitter Water fromchoklid. Bitter Water is actually the first fanfic she's read (aside from the PWP she helped edit as a favor to her sister, and let's face it, if your sister wrote it, it just isn't as hot as it could be). The gist of her review was "damn you for getting me all hooked on the manporn." I found this strangely amusing, considering that Bitter Water only has one sex scene (I know the way I agonized over it made it seem like there were more). It's strange, though. Before that, the story was all characterization and plot. And I mean a lot of characterization. Crazy characterization. I decided that Severus was to be half dementor, and I've had to somehow reconcile that with his behaviour in canon. This shit is hardcore, yo.
Where was I? Oh yeah. So, it's funny. I write all this plot and all this characterization and it's nice, you know, to hear people say "What an interesting idea!" or "I would never have imagined Severus like this, but somehow you make it work." But the instant -- the instant I write a lemon that's even halfway descent the only kind of feedback I get is "Good GOD woman, that was HOT."
Okay, I know, I know -- I shouldn't be complaining right? Good feedback is good feedback. I know I'm good at writing lemons. I know it's because I work really hard at being good at writing lemons. I know some of it is talent for writing lemons. The thing is, I have far less talent for characterization, and I work a hell of a lot harder on characterization and plot than I do on lemons. My lemons? Aren't usually meant to be read as stand-alones. In fact, most of them can't be read as standalones -- not without all the plot and characterization to back them up. So I appreciate when sometimes people comment on something other than the sex. Cause half the time, even when it's in the middle of the sex, it's not about the sex. It's about the characters. It's about the plot.
Then again, when I started writing Bitter Water the fic was mostly gen and even though I told people "this fic is going to be SLASH" I had folks telling me "please don't make this slash" and I was this close to screaming "Of course I'm going to make it slash! It's all about the hot manporn goddamnit!"
I guess I'm just hard to please, neh?
Okay, how about this. I want well-rounded feedback. If you liked the lemon, tell me, but also tell me what else you liked, because I really want to know. Point out a line that was particularly memorable. I know that's kind of hard when the fic is really long, so point out a scene that you thought was particularly memorable. Sometimes I like it if people didn't like the lemon, because then when they comment, their feedback is more...idunno...objective. (well, unless it's a flame, which hasn't happened to me yet)
My, my. Looking back at this post I can't help thinking "Good GODlierdumoa, how long are you going to listen to yourself whine?" Apparently? A very long time. I like to whine. It's like, my other hobby (my first hobby being the manporn, of course).
Meh.
Any Smallville fans should readrhiannonhero's review of last night's episode, and how it's ( all about the CLex ). Her livejournal is friends only, but she's sure to friend you if you ask nicely and she's totally worth friending if you're interested in entertaining discourse concerning the Smallville fandom. She updates often, which I would usually consider spam, except that the shit she has to say is actually interesting and worth reading.
;o)
Title: Flame and Shadow
Author: Maya
Pairing: Ron/Pansy -- yes, it's het
Summary: Just a love story. Sometimes love's ugly when it's perfect. Sometimes it doesn't make sense, but then again, it really, really does. And maybe, just maybe, Hermione's not right for Ron after all.
After reading this, I find myself unable to imagine Ron with Hermione without thinking *wrong, wrong, wrong!* I wonder how this will affect my long abandoned Harry/Draco fic when I start writing for it again. Hmmm....
daylight_shadow, I know Ron doesn't get you hot, but you should read this anyway, because it's not always about the thinly veiled homoeroticism. So lately I've been thinking about writing lemons -- well, lets face it, I think about writing lemons a lot. I mean, they are my favorite thing to write. See, I was re-reading some of
dahlia_777's fics. For those of you who aren't familiar with her work, she's been writing a very long Harry/Draco series with a very engaging plotline, good characterization, and did I mention the sex. Oooooh yes -- the sex. There's sex in every chapter. There's *loads* of sex and it's all so *good* and there's love and romance and yet it isn't shmoopy at all. I discovered this fic about a year and a half ago, I think, and fell in love with it then, and I'm still in love with it now. It's interesting, though, going back and reading the lemons. I think I'm a bit more critical now then I was when I first read them. I suppose after a few re-reads you stop looking at a lemon thinking "OMG it is, liek, teh HOT!!!!!!11!!!" and start noticing the literary aspects of it. Or maybe it's only after writing a good many lemons myself that I've started noticing these things (though thankfully I usually don't notice these things the first read through, or I'd be unable to enjoy lemons at all). Here is an author who has managed to maintain variety and make each of her lemons unique and memorable, despite having written at least one and and up to, oh, three per chapter of a 27 chapter saga.
Some of it is, of course, inspiration. Sometimes you just get a really good idea and it works. Sometimes you don't get a really good idea but plotwise, your story calls for a lemon and you have to deliver. For example, my Harry/Draco fic, which I haven't updated in forever, has a good deal of the plot tied up in sex. So much so, in fact, that it would be impossible for me to write an R rated version. Of course, that fic was originally intended to be a ficlet -- a standalone PWP[1] -- so it's easy to see how any plot that developed out of that original chapter would have serious ties to sex. A lot of the sex came as inspiration. Some of it came out of brainstorming and hours of experimentation (with syntax, I mean).
Now comes the problem with repition -- and isn't it ironic that I've discussed this particular difficulty before? This time, though, I'm not going to talk about the problem of repeating metaphors. This time, its about the kind of sex that's easy to write, versus the kind of sex that challenges me. For instance, there's rarely much dialogue in my sex scenes. In fact, I've written one sex scene where the guys were actually bespelled not to talk, screaming themselves hoarse yet not making a sound. I've been pondering the possibility of writing an all-dialogue sex scene, just to challenge myself, because most of my lemons tend to have virtually no dialogue. I wonder, could I write an all-dialogue lemon? Could I write a hot all-dialogue lemon?
Another thing -- my hand fetish. I like hands. I like to describe them. On one occasion I started waxing poetic about hands and one of my betas told me that it kind of interrupted the mood I was trying to create. I refused to remove the scene because I was just too emotionally attatched to it.
I mean, I really like hands.
Some times, I just have to suck it up and talk about something else. Because lets face it, ideas get old.
So why am I pondering all this? Well, you see, I recently got feedback for Bitter Water from
choklid. Bitter Water is actually the first fanfic she's read (aside from the PWP she helped edit as a favor to her sister, and let's face it, if your sister wrote it, it just isn't as hot as it could be). The gist of her review was "damn you for getting me all hooked on the manporn." I found this strangely amusing, considering that Bitter Water only has one sex scene (I know the way I agonized over it made it seem like there were more). It's strange, though. Before that, the story was all characterization and plot. And I mean a lot of characterization. Crazy characterization. I decided that Severus was to be half dementor, and I've had to somehow reconcile that with his behaviour in canon. This shit is hardcore, yo.Where was I? Oh yeah. So, it's funny. I write all this plot and all this characterization and it's nice, you know, to hear people say "What an interesting idea!" or "I would never have imagined Severus like this, but somehow you make it work." But the instant -- the instant I write a lemon that's even halfway descent the only kind of feedback I get is "Good GOD woman, that was HOT."
Okay, I know, I know -- I shouldn't be complaining right? Good feedback is good feedback. I know I'm good at writing lemons. I know it's because I work really hard at being good at writing lemons. I know some of it is talent for writing lemons. The thing is, I have far less talent for characterization, and I work a hell of a lot harder on characterization and plot than I do on lemons. My lemons? Aren't usually meant to be read as stand-alones. In fact, most of them can't be read as standalones -- not without all the plot and characterization to back them up. So I appreciate when sometimes people comment on something other than the sex. Cause half the time, even when it's in the middle of the sex, it's not about the sex. It's about the characters. It's about the plot.
Then again, when I started writing Bitter Water the fic was mostly gen and even though I told people "this fic is going to be SLASH" I had folks telling me "please don't make this slash" and I was this close to screaming "Of course I'm going to make it slash! It's all about the hot manporn goddamnit!"
I guess I'm just hard to please, neh?
Okay, how about this. I want well-rounded feedback. If you liked the lemon, tell me, but also tell me what else you liked, because I really want to know. Point out a line that was particularly memorable. I know that's kind of hard when the fic is really long, so point out a scene that you thought was particularly memorable. Sometimes I like it if people didn't like the lemon, because then when they comment, their feedback is more...idunno...objective. (well, unless it's a flame, which hasn't happened to me yet)
My, my. Looking back at this post I can't help thinking "Good GOD
lierdumoa, how long are you going to listen to yourself whine?" Apparently? A very long time. I like to whine. It's like, my other hobby (my first hobby being the manporn, of course).[1] PWP -- Porn without plot, otherwise known as "Plot? What plot?!?"
Meh.
Any Smallville fans should read
rhiannonhero's review of last night's episode, and how it's ( all about the CLex ). Her livejournal is friends only, but she's sure to friend you if you ask nicely and she's totally worth friending if you're interested in entertaining discourse concerning the Smallville fandom. She updates often, which I would usually consider spam, except that the shit she has to say is actually interesting and worth reading.;o)
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-08 06:05 pm (UTC)I find myself unable to imagine Ron with Hermione without thinking *wrong, wrong, wrong!*
*sighs* Damn, this is going to affect me reading HP/DM fics with RW/HG side pairing.
Now... when you say, "I wonder how this will affect my long abandoned Harry/Draco fic when I start writing for it again." does that mean you might still finish it or is it left to rot?
I'm still interested in reading Fighting Silence, but it's not as strong as before. It's strange to say, but I think my interest in HP fandom is slowly dwindling...
no subject
Date: 2003-11-09 12:40 am (UTC)And none of my fics are officially abandoned. A part of me still believes I will eventually finish them all.
I actually wrote an outline for the next chapter of "Safe Things" a few weeks ago, strangely enough (that Buffy/Spike fic I haven't updated in about 8 months).
I can't really predict when I'll have time to work on things. I hardly have time to work on BW, which is my number one concern right now. My interest in the HP fandom has actually gone up recently. It was dwindling before, but now I have people reccing me things all the time on my friends list.
Strangely, it's been my interest in CLex that has been dwindling lately. I'm not reading any less CLex than I was before, but now I don't get as excited about it.
no subject
Date: 2003-11-09 02:21 am (UTC)Can't bring myself to officially abandon it, but it's pretty damn close. *shakes head*
My HP fic hasn't been looked at since last October - or is it even earlier than that?
My excitement level for CLex is about the same, but I find myself more picky when I read fics - I used to devour the fics at SSA, but I glance at the summaries and skip the fic if the summary doesn't interest me.
I guess I'm more focused on Angel/Spike at the moment. Jenny - the author of Time is the Fire in Which We Burn - is doing a great job at keeping me hooked on A/S.
*goes back to read A/S fics*