scfrankles | Bits and Bobs

Crossposts: https://scfrankles.livejournal.com/25377.html

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Bits and Bobs

It’s been ages since I did a journal post on either DW or LJ but I'm going to try and make the effort to post more regularly.

So, it was my birthday on the 6th, and I received some lovely fics from friends:

Three Little Maids by

smallhobbit

A Year in a Life by

mafief

First Birthday (An Inky Quill 221B) by

stonepicnicking_okapi

And in July I took part in Flash Fiction Month on DA. I hadn’t really written for months beforehand, and I was starting to think perhaps that was it. My enthusiasm and the ability to come up with ideas seemed to have gone completely. But I’d also been watching a few writing events going past on DW that I usually took part in, and feeling a bit of a pang that I wasn’t involved. And FFM had been such an important event for me… In the end I decided to have a go and see what happened, without putting any terribly high expectations on myself.

You will be pleased/happy/horrified to know that the puns still live! I found I was able to come up with ideas for the prompts and challenges when I really set my mind to it. And I found I was still able to entertain others and entertain myself. As always I concentrated on humour but there were a couple of goes at psychological realism as well. I don’t expect anyone to wade through all 31 stories at this point but here’s a selection to give you an idea of what I got up to:

something serious (CW: contains (supernatural) bullying and one very strong swear word)

something humorous with puns

something humorous without puns

I didn’t win a prize but I did get an honourable mention for the month (there were four winners and four honourable mentions). Which I was very happy about because I hadn’t even been expecting that this time. It was just exhilarating to know I could still write and it was lovely to have people admiring my work and, well, admiring me. (I’m sure Small Hobbit will be pleased to know that my partner for the collaborative challenge described me as ‘hyper-competent’...)

But now the month and all the excitement is over, I rather feel I’m back to where I started. And I’m starting to wonder if I need to get out of a rut and stretch myself more as a writer. As a writer of silly comedy I do sometimes feel like a clever child being tolerated by the adults who are doing the real work. A DA friend whose writing I really admire was so enthusiastic about one of my stories 'The Flatmate' (the ‘something serious’ option above), which was by far the one which dealt the most with real human emotions. I think maybe I need to start concentrating more on what goes on inside my characters. It doesn’t mean I have to give up the comedy, just add to it.

The other thing that’s been going on is that I’ve been learning Dutch with Duolingo for the last six months. I’ve just ‘completed’ the course and received my virtual golden owl trophy. But I don’t really see this as the end—it just means I’ve now unlocked all the sections and so have access to them all. I’m planning on spending another six months on the course, earning all the crowns that are awarded for revising each section.

But I shall burble on more about my adventures in Dutch in the next post!

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It's so lovely to see your post! I've missed hearing how things are going with you over the last few months.

I really enjoyed all three stories you shared from your July Flash Fiction! You have a wonderful gift for spinning prompts in unexpected directions, and I so admire your adroitness with original fiction (something I've never made much headway with :P)

I take long breaks from writing all the time, so I can easily appreciate how hard it is to get going again sometimes. I often do better with some kind of external prompt or challenge, and I'm glad you decided to jump into the July challenge again - it seems so well-suited to your style :)

I think if you're feeling the itch to push yourself in new directions as a writer and experiment with new styles and approaches, that's wonderful! But at the same time, I hate to see you underrate your own talents and works because they're 'light' and purely comedic. I would just say that IMO 'realism' isn't a standard of maturity in writing, it's just a style (a ubiquitous one nowadays). When I think of great comedy, some of it does layer in lovely character development, like Cabin Pressure; some of it remains witty caricatures, like Fawlty Towers; and some avoids character development entirely with unapologetic good cheer, like Jeeves & Wooster.

I'm sure other people must have told you this before, but when I think of writers that your style reminds me the most of, the first that comes to mind is James Thurber. Stories like his "The Wonderful O" are classics, and it's so rare to find writers who can create something like that. Another popular writer whose style reminds me of yours is Marilyn Singer, who creates children's books based around reverso poems (poems that can be read both forwards and backwards, conveying different meanings each way with changes only in punctuation). I picked up her Mirror Mirror at the library while looking for books for my son, and I immediately thought of you!

Whatever direction you take your writing, I'm always happy that we get a chance to read it :) This year I've been doing some fannish things other than writing, like beta-ing and podfic, that I've enjoyed a lot, too. Sometimes it is nice to try something different <3

Hope you're having a lovely week!

I'm really pleased you enjoyed the stories ^___^ FFM is indeed very much my thing. I feel the challenges have a very Holmesian puzzle aspect to them ^___^

But at the same time, I hate to see you underrate your own talents and works because they're 'light' and purely comedic. I would just say that IMO 'realism' isn't a standard of maturity in writing, it's just a style (a ubiquitous one nowadays).

Thank you ^__^ And you're right of course that realism is just one style. I'm just letting my own insecurities - and to be honest, maybe a bit of jealousy - get the better of me. I know I can write well, and people I admire tell me I can write well, but I keep feeling I'm at the bottom of the pecking order. The fact of the matter is that in literature comedy will always the junior partner to tragedy. That's just how it is, and I've always got that in the back of my mind.

And also I look about at you and so many of my writing friends in fandom and on DA, and you've all got a range - but I'm just writing lighthearted comedy most of the time.

So, yes, I think maybe the urge to expand my range is partly for the 'wrong' reasons. But I did feel during FFM, even though I loved the humorous stories I produced, I was covering the same ground that I've covered so many times before. I think the right reasons are there too - it's time to try something new. Working on deepening my characters will be interesting and a new challenge ^___^

I'm sure other people must have told you this before, but when I think of writers that your style reminds me the most of, the first that comes to mind is James Thurber. That did make me smile ^___^ I don't think anyone has ever made the comparison before but yes, I must admit I am familiar with James Thurber's work ^___^ And Marilyn Singer's work sounds so intriguing - I'm kind of flattered that I came to mind ^__^

Beta-ing is so oddly enjoyable, isn't it? ^__^ And I was so, so impressed with your first podifc - it's just excellent. It really is worth trying new things from time to time ^___^

Hope you're having a good week too!

::Claps excitedly at post:: Yah for posts!

Dude! Dude… I didn’t interpret the Flatmate as magical realism, per se. It felt like inner beratement to me and finally giving that toxic inner dialogue the boot. I like this story a lot, too. :)

Found the Pilish story. Dear lord, I didn’t know pilish was a thing ::checks off learning-something-new-every-day box::. Now I’m convinced it’s a very nasty challenge and you are an awesome/brave/creative person for taking that on.

My enthusiasm and the ability to come up with ideas seemed to have gone completely. …… And FFM had been such an important event for me… In the end I decided to have a go and see what happened, without putting any terribly high expectations on myself.
I relate to this paragraph a lot leading up to July and your experience during your writing event in July. I almost didn’t take part in Watson’s Woes. As you said, it was important, and I ended up being very happy that I did participate. So, it may not seem to weird when I congratulate you on convincing yourself to participate in the event in the first place (because that was a big step too!).

It doesn’t mean I have to give up the comedy, just add to it. Have you seen Scrubs? It’s a medical comedy-drama that emphasizes comedy. But how they intersperse a lot of comedy with drama means that the drama sticks with you. It’s set in a hospital, so they are dealing with heavy topics like death, addiction, abandonment, family friction, etc. while working through the silliness of everyday life. I was thinking of this when you were talking about adding to comedy. (I mean this as a nice, but I’ll apologize early if it doesn’t come out that way.) In any case, you will need to point me in the direction you are posting most of your works, cause I would like to read them.

But for little comedy things, Shel Silverstein writes poems and short poetic stories. Some of them have made me giggle for days and stay with me (like this one - https://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/shel-silverstein-2/snowball/). They become important and critical in their own way. And I’m bringing that up because I still remember “How the Joke got it’s Punchline” even though I read that a while ago. You have such a fun and creative outlook that you use in your stories.

clever child being tolerated by the adults who are doing the real work I’m probably not suppose to giggle about that, but I did because I feel like that in life and most things.

Best of luck with the Dutch. I’ll be interested in learning more about it later. :)

I didn’t interpret the Flatmate as magical realism, per se. It felt like inner beratement to me and finally giving that toxic inner dialogue the boot. I did personally interpret it as the flatmate being like a parasite, and the narrator finally realising it. But I absolutely see your interpretation, and I'm very happy that you've found another interpretation ^___^

Oh, Pilish takes up so much time ^^" But I'm glad I finally tried it. I'm not sure how much literary value the resultant story had - but the puzzle aspect of it was very appealing ^___^

I almost didn’t take part in Watson’s Woes. As you said, it was important, and I ended up being very happy that I did participate. So, it may not seem to weird when I congratulate you on convincing yourself to participate in the event in the first place (because that was a big step too!). Yes, I absolutely appreciate that. Now I wonder what I was worried about, but at the time I didn't really think of myself as a writer any more. Congratulations to you too for taking the step ^___^

I have seen Scrubs - there's a lot about it I like. And that is exactly the sort of thing I'm thinking about when I talk about expanding on my comedy. I do tend to separate stories into 'serious' and 'humorous' but really the best comedy always has something serious going on too.

And I usually only post stuff to DA and AO3. If you want to have a rummage through all the FFM 2018 stuff, that's here. Or if you want to see the edited highlights, here is my featured gallery ^___^

The Shel Silverstein poem is very amusing ^___^ And I'm so touched you still remember How The Joke Got Its Punchline ^___^ I like that story a lot.

clever child being tolerated by the adults who are doing the real work I'm glad this did make you giggle ^___^ I'm heading towards 50 now and I still feel like this a lot of the time, in all aspects of my life ^^"

And the Dutch is going very well! I'm looking forward to sharing some of my enthusiasm about it ^__^

I'm glad that participating in the FFM challenge helped you. I enjoyed the three stories. I think The Flatmate could be a nice full-length ghost story. And the puns were clever and your ability to commit to them hasn't waivered (as far as I can tell). Comedy is extraordinarily difficult, so while I fully support your intention to delve deeper into the inner lives of your characters, I consider the kind of story you naturally excel at to be as real a work as any. I don't know how the August HM prompt came about but it's quite a challenge to write anything but poignant fluff with a prompt like that. And, yes, I would definitely consider you 'hyper-competent.'

I'm really happy you enjoyed the stories ^___^ And yes, I do still really, really know how to commit to a pun ^____^

Comedy is extraordinarily difficult... I think that's the thing though - comedy isn't difficult for me any more. I look at your work and your astounding range, and other people's work and I do wonder if maybe I shouldn't push myself a bit. But yes, you're right - this doesn't mean I should put down the work I'm naturally good at.

Re the August HM prompt - I noticed on Wikipedia August is 'Happiness Happens Month'. I kind of have mixed feelings about the organisation behind it (they seem somewhat forceful in their celebration of happiness ^___^) but it seemed like a nice starting point for fics. 'Poignant fluff' is a perfect way of putting it ^_^

I'm glad you're writing again, however tentatively. And learning Dutch! Dutch? Wow. I'll be really interested to hear all about that.

I wish I could have done WW again this year. I firmly intended to and then most of July went by in a haze of antibiotics and steroids and...oh, well, there's next year.

But I'm so out of it. What's the FFM challenge?

Flash Fiction Month (FFM to those of us in the know ^___^) is an annual (original fiction) writing event held on Deviantart, within the literature community. Essentially the challenge is to write a piece of microfiction of between 55 to 1,000 words every day of July. Prompts are offered to help you come up with ideas, though you aren't obliged to use them. And there are also three or four optional challenges per week. These are a bit more complicated than the prompts, with several elements you have to include. It's a bit like solving a puzzle as you write ^___^

And I really hope you're back to full health and back to the writing soon. It must be so frustrating for you.

Terrific work with the Dutch on Duolingo! It's a nice little way to pick up a language or polish one you know somewhat. I've used it for German when I was traveling several years ago, and I try to keep my Spanish that I learned in school from completely vanishing from my mind with it. Helped a lot when I was watching Narcos. :)

Do you have big plans for your new Dutch skills?

I'm so impressed with Duolingo - the Dutch course is excellent. I have had a couple of goes at learning Dutch in the past but never got that far. Learning with Duolingo has really made it stick - for the first time I feel like I'm actually learning the language.

I don't have any major plans for using Dutch, I must admit - I don't really have the spare cash or the confidence for travelling. And everyone would probably speak to me in English anyway ^___^ But I am enjoying how a basic knowledge of Dutch is expanding my online world. I can now watch stuff in Dutch (with Dutch subtitles) and read articles in Dutch, and have a fair idea of what's going on. I find that very satisfying - and it's a bit of a thrill properly developing a second language after being a monolingual all my life.

It's exciting to have access to more when you pick up another language, even a little. I'm in no way fluent in Spanish, but I catch things like differences between subtitles and spoken words in movies and TV and just that is very striking to me. I love the linguistic little differences and what is lost or changed in translation. This is one of those things that's so great about living now in the future, where we have access to resources that make things like this possible.

I catch things like differences between subtitles and spoken words... I very definitely need the 'training wheels' of subtitles at the moment, but that is one of the things I have started to pick up on - hearing when the speaker is saying something slightly different from the subtitles ^__^

This is one of those things that's so great about living now in the future, where we have access to resources that make things like this possible. Absolutely ^__^ I am doing a Dutch course, have access to dictionaries and a grammar, and am able to watch a variety of Dutch programmes - all online and for free. It's so much easier to learn a language now.

I'm so pleased to learn you did FFM this year! All through July, I'd occasionally think about you and your recent struggles with writing fic, and wonder if you were doing FFM (and feeling a bit sad about the possibility that you weren't). And it turns out you were, hooray! I haven't been through nearly all of them yet, but I've very much enjoyed the ones I have.

As a writer of silly comedy I do sometimes feel like a clever child being tolerated by the adults who are doing the real work.

I think you do yourself a disservice. Writing good comedy is a tricky business, and you have a real flair for it. I totally support you spreading your wings, if that suits you -- it seems I've heard you express this kind of sentiment before -- but I sincerely admire your work as it stands.

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at my FFM stories and to comment ^___^ I really appreciate it - and I will finally reply to your comments tomorrow ^^"

After I'd made the decision to take part in FFM, I decided not to post links on LJ and DW - I didn't even mention I was doing FFM to Small Hobbit and Okapi until well into the month. It just took all the pressure off. I know everyone would have been supportive but I wanted to keep it to myself until I was sure I could manage. I'm rather touched that you remembered about FFM and wondered if I was having a go ^__^

And thank you for your kind and reassuring words ^___^ As I say to Rachel above, I think I did let my insecurities get the better of me a bit. But I do think maybe it's time to try something new. Working on my characters' feelings will be an interesting challenge ^___^

At least we all seem to have excellent company in our insecurities. :-)

I'm looking forward to seeing your results as you play with new kinds of things!

Fun, thank you for sharing your work! Hm...is there any kind of introductory/info page somewhere about FFM or other writing challenges on DA? I ask because that sounds like a GREAT way to get interesting prompts and get some more new writing going, but somehow I always find figuring out comms and events difficult the first time, and from the outside. (But I also wouldn't want to make you have to explain it all to me, either!)

BTW, I totally feel you on the urge to expand past your usual writing range – even though you’re really good at the stuff you already do! I've been working on something similar (though for me it's the push from things that are entirely character-focused to things that also have, like...plot.) For me, basically I was just getting *bored* with myself, always doing similar things.

Which I suppose is all to say, I cheer you on in expanding the kinds of things you do, if that’s what you want! But also, don’t feel you’re doing something wrong just because you have one area you’re particularly good at.

Also, Dutch! You've gotten to a level of being able to read articles and watch shows just by teaching yourself? I'm super impressed! Dutch is one of my all-time favorite languages (I have a lot of favorite languages...) But though I can understand a reasonable amount if I work hard, thanks to its proximity to German and English, I can't really say anything. The downside of a country where everyone speaks English.

Well, if you formally want to take part in FFM, it runs every July, and you have to have an account on Deviantart and post there in order to share your stories with the other participants - and to be eligible for possibly winning one of the fabled FFM mugs ^__^

Here's the FAQ page for FFM.

But if you just want to have a go at the challenges and prompts outside of FFM - well, that's straightforward. You can find all of them here. That's 10 Julys' worth of prompts ^___^ You just need to click on the individual thumbnail links to be taken to the prompts for individual days - some days are just themes and prompts; others have more complicated challenges. There are 13 pages of thumbnail links but if you look on the lefthand side, there is a menu of links - all the links are tidied up into their respective years. (The first year, 2009, only appears in the menu - if you look back through the pages, they stop at 2010.)

If you want to know more about how DA and FFM works, I'm more than happy to go into further detail ^_-^

For me, basically I was just getting *bored* with myself, always doing similar things. That's rather how I feel. I have felt like this before, when I was only writing microfiction. And I had a go at writing longer things and found I could do it and enjoyed doing it. Like you, I think it's time to push myself again ^__^

I am nowhere near being fluent in Dutch but I'm greatly enjoying the skills I've developed so far ^__^ It feels so easy to learn a language now - there's so many resources available online. Things have changed so much since I was young.

I have a lot of favourite languages too ^___^ But I've promised myself I won't get distracted and will continue concentrating only on Dutch for the next six months at least. I've had a go at so many languages over the years and I've never got fluent in any of them before moving onto the next. I'm determined to reach at least a basic fluency in one language, and I'm very hopeful it's going to be Dutch ^__^

Just to be nosy... ^^ How many languages do you speak? And what are some of your other favourite languages? ^_^

Ooh, thank you – that's exactly the kind of info page I wanted but couldn't seem to find on my own. Thank you :-) I like prompts and challenges like that – in fact, I usually find that the more constraints there are, the more it inspires! Deadlines and having a community of folks also doing the same thing are also great motivators, so I've made myself a note to hopefully sign up for it next year.

Languages! My favorite topic… The only language I truly speak (aside from English) is German – but I'm very fluent, and worked for years as a translator. I moved to Germany back then in part because, like you're describing, I'd dabbled in so many languages, and wanted to finally speak one of them properly. I also spoke Thai when I was an exchange student, but have lost most of it, unfortunately. Other than that, I've just taken a semester or two of SO many languages here and there – enough to understand a bit but not say much.

Favorites! Oh, gosh, it's always shifting (and being added to)... Dutch has always been a favorite because it's such a wonderful mix of sounding almost like English, looking almost like German, but occasionally making sounds that surely only extraterrestrials could have come up with. Icelandic is a favorite just because I love Iceland so much (and the language wears its history so visibly, having changed so little from Old Norse). Burmese has always been my favorite for beautiful writing systems. Those are the favorites that pop into my head at the moment, but I’ve basically always got several going at once. :-)

Deadlines and having a community of folks also doing the same thing are also great motivators, so I've made myself a note to hopefully sign up for it next year.

I really hope you do ^__^ I've found it to be such a positive experience. It feels almost magical in a way - sometimes I wonder where the stories are coming from ^__^ And the community is a big part of the experience - you end up inspiring and supporting each other.

I'm so jealous that you have two languages - German as well as English ^___^ I did actually wonder for a while if you were German because you'd mentioned living in Germany.

Dutch has always been a favorite because it's such a wonderful mix of sounding almost like English, looking almost like German, but occasionally making sounds that surely only extraterrestrials could have come up with.

I do rather know what you mean ^___^ I am getting to grips with Dutch pronunciation, though I can't properly roll my r's ^^" I attempt a little front trill or a back gargle ^__^ Oddly the g has not presented any real problems, but it did take some practice.

Icelandic is a favorite just because I love Iceland so much (and the language wears its history so visibly, having changed so little from Old Norse). I think that's always a great reason for learning a language - having an emotional connection.

And I've had a look now at Burmese writing - it is so marvellously satisfying to look at ^^

Yeah, I did live in Germany for 8+ years (essentially my entire adult life, until I moved back to the US a few years ago!) So there's a bit of me that's a bit German...I'm actually visiting back to Berlin right now, and it's lovely to be here and have everything feel so familiar.

Icelandic! Yes, my connection to it is absolutely an emotional one, that's a good way to put it. I was back in Iceland on my way here to Germany, and though I haven't had any time to practice in the last year, I was relieved that I can at least still order at a bakery, and stumble my way through a supermarket interaction well enough that they *don't* switch into English. (Always a danger, because Reykjavík in summer is about 95% tourists, so Icelanders understandably default into speaking English at the slightest sign that you're not actually an Icelandic speaker.) And of course I bug my friends constantly to explain bits of meaning and pronunciation to me. ;-)

If you like Burmese, have a look at the Georgian alphabet! It's lovely, strange and very cool. Though I only ever learned a few phrases of Georgian when I was visiting a friend there, I did actually learn all the letters, so that I would be able to sound out signs. The letters are beautiful, and Georgian has a truly impressive array of consonants.

I did enjoy "It's All Open To Interpretation"

And I am indeed delighted to hear you are hyper-competent.

I'm sure you could easily broaden your writing. For instance Holmes Minor would give you a chance to write some ficlets which don't necessarily have to be dark, but would give the opportunity to look more deeply at the characters.

I'm glad you liked It's All Open To Interpretation - it makes me laugh so much ^___^

And a very good idea about Holmes Minor - gives me a chance to experiment a bit and see where it takes me ^^

Welcome back and a belated happy birthday.

Thank you so much ^__^

Hi:-)
First of all, thanks for links to your fics...enjoyed reading them all, and I do think you have a bigger range than you give yourself credit for.
I do understand your comment re this, though. I stay in my “ light verse which rhymes” rut most of the time, and watch other folk testing their limits and moving their boundaries.

Impressed with the learning of Dutch, and wishing you well in all of your endeavours:-)

I certainly never think of your work as being in a "light verse which rhymes” rut, or indeed any kind of rut at all ^___^ Your poems are so, so good - you're an exceptional writer.

I'm just feeling it's time to stretch myself a little. ...you have a bigger range than you give yourself credit for. Thank you ^___^ Looking back at my work, I don't think I never write about my characters' emotions. But it might be interesting to try digging a little deeper.

I'm still enjoying the Dutch ^__^ And I wish you well in all your endeavours too ^__^

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Bits and Bobs

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