Bits and Bobs

[scfrankles]

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!

Comments

[rachelindeed]

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!

[scfrankles]

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!