This 'n That...

[shadowkat]

A huge thanks to everyone who responded to the late night pangs post. Your support is greatly appreciated. Also thanks for putting up with the whining - which only about thirty people get to witness, since I friend's lock all whining posts. A girl needs some privacy, you know. Granted posting on the internet can feel like shouting from a loud speaker at times, but with friend's lock and on livejournal, it feels a little more intimate.

Sorry haven't responded. Sort of in low-profile mode this week, after my emotional breakdown at the start of the week...feeling much better. Partly because I actually applied to six jobs this week so far. Partly because I was reminded today at a lovely lunch with two friends, (editor friend and S), that I'm not alone and there are others out there who have been struggling without a word for as long as I have. Job-hunting sucks. The only people who are any good at it are natural salesmen and enterprenurs who could probably make a living running their own business.

Oh that reminds me, fortune cookie at lunch today stated: "When Feeling Low, Try Contacting An Old Friend", I remember thinking, actually the new friends have been the most helpful lately - by new, the one's I've meet over the last two years through the wacky world of the internet. Course friendship is a transistory thing, people pass in and out of our lives periodically. It's up to us to take notice of them when they are in it.

Spending a quiet 4th of July weekend/Canada Day...all by my lonesome. Wales is off visiting family. CW visiting a friend and her mother. CJL at the ATPO board meet - lucky boy, beginning to feel envious of ATPO Board meet people - not for the BTVS/ATS stuff so much as the chocolat, cookies, and other sweets - oh and of course the actual face to face interaction.
Ah well. Que Sera Sera, as they say. Promise not to mope. Might actually try to write something creative for a change of pace. Started something tonight - spurned off of an idea I got watching a bad soap opera. See bad TV can give us good ideas.
Also might rent movies. Can't take self to Spiderman, promised CJL (okay he didn't actually receive my promise since stupid aol bounced my response, but hey, I wrote it and sent it), I'd see it when he gets back. The Trailer looks fantastic and it's gotten good reviews from my FL who I trust, well sort of trust.
Some of those people liked Van Helsing - so I am wary. There are other movies I wish to see - Bourne Supremacy (yes, Ludlum Spy-Espionage geek, sue me), and King Arthur (the people are so pretty and Guienvere actually seems to be a warrior here instead of a wimpering damsel). But one must be careful with finances especially since I need to buy new contacts and see the eye doctor next month.

At any rate, wishing those lurking out there or who are reading me on FL, a wonderful 4th of July Weekend.

PS: TV is getting more interesting - we have Roswell on at 4pm on Sci-Fi, Farscape on in the day, new Nip/Tuck episodes on at 10 pm on F/X, West Wing re-runs at 7pm on Bravo, Coupling on BBC America Sundays at 9pm, Arrested Development Sundays at 8:30Pm, and DS9 reruns at 1 pm all week on Spike. Also Star Gate SG1 Atlantis starts next week. This works wonderfully if you haven't seen all these episodes or not in a while at any rate. Enjoying Rosewell, better than I remembered it. Going to try a Farscape episode tomorrow during the day. Atlantis looks sort of intriguing, not a huge fan of SG1, but I like the previews for it's spin-off. Interesting scripted TV isn't dead - it's just hidden itself in bizarre timeslots, channels and re-runs.

Comments

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The trouble with Herself's story is that I don't think she's aware of the fantasy she's fallen into - as a result the messages start to contradict each other, cliched situations are presented without any sort of twist to freshen them, in short the writing suffers for it.

That's my sense as well. I get the oddest feeling this is purely unconscious. I'm not sure she intends it to come across this way nor am I sure that some of her readers are aware of it (or at least from the posts I've seen.) She may not know it's cliched. And it doesn't help that she read Anna Karenia during it - which was Tolstoy's attempt to write about a virtuous woman (domestic/faithful to her husband who gets sucked into an affair with a passionate man, until this man comes along she apparently has no life outside him), not a new story by any means - considering we get variations on it throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Not to mention Hawthorn's Scarlette Letter. I can't help but wonder if the writer may not be attempting that sort of romance, without realizing the pitfalls and flaws of writing it?

I think that there is a disconnect between what we're supposed to want and what we actually desire. We may say we want strong role models but we may end up enjoying a story of a girl swooning into a strong man's arms far more.

I agree. I wonder if part of the problem is admitting or copping to it? Many feminists, particularly those who have been active in the movement or defensive about it (not saying Herself or her fans are) have a tendency to feel embarrassed about this fantasy, ashamed of it. It's their guilty little secret. Just as writing fanfic, specifically erotic fanfic might be. Rape fantasies fall within this as well - the strong misunderstood man, who is goregous, dominating you/seducing you - so it's not your fault, you didn't surrender. (As both Nancy Friday and Margaret Atwood have noted in essays). The guilt of fantasing about something you're told you aren't supposed to be fantasing about comes across in the subtext. After all, up until the last 30 years women were supposed to *not* want sex and female sexual fantasies were taboo. There's no shame in admitting to these fantasies, they don't reflect badly on us per se, but I can't help but wonder if that may be why she hasn't put the twist in? Her fic is WIP and she seems to be writing from gut-level, which means subconscious views may be playing role not to mention the outside influence of the comments and feedback - that has to have an effect. I know whenever I make the mistake of discussing something I'm writing - the reaction of person I'm discussing it with will often affect my ability to finish the work or write it. Stephen King stated once that you shouldn't discuss any work with someone until you finished the first draft - he may have a point.

I am hoping once the story's done - unless of course my view changes drastically - to send a few lengthy comments along the lines of what we've been discussing to Herself. I just don't want it to come across like I'm dumping all over her, because I was really enjoying the story for quite a while - it just seems like this flaw, which started out as a little thing, has grown until the flaw is the story now.

I feel much the same way. I love what she is doing with the character of Spike. And her characterization of Johnny was really fascinating.
I can't quite decide if this is a minor or major flaw - I did make her aware of it a while back, but backed off, because I saw that attempting to correct it hampered the writing. So like you, I am waiting to see what happens before commenting further.

In any case it's all been a fascinating process, both as a writer watching someone else's technique, and as an inside look into the development of a mini-fandom, complete with differing factions, viewer interaction, and debates over jumping the shark!

Oh yes. I look at it as a sort of mini-writer's workshop. But then livejournal is a bit of a writer's workshop/club in a way. As a writer - it has been incredibly educational - HERSELF's WIP exercise made me aware of things I'd done wrong in my own writing and how to correct them.