The Web of Neonorne

Can't seem to be able to write today either. Still feels my story is the dumbest thing ever. Procrastination blossoms and my mood approaches cellar level....

So, thought I should at least write something in here - that way, I do at least write, right?

Ahem.

In my (probably limited) experience, wannabe readers are frequently told by various experts or "experts" that adverbs are made of evil. Too many adjectives get a lot of flak as well, but adverbs seem to be named the worst enemy of "good writing".

( I beg to differ. Of course, that's why I write this. )

Part of the problems I have in my writing right now is the dreaded infodump problem. (There are other problems, too, possibly more serious...)

Of course, one place to dump the info is in the dialogue, which has its own problems (as in the well known: would these people really tell each other these things at this point in the story?) I'm well aware of these problems, struggling with them all the time - but there is one aspect I haven't been quite aware of yet.

( What does too much dialogue do to point of view? )

Haven't written here in a long while. I'm trying to write my story and get it finished some day..... and now I'm stuck again. Introducing a whole bunch of new characters and taking the main characters to entirely different places, the whole atmosphere changes - and I'm stuck. Afraid of losing my drive, motivation, have the temperature drop and -- well, yes, screw it. The whole thing is just dumb anyway, isn't it... ?

Sigh. And then I hear from my significant other that every writer experiences this and don't I know how many times he has been stuck at this place?

Sure. *grumble* As if that helps right now. Because *my* story really sucks!

So yeah.

KInd of astonished to see just how long it is since I wrote anything here. I had so many plans... But I should know from before that it is never wise to state what I will do later, in case I will never get round to it. Which happens all to often says the queen of procrastinations.

So. I won't write anything more about Twilight in here. Didn't even finish the thing - I was never interested enough. And you know - I've been writing. ;)

I did dip one toe in HP fandom again the other day, but it didn't go too well. (One result of that can be seen in the comments on the old Lupin post down here somewhere) No point dredging up old discussions with Snapefans for instance, when they have so moved on. (I don't like Snape. Don't hate, I said don't like. Not the same thing.) Been surfing a little on Sirius-centric fanfic sites and journals instead, that was fun. May do more of that when I need a break from things.

I have debated with myself whether I should create a separate journal for my own fanfic attempts and fandom musings, but I don't know - may take too much time. Will see.

For now I will write a bit of the problems I'm struggling with in my writing, to see if that helps.

There is an interesting discussion going on in the comments to this entry in Sherwood Smith's (sartorias ) journal. How do writers develop their characters, and what kind of approach do we have to them? It all started out as reactions to various techniques in writer's workshops, one of them being "interview your character".

sartorias  listed the following three possible approaches to characters:

Since this is so very much what I struggle with these days, make my characters come alive on the page, I have posted my answer in that thread behind the cut.

( My current aproach to my characters )

Behind the cut is my read-along of the introduction and first chapter of Twilight. (I am not going to do one entry per every chapter, promise.) See the attitude I tried to maintain while reading described in the post below.

I am not trying to do a balanced review here. No loyal recap of the actual story or anything. This will be my own personal reactions recorded while I read, with some afterthoughts.

I have two demands that must be met if I am going to say that this is a good YA vampire romance:  I must be absorbed into the story and able to suspense disbelief while I am reading. And the characters must not express values conflicting too much with my own in ways the writer seems to support.

I will probably write more about the places in the novel where I was thrown out of the story, although I will comment on some of the good things as well.

Places that threw me out were the ones where I started to argue with the writer; said to myself: "no, don't believe this" while reading; or places where I was bored for one reason or other. This is the same for all the chapters.

( Personal notes on introduction and first chapter )

So. My reading of the first book in the Twilight series. My reasons for reading, see entry below.

There are many parodies and snarkfests over this book on the net, as there is also  a lot of fiercely loyal fan love. Don't expect an excess of either in my upcoming read-along comments. The following is a description of the kind of attitude I had when I started reading:

Yes, this is a romance novel. But Austen herself said love and money are the only things worth writing about. Granted, pure romance is not my genre, I normally need something a little bit more to pick up a romance than true love alone. But here be vampires, so maybe?

Then - it is also rumoured to be a wish-fulfillment novel, written from the first person perspective of a teenage girl who finds her soulmate and eternal love in a dangerous vampire boyfriend. This would not be something to normally tempt me either, and if it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to find out what this book is about since "everybody" talks about it, I would never have picked up the book based on its backside blurb. But I am still not going to snark on that fact either.

Here is a review that addresses this theme better than I can, because the reviewer, Caitlin Flanagan, reacted to the book with her inner thirteen-year old in a way I didn't. It says on the website that she is currently writing a book about the emotional life of pubescent girls. Based on this review I would say she is qualified and that her book will probably be interesting.

It's the old Beauty and the Beast story, isn't it, a perfectly legit and good theme. And the dream that Love Will Conquer All and save us from our misery and boring everyday life is an old, very deep and very human wish. No need to snark on that, any more than there is a need to snark on the action- and superhero films and stories catering to the equally archaic human dream of invincibility. It is not the theme in itself that will make the book good or bad, it's the realization of the theme and the actual writing. (Yes, that is even true of the seemingly silly idea of the sparkling vampire.)

From all that I have heard and read, this book is a report from within a teenager's obsessive all-consuming First Love, written without irony and without distance, and not ending where "real life" True Love starts: when the love haze lifts and you see the object of your infatuation for what he is: another human being just like you, as much in the need of being rescued from his misery and everyday boredom as you are. Not a demigod descended from heaven to carry you away. That's the real test of the depth of anyone's real love.

But this book is obviously not about that, and I am not going to criticise that fact. I am going to let this book speak to me on its own terms. I don't expect the book to be an investigation of a teenager's obsession, I expect it to be a report from within that obsession, before you wake up. The fact that Stephenie Meyer on her website says this is the real true love and not the high school romance; the fact that this is how she feels about it, is probably why she has been able to write it from that place within. She remembers that place; she is not faking. That may be the reason why so many recognize and identify with where the protagonist is coming from in this book, and why it may be worth reading on its own terms. We'll see.

This entry is now long enough, so the actual read-along comments will start in the entry immediately following this. I may not be able to post that until tomorrow.

Twilight is not published in my country, and I haven't seen it advertised in English version in bookstores here either. Maybe I am just not paying attention, who knows. But suddenly everyone everywhere on blogs and whatnot talks about these books. Some states this is the "next Harry Potter" - some even states this has "so much more DEPTH" than Harry Potter. Some wonderful snarks, parodies and lolfan reviews have emerged too, here for instance

So. I am curious. I want to check it out myself. I am half way in the first book and I don't think I will read the next three, since everyone says this one is the best.

First let me say - this is a bestseller. And to be a bestseller, a book must do one thing, and one thing only: tap into some theme or dream or wish shared by very many in contemporary society. To be a bestseller across cultures, it must tap into archetypes, archaic instincts, basic human fears or hopes. The argument that a book must be "good" - as in having good writing, excellent characterisations, deep meanings etc. - because it is a bestseller, is not valid. It may have these things, but it is not required in order to sell to the masses and make the writer rich.

The only thing required of a bestseller is that the language and/or the characterisations are not so bad and clumsy that they get in the way of the story. The language must be serviceable, functional, that's all it takes. The characters don't have to be realistic, in fact they may be bland and one-dimensional, as long as they deal with central archetypal themes and are placed in situations that seem interesting to a majority of readers.

And then, of course, there is the mystery factor of bestsellers, the reason why publishers can't figure out a deadpan formula. Somehow you as a writer must tap into the contemporary form archetypal themes take in the mind of modern readers. Not something easily calculated or understood before the fact. Maybe this is why many bestselling writers confess to have just written their own dreams or wish-fulfillments, without too much analysis, to please themselves. They share our contemporary archetypal landscapes, too.

If, on the other hand, the language in a book is too original, the characters too complex and the book on the whole is more about investigating archetypal themes in some setting than it is about retelling them in that setting, the book will probably not sell in the same number of copies. Because then it will talk to only those who want to be challenged and not those who just want to be entertained. The latter group is by default larger than the former. (NOTE: I am not saying there is anything the matter at all with those who read only to be entertained!!!!! Also, a book may both challenge and entertain at the same time - those are probably the ones with the largest selling potential - especially if you as a reader may choose to skip the deeper meanings and still be entertained while you read.)

We want to read the kinds of stories bestsellers tell - over and over again. These stories are about us, and we know it. That's why we are so much more tolerant towards almost-boring language and carbon-copy characters in these books than in books with more original themes. With archetypal stories, we are able to add to the story and the characters what they lack as written to come alive for us. We just need the writer to not stand in our way with too glaring ineptness.

Verdict on Twilight so far:
What level of ineptness that comes across as glaring will vary among readers of course. So far - as I said I am about halfway now, page 300 and something - Twilight seems to oscillate back and forth across the cutoff mark for me. Sometimes Stephenie Meyer's writing works for me, sometimes it absolutely doesn't. Sometimes I find her characters interesting and possible to relate to, sometimes something they say or do throws me head first out of her story in gaping disbelief or disgust.


I plan to post read-along comments to each chapter, or chunk of chapters. So if there is anyone at all out there interested in my reactions to Twilight, stay tuned.

More HP obsession info dump.

I listed Lupin as my least favorite character among the good guys in my old HE app, because I can't get over his cowardice. And no, not so much the "leaving Tonks to help Harry" thing. Much more because of his cowardice during Harry's year three. The more I think about it, the more shocking it is....

( Why I don't love Lupin as much as I would have wanted to... )

Continued dumping of old write-ups of my  HP- obsessions. Under the cut is my reason for calling Sirius my favorite character. And no, I am not a "marauderfan", I'm a Sirius-post-Azkaban fan and I don't ship him with Remus. I don't "ship" anyone at all, slash or otherwise, although I have enjoyed the shoebox_project . Why not? It's well-written and fun, then I don't care how canon or not it is. ("My Sirius is not like their Sirius, but who cares?")

( Answer to the question Who is your favorite character? in my old HE app )

I once applied for membership in Hogwarts_Elite - I thought it would be fun. They all sorted me as a Gryffindor through and through - more or less unanimously, I think there were one or two Ravenclaws and some who said I was rounded and had a little of all houses in me - which pleased me more. Not sure about the Gryffindor thing myself - it was probably based a lot on my favorite and least favorite characters - and I do have my fair share of cowardice. Not too fond of the whole sorting concept either, within our without fandom. But it was fun, yes it was.

Turned out the membership was not so fun, though. No offence to HE, but it was mostly about contests. I'm not  so fond of that. So I just quietly let my membership expire and made no fuss about it. But I have saved my old application - it does contain outlines of a few of my pet discussion topics in the HP fandom.

Like sorting. I think sorting is a very bad idea. (No, the irony of applying for membership in an online sorting community if that is what I think is not lost on me. But it was fun you see, because they did seem intelligent. Feedback is nice, so I answered their quetions honestly to see how they would  perceive me)

Yet, I am interested in the house traits, and how they are all necessary to make a balanced world, and a well rounded human being. Even though your affinity would be stronger with one particular house, you do need traits from the other houses as well. A person who had no personality traits but the ones from their own house, would be a truly dysfunctional individual!

It was only when I started to think along the lines of imbalance, of what would happen if the traits of a particular house did not exist at all, that it became fun to answer this particular question in the app.


( Here is my take on the Hogwart's Houses in my HE app: )

There are so many conversations I would like to start. Mabye start out with some obsessions first - some of them old, but they won't let go.

Harry Potter was my first and only fandom, but Deathly Hallows was such a letdown. I am so much more cynical now...

It is lovely to be a fan and belong. It is wonderful to take part in conversations and lengthy discussions and rants and analysises where you don't need any expositions or explanations because everyone knows. Yes I miss it. And I will post HP rants here, even those that are now old and tattered - like why I still don't think Snape is a good person, no matter how much he was a secret agent for Dumbldore. (I never doubted that in the first place.) To be card-carrying member of the CIA is not the bench mark of humanity's highest moral standard, you know. And I love Sirius, no matter how flawed he was. You will hear about that too.

Yes, I still think of or talk about the HP characters as if they were real. Told you I used to be a fan, right? That's how it is when you live within.

HP will not be the only thing I shall talk about though. There are other things on the horizon. This post is just to get started.