(no subject)

[aadler]

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I bought a digital scale yesterday, and found that I actually weigh five pounds less than I thought. This is encouraging, as is the fact that I’ve lost thirteen pounds since returning from Afghanistan (and this after the five-pound scale correction has been factored in). I have almost six weeks to tone up for the physical fitness test necessary for admission to DLI. I can almost do the two-mile run now in the prescribed time, and continue to improve … and, with 60% being the minimum passing score, I’m over 90% for sit-ups and nearly 80% for push-ups. Six weeks should be more than enough.

I’ll be calling the Russian lady this evening to schedule a time when we can meet, a get-together that got delayed by preparations for the cruise and then by the cruise itself. I told my ex-wife that I was going to tell the woman I’d been ‘dating’ that things had changed, that the basis of our tenuous relationship had been altered … and Susan advised that I think some before doing that. This is a cue I should note; I don’t doubt that Susan is serious about our own growing relationship — she’s never casual about anything that pertains to feelings — but she is equally serious that we not move more quickly than the state of things between us can support. It helps, I suppose, that I’ll be leaving for the long DLI assignment; within six weeks, my duties will impose a necessary distance between me and the Russian lady, and likewise there will be no need for Susan and me to be wary of (or withdraw from) a too-quick process of involvement.

At WriterCon I volunteered to beta a story for one of my LJ friends, and I’m done with that. Along with exercise and packing for the move to Monterrey, I need to get serious now about working on the two stories I’m supposed to be doing in collaboration with sroni. In the coming year and a half, I’ll be more careful about finding the proper balance between my military duties and my writing (I was more lax than I should have been about duty while I was in Afghanistan), but I’ll still try and manage three or four stories a year.

And, now that I’m back from the cruise and no longer need to have my birth certificate actually on my person, I’ll be applying for a passport. Along with getting one for my son; while I was on leave in Germany, I would have been happy to pay for his plane fare so he could be there with me, but it wasn’t possible then. Should another such opportunity arise, I want there to be no impediments.

Another day gone. More to come.

Fanfic writers meme (ganked from invisionary by way ofbellatemple)

Keyboard or hand writing?

I love word processors for editing, but for the past three years I’ve done all my composing in longhand. It just works better for me.

Right now, my basic procedure is to write out the entire story, beginning to end. Sometimes, during composition, I’ll re-read the text to date, to reconnect with the flow and style, and usually when this happens I’ll do some minor editing while I’m at it. The two basics never change, though: write out the whole thing before keying it in for editing, and finish the story I’m on before I start another one.

I keep planning to attempt a story via keyboarding alone, see if my new composition approach will work as well as handwriting but with the addition of speed and fluency. So far I haven’t done it yet, I’m still sticking with what I know works.

Beta or no beta?

Usually not, but with occasional exceptions. Some years ago I notified butterflykiki the moment I posted “None So Blind”, requesting feedback, and used what she gave me as a guide for online revisions (some of which happened so quickly that she thought she’d misquoted me, when she went back to take another look). Additionally, I requested and received beta feedback on “Beg to Differ” from nwhepcat and bellatemple, and made some alterations based on their observations.

In general, though, I do my own proofreading and editing. Things sneak by me ― one reason I’m continually revising my work ― but overall I’m pretty reliable at turning out a clean product.

Plot?

I don’t necessarily think in terms of plot, but I suspect that the way I do think includes plot as a default. I just keep pondering the story I intend to write until it feels like it has the right shape.

The advice I gave my kids when they were looking at trying to write was, “Know what story you’re writing before you start.” Pressed for further details, I said, “By the end of the story, something has to have changed. It may be only what the reader knows ― the characters may not have changed at all ― but something is different. And it should be a meaningful difference.” I see that as pertaining more to story structure than to plot, but it may come to the same thing.

Title?

I love having a title that properly matches the story, and I love a title that sounds good. Usually not a problem for me (at least IMHO), but occasionally I have difficulties. The story now known as “None So Blind” has had three previous titles, and I’m still not satisfied that the one I have really fits the story.

Also, for the past year I’ve been trying to get a title for each letter of the alphabet, partly for the fun of it and partly for the challenge. So far I’m still missing J, K, O, Q, U, X, and Z (though I have titles picked for J, O, Q, and X, with corresponding stories yet to be written).

Smushy or smutty?

Neither, really. I’m more into action, character exploration, and/or plot twists. Relationships may appear in my stories ― about 25% of the time, by quick estimate ― but the ’ship is seldom or ever the point of the story.

As for smut, what for? Sex is stupid unless one is personally engaged in it. And (as experience will attest) sometimes even then.

Summary?

Not really. I post what I call “teasers”, but I hate to give away anything about a story before someone has read it. Anyone who knows me either knows I write readable stuff, or knows that my style doesn’t appeal to them.

Funniest fic?

Hmm. Not sure. Until recently, “Come to My Window” would have been the hands-down winner, but there are decided comic moments in “… Than Meets the Eye”, “Rorshach”, and “First Do No Harm”. All told, probably “First Do No Harm”.

Most popular fic?

Before I started posting in LJ, “In Ev’ry Angle Greet” got the most notice and best response (including a Halo Award). After I got active in LJ, “Beg to Differ” garnered the biggest response, although ― because I was more widely known by then ― “First Do No Harm” was pretty popular also. By a different standard, “All Ye Who Enter” has received more awards than any other of my stories.

Most fun to write?

“First Do No Harm”, no question. I got a blast out of writing that one, and still enjoy reading it. Something about the use of Harmony as a main character just brings out the giggles in me.

Best and Worst?

Again, hard to say.

Best? I actually think “Shadow and Substance” ― only the third story I ever did, clear back in 1999 ― to be one of my best, though it got surprisingly little notice or response. (And “Point of Focus”, my first ever Buffyfic, remains effective in still-growing retrospective.) As far as actual best writing, though, I’d say I accomplished more in “Solitaire Till Dawn” than in any other story.

Worst? Even harder. None were really bad, but some stories, even though the writing in them was solid, just never quite felt right. One such was “the Still, Small Voice”, the same is true for “Twilight’s Last Gleaming”, and I wasn’t as satisfied overall with “None So Blind” as I might have hoped. All told, I think “Twilight’s Last Gleaming” ― though effective as a story ― was my least effective Buffyfic.

Coulda been contenders?

I already mentioned “Shadow and Substance” as one that got very little notice in comparison to its (in my opinion) inherent quality. I also think that “Each Proud Division” and “the Human Touch” deserved more recognition than they got … although, in fairness, both of those came out at a time when I had been relatively inactive for quite some time, during which period the fandom demographic had changed and not so many people were familiar with my work (and fewer yet bothering to track new offerings). I also was a little surprised that “Seeking the Woman” got so little notice and response; I thought it was pretty darn good, but it never seemed to register on anyone else’s meter.

Strengths

Characterization. Dialogue. Action. (I’m a natural at action; dialogue, on the other hand — especially canon/character voice— doesn’t always come easily to me, so I keep honing it.) Plot twists. Attention to canon (I have transcripts of every episode of Buffy and Angel, and periodically use them to check facts).

Something else that works for me, I think, is that I’ve gradually built an interconnected, self-contained world. Yes, it’s Buffyverse; yes, it’s carefully consistent with canon. Over the years, however, I’ve produced a substantial back-history within my own stories, and these various extra-canonical facts frequently refer to and sometimes explain each other.

Weaknesses

Someone else could probably better answer this one, because if I know something is a weakness, I tend to avoid it and focus on the areas where I believe I’m solid. There are habits I have, though, that I’m aware might pose problems for, or be annoying to, some readers.

I love to hint at things rather than saying them straight out. I’ll make all the facts available, but the reader has to reach these conclusions on his/her own. (As an example, in “Whisper of a Moment”, I never explicitly stated the two most pertinent facts about the protagonist: 1. who she actually was, and 2. where she came from.) I do this, and love doing it, but I can see where it could be irritating to some readers.

I seem to have a thing for people using false names; that’s a theme that keeps cropping up. I also see that several of my stories are based on deception and betrayal, which may indicate something about my personality. And ― as recently brought to my attention by mandylancast ― I have no less than six vampires-with-souls (or more humanlike than is consistent with canon); this is out of thirty stories, and each of these atypical vampires was explained, but it’s still a trend that needs to go no further.

Dirty Little Secrets?

As a Buffyfic writer, I can’t think of any. However, the first fanfiction story I ever wrote ― in 1973 ― was a multifandom crossover (featuring characters from various unrelated television series, movies, and science fiction novels) that was so horrendously bad that I won’t even let my own kids read it. Even though they’ve seen all my other fanfic renderings. And there’s no point in anyone trying to ferret it out, because this was long before the Internet came about, and the story (blessedly) was never posted.