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writerslounge2011-10-20 08:34 pm
fannyfae) wrote in writerslounge2011-10-20 08:34 pm
Meme & Introduction.
It has been a while since I have written an introduction. If it seems a bit choppy or strange, I apologize in advance. It certainly is not intentional. I have been writing online both here on Dreamwidth and Livejournal and another site for a while now. I tend to write in multiple genres from historical fiction set in Egypt to fantasy as well as action / thrillers as well as steampunk and even Westerns. I don't really care for Westerns, personally, but it was fun at the time.
1) Why Do You Write? Because I have been listening to my ancestors since I was very young. If I don't take dictation, they will drive me insane. They tell me stories, they have opinons and dialogues and tell me things that I later find out are varying degrees of accurate - depending on their point of view. Being a writer and filmmaker has been something that has been a driving force most of my life. If I don't write every day, it is as if something is missing. It's central to what I do in media, so writing for me is something that I jealously guard and take up whenever I can.
2) What Sort Of Things Inspire You? I am inspired by good music, history, folklore, different cultures, magic, political intrigue, and interesting and very deep real people and situations they get into. I am crazy about good filmmaking, and most of what I enjoy the most does not come out of Hollywood because that Classical Hollywood Style. I say that because CHS tends to be too simple, to predictable and formulaic. It has been my personal experience that nothing in life is ever really that simple. In that lack of simplicity is where compelling stories sometimes lie. Sometimes a really good story will hit you over the head, drag you into a place you have never been before in the pitch black and proceed to rip up every bit of sensibility that you thought that you had. If it is done well, it can keep me going a very long time. I am inspired by both fiction and non fiction stories that do these things.
When/Where Do You Write Best? - I tend to have my most successful sessions when I am alone, after everyone else in the house has gone to bed and I don't have college classes, or my work getting in the way. When I am given that ideal time and space, usually in my office and left alone, I can go like that until the very wee hours or even sunrise. I have one co-writer that I work with in some storylines here on DW, LJ and also on Pan Historia. When she and I get into Google chat and run dialogue it just flows. Having that immediate feedback and reaction can really help get into the mindset of the muse. We have a nearly completed screenplay this way, so it has been very effective.
4) What Concepts Are You Constantly Trying To Communicate? The idea that I love to put across again and again is that life is filled with magic and mystery and sometimes inexplicable things happen. I communicate that magic can be real in a very real sense, and having a good, solid, well-grounded background and knowledge of why some of those concepts work and when they don't is key. If as a writer, you can't pull off suspension of disbelief for your readers, or if they roll their eyes because it is too cheesy, you've quite honestly failed. That sometimes those things which are intangible to the eye are still just as real as anything else that surrounds us. Plants don't need to "believe" in photosynthesis in order to turn green. Conversely, humans don't need to believe in the subtle realms for them to be affected by those realms.
5) Do You Find There Are Any Recurring Thematic Elements In Your Work? If there is any recurring theme it is the power of love to overcome just about everything. as well as that the limits to which people will go to seek out power of one kind or another, to gain the upper hand, really are inherent in all of us. I tend to use Joseph Campbell's story structure. (a great adaptation of this concept is in "The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers" by Christopher Vogler. It is admittedly geared toward screenwriters, but it works for just about everything else. I tend to use elements such as the Fae, who are not by the way, cute, gossamer winged little nymphs the size of Tinkerbell but an elder race of beings that are an older, humanoid race, who are not necessarily very nice and can be quite brutal in what their sense of justice within society is about. They are closely related to the Fallen Ones, so I have no problem ripping apart both religious dogma and traditional urban legends. The dominant culture and its mythos has so bastardized the originals that it doesn't even resemble what they were within their cultures of origin. It always seems as if that is what I am trying to do in my writing by attempting to set the record straight.
1) Why Do You Write? Because I have been listening to my ancestors since I was very young. If I don't take dictation, they will drive me insane. They tell me stories, they have opinons and dialogues and tell me things that I later find out are varying degrees of accurate - depending on their point of view. Being a writer and filmmaker has been something that has been a driving force most of my life. If I don't write every day, it is as if something is missing. It's central to what I do in media, so writing for me is something that I jealously guard and take up whenever I can.
2) What Sort Of Things Inspire You? I am inspired by good music, history, folklore, different cultures, magic, political intrigue, and interesting and very deep real people and situations they get into. I am crazy about good filmmaking, and most of what I enjoy the most does not come out of Hollywood because that Classical Hollywood Style. I say that because CHS tends to be too simple, to predictable and formulaic. It has been my personal experience that nothing in life is ever really that simple. In that lack of simplicity is where compelling stories sometimes lie. Sometimes a really good story will hit you over the head, drag you into a place you have never been before in the pitch black and proceed to rip up every bit of sensibility that you thought that you had. If it is done well, it can keep me going a very long time. I am inspired by both fiction and non fiction stories that do these things.
When/Where Do You Write Best? - I tend to have my most successful sessions when I am alone, after everyone else in the house has gone to bed and I don't have college classes, or my work getting in the way. When I am given that ideal time and space, usually in my office and left alone, I can go like that until the very wee hours or even sunrise. I have one co-writer that I work with in some storylines here on DW, LJ and also on Pan Historia. When she and I get into Google chat and run dialogue it just flows. Having that immediate feedback and reaction can really help get into the mindset of the muse. We have a nearly completed screenplay this way, so it has been very effective.
4) What Concepts Are You Constantly Trying To Communicate? The idea that I love to put across again and again is that life is filled with magic and mystery and sometimes inexplicable things happen. I communicate that magic can be real in a very real sense, and having a good, solid, well-grounded background and knowledge of why some of those concepts work and when they don't is key. If as a writer, you can't pull off suspension of disbelief for your readers, or if they roll their eyes because it is too cheesy, you've quite honestly failed. That sometimes those things which are intangible to the eye are still just as real as anything else that surrounds us. Plants don't need to "believe" in photosynthesis in order to turn green. Conversely, humans don't need to believe in the subtle realms for them to be affected by those realms.
5) Do You Find There Are Any Recurring Thematic Elements In Your Work? If there is any recurring theme it is the power of love to overcome just about everything. as well as that the limits to which people will go to seek out power of one kind or another, to gain the upper hand, really are inherent in all of us. I tend to use Joseph Campbell's story structure. (a great adaptation of this concept is in "The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers" by Christopher Vogler. It is admittedly geared toward screenwriters, but it works for just about everything else. I tend to use elements such as the Fae, who are not by the way, cute, gossamer winged little nymphs the size of Tinkerbell but an elder race of beings that are an older, humanoid race, who are not necessarily very nice and can be quite brutal in what their sense of justice within society is about. They are closely related to the Fallen Ones, so I have no problem ripping apart both religious dogma and traditional urban legends. The dominant culture and its mythos has so bastardized the originals that it doesn't even resemble what they were within their cultures of origin. It always seems as if that is what I am trying to do in my writing by attempting to set the record straight.