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[caraloup]

I’m borrowing this from lbilover and hope to see more people joining in. I’d really love to talk more about writing, how it works and what it means and all that - but I sort of needed a prompt to get started on it.

Comments

[frodosuz]

Cara

[caraloup]

Hi Suz, thanks so much for your detailed reply!

If you really feel like taking a look at my Han/Luke stuff, most of my online stories are at Elusive Lover, named after the zine that I published back then. Some of these fics are quite old, and I'd probably cringe if I read them again now... The more recent pieces are listed under "new fiction".

It would be interesting to compare those stories to your F/S fic, and to experience your evolution as a fanfic writer! Writing about the world of Star Wars must have been quite different than writing about Middle Earth!

Oh, you bet! Star Wars isn't Star Trek when it comes to the make-up of warp drives, but there's still a lot of science involved, and of course the universe as a whole differs in countless ways from Middle-earth. Also, I had to completely Americanize my English when I first got into writing Han/Luke. :) Beside those aspects, my approach to writing stories was quite different, too, so moving on to LotR involved a huge shift in every respect.

As I read your description of your

[ex_lbilover]

I'm so glad you did this meme, Cara. It's fascinating to get a glimpse into the creative processes of other writers, to learn how they are different from or similar to my own. I'm honestly amazed that you haven't been writing LOTR fanfiction longer than you have, and that you started out writing Han/Luke! I love the snippet that you posted and really look forward to reading the fic that it came from. Lyrical is definitely the way I would describe your writing (and insightful- I always come away from reading one of your fics feeling that I've gained greater understanding of the characters and their world). It's interesting to me that the two truly lyrical writers who have done this meme (you and Igraine) have both commented that you have to restrain yourselves from overdoing the imagery. It seems such a tremendous gift to be able to write that way, it kind of surprised me to think there was any downside to it!

Thank you! This was very interesting to read.

[caraloup]

Thank *you* so much for getting me started! I really love to discuss writing with others, but most of the time I feel too self-conscious to just post my thoughts - and a questionnaire like this one is a tremendous help, too. Without it, I'd probably just come up with scattered and unfocused notions.

I love the snippet that you posted and really look forward to reading the fic that it came from.

Thank you for the encouragement! Unfortunately, the story consists of nothing more than a few opening paragraphs at this point, and I've been sidetracked into all kinds of other stories since I wrote those. But I do hope that I'll manage to get back to it sometime soon.

It's interesting to me that the two truly lyrical writers who have done this meme (you and Igraine) have both commented that you have to restrain yourselves from overdoing the imagery. It seems such a tremendous gift to be able to write that way, it kind of surprised me to think there was any downside to it!I'll definitely look up Igraine's post now! As for the downsides: yes

[slender_sail]

puddles of sheer bliss
*releases a number of small squees* ;D

I happened to devour your SW fics. It was all so different that I almost got jealous by the end, but if I may write this in a comment here, they really helped me get through a very confusing and painful time.

Actually, talking about myself makes me feel incredibly awkward, so I’d rather avoid that... On the other hand, I’ll happily gnaw your ear off once I get into things I’m passionate about - and that probably says more about me than a proper introduction anyway. :)
This is how I think about other people & myself, in fact. Have written so many manifesto's on this subject and don't wish to become too repetitive, but yeah, I'm always like "show me the passion".

Cheers for !intelligent!Sam.

Can I add a new question to the questionnaire? Been thinking of it for long: "How do you feel getting inside the head of so many characters?"

[caraloup]

happened to devour your SW fics. It was all so different that I almost got jealous by the end

Different from my LotR-stories, you mean? To me they differ in many ways, but I couldn't claim objectivity. In any case, I'm glad to know that these stories worked in a wholesome way for you. :)

Can I add a new question to the questionnaire? Been thinking of it for long: "How do you feel getting inside the head of so many characters?"

I'm really not sure how to answer this, as there are so many things one could say about it. The answer that makes the most sense to me is that it's very much like singing songs and pieces from different periods and backgrounds. It's always a great pleasure if my voice can learn to carry a tune that doesn't belong to me. (I'm ignorant of the proper terminology, but I love to sing. :) Does that make sense?

[slender_sail]

Another aspect that speaks to me is that their love is based on friendship, trust and respect, and grows from there over many almost imperceptible stages until it embraces everything they are. (And I think this is true whether you see their relationship as romantic/erotic or not - that’s almost a minor point, really.)I think that's so different, something which always snaps me with surprise. The idea we have in our culture is that love is inherently based on some sort of abuse, which makes "friendship" impossible from the point of "crossing that boundary". But here, we see those "imperceptible stages" while the friendship and respect always remain

[caraloup]

I think that's so different, something which always snaps me with surprise. The idea we have in our culture is that love is inherently based on some sort of abuse, which makes "friendship" impossible from the point of "crossing that boundary".

I guess I wouldn't necessarily, or in all cases, call it "abuse", but the common ideas about love and romance certainly involve notions like "opposites attract" -- i.e. fundamental difference and barriers to understanding. Though I guess you could argue that once jealousy is considered a sign of deep passion (rather than possessiveness or lack of trust), we're only one step away from abuse...

Now, I would prefer Frodo & Sam to have nothing to do with a "romance" per se - and what I mean by this is that "Romance" is a craft, a skill by which we can draw on the feelings experienced in True Love, and apply them in a relationship (perhaps even marriage), with a partner who is not "OTP" - lol. It involves a lot of fantasy and identification with that fantasy, and for this reason I feel that the

[slender_sail]

Certainly not abuse in the sense of violence, but in using the other's weak spots, "love is war" and all that.
I don't know, I'm still rather torn on the jealousy issue... ;)

The pattern of Beren & Luthien? Whoa, a Silmaril no less! And "The Dead That Live". Obviously there's more than a standard... quite the opposite: a matter of strange fate, no?

Numenorean marriage... umm, because it was bound to be an idealistic culture and they were fans of Eonwe, and... :D So they might have in time forgotten what he really meant about "the perfect partner", and seen it as something like asking Eonwe for permission to marry someone who was also of the same faith... OK, now I'm speculating wildly. Numenorean marriage, because it would have developed "high standards" about everything - and sometimes when a high standard is in place, one risks blocking out the truth and replacing it with an image.