On reading and writing (but not arithmetic)

[generic_hero]

I think I may have finally stumbled upon an original fiction story I can actually write. That means I may finally make good on my promises to post some. It also means my fanfic readers may be waiting for a while.

On a side note, I've been reading too much Dumas. But he's so good! If you haven't read anything of his, I recommend steering clear of The

Comments

[aldecoary]

*applause* Screw the fanfic people and follow where your mind is wanting to go. *is completely selfish...and kidding*

Hm, I loved The Count of Monte Cristo and didn't care much for musketeers. Of course, I read them at different ages, so that probably affected that.

Ah, I've thought some similar things myself in regards to your hypothetical. And honestly, I want to try to do both. One, I have to make a living somehow, so perhaps I'd be able to do that with some of the less strenuous writing and for the fact that it's so enjoyable and easy. And yet, I have so many stories begun that are straining to be completed and are almost something I can't just stick to the other. These are the stories I still get confused myself thinking about, but I know soemthing's there. That's also why I wanted--disregarding everything realistic, of course--to write under two names. One for the genre-types I love and one for the psychological, the-readers-won't-want-to-hear-this kind that I am already writing the notes for...

[generic_hero]

Well now, don't build up your expectations. I don't want you to be disappointed. It's quasi-fantasy, in that it takes place in a Europish place circa about 1500, but not a realy place. It'll be stupid.

What ages did you read them at? I read them all around the same time, and while I liked The Count, I found it was lousy in comparison to the rest of his works.

Well of course the ideal is to do both, but that defeats the purpose of the hypothetical. You were only supposed to be able to pick one. Art or a living.

[aldecoary]

Yup, I'm sure I'll hate it excessively and wonder why I ever encouraged you in the first place. Don't worry, I can thoroughly hate it.

Read the Musketeers when I was 14, the Count around 16, I think. Maybe/probably 17. Heck, I plain need to reread the Musketeers because I missed a lot.

Well, when put that way, art.

[generic_hero]

Ow...

I really enjoyed the Musketeers. I liked Iron Mask better, though.

See, I'm tempted to say the same, but I might be lying.

[tawnykit]

In all honesty? Both. I don't care about being remembered, and I certainly want to write something great. However, I don't want to have to resort to something that might be unpleasant in order to survive, and I've much too many bunnies to settle down with just one great idea and work on that. I think what I'd do is work mostly on the first, for survival and entertainment, but in all my free time (which I would so have!) I'd focus on that one great work. I don't know if it'd work, but those are my thoughts on the matter.

[generic_hero]

You too? Aw, come on, the point of the hypothetical was to choose. That's the challenge of it... You don't care about being remembered?

[tawnykit]

Yup. :P

Not really. I care that what I do is remembered, but not necessarily that I am.

[generic_hero]

Fine, cheat my hypothetical.

I'd classify those as the same thing.

[tawnykit]

I was skimming through your old posts (looking for this post in particular, actually, because I've been reading Dumas lately) and I stumbled upon your hypothetical again. Giving it further thought, my answer is still "both" (can't get a straight answer, huh?) but in a different way than I put it before. Instead of writing many works, most of which are for fun and a few of which are deep stuff that most people won't get, why not incorporate both into one piece? My current work in process (on and off, actually, thanks to Real Life) is a grand adventure, filled with magic and sword fights (I haven't yet decided if primitive guns have been created yet, but there may be some of those too) and characters that I, at least, love; in otherw words, all sorts of stuff that would entertain the masses (not for that purpose, but because that was what the story said needed to happen next, and I, slave that I am, obeyed). At the same time, I'm hoping that there's also something more there (I won't say that there is, because one can't critique one

[generic_hero]

Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

Yes, I'm alive. There's a post-it on the inside of my door reminding me to get to mailing people, but for whatever reason that simply hasn't materialized. I'm on co-op for school, and I might even make a journal entry to the effect of explaining that (and more of my absence) at some point in the forseeable future.

It's an interesting hypothetical, though, made more interesting in hindsight. I was reading a mixture of pulp and classics at the time and it seemed to me a discernable line between that which was art and that which was not. I think I've since come to realize that no such line exists, and I think that's to an extent what you've touched upon. My thoughts anyway.

In any case, take this as notification that I'm not dead.

[tawnykit]

That's good. ^_^

You really should send 'mail once in awhile, even if all you say is "I'm not dead," or some such thing. (I get worried, even if that's silly.) But I understand that you are very busy -- I thought I remembered that you were in a school that didn't let out when others do, or some such thing.

Hm, that makes sense. There's definitely a line between some, but others take that line and chuck it out the window.

Noted. Don't worry yourself too hard, y'hear?