Words

[dar_jeeling]

Rec me some books, people! I'm currently browsing through Amazon and if you feel that there's something I should absolutely read, let me know, please. *makes the puppy dog eyes*

Also, if you know about French fanfiction, give me links right now because my skills in that language are rapidly deteriorating. It took me five minutes to remember the word for yesterday. Yesterday. Oh, the utter shame.

And finally, a question for the writers. Do you write a fic and send that first draft off to beta or do you type it out, let it sit on the hard drive for a while, second-guess yourself, change stuff and then send it off to beta?

Comments

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

- Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
- Der Name der Rose von Umberto Eco
- Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
- White Teeth by Zadie Smith

These are just the ones right next to me on the shelf, all recommendable (although White Teeth has a really, really weak ending; the rest's fine).

As for fic --

depends. I've sent chele74 very rough drabbles of mine, and shecorrected a few things, we brainstormed, and I re-wrote it, essentially (all for 100 words, I know; sad), but now, for example, with the genderswitch -- well, Auburn and I have gone over each part at least twice before sending it to Beta One, modified, and sent it to Beta Two.

[dar-jeeling.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the recs. I've heard of the first one (Hmm. I could even borrow that from a friend, now that I think about it.) and read the two middle ones, but White Teeth would be completely new to me. I hate weak endings with a passion. Is it still worth it?

Having a co-author read your parts...like a preliminary beta?

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Having a co-author read your parts...like a preliminary beta?

Hmm?

Well. Hmm.

We've outlined a LOT of things together so the end results are an odd mix of both our styles -- I'm actually very interested if people can tell which parts were written by whom. (Not that anyone will care, I guess. *g*) Having the writing partner who hasn't transcribed the outline look over it would not qualify as a beta, though; still a co-writer, I think. A beta is someone who, for all her good advice and input and all the love and adoration one may harbour for her, is still secondary to the actual author.

A part that was written by only one of us -- I guess that could be called a preliminary beta, although I still wouldn't, for the reason mentioned above: equal footing, equal importance, equal say on what happens and how it happens.

As for White Teeth...I enjoyed the characters and the descriptions tremedously; they are vivid, made me angry and happy and annoyed plus everything in between -- 'tis not an easy thing, not even for an enthusiastic reader like me.

My advice: Don't buy it, borrow it. Go to the library, ask if a friend got it, or go find an online excerpt to read. If that strikes your fancy, then go on.

[dar-jeeling.livejournal.com]

Not that anyone will care, I guess. Aww, I wouldn't have put it that bluntly. More like: It will be really, truly fantastic, so nobody will care who wrote what. ;)

I always feel that a long comment deserves a long reply (Why, self, why?), but my reaction to reading this consists mostly of nodding and going: Hmm. Interesting.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Fair enough.

No need to reply to this. (But then, it's short, anyway. & ;-))

[dar-jeeling.livejournal.com]

*snorts* I'll reply anyway. Just to spite you! (Don't mind me. I woke up like that.)

You know, this made me think of someone's author's notes or essay or something in the XF fandom. God, it's been years, but I think it was...Plausible Deniabilty or Parrot? Anyway, moooving on.
It was about the writing process and how finding a co-author who matched her/his style was difficult, which made me wonder if it's really impossible for two authors to create something if their styles differ wildly.

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

The icon...ah, yes.

Plausible Deniabilty

I loved her!

It was about the writing process and how finding a co-author who matched her/his style was difficult

Huh. I guess it is; Auburn and I seem, oddly enough, made for each-frikkin'-other -- we have written the same line of dialogue a couple of times now, and there are only few instances when we really drift apart. Our AIM conversations are funny to us but very boring to a third party, I assume: There's a lot of "YES, EXACTLY!" and "Right! Muuuch better, just like that!" and "GTMA, baby". We've accused each other of having stolen the other writer's brain more times than I can count. She's a much better writer than I am, and I could never match her lyrical, dramatic style...but when she writes humour fiction, she and I just come together beautifully.

if it's really impossible for two authors to create something if their styles differ wildly.

Yeah -- at least in one genre, see above. Although, of course, you could switch POVs; one author takes one, the other author the other -- I know that there are authors like that in fandom. Or you could use alternate timelines switching back and forth...there are quite a few possibilities, but of course, you're right in so far as the two authors have to agree on the basic treatment of the subject.

[dar-jeeling.livejournal.com]

You're having a lot of fun writing this, eh? (Can I use "eh" in this context? Am I even allowed to use it if I'm not Canadian? Moooving on.)

Hm. Different authors for different timelines. Or for old/young character of coice. Which could work if the character had changed quite a lot. Interesting concept.