Saturday, May 17, 2008

The Write Stuff...

I started writing this blog as an exercise in developing my story-writing skills. In retrospect, I see that I write as I talk. With little continuity, but with much passion. Which doesn’t always make for a bad story. Just not a very thorough one. I also think it means that I’m turning into my father, who always had a story to tell. Generally it was the same story he told the last time, but for people new to the tale, it was usually pretty entertaining but usually pretty shallow.

But I think my lack of depth in this writing has to do with the fact that I see this as unstructured writing. I tend to write my entries as more off the cuff rather than concentrated efforts. I come home and write, then immediately post. There’s little self-editing and even less time in trying to decide on a topic.

But I shall keep writing and, hopefully, keep honing my skills.

However, this is not my first foray into writing. In fact, I have been writing for years. I started writing the ‘Great American Novel’ when I was high school and plugged away at it through my college years. Then I set it aside, realizing that I was burnt out from it. And besides, art was my creative calling.

Or so I thought.

I love words. It sounds weird to say that, but it’s true. Why limit the way you express yourself to a few standard adjectives? So I began to read authors that felt the same way I do. And when I read books, stories, articles where I thought the author could have turned the phrase differently, I began to think that I could write better than them.

And rather than just bitch, I decided to put my money where my mouth is.

So I started writing again. But not my book. Not yet anyways.

I write fanfiction.

There. I put it out there and so I cannot take it back. I mean, didn’t someone once say that if something is on the Internet, it’s on there forever?

I’m actually quite embarrassed about the fact that I write stories based on other people’s ideas.

Which is not to say that I am not a good writer. On the contrary. Yes, I am tooting my own horn, but I happen to think what I have written so far has been quite entertaining. And based on the amount of reviews I have gotten, other people agree.

But it’s not something I tell too many people about because, well, as I said, I’m embarrassed about it. People who have read what I have written have invariably asked me why I feel that way and the truth of the matter is that I wish I was more original. I mean, I’m taking other people’s ideas and developing them. I have the easy job. Developing characters that are well-rounded and believable is the hard part. Plus, I already have a built-in audience – people who like the same characters I do.

Bu let me explain how I started down this path…

It all started with the movie ‘Hellboy.’ I love that movie, don’t get me wrong, but there were some parts of the film that I felt needed to be addressed and corrected. Like the fact that he has way too many cats. That all seem to interbreed. There are laws restricting the number of animals one can own before you must get a kennel license. It varies from state to state, but I know that a government run agency would not condone such actions, no matter how super-secret their top agent is.

So, no massive amounts of animals in my version. And no Hellboy/Liz Sherman romance either. Of course, then the story is going back to the Mike Mignola version, isn’t it?

But the truth of the matter is, as I sat in that darkened movie theater, I developed a massive crush on Hellboy.

See, this entry is all about embarrassing.

But I loved the fact that he was all about self-effacing, self-depreciating, and plain ol’ sarcastic. Plus, those washboard abs and leather pants. I wanted to give him a world where he still might be different, but where he was appreciated.

So I wrote a story. And then set it aside and went on my merry way. But then another one began to formulate in my head and I wrote the tale. This time, however, I began to look for other stories in the same vein. I could not be the only one doing this.

And I found that I was not. By a long shot.

Fanfiction.com is filled with tons upon tons of people who write about their favorite movies, television shows, comics, books… It’s almost crazy that people get so impassioned about what entertains them.

But still, I didn’t post.

Then, came ‘Pirates of the Caribbean.’ I remember walking out of the theater, being totally blow away by the movie. I had always thought of Johnny Depp as a good actor, but he was… breathtaking with dreadlocks and kohl eyeliner and swishy hands.
And soon an army of teenaged girls felt the same.

Bleh.

I then watched the second movie. I loved the first so much that I was eagerly anticipating this latest installment. And it didn’t disappoint. In fact, I like it better than the first. Namely because it introduced a truly despicable character named Cutler Beckett who is truly just the rottenest man you can imagine and it gave me scruffy and dirty and sexy James Norrington.

Oh, I liked him in the first movie, but only because he was the only truly decent person in the whole flick. And despite the white wig, there is nothing like a man in uniform.

BUT…

…I like the bad boy version ever so much better.

That voice. Those eyes. Yum. What a tall, cool drink of water.

I had heard rumors of his demise in the third film and quickly went to work to correct that possible scenario. I wrote. And rewrote. And edited some more. And after all that work, I decided that someone – anyone – needed to see what I wrote. So I created an account and published the first chapter. As the hits started to accumulate and the reviews started to fill my inbox, I felt giddy. So I kept going with my experiment.

Then, the third movie came out. And the rumors were indeed true. And I was pissed. Oh, I’m not going to bemoan the fact that they killed off my favorite character. But I am going to bemoan the fact that they killed him off in the manner that they did. James Norrington deserved better.

So I wrote a new story. Which got me more positive response than the previous ‘book.’ Which blew my mind because the previous tale I had labored over in the writing and rewriting for a good part of a year or so before I had the nerve to post it. This time around, I was posting as I went, having no idea where the tale would take the characters.

So then I posted the second ‘Hellboy’ story I wrote. Smaller audience, but not less enthusiastic.

Then I started a third ‘Pirates’ tale, this time focusing on Cutler Beckett. Still working on it. And have no idea where it will end up.

I still have not posted the original story that started it all. Maybe someday.

My Fanfiction webpage

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