InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Damn the Man!"

tkp (tkp) wrote,
@ 2008-01-06 17:26:00

Entry tags:

ficathon, link(s), reveal

So, I wrote Now The Shining Sun Is Up for hd_holidays. It's a Harry/Draco story about dealing with the long-reaching social and political effects of war.

Although it really needs so much more work, I'm kind of happy with the story. It could've been so much better, really shiny, but as it is it got across the gut of what I really wanted to get across, I think. And that was why I entered the ficathon. You know I hate ficathons and only enter them because I love Lynne and Chrislee. But I've been trying to write H/D for a whole year now, and while I have millions of pieces of things on my comp, I've yet to really spit out one whole thing. For this ficathon I started about five different stories, 30,000 wasted words all told. It was in the last two days I wrote this one, and then the mods of the fest were nice enough to let me send in my second draft (which took another week or so to write, on top of moving) to post. The final draft would've been tighter, with excess talk cut out, and a couple vital moments added--but if I'd've had the time, I wouldn't rewrite this fic, just polish it up a bit. In TKPspeak, that means I'm a bit proud of it.

In other news, it was bizarre being a part of a fest with anonymous gifts, much less in a fandom I'd never participated in. Since no one in H/D fandom knows who I am anyway, I thought it wouldn't make much difference if I was anonymous or not, and that the fest would be a good way to get the story out there without having to wave my arms and say, "look at me!" Makes it weird, though, when people think they know who wrote it. Especially if they think it was mistful, which was flattering and also weird and also worrisome (i.e. I'm inspired by her writing! But am I "inspired" too much?). At any rate, it was pleasing and surprising the way people responded. It wasn't a mega hit or anything, but I don't really think the unpolished nature of the fic merits that. But there were people with really thoughtful comments who really appreciated what I tried to do with the story, which warms the cockles of my heart. (Not the mussels of my heart, though. Or even muscles; that's so purely clinical.) Since I've never participated in a fest like this before, and since I know no one in the fandom, it was weird to watch the comments trickle in--I kept wondering where they were coming from and who they were. Kind of like when I wrote Oroboros, the commenting on which was a surreal experience completely. In other words, I'm glad I did it, even if I've been stressing pretty much four months over it.

So, all five of you who read H/D, pls to be letting me know what you think, if you're so inclined as to read. I'll be reposting it on IJ in the next few days.

Next up is anelith's H/D, which I <3 so much I need to stop talking about it and just finish it!

(Post a new comment)

only_passenger
2008-01-07 02:38 am UTC (link)

i know nothingof hp fandom, so cannot say one intelligable thing about any relating-to-that-fandom thing.

i can say, however, that i entered my first ficathon just recently (ruuger's "buffy is the hero, damnit"). it fucked with me, but good things happened. i began writing a story about a month in advance (i was supposed to be writing mainly about buffy and faith), and without meaning to got about 25,000 words into a story that, when its done, will be huge, but was clearly not going to be finished by the 'thon deadline.

i held out hope until the two-day-before mark (and see how tidy that relates back to your post?) and wrote gemini, which barely hits the required 1k roof for the 'thon but which i'm actually pretty okay with, given the frenzy it was written in, and the response was also good (which is always a nice layer or icing to top a thing like this off.) read it if you have a minute. i don't know if you've ever read anything of mine before, but this is so short there's no commitment to it.

and can i say how happy i am that i can get your ij posts on my lj f-list?

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tkp
2008-01-07 06:05 am UTC (link)

Oh, thanks for linking that! I have read your fic before, some really hot B/A stuff, and I keep meaning to read more except I'm a slacker and a loser. I really enjoyed that. I'm interested to see what the longer thing you're working on is.

Ficathons stress me out SO much. But I figure, if I can't get myself to write anything at all, stress is better than nothing! I'm glad that for both of us it resulted in something positive!

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only_passenger
2008-01-07 02:23 pm UTC (link)

the longer thing is not going to be postedat all until its done. i'm owrking reallyclosely with my beta on it and it's my main focusas far as fic writing right now, but what was supposed to look kinbda like gemini (in that it would be sort of a shortish character study of the two of them ad the what if type stuff) developed some big plot, and i thought it had enough teeth that it dersved to have the time dedicated to it.

when i do post it, i'll be sure to give you a heads up.

xoxo,
s/

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	lilithilien 2008-01-07 02:42 am UTC (link)
	I found you after following the trail after the reveal, since after "Now The Sun Is Shining Up" I want to read everything else you've ever written. I was so impressed by the thoughtfulness of this story, which goes so much deeper than the vast majority of the post-war fics out there. (Reply to this) (Thread)

	tkp 2008-01-07 05:54 am UTC (link)
	Oh, wow, thanks! I'm so flattered you took the time to find me. It makes me sad I haven't posted any more H/D, but I'm working on several things, so there might be more in the future. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	germaine_pet 2008-01-07 03:51 am UTC (link)
	Welcome aboard the insane train! :D (Reply to this) (Thread)

	tkp 2008-01-07 05:47 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! Also, yay! (Reply to this) (Parent)

	(Anonymous) 2008-01-07 10:09 pm UTC (link)
	Your fic was of those I enjoyed most during this fest. Thank you for sharing. alex-s9 at LJ (Reply to this) (Thread)

tkp
2008-01-08 05:41 am UTC (link)

Thank you so much!

Shucks, I thought I made up the very busy and important line, but now I do remember Bridget saying it! It's weird how you can just absorb something like that and it becomes so ingrained in your subconscious you forget where it's from. Thanks for pointing that out!

(And now I'm thinking weird Bridgety Draco thoughts. Hmm. He does not need to be vacuuming in tummy tuck underwear, brain, no he does not!)

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	(Anonymous) 2008-01-08 08:23 pm UTC (link)
	Well, that would be something new for him! Alex (Reply to this) (Parent)

kestrelsparhawk
2008-01-07 10:37 pm UTC (link)

So... is it okay if I friend you? Love your IJ, and love your writing. And laughed like crazy at the Buffy?HP character displacement, even though I know nothing about buffyverse...

And don't worry; I never thought you were Mistful (even if she'd been in the contest.) I did try to figure out which of the really brilliant writers I've run into who were in the fest you might be. Which is definitely not because you don't write as well as she (and I agree with your assessment of her) but because your styles are not the same, imo.

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tkp
2008-01-08 05:38 am UTC (link)

More than okay. I assume you're the same kestrelsparhawk from LJ who wrote Squib. I keep meaning to leave a comment telling you how much I loved it, but I kept wanting to reread it so I could leave adequate fb.

I'm glad you feel that way, about the difference in styles. I use a lot of difference styles according to the fic--sometimes it's dense and poetic and packed with meanings and other times it's light and spare to let the plot shine through. While it's nice to be able to be diverse, I feel bad sometimes, like I don't have my own voice. But anyway, that's just me whining--I do have it, it's just not so immediately recognizable as some.

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kestrelsparhawk
2008-01-09 03:28 am UTC (link)

Yes, I'm the same on LJ and IJ. I think IJ allows more friends, however, in free accounts, so I may move my center of hangout here (which I planned to anyway because I loathe the LJ management). The ideal is to post both places till handling the exodus shakes down.

Thanks for liking Squib! comments always welcome at any time -- I've discovered I'm a shameless addict for people praising my writing, probably because it doesn't happen much. I'm putting my first novel together for market, and my writers' group is busily ripping it apart line by line to make it perfect. I WANT them to do that, but sometimes it gets... overwhelming. So I'm glad I wrote the two whole H/D stories I wrote this year, just to hear that yes, some people like what I write.

I was interested in your difference in styles. When I was in hs and writing, and early college, I always sounded exactly like whomever I'd been reading recently. But if you write what's appropriate to your fic, you're not derivative, and you have your own voice. If you have kids, you might talk differently to them than you do to a phone marketer, but both of the voices are indubitably your own.:)

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tkp
2008-01-10 12:53 am UTC (link)

-Oh, LJ management. I hope they crawl naked over bottlecaps.
-Good luck on your novel! I want to be a writer too, I'm just nowhere near so far as having something to show people.
-I did the sound-like-who-I'm-reading thing, too--still do, to some extent. But I try to do it consciously. Like if I need something to be dry and ironic and delicately stated, I will go read a bit of Jane Austen beforehand. But the point is not so much to imitate her style as to remind myself of several techniques that may be put into service of the ideas I'm trying to convey. So what comes out isn't Jane Austen, but only exactly the tone that subject or concept demands. I hope that makes sense. Apparently I need to do meta on this, too.

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kestrelsparhawk
2008-01-15 03:57 am UTC (link)

"Crawl naked over bottlecaps." Mmmm, love the image.

I'm posted more on lj now, and need to transfer those posts over here. A massive deterrent is that every time I click on any window you need to write in, an error message comes up with an offer to debug. I end up calling it "you f--er" and such, which is not conducive to useful discourse. Especially with a computer.

I'd love to hear more about your reading writers to have some of the sound of them. I think that's a great idea; I never turned it around to acquire it on purpose, but I'm going to try it.

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tkp
2008-01-15 06:06 am UTC (link)

Don't know what the deal with IJ is. Seems to be all sorts of bugs. Sorry you're having trouble posting.

I read your post on lj (obviously) and really enjoyed it--again, hope you don't mind me adding my 0.02.

I did a post that mentions reading writers in order to develop a certain style, here. However, there's a lot of other stuff there too, and overall it's mostly about Buffy the Vampire Slayer fic--but I use the methods mentioned therein for both original and fic.

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	lexi1690 2008-01-08 12:02 am UTC (link)
	I loved your fic! I feel rather silly for not realizing that you wrote it since it is totally obvious now. I'm looking forward to your next H/D! (Reply to this) (Thread)

	tkp 2008-01-08 05:30 am UTC (link)
	Thanks! So glad you feel that way. ;o) (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Anonymous)
2008-01-09 07:02 pm UTC (link)

Hi again tkp,
I am here from

hd_holidays where I first read your stunning "Now That The Shining Sun Is Up". I commented there as

calanthe11 (changed my name in the meantime). Please let me tell you again how much I enjoyed this story. I love this kind of redeemed-but-still-really-him Draco and a Harry trying to *see* and understand that there is so much grey between the black and white. Really - you conveyed so much that I care about and love about H/D in this story, it's quite amazing.

This is actually a post to ask: May I friend you? :-)

All the best
Vaysh

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	(Anonymous) 2008-01-10 12:16 am UTC (link)
	Hi again - öhm, I figured out this syndicated thing, and now friended you as a syndiated feed. I do hope this is okay, tkp. - Vaysh (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	tkp 2008-01-10 12:36 am UTC (link)
	No, that's excellent. I've friended your Vaysh journal--should I friend calanthe instead? Vaysh is all in German... (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	(Anonymous) 2008-01-10 12:46 am UTC (link)
	Thanks for friending :-). Vaysh might be the alright journal, because it is going to be more HP-centered. I haven't figured it all out. But I promise there will be some English-language posts appearing there, too ;-). (Reply to this) (Parent)

(Anonymous)
2008-01-09 11:09 pm UTC (link)

This is a simple plea to please post "Now the Sun is Shining Up" on your IJ. I just could not get to all of the holiday fics when they were originally posted, and once I finally got to yours the link at the com is dead. Based on some of the responses I have seen I would love to read it. Sorry for the anon post, I don't have an IJ. I am not a writer, but a fervent H/D lover.

Again, PLEASE post. Thanking you in advance.

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	tkp 2008-01-10 12:37 am UTC (link)
	Thank you! I didn't know it would come down so soon! I've reposted it here and dropped a line to the mods of the fest so they can change the link. Thank you very much! (Reply to this) (Parent)