yourlibrarian, posts by tag: writing - LiveJournal

1) This birdy knows it's pretty and wants to show off for you, and this dog welcomes entertainment.

2) Curious what others think of this debate about present vs past tense writing? It seemed odd to me that fanfiction was cited as an influence since I see very little of it. There was a Reddit thread debating it in fanfic but what jumped out at me was this thought:

"My english teacher once said that present tense is becoming a usual, recurring thing because it's getting more and more common for books to get turned into scripts for movies."

3) Universal Music Group Has Copyrighted The Moon

4) Thanks to some recs, I am giving Carl Hiassen another try and I do agree that Skin Deep is a much better book than his latest. The pacing is pretty snappy and there's a complex plot. However, I find that it's depressing reading. Supposedly he's writing satire but the fact is that it's full of truth. I don't know if the Miami Commissioners all have accounts in the Caymans (though it wouldn't surprise me) and no one should be surprised by police corruption. But given the way it centers on a doctor, it's not at all entertaining reading how the medical profession might as well be the police union in the way they cover up problems, allow people to go to different states to practice despite horrific behavior, and can literally kill people.

5) How corrupt government and cheapskate telecom companies put people at risk:

"Fast forward to this week, and the same story played out once again. About 40% of AT&T's wireless network simply didn't work in the wake of Hurricane Ida (unsurprisingly due to lack of backup power at many cell sites)…AT&T also provides much of Louisiana's 911 infrastructure, and that failed too, leaving many locals unable to call 911 services. "



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1) I usually write and post meta here on DW first before moving it over to AO3, but while reviewing an old meta I realized it could use an update, and went ahead and drafted a new post there. It's titled What's in a Word? about variations in what is called fanfic.

2) Speaking of meta, adding to the signal boost of this very relevant post: "that currency thread" about how fandom is not an equal place and that inequality could get significantly worse.

One thing that it didn't cover but which I think is also relevant is that kids generally don't have money. ( Collapse )

3) Speaking of youths writing The pandemic is killing print products at student news organizations, as well as many digital operations. Hardly surprising given the past year of remote learning and the fact that pro publications are also dropping print in stages, with some weeklies who formerly did very well compared to dailies, shutting down entirely given a combination of fewer in-person pickups and advertisers closing up shop.

"[I]t’s not just American student journalists dealing with the fallout from the pandemic. Research from the U.K.-based Student Publication Association found that fully half of its student newspapers fear they’ll never be able to print again."

This made me curious –- how many of you subscribe to print publications (whether for work or pleasure?)

4) I have been watching Prodigal Son in a sort of background way, particularly given the show is now cancelled. One thing that struck me is that the predominance of wealthy characters in TV shows isn't just a combination of aspirational programming and advertisers who want to target the upper middle class (things I've talked about before). It also makes story telling much easier. ( Collapse )

5) AO3's announcement about the new 75 tag limit on posts has revealed a lot of user opinion about both tag overuse and how much people hate the practice of collecting drabbles or other short works all together in a single post as chapters instead of as separate items in a series (or as its own collection). I'm on their side myself –- it not only creates a wall of tags but it's useless in finding what you're looking for if only one post applies to the tag I'm subscribed to.

The post has over 11,000 notes on Tumblr within 48 hours and I only saw one comment that isn't celebrating the news. I suspect this announcement may become the first 1000+ comment post on the AO3 blog too. What surprised me was the following:

"god i know this is mean but if you use anywhere close to 75+ tags then it is not a good work. i know that in my heart of hearts as someone who has been on ao3 for over a decade and reading fanfics for 2 decades. please learn how to tag, and summarize, your fics. huge indicator of your writing and editing abilities sorry."

Without a doubt a wall of tags is offputting, but I don't know as I ever connected this to someone's writing ability. Am I alone in that? ( Collapse )

But I have my doubts that many writers think of tags as functional things as opposed to being ads, something on a label, rather than a path leading to the work. Of course, I'm probably particularly sensitive to this because of my past profession but I do wonder -- how would you describe a well loved fanwork and are the tags you would use for it much the same as the one the creator chose?



Comments at Dreamwidth .

1) Hummingbird feeds her babies while humans make use of a cat nanny.

2) We finished off three seasons in one night. I finally saw the end of Ted Lasso, which was nice enough but to me the real peak of the season was in the previous episode. It seemed well designed in case it was a one season show, so I am kind of curious where S2 will go. It could be fun or it could be that the show is better in small doses as it could become too stylized.

We also saw the end of Wandavision. ( Collapse )

3) We saw the end of The Nevers ( Collapse )

4) One thing that I found very interesting in the Claudia Black interview were her comments on the following:

Why is it given so much importance in courtship? Or in rom-coms? It's the tension created from what people don't say that then create this incredible catharsis at the end when these two ostensibly adult people finally actually express their true feelings for each other.

It's like, why do we spend two hours witnessing ostensible adults not communicate in a healthy fashion? I think the way we tell stories and the storytellers that we are on set, we have a huge responsibility.

I also wonder about this. I find it frustrating in both canon and fanfiction, though at least in canon there's an obvious reason for it, which is that it creates a way for an obviously suited couple to be kept apart for a good while. (Of course, not all stories are well written enough to make it clear this couple actually is well suited –- too many just seem to shorthand this or have the audience assume that of course they are because they're the leads).

I suppose in fanfiction this could also be the case for longer stories, but at least for shorter ones it may be a very simple plot or the writer may be resolving the canon lack of communication. But I certainly see plenty of people who like and look for pining stories or follow other tags about miscommunication. And I'm curious where the attraction lies in this?

5) Micky Dolenz has released a new album covering songs written by Mike Nesmith. Doing a cover album can be a tricky thing because you're always running up against the familiarity, and often preference, for the original. It's even trickier if they were songs on albums you performed on as well. At least half the songs are from albums Mike did solo or with the 1st National Band. But I think there are some standouts in the collection. ( Collapse )




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1) You can take your horse for a stroll if you get a speed boost, but a duck has a turbo waddle. At the other end of the spectrum you have Hobbiton for cats. Also I am amused by these two cats baffled by fish images . Lastly, you only wish you could dance this well.

2) I decided to resubscribe to Disney+ now instead of May because Mike's viewing time is so limited for the next month that I figured we wouldn't be catching up very fast. As a result I was finally able to see Episode 1 of Winter Falcon. ( Collapse )

3) What stood out to me about this question -- as to what we will actually remember about the pandemic years -- was this study:

"On January 29, 1986, he distributed a brief questionnaire to his Psych 101 undergrads, asking for details about how they’d learned—the previous day—about the cataclysmic failure of the Challenger. He collected answers from 106 students. In the fall of 1988, he tracked down 44 of the students and asked them to answer the same questions again. The results were striking: 25 percent of the subjects were wrong about everything, scoring zero. Half of the subjects scored two or less on a seven-point scale. Meanwhile, most of the students felt confident about their replies." ( Collapse )

Also, interesting details about the study of people detailing personal narratives fitting into the same 6 story arcs they categorized in literature.

4) There was a curious note in this already curious story about drunk men revisiting college residences.

"I’ve never heard of a woman returning to her college haunts as a way to offer penance, and generally, I think the type of forlorn, misty-eyed myth-making about college being the best time of your life is most often proselytized by sad, stodgy dads. Women certainly reminisce on their untethered glory years, but rarely, I gather, do they miss it enough to trespass onto private property. “You’re probably right that it’s a male-centric phenomenon,” Gabe agrees. “I was actually asking around in my social circle, and while the men kind of nodded in various understanding ways, the women furrowed their brows and had physically adverse reactions to the idea. I think it’s a coming-of-age thing for a lot of guys.” ( Collapse )

5) I found this profile of Mary Pickford's character to be remarkable. It speaks very little of specific accomplishments, though it doesn't overlook them, but provides such a clear look at her personality. It seems a rare thing to read.




Comments at Dreamwidth .

1) Animals like spa days too: horses and cats and dogs and hedgehogs. Also, a cat discovers a glass table is…not quite as it remembered.

Also, utterly loved this Halloween display.

2) I tried out Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's Mycroft and Sherlock mysteries. I was not taken with the first novel. Not that ACD did not himself write improbable and less than well resolved mysteries, but that was definitely an issue with the first story. Plus one of the great things about Sherlock is that he does not spend his time pining after a woman. ( Collapse )

3) Great commentary on the absence of something basic in romance stories. I agree that the general practice tends to keep readers and viewers ignorant of what can help them.

4) An article that questions what superhero films are teaching us missed the mark in some ways. ( Collapse )

5) Just some vague thoughts about audience autonomy in response to art/storytelling. I recently finished The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware and had a Harry Styles song stuck in my head. ( Collapse )



</poll-24756> Comments at Dreamwidth .

1) The final prompt for the marchmetamatterschallenge was about the process of taking part in this challenge, surprises or renewed memories, for example. I feel like I've written about some of these things all along, so I wasn't sure what else to say. But I found I was thinking about the latest comment I've gotten on one of my posts: "I'm surprised these reviews don't get more attention and love because I think it helps to understand the history better." ( Collapse )

2) Speaking of the Challenge process, last week I saw a general reminder about the Fannish Next of Kin option for all AO3 account holders. By coincidence this is something I did for myself just a few months ago, and it's a pretty simple process. Feel free to ask if you want to know more.

3) Fic Journal of the Plague Year seems like such an interesting project, though there are only a few contributions so far.

4) Bookstores always seem to have it bad but it would be encouraging if more people started trying out eBooks, since those offer so many more opportunities to new writers (or indeed, older writers whose early works are otherwise out of print). And especially since the publishing industry is so resistant about doing anything online, it's not like they've ever wanted to promote digital publications.

"Writers now have a lot more time on their hands to write. The end of the crisis may find literary agents inundated with fresh manuscripts. The problem is that by then, there may not be enough agents — or booksellers or publishers — left in the business to absorb all the submissions."

Unless they go direct to self-publishing, which is doing very well despite the suggestion that ebook sales are declining or flat. (Those numbers only come from a limited number of publishers and overlook total sales).

5) Others may have already heard of this, but I had the odd problem of wanting to laugh and awww at the same time when I heard of the dachshund who sprained its tail from excess wagging from all the time it was now spending with its owners.





Comments at Dreamwidth .

1) I don't know how anyone played video games before YouTube or Twitch were available because, even following a written guide, I'll find I can't make something happen that it's telling me should be happening. It's always such a relief to be able to see someone else's gameplay or explanation of how something should be done.

Which is to say that I'm making my way through LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2. It took a bit of adjustment. ( Collapse )

2) On another note, I hadn't realized Cosmo the space dog was a Marvel character until this game. That cameo in the Collectors Room made more sense. But I found myself reminded of the actual Soviet space dogs. ( Collapse )

3) I quite liked how this article discussed why Rainbow Rowell's book Wayward Son did and didn't work as a piece of either pro fiction or fanfic. ( Collapse )

4) You know all that license plate tracking that law enforcement does? Well anyone else can too, and here's what it can tell you.

"The new market for plate readers is residential neighborhoods, with purchases being made by home owners associations and others who feel they have a right to know who's traveling in and out of "their" neighborhoods.
…
The system could see photos of the car parked outside the owner's house; the car in another state as its driver went to visit family; and the car parked in other spots in the owner's city. Each was tagged with the time and GPS coordinates of the car."

5) Our faces have begun to deform. "Today, our skulls are marked by high, narrow palates, short lower jaws and, often, insufficient space…this anatomy encourages mouth-breathing, which can, in turn, lead to under-the-radar sleep difficulties and a whole array of problems ranging from behavioral challenges, anxiety, and depression to cognitive issues. These conditions often cost thousands of dollars to correct through orthodontics, dentistry, therapy, and even surgery to remove tonsils and adenoids."

It may also lead many kids to be misdiagnosed with autism or ADD.





Comments at Dreamwidth .

1) Chances are that most people reading this will have been around during this time and thus would be less surprised by fairestcat's post about the OTW and WisCon. But it's still a bit eye opening to think about how much has happened in 10 years.

2) An article about multiauthored works raised some points about writing that one rarely sees. (Use this link if you're blocked by a paywall). ( Collapse )

3) An informative read about how the news media abandoned the working class decades ago in pursuit of high income readers.

"Today, the upscale news audience is the normal objective of news organizations’ marketing efforts. Nearly every mainstream news organization’s media kit claims they have an above-average audience of high-income, highly-educated consumers and influencers.

As the labor beat was left to wither, newspapers pursued more upscale readers with workplace “lifestyle” columns featuring the lives of young professionals and their concerns about office gossip, job interview strategy, expense accounts, and office party etiquette…Data on readership from 1967 to 1997 from the Newspaper Association of America reveal a sharp decline of the “downscale” readers the industry rejected."

4) Not much to say about Derry Girls whose 2 seasons' worth is still only 6 hours. But it was a fun watch and I'd recommend it. We also watched "The Kid Who Would Be King" which was less than inspiring. The extras discussed how the director had been plotting some version of it since he was a teenager after having seen Boorman's "Excalibur" film and "E.T." I'm afraid this is no E.T., though whether or not anyone could do that these days is also questionable since there's been a lot done since those times. The kids were good actors, as was the actor playing young Merlin, but I didn't find it very engaging. It was just all too pat. The final battle was rather fun but that was about it.

5) I came across this post in my Google Alerts – what on earth are "Tumblr books" and why is Yahoo excerpting posts on Tumblr to include them in Yahoo News?





Comments at Dreamwidth .

1) I was reminded of my recent Author's Notes poll when I saw this: On Epigraphs and Epilogues. The fact that so many people also cited the pro forma baby epilogues reminded me of yet another conversation on that as well.

2) Came across two articles of interest about music fandom recently – the growth of Bohemian Rhapsody fandom and an Interview with Nancy Baym:

"Historically (and in many places and events now) music was an activity people did together as part of ritual or communal events. You can think of religious rituals, parades, or laboring together in fields. In these contexts, it didn’t make much sense to think of some people as audiences and others as musicians because the roles were more malleable and because the music was not the point of the event but part of it. Once music becomes a rarified activity that experts at work perform for paying people at leisure, the concepts of audience and fan start to make sense. And once those people are cut out of the interaction loop when mass media make the performers inaccessible, audiences turn to each other, continuing the communal ritual engagement, but without the musicians in the community. "

Also from Part II: ( Collapse )

3) When in a store recently I started to wonder – what is your favorite item(s) of wearable to shop for? ( Collapse )

4) Given what's happening in different African countries as well as the broad censorship in China, one wonders how long it will be until similar policies are enacted in the U.S. as a combination of revenue source and social control.

5) I liked the approach of discussing how writing for fandom prepared a new pro author for her career. It's curious how the focus on fanfic writers gone pro has evolved, as this article in the Atlantic focuses on a different team talking about how they manage their writing partnership.






Comments at Dreamwidth .

1) I saw that Smart Bitches was asking readers what social media platforms they use. Reading the responses reminded me that I so rarely see people talk about how Dreamwidth being an RSS feed reader is an enormous benefit! I read content here from standalone blogs, news services, LJ, Tumblr, AO3, and so on, all in one place. It made me curious –- how many people here use feeds? There seems to be a very long list of them active but only about 250 have more than 9 readers (and who knows how many of those subscribed are even still active on this site).

2) Speaking of feeds, I'm pulling back from using Tumblr. I'll keep my account for use with things like Buffyversetop5, but between DW and PF and trying to learn what I can do with Hubzilla, it's a bit much to be checking all these accounts daily. As a result, I've started some feeds at Hubzilla and a few new ones here to keep up with accounts I was following there.

3) Over on Pillowfort, someone linked to a post about authors complaining about being exposed to reader insults and negativity about their work. ( Collapse )

4) I recently watched the film Monster and quite liked its approach. ( Collapse )

5) Nabbed from Petzi, I find this story about workplace intrusion into employee activity, particularly the gathering of data on them, seriously alarming. ( Collapse )





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