I've been thinking.
Uh-oh, you say.
Bathroom cozy enough? you tease.
Tough, I say.
It's a hard burden to bear, to be witness to my idiosyncracies, I point out.
With another collaborative series under way, and updates to so many quality fics appearing almost on a daily basis, I've been thinking about writing and the different writers on Pens. I'm not comparing writing styles because I don't know how to do that. Nor do I want to start categorizing "good" or "not so good" writers. I was thinking about what makes us write. None of us are making a living from this, there are as many reasons for writing as there are usernames on the board; yet I believe there is one commonality ... that we like doing it. Take away the enjoyment of writing and there's no point writing. My point is, if a writer is invested in a particular fic or chapter, it shows. It really does.
Fresh on my mind is also Katharyn's comment over on Sidestep, where she explained why she took 8,000 words to describe a scene that some writers might condense into 2 sentences. The reason is she
enjoys writing about the lives of her characters. I could sense the pleasure, the love and care she has for her characters, and it's all because she enjoys writing about them. I'll leave any further thoughts about Katharyn's observation in her thread; why am I even bringing this up in
your thread? Because I find the same with your writing ... you are enjoying it. Yes it's frustrating and a hard slog and sometimes you just can't get motivated (not to mention all those RL knocks that you've had to overcome during the course of this chapter -- enough to break anyone), but I say this from having been privileged enough to be involved in this fic, that you find pleasure writing it and it translates to a majestic and beautiful chapter ... your readers get that. They really do.
Craft. You put so much love and care into this fic -- the characterizations, the setting, the movement, all the small details, and of course the story ... this chapter unfolds like a play, it is so clear in my mind what is happening. It's like you're carefully crafting some masterpiece, that you want every particle to be just right. The way you presented the dream is masterful ... you didn't seem to be just
writing, you were
painting the words on my screen. In technicolor. With sound. And I felt the effect as you intended it.
I find it harder to write coherent fb for this chapter, because of its emotional impact and also if I start quoting parts that spoke to me, it'd be a very long post. Some random observations:
The Macbeth references
I got heavy “Out, damned spot! Out, I say!" vibes out of the entire Tara trying to wipe her blood off the picture frame scene. It was intense and I could almost taste the desperation in the air.
Quote:
Tara's eyes moved down to her index finger and she slowly, carefully removed the digit from the glass. An unpleasant shiver ran through her body. The intersecting point of the two cracks was directly over Willow's heart.
gulp. A small detail, but a very powerful image.
Then later
Quote:
Screw your courage to the sticking place
I want a t-shirt that has that printed on it. First Buffy quotes Poe, then the Bard.
I'm getting the classical education that I missed at school here.
BuffySeveral people have commented on how un-like canon!Buffy your Buffy is. How full of compassion she is. How she brings a tea bag and cocoa powder to Tara. How she knows when to mix humor to lighten the dark moments. In other words, the perfect friend. What strikes me is how you've stayed away from making her a clichéd Mary Sue -- she is more big hearted than the Buffy we know (and love or hate), but she isn't a stereotype. Her flirty Buffy face, the sharp chap to bring Tara out of her dream-recollection induced haze, her outburst about
Quote:
Monkey in the middle Buffy
is realistic, but not OTT.
TaraI get the feeling that she has put herself through the emotional wringer for a year. The guilt that she's been piling on herself has moved away from the mere facts of the argument, it's become so intricately tied into how she feels about Willow, what she wants and fears that she will never have the chance to be with Willow because of what happened with Bob.[sup]1[/sup] It's this fear that caused the dream isn't it? Well partially, cos I'm no expert and i can't say for certain we know about why we dream. Or the reason behind why something happens in a dream.
I'm not saying she's been an emotional wreck that she can't function for the whole year. But I can imagine her thought processes, how the convos with her mom and Donny would have affected her. And most of all, how she would have replayed each email, IM and convo with Willow in her head. By coming back to Sunnydale, and after the happy day she spent with Willow, hopefully she's on her way to working out some of the issues that have been bothering her.
Quote:
"You really love her, don't you?"
"Yes," Tara replied without a moment of hesitation, "I do."
"Tell her, Tara. She needs to hear it from you."
I'm looking forward to this. Tara and Willow need to talk. But you know this already.
Not much Willow in this chapter, yet her presence is omniscent. LOL about her sleeping through an apocalypse, there are people like that. As for the last part, where Buffy recounts to Tara that Willow gave up on her. Whatever terrible depression she suffered, she has obviously recovered somewhat. Again I'm looking forward to learning how bad it was for her, just as I want to know what made her snap out of it.
Smooth
You asked me throughout the writing process about whether the chapter read smoothly, whether one section transitioned well to the next. Yes, yes and yes. There's a lot in those 10k words (13b alone) but everything made sense, every word and phrase flowed smoothly to the next. You don't need to worry;like I have been saying, you're enjoying the writing process, you know your material so well, there are no stops and starts.
Wow, I didn't start out to write this much. This is how impactful your story is, and I'm grateful I get to experience it. Um, I'm not sure how to end, so I'll just stop here, okay?
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[sup]1[/sup] The Argument
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