Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:19:26 PM ---My favorite one I read by him was called "The Guardian," and I can't believe they've never made it into a movie. It was a romance set in North Carolina like all his other books, but there was also a suspense storyline and a bit of a supernatural element that made it different from the others.
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Oh that does sound interesting! I don't peg him for suspense or supernatural elements. "Set in North Carolina" though, that's a hallmark of a Sparks novel, lol. Perhaps I'll look into that one the next time I go on a reading binge.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:19:26 PM ---LOL I would argue that many of my fanfics are "crying and dying books" for cynical adults that just happen to star the Backstreet Boys. Although I guess most of them are pretty sentimental too.
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It's that kind of niche market that we need; more books should appeal to adults and star the Backstreet Boys, lol. You can be cynical and sentimental. I would argue that a bit of sentimentality is required to cut through the cynicism.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 07:30:00 PM ---You're exactly right as well. It's the complexity of it that nags at me. I've even thought about seeking out people read it with a request to look at DEI stuff, but I have also started my non-BSB circle with two friends who are female. So then I think, do I need a guy to read this? Is that where I start? And then I ultimately come back to maybe I should just focus on re-writing this thing first and then worry about these complex issues more once it's been stripped of its fanficness.
I thought about that too or doing the appropriate research/interviewing/etcetera. I also pondered that maybe she is mixed heritage, but her parent who is present isn't the one who is Japanese/Japanese-American because I do understand a disconnect from heritage to a degree.
But then there's a bunch of other things I have to make a lot less "blatantly Asian-influenced in origin" during the rewrite too, so this brings me back to "write it, then worry about complex issues."
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It's a lot to think about! But I agree - get a draft written first, and you can always go back and edit later. If you were to move forward with the publication process, a professional editor could give their opinion on issues of representation and help you with any parts that are problematic.
The nice part about writing fanfic is that our readers expect the stories to be mostly about five white guys, so diversity is not so much of an issue.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 07:35:08 PM ---Oh that does sound interesting! I don't peg him for suspense or supernatural elements. "Set in North Carolina" though, that's a hallmark of a Sparks novel, lol. Perhaps I'll look into that one the next time I go on a reading binge.
It's that kind of niche market that we need; more books should appeal to adults and star the Backstreet Boys, lol. You can be cynical and sentimental. I would argue that a bit of sentimentality is required to cut through the cynicism.
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Yeah, that's the only one of his books I enjoyed enough to read twice. It's been years, but I remember really liking it.
I agree about sentimentality and cynicism. My stories have gotten darker and less cheesy as I've matured, but even the darkest ones still have those lighthearted scenes that are meant to be touching and make you go "Aww." It can't all be brutal and depressing when you're reading a story about BSB LOL.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:51:03 PM ---It's a lot to think about! But I agree - get a draft written first, and you can always go back and edit later. If you were to move forward with the publication process, a professional editor could give their opinion on issues of representation and help you with any parts that are problematic.
The nice part about writing fanfic is that our readers expect the stories to be mostly about five white guys, so diversity is not so much of an issue.
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You're definitely right, they do pay people to put the best possible product out there once it's picked up (and will tell you exactly what is problematic). Gotta love that kind of criticism for money, lol.
lol, I can't imagine anyone is out there going "Oh no, another Backstreet Boys fanfic where they're all mostly white guys! Just once I want one of them to be a different gender or race. At least the slash fanfics have some diversity!" I say this jokingly, but I'm sure there's a non-porn version of rule #34 and these stories do exist.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:57:55 PM ---Yeah, that's the only one of his books I enjoyed enough to read twice. It's been years, but I remember really liking it.
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High praise for a book to be read more than once. I will make note of this the next time I'm in a Sparks-type novel mood.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:57:55 PM ---I agree about sentimentality and cynicism. My stories have gotten darker and less cheesy as I've matured, but even the darkest ones still have those lighthearted scenes that are meant to be touching and make you go "Aww." It can't all be brutal and depressing when you're reading a story about BSB LOL.
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I live for the cheesy and sweet moments in the dark times. You've got to have them, especially because the Boys have a certain degree of cheesiness inherent in them. And beg to have "aww" said about them.
On that note of degree of cheesiness, I actually did take the challenge to feature a scene with my dreaded love triangle trope today. Please enjoy:
--- Quote ---[Brian] smiled, but clutched his heart as he gaped at her. “How could you betray me like this! You’d let me forget Nick? We don’t have to be rivals for his affections, Minako! We can share him!” He started laughing.
“Does he want to be shared?” Minako giggled.
“Think of all of our rituals, worthless without me! Who else would tell you and Nick goodnight before you go to bed or that they love you in the afternoon? What about when the sun is up in the morning?”
“Sure that first one, but you just decided that second one is a ritual after it happened a few days ago.”
“Length of time doesn’t matter!”
“And is that last one even a ritual, Brian? You poke me with your staff and say ‘the sun is up,’ then I hide under the blankets and groan. So you poke Nick and he either says ‘Bri-an…’” Despite laughing, Minako attempted making her voice deeper as she spoke for Nick. “...or does nothing because he’s still sleeping.
“That’s a terrible impression of Nick’s voice! It’s obviously ‘Bri-an.’” Contrary to Minako, Brian made his voice higher pitched. “And of course it’s a ritual. We do it every day.”
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lol. I've gotten an approximated "and stuff like that" plus a "Hi, I'm Nick" impression in today. I'm on a roll with BSB jokes, clearly. (Also, please excuse my underline, it's italics in the document, but italics don't translate to quotes here.)
Now that we've talked about PBox&Co broadly today, let's discuss MBK broadly (or someone else's story) from the jumping off point of genre and tropes. Express your concerns or ideas about whatever!
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