Time, time, time/ see what's become of me...
Rated P - for Pratchett references.
It's weird, but I haven't been so into a Round Robin as I am into "Reality Strikes" for ages. Except for the beginning of "It Came From The Shed", which has suffered badly from the interruption of Dexcon and then just general feelings of malaise. It reminds me of my early Subreality days, when I was just establishing myself in the community. Everything was new and shiny and full of possibilities. Then as time went on, and we had repeating variations of the same plots, I admit to getting a bit bored. New ideas, like "Fallen", like "Eco-Challenge" (which suffered from the usual killer of RRs, being too big), like "Age Of Apocabyss", like "Much Ado About Subreality" (and when are we getting back into that one, hmm?) seem to be getting fewer and fewer. I like to be challenged in my writing, especially in my RRs. I like trying new things, getting my head around new ideas adn concepts, and playing around with things. I can write party-banter and heroic death with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back - not to say those are bad things, but they're safe, they're easy, and they've been done a million times before. Sequels have never really interested me that much: I used to get annoyed at the "epics" of the science-fiction/fantasy genre, where you had six books in a series and had to buy the lot if you wanted the whole story. And then a sequel would come out a few months later. I don't much like being milked. Most of those stories can be told in half the wordage - a lot of it is just empty description and self-indulgence. Stephen King is the same - there's a great short-story writer buried under all those damn 'epics' of his.
This feeling of not wanting to revisit - or rehash - old territory is why I haven't written a sequel to my Excalibur fic "Justice", even tho' luba begs with my those damnable puppy eyes *grins* every time she emails me on other business. What I had to say in that story, I said. It's only when I leave something unsaid, unfinished, or a character unfulfilled, that I get the urge to follow-up. Like with "Suffer The Children". Phil Kingston just doesn't want to fade away into obscure retirement in Yorkshire - he's demanding another go. But that one's still stewing, and I don't want to spoil it with premature discussion. ;)
I think it's also why I've bounced aroud so many different books within the comic fan-fiction genre. I started with Gen-X fic, then moved onto X-Men, and TCPs. After that came a couple of Endless stories, Excalibur, Hellblazer, and Midnight Nation. One Buffy fic. :) I have notes for a Neon Genesis Evangelion fic that I can't write until I see the anime again, and I've been dabbling more with original stories. There's a drive, an urge, to keep stretching myself, find something new to get my head around. I hope there never comes a time when I stop wanting to experience and learn new things, because I find something very sad and tragic about someone limiting themselves that way. We have so much potential - and I'm not just talking writing here - and we do ourselves a disservice if we don't make the most of it. make the most of your life and your opportunities, because you may not have them again. Don't put things off 'for another time', because the chance may not exist later.
I was thinking the other day, as I was in the shower, about lost chances and the Trousers of Time. When I graduated from high school, my top two choices for my tertiary education were a Bachelor of Arts degree at Melbourne University, or a Journalism degree at RMIT. I qualified for both, and I went with Melbourne Uni, which was my first choice. I met BRM in my first year, did my honours degree, became (eventually) a court registrar. But what I was wondering, as I stood there in the shower, thinking over my life, was what I would have been like had I taken my second choice, the journalism degree. I wouldn't have met BRM, or the friends I had at uni. Maybe I would have travelled. I probably wouldn't have done karate, or gotten into comics and fanfic (or maybe I would have earlier), or met the friends I have now. But if Ponder Stibbons is right, I did make that choice. An alternate version of me, anyhow. And that person would no doubt be a very different person from the one I am now. Not necessarily better, or happier, just different. I'm not wishing for things to be different, but it is an interesting thought to follow. A lesson in taking the opportunities that arrive, and not sticking by what's safe or secure just because you're afraid.
I used to blame a lot of my problems on the cliques at high school, and lately, on BRM. Neither is respsonsible for my life - I am. And wishing things were different in the past, or clinging to old hurts doesn't do anything to help me in the present. The past is past - the only power it has to hurt you is the power you give it. Acknowledge your mistakes, but don't make yourself a martyr to them.
That's my thought for the day. :)
It's weird, but I haven't been so into a Round Robin as I am into "Reality Strikes" for ages. Except for the beginning of "It Came From The Shed", which has suffered badly from the interruption of Dexcon and then just general feelings of malaise. It reminds me of my early Subreality days, when I was just establishing myself in the community. Everything was new and shiny and full of possibilities. Then as time went on, and we had repeating variations of the same plots, I admit to getting a bit bored. New ideas, like "Fallen", like "Eco-Challenge" (which suffered from the usual killer of RRs, being too big), like "Age Of Apocabyss", like "Much Ado About Subreality" (and when are we getting back into that one, hmm?) seem to be getting fewer and fewer. I like to be challenged in my writing, especially in my RRs. I like trying new things, getting my head around new ideas adn concepts, and playing around with things. I can write party-banter and heroic death with my eyes closed and my hands tied behind my back - not to say those are bad things, but they're safe, they're easy, and they've been done a million times before. Sequels have never really interested me that much: I used to get annoyed at the "epics" of the science-fiction/fantasy genre, where you had six books in a series and had to buy the lot if you wanted the whole story. And then a sequel would come out a few months later. I don't much like being milked. Most of those stories can be told in half the wordage - a lot of it is just empty description and self-indulgence. Stephen King is the same - there's a great short-story writer buried under all those damn 'epics' of his.
This feeling of not wanting to revisit - or rehash - old territory is why I haven't written a sequel to my Excalibur fic "Justice", even tho' luba begs with my those damnable puppy eyes *grins* every time she emails me on other business. What I had to say in that story, I said. It's only when I leave something unsaid, unfinished, or a character unfulfilled, that I get the urge to follow-up. Like with "Suffer The Children". Phil Kingston just doesn't want to fade away into obscure retirement in Yorkshire - he's demanding another go. But that one's still stewing, and I don't want to spoil it with premature discussion. ;)
I think it's also why I've bounced aroud so many different books within the comic fan-fiction genre. I started with Gen-X fic, then moved onto X-Men, and TCPs. After that came a couple of Endless stories, Excalibur, Hellblazer, and Midnight Nation. One Buffy fic. :) I have notes for a Neon Genesis Evangelion fic that I can't write until I see the anime again, and I've been dabbling more with original stories. There's a drive, an urge, to keep stretching myself, find something new to get my head around. I hope there never comes a time when I stop wanting to experience and learn new things, because I find something very sad and tragic about someone limiting themselves that way. We have so much potential - and I'm not just talking writing here - and we do ourselves a disservice if we don't make the most of it. make the most of your life and your opportunities, because you may not have them again. Don't put things off 'for another time', because the chance may not exist later.
I was thinking the other day, as I was in the shower, about lost chances and the Trousers of Time. When I graduated from high school, my top two choices for my tertiary education were a Bachelor of Arts degree at Melbourne University, or a Journalism degree at RMIT. I qualified for both, and I went with Melbourne Uni, which was my first choice. I met BRM in my first year, did my honours degree, became (eventually) a court registrar. But what I was wondering, as I stood there in the shower, thinking over my life, was what I would have been like had I taken my second choice, the journalism degree. I wouldn't have met BRM, or the friends I had at uni. Maybe I would have travelled. I probably wouldn't have done karate, or gotten into comics and fanfic (or maybe I would have earlier), or met the friends I have now. But if Ponder Stibbons is right, I did make that choice. An alternate version of me, anyhow. And that person would no doubt be a very different person from the one I am now. Not necessarily better, or happier, just different. I'm not wishing for things to be different, but it is an interesting thought to follow. A lesson in taking the opportunities that arrive, and not sticking by what's safe or secure just because you're afraid.
I used to blame a lot of my problems on the cliques at high school, and lately, on BRM. Neither is respsonsible for my life - I am. And wishing things were different in the past, or clinging to old hurts doesn't do anything to help me in the present. The past is past - the only power it has to hurt you is the power you give it. Acknowledge your mistakes, but don't make yourself a martyr to them.
That's my thought for the day. :)