Fiddles & Irony

[katiefoolery]

So, now my Timothy of the many multi-tasking heads has caught this virus of mine and he is quite inexplicably annoyed.  I suppose I can understand this to some extent, although I find it more amusing than not.  When he first heard of my two days off work, he insisted on catching the virus too.

“Give it to me!  I want two days off work.”

To which I'd reply:

“Get your own virus!  I found this one and I’m keeping it.”

Indeed, the virus stayed quite loyal to me and didn't seem to want to fraternise with my Timothy or even Bindi.  Instead, he-of-the-multiple-heads spent most of the week taunting me with the lovely breakfast to which his workplace was being treated on Friday morning.  Oh, how he was looking forward to this breakfast.  What wonders would be there!  What fun he would have teasing me with the delights upon which he feasted!

Then, yesterday, he finally caught the virus and was unable to go to this breakfast.

There are my irony dollars, hard at work.  Worth every bit of whatever I paid for them.

In writing news, I’m feeling quite happy about my recent decision.  I read over one of my older stories - the first to do well in a competition, in fact - and enjoyed it immensely.  It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot of fun.  It also served to highlight the one oddness about Black Fiddle that’s always puzzled me, viz. Why is Black Fiddle such a serious work?  All of my other stories and light-hearted and slightly humorous.  If you look at my other major work, The City, you’ll find that it’s quite different in tone.  The good blindmouse can attest to that.

So why is Black Fiddle so serious?  There are flashes of silliness and the occasional line that still manages to make me chuckle, but it’s mostly dead straight.  Maybe that’s something else I have to work on.  Maybe I need to find the humour and silliness and bring it out a bit more.

Maybe I should get right back to those scene breakdowns that were so enthralling me a few weeks ago...

Does anyone else experience that, though?  Do your stories all have a similar tone, or do they vary widely depending on what they're about?  I’d be most interested to know.

Comments

[the-kaytinator.livejournal.com]

I think my writing has different tones depending on the subject, while at the same time all being me. If you follow me. Questers is very different in tone from, say, LorF, which is very different from the Dido Darke stuff. But they're all still clearly me, and I think if you gave someone all three, and threw in three other writings by other people, most people could identify the three that are mine.
I used to think this was a bad thing, but I've kind of grown to accept that it's actually good. I can write in different styles, and with different tones, but in the end, they all still come out reflecting my personality. Especially in dialogue. A lot of my dialogue, you could transplant the words to other stories, and it wouldn't be weird for them to say these things. All my characters tend to talk... not the same... they all have different speech rhythms and stuff, and their own jargons and idiosyncracies. But, there's still a sameness about it. And you probably stopped comprehending me ages ago, because I'm being very vague and nonsensical. Anyway... yeah. Octopus gangrene sarsparilla.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Octopus gangrene sarsparilla, you say?

I see what you're getting and I suppose you could probably find similarities between Black Fiddle and Nunnery, for example, but it does feel most odd. I think I'm happier writing the slightly-humorous things than I am writing the mostly-serious things and I'd hate for Black Fiddle to be published, then followed up by The City (in my wildly unlikely dream-world...) only to have people scratching their heads in confusion and wondering what my style actually is.

If I look at the stuff I've written, I think I'd rather be known for my Postcards or Nunnery-esque style of writing than my Black Fiddle one. So I guess I just have to convert Black Fiddle somehow.

And now I am heartily sick of opening and closing italics tags...

[naelany.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* I'm sorry Timothy, I really am, but..... "Shadenfreude" is all I have today, it seems ^_~

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Hehe - well, quite. He got what he asked for and now he's not happy about it. I, on the other hand, have learnt not to take irony lightly.

[naelany.livejournal.com]

hehe

[charliemc.livejournal.com]

So sorry to hear you've got the damn bug, too! (ugh) I can't wait to be over this. I haven't been this sick in ages...

Anyway, I'll keep you in my thoughts. Get better soon! (Be sure to check out this entry (http://charliemc.livejournal.com/209584.html), where I talk about Mucinex. It's really been a big help...)

By the way, are you going to try tackling NaNo this year??? I'd love to count you among my writing buddies! Do think about it, please...

I feel that my writing varies greatly, really. Right not I'm trying something really different and a bit challenging (for me, anyway) -- for the new Writing Circle that Marilyn got going here locally. It's the two of us and two other people, all hoping to write 2,000 words a month on a given subject. Obviously 2,000 words a month is very do-able. (Especially when you consider that NaNo is close to 2,000 words a day!) I'd love to see our little group expand to include others over time... (Maybe some online friends who love to write? Hint, hint!)

You know, you should consider friending Marilyn (mistressmarilyn). She's the true writer in our home -- and I suspect you two would love discussing writing back and forth. (smile) Not trying to be pushy -- just a thought. (Marilyn is always reluctant to push herself on my friends, so...)

Again, feel better! If you're anywhere as sick as I've been and am, I feel quite terrible for you!

(hugs)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Hehe - I just followed the link in that entry and the graphics on that site are hilarious! At the moment, I'm completely in love with a spray that clears everything right up for hours. It's amazing. I'm thinking of doing some sort of tribute to it, because if it hadn't existed, I would hardly have been able to breathe through my nose while I was sleeping for the last couple of nights. Stupid viruses...

I'm not sure about NaNo. Every time I try it, I falter after about the first thousand words or so. Instead, I was thinking of setting myself a personal goal for November and going with that as my own personal NaNo-esque-thing. But there's still almost a month to go until it starts, so I might change my mind. You never know.

I always do love your themed icons - you seem to have one for every occasion!

[charliemc.livejournal.com]

I must know NOW about this spray!!! Is there any chance at all that it's available here in the states??? I have an absolutely must-attend event tomorrow, and I'm practically dying here. I mean it. (sigh)

I'm so stuffed up right now that it's pitiful. I'll go to this event even if I have to crawl, but I'd prefer not to scare the other guests. (It's a $75-a-plate, $1,5000-a-table thing, so it would be nice if I wasn't horrid...) Honest, I'd kill for that spray at this second! Or close, anyway. (grin)

Do consider NaNo again. Obviously you need to do what works for you, but it certainly helped me get 50,000 words on my novel last year. And will hopefully do the same this year, too. (smile)

As for my icons, that's pretty much why I have the extra 100 -- so that I can have one for every occasion. You wouldn't believe how often they let me down, though... (heh)

(hugs)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

It's called Nyal Decongestant Nasal Spray (http://www.pharmacydirect.com.au/PD_ProductOrderingInformation.asp?PID=10814&PLID=2) and I'm not sure if it's available over there. It really does work amazingly well but I'm sure most decongestant sprays would work just as well.

[blackswans.livejournal.com]

Isn't marriage all about sharing everything??

Even the flu?

;)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Well, this is true. On the other hand, my Timothy has fallen victim to several colds and things throughout the year and he didn't share any of those with me. So I'm being quite incredibly generous in comparison, really. :D

[alankria.livejournal.com]

I don't think there's anything wrong with having one serious story. If that's how it flows for you, that's how it flows.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Well, that's the issue, I think - do I like it? Does it really flow for me? Is this one of the things that's making it hard to do the re-draft? Am I just putting too many excuses in the way of said re-draft?

All in all, it's raising rather too many questions. :D

[alankria.livejournal.com]

Hmm, I see your dilemna.

Try thinking of the story - the characters, the world, the plot... How does it feel? Does it feel like it needs more humour? I think going with your feelings for the story will hopefully lead you to the right solution.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

I'm intrigued by this work The City that's mentioned, but I can't find it on your website...

[alankria.livejournal.com]

Oops, it's in the longer stories section. Silly me.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Yep - in Works in Progress. Although the progress is a little stalled at the moment; Lenore's a very draining and demanding character to write.

[bunhusband.livejournal.com]

Excuses?? You?? No surely not...:)

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Quiet, sicky.

[blindmouse.livejournal.com]

Do your stories all have a similar tone, or do they vary widely depending on what they're about?

Mine definitely all vary, but I think my style is becoming more and more defined. And I think, too, that for me the variation is a tension between two different tendencies, and every story has more or less of one or the other. One is quite earnest and honest and features characters being self-reflective - although the tone is quiet gentle, no extreme emotional heights or depths. And it tends towards alternate world fantasy. The other is slicker and more comical and far more dialogue-focused, and very much set in the here-and-now. If there was an ideal at either end, it might be something like Obernewtyn vs. Buffy.

I don't really know which style I'd prefer to be known for; I guess it's going to be a mixture whichever way I might decide to jump, though.

I haven't read enough of Black Fiddle to really judge. The City is definitely my favourite work of yours that I've read (I've read a couple of your short stories, 'Ever Again' and 'Child Care' and the chicken one and part of the Pye one, and I've read bits of Postcards and Jane of Letters.) But maybe you should be wary of trying to impose an alien style on Fiddle. It depends how it feels. If you really think it could use more humor, then obviously go for it. But make sure you don't lose the reason that you wanted to write it in the first place.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Ah yes - Ever Again is another straight, non-humorous story, isn't it? So's Child Care, now that I think about it. Hmmm... I guess I write more serious stories than I'd realised!

Thinking about it a bit more, I think the main reason for the "straightness" of Fiddle is Jeannie herself. She's a very driven, serious sort of character and her sense of humour is very ironic and a little dark at times. Perhaps the story is simply reflecting her attitude towards things? It's definitely a possiblity.

I think this is why I usually don't think about style that much on a regular basis - it can get very confusing. It's much easier to write if we're not second-guessing ourselves as we go.

[sirgallivant.livejournal.com]

Incidentally, I read your story Revel again the other day (I found it in a bunch of stuff I'd rescued from my room back home). It definitely strikes me as one of your more serious and edgier stories. I haven't read much of Black Fiddle, but is that the kind of seriousness you're talking about? If so, I'd have to say I like it.
And while I'm liking things, I must add that I love the story you wrote about the giant purple octapus. I can't quite remember the name at the moment.

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, Revel! People keep reminding me of all these serious stories that had completely slipped my mind. Yes, I supposed Black Fiddle's like that, to a certain degree.

I'm rather fond of the giant purple octopus myself. :) That story's called The Night of the Octopus (http://www.fictionpress.com/read.php?storyid=1504983) and it's one of the few I actually have online (in this case, at FictionPress).

[sirgallivant.livejournal.com]

Aha! Yes, I love the humour in that one.

Oh, and please note: octapus. Glargh! This is what I was talking about...

[bethamphetam1ne.livejournal.com]

Ha! Those men, eh?

Witness, Dale last time he was sick (with the virus I had suffered through and passed on):

"Seriously though, if anyone else was as sick as this, they would be dead."

[katiefoolery.livejournal.com]

Hehehe! Oh, that's hilarious. I just laughed in a most disturbing manner at this. It sounds like it's a miracle you both survived that one. ;)