That drabble meme

[auronlu]

So yah, I'm seeing the drabble meme going around and I didn't finish my first ten. Let me repeat:

I'll write ya drabbles. No promises when, because obligations make me break out in hives.

Fandoms: FFX, VIII, LOTR, Babylon 5, Star Trek: TNG, Trek classic, MYST/RIVEN, Greek mythology

Ratings: any, but if you're getting past R I can't promise to deliver yaoi. Excessive numbers of boy bits baffle me. More than happy to deliver yuri or het.



*thoughtful look*

I'm not entirely sure why I'm buying into the whole drabble thing. I have two problems with drabbles. One, they occasionally cause me to come up with good ideas and execute them as a drabble, when otherwise I could perhaps weave those nuggets into my "real" writing. Two, there seem to be so many challenges and drabble-trees going around right now that it feels like folks are too busy writing and reading and trading drabbles to write or review full-fledged stories. There's only so much creative juice and time floating around, and drabbles are sort of fast food fanfic.

However, I'm such a longwinded writer that drabbles are helping me hone my skills in brevity, and I'm hoping I'll be able to adapt what I've learned to my main stories. And they are fun to write. So I'm doing this, but... meh... let me also put in a plug for people to read/write/review the longer fic.

I have this vague feeling that we could have a Read and Review Monday or something, where we encourage everybody to read and review one story they haven't gotten around to checking out, and/or a Drabble Free Thursday where you either read or work on something longer than a drabble. Except again, that would be turning fandom into work instead of play. Any time our online fun starts developing obligations and self-imposed rules... *shakes head* yeah, not good. So a suggestion only, folks!



*EDIT* Note to self.
dolevalan pre/post pilgrimage Auron/Kinoc posted here, except I'm not satisfied with it.
owlmoose Captain Ivanova
saharasnow Legolas "comb" Posted here
muggy_mountain Auron/Yunalesca Posted here
lynnxlady Wakka/Rikku Posted here, except it turned into a dribble.
trekqueen Glory/Turgon

Comments

[auronlu.livejournal.com]

Oh gosh, with YOUR writing, it's all real; I'm sure you could write a 1-sentence story with punh to it.

With mine, though, drabbles save me from having to deal with all the big problems I'm fighting in order to turn out stories of any length -- interactions between more than two characters, a coherent plot and story structure, sustained themes, layers, and originality, and accurate IC characterization. For me, it's a heck of a lot more work and effort and care for me to manage all of that, and drabbles eliminate 90% of those complications.


I'm also just starting to write again. I did write Myst fanfic years ago and a tiny bit of LOTR, but I've really not written anything except academic papers in so very long that I feel like I've atrophied. Drabbles help me flex the teensy tinsy muscles, but there's some bigger ones that need to relearn the art.

I'm not sure. I know drabbles help some people take a brain break from writing their longer stories. I guess I feel as if, since they're a "break" or breather, they're relaxing on the one hand (I know the feeling!) but they're not quite of the same flavor and quality.

However writing like yours and cupcake's puts the lie to it being in any way inferior in quality!

[mneme-forgets.livejournal.com]

Well thank you for the high compliments. :) But when I say a break I sort of mean, a break from doing the same thing, because I like getting odd requests and I find they are quite a challenge actually and that paring down words is another sort of challenge too - it may not *take* as long, but I think it puts a writer to the test all the same. I think of drabbles like poetry in a way. They show the strengths and weaknesses of a writer up under a microscope.

But I think you write short pieces well, very well. You are so poetic with your language that a short piece by you can be much tighter and more poem-like and I like that sometimes. :)

You are likely right that in some ways they are 'fast food.' Heh, also I am shirking some other fanfic duties in doing this. But it helped me get started again? Hee.

Could I ask you for a platonic Auron/Lulu supposing that they met up in the Via Purifico before they found Yuna.