Musing - On 'doodles' and my ficjournal

[wilderthan]

A quick thought, that I should perhaps spend more time with sometime soon -- I basically write two kinds of fics: the kind I work really really hard on, and try to craft carefully, and the kind that I write for a quick smile, as a little gift. And I think they're probably comparable to, say, a fully-finished piece of artwork and a quick sketch, a doodle. I share my 'doodles' all the time -- the things I write for feywood when she gets up on time are 'doodles'. There's an opinion I've come across, when getting concrit and from people on my flists, that 'doodles' aren't worth sharing: they're not fully finished shiny products, I don't really expect concrit on them, etc, therefore I shouldn't share them at all.

And yet. I know people enjoy my little 'doodles'. I often get more comments on the 'doodles' than on a completely finished fic. I'm sure I've had more comments on my short Firefly fics than on my 20k, carefully crafted Big Bang fic. They're brain candy for me, writing them, and probably for the people reading them. I don't see why that should be so illegitimate a thing, in fandom. I might not be using my talents to the best of my ability, and my fics might end up a little self-indulgent, here and there, or perhaps (dare I say it) a bit pointless. But people enjoy them. And every single one of them is practice, even if ultimately it's not as shiny and interesting as it could be, because it might find for me an idea that I want to expand, or make me focus on dialogue, or on a strong opening line or ending line.

It's true, really, that I wouldn't publish them. I wouldn't expect, say, Neil Gaiman, to post little snippets of what he's working on while he's still working on it, or his practice pieces, or the things that didn't ultimately work out the way he wanted. That's true. But that's not what edenbound is for -- edenbound is an archive of everything I write, as long as I completed it and could stand to let anyone read it at all. It suddenly clicked with me that that's the case, and that I've openly stated that's the case, on the userinfo of the journal, and so people don't really have any right to come into my journal and tell me that I shouldn't post my 'doodles'. Which people have.

(It would be different, on a comm. I only post things to comms when I think they're worth spreading to a wider audience. And my Archive of Our Own account is the same thing.)

So I've just now realised that it's okay for me to write 'doodles', and to post them, because I know people are interested and enjoy them. And that I shouldn't feel slightly ashamed of it, because if you've friended that journal you can check the userinfo to see that that's what it may sometimes contain.

I can use my own ficjournal the way I want. What a revelation.

Comments

[candeefloss.livejournal.com]

I like your 'doodles'! Sure, they may not be epic masterpieces with months or years of work sunk into them, but they're still good, and nice as quick fic fix. (Try saying that really fast ten times over...) I don't actually think I've read any of your longer fics, actually, although that's probably because I haven't spotted any of fandoms I'm into.

Like you said, in the end it's your journal, so you get to decide how you use it, and whether you post utter crap there or the Best Fics Ever, or both, or neither. (Not that I think any of your fics are crap, but you know what I mean.) If people disagree, no one's forcing them to read any of it. As far as I can see, you always tag your fics according to length, so if shortfic isn't their thing, they can just ignore them. And since when do others get to dictate how people use their journals, anyway?

[wilderthan.livejournal.com]

I got a lot of comments, at one time, and still do occasionally, about how I'm wasting my time on shortfics/drabbles, and how I should really concentrate on more worthwhile work and not flood people with smaller fics. And to an extent, I understand what they were saying -- I was turning out subpar work for the sake of it, sometimes. Still, what I write now is intended mostly to be, like you say, a 'quick fic fix', and I don't like the way I'm made to feel inconsiderate for it.

[lil-1337.livejournal.com]

*hugs* I love doodles and write a few of them myself. Personally, I am of the belief that what you write in your journal is up to and the only one who has the right to take issue with it is LJ if you violate TOS. Doodles have a lot of value as exercises in writing. They teach you brevity and the value of word choice as well as a way to keep your hand in if you don't have the time to sit and write 2k every day.

As a reader I find them nice to read while I'm eating breakfast or as break during chores so I am not wondering what is happening in the fic or putting aside the things I need to do in order to read fic. Sometimes you want a full four course meal and other times a snack absolutely hits the spot.

[wilderthan.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this comment, it helps me know that people appreciate what I do! And yeah, it turns out that microfiction is absolutely what I'm best at, now I'm doing a creative writing course. Which I lay entirely at the door of fandom and writing drabbles, haha.

[lil-1337.livejournal.com]

I found that writing drabbles made my longer stuff tighter and less wordy too.

[darthanne.livejournal.com]

I enjoy reading what you write. Sometimes I'm in the mood for something long and sometimes I just want something short as that's the time I have - and your short pieces have always hit the spot on that. I look forward to reading more of them.

You write what suits you and where the urge/mood takes you. That's what is important.

[wilderthan.livejournal.com]

I'm glad. It helps to know that! ♥