Just expressing my opinion; I know it's not much. ^__^
Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. Yours isn't worth any more or less than mine.
I can't say a lot, Rose, beacause I am not as bright as you, but I can express my opinions or beliefs, right?
Yesssssssssssss MBF.
You can express your opinions, and no one claimed I'm bright.
I will, however, claim I'm not dim.
I do not use the excuse of being an ameture, no. But I think for a first fic, it's okay
Okay, let me try to explain....
THIS *points up to the sign on the forum* is the First Aid for WRITERS forum. Theoretically, if you're here, it's because you want to be, for whatever reason, a better writer. Make the argument that it's like the blind leading the blind in here since I'm no expert myself, but I'm giving advice mostly gleaned thru workshops and books on writing - especially Stephen King's book "On Writing".
That said, when someone comes in here and asks advice on writing songfics, I'm going to tell them they're wasting their time with them, because, whether people write them well or poorly, you have to admit that if it's hard enough to sell a story to a magazine or a publisher, it's got to be even HARDER to sell one with words in it that 1) don't belong to you, 2) you will NOT get permission EVER to use from the person/organization they do belong to, 3) in essence, if your story is good enough, if you're good enough of a writer, the words that belong to someone else are doing NOTHING for your story.
Why?
Because as determined by pretty much everyone who's spoken on the topic (unless I misunderstood somewhere) if your fic is a good enough songfic, the lyrics really aren't necessary to tell the story.
Why? Because the inspiration of the MUSIC in its true form (with music and lyrics) is not present to assist your story and therefore CANNOT assist your story.
That is why I say that if you want to be a better writer, do NOT waste your time with TRYING to write songfics. It's counter productive. It's like someone telling you the way to become a better trumpet player is by learning to play the sax. Yeah, you'd get to practice reading music, but it's a reed instrument, and the skills required to play it are nothing like the skills required to play a trumpet. It makes no sense.
Does that mean that there are no good songfics? No. Does that mean I think no one should write songfics? Errr... If you enjoy it, do it, I'm not here to tell you what you should or shouldn't write. I can ADVISE you as to if you want to become BETTER or a professional, this is what I know.
It is a waste of MY time to try to write them. It's not what I want to do. I want to be a professional someday, so songfic writing is not something I need to or should want to perfect. Kudos to those that CAN write them, I envy them. They can probably write one-shots, too.
But to add lyrics to a story just because a particular song inspired the fic, I think that's counter productive, but do what you think is best, what you want to do.
can you tell I'm trying really hard not to grate on people's nerves?
You're not at all grating on my nerves. What people don't realize about me is that I'm argumentative by nature. I never take what people tell me as gospel. When you tell me "black", I will think about it, research it, flip it around to "white", then try to decide which one I believe. Maybe I'll agree, maybe I won't. If I don't completely dismiss you, then it's because I respect your opinion enough to see it, weigh it, and try to decide whether I agree with it.
I'm quite open about what I think and feel, even online. I don't pretend to be someone other than what I am (which is why references to the Black Rose fanclub bother me). I am a technical writer in a middle class house with a BLUE car, and a hobby bordering on obsession with creative writing. I WANT to be published someday. I, at the risk of sounding haughty, WILL be published someday, even if it's because Stella and I take Kings of Navarre and self-publish it. I'm not afraid of hard work, and DO work hard at any and everything I deem worth having.
I tend to take on more responsibilities than I should. I shoulder the blame for a lot of things that may or may not be my fault. I tend to take things over and run them because it is in my nature to do so. I'm decisive, not hesitant, I know my own mind and I speak it. I've spent a good amount of time in college earning a degree so that I can at least SOUND educated when I express it. I realize I have the ability and propensity to "railroad" over those who are less decisive, and so I do my best to consciously monitor that tendency. However, in large groups, I will become "the dictator" as is in my personality type to do so. That doesn't mean I'm right, it just means I have to have zero doubt in MY mind that I am.
Here's my nutshell: You're right.
Go show your sister that little remark. She tends to doubt me (and still hasn't apologized). It is my opinion. There is no right or wrong. I can only have made certain points you hadn't considered, I can't be absolutely right if you still hold your same opinion in your mind.
I don't want to credit songwriters with my story because my story is MINE. I slaved over it, I worked on it, I agonized and edited and re-edited and stayed up hours, and thought about it for days, weeks, months, years, and I believe I would have done so regardless of whether or not I was listening to whomever's song.
Case in point is my Broken Arc. *covers Stefy's eyes* I wrote the first part of it as purely my own idea in my head. It struck me out of the blue. THEN I heard the song "One Last Breath" by Creed. It seemed to fit the overall theme of the longer storyline, and so I called the story So Far Down. But the fic was written without lyrics, without listening to the song, and has nothing to do with the song. I do listen to it now to kind of get myself into the mood of the story (blah, angst), and have titled the series portion "One Last Breath". But it still...they exist, in my mind, in a state of symbiosis.
But I say these things not because you're "on my nerves" or what have you, but to put another opinion down so that people won't see one side and think it's the only way to view it.
That's all.
Love,
Rose
