Still here, and still caught up with Camp NaNo for the time being!

Almost half way!

You know sometimes I feel guilty as a writer that I’m working on a fanfiction piece instead of some original work, but it’s also really freeing at the same time. There is quite a bit of pressure when you write original stories. Even if you try hard not to worry about it, there are thoughts swirling in the back of your mind. You wonder how your plots will be seen, what people will think of the characters you’ve made, if people will have trouble understanding the magic or technology in your world, what statements you’re making with the choices you make. It’s silly stuff really, but will sit in the back of your mind like the smell of trash left in the kitchen for too long. Even if you don’t notice it, your writing does.

When you write fanfiction, lots of those problems are handled for you already. Don’t like the characters? They’re part of the fandom. Don’t understand the magic? Take a look at the references in these books/episodes/movies. Of course then you get a ton of other questions to worry about. If you write someone out of character (OOC) then you’ll piss off a good chunk of fans. If your plot diverts too far from the original, you won’t even see a fraction of the readers. All these things have to be considered. As a writer, it’s kind of nice to have a different set of problems I suppose. As I saw mentioned once, it’s fun playing with someone else’s toys and not having to make your own.

Technically I didn’t need to get writing in today, but I always prefer to have a buffer. I hate running behind because then it’s always difficult to catch up again.

In other news, I’m almost done with Stephen King’s Joyland. It’s really interesting to read since I’m partway through The Shining right now too. I had to stop The Shining before going on vacation, because Jack Torrence was yelling at people over the phone and just generally being angry all the time, and I simply couldn’t get into it. Not with my sister getting married and a fun vacation on the way. Jack was kind of becoming a party downer, though I guess that’s kind of what he’s supposed to be. I couldn’t see his perspective at all, and his anger was starting to make me angry. So I’m letting that book breathe for a while to read something different.

Joyland so far is very much the opposite. Sometimes it’s tough to believe that both were written by the same writer. Of course Stephen King is older, more settled, and probably happier than he was when he wrote The Shining. The writing style is still there of course, along with the fabulous descriptions, the character mannerisms, and the dialects that I love in his work, but the protagonist is an optimist. He doesn’t start that way of course, but he gets more optimistic, more sure of himself, as the story progresses.

Of course, I haven’t reached the end yet. It’s dangerous that the protagonist is a nice guy, cause he is in a Stephen King novel after all. Plus Goodreads lists it in the Horror, Thriller, and Mystery genres, so I’ll be curious to see what happens to our nice guy protagonist. It’s a fun read though, especially for the summer. I probably would have finished it at the beach if i hadn’t rained so often. Some of my favorite stuff was the description of carnie life, the way the college kids on summer break get trained to run the rides, and of course all the supernatural stuff that’s sprinkled throughout.

I’ll probably be posting up a more detailed review once I’m done. So far it’s been a blast.