Still going to be babbling about Bioware and Fullmetal Alchemist and trying to write fanfiction. I’m also going to be setting up a ko-fi in hopes of getting a few tips for beta reading, since I’m told I’m good at that. I’ll be refollowing from that account, and I hope some of you will follow back. See you on the other side.
Now to Win at the Other Hugo: Digress like a 19th-Century Novelist
Do you ever read fiction and wish that the author would pause to delve into the backstory of a specific object, event, or character that has no direct bearing on the plot because the stories of today are too direct and devoid of semi- to thoroughly-informed meandering?
Do you find yourself writing epic backstory for a walk-on character or throwaway literary reference you’ve invented on the fly, all of which stays unpublished in your notes?
Come digress with us!
This party is for people who like the long way around and the deep dives into minutiae, whether your ambition stretches to “I wrote a drabble, then a page of carefully-researched exposition about the history of the coffee beans sold in the shop where the drabble is set,” or to “I invented a conlang for the Tusken Raiders and I’m trying to figure out what to do with it since it got jossed by The Mandalorian, so I’m going to go full on JRR Tolkien and write a heroic novel of colonization and resistance in the sands of Tatooine.”
Any fandom or original project is welcome. Whether your digression is Victor Hugo-esque and pointed in the direction of revolution, or waxes as lyrical about sperm as Herman Melville, or takes place in the appendix where all the good bits live, or comes in the form of humorous footnotes that go on far longer than Terry Pratchett’s, come share your project with us.
The timeline for this writing fest is January 1 - December 31, 2022.
There is no minimum length. As long as your material feels sufficiently digressive to you, it’s welcome as part of this fest. As an example, your host is planning on writing a limerick with footnotes.
On the other end, there is no maximum length. Digress your heart out.
Les Misérables, Moby Dick, or other era-appropriate pastiche, amalgam, or AUs are thoroughly within the brief. Any setting is welcome.
If your interests are less word-based but you still want to play, join the fun. Art with footnotes or an exploded diagram? Cool. Podfic that pauses to read scholarly articles? Neat. A playlist with meta digressions that make Pale Fire look coherent and on-topic? Sure, why not! If you can work out how to digress in your medium, please tell us about it.
As for the veracity of your digressions, melannen notes: “I think the key here, for the people worried about doing all the research, is that neither Hugo nor Melville knew what the fuck they were talking about at least half the time. In fact there should probably be a requirement you get at least one thing as emphatically wrong as the ‘Whales are fish’ chapter. I think you get bonus points for an assertion that is technically correct but all the facts you back it up with are bullshit.”
(N. B. There will be no points system, only the enjoyment of the people who enjoy your fanwork.)
If you’re interested in joining us, drop by the Dreamwidth entry and comment with what fandom or fandoms you’re considering digressing in and/or the fandom(s) you’d be open to cheerleading or beta-reading in.
Closer to the posting date, I’ll make a collection on AO3, but it seems a bit premature to create one today.
For people thinking of joining: Would there be any interest in a Discord server for the purpose?
This sounds amazing. I’d love to join a discord for it, for sure.
Writing about a child rapist did not make Vladimir Nabokov a child rapist.
Writing about an authoritarian theocracy did not make Margaret Atwood an authoritarian theocrat.
Writing about adultery did not make Leo Tolstoy an adulterer.
Writing about a ghost did not make Toni Morrison a ghost.
Writing about a murderer did not make Fyodor Dostoevsky a murderer.
Writing about a teenage addict did not make Isabel Allende a teenage addict.
Writing about dragons and ice zombies did not make George R.R. Martin either of those things.
Writing about rich heiresses, socially awkward bachelors, and cougar widows did not make Jane Austen any of those things.
Writing about people who can control earthquakes did not make N.K. Jemisin able to control earthquakes.
Writing about your favorite characters and/or ships in situations that you choose does not make you a bad person.
It’s a shame that in this day and age these things need to be said.
Or, in short: the narrator =/ the author.
You know what else is a shame? This nowadays tendency of putting on the author the responsibility of teaching their readers morality.
Authors are allowed to write morally ambiguous characters.
Authors are allowed to write downright despicable characters - and guess what they are even allowed to make despicable characters charismatic and likeble and the protagonists of their stories if they wish - because absolute monsters exist only under the bed.
It is not up to the author to spoonfeed the readers about morality and Yes I know this character did a bad thing and I am going going to show it in the story and make other characters call them out of it and–Bullshit.
The authors should be able to write what they want without having thousands of people jumping and their throats claiming to know them, their ideas and their morality based on what they write.
It’s not up to the author to teach you about what is right and what is wrong.
It’s not up to the author to teach you about what is right and what is wrong.
