Writing as a balancing act.

[valis2]

I have written about 12k in the past few days. This fic is like nothing I've ever experienced before. On Sunday night, after the show, I began the fic, and wrote 800 words.

I was home on Monday. Starting at about 1 or 2, I wrote 7600 more words. Seriously. By the time subrosax called me at 9:15, I was shaking from the intensity. Every muscle was tense. I was completely locked into the fic. I went to bed at about 1, and could not stop thinking about it. I slept for barely an hour and a half. I was consumed. Seriously. And then I had to get up at 5:45 am to get ready for work. *cringes*

But, bizarrely enough, I still had energy. All day at work on Tuesday I thought of the story. It echoed in my head like a crazy thing.

Since then, I've managed another 4k or so. It hasn't been as intense, especially because I'm now stuck in a wordy description stage of the aftermath of the intense scene, but even so, when I go back and read that scene, I get that feeling of butterflies in the stomach.

Now, YMMV. I have a feeling that people who read this will either be put off by it, or think it's kind of scary. For me, though, it's rather affecting. I can't say that the writing has been enjoyable, because it's actually been so intense and out there that it's been a bit scary. And the other parts require so much googling and so much immersing myself in What Will Come Next, Logically that it's been a strain, honestly. I wish I had a medical background, but then again, I keep thinking that I don't need to be so incredibly realistic, y'know? A little fudging is fine.

For example, when you read h/c fics, one of the most common injuries is a head injury and/or concussion. In real life? Srs business. In fanfic? Great for having the character pass out and need to be watched over by another character. I've only read two fanfics where the concussion had realistic (and scary) outcomes. So I do think that there is a point where the h/c fans will just not mind about a bit of unrealistic behavior/events.

But then again, sometimes I'm completely freaked out if it seems like a serious complication would have happened. There was one concussion story I read where the character wanted to be taken home, and ended up waking up disoriented and then vomiting, but no doctor was called. I was bothered. So then I think, maybe I should have someone medical read it and beta the medical stuff. But then I think it will tip the delicate balance of how things need to progress in order to get in the scenes I want to get in.

This balancing act we do is always so delicate. I mean, if character A needs to say something in private to character B, then I have to get them in an elevator together somehow, and why would they be in an elevator? Okay, so I invent a personnel shortage, which actually works in my favor for other parts of the story. But then you have to remember that, when character A goes to fetch character B, that character B is expecting a different kind of personnel, and would freak (if he sees a doctor coming for him instead of an orderly, for example) because he's going to think that something's gone terribly wrong with character C.

So this scene has ended up with what I wanted, and I've also been able to insert a little extra drama. Outlines are great, and I do use them (though sometimes they're just in my head), but while the story is being written, sometimes these great opportunities pop up just because I've let myself drift for a moment into the other character's head. And trying to put together the machinations to get characters together plausibly can be a challenge, but sometimes there are these little side routes I can explore that make me very very happy.

Anyway, about my original point...people are reading this stuff to escape, and sometimes a nice safe escape is so much better than an ultra-realistic scarefest. Though I've read some ultra-realistic fics that are terrific, and sometimes that's really my cup of tea. See, my issue is that this is higher on the realism scale, and therefore I keep feeling that I have to be scrupulous about the medical details. I think I'm just going to keep balancing it, though, because in the end, whether the IV placement is correct or not, the heart of the story is about love, and I don't want to go overboard about what the inside of an ambulance in CA in 1985 looks like, y'know?

Comments

[tudorpot.livejournal.com]

I'd love to do a medical beta for you. tudorpot at g Mail etc. Sounds like you are being prolific in your writing.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

ooh, really?! You are wonderful!

I have a disclaimer or two--this is a Riptide fic, not a HP fic--and I'll email it to you right now.

*giant hugs*