Open Thread: Oracle Hotline

[mithen]

Hey, we finished up the list of questions about characters! And I think I'm going to take that opportunity to switch over to questions about writing in general some more, based on a list I found of "questions for writers" that I'll pick and choose from. Starting with:

What literary pilgrimages have you gone on?

Oh, from a fanfic perspective that shifts meaning a bit, and I think you can answer it either way! I've definitely traveled to settings that are important to the characters I love to write in wrestling fandom, both to give me concrete inspiration and just as a pure pilgrimage. Because venues are so important to mood and setting in wrestling, some of them become famous because of years of associations. In fact, the one I most wanted to travel to in Reseda, California, where so many of my OTP's greatest moments happened, just held its last show and I'm in mourning because I'll never get there now.

It's harder with comic books! Both because Metropolis, Gotham, Smallville are so fictional and so distinct, and because the authors rarely have the same sense of place that someone like Shakespeare or Virginia Woolf had. I did deliberately drive across a stretch of Kansas prairie once in honor of Clark...

How about you, what are you working on? I managed to get a fair amount of writing done this week and if I can just find the time to post it, a whole story is finished! I hope things are going well for you!

Comments

[me_ya_ri]

Well, I suppose that I could say that the two trips I took to Japan for writing material for M/M romance novels count? I haven't really gone anywhere specific because of a book I wrote or read other than that.

On the other hand, I do write a lot of my contemporary romance stories based in places I see every day. Makes it easier to write the stories because I know the places like the back of my hand.

Not as possible for my fantasy and SF stories but hey, that's what books and research are for.

I've got a bunch of short stories done this week. I was planning on finishing another today but I got a migraine so I'm pretty sure I'm not going to get the latest one done today.

Congrats on getting your story done--that's awesome!

[mithen]

Well, I suppose that I could say that the two trips I took to Japan for writing material for M/M romance novels count? I haven't really gone anywhere specific because of a book I wrote or read other than that.

I would 100% count those! :)

On the other hand, I do write a lot of my contemporary romance stories based in places I see every day. Makes it easier to write the stories because I know the places like the back of my hand.

Yeah, it's a pleasure sometimes to be able to set stories in places that you're comfortable, there's a certain concreteness to them that I think is hard to capture otherwise, even if the details never become explicit in the text...

[bradygirl_12]

I can't say I've gone on any specific literary pilgrimages but often use places I've visited in my stories, like Boston or Washington, D.C., just to name a few. :) I try and soak up the atmosphere as it might be useful someday, and just for the joy of it. :)

I just saw Avengers 3: Infinity War I and was inspired to write a trilogy of poems. *happy sigh*

[mithen]

I can't say I've gone on any specific literary pilgrimages but often use places I've visited in my stories, like Boston or Washington, D.C., just to name a few. :) I try and soak up the atmosphere as it might be useful someday, and just for the joy of it. :)

Soaking up the atmosphere anywhere I go because I might use it for inspiration someday is definitely a thing! Just looking around and wondering what words I'd use is a fun pasttime...

[luciferxdamien]

This is almost a month later, but I really wanted to answer, just been swamped with Camp NaNo and then taking over the DCU Bang!

I suppose it's more all the literary pilgrimages I have missed out on. I lived in Kyoto for about 8 months some 10 years ago, and. Sigh~ If only I had known! I could have gone and looked at so more much than I did when I was there. I could have gone to so many places related to Saitou and the Shinsengumi! But ah, thems the breaks. (I was very depressed a lot of the time when I was there, so it's doubtful I would have gone and done a lot of exploring, even knowing I would be totes obsessed with SaitouxSano 10 years later. But still!!! I was there!!!) Luckily, I have been to a few places significant to Saitou and the Shinengumi, but as I didn't really file away that information to use later for fanfiction, I don't... really remember much of it. XD

That's really too bad you'll never be able to see a show at the venue your OTP's greatest triumphs! D=

I at least managed to make my 30k goal for Camp NaNo, and even got to 40k!!! And finished two fics, so that was nice. =D (They... weren't anything I was supposed to finish and random things I started in April, but hey! Finished!!! It's progress.)

[mithen]

I lived in Kyoto for about 8 months some 10 years ago, and. Sigh~ If only I had known!

Oh my God, is that not the worst? My favorite wrestler had matches regularly within walking distance of my workplace 12 years ago, but I had no idea at the time... (Also, I'm sorry to hear you were depressed while you were here! Dealing with that in a foreign country would be awful...)

Luckily, I have been to a few places significant to Saitou and the Shinengumi, but as I didn't really file away that information to use later for fanfiction, I don't... really remember much of it. XD

It's a separate sort of "filing system," isn't it? Information doesn't go in quite the same place...

I at least managed to make my 30k goal for Camp NaNo, and even got to 40k!!! And finished two fics, so that was nice. =D

That's awesome! *throws confetti* I just went to check my word count on this fic since I'm almost done... for some reason I hadn't been checking it as I wrote, I was just letting it unfold, and I thought it would be about 5,000 words and instead it's 10,000. @_@ That's good, but very unexpected!