How to write and, more importantly, keep on writing.

[amanuensis1]

*eyes these poll results ("What would be a suitable punishment for using 'Remy' and 'Siri' in a fic?")*

*eyes own fic, As Sharp As Sunlight*

Lemme read off a few answers in that poll...flogging, spanking, not being spanked, banishment from fandom, "having their bits drug over hot coals add salt," Dementor Kiss, hetfic, sterilization by spork, lobotomy without anesthesia, "Umbridge/Hedwig for the rest of the author's life," smacked with a tuna, forced sodomy with candy canes, "an ass-baby Sue," exile, life in Azkaban, no internet ever, "death by squirrel"...

Y'know, I've declined to go back and change those nicknames in that story because I think of it as "what's done is done; go on to new things and think of old stories as the mistakes you learned from," but...eesh, death by squirrel, guys. Maybe I should reconsider.

In all earnestness, I avoid getting sucked into going back to make changes in old posted stories primarily because the internet is the ultimate instant gratification self-publishing house, and it makes sense to look at one's older works as "published and done." Authors of books don't get to recall all of their books, saying, "Wait! I want to change the ending/the protagonist's name/the scene with the attacking newts!" The difference is that the 'net is easily mutable. But doing that will suck you in like a great sucking bog.

Every story of mine that's older than three to six months? I look back on it and can't believe I missed all that. Unnecessary adverbs, run-on-paragraphs, bits I thought were endearing that are cloying as hell...but they're old stuff; it's more productive to learn from each of those and do what one can to make fewer of those mistakes. I itch to get all those italics out of Other Chambers, Darker Secrets, to get that same-scene PoV swap out of Because Of Who You Are, to edit Remy and Siri out of As Sharp As Sunlight (I thought they were logical nicknames! Who knew?). But that way lies bog-dom. And you never get out, if all you do is go back and try to edit everything until it's all perfeck. It's never perfect. You always see the errors four months later. Deal.

So, I go on. Unless you're polishing up a story for submission to a publisher--and be cautious about that; sometimes it's not possible to gild older, flawed stories into something worthy of publication--everyone should go on. I use fewer italics now, I watch for unauthorized PoV shifts, and I don't use Remy and Siri because people hate them. Even though I still think they're kinda sweet. Remember that you have to write lots of crap before you can get better. The place for the crap is in your "Remember when I wrote these? Gosh, I still have fondness for these, even though their flaws are all but mooning me when I read them" folder. Not your "actively working" folder.

(No, this is not just a ploy to get everyone to write new smutty fics for me. Except it indirectly is. But it isn't. Oh, you know what I mean.)

Comments

[snegurochka_lee]

I agree with you, for not changing old fics. It's part of my "personal archive" policy. Because I'm a geek historian. :) All my stories have dates on them, so those who care can read something old and crappy, and then maybe something newer and not so crappy, and conclude, "Aha! She got better."

But going back and changing old fics seems to me like finding your junior high diary now that you're thirty, and going in to change your entries because you know so much more about the world now. *shrug* It destroys that piece of junior-high!you. Or early-fic!you. :)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I should date my fics! On my website, I mean. LJ pretty much does that for ya, doesn't it. Maybe at least arranging them in chronologic order of writing? Of course, that means actually updating my website, poor helpless neglected child that it is.

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

Hm... I'd lie outright if I said I like the pet names - I don't, although some are worse than others. But I don't mind much if the story's good (and considering how often I've read 'Sunlight' without even once 'noticing' the names, that's surely a case in point where it just doesn't matter. In the right story, it can work, just like you made the terrible sex terms work in your Snape/Sirius fic.

I think the major problem is that 'Siris', 'Miones' and 'Drakes' tend to pop up with a vengeance in OC badfics, and therefore the cringeworthy association is so strong. But there's at least one 'Drake' fic which I really love, and where it suits the atmosphere. Same with yours. But for OC badfic petname combos, it's sometimes tempting to bring out the squirrels...

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

There is a story I freakin' love where Harry calls Draco " 'Ko." I can't see it--not at all, and yet it doesn't matter; the story's awesome. I bet I wouldn't even have cared if it had been "Coco," much as that makes my eyes cross to even think it.

[antou-san.livejournal.com]

you know, I don't find "remy" and "siri" so irritating..instead, what I really hapens to find weird in "as sharp as sunlight" is lucius speaking italian with Harry. I mean: the sex scenes are so intense and moving..and hot! but,sure because i'm italian, every time I read that "caro" a strange smile appeared on my drooling face XD but it's obvious it doesn't sound so exciting to me as it does for you. I've always thought english is THE language of fics *_*
Anyway, I agree with this part: "more importantly, keep on writing" ehehe! I liked the fic you posted 2 entries ago, even though H/D is not one of my favourite pairings...let's let his father act!
last thing:thanks for your advice: I found the_gwyllion and she allowed me to use this splendid sleeping harry ^_^
kisses

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

a) Italian sounds like something Lucius should speak. ^_^ b) I love H/D but yes, there should be lots more Harry/Lucius. ^_^ c) Yay for you! Much iconage to you!

And kisses!

[cluegirl.livejournal.com]

But wasn't it you who pointed out that people just DO make nicknames for each other, whether they're dignified, wanted, or not?

They DO. It's the way people TALK! Even the Brits, who will turn a name like David into "Davs", which makes NO fecking sense.

Overall, I know this post wasn't really about using or not using nicknames in fic, but about the inadvisability of going back and retrofitting finished stories to align with current fads, but I feel the need to speak up for the right of an author to be TRUE to the needs of the story.

I've used "Dray", and I've used "Sevs", and I still say, despite all the tooth gnashing, that the characters I had using those nicknames were exactly the type that WOULD do so. Them calling Draco and Severus by those familiar handles was as true to their characters as Sirius using Remy when he's thinking about the dead and gone love of his life. It works, and in situ, it works especially well.

Don't change a word. You're the author. You know what you're doing.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

For some (most?) people it's natural to make nicknames. I do acknowledge that there are people who don't make them. Because they tell me so: "I've never called anyone by a nickname, I don't like them, and I ask them not to use them for me." I suspect that these are the people who react most strongly to the use of nicknames in fic. To them it is easy to say, "Yes, but people do use nicknames; I imagine these characters would." And to do what I think is right for the characters as the author.

It's harder to address from an "in real life versus in prose fiction" standpoint, though, isn't it? "But that's the way it happened in real life" doesn't justify a story's plot, so, it can't always justify the elements of a story. People talk in weird broken non-sentences in real life too; for a story you have to ignore that and write coherent dialogue. Some nicknames look so weirdly wrong to a viewer on a page that they have a reaction of "That shouldn't BE there, it's wrong." And that's why I think even nickname-giving people react nearly violently to some of those.

Then of course there's just the individual reactions. One person hated "Pads" as a nickname because it sounded so...menstrual. Can't help those. I have my own quirks myself. That's definitely where you throw up your hands and decide you can't please everyone, so you a) use the nicknames you think are right and harden your skin or b) cave and never use nicknames ever.

Migod, I just realized. It's like naming your own kid. You never never ask your friends what they think because everyone will hate something and someone will hate everything.

[mooshglomp.livejournal.com]

personally I'm a fan of Remy and Siri..not when they're over used, but once in while, the boys lazing around in the sun, half asleep and one of them asks for a cup of tea...it just follows that in situations like this people need perturbingly sweet nicknames. Death by squarrel is definitely a little much. *shrug* its better that honey-buny-umpkins

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I said once that their nicknames for each other would probably be something even worse, like "Boof-Boof" and "Muffinbutt." It was meant as a joke but suddenly I wanted to write Boof-Boof and Muffinbutt fic just to see if I could get away with it. ^_^

[elfflame]

Not a fan of Remy myself, but I like Siri, too. And I think people who get all worked up about it should chill out a bit. People call each other by nicknames, and yes, outsiders to the couple might find them cloying or sickeningly sweet, but it's what people do. Sometimes cause they don't feel like saying a name, sometimes cause they have other reasons, but whatever, I think it's an author's perogative to use nicknames for any character. Even Severus. :P And if the reader doesn't like them, they don't have to read the story. There are plenty of others out there, after all... :)

I do recall reading a post by someone who basically said that better than I just did, but danged if I can recall who it was, or I'd post a link.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I can understand that things spoken might not always translate to "acceptable" on the printed page, to a reader's eye, and brain. I pointed out once that scripts abbreviate names in ways that look really ugly on the page but sound okay to the ear--characters named "Mary" and "Murphy" having others address them as "Mare" and "Murr." It looked ugly but it was a script, and sounded all right spoken.

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

My view is similar. I never edit old texts unless there was a glaring mistake (same with my work: grammar or facts in my working things -- I work in an on-line media). If I posted something, it means it had my approval, conscious, given in sound mind. And people have already seen it, sometimes many people, by the time I have a panic attack and think it all could have been done much better.

The difference is that I usually see errors not four months but half an hour after I posted something, being quite satisfied with it then :))

[painless-j.livejournal.com]

Oh, and btw, hadn't you said it, I would never have remembered those Siri and Remi of yours. The fic is AWESOME! No Siri or Remi or whatever could spoil it. It's a general rule: in a good fic any silly thing sounds OK.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_riz/]

Heeeee. I am a strong supporter of the "what's written is written" even if it is the internet. The only thing I'll change in a previously posted story is a typo or something, and technically that goes even in print publishing, because they do make those corrections in subsequent printings of books. ;) But dude, sometimes you just don't REALIZE that something is annoying or will become annoying to you in a month or a year. ::carefully sets up barbed-wire fencing around old Lotrips fics that include a word or two in Scottish dialect::

That link isn't working for me so I can't tell how you used them in the fic, but I think nicknames can work as long as the writer realizes what they're doing. And as long as it isn't in narration. THAT drives me insane. Characters may call each other by short names, but if you've got a third person narrator, I do not want to see ANY incidence of "Sev" or "Mione" in the narration, thanks. >_>

[http://users.livejournal.com/_riz/]

Although, for what it's worth, I think I cringe at "Remy" on principle because Remy = Gambit and that's that. ;)

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

Of the millions of fics I've written, I've gone back and heavily revised three. Two because they were favorites of mine and I wanted to improve them, one for the sake of continuity. When I look back on fic I've written I sometimes cringe, but usually I see it as a record of what I was thinking when I wrote it, how I felt about certain characters and situations, what I thought sounded cool and artsy at the time.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

usually I see it as a record of what I was thinking when I wrote it,

Yes, and that's interesting, even if we don't want to see our stories as The Diary Of Me--we want everything we've written to be fabulous! and clever! and holding up over time!--everything in our canon of work. But it's never going to be like that so we might as well celebrate it for what it is.

[ariadneelda.livejournal.com]

Um. *is one of the people who filled in that poll question* However, ASAS is perhaps the only story that "Remy" and "Siri" did not bother me. Honestly. And by the way (because I've been dying to tell you), it's also the only mpreg fic I've read and liked. As in, I found it amazing. (I usually run away from them.) I don't know how the hell you do that but whatever you write it works for me. Oh, and I actually loved the italics in OCDS. :)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Hee, thank you so much. I'm not sure if ASAS benefitted from me not knowing that mpreg was a large turn-off for most until after I'd posted it. I like to think it didn't matter--that I'd write it and all mpreg as unabashedly as I did back then, believing that mpreg's just another plot device in the appropriate ficverses. I do maintain that the Potterverse is perfectly suited to mpreg, being a campy magicverse as it is.

[licoricegirl.livejournal.com]

I love when an author can slip any nickname into a fic without me noticing it until after I've finished reading. If they can do that, they can call the characters whatever they want, and I will love it.

And you know, every now and then I will go back and read the comments to some of my fic, which will inevitably lead to re-reading the fic itself, and that is such a double-edged sword. Sometimes I will come across a line and think 'I cannot believe that came from my brain. *pats brain*'. Others, I will cringe and the things I've strung together. And it doesn't matter just how good I felt about the fic right after posting it.

There are 4 fics I wouldn't change a word on, months after writing them. And that I've got that many makes it more than okay to just leave the rest exactly as they are.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

And that I've got that many makes it more than okay to just leave the rest exactly as they are.

That is a particularly lovely bit of insight, and I applaud you for it.

[gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com]

Y'know, I always find things like that a little head-shakingly weird. There's a whole thread on FA about using epitaphs instead of character names, and people on the thread are completely, "Ew, gross, never! They have NAMES, people! I don't ever get confused reading "He touched his..." as to who's doing what to whom."

Well, bull-hockey, I say. I've used epitaphs judiciously - not peppering a fic with them, but scattered and when necessary - in my fics forever, and I've *never* had a review that said, "Oh, this is amazing, except that you use epitaphs all the time and that's annoying."

Ditto the nicknames. It's not my personal thang, the nicknames, but unless it's done in an every-other-word way, and the rest of the fic is well-written, I'm not going to back button solely on that basis.

I think it's true, though, as kennahijja says, that it tends to be a symptom of MS-fics, so people tend to light up their torches in preparation when they see such a warning sign. However, the mere presence of a nickname does not, in and of itself, make the fic bad.

I also agree about 3rd person omniscient narrators not using them. Nicknames and shortened names generally should only be used by characters. Exception would be something like a reference to the nickname in pseudo-jest. I can't think of a good example now, but for instance if someone called a character by a nickname and then the narrator used it to identify the character. "The one she called 'Shorty' moved in as if to grab her." That kind of thing. But I think it's much more a function of the writing quality than anything else, because when done well, it doesn't intrude on the fic. Basically, anything that makes one self-aware in writing is bad, in my opinion. Once, twice, three instances of a nickname? Maybe not intrusive. When it starts popping out at you and interfering with the flow, then it's time to pull back. Out of character? Depends on the situation. I've used "Sev" for Snape when he's talking to people he has let in, but he would never stand for it from a stranger or an enemy. Thus his *brother* can call him that, but Wormtail? Never. Also, the reaction is important. Sirius called Remus "Remy" and gets away with it. Snape trying to call Sirius "Siri?" Um, double detention by the time the dust clears, anyone?

Regarding editing old fics, yes, I know what you mean. I have just finished editing HMSS on FA, mainly because we had to migrate it anyway and it presented a perfect opportunity to clean up some old errors that were just bugging the heck out of me every time I looked at it. And while I was there I indulged in one tiny bit of revisionism, taking out my unnecessary original character and replacing him with the canon character who was there all along (Theo Nott). But otherwise, the only real reason to revise is if *you* really want to fix things up. Otherwise, incorporate what you wanted to do into the next fic, yo.

It's harder when fiction evolves as you go, as in chaptered fics. Styles can change midstream (even JKR is guilty of this) and if the later chapters are significantly different then it can lead to accusations of "out of character" behaviour or whatever. But in general, I think it's more important to stay true to the feel of what you want to do than worry about the precise "rightness" of it. I fully understand the perfectionism that drives people back over things they've already done, but part of writing is knowing when to stop.

And to prove my point, I shall.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I think it's true, though, as kennahijja says, that it tends to be a symptom of MS-fics, so people tend to light up their torches in preparation when they see such a warning sign. However, the mere presence of a nickname does not, in and of itself, make the fic bad.

That's so nicely summarized! Not an explanation that walks the line, but that indicates why it raises red flags as a "warning sign."

"i think they are kinda sweet"

[underlucius.livejournal.com]

as much as I hate the nicknames, it's perfectly possible that young boys WOULD call each other by them. I certainly can see them using diminutives for the animal forms, Pads, Wormy, Moony, er... Prongs... :)

What teenager hasn't changed their name as often as possible?

I can also (although I've never used it) see Lucius calling Severus Sev too, much as I loathe the idea, in moments of tenderness.

Re: "i think they are kinda sweet"

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I find that the people who don't get called by nicknames are the ones who are militant about it and who have friends who agree to comply. "Shorten my name and I'll break your nose." "Um, okay." If just one side of that party isn't like that, nicknames abound. "Shorten my name and I'll break your nose." "Oh, yeah, I'd like to see you try, Padsie."

[silverhielm.livejournal.com]

I agree wih you: it's better to think at those works as something *done* than strating to edit every detail you consider wrong.
Uhm, I guess it's normal, the important thing is learning and improving the style, when possible!
"not being spanked" XD

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

There are times when it makes sense to do a bit of tweaking on old stories--moving them to a new archive, etc.--but for the most part, yeah, go on to the next thing! Don't bog down on the old stuff, 'cos you'll never be finished.

[reddwarfer.livejournal.com]

*raises her shaker of salt and sack of hot coals* I really, really hate most nicknames used in Potter fic. Why? Because it is really grating to the ear. Why else, because people tend to give nicknames to names that don't need them. Perhaps it is because my name, Leila, isn't one that should be shortened. I hate it when people call me "Lay" I could really kill them. But, I also get called "Lula Belle" and that doesn't bother me. For Sirius and Remus, they have nicknames all ready. Moony and Padfoot. Siri and Remy just don't sound right to my ears unless it is tongue and cheek or teasing. Oh, and I hate "Pads" but that is because of the word association. "Har" is the worst ever. I hate that more than Siri and Remy. I think Mione is wrong on the tongue and "Lucy" or "Luke" for Lucius would likely earn you a "crucio" Drake? I really don't care enough about the character to care what people call him. But Co or CoCo reminds me of a stripper. Sev doesn't bother me, but Sevvie or Rus should only be used by someone intentionally trying to goad Severus.


I just don't see the point of superfilious nicknames.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

A lot of times nicknames do arise from someone trying to intentionally goad the other person. Have you noticed that? And then the name sticks, even with those who aren't trying to be mean.

I think you've given me insight, too--perhaps the gut-level reaction of hatred for nicknames is not just because they look wrong on paper, but because the reader him/herself hates nicknames and is having an aversion reaction. You feel strongly about having your name shortened, so, when you see it happening to another character, it generates much the same feelings of "ick, don't DO that!" Makes sense to me.

[alexandralynch.livejournal.com]

I agree that you do have to be very careful with nicknames. But then, you have to in real life. My husband has a name that is like (but is not) William. So he introduces himself as "William Johnson", and at least half the people say, "Hey, Bill, howyadoin'?" He's never anything but William to anyone. I'm Alexandra, but I let my friends call me Alex. However, I've never been a Sandra, I never will be.

I think certain characters are the type to be nicknamed. And I think you can use the use of nicknames as a marker of both intimacy and a way to show that one character is forcing intimacy on another. Between MWPP era Sirius Black and Severus Snape, first names would have been intimacy that would have made people wonder. But I can see a casual, "Got a spare quill, Pads?" from James with no problem.

And, for the record, the only nickname I've ever been able to come up with for Lucius Malfoy was "Lucifer"...which in one of my fics he acquired around the age of nine, and it was only ever used by about four of his friends from around that time. And even they didn't use it all the time.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

But I can see a casual, "Got a spare quill, Pads?" from James with no problem.

I'm in agreement on that. I know it makes some readers crazy, but it still sounds exactly right.

[eskimosatan.livejournal.com]

With 'Remy' and 'Siri' it depends on who does the and how its done. I don't know. I've read stories where I don't give a rat's arse (i.e. yours), and others where I just want to find the author and bludgeon him/her with a feral animal. It just depends,

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Most of my bludgeoning instinct gets used up when I read babb_chronicles and see the writers who decide to change canon characters' names because they're not kewl enough. Like writing a story about Hermione but calling her Avril LeGrange. Once I'm past those it takes more than a random "Drake" to raise my hackles, I fear.

[xochiquetzl]

I agree completely. The degree to which I have to sit on my hands to make myself not edit old fiction is precisely my degree of vehemence on why I don't. ;)

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Ha, that's a great use of the direct proportion analysis. ^_^

Here via the Snitch

[kinky-kneazle.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the nicknames, though I see Remus getting shortened to "Rem" more than "Remy". People shorten names, even when they're already impossibly short - my cousin is a Zoe, and she gets "Zo". I agree that in a story there are some names that just look weird on the page and a writer needs to take that into account, but death by squirrels? That's a little harsh.

This whole thread is making me want to go out and write a fic where everyone calls Severus by his full name and he feels like a lonely geek because he has no nickname.

Re: Here via the Snitch

[lady-mad.livejournal.com]

I have to completly agree with you about people shortening short names. My name is Zoe as well, and the amount of people who call me Zo instead astounds me sometimes. (It actually really annoys me! I'm always thinking that my name is short enough.)

Nicknames are a sign of affection though, so I grin and bear it. And repeat that to myself, many times. But poor Severus! *pats*

[dramaphile.livejournal.com]

Remy and Siri really irritates me, but I've got a certain soft spot for Ron calling Hermione 'Mione', and Sirius calling James 'Jamie' or 'Prongsie' (because he can). Meh, to each his own.

I'm in a bit of a writing predicament right now because I started writing a WIP back in January and I'm really not happy with how it is currently because it doesn't fit how much my writing style has changed in the past 9 months of writing in fandom. As it is, the next chapter probably should have been written back in April, but I just got stuck on it. So, do I attempt to keep writing it in the style I started it in (which I hate), or do I re-vamp the five chapters that I've already written so as to make it more style-friendly?

[grrliz.livejournal.com]

I almost uploaded that icon myself, specifically for use in my comment. :D

[grrliz.livejournal.com]

Part of my own problem with the nicknames is that they already have pretty damn cool nicknames. Moony and Padfoot are names they chose for themselves (either individually or as a group with James and Peter), and they call eachother those nicknames in canon, which I think is especially significant because the first time Remus calls Sirius "Padfoot" as a post-Azkaban adult is when Sirius forgives him for thinking he was the spy, a nice bonding moment five seconds before they decide to kill Peter together. So for that reason (and others), I find their established nicknames to be an important part of re-establishing their undying love friendship in the current timeline, and this means that "Moony" and "Padfoot" must have had significance to them prior to everything going to hell in October 1981.

The other reason is that Remy and Siri don't sit well on the page. Fic isn't read out loud (for the most part, I assume), and thus the words just look awkward. Aurally, I could see them shortening their names to what would sound like "Ream" or "Seer" (i.e. first syllables), however writing that out as Rem or Sir doesn't convey the same sound. (I read "Rem" as in R.E.M. [the band or the eye movement, take your pick] and "Sir" as in "You don't have to call me 'Sir', Professor.") I've even seen their names shortened to Re and Si, which just looks like a really bad version of "Doe, a Deer" from The Sound of Music.

On the other issue, I wouldn't go back and change that fic either because I don't really see any need to apologize for using those names. It's not like your a really terrible FF.net author or something (I say this having never read your fic, but only hearing great things about it). So the moral of this story is: good writers can apparently get away with using Remy and Siri.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Don't "Ream" and "Seer" look awful? (I'm reminded by those of British origin that "Sirius" does not sound like "SEER-ee-us" to them, but "SIH-ree-uhs", which does make quite a bit of difference.) It's like seeing "Mare" and "Murr" abbreviated for "Mary" and "Murphy" in scripts, which ARE meant to be spoken. Prose fiction is different from scripts; there are different rules for what is pleasing to the eye as opposed to the ear.

[kissed-by-fate.livejournal.com]

Uh, I am thinking it's really wrong that alot of those poll answers made me excited.

Shame on you. And call me when the dungeon's free.

~muse

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

"Siri! Remy! Drake! More, more, I've been a bad little fanficcer!" ^_^

[accioslash.livejournal.com]

I have never understood why people become instantly escalated the second they read a nickname for one of the HP characters. "Prongs", "Cissa", "Wormtail", "Moony" (way to keep a secret. How'd you get that nickname, Remus?) and "Padfoot" are canon nicknames. And they are frankly lamer than 'Mione, Sev, Remy, or Siri (although 'Dray' is just plain awful.)

Personally, I take childish delight in reading any fic where a well-known author uses any of the above nicknames. I'm passive/aggressive like that. *shrugs*

As for the other issue, I wouldn't change a thing. Otherwise you'd spend so much time correcting your old stuff that you'd hardly have any time to write anything new. Not that your other stuff is riddled with mistakes, but you get the idea. I hope.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

I read "Cissy" in HBP chapter two and DIED. Had I been Narcissa I'd have hexed the nose off anyone who dared call me that. ^_^

(That icon kills me EVERY time!)

[angiepen.livejournal.com]

IMO, the whole anti-Remy-and-Siri thing is purely a matter of taste. For a while it was kinda cool to use them, now it's fashionable or cool or faddish or whatever you want to call it to hate those names, or claim you do. It reminds me of disco -- I was a teenager through most of the '70s and I know what groups and songs were incredibly popular around my Jr. High and High School, but I also know that by my senior year (I graduated in '81) you couldn't find a single person on campus (except myself 'cause I don't give a damn what people think) who'd admit to having ever liked disco, either as a musical genre as a whole or any particular song or artist. [eyeroll] It's all bullshit and wanting to be thought to be "in" and "cool" and "hip" and whatever all else, depending on what's in and what's out right now. And yeah, people will lie about it just to sound superior.

I can imagine using them for certain kinds of stories, and not using them for certain other kinds of stories. It'd depend what kind of tone I was trying to set, what sorts of characters I was trying to portray, how I wanted them to come across, that sort of thing. It's all grist for the mill, you know? And often when I hear someone saying that this won't work or that sucks, it just sounds like a challenge. :)

I go through my old stories that I've posted periodically, and I'll fix small mechanical errors. If I see a typo or a spelling error or a misplaced comma or a "whom" that should be a "who," I'll fix it. There's no reason not to and frankly I doubt anyone'll notice but me, so my opinion's the only one that counts. [wry smile]

I've never made larger changes to a previously posted story, but it's not unknown even among published novels. I can think of one off the top of my head where a writer went back and took a novel she'd published a decade or two earlier, rewrote it and expanded it and republished it. I don't remember the title or author but I know I have both versions, and I do remember liking the expansion. I got a better book to read, even though I'd liked the original, so I'm not going to complain about it. And it was made clear in the cover copy and front matter that this was an expansion, so any reader who didn't want to buy version 2.0 didn't have to.

I guess, like the Remy and Siri thing, I'm just not willing to swear I never would, or to try to convince anyone else that they shouldn't. Writers do what they do and I either like the result or I don't. If I do then I'm not going to gripe and snark about how they got there.

Angie

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

It reminds me of disco

As soon as I saw that I was head-nodding like mad. Exactly. Who here wants to be caught dead admitting they liked disco, ever?

And I've seen authors do what you described with a book, and had no problem with it, as long as it's the exception to the rule, which it does seem to be. S.M. Stirling's The Sharpest Edge becoming Saber and Shadow leaps to mind.

[maelwaedd.livejournal.com]

I can't remember which fic that is, so I clicked the link and got:

The page you are looking for might have been removed,
had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable

I think Siri is really cute.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

D'oh! I didn't notice that until you commented, so, I'm very glad you did. Fixed now.

(And I love your icon. Was that a direct quote from one of this season's episodes? I should remember but can't.)