Twist on the "how you know it's me" meme

[amanuensis1]

I like the "top ten things that tell a reader it's one of my fics" meme, but I'm not so clueful as to recognize these elements in my own stories. You guys are boggling me with how insightful you are towards your own writing style. I mean, sure, I write certain characters a lot, and there are themes like smut and non-con, but I don't think about writing style when I write--I think about the specific story and where it's going and that's pretty much it. I just...write, the way that I do because that's what I do and how it comes out.

So, fine. A number of you have said you were able to peg my stories in the anonymous fic exchanges right away. Help me out here: tell me how. Yes, that's right, I'm asking you to do the meme for me. This is not a roundabout way of asking for compliments; I'd really like to know what I do that not everyone does in order to understand style better. And if it's just, "Well, you write those characters and you write non-con," let me know! That way I can know it's that simple and there's no other magic to it. (Well-meaning negative feedback is certainly welcome as well.)

Comments

[pushdragon.livejournal.com]

This is a hard question. What you do is write a great story racked up with constant tension - but what makes your work distinctive is what you don't do, which is waste a single word, ever. You never give us superfluous, show-offy details. Everything is important and adds to the tension. That's a rarer gift than you might think in a fandom packed with aspiring writers who want to throw in a sparkling image or a paragraph of character insight ... at the expense of the story.

So. You know you are reading a story by Amanuensis because you have read the story at a break-neck pace from start to finish, your heart is pounding, your palms are sweaty, and you didn't stop for a single moment to get distracted by flaws or indulgences in the writing.

[amanuensis1.livejournal.com]

Awwww! Okay, I can say that you're certainly describing the sorts of stories I like to read. Long dull descriptions of rooms and clothing give me the yawns, so, I'm not likely to plop them into my own writing either. I am awfully pleased that you, whose tastes I respect greatly, think I'm succeeding on that score. &hearts