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Quick extended authors notes to talk about my yuletide fic from this year, since it wasn't revealed by the time I put up my end of year wrap up :) I wrote this fic for the Teixcalaan duology by Arkady Martine (if you haven't read these books I'm so sorry but I do need you to drop everything right now and then come back. Good luck) and it centers around a character we meet in the second book, Nine Hibiscus.
I ended up brainstorming while at Brenna's house. Brenna do you have dreamwidth. Sound off. (I'll ask her in like 90 mins when we're on a call.) Anyway I like to handwrite for brainstorming when I get the chance, and below are my notes :')
I ended up being somewhat faithful to this! The major divergence was that "framing through OC?" because "OC POV, OC backstory, I made this OC and I love her and she's the star of this show I am so sorry to anyone else" (I wasn't sorry). The fic ended up being mostly prose from her POV with the occasional epistolary/media excerpt, as well as a surprise cameo (it was a surprise to me as well until I had fully decided to keep it in). The brainstorming above is really true to my usual process whether I write it down or not—I am far more likely to start with framing and themes and then get into specifics rather than think about the logistics of what I'm doing first.
I am pleased with the end result! As I was writing I was convinced I was making a MESS because Martine writes with such elegant, rich prose... it was so scary to try to emulate even a little bit and I felt daunted by the task. By the time I started writing the letters though I hit my groove and I ended up especially happy with those segments of the fic.
In the end it was just a lot of fun to come back to this world and I wanted to give a lil behind the scenes of how we got to the finished product! That's all thanks so much. <3
I ended up brainstorming while at Brenna's house. Brenna do you have dreamwidth. Sound off. (I'll ask her in like 90 mins when we're on a call.) Anyway I like to handwrite for brainstorming when I get the chance, and below are my notes :')
I ended up being somewhat faithful to this! The major divergence was that "framing through OC?" because "OC POV, OC backstory, I made this OC and I love her and she's the star of this show I am so sorry to anyone else" (I wasn't sorry). The fic ended up being mostly prose from her POV with the occasional epistolary/media excerpt, as well as a surprise cameo (it was a surprise to me as well until I had fully decided to keep it in). The brainstorming above is really true to my usual process whether I write it down or not—I am far more likely to start with framing and themes and then get into specifics rather than think about the logistics of what I'm doing first.
I am pleased with the end result! As I was writing I was convinced I was making a MESS because Martine writes with such elegant, rich prose... it was so scary to try to emulate even a little bit and I felt daunted by the task. By the time I started writing the letters though I hit my groove and I ended up especially happy with those segments of the fic.
In the end it was just a lot of fun to come back to this world and I wanted to give a lil behind the scenes of how we got to the finished product! That's all thanks so much. <3
