Stipulating Stylistics

[Vesnic]

Dear Friends,

Upon completion of a rather humongous and oft-times tedious project, I am now finally at liberty to stretch my wings and my big toes in a more creative endeavor. What better outlet for my frustrated drive toward self-expression than the contest story? I've been assigned the topics fetus of doom and cosmic horror, which people tell me are quite mutually compatible. To be honest, though, I feel a bit out to sea with all this, as it's pretty far outside my normal comfort zone. For this reason, I've decided to treat this contest as a purely exploratory exercise, trying on new hats in the mirror to see if, after all, a bright orange polka-dot fedora really is my secret style Shangri-la.

I've created this poll to ask you all which kind of style you not only think would mesh well with the topic, but which you'd also like to see done by me, either as a reprise of past efforts of as something entirely new.

I'm leaving an "other" option on this poll, so comment below if you'd like to read something by me in a style of your own specification.

Thanks guys! Tee hee!

P.S. I know the temptation might be there simply to suggest whichever style you think will best set me up to lose, although I'm not trying to imply that...I mean, you would never...you know, like, um...grr. Just tell me honestly what you yourself would find most pleasurable to read! Thanks again.

P.P.S. I'm not making any promises that I'll hold exactly, or in fact at all, to the prevailing suggestion/s. I will try, however, if it's something I think I can at all manage. I want to keep my readers happy, after all, not alienated or, as in certain past cases, traumatized.

[End Master]

I picked "other" but not really because I have another style for you in mind, it's more of an advisory statement.

Personally I prefer number 2 as far as reading is concerned, but quite frankly Bat or DEP are probably going to outdo you in that department (assuming DEP goes that way with his).

You tend to win if you stick with your usual style of writing (number 1) so I say you probably should go with what works if regaining the Writing Throne is what you're really after.

But if you're in this to give yourself a challenge and personal growth and all that, well number 3 would probably be your best bet. If you manage to pull it off well then your glory will be even greater.

[Locke]

I picked "other." Have some fun with this.

Those are the entries I've enjoyed most through every contest I've seen, because it's obvious when the writer enjoys the process. Every time I've tried "WRITING" - at least while sober - I end up with something that appears pretentious (at worst), or fails to hook the reader's interest (at best).

The best of my writing doesn't take itself seriously. It's something I can come back to again and again and have a laugh at. It's something I can enjoy reading so many times - not because the prose was flawless or deep and intricate or whatever. I don't know that there's a criteria there, I just had fun working it out on paper, and I really do think that carries over.

I wrote this about ten years ago, so don't judge me. There are better segments there, but this is one of the shorter ones I kept coming back to.

He'd started the morning earlier than most, angry and hungover, and he ground his fists relentlessly into his eyes, muttering a string of the worst obscenities his threadbare mind could gather as sandpaper lids rasped sharp and red across his vision.


He dropped his hands and threw open the door. The painful smear of the afterimage dulled the impact of daylight on his nerves, but it couldn't stop the taunts of recognition, or the sleeting welter of debris that greeted him from all quarters as he staggered out into the street. The sound of the riot, with its epicenter several blocks away, was thunder in his ears, and even on the fringe of the action just outside the police station, the people on the road reacted eagerly to his presence and his uniform, pelting him with whatever came to hand. He shouted and waved his arms, trying to steady himself against the assault.

While she was busy filling his order, Officer Wong had to go about finding a way to pay for it. Since the Mayor stripped funding several years ago, the only source of income police officers had was bribery. Whether freely given or extorted by force, bribery was all they had, so Wong made his circuit of the diner, extorting all the bribery he could get his hands on at gunpoint. He shot a man in the foot for good measure, returned to his booth, and ate the charred mess of eggs and assorted filth he found waiting for him. He blew his nose into his napkin, finished his coffee, flipped off the waitress, and left without paying.


"I hate cops," she muttered to nobody in particular, and spat in the hash browns of the man who'd been shot in the foot.

Literary quality aside, you can see the fun element there. I don't know if that kind of thing moves/drives you, but whatever immerses you - do that. I don't think anything ruins a story quite as effectively as sitting down to write, believing it's a task, a slog, and an undertaking that has to be finished to satisfy X requirement.

The time I spent in Iad is what I remember most of your writing. I felt like you had something worth saying when you wrote it.

[Vesnic]

So in three words, you're saying: just have fun.

Yeah, thanks, I appreciate that, but what I'm immersing myself in here is the theme, not the writing style. As I mentioned, the theme is something I'm not entirely comfortable with and which I don't have much experience writing, so I wouldn't know beforehand how to have fun doing it. I'm hedging my bets that fun can be had in several different ways, and that there is more than one path to producing something that isn't utterly stilted and forced. First, though, I need a strategy. Your response actually seems closest to Answer #1, since you referred back to a past story as something which seemed to have the fun factor in it. Otherwise, I don't quite understand how the exhortation to enjoy myself is applicable to specific styles. I'm offering to try something new not because I feel like it's a job, but because that in itself is fun to me, being different people, trying out different modes of expression, etc. You're sort of telling me to do what I'm already doing! In which case, would you mind answering the question definitively? Thanks.

[dreamshell]

You might try some pastiche writing. Poe and Lovecraft come to mind, as do Charlotte Perkins Gilman ("The Yellow Wallpaper"), Sylvia Plath ("The Bell Jar") and maybe Mary Shelley. I keep associating "Fetus of Doom" with "Rosemary's Baby" by Ira Levin, but I haven't read the book (or seen the movie) so I know jack shit about his style.

If you wanna get more "brillig," something by Alice Sheldon aka James Tiptree, Jr. would be another great resource. Check out "Love Is the Plan the Plan Is Death."

[End Master]

Fetus of doom combined with cosmic horror reminds me of Wilbur Whateley from the Dunwich Horror more than Rosemary's baby.

[dreamshell]

Sure, but I was speaking of FoD in isolation, and I'd already mentioned Lovecraft.

[Vesnic]

You might try some pastiche writing. Poe and Lovecraft come to mind, as do Charlotte Perkins Gilman ("The Yellow Wallpaper"), Sylvia Plath ("The Bell Jar") and maybe Mary Shelley. I keep associating "Fetus of Doom" with "Rosemary's Baby" by Ira Levin, but I haven't read the book (or seen the movie) so I know jack shit about his style.

Thanks Dream, those are some interesting ideas. If I were to do pastiche, I think it would be important to imitate someone both well known and with a distinctive style so people would get the connection right away, although I think it would be fun regardless to just try out a whole different way of stringing words together.

I also thought immediately of Rosemary's Baby for "fetus of doom". I'm more familiar with the movie than the book, and I've definitely been thinking of, if not a pastiche per se, then maybe just a really big nod in Polanski's direction.

[donteatpoop]

I went with "none of the above" because I am a follower, not a leader.

Also, I'm a bit of a purist in that I feel you should experiment with various things until you find the one that works best for you, and just go with that. As long as it is of a lower quality than my own entry, I'll be happy with whatever you write.

[Vesnic]

Yeah, guys, thanks. Only you, special bunch that you are, could manage to take a perfectly straight-forward question and make such a muddle of it. The idea was for me to write something that you'd really enjoy reading, the poll was designed with you in mind. Can you wrap that around your thick heads? I was trying to be considerate, trying to do something for you. Never fucking mind, then. It was just meant to be a fun idea, that's all. It wasn't actually necessary for some of you to bog things down with ridiculous amounts of obfuscation or to make snide remarks about how you don't care how I write, as long as I lose. I even made a provision for that in my first post, if you bothered to read it. It was really a very simple question. All you had to do was answer it.

[donteatpoop]

I want to read a story about Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch, if that helps. Especially of his exploits on Crunch Berry Island. I find this era of history extremely interesting.

[Locke]

If it was me - Fetus of Doom and Cosmic Horror...

I like to subvert the guidelines. The "cosmic horror" doesn't have to be an entity; the field is more or less free with that one. The fetus is harder, but I feel like it should answer the cosmic horror in one way or another.

Writing style? Look at some of the more realistic impressionist paintings. Give it that level of crisp, vivid detail, but make it active, not dreamy. I like your descriptions/ornamentations, but I've yet to see them sharp, incisive, and bright.

I don't want "cherry cola" - and you don't, either, from the way you worded it - but simple or concise doesn't have to mean easy, pop-trendy, or name-your-pejorative. Sensory depth in a few well-chosen words can be quite meaningful. Make it crisp; make it count.

This is more or less the opposite of my my last post. I'm not trying to "obfuscate" - if this is also off the mark, you might specify what you're looking for/not finding.

Cheers.

[End Master]

HA HA Locke and DEP got yelled at!

Seriously, couldn't have been me getting included in that rant since I gave my advice quite clearly.

But just in case I am getting included for some strange reason, I'll explain it again.

Choose 1, for your best chance at winning.

Choose 2, if you want to increase your chances of ME liking the story.

Choose 3, if you want to give yourself the biggest challenge as a writer.

There you go, doesn't get any simpler while still remaining helpful than that.

Usoki was wise enough to just silently vote and dreamshell, you didn't fucking vote at all. Get to it!

[BatCountry]

I want to read a story about Captain Horatio Magellan Crunch, if that helps. Especially of his exploits on Crunch Berry Island. I find this era of history extremely interesting.

Now I share this desire also...



Can we possibly combine fetus of doom and cosmic horror with Captain Crunch? Is this doable Miss Ves? I feel like your poetic prose would be best suited for a cereal based tale.



In the end however I feel Captain Crunch is more in line with the adventure genre rather than horror. The Burger King could work though. He's scary like a clown rapist wielding a rusty spoon hovering over your bed at night. Well...would you look at that, inspiration for my own story. You're right Ves, this discussion is helpful!

[End Master]

In the end however I feel Captain Crunch is more in line with the adventure genre rather than horror.

I dunno, horror could work.