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lazypadawanA couple of weeks ago, I was cleaning out a drawer and found a folder with a whole bunch of old fanfics I wrote years ago. In fact these were among the very earliest stories I ever wrote, dating back to 1992-1993. There was even a note stashed in there on how to find a BBS that carried the old Echo Station newsgroup.
The very earliest stories were done on…wait for it…a typewriter! Then I got fancy with a word processor in ’93 and even sprung for a nifty font package in ’94. Those were just the ones I actually submitted to fanzines. In addition, I have pages upon pages of handwritten incomplete material that I abandoned for some reason or another.
I re-read a couple of the stories, which were eventually edited and published in some zine. One was “Luke-A-Palooza,” appropriately unearthed around the 20th anniversary of the real-life concerts that partially inspired the story. I think I wrote it in 1994, started when I was sitting around in a law library waiting for somebody to bring out something I’d requested, and it ended up in “Tremor In The Force” in 1995. Another one was the strangely-titled “Constellation of the Heart,” a tale that couldn’t decide if it was an action story or Han/Leia mush. I remember having to do a lot of edits on it before it was published in the ’95 issue of “Imperium.” Parts of it weren’t bad if I do say so myself, but I think I’d do a lot of revision/editing if I were to re-run it at some point.
I noticed a few things about my early stories. One: boy, were they long. Part of it was for mercenary reasons. I got a free zine if I submitted stories over a certain length, which encouraged me to write longer stories. Two: I guess because I was young, some of the dialogue and even the tone of these stories were rather arch. Not snarky, but arch. In the humorous stories, like “Luke-A-Palooza,” it was really arch. Who knew Luke could exchange Gilmore Girls-type patter, only without the Hollywood polish? Three: I came up with WTF or jokey titles for my stories. Some winners include “Bring Me The Head Of Han Solo” (thanks, Sam Peckinpah!) and the unpublished “We Looked At Danger And Laughed Our Heads Off.” I remember if I couldn’t come up with a title—and even in recent years, I struggled coming up with titles—I’d just look at the backs of my CD covers and cobble something together that way.
Honestly, I don’t think I hit my stride until about 10 years ago. The biggest compliment I got on a story with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan is that it sounded so much like them, the reader could hear the cinematic versions saying the dialogue I wrote. Maybe it was experience, maybe it was because the internet allowed for more stories so I wrote more often. Who knows? As I plow through piles of old stuff, perhaps I can find an answer.
The very earliest stories were done on…wait for it…a typewriter! Then I got fancy with a word processor in ’93 and even sprung for a nifty font package in ’94. Those were just the ones I actually submitted to fanzines. In addition, I have pages upon pages of handwritten incomplete material that I abandoned for some reason or another.
I re-read a couple of the stories, which were eventually edited and published in some zine. One was “Luke-A-Palooza,” appropriately unearthed around the 20th anniversary of the real-life concerts that partially inspired the story. I think I wrote it in 1994, started when I was sitting around in a law library waiting for somebody to bring out something I’d requested, and it ended up in “Tremor In The Force” in 1995. Another one was the strangely-titled “Constellation of the Heart,” a tale that couldn’t decide if it was an action story or Han/Leia mush. I remember having to do a lot of edits on it before it was published in the ’95 issue of “Imperium.” Parts of it weren’t bad if I do say so myself, but I think I’d do a lot of revision/editing if I were to re-run it at some point.
I noticed a few things about my early stories. One: boy, were they long. Part of it was for mercenary reasons. I got a free zine if I submitted stories over a certain length, which encouraged me to write longer stories. Two: I guess because I was young, some of the dialogue and even the tone of these stories were rather arch. Not snarky, but arch. In the humorous stories, like “Luke-A-Palooza,” it was really arch. Who knew Luke could exchange Gilmore Girls-type patter, only without the Hollywood polish? Three: I came up with WTF or jokey titles for my stories. Some winners include “Bring Me The Head Of Han Solo” (thanks, Sam Peckinpah!) and the unpublished “We Looked At Danger And Laughed Our Heads Off.” I remember if I couldn’t come up with a title—and even in recent years, I struggled coming up with titles—I’d just look at the backs of my CD covers and cobble something together that way.
Honestly, I don’t think I hit my stride until about 10 years ago. The biggest compliment I got on a story with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan is that it sounded so much like them, the reader could hear the cinematic versions saying the dialogue I wrote. Maybe it was experience, maybe it was because the internet allowed for more stories so I wrote more often. Who knows? As I plow through piles of old stuff, perhaps I can find an answer.
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Date: 2011-08-19 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-19 02:44 am (UTC)Wow, typewriters..... What a blast from the past.
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Date: 2011-08-19 04:55 am (UTC)And yes, I'm with