Linkblogging: the reading and writing edition

[brigdh]

1. A very well-written article about Obama as a writer. I found this very thoughtful.

2. A really interesting post about the differences between fanfiction and original fiction. Usually I disagree when people try to find the separation between the two, but I liked this discussion a lot.

3. Murasaki and Sei Shonagon fight crime! In poetry! Come on, you know it's awesome.

4. If you would like to participate in The Big Read (a bunch of bloggers read the same book at the same time and blog about it), the next book up is Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White. More details here. I doubt think I'll join- the book doesn't look that interesting to me- but I encourage other people to do so!

5. Come Here Often? comment-fic meme! Leave horrible pick-up lines, have someone write a story. All fandoms and pairings welcome.

Comments

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

Murasaki and Sei Shonagon fight crime! This is... unexpected, but awesome;)

The Woman in White is, if I remember correctly, quite a good read? I mean, I read it while lolling about on the beach, so it had a bunch of awesome points from the beginning, but the "mystery" part of the story is all right, although I liked the "social commentary" part better:) I don't know, I probably won't join The Big Read, but it'll be nice to read some of the texts. Thanks for the link!

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

It is awesome!

And hmmm, that actually sounds pretty awesome. You people are tempting me to go ahead and check out The Woman in White.

[zahrawithaz.livejournal.com]

Wow, thank you for all of these. I have stuff to do, but it's much more fun to read the internets.

No love for The Woman in White? But Marian Halscombe, thinly disguised butch lesbian, is one of the most fascinating heroines in all Victorian fiction! Plus it's one of the first examples of a book putting multiple first-person POVs into a cohesive whole.

[cellophane_ria.livejournal.com]

But Marian Halscombe, thinly disguised butch lesbian, is one of the most fascinating heroines in all Victorian fiction! Plus it's one of the first examples of a book putting multiple first-person POVs into a cohesive whole.
Exactly! Thank you.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

Yes! Wilkie Collins' women are full of awesome.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I have stuff to do, but it's much more fun to read the internets.

Ha! That is so often the way I feel.

I have to confess, I did not know much about 'The Woman in White', other than 'early mystery'. You have made it sound much, much more appealing.

[p-zeitgeist.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link to the Obama article! It was a pleasure to read (and did a neat job of reinforcing my uneasy feeling that I tend to give the man the benefit of every possible doubt in large part because on a deep, almost pre-conscious level he sounds like family).

One of the things that struck me was the article writer's, and evidently the speechwriting staff's, bogglement at what I'm beginning to think of as a kind of signature of the lawyer/writer: that is, the deep discomfort with the fuzzy and imprecise. ('No, no, those are separate ideas!') It's like, eloquence is the fruit of analysis and exactitude, and not at all its enemy.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

and did a neat job of reinforcing my uneasy feeling that I tend to give the man the benefit of every possible doubt in large part because on a deep, almost pre-conscious level he sounds like family

Yeah, I have that problem as well. Even when I'm annoyed at him, I tend to see where he's coming from more than I see where his detractors are from.

The article did have a bit of a funny tone- reading it, I kept recognizing things Obama said or did, even as the article seemed to find it strange.

[darkelf105.livejournal.com]

That was a very cool post about fanfiction and original fiction...plus, what the poster said about fanfic/original fic, totally hit the nail, as far as I am concerned, about why Clare's Mortal Instruments series never did anything for me. I just kept stumbling over parts of the narrative and eventually had to put it down. Which makes me sad, because I am shallow, and they had cool covers.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I haven't read Claire's books (or fanfiction, actually, having never been in HP fandom), but I really liked the post.

[seaskystone.livejournal.com]

... omg that post references FerretBrain. o.o

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Hee!

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

That fanfic article is interesting and timely -- I'm working on a nonfic piece about fanfic at the moment -- and the critique of Claire's book sort of made me tilt my head a little.

I mean, it's something I'd thought about, but I'm not sure it's something I'd seen many other people think about on paper.

Hmm. Thinky.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the book, so I can't comment on that. But most of the time, whenever I see people trying to theorize about the differences between fanfiction and original fiction, I find it annoying, so I was pleasantly surprised by this post.