writing rambles

[dbskyler]

I did fic_rush this past weekend, and I wrote over 1,000 words on a new cracky fic that I am now feeling isn't very cracky. It certainly still needs a lot of work. It was an interesting writing experiment, because I usually do a lot of self-editing while I write, but this time I turned off the editor and just wrote down whatever came to me in the hope of capturing as many funny ideas as I could. But even so, I'm not sure if there's anything truly funny or cracky in it. There's some slightly funny stuff, but slightly funny doesn't really work. I don't know; I still think there's potential in the core idea, but I don't think I've really hit on what's going to make the fic work yet.

I also need to choose a prompt for my next 50ficlets fic. I've been working on this since March, and I've done six ficlets, so only 44 to go! (Ack. This is going to take me a long time to finish, isn't it?) I'm still in a Doctor/Sarah writing mood, and so far I've written Three/Sarah, Four/Sarah and Eleven/Sarah. Seems like one of the Doctors is missing there. Who could it be . . . ?

In other writing news, I messed around with the format of an old story, Nameless, because in a review on dw_concrete the reviewer mentioned that the format might be detracting from the fic, and I agreed that the formatting didn't make much sense. But after changing it and letting it sit for a day, I decided I didn't like it and changed it back. It's weird, because on the one hand I agree that the way the fic divides things into sections makes it appear that certain things go together that aren't intended to go together, but on the other hand when I took the divisions out, I felt that the pacing then went too fast and the power of the fic was lessened. I still don't know if this is a good way to format it, but I have no better ideas, and in the end I decided to stick with the way I did it when I first wrote the thing, even though I have no justification for it other than "it feels right."

Finally, I just noticed something about my fic On the Benefits of Having an Attic. I inadvertently had Sarah write the dates in U.S. style, e.g. "January 4" instead of "4 January." No one has said anything about it, though. Is that because both styles are used in the UK, or both were used back in the early 80's, when the fic is set? Or is everyone being too nice to point it out? Bottom-line question: should I change it? What do people think?

ETA: Thanks everyone for your input on British date-writing practices! I've done a brief, completely unscientific survey of some (online versions of) British newspapers, and here are the results:



Day of the month first:

The Guardian: 21 May 2010
The Independent: 21 May 2010
The Sun: 21 May 2010
The Telegraph: 21 May 2010

Month first:

The Times: May 21, 2010
The Daily Mail: May 21 2010

So, while both methods are obviously acceptable, day of the month first seems to be more common, and that does make sense to me. I've therefore decided to change the dates, e.g. 4 January instead of January 4. As for the "th" issue, since newspapers are all leaving out the "th"/"st" and Sarah's a journalist, I've decided to leave it out. I just think she would be used to the format, and while I agree she would probably use "th" in a letter, these aren't letters. Sorry in advance if this bothers anyone, and if it helps, remember it's a crack!fic, so it's allowed to be slightly inaccurate. ; )

Comments

[primsong.livejournal.com]

I vote Seven and Sarah! yeah, 50 fics is a LOT, which is I think what has kept me from joining in on that one, I'm very admiring of your willingness to give it a whirl.

Not being Brit I have no idea if the date thing is worth changing or not... hopefully one of our dear Brit-pickers will be able to put in an oar on that one. Love that story, btw.

[boro-girl.livejournal.com]

As a Brit on the date thing... Strictly speaking it should be 4 January. It's not a Brit thing but it is a journalist thing. Which our Sarah is so...

I know that because of my journalism modules as Uni, and most people would accept January 4 for the date so your call really.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

People use both. If I'm writing day and month as digit + word, I write either 4 January or January 4 - depends whether I'm putting the year in too.

So, I might write "I'll see you on June 10" or "I'll see you on 10 June, 2010".

It's only when I'm writing all digits that I put day, month, year, eg. 10/6/10 (or 10/6/2010).

[paranoidangel]

I'd say that strictly speaking the date should be 4th January or January 4th and it drives me mad that newspapers and online news articles don't put the th in there these days (I can't remember now whether they used to). Without it it looks like you're saying four January (which is clearly not a date), rather than fourth of January (which is obviously a date). I know Americans do say four rather than fourth, but we don't.

[thisbluespirit]

Heh, I was going to point out that there are eleven Doctors, so why shouldn't there be more than one to go, hey? She could meet any of them if you were cunning enough. This is a time travel show. :-)

On the date, I wouldn't think about it so much if it was written in a letter, because people might write variations of it (although I agree with paranoidangel42 on the -th. And if you were writing it in full it would always be dd/mm/yy(yy) format. But when I'm writing a letter I might write Jan 4th, 4th January 2010, or whatever. Which is probably why all the Britpickers didn't leap on it and correct you.

[tempestas-inu.livejournal.com]

Hey, try writing one for each Doc! It certainly would make for interesting stuff. Even doing more than one with some of the Doctors wouldn't be bad. I would love to see one with SIx and Sarah, Eight and Sarah or Nine and Sarah, and hey, none of the ficlets so far involve Ten and Sarah! You've done a number of Ten and Sarah stuff but one more couldn't hurt could it?

You can change the date if you want to but I don't think its too much a worry.

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Fifty ficlets is indeed a lot! The problem is, when you look at the prompt table, it looks like a lot less. Of course, that's how they hook you in, the evil comm . . . ; )

I'm glad I'm doing it, though, since it's already prompted me to write two stories that I really like ("On the Benefits of Having an Attic" and "Break of Day.") It is also a lot of fun, and it's keeping me writing fairly steadily, which is just what I'd hoped would happen. But I'm still taking odds on whether I'll drop out well before I reach fifty. We'll see! As for Seven and Sarah . . . well, we'll have to see on that one, too. I don't usually write Seven, but a ficlet challenge might be just the thing for taking that on.

Yeah, the date thing . . . sad to say, it didn't even occur to me to question how I was writing the dates, I just went ahead and wrote them as I always write dates. If it had been in numerical format I'm more likely to have remembered the day/month/year thing. (Probably.) Happy to hear that you love the story, though! :D

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your input! I've taken your advice and changed to 4 January. : )

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

It's only when I'm writing all digits that I put day, month, year, eg. 10/6/10

But what does October 6th have to do with it? ; )

(I know intellectually that's June 10th, but I cannot unsee October 6th. It's really kind of freaky.)

Interesting that both formats are used. Thanks for your help!

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

Actually, when speaking we would always* say January 4th, but when writing it could be either January 4 or January 4th -- they're pretty interchangeable here.

*(unless there are regional differences on this that I'm unaware of, which is possible)

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

p.s. -- thanks for your input!

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

I was going to point out that there are eleven Doctors, so why shouldn't there be more than one to go, hey?

Well, yes, and truth be told, if I'm going to get through all 44 remaining ficlets, I better be ready to use all of them! Of course, at the rate I'm writing, there might be more than eleven Doctors to use by the end . . . :P

Thanks for your advice on the date thing (even if I didn't quite take it).

[dbskyler.livejournal.com]

try writing one for each Doc! It certainly would make for interesting stuff.

I'm certainly going to have to find ways to expand if I'm going to get through 50 ficlets, so maybe I will end up doing this . . . we'll see!

and hey, none of the ficlets so far involve Ten and Sarah!

Now there's a thought! ; )

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Well I look at it and cannot unsee June 10, so it works both ways.

[boro-girl.livejournal.com]

I'd say that strictly speaking the date should be 4th January or January 4th and it drives me mad that newspapers and online news articles don't put the th in there these days

To jump back in on this...

When I was doing journalism at Uni my lecturer (a former writer for the Guardian) said that papers NEVER put the st/nd/rd/th after dates unless they are referring to the recurring date.

My rent is due on the 1st of the month.
I am paid on the 25th of the month.

Every other date is unique. Yes, today might be the 3rd day of June, but it is the only time it will be 3 June 2010. It may look weird and jar slightly if you were to read it out loud, but these are papers, not scripts! (As he frequently said...)

We were threatened on our first lecture that if we handed in anything with a unique date written with the st/.../th on then he would probably fail it!