Water's October, Right?: House Fanfiction Discussion

Same for me, blackmare. Hearing lyrics makes me lose concentration when I'm writing. Just music, though, is fine, depending on the piece. Sometimes I'll listen to a certain song that reminds me of a show in order to get into the right mood, but I don't have anything like that for House. (And to wit, I don't think I've ever written something that's actully captured the show's atmosphere.) Noise vs. quiet doesn't really matter to me - just like I can fall asleep anywhere (including a dance club and bars and random train stations) I can write anywhere (including a dance club and bars and... you get the idea). For me, it's more a matter of how much free time I have to write - ie, the less time I have, the more guaranteed I am to write. Give me an entirely free, peaceful, quiet day in front of the computer, and I'm likely to get about two sentences down. (Those are the days when I miss dial up internet and the possibility of not being connected all the damn time.)

I listen to music when I write and it's never anything different per story. I listen to the same album over and over again until that story is finished. I do this for two reasons. 1) It keeps me in the same pace and style for a story. And 2) When I write a story about somehting, I'm usually in a certian mood. That album relates to that mood. Music is such a big part, I can actually name what album I was listening to when I wrote a story. I don't know why, I just can. I love music and story writing.

I'm not too into music in fics. In humor/parody fics I've been known to have someone burst into song SGA fic where Rodney is tortured via The Song That Doesn't End, House drunkenly sings If I Were Gay to Wilson, etc... But the ones with the, you know deep, meaningful lyric, spurt of fic, lyric, fic, lyric fic, normally annoy me. Half the time there's more song then fic! Another thing is if I don't know the song it does nothing for me, if I hate the song it pisses me off, and if I like the song I get distracted and start singing. So I tend to keep any music to my humor fics, cause for me it just is not a thing that works in serious fic, no matter how much I have urges to write a song fic to Hinders Get Stoned.

Ohhh, that I can't stand. I like listening to music when I write, but when the lyrics actually become part of the story...well, that's another scenario all together. I've done 2 fics like that in my time. Back in my -early- days as a writer, and I learned early on just how stupidit can be. Listening to music while writing- Yes Having the music become a part of the story (not in the sense that somebody is singing it, but in the Song!Fic sense)- Heck no!

If I'm hearing other words -- whether from the TV or in the form of lyrics -- it'll usually interfere with the words I'm trying to write. This happens to me. I was never able to work while music was playing, or the television was on. I can work with indistinct noise, but I'll be horribly distracted even if I hear a familiar bass line of a song from the neighboring room. While I was in college, I spent countless hours in the library because attempts to write papers anywhere else was a waste of energy. For me, the same applies to creative writing. I have to work in silent isolation. So, I accomplish the most when the husband's at work and I'm left with hours of writing-friendly quiet time. As for music in fics, I think musical references in passing are fine and can help establish a mood or setting, but lines of lyrics that break up the story can be distracting and gratuitous. I usually shy away from that sort of thing.

I try to give the reader an idea of what the mood of the song is, rather than the song itself. Several times, I've used a song as a title or written around the idea but never made specific mention of the song. I had one story that made reference to several Kiss songs as well as the Carter Family and inferences (but no mention of) the a conglomeration of 80s post-punk hipster favorites, among others. (It was a highly music-centric story.) I do not think it is a stretch that House is familiar with bands of this sort. He's a man in his 40s with a deep appreciation for music. It has been shown that he enjoys American vernacular music. He would've been in college during the height of the post-punk rise of vernacular music and an ironic rock posturing. It is possible that I'm projecting. I would like to think it's less of a projection than the author who insists that House weeps copiously whilst listening to My Chemical Romance (a band I am guessing is moody, based on the people I've seen wearing MCR t-shirts.) In th QL fic my first draft featured a conversation between House and Sam about a Robert Johnson song. Everyone knows Robert Johnson, right? He's one of the great characters in American musical history. He influenced everyone. Sure, no need to explain that. NO ONE who read that version of the story had any idea who he was or what the song Kindhearted Woman was about. That was a valuable lesson. Do not assume your readers have the same record collection as you do.

I don't feel I have to explain House's musical selections, if I'm writing in House's POV, but then, I did a fic referencing Robert Johnson, Son House, Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, Art Blakey, Sonny Boy Williamson, Chopin, Sousa, Wagner, David Brubeck, Scott Joplin and Gene Krupa all inside of 4,000 words. I'm not going to dumb down House's musical knowledge, because that's an essential part of his character. Now if it were Cuddy or Chase or Wilson or anyone else's POV, that's different. Then they'd ask who it was and House would call them all morons.

Do not assume your readers have the same record collection as you do. A good lesson indeed. *ducks to avoid punch that's coming* And I have no idea who Robert Johnson is.

If I'm hearing other words -- whether from the TV or in the form of lyrics -- it'll usually interfere with the words I'm trying to write. This happens to me. I was never able to work while music was playing, or the television was on. I can work with indistinct noise, but I'll be horribly distracted even if I hear a familiar bass line of a song from the neighboring room. While I was in college, I spent countless hours in the library because attempts to write papers anywhere else was a waste of energy. For me, the same applies to creative writing. I have to work in silent isolation. So, I accomplish the most when the husband's at work and I'm left with hours of writing-friendly quiet time. As for music in fics, I think musical references in passing are fine and can help establish a mood or setting, but lines of lyrics that break up the story can be distracting and gratuitous. I usually shy away from that sort of thing. I'm in that school of thought as well. Talking about a song is one thing, having the character acknowledge a song is fine too, but please don't break up the story with song lyrics. If I'm reading a song-fic, I'll skip right over those words. I'm also one who needs quiet to write. I always needed quiet to study and to sleep too.

JenButterfly get thee to Wikipedia. Considered by some to be the "Grandfather of Rock-and-Roll," his vocal phrasing, original songs, and guitar style influenced a range of musicians, including Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, The Allman Brothers Band, The Rolling Stones, The White Stripes, The Black Keys, Peter Gabriel, Neil Young, Warren Zevon and Eric Clapton, who called Johnson "the most important blues musician who ever lived." He was also ranked 5th on Rolling Stone's list of 100 Greatest Guitarists of all time. You're in for a treat. So much great stuff to discover.

See that's another thing. I have no clue about that kind of music. Frankly I'm closer to the teeny bopped badfic writers when it comes to music taste so I'd never in a million years be able to write about any type of music a middle aged adult man like House would listen to. Honestly I've never even heard You Can't Aways Get What You Want all the way though. Just various clips on tv shows.

Thanks, Namaste. These kids today, they don't know that they're listening to music that has roots since before their great-grandparents were born. You can't get much more rock'n'roll than Robert Johnson. For the record, I don't dumb down House's musical tastes, but I am willing to explain them somewhat. (If it matters to the story.) Can I ask a question? I just got this review for a rather quiet, understated end of the world story I wrote: My e-mail is -------. Please tell me what the hell is happening? Are bombs going off? Are people rioting in the streets? ...? Now, I am thrilled I touched someone enough to want to know more. I'm surprised to receive any comment at all on ff.net. But what I'm not sure of is: isn't the story enough? It's not about the events, it's about the reaction. Is it better to spell everything out? What sort of response is appropriate for that kind of comment?

Dru, it's not that hard to give yourself a quick and dirty education if you want to drop in a musical reference. Start with something or someone that House has referenced ... say Blind Willie McTell from "Honeymoon." Go to Wikipedia and look him up. Listen to the 30 second clips from iTunes (and a lot of old Blues records can be heard just by googling and clicking, since a lot is in the public domain.) Click around on Wikipedia to see who influenced him and who he influenced. It's not going to make you as knowledgeable as someone like House, but it would give you comfort level to at least mention something within his genres. And besides, House has wide ranging tastes, everything from opera to blues to jazz to current pop tunes as well as classic rock. That doesn't mean he'd willingly buy Christina Aguilera, but it's pretty danged certain than he knows who she is. Radiosweetheart, I'd go with "thanks, I'm glad it's got your imagination running, and I'd imagine that there is chaos elsewhere, but for this fic, I'm sticking with the impact on House and his world, rather than the larger world picture." And everytime I see your user name, I automatically hear Elvis Costello in my head. (Check out this bill: Bob Dylan with Elvis Costello solo and acoustic as an opener -- and Amos Lee, but Amos I can hear anytime. The end of October. I think I'll actually have to pay for a ticket this time. I volunteer at a bunch of music venues, so normally, I just work the show, but this?? Totally worth it.)

JenButterfly get thee to Wikipedia. Right-o! Wikipedia AWAY!!!!!!!!

Here's a topic of controversy. Recently Dee recced a fic in the rec thread that had...hmm, at best, a tenuous grasp of the niceties of the English language. I don't necessarily blame the writer for its quality, because the author's note clearly stated it had been written possibly under the influence, certainly without a moment's thought (or sleep), and was completely unbetaed. According to Dee--and I don't know, because I didn't read the story--it had a great House voice. So, obviously Dee enjoyed it, and more power to her, I say. I've enjoyed plenty of fics in my time that weren't the height of literature. But what I'm wondering is, should rec threads and rec journals and whoever else points out a story to other people in the hopes of entertaining them...should they have some idea of a base level of quality before they're recced? And is it grammar you look for, then, or should there be some moratorium on stories that make even the reccer say, "a little OOC, but..." I don't rec every story I read. I don't even rec every story I comment on. There's a level I look for, usually an emotional reaction that the story evokes in me. How about you guys? What makes a story rec-worthy? Why do you, or would you, choose to rec something that others might see as...well, you know...bad? Do rec threads have standards? Should they? Do you trust certain reccers more than others? And...what makes a story good, anyway?

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