~~Angst: the One True Way.

[reenka]

is it me, or is there some sort of `pride' to uphold among angst writers? *laughs* as in, we, the angst writers, do our honorable deed, and any deviation is a shameful, embarrassing thing, because by writing angst we make a Statement about the world, a deep, meaningful statement, and if we renege on that Statement, we aren't worthy of our Angsty Heritage. ahem.

our Angsty roots need watering, our Angsty Credo needs upholding.
we, the few-- the proud-- the Angst Writers. *coughs*


it's not any one person-- i see this again and again-- i mean, mostly in jest i guess, but still. what is it about angst writing that makes one think it's some sort of defining -thing- about you as a writer, and maybe as a person? why is it so different than writing satire or pure drama, or mythical romance or what have you?
    i've never seen humor writers beat their chests, proclaiming themselves to be Proud, to be on the One True Path, the practicioners of the great Art and Science of Satire. *chortles*
    i mean, it would be funny if one said-- i've been writing too much angst and drama. i need to go back to my satiric fluffy roots.

personally, i just write stuff. if it comes out fluff or angst or sweet gooey wuv (not so often), i don't really care. i'm not out to cultivate an image i hold of myself-- if anything because i have no clue what that image would be. actually, i'm sort of a satirically inclined angst writer. not so much that my characters -suffer-... ok, so they suffer. it's just-- i certainly don't write about happy love. neither do i write about doomed love. to me it's all kind of confused and undefined. no love is one or the other entirely. that's the beauty of it-- love is everything all at once. i never thought any character was really doomed unless i plan to kill them-- and i only kill characters in jest, really. or as a metaphor for transformation.

well, that's just me.
    still, it's weird to me that a number of people feel -uncomfortable- with the lighter side, even if they write it. it's like, it's not as deep, not as meaningful-- like it's a lie, somehow, they're lying to themselves and the readers. if they're writing Doomed Love, well, they're telling the truth then.
    i mean, this is definitely a case of the writer seeping into the writing, i guess. your life has been sucky, so if your characters are ok, they're like, in some insane little dreamworld, surely. it seems to imply some sort of personal resentment and jadedness that is seeping into your work. not that that's easily avoided-- after all, your work is a part of you. still, if you're not going to go beyond your own views and opinions on the characters and on life, your work is going to be hobbled, and if you judge what you write as you write it or beforehand, you're running the risk of skewing it, taking away the magical, indefinable quality that makes it beautiful, that makes the reader speechless.
    and yes, my favorite writing, the things i consider magical and truly great, work beyond angst and satire and fluff and encompass all of them. that is the goal. that is the One True Path, for me anyway. say, shakespeare was never entirely one or the other, even though he wrote "comedies" and "tragedies". he never struck just one note. it just bothers me to see writers even jokingly refer to the need to write angst, as if it's more worthwhile, more "real". what's real is the emotion throughout, not the eventual result, not the -nature- of the emotion. i hope anyway.
~~

EDIT: anyway. more interestingly. ztrin. ginny. evil. i-- am-- dead. as in, oh my -gahd-, if i ever write evil and ginny and tom, let me be half, a quarter, a third as good as this. um. yah.

Comments

[wobblygoblin.livejournal.com]

*applauds*

Couldn't have said it better m'self. Angst isn't the only way to go, and an entirely angsty story is nearly impossible if it involves more than one character. Because characters are people, really, and people are very different things. It takes all sorts, and all sorts react in all sorts of ways. Unless you happen to be writing about a modern poetry cafe in a decadent urban sprawl with characters who dress entirely in black and are broody misunderstood artistic teens. Then angst, angst, angst and highjinx abound! (Of course, there's probably a happy shop owner or a cheerful parent, so damn, not entirely angst either.)

But on the whole, some people angst and some people don't and that's what makes the world go round. You should never confine yourself to just one sort of writing.

*steps down off her soapbox*

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

*dusts off your soap-box and puts it away for later use* :D
you know, that's why i like lj, partly. you get the debate and the agendas and the propagandazing without y'know, the actual politicians and workers unions and organizations for the better treatment of satire :D

but yah. i like things balanced, if anything because too much of one thing gives one stomach cramps and makes me cranky.
and no one likes me when i'm cranky ><;;

subjective is such a good word

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

it just bothers me to see writers even jokingly refer to the need to write angst, as if it's more worthwhile, more "real". what's real is the emotion throughout, not the eventual result, not the -nature- of the emotion. i hope anyway.

i can't speak for others, but with regards to when i write angst, i tend to see it as 'going back to my roots' - so to speak - because it's what i know best. not to imply that it's what i do best, or that i know much at all, only that the majority of my writing is of the angst variety. it's how i began writing fanfic, and as such, it's what i tend to feel most comfortable writing. not that i don't enjoy writing happier stuff, because i certainly do, and i don't hold any of it in lesser esteem because of whatever heading it may fall under. i get a great kick out of things like 'the crush trilogy' and 'the unexpected series' otherwise i would never write them, but i think that being true to what you enjoy the most as a writer is the most important thing that anyone can do for themselves, and by extension their readers. if you like what you write - in whatever style - then i think that will show through to your readers, and they'll enjoy it, no matter what emotion is may produce.

i would be a hypocrite and a horrible person if i turned my back on one style and said it was better than another. no one thing is better than another, only different. 'different' i like; different is good. it's the reason that i adore happyminion's happy-fic as much as i revel in slodwick's more angst-driven pieces. in the end (to my mind), the entire piece should, as you mentioned about, be driven, not by style, but by emotion and doing your best as a writer to convey whatever you're trying to get across.

Re: subjective is such a good word

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

of course that's just my two sickles. i understand, however, that there are writers who offer blood sacrifices with their angst. i suspect that that might be taking it a bit far, but you know, whatever works for you. of course, i also understand that there are some writers who get laid when they write happy-fic. if anything *that* should create a mass influx of happy stuff.

Re: subjective is such a good word

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

get laid when they write happyfic, huh.
man.
how does a gal get a hold of that kind of action?? hee
sex for happyfic, satan for angstfic. mmm, something for everybody >:D

Re: subjective is such a good word

[ethrosdemon.livejournal.com]

only that the majority of my writing is of the angst variety. it's how i began writing fanfic, and as such, it's what i tend to feel most comfortable writing.

Hold up.
Is this a joke? Know thyself, Horatio!
The majority of your fic is *not* angst. I am cracking up.

Think back, way back, *pixie dust falls, you cough* when was the last time you wrote angst? Which, in my NOT humble opinion, is not evil fic (see Draco) or Ron being a bastard, it's someone wallowing in the mud of self-pity or existential tribulation.

Have no fear, I call myself out on this, too. I think I will now publicly declare myself a humorist and say that comic writing is the highest form of art since it is so much more difficult to get right (was that pretentious enough, R?) *also, the preceeding was in and of itself satire* Thank you, I will go to class now.

Re: subjective is such a good word

[hackthis.livejournal.com]

Is this a joke? Know thyself, Horatio!
The majority of your fic is *not* angst. I am cracking up.

shut up, hamlet. christ. okay, whatever she said as she's really been there from the jump start knows better than i do. i am not an angster or a humorist, i am a hacker, and damnit, i like it that way.

Re: subjective is such a good word

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

also have to run off right now, but--
*laughs and laughs*
*waves banners*
-->*K is a Humorist~!!*<--

*laughs some more*
gahd, that made my day >:D

[ashkitty.livejournal.com]

You know, this is so true and prevalent that I end up making a lot of jokes that my fluffy sappy things are their own form of rebellion. I wrote a GW fic once where the entire thing, it was just this little vignette, Trowa and Quatre went out for ice cream and some stranger paid their bill. It was pure fluff. That was it. And I felt damn good about spreading Good And Happy Feelings as much as I did about getting the idea out of my head.

Especially with slash/yaoi/gay fiction, where angst is the popular trend, as if the characters have to be punished for their homosexuality. (Wanna hazard a guess at how many gay fiction stories end with somebody dying of AIDS?) It's so hard to find a good happily-ever-after ending, the way you can in het romances and fairy tales. I honestly feel like I'm making more of a statement by letting them be happy.

When I think about it at all, of course. ;)

[yourpoison.livejournal.com]

well, i was trying to say that neither is better than the other... or something like that. ><;;
but of course, happiness is a good statement. what is it that rejected wives tend to say?
`happiness is the best revenge' :D ahahah