Remember my personal motto? "I overanalyze things sometimes. I
wonder why I do that...."
	More stuff for your enjoyment. Kind of short--I banged this out
under 30 minutes, and will probably go through further revision.



  This is something applicable to writers of all types, not just anime
fanfickers....

	Three major "good writing" types.

  1. The Epic Weaver. The writer manages to draw together vast plots and
many diverse characters into one story, without losing sight of detail
and the individual storylines and people within the larger picture.
Thing that seem unrelated, perhaps, at first, are pulled together, as
well as the characters involved. And furthermore, it is accomplished in
a way that jumps between those varied lines before they join so as to
keep them all fresh in the mind of the reader, in a fashion that doesn't
confuse the reader through all the jumps.
  Imagine a person weaving a vast tapestry. He has to work from one end
to the other, going in separate, parallel lines that eventually build up
into one great big picture.
  Example: John Biles. The man's a genius for epics: Sailor Moon Z,
Dance of Shiva, even Lemon Sherbert. Large, grand stories which manage
to mesh seemingly unrelated plot points into one complete story.

  2. The Word Forger. The writer carefully crafts his prose for maximum
effect. Word choice, word order, phrase and sentence order make huge
differences in a way something reads. Describing things in a roundabout
manner, rather than directly, makes the reader think a little about
what's being written--showing, rather than telling, the story. This is
especially used for shock and humor pieces, as the work is trying to
evoke a strong reaction of some type.
  Imagine a blacksmith hammering out a tool or weapon. Precision and
strength is put into what is being forged, making a sharply defined
object.
  Example: Hmm, I have trouble finding a definitive author on the anime 
fanfic scene.... RpM, perhaps? In TMTC and TPOH--the humor in them is
particularly potent through his careful selection of words.

  3. The Mood Shaper. Similar to the above, in that word choice is
important, but not so much for biting effect--rather, to give an overall
mood for the piece. Little comments and details give a sense of
completeness to the story. And then, the story itself is also shaped
along the lines of the mood. This is probably the hardest one of the
three to appreciate, because it works almost subconsciously.
  Imagine an artist painting the background of a work. He puts in
selected colors, little details, etc. as a setup for what will be the
foreground. And then, the foreground comes in...and boy, does it ever.
  Example: Chris Davies. The small, seemingly insignificant things he
puts in his works set them apart from more normal fics. And the moods
expressed in his "Images of Tenchi" kind of just wrench at your head.

  Of course, these are not exclusive, not in the least. For example--
Chris is also an epic writer--Together Again, for example. He combines
that with his skills at "painting" for truly marvelous work. For RpM, 
TMTC and TPOH are epic-scale works, too. And John Biles can also evoke
moods brilliantly--"The Kiss", for one. And when you can get someone who
does all three, well...I'd give that one to Terry Pratchett. Heh. As for
myself..."forging" is probably the one I can do best--it's what makes
NGEjd better than my previous things--and I've managed to call up a
strong mood in my angsty pieces, sometimes. I have yet to really do both
together, though. And grand epics are just beyond me. I wish I could....

  Any more types? Any comments?


>From Andrew Huang, brought to you by his computer, Oddzilla
Oddzilla says, "Mmmmm...Evanjellydonut...."
http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~alhuang/
Harvard Anime Society, Secretary