Alle Kunst ist der Freude gewidmet

Self, stop it. You don't need even more historical figures to fangirl about. You already have Karl der Große, Friedrich Barbarossa, Friedrich II and Heinrich VII (or even all the Staufer). You do not also need to fangirl about Ludwig der Deutsche. XD So awesome~ Damn, I really do have to tell you the wacky and awesome anecdote about Ludwig der Deutsche I've heard in the lecture today. It's not as wacky as the one about Karl der Große and the monster nomming on his penis, but boy, it is funny as well. (I couldn't help but picture Ludwig as Hector. Fffffffffff, he would've reacted similar, I believe) But I have to look it up again since I didn't manage to write down everything.

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Also, I was hit by several relevations earlier. Please skip this if you're not interested in semi-coherent self-analyzing.

( Cut relevations )

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Okay, to make this post a bit more happy and lovely I'll ramble and squee about writing. Namely about writing styles since I've noticed lately that I've discovered a new "writing style" for me;

Playing around with tenses. By which I mean; I love combining present and past tense. Not just randomly, of course, but to write on different times levels. To show that something plays in the past in contrast to the "now" in the story, which would be present. To show that something is changing without being so obvious about it. Making flashbacks without having to indicate it in the text or without having to put everything in italics.

And the present tense is attractive because it gives (me at least) a feeling of immediacy and closeness. Past tense always feels a bit distant, as if I'm really just a viewer of the happenings from high above. In Present tense, however, I feel as if I'm really in the middle of the narrative. As if I'm experiencing everything at the same time as the character. And that is great. Not all stories are suited for such closeness, of course; I can't immediately tell why or which, but after writing a few sentences I know if I want the reader to be close or not.

Let me explain how that would look like with an example (the Lyon story for raphi): Lyon studies and the tense is past. It's the frame narrative. Then he falls asleep and the tense switches to present. Because the reader is with him in the dream. The reader can't see the dream from an outside position, they have to enter Lyon´s head to see the dream. And the logical conclusion is, well, that they are with him and experience it as Lyon does.
It's a matter of hovering over Lyon in the frame narrative and standing directly next to Lyon in the embedded narrative.

Of course, I don't know yet if everything works as I want it to work. I'll have to wait for reactions as soon as I'll be able to post it. (And the contest entry >8D It has tense switch as well. But there the switch is even less marked (the Lyon story still has "- -" to indicate the scene changes inside the dream) which is why I then need a guinea pig to test it 8D)

So, do you have any writing techniques you love to death? Or techniques you recently (or not so recently) discovered to be awesome and fun?

First I was thinking about self-analyzing myself again, but I don't believe anyone wants to read how I (incoherently!) ramble about why I can write certain characters but not others XD and how I always put something of myself into the characters (most of the time just a really tiny thing. Just a little quirk, maybe). And don't worry, I always check if it fits the characters personality. But, as I said, no one would want to read that.

Instead I tried to stop associate the voice of the singer of Turisas with Fado because the voice just fits Fado. (And the mental picture of Fado with their face painting is just rolftastic. Add a kilt and you have Braveheart in red/black XD)

Oh, and I have Viggy angst for you (on dreamwidth). Because Viggy angst is my favourite flavour of angst. Originally that was supposed to be the meme fill of raphi´s prompt "smile", but then I thought it didn't fit and raphi probably wouldn't want Vigarde angst anyway. And Lucius had been my first idea anyway (well, then I forgot it, got inspired with Viggy angst, wrote it, and then remember Lucius and wrote that one).

And since I'm on the topic of Vigarde... You know, I don't particular care if people read my (bro) stuff. I just put it out there and people can decide if it's their cup of tea or not (and enjoy it silently or not. As long as they have fun, I don't care 8D). And still it feels kinda... weird to post all my bro stuff on ff.net. It's all very irrational and contradictory but... sometimes I wonder what people think when they see my bro stuff. Something like "that strange person writes about minor characters nobody cares about, lol". It does not exactly bug me but... AGH! I don't know. It feels weird. I'm wondering if I should even bother posting there sometimes because sometimes I believe no one cares anyway. But then I also don't really care if other people care at the same time >:/ This is such a strange weirdness and I know it's contradictory but I still feel both feelings. Aaaah, why so complicated? Oh well, feelings are rarely logical or coherent or make sense. *sigh*

Oops, now I did self-analyze without planning it XD Oh, and I'm kinda sick. Dammit. I have to hold a presentation tomorrow >:/