elfs | Funny, but I must object!

So, here I am, 5000 or so words into Orgy In August, and I've discovered something important: as annoyed as I am by having to read and re-read, and be told and re-told, about the plots of so many of its progenitors, I actually like the silly things. I'm having a hard time writing nasty stories about characters I like, and who aren't really mine, and to whom I really don't wish that much violence. It would be something else if it weren't fan fiction but my own work, where doing violence to characters I like serves an underlying purpose.

On the other hand, I must wrap this story up by Monday evening, because come Tuesday NaNoWriMo. I'm tempted, as always, but in all the years that I've done it, I've only once ever succeeded, and that took two re-writes to become Bloody Beth.

Still, I must object to some of the "give up now" lines in The Fantasy Novelists' Exam:

"Is this the first book in a planned trilogy?" What's wrong with being brave and going for the big ring?

"Does your novel contain characters transported from the real world to a fantasy realm?" Hey, Charlie Stross got away with it. Then again, Charlie Stross can get away with damn near anything.

"Is your story about a young character who comes of age, gains great power, and defeats the supreme badguy?" Uh, isn't that the Cycle of the Hero anyway? Aren't all popular novels mostly about someone growing up? And aren't all tales of "gaining great power" just metaphors for maturity?

Things to think about...