(no subject)

[sab]

prillalar did a thing and it wasn't supposed to be a meme and I don't even like the word meme. But, like kittens, it is sometimes unavoidable.

Hal said:

Since I began working with marketers, I've come to find branding very interesting. Here in fandom, we writers and vidders and artists each have our own brand. We don't usually have a logo, but we have our pennames. When people read that name, they react to it. Seeing that name attached to a creative work will cause people to make assumptions about that work. And reactions to that work will become part of the overall brand.

As well, many other factors will influence your brand -- your friends, your fans, what kind of work you admire, among other things. Your own fannish activities have an impact as well.

I've been thinking about redesigning my site and LJ and I thought I'd like to have a wordmark for myself. And a tagline. Which made me wonder about my own brand.

So, I'd like to do a little market research here. I'm curious. What kind of work is my name -- Halrloprillalar or Hal or prillalar -- associated with? What kind of assumptions do you make about a piece of writing, fiction or non, if you see my name on it?

Nota bene: This is emphatically NOT an attempt to fish for compliments. I'm not trying to get judgements on the quality of my work, but rather about its other characteristics.

For example, if you were given the name of an actor, that might make you think of a certain genre of film he or she is often in or a type of character.

What is Halrloprillalar-brand writing?

And then people pinched it and started their own self-branding polls, and so, in the interest of branding myself as the person who jumps on the branding bandwagon (brandwagon)? And also while I wait for the IT people to tell me where all my computer went when they replaced my harddrive (as now all my e-mails and files are gone gone gone), I ask you:

What is Sab-style writing? Or Makiko-style writing? Am I easily identifiable? What's my gimmick? Have I changed over the years? Over the fandoms? Is that okay? Do you still like me? Am I famous?

I'm awfully curious.

Oh and also. Because it will happen, feel free to comment on Punkensab-style writing, since it's a Thing. And runpunkrun will want to pummel me for bringing her into this whole little casino, but at the same time, I'll bet she's curious too. *g* So?

Comments

[noelleleithe.livejournal.com]

I've only read Sab XF fic, but: Sab writing is complex in tone, often dark and/or darkly humorous, and often a sharp left turn from the mainstream (and I mean that as a good thing).

Plus, she killed EVERYBODY. Heh.

[se-parsons.livejournal.com]

I've only read your X-Files stuff. Many of your stories are different enough that I wouldn't be able to niche you into a specific BRAND, like Pop Rocks. You are more like Johnson and Johnson. You can be anything from car wax to baby shampoo, but we know there will be a reliable quality standard and a certain amount of serious craftsmanship involved in the brand, though we will get many different kinds of products.

[musesfool.livejournal.com]

elliptical. dreamy. subtexty. a lot going on beneath the surface. smart.

[cofax7]

Sab storytelling?

I have to break it apart, because there's the Sorkin-fic, and there's everything else.

The Sorkinfic is a direct line to the homosocial section of AS's brain. The banter, the witty snappy dialog, the characterization -- all disturbingly Sorkinesque. Solid yet funny characterizations. (This is why you have to finish the WW script!)

The rest of it is different. The rest of it is twisty, counter-intuitive. Always going against the grain of the fandom. Always making you think too hard about it. Always turning over the rock to find the grimy underside of someone's soul. Always, but always, fine incisive prose with the occasional flash of brilliant insight, an unusual metaphor that throws the character into sharp relief. I generally have to assume your characters are operating in a slightly AU universe, because they don't do what they do in my head, but it's generally more a matter of emphasis than anything else.

kittenmaster

[runpunkrun]

I'm feeling benevolent because I figured out my Superman. He's new at it, you see. So, there's still some kinks to iron out. In other words, I will not be pummeling anybody, least of all you, Sab, today.

On the subject of Sab I could write a graduate thesis. I could write a whole Time Life Series complete with free Football Gift Phone and Nutcracker.

If I had to sum you up in one word, it would be "Sabby." Good thing you weren't asking me.

[prillalar]

I think of your fic as robust, especially your writing style (which I was enjoying at lunch whilst reading the H/D -- more on that after Angel). It feels fuller than a lot of others, somehow.