Oh.... a difficult question that has raised it's ugly head many times
here....
 But first...

  My roommate/flatmate/whatever belongs to several writing
groups on the net and you know what? Not one bit of thought goes into his
or any other member's head about stylistics and structure...artistry and
creativity....actually it's not entirely true... another friend is in the
same groups and they talk about "what they are going to do" but somehow
it's not really any in-depth thought of struture, plot or
characterization...  And this guy thinks the Lords of Publication
will grant him audience in his hour of need....Thank the Fates (I'm
boycotting
Gods, Goddesses and Powers this week) that this introspective examination
of writing and style exists here as well as sharing viewpoints with
others....somehow it makes it all the much more productive as well as
enjoyable....

 O.K.....
 Now that that's out of the way....
 I have not written anything of any merit in this group and hell, I may
never (especially that BGC time travel thing I told Bert about....he
suggested people would come hunting for me..) but I do a bit of writing
and think I have a fairly good grasp on some of the basics. I say some
because If I was a Mage I coldn't spell my way out of a paper bag. Anyway,
I have a tendancy to write in first person someties....but it's NOT
me....just like if I wrote a character who was LIKE myself into a
work...it's not me...simply by putting the description on paper (or
electrons) I have created something and someone different. I may wish I
was that person (and sometimes not) but somehow I have always been queezy
about writing anything that involves direct wish fufulment unless I have
simply written it for myself and do not and will not let anyone see it. I,
when writing for myself tend to aim at tat audience....me I tend to be
self-referential to the max ...to a point where nobody but myself could
untangle the convolutions of whatever narrative I was creating...

Actually I'd like to try it now...cold, just to see if it works....
 It's an indulgence...but hey, you can't buy those any more.

  I was cold. That was the only thought I could hold onto with any
certainty. I felt like I was trapped in the middle of a thick sleep
- dreaming yet aware. I felt as if I was on the worst coffee buzz in the
world yet trapped asleep.
 I could hear voices first blurred and then more distict, several
different voices. Oh great...they're not speaking english...thank God my
subconcious allows me to understand other languages when I'm asleep.
 "He's almost at optimum, should we try again?" Male baratone...sounding
stressed.
 "Wait...just a couple of minutes longer." A womans voice...she sounded
familiar...but different somehow.
 I have no idea how I could put that qualifier on a voice I had never
heard before but it was a dream right? I got to do that sort of thing.
 "We don't have a couple more minutes" Another woman concerned but not in
the same way as the first... this one sounded anxious....worried.
 "We'll make time." The first woman said. "Go out and make sure we haven't
been spotted."
 "But..." the second woman, almost whining.
 "I don't want to hear it... we have a job and getting him is part of it.
How much longer till full optimul revival if I shunt you some power?"
 "Tricky" the male voice replied...these are old circuts and..."
 "How long?" 
Who was this? She sounded so familiar... yet her voice sounded, it was
hard to describe...more commanding....oh well as long as I didn't wake up
with "them" hovering at the corners of my perception....
 "We can do it now."
 "Hit the mains...I'm watching the status on the A12"
 A12...wait that WAS familiar...something about suspension.....
 I was suddenly floating in a white hot world of pain and I knew I wasn't
dreaming....I wasn't sure what was going on but I felt a flashbulb pain as
I opened my eyes and a scream try to force itself out of a dry dry throat.
 "It's alright....it's alright...just relax." Her words were strangely 
relaxing but I still didn't know what was going on. 
 A tube was placed in my mouth.
 "Here." The man said "Sip...slowly, you'll be fine."
 My eyes kept blurring light and shadow and I could not make things out
distinctly....not untill I saw her.
 She was leaning over the capsule....yes, that was it, the sleeper capsule
in which I lay.
 Her hair was tied back with a black band and outlined her face like some
new kind of fire. She was worrying her lower lip anxiously and her eyes
(oh those eyes) looked down with concern. I knew who she was even before
she spoke.
 "I'm Major Romanova, Nene Romanova....and you're going to be just fine."
 And somehow I knew I was.

 OOOOOOG.....gave me a case of the OwenMeany SHIVVVVERS it did....
sorry 'bout that but I have been sleeping poorly and am of my nut.

                                         Neil

 ___________________________________________________________________________
   "We must not look at goblin men, We must not buy their fruits:
      Who knows upon what soil they fed 
               Their hungry thirsty roots?"
                                           C.Rossetti.
  NeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNeneNene   
 Agent Of Chaos. Robyn, Duke of Amber. John Talbot M.D. ( Gentleman Vampire)
 ****************************************************************************