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That writing meme...
This has been popping up all over my flist lately. Here are my answers:
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make them show up?
Where do ideas come from? Usually from some other piece of fiction: a movie, a novel, or some other fanfic. I don't mean I "steal" ideas; I mean something that someone else has written will make me think about something in a way I haven't before, and that will spark a fic idea of my own. Usually it's completely unreleated to the original source. For instance, the fic idea I was moaning about the other day came when I was listening to the Sweeny Todd soundtrack on my way to work. Nothing whatsoever to do with barbers or meat pies; I was just struck by something tangential to the film's plot, and that led me to John Winchester (because everything leads to the Winchesters) and to a plot idea I'm really excited about.
Can I "make them show up"? I wish. No, and I can't make 'em stay, either.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
It's happened. Predator was a lot like that, though not its sequels. So was Cry Wolf.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Yes.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
My writing process - the part that involves actual writing - starts with incoherent notes. I handwrite a first draft like that and it's always terrible. I swap tenses, I forget what POV I'm in, I spell nothing correctly, I use abbreviations and private phrases so it's a little like writing in code. Turning that into something worth sharing is my editing process and I edit as I type. Then I edit again. Then I let it sit for a while and go back when I have a little distance and do one last edit (where possible, with a beta's input).
It's sort of like polishing the silver: tedious, but the results are so worthwhile.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
Never. For me a journey is all about the destination. I don't begin to write until I know the ending because if I don't know that, how will I know how to get there? The story can surprise me en route, but the beginning and the end I always know before I start. It was like that when I wrote Carnival of Souls: the entire fic was about that John/Sam phone call at the end. That's where it was always going to end, that's the goal I had in mind while writing. It's what keeps a story coherent.
On the rare occasions I begin a fic without knowing the end, I usually regret it. Shelter From The Storm is one of those: I thought I'd be okay, because basically I had a choice of two endings. But now I'm stuck until I figure out which one it's gonna be.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Sometimes the title is obvious. Predator - what else could I have called that story? Sometimes I pick a crappy working title just so I've got something I can use as a filename ("untitled fic.doc" is just a jinx) and it might stick or I might end up hating it. With a series I try to give the titles something in common; so my John/Dean series started with In Vino Veritas and the rest of the titles are also going to be either actual Latin or angicised Latin. When I get really desperate, I dig out my dictionary of quotations and pick words at random until I find something that sort of works.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
Well...with the caveat that a lot of my fics don't actually have a plot, I guess my hand is up.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
It's whichever character happens to be talking to me. Very occasionally that will feel wrong when it's done and I'll re-write from an alternate POV, but generally I just make those choices on instinct.
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
I like good challenges. I'm somewhat soured on fic exchanges where you write one to receive one in return; I've been disappointed too often. Last year I had the unpleasant experience of signing up for a ficathon and getting a prompt that utterly turned me off; not the mod's fault, it was just one of those things. But that was a first. Usually a decent prompt gets me going.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
It varies. I guess after a while it gets boring in a plotted story. I suspect most readers who are not actively looking for porn skip the sex scenes anyhow, so I prefer to fade-to-black unless it's necessary for the plot. Sometimes it is necessary, like in Cry Wolf every sex scene was essential to the plot.
In a PWP, well, the sex is the whole point, isn't it?
In other news...I'm stunned by how high the bidding went for my story offering on Sweet Charity. Who knew anyone liked my fic that much? And the auction total itself is...wow. Fandom can be awesome.
So I now have tonight to get my notes down for the John-Fic I mentioned the other day, and hopefully finish the sex scene I'm writing for another fic, before I must set all else aside and write the story I've committed to write. So far my Sweet Charity fic sounds relatively easy: I offered any pairing at all for SPN and was a little worried someone would ask for...I dunno, Ash/YED or something else I would struggle to "see". But my buyer has requested Sam/Dean, so at least I don't need to angst over making the pairing work for me. I think I'm gonna be in research-mode for a while, though. Need to refresh my memory of a few things.
I won one of the auctions I bid on, too, so I've got someone writing a story for me. I'm so stoked!
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make them show up?
Where do ideas come from? Usually from some other piece of fiction: a movie, a novel, or some other fanfic. I don't mean I "steal" ideas; I mean something that someone else has written will make me think about something in a way I haven't before, and that will spark a fic idea of my own. Usually it's completely unreleated to the original source. For instance, the fic idea I was moaning about the other day came when I was listening to the Sweeny Todd soundtrack on my way to work. Nothing whatsoever to do with barbers or meat pies; I was just struck by something tangential to the film's plot, and that led me to John Winchester (because everything leads to the Winchesters) and to a plot idea I'm really excited about.
Can I "make them show up"? I wish. No, and I can't make 'em stay, either.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
It's happened. Predator was a lot like that, though not its sequels. So was Cry Wolf.
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Yes.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
My writing process - the part that involves actual writing - starts with incoherent notes. I handwrite a first draft like that and it's always terrible. I swap tenses, I forget what POV I'm in, I spell nothing correctly, I use abbreviations and private phrases so it's a little like writing in code. Turning that into something worth sharing is my editing process and I edit as I type. Then I edit again. Then I let it sit for a while and go back when I have a little distance and do one last edit (where possible, with a beta's input).
It's sort of like polishing the silver: tedious, but the results are so worthwhile.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
Never. For me a journey is all about the destination. I don't begin to write until I know the ending because if I don't know that, how will I know how to get there? The story can surprise me en route, but the beginning and the end I always know before I start. It was like that when I wrote Carnival of Souls: the entire fic was about that John/Sam phone call at the end. That's where it was always going to end, that's the goal I had in mind while writing. It's what keeps a story coherent.
On the rare occasions I begin a fic without knowing the end, I usually regret it. Shelter From The Storm is one of those: I thought I'd be okay, because basically I had a choice of two endings. But now I'm stuck until I figure out which one it's gonna be.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
Sometimes the title is obvious. Predator - what else could I have called that story? Sometimes I pick a crappy working title just so I've got something I can use as a filename ("untitled fic.doc" is just a jinx) and it might stick or I might end up hating it. With a series I try to give the titles something in common; so my John/Dean series started with In Vino Veritas and the rest of the titles are also going to be either actual Latin or angicised Latin. When I get really desperate, I dig out my dictionary of quotations and pick words at random until I find something that sort of works.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
Well...with the caveat that a lot of my fics don't actually have a plot, I guess my hand is up.
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
It's whichever character happens to be talking to me. Very occasionally that will feel wrong when it's done and I'll re-write from an alternate POV, but generally I just make those choices on instinct.
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
I like good challenges. I'm somewhat soured on fic exchanges where you write one to receive one in return; I've been disappointed too often. Last year I had the unpleasant experience of signing up for a ficathon and getting a prompt that utterly turned me off; not the mod's fault, it was just one of those things. But that was a first. Usually a decent prompt gets me going.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
It varies. I guess after a while it gets boring in a plotted story. I suspect most readers who are not actively looking for porn skip the sex scenes anyhow, so I prefer to fade-to-black unless it's necessary for the plot. Sometimes it is necessary, like in Cry Wolf every sex scene was essential to the plot.
In a PWP, well, the sex is the whole point, isn't it?
In other news...I'm stunned by how high the bidding went for my story offering on Sweet Charity. Who knew anyone liked my fic that much? And the auction total itself is...wow. Fandom can be awesome.
So I now have tonight to get my notes down for the John-Fic I mentioned the other day, and hopefully finish the sex scene I'm writing for another fic, before I must set all else aside and write the story I've committed to write. So far my Sweet Charity fic sounds relatively easy: I offered any pairing at all for SPN and was a little worried someone would ask for...I dunno, Ash/YED or something else I would struggle to "see". But my buyer has requested Sam/Dean, so at least I don't need to angst over making the pairing work for me. I think I'm gonna be in research-mode for a while, though. Need to refresh my memory of a few things.
I won one of the auctions I bid on, too, so I've got someone writing a story for me. I'm so stoked!