Writers Meme

[krisomniac]

The Fanfic Writers Meme

Keyboard or biro?

Both. I have notebooks full of stories, one that lives in my bookbag at all times. I love the feel of pen on paper. I love opening and closing a notebook, of writing to the end of a page, of flipping back through what I've written. And it doesn't hurt that I have very very un-doctor-like handwriting.

That said, if I'm at home I'll go straight to computer. Saves trees and all.

Beta or no beta?

Beta-readers: don't leave home without them. Seriously, my question is usually do I go with one, two, or three (unless the story is under 800 words).

Plot?

Love it. That said, I think "boys come home from fighting evil-->take showers-->have sex" or "Two people sit in a room talking the night away" can constitute a plot. The point is that I try to have a point to almost everything I write. The ones that don't have a point, I don't tend to finish.

Title?

I've written ONE story for which I had to think about the title. Every other time, it's just been a part of the fabric of the narrative--for better or worse. I don't think my titles are particularly good, but I've never doubted them either way. incidentally, the one that I agonized over was After All and I still don't like it.

Smushy or smutty?

Neither, I think. But I do always go for positive and up-beat.

Seriously, I would write smut if it didn't make me giggle like a twelve=year-old every time I typed the words... Guess I'll just have to settle for reading other people's.

Summary?

No.

I've even commited the horrible faux pas of writing one with a question in it.

Funniest fic?

Humor? What's that?

The funniest story I've been involved with was prankstersguide but that was none of my doing at all. Really (except for the chicken feathers.)

I've tried funny once or twice (First Sight of a Fanged Bidet and I spy) but those are some of my least favorite stories. I think I'm better at getting a smile than a belly laugh. I also think I'm obsessed with giving everyday objects a voracious appetite.

Most popular fic?

None of them.

Well, just judging from the comments, Accio, Stone, prankstersguide (but again, I had very little to do with that aspect of the project) and Paper Wings because it's rather long and plotty.

Most fun to write?

prankstersguide because it was my first collaboration and though it kinda fell apart, we had some really amazing brainstorming sessions.


Best and Worst?

I think that my best stories are A Lesson in Holding Hands and Our Town

Worst are some of the forced humor of Bidet and the first fanfic I wrote (a Prank story in HP).

I'm undecided about Paper Wings, the epic that got this all started for me. Truth be told, I've been afraid to reread it for a while now, because I don't think I'm going to like what I see.

Coulda been Contenders?

Most of them are still stuck on my hard drive.

Strengths

Setting a scene and drawing the reader into it.

Weaknesses

Pretty much everything else, but especially naturalistic dialogue, sex, wit, and follow-through.

Dirty Little Secrets?

I don't get very personally invested in my writing at this point in my life--or rather, I have a very thick skin when it comes to what I've written. I don't take it personally if it gets criticized and (almost) if it doesn't get read at all. I love to craft stories and try to find the words for the things I imagine, but it's the imagining and the search that gets me through the day.

My arrogance is that I think I could write well, but I am fully aware that I'm not there yet. I want to be trained and whipped into shape by you guys (get out the whips and chains, yo) until I finally get it. You know?

Comments

[girlmostlikely.livejournal.com]

Seriously, I would write smut if it didn't make me giggle like a twelve=year-old every time I typed the words... Guess I'll just have to settle for reading other people's.

LEFT BUTT CHEEK! *g*

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

BWAHAHAHAA!!!!

*snigger*

Um. Pretty much. Exactly. Yes.

*g*

[girlmostlikely.livejournal.com]

Hey, where you be? I miss yooouuuu. ♥

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

OMg. I haven't had a moment to stop (or sleep) in DAYS.

Parents were visiting, then I got way behind on other responsibilities, plus I've been in the lab every day and at work til late night... Bleh. See you soon.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

But MISS YOU TOO!!

[drvsilla.livejournal.com]

Summary? -I've even commited the horrible faux pas of writing one with a question in it.

I hart you. (hee)

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Heh. Don't laugh. I actually did that once. *shiver*

They're... I usually settle for quoting a line from the story or something.

Love you, too, though. :D

[drvsilla.livejournal.com]

Well, all right. No laughin'.

Will they find what they are looking for? Will they even know it when they see it? What happens once they do?..

::ahem::

LOVE! \o/

[lyra-wing.livejournal.com]

That said, I think "boys come home from fighting evil-->take showers-->have sex" or "Two people sit in a room talking the night away" can constitute a plot.

Wot are you talking about! Those ARE plots! Haha. We must have the same plot standards. :D

I like this meme. I might steal it from you, when I get a minute to fill it out...

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

absolutement! Go for it (it's a really fun one, actually.)

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

I'd rank Accio, Stone among your best. It was, IMO, precisely what an AU ought to be. It showed us something new, while respecting the original text. Also, you gave Harry a sister and wrote a kick ass Lily. That rocked.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Aw. Thank you. I think it came out well, but it was one of the ones that was very difficult for me to write... like blood from a stone, and every time I read that, it's pretty much all I can see. :-}

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

Setting a scene and drawing the reader into it.

There's one particular story of yours - the title escapes me, but I've always been bad with titles (I even forget some of my own at times!) - where Remus and Sirius are having a meal (and wine) on the roof of the Grimmauld Place house, and your description was so vivid and so visceral - I always feel like I'm right there with your characters, seeing and feeling everything they are. It's one of my favorite things about your writing. :)

A Lesson in Holding Hands was very... cathartic. :-D

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Ohh, that one was fun. I can't remember what it's called either... Will have to look it up. Hell, I should post an index so this stuff is easier to find on the whole.

Yeah. I think ALiHH was something I really REALLY needed to get out of my system, and the whole thing was flowy start to finish.

I kinda miss HP, you know? But them with spn, there's the added bonus of being able to write about places I know in the vernacular I speak.

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

But them with spn, there's the added bonus of being able to write about places I know in the vernacular I speak.

I can relate to that!

I miss my Trixie fandom - and for me, that was the easiest fandom to write in: I knew canon backwards and forwards since I'd been reading the books since I was @ 8/9 years old, it took place in Westchester County here in New York, and you could literally choose which era you wanted to write them in - the first books were actually published in the '40s, then updated and added to in the 50s and 60s, and then updated and added to again in the 70s and 80s, which were the versions I read. And since I was basically the same age as the characters, and even took horseback riding lessons, spent time on horse farms and the like, and lived in a similar suburb of the City - it was just SO easy, and there was very little in terms of research needed. Not nearly as much as HP.

I'll go back to it one day - I haven't completely abandoned it (and I still have a monster WIP to finish!), but my attention span when it comes to fandoms tends to be single-minded. I just don't do the multi-fandom thing well, which is one reason why I've yet to write any Doctor Who fic.

[insight2.livejournal.com]

I have a notebook that lives in my bag too! It is a very, very ratty-looking thing but I really, really like it because I can doodle everywhere while I write. Scares the crap out of me too though because I'm always worried I'll lose it.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

HAHAAA. Me too. Or that someone will look over my shoulder while I'm writing. Sometimes I code the names with letters just in case. *g*

[a-t-rain.livejournal.com]

Ha, me too! I don't usually write in public, but during the summer I have a tutoring job that involves sitting in the back of somebody else's class for an hour and a half at a stretch, and I've occasionally killed time by writing down bits of dialogue on odd scraps of paper. Alas, I feel too self-conscious writing out full names or recognizably Potterverse-ish words (e.g., "Hogwarts"), so the results are always ... interesting to decipher.

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Now make it slashy (must hide pronouns as well as Names), and the code becomes even more... creative. :D

[deirdre-c.livejournal.com]

Hey, honey. I just sent you something via email (not so much for beta as for reality check), but I forgot you're so busy!! Eeep. Sorry. Feel free to ignore it! :)

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

Heh. the last few days have been CRAZY. But it looks like my schedule should calm down in about five years. ;)

[legoline.livejournal.com]

You're so lucky, I always struggle with titles... :-)I might just have to nick this meme :-)

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Oh and randomly - the I COULD write well but am not there yet is so me :-p But then... wasn't it you who wrote Wheels On The Bus?

[krisomniac.livejournal.com]

You should DEFINITELY do this one! It was a really nice way to look at your own writing process.

the I COULD write well but am not there yet is so me

Isn't that frustrating? I think it is. *sigh*

Nah, not Wheels on the Bus. Wonder who did?

[legoline.livejournal.com]

Hmmm no idea - but then I'm positive I've read something else by you I quite liked.