So my question then becomes, how do you go about coming up with a fun creative plot line, while not turning your story into an AU? How do you keep the boys and their career a fresh idea?
LOL this is weird for me, cause I'm actually going the opposite route of you now... I never used to write AU, never used to read it much, never used to like it, and now all of a sudden, all my ideas are AU. Part of it is because I want to write a real novel, and part of it is because it is so hard to come up with new, fresh ideas for fanfics with the guys as "The Boys."
That said, I never used to like AU, so I would always make my ideas work for the boys and their career. Personally, I've never really been into writing stories that are just about a relationship and the pressures of fame... that gets too boring for me. I usually have some kind of outside conflict that affects one or both of those aspects of their lives. Their careers and often their love lives come secondary to that. I don't really like writing about the music biz stuff, probably because I know I don't know a whole lot about how it really is, but I prefer to write about them as themselves, the Backstreet Boys, so it just comes with the territory. I usually just overshadow it with something else going on in the story.
I doubt that helps you at all LOL; there's just really no formula for coming up with a fresh, new idea.
What are some of your favorite story lines?
What are some of your least favorite?
I'm picky about romance, but I do have a special place in my heart for the "best friend" kind of stories... especially the childhood best friends. Such a cliche, but when it's well-written, it's so cute. "Cover Me With Dreams" is a good example of a well-done version of that sort of storyline.
I like most anything with drama or suspense that is well-written. I like stories with twists that keep me guessing, as long as they're not too out there. I'm okay with a little touch of the supernatural, but am not big on total fantasy or sci-fi stuff.
What I'm not big on are storylines without a lot of conflict, beyond everyday relationship drama (or melodrama). I like conflict and drama... real drama, but not necessarily everyday drama. It has to be something interesting. Stories that are just full of a Backstreet Boy and a random chick bantering and bickering throughout usually bore the crap out of me. There has to be something really special about that kind of a story to hold my attention.
So I also would like to know your opinions on co-writing. Is it worth it? How can you find someone who isn't going to quit on you?
I have mixed feelings on co-writing, because I've had some great successes and a lot of failures with it. I do think it's fun, with the right people, and it makes those large-scale projects seem more manageable. The BIG stories I've collaborated on are a lot better written by a group of people than they would be just by one person, because each author is only responsibile for a fraction of the writing and is able to take her time and do her best writing on her parts. Also, co-writers tend to bring the best out of each other; they bounce ideas off each other and inspire creativity in one another. As they say, two heads are better than one!
That said, it can be very frustrating when you don't have total control over the story. You may not always like each other's ideas and will have to compromise even when you really don't want to. You may really want to write, but get stuck waiting on a co-author to write her part. Or on the flip side, you may feel added pressure to write parts by a certain deadline so that you won't hold up your co-author. Whereas with your own story, you can write whatever you want, whenever you want, and don't feel pressured to please anyone but your readers.
If you want to know if someone is reliable or not, I guess the best thing to do would be to check their track record. Have they had successful collabs in the past? Do they update their own stories regularly? Do they finish projects? If not, they'll probably flake on you at some point, even if they seem really excited and dedicated in the beginning. It's just a fact of life LOL.
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Topic: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing (Read 3521 times)