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Author Topic: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing  (Read 3522 times)

honey

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Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« on: October 22, 2008, 03:43:14 PM »

Here's my glitch. I'm totally getting that fluffy romantic comedy itch again, and it's more than that, it's an itch to make it a fan fiction. I haven't had this feeling in a long, long time. Like I just want to pick a boy and write a fun story about him falling in love. (You know, the kind of thing that makes Mare's skin crawl  ;) )

Anyway, since I've been so caught up in all my original fiction lately, and my supernatural/suspense stuff, I figure I must take advantage of this feeling while I have it, and start a story that will totally get me back into the world of fan fiction. 

My problem is, that I'd kind of like to write a story thats not an AU (which is my usual first choice) but then I think about it and I don't just want to write a story about how *insert boy of choice here* meets girl on tour, and they deal with all the normal stresses/ temptations of fame and tour life.

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?

What are some of your favorite story lines?

What are some of your least favorite?


I'm also tampering with the idea of a co-writer. I'd love to work with someone else and have them bring something fresh to the table. I find that with more than one mind working together the creativity can be so much greater, but then I'm afraid I'll end up in the same situation as what happened last time. (I started writing a story that I'm completely in love with, and then my co-writer got busy - which is understandable - and can't update anymore, but doesn't want to admit that she's never going to work on it again. Now I'm stuck with half a story that I can't work on and will most likely never be finished.)

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? 


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Sakabelle

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2008, 04:12:31 PM »

Oooh fluffy romance is so much fun to write Kelly!

I guess the way I keep it fresh and interesting is that I don't forget about the fact that there's other guys in the group.  Not that I have everyone in the entire story focused on Nick's girlfriend or whatever, but they often pop in to offer advice or to worry about Nick when he might be doing something a little crazy. 

Personally I like to place Nick (that's just cause I like to write about Nick the most) in situations with difficult girls and see how he reacts.  To me he has the most extreme personality so I can play with him and his emotions a bit more than the others. 

I can't say much on the subject of cowriters since I haven't done very much collaboration myself.  It was fun when Kristal, Kelly, Reb and myself were discussing our AJ collab though!  I'd like to try it again.

I'm not sure if I answered your questions very well... but that's kind of my insight to the whole fluffy romantic comedy thing.  It's my favourite genre to write  ;D Tons and tons of fun!
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mare

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2008, 04:15:00 PM »

I'll write it with you!

lmao kidding.... Mare + Fluffy Romance = Girl gets eaten by a giant Marshmellow in chapter one, sentence two.


I'm not sure if you want my opinion on this because i'm not sure if you're just talking to the fluffy people or not, but I can say that I wouldn't co-write with someone unless you are willing to be very patient with them. Unless they have the same standards as you do and are as reliable as you are, you can really run into problems with people who are inconsistent in everything they do. I'd just be very careful. I know for me, i'd be ready to kill and smite and smite and kill.

As far as storylines and keeping it fresh, maybe if you jumped into the past or something. That might be a fun thing to do. Go back to the Millenium days or something.

Least favorite is...well...yo u know lol *walks away while skin crawls*

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Sakabelle

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2008, 04:17:46 PM »

As far as storylines and keeping it fresh, maybe if you jumped into the past or something. That might be a fun thing to do. Go back to the Millenium days or something.

I agree with this!  Jumping back into the days of super Backstreet popularity is really fun, I'm doing that right now in one of my current stories.
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honey

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2008, 04:28:56 PM »

I'll write it with you!

God, can you imagine? What in the world, if you and I were to ever write a story together, would we ever be able to come up with? Probably nothing. If we ever did find a story idea we agreed on though, we would so kick ass.

Yeah, I know, I have all those reservations about co-writing, which is why I've only tried it once, and yeah, look how that turned out. But up until she just stopped, it was going great, so I'd be willing to try it again. I think... Depending... I dunno...

And of course I'd want your opinion on the matter. (I know when to discredit anything that comes solely from your bias against fluffy romances.)

And yes, Saka, fluffy romance is the best! It used to be all I wrote, and now I'm having a hard time coming back to it. Going back to the Millennium Days could be a fun thing, but then I still have that same problem. It's still a story about fame and tour life... Hmm... I mean I know that's part of the deal of fan fiction, because that is their lives, but I just don't want that to drive the story, you know?


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Rose

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2008, 05:57:19 PM »

Here's my glitch. I'm totally getting that fluffy romantic comedy itch again, and it's more than that, it's an itch to make it a fan fiction. I haven't had this feeling in a long, long time. Like I just want to pick a boy and write a fun story about him falling in love. (You know, the kind of thing that makes Mare's skin crawl  ;) )

Anyway, since I've been so caught up in all my original fiction lately, and my supernatural/suspense stuff, I figure I must take advantage of this feeling while I have it, and start a story that will totally get me back into the world of fan fiction. 

My problem is, that I'd kind of like to write a story thats not an AU (which is my usual first choice) but then I think about it and I don't just want to write a story about how *insert boy of choice here* meets girl on tour, and they deal with all the normal stresses/ temptations of fame and tour life.

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?

What are some of your favorite story lines?

What are some of your least favorite?


I'm also tampering with the idea of a co-writer. I'd love to work with someone else and have them bring something fresh to the table. I find that with more than one mind working together the creativity can be so much greater, but then I'm afraid I'll end up in the same situation as what happened last time. (I started writing a story that I'm completely in love with, and then my co-writer got busy - which is understandable - and can't update anymore, but doesn't want to admit that she's never going to work on it again. Now I'm stuck with half a story that I can't work on and will most likely never be finished.)

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? 




lmao everyone expects me to offer as the collab whore right? If it wasn't fluff I might have lol.

Typically with romance I depend more on the characters to keep the ideas fresh. Give the story an interesting voice, go and let the leads direct where it's going to go. If you don't want it AU, make it something like say... put Nick on a break. He's doing his second solo album perhaps. And he meets a girl, gets this flash of deja-vu. Add something else to liven it up. Cause it's hard to be purely fresh in romance. Possibly involve past lives? Reincarnation? So it's a tragic love born again? I know it's been done, but it's not a common one.

I find co-writing to be great when you find the right one. I discovered the perfect ones during 00Carter. That's why me, Julie, and Dee have another project. Although delayed *POKES DEE*. But we basically share a brain and we bring so much to the table idea wise, I actually can't see cowriting with anyone else anymore.

However I've had my share of projects where I get ditched. Like Divisions of Reality. But I found the idea to be so good I couldn't let it go. So I made myself continue it on, and it became just my story.
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Sinara

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2008, 10:16:53 PM »

I think some of the best story lines actually come from collaborations . That way, when someone gets stuck on a story line, they have someone who knows the whole plan who can help sort out whatever problems there are. That's the main reason I stopped updating my stories. I got stuck, and I have yet to be able to find a way to resolve my stuck situation. I wish I had someone I could bounce ideas off of and hopefully resolve my issues, but everyone I've asked aren't writers, so they cannot really help.

I think the idea of co-writing could be a great idea, if you have the right person. You have to have someone you can rely on. You have to find someone you have a similar taste with. Someone you know you can work well with and keep a good-feeling writing environment with. I've always wanted to try co-writing, I've just never found the right opportunity.

As for keeping it interesting without turning to AU, it's hard. I just try to find some unique aspect that hasn't really been done-to-death, which is the hardest part, and then I kind of just expand from that idea. Like right now, I have about 30 story ideas in the works, each one unique and interesting. Any idea can become a good story if told right. You just have to give a fresh perspective.

The story lines I cannot STAND are the ones where people have the five girls that fall in love with the five boys. It's like, how likely is it that there will be a group of five friends that fit each of the guys' personalities perfectly. That is the only one that really upsets me and automatically turns me off of a story.

(P.S. I know it has taken me a million years to do, but if you still want it, I am almost done with my editing of "If We Were A Movie." I can maybe have it done on Saturday... but next weekend at the absolute latest. Let me know.)
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RokofAges75

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #7 on: October 24, 2008, 08:22:01 PM »

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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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #8 on: October 25, 2008, 08:02:22 PM »

I'll write it with you!

lmao kidding.... Mare + Fluffy Romance = Girl gets eaten by a giant Marshmellow in chapter one, sentence two.

Can you insert some cheesy porn music in it too please? ;D
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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #9 on: October 25, 2008, 08:06:02 PM »

Oh yeah... and not kill Kevin...I know it will be tough for you Kelly, but you can do it... I have faith!
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honey

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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #10 on: October 26, 2008, 01:42:19 AM »

hey now... I don't ALWAYS kill him.  :P
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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #11 on: October 27, 2008, 03:52:21 PM »

hey now... I don't ALWAYS kill him.  :P
Once was enough! LoL... I still think you and Mare co-writing fluff would be entertaining though
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Re: Favorite Fan Fiction Plot Lines & Co-Writing
« Reply #12 on: November 01, 2008, 08:09:09 AM »

Okay honey,I myself have lost a co-writer because of the same thing,THEY JUST QUIT so I need a new one myself.The sad part is I didn't keep what work we had done but I still want to write the idea  :-[

I myself don't do fluffy romance in fact I don't do romance very good.If your willing give me a answer.
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