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[RokofAges75]

When I do start researching, I end up getting carried away and spending a whole evening looking stuff up and then I've lost the will to write.

LOL That happens to me too!  I have a lot more focus with researching than writing, weirdly enough.  Usually I enjoy it, though; it's kind of like a fun challenge.

If I followed the old "write what you know" rule, my fanfics would be so boring!  Why stick to what you know when you can look up what you don't and still write it convincingly?  Sure, it's just fiction, but since we're writing about real people, I like to use as many details from their real lives and the real world as possible to make my stories realistic.

That's not to say I never use details I am familiar with, but I tend to use those for my original characters if they fit.  I'll make them from the midwest if it works just because that's the area of the country I know best, so it's one less location I have to spend time researching, and I've written a couple of characters who are teachers because that's a career I know well.

But in general, I usually have to stretch myself way outside my realm of firsthand experience to write the kind of stories I want to tell, and I'm not afraid to do that.  It's fun!

[Purpura Lipstick]

but my excuse for that is that I'm lazy, lol.  

I don't think it's necessary lazy if your facts are different.  Writer's are known to take leeway with facts in order to produce a more exciting story.  

I think, maybe, what Karah means with the overdoing it is when writer's stick so close to the actual facts that it's more like reading a biography than a fiction story.  That is typically not the case when an author knows how to wind the facts into the plot of the story.  Julie knows what to use and how to use it to make the story believable and interesting.

[RokofAges75]

Curtain Call, yes, that was good example of telling a totally fictional story with real life thrown in to make it conceivable.

But what I'm talking about is the stories that are set around fictionalizing a real life event. I love those types of stories because they're almost like watching a behind the scenes documentary. I feel like I'm learning more about the guys themselves and their personalities through reading those. Like you get an inside look at what one fan's interpretation is of what might have gone on in the boy's real lives. Those stories have always been so interesting to me because all of us perceive the boys a little differently, and yet they're still the same guys we know and love, so it's fun to read about what we think may have happened when the camera was shut off.

Thanks Steph, and thank you Rose, too, for the CC mentions!

I also love the stories that are based on real events if they're done well, and that is where research is really SO important.  You're doing an amazing job with Running Up That Hill, and so is Hannah with Borrowed Time.  We've talked about the story Come Together on here a lot lately, and there's another example where it's clear the authors did a lot of research and filled in the gaps with the fictional stuff that make it a cute fanfic and not just a biography of the band.  I really appreciate that attention to detail when I read.

[Rose]

Curtain Call, yes, that was good example of telling a totally fictional story with real life thrown in to make it conceivable.

But what I'm talking about is the stories that are set around fictionalizing a real life event. I love those types of stories because they're almost like watching a behind the scenes documentary. I feel like I'm learning more about the guys themselves and their personalities through reading those. Like you get an inside look at what one fan's interpretation is of what might have gone on in the boy's real lives. Those stories have always been so interesting to me because all of us perceive the boys a little differently, and yet they're still the same guys we know and love, so it's fun to read about what we think may have happened when the camera was shut off.

I love those too! I mean you know I love Running Up That Hill, even though I need to catch up again. Probably after the reading challenge LOL. Your story is great example of that. Mare is another one who pulls that off SO freaking well and you just feel like you're a fly on the wall watching as these events happened. I'm trying it myself right now, and I find it just really fun to do, almost like a character study.

[Rose]

I don't think it's necessary lazy if your facts are different.  Writer's are known to take leeway with facts in order to produce a more exciting story.  

I think, maybe, what Karah means with the overdoing it is when writer's stick so close to the actual facts that it's more like reading a biography than a fiction story.  That is typically not the case when an author knows how to wind the facts into the plot of the story.  Julie knows what to use and how to use it to make the story believable and interesting.

I think that's why Saka-Steph asked Karah to clarify. Cause honestly, I've never seen a fanfic that read more like a biography on here cause it was that overdone LOL.

[Purpura Lipstick]

I think that's why Saka-Steph asked Karah to clarify. Cause honestly, I've never seen a fanfic that read more like a biography on here cause it was that overdone LOL.

I haven't seen one like that in a LONG time.  Sometimes I tend to obscure facts because I feel that I do not have the ease that some of you have when integrating the BSB facts with the fiction. LOL  

[Sakabelle]

Thanks Julie, glad you think so

I definitely think it's true what you said about those stories filling in the gaps. They're almost the bridge between fan fic and real life and to me that's what makes them so appealing. The boys themselves are the reason I like BSB fanfic in the first place, so I think it makes sense that stories that are very much set around them and things that actually happened to them would be appealing.

Plus, there's already so much real life drama that happened to those boys, that it's hard to not utilize it! LOL.

Oh, thanks Rose as well for the mention of my story LOL you guys reply on here so fast I had to come back and edit!

[Rose]

Thanks Julie, glad you think so

I definitely think it's true what you said about those stories filling in the gaps. They're almost the bridge between fan fic and real life and to me that's what makes them so appealing. The boys themselves are the reason I like BSB fanfic in the first place, so I think it makes sense that stories that are very much set around them and things that actually happened to them would be appealing.

Plus, there's already so much real life drama that happened to those boys, that it's hard to not utilize it! LOL.

You worded that perfectly, it's neat trying to use fiction as a behind the scenes sort of deal. As for what I bolded, truest statement in the thread lmao.

[Sakabelle]

I haven't seen one like that in a LONG time.  Sometimes I tend to obscure facts because I feel that I do not have the ease that some of you have when integrating the real stuff with the fiction. LOL 

Yeah Rose is right, that's why I asked for clarification because I haven't read any that read like a biography - they're always entertaining for the reasons I already mentioned

[RokofAges75]

Yeah, that's why I will always prefer "canon" BSB stories to AU.  AU allows you to make up more, although I still do plenty of research in my AUs too, just not as much about the Boys and the group obviously.  There's still plenty of creative license to be taken in canon stories, too; I just don't think there's such a thing as "overdoing it" when it comes to researching and including real details.  Like Lore and I said, you don't want to make it sound like a biography or an encyclopedia, but I don't think I've ever read a story that did sound that way.

[Rose]

Yeah, that's why I will always prefer "canon" BSB stories to AU.  AU allows you to make up more, although I still do plenty of research in my AUs too, just not as much about the Boys and the group obviously.  There's still plenty of creative license to be taken in canon stories, too; I just don't think there's such a thing as "overdoing it" when it comes to researching and including real details.  Like Lore and I said, you don't want to make it sound like a biography or an encyclopedia, but I don't think I've ever read a story that did sound that way.

Yup and sometimes the more research, the more it feels like you're getting an inside look into their lives. Which, for me, makes it more entertaining. It's how I originally got into fanfiction to begin with, I'd read stories like that and feel like I "knew" the Boys more. If that makes sense.

[Purpura Lipstick]

I've did more research for my AU then any of my "canon".   *shrugs* 

[RokofAges75]

LOL Sometimes I have a hard time separating what I read in fanfic from what is real!  Like, Kevin calling Nick "Little Man."  I've read that so many times, especially in Mare's fanfics, and I know I've used it in my own too, but has he ever really called him that?  I honestly don't know if that's an old pet name for real or just a cute fanfic thing LOL.

[RokofAges75]

I've done plenty of research for the AU I'm writing now, too, and Rose and I did a lot for Undead as well.  It was just a different kind of research - not BSB research as much as research on locations and other details to make the story believable.

[Rose]

LOL Sometimes I have a hard time separating what I read in fanfic from what is real!  Like, Kevin calling Nick "Little Man."  I've read that so many times, especially in Mare's fanfics, and I know I've used it in my own too, but has he ever really called him that?  I honestly don't know if that's an old pet name for real or just a cute fanfic thing LOL.

....you know, I have no idea LMFAO. I use it too and I can not for the life of me remember where that originated. Holy crap that's kinda funny LOL. I know I picked that up from Mare's fics and it sounds so natural that I use it in mine over the years. But that's a good question, has Kevin actually called Nick that? LOL.

I've done plenty of research for the AU I'm writing now, too, and Rose and I did a lot for Undead as well.  It was just a different kind of research - not BSB research as much as research on locations and other details to make the story believable.

Yup, it's why if we ever went to MacDill Air Force Base, we'd know our way around naturally LOL.