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Hi AC/FICTALKers. If you see this (11/12/2024) please see new post in General Discussions about Open Doors OTW Organization for Transformative Works) offering to help preserve the AC archive and let me know your thoughts:

https://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/topic,3415.msg125627.html#new

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Author Topic: Question of the Day - Part 4  (Read 136810 times)

Carter-Orange

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #30 on: July 17, 2012, 04:17:31 AM »
Anything to do with zombies makes me think of Julie, Rose and Song For The Undead.  Fast food and the song Valerie remind me of Tracy, lol.  Psychological thrillers and Chinese food make me think of Mare for some reason, lol.  Purple, sci-fi and costume dramas remind me of Lore.  Bulldogs, hitmen and strippers make me think of Erika, lol, sorry Erika :)
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mare

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #31 on: July 17, 2012, 04:20:03 AM »
That's so funny Steph because Chinese food makes me think of you too! lol I love Chinese. It's the only thing I go out for, that's probably why you associate me with Chinese.
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Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it. ~ John Green

mare

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #32 on: July 17, 2012, 01:09:44 PM »
Today's question:

What is your definition of a good story & are there fanfics you've actually read more than once because you loved them that much?
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Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it. ~ John Green

Rose

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #33 on: July 17, 2012, 06:02:29 PM »
Quote from: mare on July 17, 2012, 01:09:44 PM
Today's question:

What is your definition of a good story & are there fanfics you've actually read more than once because you loved them that much?

Well the mechanics have to be there for one, if I'm mentally editing the entire time or my eyes or twitching I click out LOL. It needs a good plot, one that can capture and carry you. The characters need to be engaging, with their good qualities and flaws that either make you love them or hate them. And there should be something original somewhere, I mean there's only so many ideas but usually there should be even a small spin on it. No same fanfic different names lol. '

Fanfics I've re-read... Yesterday's Blue Skies immediately comes to mind. DARLA is another, actually.
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mare

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #34 on: July 17, 2012, 06:19:18 PM »
Aww yay to my M&Ms lol
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Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it. ~ John Green

RokofAges75

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #35 on: July 17, 2012, 07:47:06 PM »
A good story is one that is well-written, but also entertaining.  I can put up with a few errors, and a lot of the stories I consider personal favorites of mine are far from perfect in the conventions department, but if there are so many mistakes that they take away from the plot, I'm done.  The plot and storytelling aspect is really what makes a story good, though.  It needs to have an interesting storyline that is told in an entertaining way.  Characters and pacing are key.

I'll add a story to my favorites list on AC if it's something I'm enjoying and want to keep following or remember for later.  I'll add it to my favorites list on my site if it left a lasting impact on me beyond the point when it was finished.  But the very best stories are the ones on that list that I have read more than once.  I am definitely a rereader, and those stories I consider my very favorites, I've reread multiple times because I love them so much.  If it holds up on the reread - especially years later - it's a damn good story!
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mare

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #36 on: July 17, 2012, 07:47:44 PM »
Okay lets try this question:

When writing a chapter, do you pay attention to your word count or how many pages you have? Do you have a limit per chapter? Like after 6 pages you stop?

Is that a better question? lol
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Writing is something you do alone. Its a profession for introverts who want to tell you a story but don't want to make eye contact while doing it. ~ John Green

RokofAges75

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #37 on: July 17, 2012, 07:55:58 PM »
LOL I literally just answered your other question!  But yay for a two-fer!

I do pay attention to length when I write just because I like to keep my chapters at least within the same range... like, I wouldn't want a story to have Chapter 1 be 900 words, Chapter 2 be 10,000, and Chapter 3 be 4,000.  I try to keep them a little more equal than that.  The range varies from story to story, but 2,000-5,000 words or 4-10 pages on Word pretty well covers it.

That said, if I have to go longer to finish a scene or post a short chapter because I have nothing else I need to say, I will.  I like my chapters to start and stop in a place that makes sense.  They're usually about one thing, like a certain event or maybe just a certain theme or idea.  Sometimes they're one long scene, sometimes several shorter scenes that hopefully flow together.  In a story with just one main plot told in one point of view, it doesn't matter as much where one chapter ends and the next begins, but most of the stuff I've been writing lately has multiple points of view, so it takes more planning to decide what all I need to include in one chapter before switching perspectives in the next.  That's usually what leads to some chapters being significantly longer than others.
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Sakabelle

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #38 on: July 17, 2012, 08:05:31 PM »
Quote from: mare on July 17, 2012, 01:09:44 PM
Today's question:

What is your definition of a good story & are there fanfics you've actually read more than once because you loved them that much?

I need a story with strong characters that learn something by the end of it. My favourite types of stories (fan fic, novels, movies) are where the two characters are from different worlds and end up learning about themselves through the other person's eyes. I cannot resist a story like that. So, all obvious aside (good grasp on spelling and grammar) I need strong characters and a plot that has the characters changing throughout. If they're the same at the end of the story as they were at the beginning, chances are it won't leave a lasting impact on me.

Like Julie, I'll add something to my favourites if I'm following it and want to keep up.

The stories I've read more than once are Casual, Why I'd Do It All Again and A Million Little Things.
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Sakabelle

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #39 on: July 17, 2012, 08:23:56 PM »
Quote from: mare on July 17, 2012, 07:47:44 PM
Okay lets try this question:

When writing a chapter, do you pay attention to your word count or how many pages you have? Do you have a limit per chapter? Like after 6 pages you stop?

Is that a better question? lol

I sort of pay attention to word count, but I generally just tend to go with what I need to include to make the chapter feel complete and move the story along. My chapters tend to come in around 1,500 - 2,500 words, and the ones that are the "climactic" chapters tend to be closer to 3,000. I'm not super wordy, but I like to think that works for me.
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~Saka ♥

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Pengi

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #40 on: July 17, 2012, 09:11:12 PM »
Like everyone else is saying, the characters have to be strong for me to make it through any story -fan fic or not- and if they aren't strong, I simply lose interest. I gotta know a little quirk or some secret key ot their personalities to get me invested into a character before I'll hang on for the ride. If I open up the chapter and the writing is choppy or nothing but dialogue, I'll close out. I'm kind of obnoxious about the dialogue thing when it comes to a story. I like a balance. If I see every single paragraph opening with a quotation mark, I'm gonna assume there's not a balance of dialogue and detail. I have a few stories I revisit now and then. I use my "favorites" on AC as a bookmarker so I remember what stories I'm in the process of reading. I never clean it out, though, so I have stories I read years ago still in there, lol. I rarely re-read any story, fan fic or not, so I don't really have a list of ones that I have reread... I'd say the Coaster series would be one I'd read again in the future.

When I write a chapter, I pay attention to the page count on Wordpad. Whatever the first chapter ends up being is what I try to average the rest of them to look like. For Borrowed Time for example each chapter ranges between 2,500-3,500 words, or 10-13 pages double-spaced on Wordpad. I just like the chapters to have rhythm, and length can help with that. But I do also like the chapters to break at good points so as was already said I'll go long or short to accoodate that. There's also times when I have opening lines for a particular scene that I really want to have be the first line of a chapter, and I'll purposely lengthen a scene in a prior chapter to bump that opening line onto the next chapter. A lot of my random Nick banter gets placed this way. I have an entire folder in my fan fiction hard drive dedicated to just little notepad documents of stupid questions and tirades for Nick to bring up in these sorts of situations that will allow me to build an entire scene out of thin air to fill in some extra space. ;)
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Pengi

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #41 on: July 17, 2012, 09:12:16 PM »
I have another question too:

When/if you got published did you/would you remove the fan fiction version of the story from the website or leave it published in its original state?
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Sakabelle

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #42 on: July 17, 2012, 09:18:20 PM »
Quote from: Pengi on July 17, 2012, 09:12:16 PM
I have another question too:

When/if you got published did you/would you remove the fan fiction version of the story from the website or leave it published in its original state?

I think I probably would, just so that no one would ever find it. I have removed the fan fic version of the original novel I reworked off of AC, but that was more of a cleaning house move than anything else, since I was never going to continue with it and didn't want it sitting under my account incomplete forever. Not because I actually think my original novel will get published anytime soon... because it's not even done lol
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~Saka ♥

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RokofAges75

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #43 on: July 17, 2012, 09:31:03 PM »
I would if it was essentially the same story... like an AU that I'd just changed the names on to de-Backstreetize it before publishing.  If I was expecting people to pay money for it, I wouldn't want the free version still available LOL.

If it was one that I had completely rewritten and changed, I'd probably leave the old fanfic version up unless I was required to remove it by the publisher or something.  With a story like Broken, I see the OF version looking SO different from the original that no one besides my fanfic readers would even make the connection.
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myconfession

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Re: Question of the Day - Part 4
« Reply #44 on: July 17, 2012, 10:24:35 PM »
Quote from: Pengi on July 17, 2012, 09:12:16 PM
I have another question too:

When/if you got published did you/would you remove the fan fiction version of the story from the website or leave it published in its original state?

The ones that I've published on Amazon are ones that aren't based around them being Backstreet Boys or AU so BSB doesn't exist. In fact, in one, Backstreet Boys were mentioned ONCE, so that was very easy to edit. I don't think I'd try to publish one that's based solely on them being a Backstreet Boy or NKOTB member like in "Fearless" or "IWBB."
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