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[julilly]

*sings* HIGHWAY TO THE DANGER ZONE...

heehee sorry all this talk of "danger zone" has that song in my head.

I also had a Top Gun moment lol

[Carter-Orange]

Thanks for putting that song in my head, I loved Top Gun!

[RokofAges75]

1.  What do you consider to be the biggest challenges in writing your favorite genre?
My favorite genre is drama, specifically medical drama.  I think one of the biggest challenges is doing enough research to write it realistically, yet writing it in a way that still sounds like a story, not a medical textbook.  Another challenge is getting the emotions right.  You want the characters' feelings and emotional reactions to seem genuine and believable, not over-the-top and melodramatic.  It's easy to get cheesy in this genre. (Hey, that rhymed LOL.) 

2.  Are there any genres you enjoy reading, but have a hard time writing?  What are they, and why?
I love reading suspenseful mysteries and thrillers, but I have a hard time writing in that genre.  My villains are too cliched and cheesy, and my plots are either too predictable or twist their way right into plot holes I have a hard time digging myself out of.  I admire people who can write stories that are genuinely suspenseful and keep you guessing, while still maintaining a certain plausibility.

3.  What is your danger zone when it comes to writing?
As I mentioned in the first question, it's easy to get cheesy in the genres I like to write, so I think that would be my danger zone.  I love writing tearjerkers, but I have to stop and think, "Is this line or scene I'm about to write going to make people cry or just roll their eyes?"  I'm always walking a fine line between writing something poignant and heartbreaking and writing something sappy and cheesy.

[mare]

Have your tastes in fanfic changed over the years? Do you find yourself more open to reading new things or more picky? Do you find yourself reading/writing something you wouldn't have five years ago?

[Carter-Orange]

Have your tastes in fanfic changed over the years? Do you find yourself more open to reading new things or more picky? Do you find yourself reading/writing something you wouldn't have five years ago?

When I first started reading it on another site, the only stories written were romance, so that's all I read until I discovered this place.  I couldn't believe there were so many different genres!  So I read all sorts of stories, I wasn't that picky because I was searching for writers I enjoyed, and once I found them, I stuck with them.

These days I suppose I am more picky, and as I can't read in work anymore (stupid boss lol), I don't read half as much as I used to

I still read the same kind of stories as I would've five years ago, but I think I'm more open to writing different kinds of stories these days.  Five years ago I only wrote romance because I thought that's what fanfics were (how stupid was I!)

[Alexsgirl_ritz]

Have your tastes in fanfic changed over the years? Do you find yourself more open to reading new things or more picky? Do you find yourself reading/writing something you wouldn't have five years ago?

I don't think so. I am still not a picky reader and very easy to please. I read everything that catch my attention. I even read slash stories before, but I did not enjoy them. Except for this one-shot slash that did not involve any sex or kissing. I did not like the idea of AJ and Brian being a couple, but I love the way it was written.

The most acceptable genre in my country is romance. 95% of published books are romance. So, when I was young and dreamed of becoming a writer myself, I only imagined myself writing romance. And if i want to be a published writer, I have to write romance. So, I am really thankful that I get to write other genre here in AC. I never thought I could write supernatural stuff.

[mare]

Reading a response to a recent review I left, I actually came up with the idea for this question.

What about the boys inspires you to write? For instance, is it when they do interviews and you get to see their relationship play out on screen or on air? Is it when one of them announces they are getting married or having a baby? The promise of new music? Or nothing at all to do with their personal lives?

And a follow up, if any of the above do inspire you to write, does it come across in your writing? For instance, If you get all warm and fuzzy about them being together in interviews but yet don't include them all in your stories? Why? And if your answer is nothing about their personal lives, what is it about them that makes you interested enough to make them a lead character?

[RokofAges75]

Those are good questions, Mare.  I love the Boys as people, and that is what has made me a fan all these years and inspired me to write fanfic about them.  Early on, something about them just struck a chord in me and made me want to find out more about them, and the more I found out about them, the more I liked them.  I'm not the teenybopper I was when I got into fanfic, but I still love the guys and still enjoy writing about them as people, not just as a music group.

To be honest, I don't usually get super inspired by events in either their personal or professional lives.  I include details from both in my stories, but I'm not one of those people who, when something happens in real life, immediately goes, "Ooh, I'm gonna write a story about that!"  My inspiration comes and goes on its own and is usually correlated more with what's going on in my own life than in theirs.

[RokofAges75]

Have your tastes in fanfic changed over the years? Do you find yourself more open to reading new things or more picky? Do you find yourself reading/writing something you wouldn't have five years ago?

I realized I never answered this one.  My reading tastes have more or less stayed the same since I started reading fanfic, although I have gotten a lot more picky about the quality of the writing.  But I still prefer the same genres - drama and suspense with a hint of romance.

My writing tastes have changed, though.  My favorite genre to write is still drama with a hint of romance, but I've gotten away from trying to write suspense and have tried out some other genres - horror, action, sci-fi, AU.  I'm definitely more open to writing different things than I was ten years ago.

[Alexsgirl_ritz]

Just like Julie, I don't get inspired by the events on the boys' lives. I write when I feel inspired, or thought of a very good plot/story. It just so happens that my characters are my favorite group.

[Purpura Lipstick]

I might get inspired to write when they release new music as it's exciting and helps get my creativity going. Or when I see them live that really helps spur my creativeness but events in their lives otherwise don't typically inspire me.   I will think of plot lines and think "how can I work the guys into this". 

[Carter-Orange]

I don't get inspired by things in their personal lives, I don't really give their personal lives a thought because when I write about them, I don't usually include their real other halves.

I suppose hearing new music and interviews can be quite inspiring, sometimes it doesn't even have to be BSB stuff.  If I think of an idea, then I'll work them into it.

[RokofAges75]

I saw this article today on CNN about what is believed to be Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook creator)'s first website, an Angelfire page from 1999 when he was 15.  You can read the article here: http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/04/tech/social-media/zuckerberg-first-website/index.html?hpt=hp_bn5  I laughed at how much they overanalyzed this old-school site, but since I started my site in 2000 when I was also 15, it got me thinking.

If you ever became a successful, famous published author, what, if anything, would you be most embarrassed about people finding related to your fan fiction past?

Do you have anything online, like an old website or early stories, that embarrass you now?

[Carter-Orange]

I'd be embarrassed if anyone found out about the very first story I wrote.  It was so cringeworthy, and like something a child would write.  I really don't know what I was thinking, but obviously I wasn't thinking at all!  So glad that story vanished along with the site it was on, lol.

Yes, I do have a story that kind of embarrasses me now.  It's posted on AC too.  I do have a website I created following Julie's 'how to create a website using Word' instructions, but I disabled it a while ago because I want to change it around but can't really be bothered right now (it was just somewhere to shove my stories in case anything happened to my laptop or AC).

[RokofAges75]

Aww, I didn't know you followed my tutorial! LOL  That seems so outdated and amatuerish now, but I was still using Word for my site up until I switched to Wordpress in January.  Wordpress definitely looks more professional, and Word has plenty of flaws, but it was more user-friendly in some ways, seeing as how I write all my stories on Word.