I have a lot of question catching up to do!
373. Do you prefer writing/reading a female centered fic or male centered and why? Would you answer differently for original fiction?
I prefer reading male-centered fic, and it's sort of that way for original fiction too. I tend to enjoy things that are based around boys a lot more than girls, and bromance is one of my favourite things no matter the medium, probably due in part to my love of boybands. When I was watching anime a lot, one of my favourites revolved around two brothers and their bond (Fullmetal Alchemist, for those who are anime fans)
374. For those of you who don't just write in one point of view, how do you decide which point of view to use? When you start a new story, how do you pick between first and third person? How do you decide whether to limit it to one character's perspective or show multiple characters' points of view? Do you ever try it out in one point of view and then switch to another to see which works best?
It really depends on the type of story I want to tell. For the more character driven ones, I'll usually go first person because you really get to be more in the character's heads in that case. It's hard for me to stick to one POV though, in every first person story I've done, the POV switches either halfway through each chapter or back and forth from chapter to chapter. Unless I'm going for a lot of character stuff, I'll write in third person. I find that a lot easier, since I can just narrate in my own voice and not have to think in the character's voice all the time.
375. Do you incorporate songs into your stories, and if you do, how so? BSB songs or songs by other artists? What's your opinion on doing this? Is it corny? Appropriate in some instances? Both?
I really do, probably more than I should. I add song lyrics at the beginning of the chapters of Running Up That Hill, mostly for my own benefit. They're just there sort of as an introduction to the chapter, but obviously they're easy to scroll past for those who aren't into that. It's probably super corny, but I am okay with that LOL.
I also write a lot of songfics. Too many songfics. In the case of those the only time I'll actually put the lyrics into the story is if a character is singing them, and I think I only did that once. Other than that the songfics just go off the lyrics of the song, but they don't actually have the chunks of song lyrics in the story.
376. Do you ever imagine songs while you're reading a fanfic, even if there isn't a mention of the song in the story itself?
I don't think I've ever done that.
377. What do you do in real life, and what impact does it have on your writing? Do you tend to include things you know a lot about from your job and/or hobbies in your stories? Are you an expert at anything that comes in handy when writing fiction?
I am a Systems Analyst at company that makes software and websites for automotive companies (Volkswagen, Volvo, Mitsubishi) Basically I go to meetings with the people who sell our software to these companies and come up with a way to tell our development team to actually build it. The only impact this has on my writing is that it drains my creative ability steadily during the day lol. I think it'd be a dreadfully boring thing to write about.
Though writing fanfic has impacted my job in that I sometimes get stuck writing sentences by trying to not repeat words or make things flow nicer. I have to consciously allow myself some leeway with that stuff at work, because it doesn't really matter to the development team if my documentation sounds nice. They have to read it anyway!
378. If you are a sequel writer, how much of the previous story do you reveal in your sequel?
I've only done two sequels - My Happy Ending and Forever Like This. Both of which I tried to make into standalone stories that didn't require you to read the first one. That was especially important with Forever Like This, because I Wish was posted on 1DFF and and obviously Forever Like This was posted here. The plot of I Wish didn't even really matter in Forever Like This - all you really needed to know from that one was that Brittany was a popstar and she was dating Niall from One Direction. I felt like I did a good job of putting things into that story that were a nod to the first one, but didn't really matter if you hadn't read it.
379. How do you feel about sequels and series in general? Do you write them and or read them? Do you know ahead of time that you will be writing a bunch of stories or do you make that decision later on?
Both of the times I wrote sequels I didn't go into the first story intending to write a second one in the series, they just sort of happened. I only feel like they're appropriate when there's more story to tell, and looking back on it I really only wrote My Happy Ending because so many people liked In Pieces.
380. When you're trying to stick to writing one story, and you get an idea for another that you can't get out of your head, what do you do? How do you stay focused on one project at a time?
I will open a word document and just type out all of the ideas I have, dialog quotes, even bits of scenes that are in my head. If I'm still feeling like I can't let it go, I'll write the first chapter or I'll write the scene in my head that's stuck there in the first place. This usually works and I'll either come back to it when I'm finished with my current project, or I won't. And if I don't, it's likely because the idea didn't grab me enough and I likely wouldn't have stuck it through to the end of the fic anyway.
382. Do you tend to post your chapters right after you write them or do you sit on a few and then post sporadically so you stay ahead of yourself? Or do you wait until you are completely done with the story before you start to post?
Wait until I'm completely done!
383. For anyone else who waits to post: Do you find that you're still as excited to post something you wrote awhile ago as you would be posting something you just finished, or does the excitement wear off?
I'm still just as excited because I'll make little edits to the chapters before posting them. Plus I've been holding onto it for so long, that it's exciting to finally put it out there!
384. How have your feelings about each boy changed over the years, from when you first became a fan until now? Has your writing reflected any of these changes (like, do you find yourself writing more or less about certain boys than you used to)?
I feel like I think more about them as people than as a product with different roles in a boyband.
When I was 11/12 I had this idea that Nick was the perfect boyfriend (not that he could do no wrong, but that he would be a prince charming of a boyfriend) so I really wrote him like that. Again, now that I'm older and now that his face is not on the cover of Tiger Beat I feel like I can write him more honestly.
385. How do your writing preferences differ from your reading preferences? Is there anything you like to include in your own stories that you don't like to see in other people's, or vice versa?
It's pretty much the same LOL love angst, death and hurt/comfort. I guess I don't really write disease centered fic, but I do enjoy reading it.
386. How did you come up with your usernames for this board and your pen name for AC if they are different?
Sakabelle is the name I use for everything and it was a mishmash of my anime club nickname, Sakura and my Medieval Roleplay character name, Annabelle.
387. What was the first username (or email address) you used for fanfic?
sNICKers on FF.net. I thought I was clever at the time!
Do you ever feel like you are lumped into a group when it comes to your fanfics? Or maybe pigeonholed? And does it bother you?
I don't know! I'm sure I'm not well known enough to have anyone in the 1D world lump me into any kind of group. Honestly, I don't really feel like I fit anywhere in the fanfic world. I can be in my own group!
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about your work?
Maybe that I write a lot of Nick romance? Probably wouldn't be that much of a misconception though, lol.