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[RokofAges75]

I've never written a sequel So I skipped the last question.

As far as posting goes and wait until I'm completely done so that I can go back and edit and make any changes I need to do before i start posting. That way I know to whether or not the story is actually going to be finished, too.

I am trying to have your willpower!

For you and 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 know last summer with Secrets of the Heart, I got quite a few chapters ahead of myself and didn't end up posting the end of the story until several weeks after I'd finished it, and by that point, I was kinda "Meh!" about it.  It was still fun to check "complete" when I posted it, but I didn't get that same giddy feeling I'd had when I actually finished it.  That's one thing I enjoy about updating as I write and not writing ahead - I get that instant gratification with feedback on something I've just finished.

[RokofAges75]

What are some of your secrets when it comes to reading/writing fanfic? Or about the boys or any other fandom in general?

Think of this question as a Backstreet confessional of sorts? lol

This is a fun question, but I can't think of any!  What are yours, Mare?  Maybe I'll get inspired if I see someone else answer it first LOL.

[usako]

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'm not able to sta focused on one project at a time. I think it's because I'm like that even in real life, I'm always doing three o four things at that same time.  And I'm an emotional writer, when I'm feeling down or angry I have to write, even if it's something that doesn't belong to my current story. So I've like ten or more documents of word with only the beginning of the story and then a endless "to be continued". As my best friend always saus "you're blessed to write in a fandom really small because otherwise you would be eat alive making the readers waiting years for a chapter." 

[RokofAges75]

As my best friend always saus "you're blessed to write in a fandom really small because otherwise you would be eat alive making the readers waiting years for a chapter." 

I don't see our fandom as being really small, but I guess we are compared to the ones that are huge right now, like One Direction and Harry Potter.  People here may still eat you alive if they have to wait years on a chapter, but at least they'll remember you.  Your story would be lost in the shuffle on some of the bigger sites!  When I posted my HP crossover on fanfiction.net last year, it was crazy how quickly it disappeared from whatever the equivalent of their most recent page is.  I didn't expect to get any reviews because I didn't expect anyone to even be able to find it!  As I've said before, I love that AC is active, but not so crazy active that it's hard to keep up.  It's nice that when you update, your story usually stays on the Most Recent page for at least a couple of days so people can see it.

[mare]

This is a fun question, but I can't think of any!  What are yours, Mare?  Maybe I'll get inspired if I see someone else answer it first LOL.

I was thinking of starting a brand new thread just for this question so we could add on to it as we wanted to. Kind of like the pet peeve thread lol

but here are some of mine:

~ I put a lot more importance on reviews then I say but not mine, other peoples! Before I decide to read something I'm on the fence about I almost always check out the reviews to see what they say. If all I see is 'good job!' or 'update!' by names I am otherwise not familiar with, I tend to skip the story. If the author hasn't responded to reviews, I'll skip the story no matter how highly recommended it comes. If I see a lot of familiar names reviewing a story with longer more detailed reviews, it tells me that maybe I might like it too since those people have the same taste I do and had formed opinions about what they were reading enough to leave a detailed review.

~ When a chapter is really long, I tend to lose interest sometimes, so I usually skim and look for dialogue to help me get through. Reading that, lets me know the important things that have happened. lol

~ No matter who you use on your banners, I picture your characters the way I see them and it's never as the actor or actresses you pick lol

~ If I don't like how a story is moving along, I create my own version in my head.

~ If I can't visualize the story I'm reading by the third chapter, I stop reading. I have to see it play in my head as a movie for me to stay interested.

~ I lost respect for Backstreet when they teamed up with New Kids to the point where I was ready to hand back my 'fan' card. Thank God for Kevin's return. He changed all that but I'm afraid of it happening again!  

I'm sure I have tons more but that's the general idea!

[usako]

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?

I love them, both reading and writing. Aside oneshot or stories that stand alone, I always imagine my stories as telefilms, so each one is like a season, made of episodes (stories). I believe it's because I tend to literally live with my charactes so it's hard to let them go. So, when I plan a story, I always ask myself if the plot can be stretched or deserved a sequel. Like "Love Story". I've always knew that I was going to write more stories about them, that's why I left the ending open: there is still a lot to tell and that's because it's AU.
The story that I'm currently planning already have a sequel and that's because it's a fantasy, with Brian as an half uman and half angel.  

I don't see our fandom as being really small, but I guess we are compared to the ones that are huge right now, like One Direction and Harry Potter.  People here may still eat you alive if they have to wait years on a chapter, but at least they'll remember you.  Your story would be lost in the shuffle on some of the bigger sites!  When I posted my HP crossover on fanfiction.net last year, it was crazy how quickly it disappeared from whatever the equivalent of their most recent page is.  I didn't expect to get any reviews because I didn't expect anyone to even be able to find it!  As I've said before, I love that AC is active, but not so crazy active that it's hard to keep up.  It's nice that when you update, your story usually stays on the Most Recent page for at least a couple of days so people can see it.

I forgot to add that we were talking about the Italian BSB fandom, sorry  . It's really really small. So small that on the main fanfiction archive, I'm the only one who keeps it alive.   That was part of the reason why I decided to join the AC.
But yes, I agree with you. I love that our fandom is small.  

[mare]

I love how we're coming up with all these questions now in the summer since usually the rest of the year this thread is completely dead! lol

So, here's another question!

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?

When I was updating frequently, I always stayed ahead of myself by five chapters. I wouldn't post the first chapter until the fifth one was written. Mainly because I wanted to make sure it was something I was going to commit to before posting it for everyone and I wanted to be able to update at least once a week consistently while I was still writing the novel. I gave myself a goal of writing one chapter a week and that kind of always kept me ahead of myself. Granted, it didn't always work and most of the time I ended up catching up to myself LOL

I have also done the instantaneous posting. I agree with what Julie said, it's fun to post those and get that instant gratification because it does lose it's oomph by the time it's posted otherwise! I remember with Whatever the Night, I was sitting on those chapters and had written Donald Trump as president long before he decided to run and I kept smacking myself thinking "I wish I had posted this before the fact because now everyone will think I wrote it because he decided to run!" LOL

I have never waited for a story to be complete. I don't think I have the patience to do that.

[mare]

I feel like I would totally jump the shark if I tried that with mine, but that's interesting!

I'm sure I've jumped plenty of sharks lol

[RokofAges75]

I forgot to add that we were talking about the Italian BSB fandom, sorry  . It's really really small. So small that on the main fanfiction archive, I'm the only one who keeps it alive.  That was part of the reason why I decided to join the AC.
But yes, I agree with you. I love that our fandom is small. 

Ohh, okay.  Yeah, I don't see too many fanfics in languages other than English.  It's nice that so many people outside of English-speaking countries know enough English that we can talk to each other and share our stories, but I wouldn't mind people posting their stories in their own languages either.  Not that I'd be able to read them that way LOL, but other people would.

I do know of a Portuguese fanfic site that has girls who actually translate fanfics written in other languages into Portuguese so there will be more stories to read there.  That sounds like a LOT of work to me, but I think it's cool.

[usako]

Ohh, okay.  Yeah, I don't see too many fanfics in languages other than English.  It's nice that so many people outside of English-speaking countries know enough English that we can talk to each other and share our stories, but I wouldn't mind people posting their stories in their own languages either.  Not that I'd be able to read them that way LOL, but other people would.

I do know of a Portuguese fanfic site that has girls who actually translate fanfics written in other languages into Portuguese so there will be more stories to read there.  That sounds like a LOT of work to me, but I think it's cool.

You know, I've thought it about, translate some stories in Italian but I know it's a hard work. It's one thing translating your own story because I know what I wanted to say and I don't have problem adding a little scenes more. But if I had to translate someone's else work, I have to stick with their work and that would be really hard.
I've to thank my love for reading if I know English this well. Thus I love English so it has never been a problem reading something that wasn't in Italian.

[RokofAges75]

Thanks for sharing your confessions, Mare; that gives me a better idea of what you mean, although I still can't think of any for myself right now!

~ No matter who you use on your banners, I picture your characters the way I see them and it's never as the actor or actresses you pick lol

LOL Same here, even for my own stories - I never picture the characters exactly as the people I choose to "play" them if I make a banner with their faces on it.  I usually don't for other people's stories either.  Even when I read Harry Potter, I don't see Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson in my head... I see my own version of those characters.  Sometimes, though, having a picture on a banner or book cover helps give me a clearer idea of what the author intended the character to look like.

Like with the story of Emily's I read this week, Falling in Love Again, she used Rachel McAdams in the banner.  To be honest, I hardly glanced at the banner when I first clicked on the story, but when I went back to read more the next day, I did take a closer look at it and thought, "Oh, Rachel McAdams... okay, so that's the look she was going for with Annie."  I knew Annie had curly auburn hair and had been described as "cute," but that was about it.  Seeing Rachel McAdams and knowing the way she acts in her movies gave me a better idea of what kind of cute Annie was supposed to be.

[RokofAges75]

You know, I've thought it about, translate some stories in Italian but I know it's a hard work. It's one thing translating your own story because I know what I wanted to say and I don't have problem adding a little scenes more. But if I had to translate someone's else work, I have to stick with their work and that would be really hard.
I've to thank my love for reading if I know English this well. Thus I love English so it has never been a problem reading something that wasn't in Italian.

The only reason I know of that site is because one of the girls on it emailed me to ask if she could translate Curtain Call and post it there - with credit to me for writing the original, of course.  I was really flattered and thought it was cool idea.  I have it bookmarked, so I just went back to look after I posted that - she only got through Chapter 4 LOL.  So, not really far enough to get into the story at all.  But that's okay because she linked to the complete version that's on my site, so I guess if people want more, they can go there and read it in English.  I would have been super impressed if she'd managed to translate all 90 chapters by now!  I can't imagine how tedious and difficult that would be.

[usako]

The only reason I know of that site is because one of the girls on it emailed me to ask if she could translate Curtain Call and post it there - with credit to me for writing the original, of course.  I was really flattered and thought it was cool idea.  I have it bookmarked, so I just went back to look after I posted that - she only got through Chapter 4 LOL.  So, not really far enough to get into the story at all.  But that's okay because she linked to the complete version that's on my site, so I guess if people want more, they can go there and read it in English.  I would have been super impressed if she'd managed to translate all 90 chapters by now!  I can't imagine how tedious and difficult that would be.

Wow. Congrats to them, really.

[RokofAges75]

What are some of your secrets when it comes to reading/writing fanfic? Or about the boys or any other fandom in general?

Okay, I thought of one!

I used to read the first couple chapters of stories and then click to the end and skim the last few to see if anything interesting happened before I decided whether or not to commit to reading them.  I did this mostly with romance.  If I saw anything about a hospital or a funeral or any hints of death, despair, and drama, I would go back to the beginning and keep reading.  If not, I would move on to a different story.

I would never do that now if I thought I actually might want to read the story because I hate spoilers, but I'll admit, knowing that something tragic happens to the characters later in the story is still one way to get me to read something I otherwise wouldn't.  But then I'm a hypocrite with my own stories because, since I hate spoilers, I usually don't even hint at that kind of thing in my own summaries.  I guess I just count on my readers to expect that something bad will happen at some point, because that's just how I roll.

[mare]

Okay, I thought of one!

I used to read the first couple chapters of stories and then click to the end and skim the last few to see if anything interesting happened before I decided whether or not to commit to reading them.  I did this mostly with romance.  If I saw anything about a hospital or a funeral or any hints of death, despair, and drama, I would go back to the beginning and keep reading.  If not, I would move on to a different story.

I would never do that now if I thought I actually might want to read the story because I hate spoilers, but I'll admit, knowing that something tragic happens to the characters later in the story is still one way to get me to read something I otherwise wouldn't.  But then I'm a hypocrite with my own stories because, since I hate spoilers, I usually don't even hint at that kind of thing in my own summaries.  I guess I just count on my readers to expect that something bad will happen at some point, because that's just how I roll.

I do that too! LOL Not as much anymore but sometimes I'll go the last chapter to see if we're talking about anyone in past tense. I do that with books too!