Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 07, 2021, 10:34:06 PM ---How often do they "just go away?"
What a nerd, signing up for a symposium, just kidding! I am also a nerd who loves symposiums. See, and my first thought to you quoting this was "Please call it 'Dougie! Carter, MD'." (I will see myself out again.)
How many docs are in the folder right now?
Do any of your current options feel like "What's next after Bethelehem"? Or do you feel like a new idea will strike?
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I dunno... I'm not sure they actually do go away, but that may be because the ones worth remembering eventually get written down. I have eleven ideas/outlines on Google, and I found nineteen more on my hard drive that I never uploaded to Google because I don't see myself actually writing them... yet I haven't deleted them either. Of the ones on Google, there are five or six I could see myself attempting to write at some point. I've thought for three years now that my next project would be a Kevin/Nick drama called "My Brother's Keeper" that I've already written 3 or 4 chapters of, but other ideas keep getting in its way. If I don't go back to that one after Bethlehem, I'm leaning toward one of my horror/suspense ideas. Or maybe I'll just take a break until it's time to get going on 00Carter again. Or maybe I'll get a brand new idea. Who knows! I'm not gonna worry about it until I actually finish Bethlehem.
Dying at "Dougie! Carter, M.D." :D There is something to be said for a good, funny title. I've held on to an idea for years about Brian being possessed, but there are two versions of the idea. One is a serious horror story, and the other is a comedy I would call "The Devil Wears Wylee." LOL The serious version would make a better story, but damn if I don't love that title LOL. Maybe I can work it into a future pandaskunk story instead.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 07, 2021, 10:34:06 PM ---How long does it typically take you to go back to an idea? I feel like PNecklace has in some form been jumbled in my head for the past decade, but I'm doing it now like that author who writes a chapter, deletes, and then rewrites from memory because I have long ago lost any written record of what it was early on post-PBox. I'm so appreciative of the Google suite.
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I love how you can recover old versions of a file in Google. It's fun to see how stories and ideas evolve over time. The thought of deleting a chapter and rewriting it from memory gives me anxiety though LOL. Do you save a copy of the original so you can refer back to it after or while you rewrite?
It seems like the stories I've been most successful with (a.k.a. the ones I actually finish) are based on newer ideas, not old ones. I think the longest I've hung on to an idea before writing it is about six years. I got the original idea for Guilty Roads around 2004, and I started writing it in 2010. But although I got far enough to post it, I still haven't finished it, so I'm not sure I'd call that successful. Another one with a big time gap was the ER crossover I finished last year, Heroic Measures. I wrote the first two chapters of that story in 2012, finished two more in 2018, and wrote the rest in 2020. It took me 8 years to write a ten-chapter novella LOL, but at least I did finally finish it, so I consider that one a success.
Has anyone else had luck resurrecting really old ideas or unfinished stories?
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 07, 2021, 10:34:06 PM ---I knew you did! Which was why I wanted to learn more about your experience with it and what you do with it once you've gotten what you need. How much of that medical jargon and in-depth research ends up in your works? Or is it like your version of world building where you know twice as much to avoid plot holes.
That sounds fascinating and I will definitely check it out, but I for sure gagged at it being described as "peel back layers," though I'm sure that's exactly what it is.
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Yeah, I guess it is like my own version of world building. I don't include everything I learn in my stories because I don't want them to read like a medical journal LOL. I've found that doctor characters are good for taking the jargon and info I feel the other characters and readers need to understand and breaking it down into laymen's terms. Usually those are just minor characters, but my last two medical dramas had main characters who were doctors or nurses, so when I was writing from their perspective, I did include more jargon and detailed medical info, which was fun.
LOL! Don't worry, it's not gory. It's more like a interactive 3D CGI diagram, not real photos or anything.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 07, 2021, 10:34:06 PM ---Did you ever write HP fanfic outside of that crossover? I'm not very versed in HP (which seems odd given all this), but can you just tell me what houses the Boys were in? I'm just curious if we have similar opinions.
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I started a HP fanfic once back in like 2003, but I didn't get past the first few chapters. I love Harry Potter; it's my number two fandom after BSB, but I've just never gotten into fanfic for any other fandom, reading or writing. In my crossover, the Boys are Muggles (non-magic), so they're not sorted into Houses. But if I were the Sorting Hat, I would probably put Brian and Nick in Gryffindor, Howie and AJ in Hufflepuff, and Kevin in Ravenclaw. Although Nick's nerdy science posts make me think he might actually be more of a Ravenclaw too. As Dumbledore once said, "You know, I sometimes think we Sort too soon." Where do you think they would go? (Anyone can weigh in on this.)
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: FrickingKaos on January 08, 2021, 07:34:02 PM ---I have notebooks upon notebooks of stuff that I wrote in high school, including what would eventually be my Nick and Amanda series. I also have the notebook I started drafting If I Knew Then and Take Me Home in. Lots of notes. I have a notebook where I was writing down stuff for when I wrote Finding Carter too. I kept all of it and once in a while I like to go through them.
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Do you use a different notebook for each story?
I rarely write by hand, but I have several random old notebooks with just a few pages of fanfic ideas or scenes written in them. If I were smarter, I would have gotten myself one nice notebook and put everything in there, instead of all over the place in used Five Star notebooks leftover from high school and college LOL.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 08, 2021, 06:21:31 PM ---I can see how it would be easier to start somewhere in the middle when it's a sequel and you already have the characters and world established. I do think it would be harder to do that with a brand new story, but you'll have to try it and let us know how it goes. That being said, I can also see how it might make it easier to complete a story if you write the middle and end first and then just have to go back to the beginning and fill in the gaps to finish it. That might make it feel like the hard part is over - unless you're someone who struggles most with beginnings. For me, getting started is often the hardest part, so I don't know if that theory would hold LOL.
Here's a question for everyone: What do you usually have the hardest time writing - the beginning, the middle, or the end? How about the easiest?
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When I have a new idea, I will let you know! Could be never. Could be next week.
I started so many things over the years, so I would say middles are alright if I get to them. It's the between the beginning and middle I often find hard, but then if I can't get at least halfway-ish through the story, then I'll never figure out an end. We'll see if this way is easier overall, because it's definitely been easier to fill in gaps between already written scenes than it was going in order.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 08, 2021, 06:21:31 PM ---Yep, I do still have my Broken notebook. I'm kind of a low-key hoarder who keeps anything nostalgic LOL.
Anyone else have any writing-related mementos they hang on to?
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Next time you go on purging binge, don't purge it! Save it forever and put it in a Julie museum!
I'd say my doodles? I used to physically print out my stories back when I had my ancient desktop. I bet I have a very old version of PBox on a floppy disk somewhere, haha.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: FrickingKaos on January 08, 2021, 07:34:02 PM ---I have notebooks upon notebooks of stuff that I wrote in high school, including what would eventually be my Nick and Amanda series. I also have the notebook I started drafting If I Knew Then and Take Me Home in. Lots of notes. I have a notebook where I was writing down stuff for when I wrote Finding Carter too. I kept all of it and once in a while I like to go through them.
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--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 08, 2021, 07:39:58 PM ---Do you use a different notebook for each story?
I rarely write by hand, but I have several random old notebooks with just a few pages of fanfic ideas or scenes written in them. If I were smarter, I would have gotten myself one nice notebook and put everything in there, instead of all over the place in used Five Star notebooks leftover from high school and college LOL.
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I love that you guys kept notebooks! My hand hurts if I write by hand too long and I can definitely type faster than I can write and my brain sometimes goes a mile a minute, so typing is my preference (thank goodness for technology). I know I have part of PBox ch. 23 written on a piece of notebook paper somewhere and I found the tiniest part of zombies in my art binder last night.
Just rip them out, put them in page protectors, and transfer into a binder... Or at least, next time you want a time consuming project, haha.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 08, 2021, 08:06:44 PM ---Next time you go on purging binge, don't purge it! Save it forever and put it in a Julie museum!
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It has moved with me from my parents' house to my first apartment to my own house, so it's safe to say I will not be purging it. Though I do have this fear of dying and my family finding things like that when they go through my stuff and being like "WTF?" LOL. At least that notebook is mostly just random notes that would seem incoherent out of context of knowing what it was for.
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