Fic Talk > General Discussion
The Writing Thread
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 10, 2021, 12:11:31 PM ---What's something you do in BSB fanfic that would never fly in an original novel? This can be something as big as a whole plot or something as small as "I often find myself not describing the Boys' appearances."
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I include too many song lyrics. Not as much as I used to, but I still have characters singing songs from time to time, and not just BSB songs. I would need to edit all that out or get permission to use it if I were going to publish a novel.
I also describe features of the Boys' appearance more often than I need to (which would be almost never, since we all know what they look like LOL). Especially Brian's blue eyes, Nick's blond hair, and Kevin's eyebrows LOL.
I came across a YouTube video once made by a former fanfic author who became published, talking about bad habits fanfic authors have. https://youtu.be/SmbUAKi-ovY I have probably been guilty of all of these at some point, but the one that I had never thought about was the eye-based reactions. I am always having my characters raise their eyebrows, waggle their eyebrows, etc. To be fair, though, Nick has really nice eyebrows, and Kevin has really prominent ones, so I blame them. Maybe with different characters, I wouldn't do that so much. LOL
If anyone watches the video I linked above, let us know your thoughts and if you're guilty of any of those "bad habits."
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 10, 2021, 12:52:58 PM ---Back on the "what do you listen to" question, I was clearly listening to The Labyrinth's soundtrack while originally writing the chapter I'm editing right now. I wonder if anyone else noticed that during their read.
Does anyone feel like whatever you're listening to seeps into your writing? Do you ever pick specific things to listen to for that reason because you want it to seep into the feel of your writing?
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Hm, that's an interesting question. I almost always listen to music when I write, but I don't feel like it really seeps into my writing. I can tell you exactly what I was listening to during certain parts of certain stories, but that's more based on my memory than the story itself.
I try to pick music that will fit the mood of the scene, so maybe it does in that way. I like listening to sad, dramatic music when I am writing sad, dramatic scenes. But then sometimes I will pick the opposite of that to listen to just to lighten the mood when the story gets too intense. I fell in love with the first Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack when I was writing the post-choppage section of Broken because I inevitably wrote some pirate/peg-leg joke into the story and thought I could use some pirate music to listen to. I ended up knowing every note of that score before I even saw the movie because I loved it and listened to it so much while I was writing.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 10, 2021, 05:31:46 PM ---Oh I mean, inside the document I have the side outline with all the chapters as headings so I can get to any part easily, then as I'm editing I comment on the chapter title with the original word count. And I also edit by day so I can keep track of what I changed. But yeah, my document to keep track of edits is called "untitled," PBox is "blorp," PNecklace is "blap" if it's been completed, whatever I'm currently working on is "blep," the interesting pieces and tidbits are "blep2." I have another project started called "blup" and I believe I titled my holiday story "blirp." I don't really know why, I just did it when I started and the random words still make me smile. And then each project is in its own folder and parts are numbered in order 1-5.
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That would probably make me laugh too! LOL
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 10, 2021, 05:36:01 PM ---I include too many song lyrics. Not as much as I used to, but I still have characters singing songs from time to time, and not just BSB songs. I would need to edit all that out or get permission to use it if I were going to publish a novel.
I also describe features of the Boys' appearance more often than I need to (which would be almost never, since we all know what they look like LOL). Especially Brian's blue eyes, Nick's blond hair, and Kevin's eyebrows LOL.
I came across a YouTube video once made by a former fanfic author who became published, talking about bad habits fanfic authors have. https://youtu.be/SmbUAKi-ovY I have probably been guilty of all of these at some point, but the one that I had never thought about was the eye-based reactions. I am always having my characters raise their eyebrows, waggle their eyebrows, etc. To be fair, though, Nick has really nice eyebrows, and Kevin has really prominent ones, so I blame them. Maybe with different characters, I wouldn't do that so much. LOL
If anyone watches the video I linked above, let us know your thoughts and if you're guilty of any of those "bad habits."
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I found a "no one is glamorously lonely" in a sentence today and I still think its beautiful, but the wording was so awkward in whatever sentence I put it in, so I had to move things around. I've been actively trying to take song lyrics out. There's only one at the end where I'm debating whether to leave it or remove it. I haven't gotten there yet, but I know it's there.
Oh see, I for sure don't describe their appearances unless it's something they have in common or contrasting with another character that I wanted to highlight EXCEPT for Kevin's large caterpillar eyebrows. I just love them so much.
I watched it and laughed so hard. I feel like Nick is always more suave than the awkward he should be, even in moments where he hasn't thought "I'm going to be so f-ing suave and it will work. It did not... Nailed it?"
From her list, I've definitely been removing so many awkward dialogue tags and focusing instead on meaningful movement or fixing up speech so you can see it and know it's so and so speaking. I could honestly probably fix it again and just use "said," but that's a project for another time! Maybe if I ever follow through on the unfanficing thought.
I've also found a lot of those POV character is blushing moments and tried so hard to change them to other things. Why is that what I underwrote? I don't know.
She has a couple other videos that looked interesting on this topic, but they were twice as long and I wanted to respond to this.
What things does everyone think BSB fanfic writers are more guilty of and what things are they less guilty of? Like, I don't know that we have as many "monologue heavy villains," for instance.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 10, 2021, 05:45:56 PM ---I fell in love with the first Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack when I was writing the post-choppage section of Broken because I inevitably wrote some pirate/peg-leg joke into the story and thought I could use some pirate music to listen to.
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I love that you picked your music because of a joke you used! haha
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 10, 2021, 05:47:18 PM ---That would probably make me laugh too! LOL
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You just gotta lighten the mood sometimes, you know?
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