Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[RokofAges75]

I just creeped on the guests again and most of them are reading this! I'm dying!

Dear guests: I'm sorry I sounded so dumb sometimes.

Also, that thread is a gem even if it's only aged okay. New thread: Top Ten Must Read Nostalgia Posts on the Forum.

I think most of the "guests" are spambots, but that is a fun way to find random old threads.

Yes!  You definitely need to start that thread!

[nicksgal]

If I'm really inspired and the words keep coming, I'll keep writing until my eyes cross... and then I'll turn on voice typing so I can close my eyes and dictate to the computer if I have to LOL.  Unless I have to be somewhere, I don't force myself to stop.  But when I hit my wall and start staring at the screen for more than a few minutes without actually typing anything or realize I've spent the last hour refreshing Twitter instead of writing, that's when I know it's time to take a break.  I don't have a set amount of time I'll give it, but I can usually just tell when I'm not going to be productive and continuing to sit at the computer is just wasting my time.  Depending on how late in the day that happens, I may try to come back to it later, but I usually don't have much luck if I was productive earlier in the day.  I call it my little fanfic bubble - when I'm in my bubble, I can focus for hours, but once that bubble bursts, it's hard to blow it back up later.  I used to do my best writing late at night, but the last couple years, I've had better luck writing first thing in the morning, before I get distracted by anything else.  I guess that means I'm getting old LOL.

I was that way during NaNo, and honestly, I think stay at home was the only reason I finished it (plus a slightly different job this year). Normally November is knee deep into football season for me and I'm a champion tailgater, so most of my weekends are awash. Whereas this year, they were my catch up on writing days. And a slightly different job meant my assessment cycle is a little more lax than typical and lighter conference load, which meant I worked from home after work less and could spend my evenings doing whatever I wanted. Except I was useless at writing on Wednesdays because of Masked Singer. *shrug*

I took more breaks today away from the computer to do household chores, and I think I'm feeling a little better about staring at the computer now (unless I keep looking at the Sexy Humpbacks for Greenpeace, haha). I'm just in the middle of the chunk of chapters that are "there's a battle, but I'd also like to have philosophical discussions with you about life and death, light and darkness, good and evil, the meaning of existence, etcetera" so it's taking twice as long to edit compared to those earlier chapters that were more "Brian and Nick make dumb jokes at each other while they plot along."

On a Saturday like today, where I have nowhere to be, I'll try to work on it multiple times throughout the day.  I already wrote awhile this morning, then took a break to shower and eat and update my site, but I'll be back at it later.  I'm trying to get as much written as I can before I go back to work next Wed and my bubble bursts again LOL.

I have probably spent more time writing this past year than in the previous few because of the pandemic.  It's given me the perfect excuse to stay home and write to my heart's content without guilt.  I'm not being antisocial; I'm being safe! LOL

Are we having the same day today? Because this is me today (minus the website updating). I'm really jealous that you have until Wednesday! I am definitely not going to be able to finish my editing plans this break like I wanted and will likely only get 5 chapters of the edit up this week, but I'm trying my best.

[RokofAges75]

LOL This forum is distracting when it's active, but I love it!

We must be having the same day today!  Getting 5 chapters posted this week sounds good to me.  It'll feel so good when you finally finish this project.

[nicksgal]

It wasn't the leg choppage because I did that in 2003.  I looked back to see what chapters I was posting around that time and still can't pinpoint it, but I'm guessing it had something to do with Nick & Claire relationship drama, the car accident I was planning for the end, or possibly the sequel I considered writing for a short time, which was really ridiculous.  And the poll was tied, so I guess I never got my answer LOL.

When I mentioned car crash, you seemed particularly ishy, so it was probably that? OMG, a third Broken/BMS? How would you have kept the upward momentum going with the drama?! I think the poll being tied means that we all appreciated entertaining realism, so maybe not drama just to have drama so much as drama that felt like it fit the story and kept it going in a realistic way.

I'm sure there was also some jealousy on our part because most of us had yet to meet the Boys and may have still been at the mercy of our parents to provide money or transportation to go to shows LOL.  I won't deny, it's fun to be a "mature fan" who can travel out of state to go to shows and pay to meet the Boys if they're so inclined.

I still haven't met them yet because of that money thing. Now that I've been able to save more (thanks COVID?), it's on my soon list. But like at this point, I feel like I would just say "Thanks for helping me get through 2020."  I only did the Vegas trip. If they ever do the cruise again, that's something I would like to splurge for or go to another country when they happen to be in town? Hawaii wouldn't be a bad move either.

I don't really agree with the sex scene stuff anymore though.  A married woman writing graphic sex scenes about herself with a Backstreet Boy still seems a bit weird to me, but there's nothing wrong with writing sex scenes about fictional characters if it fits the story.  You can absolutely be both graphically violent and sexually explicit.  If you want to write it, go for it and don't hold back!  You can always edit and cut some out later if it feels like too much.

That's true. And I suppose none of us have done self inserts in a while and that was what made it especially creepy. Maybe I'll tinker with it when I get there and see if it ends up being worth it to bother in full compared to the tiny snippets. Haven't really done one before, so from a writing perspective, it may be good to try!

[nicksgal]

I think most of the "guests" are spambots, but that is a fun way to find random old threads.

Yes!  You definitely need to start that thread!

Well, these spambots have good nostalgic taste. I am on it.

[mare]

I have no idea what camel thing you are talking about but I’m going to have to say I most likely do not have it anymore. If it’s not on the site, then it’s gone lol

I never go back and read old threads lol maybe I should.

[nicksgal]

LOL This forum is distracting when it's active, but I love it!

We must be having the same day today!  Getting 5 chapters posted this week sounds good to me.  It'll feel so good when you finally finish this project.

I wrote up a little Author Talk for my thread for posting with an upcoming update and I believe one of the phrases I used was "I think I spent more time here being a 'supreme time waster' than I did writing much of anything." I have a decade to catch up on, so I'm just posting away and getting it all out, haha.

Yay, day twins!

I was looking at my vent from yesterday when I saw that Mare had posted and I thought (other than that it was a good writing question when rephrased): Yes, I wanted to do 10-chapter chunks and yes I wanted to edit, but this is supposed to be a labor of love and not a labor of frustration. If it's frustrating, I should just do what still feels enjoyable rather than trying to pound through it for the sake of sticking to whatever schedule I set for myself. The chapters will still be there next week and it's all already up anyway, especially here and the overall plot is what you need to understand PNecklace anyway, though the edits do make it a lot cleaner. I'm not wholly committed to AO3 in the same way, so they can wait, I suppose (I did enjoy getting a kudos, though). The edits are mostly slight tone tweaks, adjusting dialogue to better fit some call backs or call forwards (that I know about but y'all reading along do not... yet), and changing dialogue tags to body language instead, especially at this point in the story. The first thirty definitely had more hack and rewrite portions.

Though in one I edited today, I found a little flashback where I tried to give a more detailed twist on a scene that already happened. All well and good, except that it was from AJ's perspective and included things Nick was thinking. How would AJ know that?! He's not a mind reader! Darn you freshman me focusing on Nick in a chapter he's not even it! But, I realized that I'd called back to it in a PNecklace chapter from Nick's perspective, so I still needed it that way with edits too, plus whatever changes I needed to include from editing the original scene. Oof, editing!

[nicksgal]

I have no idea what camel thing you are talking about but I’m going to have to say I most likely do not have it anymore. If it’s not on the site, then it’s gone lol

I never go back and read old threads lol maybe I should.

It was Fergie riding camel Justin Timberlake through the desert for their collaboration "My Sexy Hump Backs."

Some of the things we say are really insightful, good advice, or good fanfic and/or writing discussions. Then some of them are "My Sexy Hump Backs."

[RokofAges75]

When I mentioned car crash, you seemed particularly ishy, so it was probably that? OMG, a third Broken/BMS? How would you have kept the upward momentum going with the drama?! I think the poll being tied means that we all appreciated entertaining realism, so maybe not drama just to have drama so much as drama that felt like it fit the story and kept it going in a realistic way.

Yeah, it probably was the car crash then.

LOL Yeah, I still have an outline somewhere for a third Broken/BMS story that will never be written.  From what I remember, the storyline involved Claire's ex Jamie and his mom kidnapping her twins, which I think was an idea given to me by a reader.  Then there was a subplot about Nick needing a lung transplant or something because his remaining lung-and-a-half were so badly scarred from cancer and BOOP.  I knew I had run out of cancer stuff to write about, but I had to get that medical drama in somewhere LOL.  It was really bad.  I spent a couple days writing an outline for it and making banners before coming to the conclusion that it was way too ridiculous and would only ruin a series I was really proud of.  I've basically cut myself off from writing sequels anymore, unless it's for my silly pandaskunk series.

I still haven't met them yet because of that money thing. Now that I've been able to save more (thanks COVID?), it's on my soon list. But like at this point, I feel like I would just say "Thanks for helping me get through 2020."  I only did the Vegas trip. If they ever do the cruise again, that's something I would like to splurge for or go to another country when they happen to be in town? Hawaii wouldn't be a bad move either.

Yes!  You should definitely save up for a VIP and a future BSB cruise.  What my little 2007 self did not know at that time is that I would finally meet them for the first time the following summer - by paying for a VIP with my newly-earned adult salary, of course LOL.  It used to be more affordable during the Unbreakable, TIU, and IAWLT tours - still expensive, but like half the price it is now.  Still worth it to cross off an item on your bucket list though!

I went on the 2011, 2013, and 2014 cruises, and they were a lot of fun.  Then they started making them longer and moving them to May, which didn't work well with work.  I hope they do more someday.  I would totally go on another one.  That's how I met most of the AC people I've met in real life.  Hawaii sounds great too!

[nicksgal]

Yeah, it probably was the car crash then.

LOL Yeah, I still have an outline somewhere for a third Broken/BMS story that will never be written.  From what I remember, the storyline involved Claire's ex Jamie and his mom kidnapping her twins, which I think was an idea given to me by a reader.  Then there was a subplot about Nick needing a lung transplant or something because his remaining lung-and-a-half were so badly scarred from cancer and BOOP.  I knew I had run out of cancer stuff to write about, but I had to get that medical drama in somewhere LOL.  It was really bad.  I spent a couple days writing an outline for it and making banners before coming to the conclusion that it was way too ridiculous and would only ruin a series I was really proud of.  I've basically cut myself off from writing sequels anymore, unless it's for my silly pandaskunk series.

I can see why you started that thread then! Poor Nick. First cancer, then a lung transplant. Kid can't catch a break.

I think a series is hard to do unless it all comes up at once and you realize that trying to cram it all in one story would be a monstrous undertaking. And especially if you had moved on to other things at that point. I loved that went all the way to making banners for it before writing. That's dedication.

Yes!  You should definitely save up for a VIP and a future BSB cruise.  What my little 2007 self did not know at that time is that I would finally meet them for the first time the following summer - by paying for a VIP with my newly-earned adult salary, of course LOL.  It used to be more affordable during the Unbreakable, TIU, and IAWLT tours - still expensive, but like half the price it is now.  Still worth it to cross off an item on your bucket list though!

I went on the 2011, 2013, and 2014 cruises, and they were a lot of fun.  Then they started making them longer and moving them to May, which didn't work well with work.  I hope they do more someday.  I would totally go on another one.  That's how I met most of the AC people I've met in real life.  Hawaii sounds great too!

Oh man, missed out on so much! If anyone is interested in cruising or Hawaii or kidnapping Rose in Vegas, holler at your girl? Not sure I could convince my husband it was worth his time, haha.

[RokofAges75]

LOL Making a banner is still often a part of my early story-planning process.  I can't start a story without at least a working title, and once I've got a title I like and some time to play around with graphics, I inevitably end up making a banner.  I love making banners!  (Sorry, Mare LOL.)

Absolutely, when things get back to normal and they start announcing new events, we'll have to plan a meet-up!

[mare]

Yup, even though lots of things have changed, my hatred of banners is still there lol

[nicksgal]

LOL Making a banner is still often a part of my early story-planning process.  I can't start a story without at least a working title, and once I've got a title I like and some time to play around with graphics, I inevitably end up making a banner.  I love making banners!  (Sorry, Mare LOL.)

Absolutely, when things get back to normal and they start announcing new events, we'll have to plan a meet-up!

See, I usually start planning a story and then stress over a title once it's time to post it. I think the only titles that came fairly quickly was "Pandora's Box" and then "Pandora's Necklace." Other than that, I have to shop around a story for a while.

I was never very good at making banners, so I think I often went without or in the case of PBox et all, have decided to continue using the same 200 x 200 banner someone made for PBox back when that was the largest banner AC allowed. I always wondered why Mare didn't make that rule come back.

That would be fun! I'm down once I have a vaccine!

[nicksgal]

Yup, even though lots of things have changed, my hatred of banners is still there lol

You wouldn't be the same without it, so I'm glad it's still persisting.

[nicksgal]

Here's a question for today as I keep going through my AJ chapter and have distracted myself with a minor edit now that feels like it has major implications later...

Where do you fall on the planning scale? Do you have everything planned before you write a single word? (planning) Do you just start writing and let the muses takes you? (pantsing) Are you some combination of the two? (plantsing)

If you're writing away perfectly contentedly and a great idea pops up for far down the line, what do you do to keep it at bay? Would you drop everything to write it? If you have an outline, do you ever go back and change it or are you very rigid about it? Same with characters?

What do you finalize first? Characters or plot?