Fic Talk > General Discussion
2 Writing 2 Thread
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---Usually their main motivation in my stories is survival LOL.
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I will comment on the rest, but LMAO over here. That's never the motivation they started with! They just wanted something mundane like living life as usual thinking they were cancer free or making a Christmas album.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 07:13:19 PM ---I will comment on the rest, but LMAO over here. That's never the motivation they started with! They just wanted something mundane like living life as usual thinking they were cancer free or making a Christmas album.
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Haha, true! Which goes to show how quickly a character's motivation can change.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 07:59:41 PM ---Haha, true! Which goes to show how quickly a character's motivation can change.
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They thought they wanted to make a Christmas album, but what they really needed was to survive. And if you're heartless like me, now they get neither.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---1. Beginnings, Middles, or Endings: What is your favorite part to write in a story and why?
Endings! Since I write in order, I spend the whole story looking forward to the big climactic moments near the end. And as we've discussed, there are few things more satisfying than finally finishing a story.
2. Same question, but least favorite?
Beginnings. While it's exciting to start something new, there's so much uncertainty that comes with a new story. It can be daunting to imagine how I want it to go and then look at the blank page and think about how much I have to write to get to that point. Once I get a few chapters in, it becomes easier if it's going well.
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So do middles lean more toward like or dislike for you? I agree that the beginning can be daunting and waiting with all that excitement to write things you want to write makes them flow out really quickly.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---3. When you're writing a beginning, how much time do you like to devote to backstory or do you intersperse it throughout the story?
I try to intersperse it as needed instead of doing a big information drop at the beginning.
4. What are backstory elements you know, but don't include? Are these conscious choices or more along the lines of "We're BSB fans reading BSB fanfics"?
One of the nice parts about writing fanfic is that it comes with a set of already-developed "characters." I don't spend as much time detailing the Boys' real history, unless it relates to what's happening in the story. I probably include more of this kind of stuff in stories set in the past to help set the scene for what point in BSB history we're in. For example, Heroic Measures was set in 1995, so I did write more about the Boys' formation and early years together than I normally would.
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Imagine if we all had to start every story with some sort of "the history of the Backstreet Boys" weaved in. haha! How many times could we all read about Nick talking about the first time he met Brian? Like at that point, I would just rather go watch Nick talking about it and then come back to whatever story.
I don't think anyone likes info dumps at the beginning, readers or writers. It's just not as interesting.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---5. Do you always know your main character's (or characters') motivation when you start a story or does it come up later?
I guess it depends on the story. In a character-driven story, I definitely have a sense of the main character's motivation and overall arc before I start the story. In a plot-driven story, I tend to think more in terms of what situations I'm going to put the characters in and how they'll react than what their motivation is. Usually their main motivation in my stories is survival LOL. But as I write, other things come up as a subplots, like the Brian political stuff I included in Bethlehem. That was not planned from the beginning.
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Would you say, in general, you write more pot-driven stories or more character-driven stories? Or different types at different periods in your body of work? I love happy accidents like that where it just kind of fits.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---6. "I won't start the beginning of the story until I know: ____________."
The title, the characters' names, and at least a basic sense of what happens in the beginning, middle, and end.
7. What's the easiest thing about beginnings and the most challenging?
When I start off inspired, it's easy to stay inspired through the beginning. But sometimes it takes me a few chapters to really get into a new story, so that's not always the case. The most challenging thing for me is usually the first line.
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At least you get five characters' names out of the way pretty quickly!
First lines are so hard. I'm not sure my are very good half the time. Except for the snail story; that one is gold.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---8. "In the middle of the story, I often: ______________ ."
Make a prediction for how many chapters long the story will be, which is almost always too low LOL. I was actually pretty close with Bethlehem - first I thought it would be about 25 chapters, then I thought 20, and it ended up at 22.
9. What's something overrated about middles? What's something underrated about middles?
These middle questions are hard LOL. I guess the middle is where some authors (myself included - see BMS) get derailed with subplots, which can be overrated. But the middle is usually where most of the character development occurs, which may be underrated.
11. What's the easiest thing about middles and the most challenging?
The easiest thing is that you've made it through the beginning, so you should be getting into the rising action, a.k.a. the good stuff. The most challenging thing is staying inspired through this section, especially with a long story. I am not a runner, but I'm going to use a marathon metaphor anyway. In the middle, you're past the starting line, when you're full of energy and excitement, but not yet to the last leg, when you get your second wind and are ready to race to the finish, so you just have to force yourself to keep plodding forward.
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You got it right in the middle for Bethlehem! That is pretty close!
These middle questions were so hard to come up with! Character development forever. And I agree, sometimes the middles can be hard to keep going through even though it's all usually good stuff.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---12. What's the easiest thing about endings and the most challenging?
I am usually uber-inspired by the time I reach the climax of a story. I almost always go on an end-of-story writing streak, so staying inspired is easy. The most challenging is trying to wrap up all the loose ends and not leaving anything hanging. It can also be tough to come up with the perfect last line.
13. "I won't end the story until I know: ____________."
I've reached the end of the character's journey and wrapped up the loose ends.
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Do you set writing goals for yourself once you've reached and ending or does it just kind of happen that you're writing all the time? Last lines are also hard.
Yes, end those journeys!
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---14. Do you always know the end of a story when you start it? If not, when's the last possible point you must decide the ending?
I almost always know the end a story when I start it. It's not always set in stone, but at least I have a sense of it or several possibilities that could all work. I guess the last possible point to decide would be the last chapter, but I've pretty much always made up by mind by the halfway point of the story. I can't remember a time when I've drastically changed the ending at the last minute.
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Deciding on an end for a story at the last chapter sounds stressful! How do you properly build up to it?
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---15. Do your stories always have an ending or do you leave them open-ended just in case?
I've written short stories that were intentionally left open-ended, and I have at least one or two very old novels that I left open to a possible sequel. One of them was the one I wrote at a reader's suggestion and hated, so I ran out of steam and hastily wrapped it up before the ending I had originally planned and said I would save the rest for a sequel, which I never wrote LOL. Nowadays I try to give my novels a satisfying (but not necessarily always happy) ending and don't do sequels, except for my silly pandaskunk saga.
16. What types of endings leave you feeling most satisfied with your story? (Interpret that as you will.)
Of course I love happy endings where everything works out, but I'm also a fan of bittersweet ending, which are sad but still leave the characters and readers with a sense of closure.
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I think that's the best personal experience to remind people to not write stories other people requested. Would you be opposed to a sequel if you ever had an idea for a story that did seem like it had more story than the current arc your were working on? Or do you try to avoid those ideas?
The character for sure need closure whether it's happy or not.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 06:29:53 PM ---17. Do you ever leave noodle incidents in your story without a resolution for fun?
I had to look up what a noodle incident was. (Here it is, in case anyone else wondered: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/NoodleIncident) I'm not sure if this counts, but I used to reference a lot of personal inside jokes in my stories that are never explained. Broken, in particular, is full of them. For example, there's a "Dr. Marvin" who only appears in a couple chapters (98-99), and when Nick meets him, I describe all this random stuff he has in his office, but never explain why:
He was based on an online acquaintance that another online friend of mine and I secretly called "Starvin Marvin" and had all these inside jokes about. Some of these references I can remember the story behind, and others I honestly don't LOL.
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Haha. I like this doctor who never appears again, but has a very detailed introduction to who he might be based on his desk. Excellent!
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 07:09:42 PM ---Or a completely new story, whatever ends up being the most fun! :) Especially if you don't post much during the school year, I would say you're golden to just tinker with whatever. It's once you start posting that you have to commit to something. Or don't! In general, you're pretty good about finishing your stories, so I say don't let the unfinished ones stress you out too much.
I had this tiny idea to post bits and pieces of the backstory of PBox, a prequel if you will, but I don't know that I'm ready to commit to an entire novel of everyone before the events of PBox (especially when our Boys are youngins and Nick in particular is birth to 13)... Even though I think the bits and pieces that I did want to post are interesting. So I'm over here like, if y'all like PBox and find all this interesting, do you care that this is forever an "as the mood strikes" story? What if I get to the end of it all and don't care to finish it? I don't know. :shrug: This was only a slightly related thought to that "committing to posting something" comment.
Yes! It's fun to experiment in short stories. Most of the times I wanted to try something new, I started with a short story because it's easier to get to the end without having to worry about expanding on anything you don't want to. I think there's always something to be said for challenging yourself, but there's nothing wrong with being creative in your niche too. There's a reason "niche" is nice with a little chimney house inside of it. ;)
This a long diatribe, but my point is that even when we're scared, we have two choices. We can work through the fear or not. And even with comfortable things, there's some fear of how it will all go. I posted the first PNecklace chapter on AO3 and no one has read it. haha. So I'm over here like, I see you AO3, you do not like your fantasy stories and/or you Boys dying; noted. Now I can laugh at it, but I know in the past, I would have been really nervous about the whole thing.
Whatever you decide to go with, it's going to be great. :)
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Thanks! That's what I'm thinking too, that I've got time to just tinker for now until I settle into something. This happens to me almost every time I finish a story. Last year I lucked out because I ended up working on Heroic Measures and Bethlehem simultaneously, so when I finished one, it was easy to go right back to the other. That may be what happens with My Brother's Keeper and Fallen Angel until I figure out which one I'm ready to commit to.
I think it's okay to have a "when the mood strikes" story too, especially if you make that clear from the beginning.
As for AO3, you should try including some kinky tags in PNecklace. If you sort the BSB stories in order of hits, that's what gets the clicks over there. LOL
I agree with what you said about having two choices. I've found that the stories that scare or intimidate me usually turn out the best once I work through that fear.
A question for everyone: What story or chapter were you most nervous about posting?
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