Fic Talk > General Discussion
2 Writing 2 Thread
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 10:24:06 PM ---Ann M. Martin, I loved you... but I always skimmed that chapter for that reason. I had the entire series as a child, then donated most of it to a book drive my middle school did because I wanted other kids to enjoy the BSC like I had. I kept two books she signed when I met her, so... hopefully they had the money to buy those two books, sorry!
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That's so cool that you got to meet her! I still have all my BSC books. I used to have them all in my classroom, but none of the kids wanted to read them, so I boxed up all but the first five and took them home. I keep trying to get girls who have read the new graphic novel versions to try the originals, but they say they can't get into them. Kids today! I realize they are very 80s, so they probably seem too outdated.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 10:24:06 PM ---I think we've discussed this before, since I'm the opposite. I will always lean in favor of characters over plot, but I don't know that I ever start by thinking something like "I want to write a story about Howie. Now... what does Howie do?" It's more, here's an idea with a place to start and a possible ending. What they do in the middle... That's on them!
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LOL I have done the "I want to write a story about [insert Backstreet Boy here]. Now... what does he do?" thing before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I got a nice little short story out of going, "I wanna write a Howie/Brian story... because no one ever writes about the two of them together." (I'm not talking about slash though.) Of all the Boys, Howie and Brian are the two that don't seem to have a special bond with each other within the group, at least not that they have really shown us. So I thought about what a story about Howie and Brian would entail and decided it would have to center around Nick because, to me, that is the common denominator - they both have/had a close friendship with Nick. So I wrote a little story about Howie and Brian bonding over something bad happening to Nick.
So with PBox, do you remember what your original idea was? My ideas tend to come about like, "I want to write a survival story," or "Maybe the Boys quarantine together in some remote location to work on the Christmas album, and something bad happens." What does that sound like for a character-driven idea?
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 10:24:06 PM ---I didn't know that! How long did you hold on to BMS after you finished Broken? Were you still posting Broken when you started writing BMS or was it already complete?
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I actually forgot I did that until I was looking back at my old site updates while blogging about BMS for my site's anniversary last year. I started BMS in March 2004, right after finishing Broken, but didn't start posting it on my site until April 2005, when I was already 50+ chapters in. Before that, I was only sharing chapters on a Yahoo Group I had created for Broken readers who really wanted to read it in its early stages. Obviously once I was that far into it, I knew I was good to go, but I was really worried about it in the beginning.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 10:23:49 PM ---LOL I know you don't write that kind of kink. I'm just saying if you add tags like "Cousin Incest," "Anal Fingering," and "Cock Slapping," whether the story actually includes that stuff or not, people will apparently click on it. Check out the tags on this one, the most clicked on BSB story on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21715126/chapters/51797743 ???
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OMG! ??? How many people are actually reading it and how many are clicking on it just for the tags?!?! I was not about to read any of that, but I just had to see what these tags were and I can't imagine it doesn't have other clicks for that reason too. Also, I like to leave cousin incest out of my stories, because Kevin and Brian may be from Kentucky, but they both deserve a non-incestuous relationship.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 10:23:49 PM ---I think that's a good way to lure people who may not love AU into reading an AU. Start with canon BSB and then switch to AU after you've sucked them in LOL. I love genre-bending twists.
The dark stuff is always what makes me nervous to post too, but I've discovered that most fanfic readers, at least the ones I talk to, like dark stuff. I'm sure there's still the light, fluffy romance lovers, but I don't think they read our stuff LOL. Graphic heart-eating and death for the win!
It is disappointing when you post something you're expecting a reaction for and get no reviews. Hence why you should try the kinky tags, hehe. Just kidding... or am I?
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I also love genre-bending twists! It was my favorite part of the idea. But then I had no ideas for anything and... No more Beta Sigma Beta. :-[
I'm sure there's a list that the fluffy lovers keep that says "The following authors are into some dark things: ..." That way, they know to avoid us. Which is too bad, because I like to offset the dark with a lot of fluffy things, like loving romances and bromances. Thanks for enthusiastical ly supporting my dark choices; I support your dark choices as well.
You're not kidding, but also kinky heart eating could be spoiler? And I don't like to tag my spoilers. Hence "Chose not to add warnings."
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 09:27:52 PM ---A question for everyone: What story or chapter were you most nervous about posting?
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I thought of another one, but I haven't posted it yet... Which is probably why I didn't think of it the first time. There's an upcoming chapter of PNecklace that I'm actually very nervous to post for entirely different reasons than dark or graphic anything (I ultimately decided the part that would have been graphic was too graphic and mentioned, but not in great detail). I guess, for anyone reading PNecklace, you'll know which one it is when you see it. I'm also very excited to post it. I guarantee that you'll know which one it is. So tell me what you think somehow... Smoke signals... Registering for an account here... Snail (but not killer snail) mail... Telepathy... Whatever...
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 10:47:27 PM ---OMG! ??? How many people are actually reading it and how many are clicking on it just for the tags?!?! I was not about to read any of that, but I just had to see what these tags were and I can't imagine it doesn't have other clicks for that reason too. Also, I like to leave cousin incest out of my stories, because Kevin and Brian may be from Kentucky, but they both deserve a non-incestuous relationship.
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LOL! I have not clicked on that one, but I admit, I have clicked on others with some kinky tags (the Baylee gang-bang one comes to mind) just to see if they were for real, and... yep. They were. The Kentucky cousin incest is about as bad as Brian encouraging the other guys to rape his son, but at least Kevin and Brian are consenting adults.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 10:47:27 PM ---I'm sure there's a list that the fluffy lovers keep that says "The following authors are into some dark things: ..." That way, they know to avoid us. Which is too bad, because I like to offset the dark with a lot of fluffy things, like loving romances and bromances. Thanks for enthusiastical ly supporting my dark choices; I support your dark choices as well.
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They're missing out! I like a little fluff and comic relief to offset the darkness too. Thanks!
--- Quote from: nicksgal on February 06, 2021, 10:47:27 PM ---You're not kidding, but also kinky heart eating could be spoiler? And I don't like to tag my spoilers. Hence "Chose not to add warnings."
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Same. I don't know that I've written anything I would call kinky, but the most fetishy thing I've written is not on AO3 yet... and when I do post it there, I will not be including tags that spoil its content, even if it means attracting fewer readers. I hate spoilers.
I wonder if there's a good word for kinky heart eating? Let's see what Google has to say...
Found it: cardiophagy
https://hecatejoannes.tumblr.com/post/137920565268/cardiophagy-aka-cardiophagia-noun-the-practice
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 10:24:49 PM ---I love monsters too, so I took it as a compliment!
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As you should!
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 10:45:44 PM ---That's so cool that you got to meet her! I still have all my BSC books. I used to have them all in my classroom, but none of the kids wanted to read them, so I boxed up all but the first five and took them home. I keep trying to get girls who have read the new graphic novel versions to try the originals, but they say they can't get into them. Kids today! I realize they are very 80s, so they probably seem too outdated.
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I remember that it was awesome, but I do not remember what I asked her or said, haha. Some of the kids in my class read The Boxcar Children and I can't imagine that those books are any less outdated than BSC, but I also don't think there's a new version. So that might be it. There's a new version they relate to better, so why would they read the older version? I also think there are many very well-written graphic novels with excellent stories, so I figure as long as they're enjoying the BSC, it doesn't matter to me if the story is conveyed in only words or a combination of words/pictures. They do miss out on the way feelings and scenery are described, but it's similar to a movie in that respect. You intuit a lot more.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 10:45:44 PM ---LOL I have done the "I want to write a story about [insert Backstreet Boy here]. Now... what does he do?" thing before. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. I got a nice little short story out of going, "I wanna write a Howie/Brian story... because no one ever writes about the two of them together." (I'm not talking about slash though.) Of all the Boys, Howie and Brian are the two that don't seem to have a special bond with each other within the group, at least not that they have really shown us. So I thought about what a story about Howie and Brian would entail and decided it would have to center around Nick because, to me, that is the common denominator - they both have/had a close friendship with Nick. So I wrote a little story about Howie and Brian bonding over something bad happening to Nick.
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I was glad you had some Brian&Howie (That's how you designate the platonic version in other fandoms, but not sure if we've picked up on it as much over here in BSB; I don't read other fandoms' fanfic, but I've seen it.) in Bethlehem. I think they get overlooked because whatever special bond they may have, they don't show us. Maybe they just tolerate each other in the collective? That would be so sad... :( I think Nick is good common denominator when we're not sure on their personal specifics.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 10:45:44 PM ---So with PBox, do you remember what your original idea was? My ideas tend to come about like, "I want to write a survival story," or "Maybe the Boys quarantine together in some remote location to work on the Christmas album, and something bad happens." What does that sound like for a character-driven idea?
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But of course! Please see below:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 06, 2021, 11:45:18 PM ---I think I've mentioned before that PBox began as a weird dream, but I'm not sure who remembers that after this long. There was a demon carrying a girl through the dark and they picked up a box from an altar, but that weird and random demon had Nick's face. And I wonder now if this was more a case of "your brain can't make up faces and you fall asleep staring at the same five faces every day" than "you remembered this weird dream, this is a sign to write this story," but here we are. So I just started thinking and writing. How would this girl end up with these demons? Why was there a box? If Nick is a demon, then the other Boys should be demons, but why are the Boys demons? What are demons like? I planned out the first few and then puzzled through the last question as I wrote. I hadn't figured out what I was doing exactly by the time Nick was introduced (two chapters in, oh noes), but I had decided that if he was found in hiding, then maybe he didn't know his powers.
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I've said before that I'm a questioner more than an outliner, so "Why was there a box?" became closely tied to the question "Why do the demons want the box?" And they had their collective reasoning, but PBox et al. spans the big question of "what defines us/me/you?" for all of the characters. I think this is vague enough without being a spoiler... Character motivations is really where I start since they're driving the plot along. After all, Nick has changed endings on me twice so far based on what he ends up doing, so I've just given up on planning too much without his input. I may as well say it. Y'all heard it here first: PNecklace does have a defined end that will close this arc. The whole story does as well, but it's not in PNecklace. Sometimes I hate Nick and his epic story so much (and this is why I've been calling it "PBox et al." when I speak of them collectively).
So our buddy Nick started from "I want the box because it's obvious the thing I don't have is sealed in it: my memories." (And he was kind of right, but not exactly.) And the story happened and his motivation became: "I do not want the box, because I don't actually care about whether or not I have my old memories. I actually want to keep my 'family of choice' and our memories that I've gotten from all of this. But they want the box, so I guess box?" And now we're on to PNecklace where he's like "Well, I guess I need my memories after all to help solve this next problem... So, yay? But I can't let them define me, I still want my 'family of choice' and our memories instead." And where he ends up at the end... Well... You'll see. ;) It's all fun. He's very busy trucking the plot along with his plucky gumption.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 10:45:44 PM ---I actually forgot I did that until I was looking back at my old site updates while blogging about BMS for my site's anniversary last year. I started BMS in March 2004, right after finishing Broken, but didn't start posting it on my site until April 2005, when I was already 50+ chapters in. Before that, I was only sharing chapters on a Yahoo Group I had created for Broken readers who really wanted to read it in its early stages. Obviously once I was that far into it, I knew I was good to go, but I was really worried about it in the beginning.
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Wow, a whole year! I'm not surprised because I know you had other things going on at the time, but it felt like they were a lot closer together and I don't know why I'm thinking that. Were you posting other things during that time or just BMS on the Yahoo Group? Did you change anything based on comments from your early readers or did it all mostly stay the same?
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 11:06:26 PM ---LOL! I have not clicked on that one, but I admit, I have clicked on others with some kinky tags (the Baylee gang-bang one comes to mind) just to see if they were for real, and... yep. They were. The Kentucky cousin incest is about as bad as Brian encouraging the other guys to rape his son, but at least Kevin and Brian are consenting adults.
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You made me add to the hit count when you haven't?! Now I'm part of the problem! LMAO. I did not click that one, but saw it when it was being updated and said "Yikes!" That's the one thing Kentucky cousin has going for it, both parties are consenting adults. I guess I don't really care what people do in their free time as long as everyone is a consenting adult, even if I don't necessarily like it. However, that doesn't mean I want to read about it, because that's not what I like to do with my free time.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on February 06, 2021, 11:06:26 PM ---They're missing out! I like a little fluff and comic relief to offset the darkness too. Thanks!
Same. I don't know that I've written anything I would call kinky, but the most fetishy thing I've written is not on AO3 yet... and when I do post it there, I will not be including tags that spoil its content, even if it means attracting fewer readers. I hate spoilers.
I wonder if there's a good word for kinky heart eating? Let's see what Google has to say...
Found it: cardiophagy
https://hecatejoannes.tumblr.com/post/137920565268/cardiophagy-aka-cardiophagia-noun-the-practice
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Oh yes, I forgot about comic relief.
I was fine with "graphic violence," as always, because it's just there. I did add it here for PNecklace even though there actually hasn't been anything too bad yet. Just because I want people to know that this isn't a lighter and fluffier continuation of PBox.
I'm not big on spoilers either, but when speaking on PBox I also figure there's gotta be a time limit for considering something a spoiler. Like the Vader is Luke's father thing or Snape kills Dumbledore... Everyone knows those by know or consciously decided they didn't want to consume the media so... I'd never tag a story with spoilers (that fine line between "Death" and "Major Character Death"), but I feel like talking about them 10 years later is an eh for me. Now call me a monster if you vehemently disagree!
I would have guessed something like cardiophagy, because cardiophillia doesn't quite grasp on the eating aspect. Rule 34?
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