Fic Talk > General Discussion
2 Writing 2 Thread
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 30, 2021, 05:57:43 PM ---now I remember why I misquoted you re:romance, my fanfic memory is a bit hazy after all these years away and I think I was conflating my memories of the Nick/Claire romantic aspects with the rest of your body of work at the time).
--- End quote ---
That makes sense. Nick/Claire was probably all I talked about here in terms of my own fanfic for the first couple years this forum was around because Broken/BMS was basically all I wrote between 2003 and 2008. Het romance was a lot more popular then, so there were a lot of us on here writing Nick romances at that time. I've never thought of myself as a romance writer, per se, because that's never been my main genre, but I've written a lot of "medical drama with a hint of romance."
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 30, 2021, 05:57:43 PM ---Do you often find you project your stronger characteristic s onto your characters or do you tend to give them characteristic s you wish you had?
--- End quote ---
Probably a bit of both, but for the characters who are meant to be love interests, I definitely give them more characteristic s I wish I had to make them more appealing to whichever boy I want to be interested in them. They're prettier, wittier, etc. (But hopefully not to the extent of being Mary Sues.)
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 30, 2021, 05:57:43 PM ---I know they're cheesy, but fun. If you had a good time thinking and laughing about it, then I accomplished my goal!
--- End quote ---
Haha, I think the word "cheesy" showed up in place of the emoji you used when I copy/pasted your questions. I did not type that!
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 30, 2021, 07:32:36 PM ---[For fanfic, since I know I fall into this trap, I try to be less picky and more general. So I usually have two requirements, followed by a third if it doesn't take too long: 1. Do I like the name? 2. Will I get sick of seeing it however many times it appears on the page? Option 3. Can I stumble on a name I like that also fits into the character or something that happens to them? That's how you get things like "Renee."
--- End quote ---
I like the name Renee! Those seem like good questions to ask yourself when considering a name. Although sometimes (as in the case of Claire), I use names that I don't personally like, but like for the character. But like I said, you use a name enough and it grows on you.
Can anyone remember alternate names they considered for original characters? I know I had a list of other options for Claire, and the other one I was strongly considering was "Keelie." Which seems so weird to me now because Keelie seems like a totally different girl than Claire. Keelie is like a cute, ditzy cheerleader kind of name, and Claire couldn't be further from that description. I don't remember if I realized that and liked the juxtaposition or just liked the name Keelie, but ugh. I'm glad I went with Claire LOL.
--- Quote from: nicksgal on January 30, 2021, 07:32:36 PM ---I think I would add that even though you want your hero to seem heroic, in addition to that relatability and vulnerability, they really need some great flaws that they can learn to overcome, manage, or that can really knock them down.
To me, any Nick is always defined by his loyalty and his "get back up"ness. I also tend to make my Nick's pretty hot-headed and reactive instead of proactive. I think a young Nick is almost too trusting and an older Nick is bit "world weary." Put them all together and... well, there's a reason he's the hero of so many BSB fanfics.
--- End quote ---
I agree. Nick is lovably flawed. He makes for a versatile character because he's shown us so many sides of himself over the years, which makes him easy to write. He has a more interesting back story than the others because of his dysfunctional family and personal demons, so the drama comes easily.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 30, 2021, 08:48:48 PM ---I would not take the money. I don't need the added stress of having to watch out for Terminator snails. I love that you went down a rabbit hole researching the intelligence of snails though LOL.
--- End quote ---
Exactly! You get it. I think all of them are silly for taking the money because it would be so stressful.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 30, 2021, 09:02:09 PM ---That makes sense. Nick/Claire was probably all I talked about here in terms of my own fanfic for the first couple years this forum was around because Broken/BMS was basically all I wrote between 2003 and 2008. Het romance was a lot more popular then, so there were a lot of us on here writing Nick romances at that time. I've never thought of myself as a romance writer, per se, because that's never been my main genre, but I've written a lot of "medical drama with a hint of romance."
--- End quote ---
I think every story in that time was "x with a hint of romance," maybe we just all thought Nick needed another good person in his life besides the Boys. I stumbled on a post called "Dee wants to write a fluffy romance, halp" and I thought about that and went "I was surprised I wanted to write a fluffy romance?" Did I really think fluffy romances were out of my wheelhouse? Because PBox has the fluffiest little romance ever in it. Whatever that other story is obviously never got very far! Maybe because in general I'm not a huge fan of stories where the main plot is only a romance. Take Les Mis, my very favorite book. Sure Marius and Cosette have kind of a fluffy little romance going on, but there's also that whole June Rebellion thing and Valjean's conflicted terminator snail that is Javert. Also, on the "all I wrote" thing: if y'all were not excited about PBox coming back, then you must be "thrilled" that it's still all I have to talk about a decade later, haha.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 30, 2021, 09:02:09 PM ---Probably a bit of both, but for the characters who are meant to be love interests, I definitely give them more characteristic s I wish I had to make them more appealing to whichever boy I want to be interested in them. They're prettier, wittier, etc. (But hopefully not to the extent of being Mary Sues.)
--- End quote ---
I think there's a difference between prettier/wittier/etcetera and prettiest/wittiest/etcetera. That's the Mary Sue line. I always like to think of Hitch with love interests/characteristics like that. I can't remember the movie star character's name off hand (Allegra? I know it was weird) but all the things she said she liked most about Albert were the things Hitch said to absolutely change. But then if you go too quirky, you might end up in "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" territory, which is also bad in its own way for a story.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 30, 2021, 09:02:09 PM ---Haha, I think the word "cheesy" showed up in place of the emoji you used when I copy/pasted your questions. I did not type that!
--- End quote ---
HAHA, well now it's even funnier.
nicksgal:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 30, 2021, 09:16:31 PM ---I like the name Renee! Those seem like good questions to ask yourself when considering a name. Although sometimes (as in the case of Claire), I use names that I don't personally like, but like for the character. But like I said, you use a name enough and it grows on you.
Can anyone remember alternate names they considered for original characters? I know I had a list of other options for Claire, and the other one I was strongly considering was "Keelie." Which seems so weird to me now because Keelie seems like a totally different girl than Claire. Keelie is like a cute, ditzy cheerleader kind of name, and Claire couldn't be further from that description. I don't remember if I realized that and liked the juxtaposition or just liked the name Keelie, but ugh. I'm glad I went with Claire LOL.
--- End quote ---
If it doesn't grow on you, you're doomed! I like the name Keelie too! And I have used it for a cute, ditzy cheerleader type. I do sometimes like to give characters subversive names, but it really depends on the character.
I'm pretty sure I almost named Minako "Aya" instead, again for another character I really liked. I looked it up now and saw some of the meanings in various languages. I'm assuming I actively decided not to name my fluffy love interest "amazing and wonderful" to avoid Mary Sueism.
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on January 30, 2021, 09:16:31 PM ---I agree. Nick is lovably flawed. He makes for a versatile character because he's shown us so many sides of himself over the years, which makes him easy to write. He has a more interesting back story than the others because of his dysfunctional family and personal demons, so the drama comes easily.
--- End quote ---
Poor Nick, drama constantly follows him, but I always root for him (whether that's fanfic or real life)!
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version