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[nicksgal]

OMG, some of these tags on AO3! "Character Development." Does this need to be a tag? I hope there's character development in a story.

I also see a Bowie (nice to see a broader range of main characters) and a Nick/self insert. Did I start an AO3 trend on Nick/Original Female Characters again? Because, yay?

[RokofAges75]

I have admitted that I've only truly cared about three of my individual writing projects!  Truthfully, I was probably just waiting for inspiration to stick in order to finish the juggernaut that is PBox et al; it just happened to be a decade after I wrote the first one. What I envy is your consistency and your commitment to working on only one project, then still being inspired enough to go back to the other ideas you had while working on that project. It was harder back in the day than it is now. I have a few ideas (as you know), but it's still a little difficult to commit to sitting them down and telling them it's not their turn yet. Or it would be, except PNecklace is being driven by plucky Nick and he's shouting "IT'S MY TURN, GET OUT OF THE WAY!" haha.

That's awesome that your inspiration came back after that long though!  That's what I keep hoping will happen for the unfinished stories I haven't even attempted to work on in years... heh, we'll see.

I have a better track record for finishing stories when I just focus on one at a time.  If I jumped on every idea I had and started writing it right away, I would have lots of beginnings and not many endings.  So instead, I write down the idea, maybe even do some research and outlining, and save it for when the time is right.  I figure if it's meant to be written, I'll get around to writing it someday.  And if it's not, it's probably because I came up with something better.

Well, I'm glad you didn't because that's when we became friends! 

How is it compartmentali zing your social media? I feel like it's easier to be more anonymous on twitter than instagram. Everything I have, I'm just me.

Very true!

It's definitely easier to be more anonymous on Twitter than Instagram because you don't have to have a picture for every post.  I am not a picture person, so I don't like that about Instagram.  I am pretty private in general, which is the main reason I compartmentali ze and show different parts of myself on different social media platforms.  I don't want my real life friends, coworkers, or students finding my site or stories, so it's easier to use one platform to talk about that stuff and a different platform for personal or professional stuff.  I could have just created multiple accounts, but I'm not big on having to switch back and forth.  I'd be paranoid I would accidentally post from the wrong account LOL.

I even started trying to write them down as OF when it didn't seem like BSB fanfic was the right avenue. And even those didn't stick! That's part of why I started writing Beta Sigma Beta; I thought, maybe if I step out of me for all this and tell college from Nick's POV, I'll actually be able to unjumble it. Who knows, maybe I would have. 

I still love the name of that story (Beta Sigma Beta)!  Do you think it would be harder now that you're further removed from college to go back to writing about that experience?

I know you said you weren't going to write another cancer story. Is having experienced it a little more personally part of the reason? I think that "things could always be worse" is what drives enjoyment of media. We're over here like, "Yeah, my only friend right now is my dog, but at least I'm not dying and eating my friend's heart!"

Honestly, no, I don't think the personal experience has anything to do with me not wanting to write another cancer story.  It's more that I've already written two of them (technically three if you count the Brian one I wrote way back in the day, which was terrible) with different takes on it, and I don't think I could do it any better than I've already done.  Never say never though.

Does anyone else have any storylines that they're like, "Okay, that ship has sailed.  I won't be writing anything like that again"?

[RokofAges75]

OMG, some of these tags on AO3! "Character Development." Does this need to be a tag? I hope there's character development in a story.

I also see a Bowie (nice to see a broader range of main characters) and a Nick/self insert. Did I start an AO3 trend on Nick/Original Female Characters again? Because, yay?

LOL I would hope, but I'm not sure how much character development exists in those stories whose tags are nothing but different sexual acts.  But to each their own.  No one watches porn for the character development either.

Sometimes I wonder if authors on AO3 just try to use as many tags as possible to get more views.  That includes tagging other fandoms too.  Crossovers are fine if they're legit, but I question the ones that have like 10+ different fandoms tagged.  I guess technically if we posted 00Carter there, we could tag every boyband that has a member in FANS, but to me that doesn't really count.  No Westlife fan is going to read 00Carter because two of its members appear in like one scene, where they are promptly killed off.

[nicksgal]

That's awesome that your inspiration came back after that long though!  That's what I keep hoping will happen for the unfinished stories I haven't even attempted to work on in years... heh, we'll see.

I have a better track record for finishing stories when I just focus on one at a time.  If I jumped on every idea I had and started writing it right away, I would have lots of beginnings and not many endings.  So instead, I write down the idea, maybe even do some research and outlining, and save it for when the time is right.  I figure if it's meant to be written, I'll get around to writing it someday.  And if it's not, it's probably because I came up with something better.

Even though I hoped, I'm still a little baffled by it to be honest. However, I will take it! I'll keep sending some your way.

Oh, but beginnings are the most fun! Everyone loves a good beginning! How often do you get other ideas while you're in the middle of something? I know you have several stories in various stages of planning.

It's definitely easier to be more anonymous on Twitter than Instagram because you don't have to have a picture for every post.  I am not a picture person, so I don't like that about Instagram.  I am pretty private in general, which is the main reason I compartmentali ze and show different parts of myself on different social media platforms.  I don't want my real life friends, coworkers, or students finding my site or stories, so it's easier to use one platform to talk about that stuff and a different platform for personal or professional stuff.  I could have just created multiple accounts, but I'm not big on having to switch back and forth.  I'd be paranoid I would accidentally post from the wrong account LOL.

It's also easier to disappear from instagram. No pictures, not posting, ha. I would worry so much about posting the wrong thing on the wrong account. What a nightmare to talk about silly fanfic jokes on the wrong account! Everyone in your personal life would think, "So this is what she does on the internet... Huh..."

I still love the name of that story (Beta Sigma Beta)!  Do you think it would be harder now that you're further removed from college to go back to writing about that experience?

It was all very serendipitous. I don't know; I have a pretty vivid memory about life at the time, but I think it would lack the earnestness of "being nineteen/twenty/twenty-one" that it had then. I guess, like you, I'm not willing to discount anything, but I have a sneaking suspicion that what's there is it. Rereading it didn't give me the "aww, I miss this" feeling that Gobosei does. Although, you know I love a good nostalgic Backstreet fic and a good AU... so those are points in its favor. I think I end up talking about it more often just because it was the last thing I was doing before my hiatus, other than collaborations .

Honestly, no, I don't think the personal experience has anything to do with me not wanting to write another cancer story.  It's more that I've already written two of them (technically three if you count the Brian one I wrote way back in the day, which was terrible) with different takes on it, and I don't think I could do it any better than I've already done.  Never say never though.

Does anyone else have any storylines that they're like, "Okay, that ship has sailed.  I won't be writing anything like that again"?

But writing the Brian one helped you perfect the other two! Anything besides cancer stories where you don't think you could do it better than you already have? You said that about your Nowie story too, right?

Uhhhh... I mean not in the more positive way that you do. More in the "These things are unfinished for a reason" stance.

[nicksgal]

LOL I would hope, but I'm not sure how much character development exists in those stories whose tags are nothing but different sexual acts.  But to each their own.  No one watches porn for the character development either.

Sometimes I wonder if authors on AO3 just try to use as many tags as possible to get more views.  That includes tagging other fandoms too.  Crossovers are fine if they're legit, but I question the ones that have like 10+ different fandoms tagged.  I guess technically if we posted 00Carter there, we could tag every boyband that has a member in FANS, but to me that doesn't really count.  No Westlife fan is going to read 00Carter because two of its members appear in like one scene, where they are promptly killed off.

Haha, you're right. Let me go tag PBox as "Character Development," just in case the fifty chapters and 180,000 words didn't tip anyone off.

I would be impressed if people had those huge crossovers and they were legitimately balanced between all the fandoms. I'm always curious, especially when the summaries don't list any of the Boys specifically. That's why I was fine tagging PBox as a BSB and NSYNC story here on AC, obviously they're both in it. But at a place where an NSYNC fan could read it and say, "OMG, this BSB fanfic writer has made my fandom her villains and they are horrible and OOC!" Why would I do that? I think 00Carter is the same way.

[RokofAges75]

Even though I hoped, I'm still a little baffled by it to be honest. However, I will take it! I'll keep sending some your way.

Oh, but beginnings are the most fun! Everyone loves a good beginning! How often do you get other ideas while you're in the middle of something? I know you have several stories in various stages of planning.

Thanks!  I am pleasantly surprised by how inspired I am for My Brother's Keeper all of a sudden, after not working on it at all for three years.  I always felt this was a story I would come back to at some point, but I didn't think it would be right after Bethlehem.  Maybe someday that will happen for one of the others.

I really don't get ideas all that often.  That's another reason why I'll end up writing one I've had in the works for years, because it's the best thing I've got LOL.  I think I've added four new files to my folder of future story ideas in the past year, which is pretty good for me.  Most of those will probably never get written, but there are a couple that seem like they could be contenders at some point down the road.

But writing the Brian one helped you perfect the other two! Anything besides cancer stories where you don't think you could do it better than you already have? You said that about your Nowie story too, right?

I wouldn't rule out writing another slash if I came up with a completely different storyline with a different couple.  I would probably do Frick/Frack before I did another Nowie one, just to add a different dynamic.

As far as medical drama goes, I don't see myself writing any more stories involving heart transplants or HIV either.  Bus crashes are probably out too.  Those are all topics I wrote about (not very well) as a teenybopper and have revisited in more recent years.  Eventually I will run out of maladies I haven't used and be forced to write that herpes story LOL.

[RokofAges75]

Some questions for everyone, inspired by last night's discussion:

Have you ever come back to a story you took a really long break from writing?  If so, how long was that break, and did you end up finishing the story?  What made you stop writing it in the first place, and what made you come back to it?

What's the longest you've worked on a story that was eventually finished?

[nicksgal]

Thanks!  I am pleasantly surprised by how inspired I am for My Brother's Keeper all of a sudden, after not working on it at all for three years.  I always felt this was a story I would come back to at some point, but I didn't think it would be right after Bethlehem.  Maybe someday that will happen for one of the others.

I really don't get ideas all that often.  That's another reason why I'll end up writing one I've had in the works for years, because it's the best thing I've got LOL.  I think I've added four new files to my folder of future story ideas in the past year, which is pretty good for me.  Most of those will probably never get written, but there are a couple that seem like they could be contenders at some point down the road.

That would be so nice if you could go back to everything you let sit! Is My Brother's Keeper similar to Bethlehem or really different? I wonder why now seemed like the right time.

Four is a lot for one year! One for every season. I'd love to have that many contenders in my arsenal.

I wouldn't rule out writing another slash if I came up with a completely different storyline with a different couple.  I would probably do Frick/Frack before I did another Nowie one, just to add a different dynamic.

As far as medical drama goes, I don't see myself writing any more stories involving heart transplants or HIV either.  Bus crashes are probably out too.  Those are all topics I wrote about (not very well) as a teenybopper and have revisited in more recent years.  Eventually I will run out of maladies I haven't used and be forced to write that herpes story LOL.

Just promise me you'll think long and hard before you try coming up with a country cousins one, haha.

Bus crashes! Aw. Everyone loves a good bus crash. Do you keep a running list of maladies so you know what's still available? haha. I'd say you've had a pretty good run if you've written about everything except herpes.

[nicksgal]

Have you ever come back to a story you took a really long break from writing?  If so, how long was that break, and did you end up finishing the story?  What made you stop writing it in the first place, and what made you come back to it?

Does the whole of PBox et al. count? PNecklace is technically a new story as a novel, but part of that longer story. If it counts, then twelve years total, with some tiny notes in 2013 and some pieces of writing in 2015, but never enough to post or call a complete chapter. I'll let you all know if I ever finish the whole thing, but it's looking good. Probably exhaustion from writing an epic and an annoyingly persistent and loud character. I guess PNecklace with those bits from 2015 would be a five year break.

Otherwise, ask me about Gobosei eventually? That's probably the only other one that would qualify. But again, never say never about anything else.

What's the longest you've worked on a story that was eventually finished?

I started writing PBox in the fall of 2005 (right around Thanksgiving Break seems right... November 25th or so sticks out in my mind as a PBox date) and finished it in early Spring of 2008 (right around March 28th or so seems right... though I think I held on to the last chapter for a week before posting). So about two and half years.

Other than those little bits in 2013 and 2015, being about halfway done with PNecklace in about five to six months seems like lightning speed more befitting teenybopper Dee. Unless you're counting those five years between the first written words of PNecklace and now... Let's not and pretend that this is lightning speed, haha.

[RokofAges75]

That would be so nice if you could go back to everything you let sit! Is My Brother's Keeper similar to Bethlehem or really different? I wonder why now seemed like the right time.

Yeah, I wish!  It is similar in one way, which is the reason I thought I would wait awhile on it, but mostly different.  Sorry for that vague answer LOL; you'll see what I mean if you read it when I'm ready to post it.  I've been thinking it would be my next project for three years, and it kept getting pushed to the side for other stories, so maybe it's finally time.

Four is a lot for one year! One for every season. I'd love to have that many contenders in my arsenal.

That is actually comforting to hear.  It seems like some writers get story ideas all the time, but that has never been the norm for me either.  But I guess that's okay because the more ideas I have, the more WADD I have to deal with as I try to decide which one to tackle first.  It's easier if I have limited options LOL.

What I've found myself doing more often lately is combining ideas into one.  Bethlehem was one of those; I had been wanting to write a survival story and an A-Rok story, but didn't have a solid enough idea for either, so when I came up with the idea of the Boys quarantining in a cabin to work on the Christmas album, I ended up combining those ideas and making them work with that premise.

Just promise me you'll think long and hard before you try coming up with a country cousins one, haha.

Bus crashes! Aw. Everyone loves a good bus crash. Do you keep a running list of maladies so you know what's still available? haha. I'd say you've had a pretty good run if you've written about everything except herpes.

LMAO!  I don't like to use the word "never" because when I say I'll never write something, I usually end up writing it eventually... but I'm 99.99999% sure I won't ever write a Kentucky cousincest story LOL.

I love bus crashes!  But that was the premise of the ER crossover I finished last year, so I probably won't be writing another one of those.

LOL I should keep a running list so I don't run out of ideas and have to resort to herpes.

[RokofAges75]

Have you ever come back to a story you took a really long break from writing?  If so, how long was that break, and did you end up finishing the story?  What made you stop writing it in the first place, and what made you come back to it?

Does the whole of PBox et al. count? PNecklace is technically a new story as a novel, but part of that longer story. If it counts, then twelve years total, with some tiny notes in 2013 and some pieces of writing in 2015, but never enough to post or call a complete chapter. I'll let you all know if I ever finish the whole thing, but it's looking good. Probably exhaustion from writing an epic and an annoyingly persistent and loud character. I guess PNecklace with those bits from 2015 would be a five year break.

Otherwise, ask me about Gobosei eventually? That's probably the only other one that would qualify. But again, never say never about anything else.

Sure, it counts!  I feel the same way about Broken and BMS - two separate novels, but really one long story, so I tend to lump them together too.  Twelve years is impressive!!  I'm glad you're feeling good about your odds of finishing it.  What an amazing accomplishment that will be!

What's the longest you've worked on a story that was eventually finished?

I started writing PBox in the fall of 2005 (right around Thanksgiving Break seems right... November 25th or so sticks out in my mind as a PBox date) and finished it in early Spring of 2008 (right around March 28th or so seems right... though I think I held on to the last chapter for a week before posting). So about two and half years.

Other than those little bits in 2013 and 2015, being about halfway done with PNecklace in about five to six months seems like lightning speed more befitting teenybopper Dee. Unless you're counting those five years between the first written words of PNecklace and now... Let's not and pretend that this is lightning speed, haha.

That is pretty fast for an epic story!  I probably wouldn't count those five years either.  Count the time when you were actually working on it consistently.

[nicksgal]

Yeah, I wish!  It is similar in one way, which is the reason I thought I would wait awhile on it, but mostly different.  Sorry for that vague answer LOL; you'll see what I mean if you read it when I'm ready to post it.  I've been thinking it would be my next project for three years, and it kept getting pushed to the side for other stories, so maybe it's finally time.

I love vague answers, they're the best! I'm glad it finally decided it was tired of being pushed to the side because it sounds like you're pretty excited about it.

That is actually comforting to hear.  It seems like some writers get story ideas all the time, but that has never been the norm for me either.  But I guess that's okay because the more ideas I have, the more WADD I have to deal with as I try to decide which one to tackle first.  It's easier if I have limited options LOL.

What I've found myself doing more often lately is combining ideas into one.  Bethlehem was one of those; I had been wanting to write a survival story and an A-Rok story, but didn't have a solid enough idea for either, so when I came up with the idea of the Boys quarantining in a cabin to work on the Christmas album, I ended up combining those ideas and making them work with that premise.

I call 2006 my year of trying to start a bunch of different things and none of those worked well. I think the times I've actually focused on something is when I committed to the one thing, no matter how long it took. Looking back, that's really what I did with PBox and said "everything else is on hold until this is done." I should have known better and just said, "Yo, just PBox," haha. It's part of why I've tried not to focus on anything else that's popped up unless it felt like it would be a quick, short, and finite thing, like the holiday story or death by snail. But hopefully I'll still feel inspired on the others after everything is said and done! I'm a little worried about the WADD, since there's probably three things I could work on after finishing PNecklace. We'll see how I'm feeling at that time.

I think combining ideas is a great way to find inspiration for all of them, especially if there's not a strong novel-length idea for the plot of any of them yet. I thought Bethlehem was a beautiful combination of A-Rok bromance, survival, and Christmas in quarantine! I hope some of your other ideas can combine in such a serendipidous way as well.

LMAO!  I don't like to use the word "never" because when I say I'll never write something, I usually end up writing it eventually... but I'm 99.99999% sure I won't ever write a Kentucky cousincest story LOL.

I love bus crashes!  But that was the premise of the ER crossover I finished last year, so I probably won't be writing another one of those.

LOL I should keep a running list so I don't run out of ideas and have to resort to herpes.

That's why I didn't tell you to not write it, I said think long and hard, haha. Also, "won't ever" is very different from "never."

Aw, I know, but bus crashes are just so iconic. I would read 1,000 of them if they were still being written.

Add it to your ideas folder! Maybe a google sheet would be best, then you could list the stories and years you wrote any of them.

[nicksgal]

Sure, it counts!  I feel the same way about Broken and BMS - two separate novels, but really one long story, so I tend to lump them together too.  Twelve years is impressive!!  I'm glad you're feeling good about your odds of finishing it.  What an amazing accomplishment that will be!


That is pretty fast for an epic story!  I probably wouldn't count those five years either.  Count the time when you were actually working on it consistently.

Thanks, me too. I don't know if it's the speed or what, but in general it seems pretty good. I'd feel really excited to finish my magnum opus finally. I think this past week was the only time I felt frustrated between that sixteen days to write chapter and three days to edit chapter. I was a bit of a wreck! haha But in the grand scheme of things, sixteen days isn't even that long. And maybe that 16 days had more to do with the month long break than anything else, but then I wrote that other chapter in two days like normal, so who knows.

And great, if you agree that I shouldn't count those five years, then I won't.

[RokofAges75]

Have you ever come back to a story you took a really long break from writing?  If so, how long was that break, and did you end up finishing the story?  What made you stop writing it in the first place, and what made you come back to it?

I think the longest break I've ever taken on a story that I eventually went on to finish was 4-5 years.  That was with Heroic Measures, my ER crossover.  I can't remember when exactly I started writing it; it was sometime in 2012 or 2013.  I know I had the idea and an outline going in early 2012 because I posted about it here.  I wrote the first two chapters really fast, started Chapter 3, and then didn't write any more of it until the summer of 2017, when I finally finished the third chapter.  I wrote Chapter 4 a year later, and then finally got into a groove with it and wrote the rest last spring and summer.  It was always more of a side project, which is why I didn't even bother to start posting it until last summer, but still, it's crazy that a ten-chapter story took me 7-8 years to write, especially one that was so in my wheelhouse.

The chapter that gave me the most trouble was the most action-packed one in the whole story, a Frick & Frack one where Nick got to be a hero, so again, not sure why it took me so long.  I actually think what derailed me every time I tried to work on it was that I would inevitably start watching ER for "inspiration" and get sucked into an ER marathon instead of writing.

I always knew I would come back to it and finish it eventually because BSB + ER = the perfect story for me.  It was just a matter of when.  The pandemic hit at the perfect time when I wasn't in the middle of another novel, so I was finally able to focus on this one and get into a groove with it.  It was actually a lot harder to write than I thought it would be - kudos to the ER writers, who always made it seem so easy to seamlessly blend the medical stuff into the action of an appropriately-paced scene.


What's the longest you've worked on a story that was eventually finished?

If it's not Heroic Measures, it would be Song for the Undead, which took 7 years to finish.  In terms of actual time spent consistently writing, it would definitely be Undead.

[nicksgal]

It was always more of a side project, which is why I didn't even bother to start posting it until last summer, but still, it's crazy that a ten-chapter story took me 7-8 years to write, especially one that was so in my wheelhouse.

The chapter that gave me the most trouble was the most action-packed one in the whole story, a Frick & Frack one where Nick got to be a hero, so again, not sure why it took me so long.  I actually think what derailed me every time I tried to work on it was that I would inevitably start watching ER for "inspiration" and get sucked into an ER marathon instead of writing.

I always knew I would come back to it and finish it eventually because BSB + ER = the perfect story for me.  It was just a matter of when.  The pandemic hit at the perfect time when I wasn't in the middle of another novel, so I was finally able to focus on this one and get into a groove with it.  It was actually a lot harder to write than I thought it would be - kudos to the ER writers, who always made it seem so easy to seamlessly blend the medical stuff into the action of an appropriately-paced scene.

I didn't realize it was only 10 chapters! That's an action packed crossover! I can see why it would be hard to get into the groove because it doesn't seem like a story that would have a lot of rising action and falling action, just catalyst fast-paced action then end. It's not like real life medical dramas are a lot of waiting around in the fast-paced hospital part, you know?

How many ER marathons did you let yourself get sucked into?

I'm guessing you mean the writers of the actual show, but do you think ER fanfic writers have that same skillset to seamlessly blend the medical stuff into appropriately paced action scenes?