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[nicksgal]

I am very disappointed about the Boys cancelling their Christmas shows and postponing the album release, but trying to look on the bright side.  Here are a couple of small writing celebrations I had this week:

1. I thought of a title for my MBK sequel idea, which means it's that much closer to becoming a reality.  We all know I can't start writing a story without a title I like, so I'm at least over that hurdle. 

2. I got a random comment on Return of the Pandaskunk on AO3 today - my first for that story!

Anyone else have anything positive to share?

Hmmm... Writing positives...

Ten chapters away from posting the end of PNecklace. That's pretty exciting.

I've written almost 13,000 words this month so far. But hoping to re-find inspiration on either of the stories I wanted to post after PNecklace was done. Can I do this by Thanksgiving?

I am excited that you got feedback on a Pandaskunk story and found legitimate feedback in your spam folder. That's awesome!

[RokofAges75]

Darn Kevin for being unconscious and unable to narrate! lol Do you think it's more fun or less fun to have more flexibility?

It's definitely more fun to have more flexibility!  A big part of the reason I was stuck on this story for three years prior to this year was because I made Kevin unconscious too early and left too much for Nick to narrate on his own, which upset the balance of the story.  I ended up rewriting some of it when I went back to it at the beginning of this year to fix that and let Kevin be conscious a little longer so he could narrate some more of it himself.  This is why I should just stick to third person LOL.

Hmmm... Writing positives...

Ten chapters away from posting the end of PNecklace. That's pretty exciting.

I've written almost 13,000 words this month so far. But hoping to re-find inspiration on either of the stories I wanted to post after PNecklace was done. Can I do this by Thanksgiving?

Yay!!  You're so close to posting the end!  That's always exciting.  And you're having a productive September!  13,000 words already, and the month's only half over!  I'm enjoying the 00Carter productivity, but I also hope you find some inspiration for some of your other projects.  I'm still waiting for Death by Snail!

I am excited that you got feedback on a Pandaskunk story and found legitimate feedback in your spam folder. That's awesome!

Thanks!  It's the little things LOL.

[nicksgal]

It's definitely more fun to have more flexibility!  A big part of the reason I was stuck on this story for three years prior to this year was because I made Kevin unconscious too early and left too much for Nick to narrate on his own, which upset the balance of the story.  I ended up rewriting some of it when I went back to it at the beginning of this year to fix that and let Kevin be conscious a little longer so he could narrate some more of it himself.  This is why I should just stick to third person LOL.

I think we've learned something today. The only Backstreet Boy we can make unconscious and still have story happen is Nick. The others aren't enough of attention hogs to demand plot while they're unconscious. lol I'm glad you gave Kevin more of the narration power.

You know, after dabbling across the board, I think I like 3rd limited best. You don't have to deal with pesky "I" and you can decide how close you are to the POV character. I like that.

Yay!!  You're so close to posting the end!  That's always exciting.  And you're having a productive September!  13,000 words already, and the month's only half over!  I'm enjoying the 00Carter productivity, but I also hope you find some inspiration for some of your other projects.  I'm still waiting for Death by Snail!

I'm the only recently updated story on AC. It's weird, lol. After the weekend, I'm up to just over 16,000. I'm on a roll. I know; I have a beginning and an end, but the middle is kind of ishy. I should have just started writing it when I first decided it was a story, lol.

[RokofAges75]

I think we've learned something today. The only Backstreet Boy we can make unconscious and still have story happen is Nick. The others aren't enough of attention hogs to demand plot while they're unconscious. lol I'm glad you gave Kevin more of the narration power.

I read this in Kyle's voice from South Park.  "You know, I learned something today..."  LOL

It's true, though.  When Nick is unconscious as the main character of a story, he has coma dreams that keep the plot going until he can be sung back to life via a Code Black & Blue.  When any of the other boys is unconscious, Nick takes over the narration LOL.

I'm not sure Kevin is exactly "enjoying" his turn as my main character, but this story is definitely centered on him.  Even Nick's parts are mostly focused on Kevin LOL.  And if I do end up writing a sequel, I probably will make it just from Kevin's POV and not alternate with Nick's.  Enjoy your time off, Nick!

You know, after dabbling across the board, I think I like 3rd limited best. You don't have to deal with pesky "I" and you can decide how close you are to the POV character. I like that.

Yes, there's more freedom and flexibility with third person.  That was always my preferred POV too, until I wrote Curtain Call in first, which ended my Broken/BMS purple prose phase.  This is the third novel I've written in person person with alternating POVs.  I think that's fun too, but I'm probably better at third person.

I'm the only recently updated story on AC. It's weird, lol. After the weekend, I'm up to just over 16,000. I'm on a roll. I know; I have a beginning and an end, but the middle is kind of ishy. I should have just started writing it when I first decided it was a story, lol.

I know!  I hope Ash gets things fixed so we can update again before your story drops off too.  It would be sad to see no recently updated stories here.

Yay for 16,000 words!  I hate when that happens with short stories, when you have an inspired idea but are in the middle of something else, so you put it off and then never end up writing it.  That has happened to me, too.  I hope you do get around to writing this one someday though!

[nicksgal]

I read this in Kyle's voice from South Park.  "You know, I learned something today..."  LOL

It's true, though.  When Nick is unconscious as the main character of a story, he has coma dreams that keep the plot going until he can be sung back to life via a Code Black & Blue.  When any of the other boys is unconscious, Nick takes over the narration LOL.

I'm not sure Kevin is exactly "enjoying" his turn as my main character, but this story is definitely centered on him.  Even Nick's parts are mostly focused on Kevin LOL.  And if I do end up writing a sequel, I probably will make it just from Kevin's POV and not alternate with Nick's.  Enjoy your time off, Nick!

As intended!

Okay, but what does a Kevin coma dream look like? Maybe this is our problem, we give too much power to Nick and never get to see a Kevin coma dream or have anyone perform a Code Black & Blue for him. He deserves that.

Kevin, enjoy your turn! It finally happened after a couple decades! Relish this! And oh man, what's Nick going to do with his time off? Guess he could go back to exacting revenge on his fans.

Yes, there's more freedom and flexibility with third person.  That was always my preferred POV too, until I wrote Curtain Call in first, which ended my Broken/BMS purple prose phase.  This is the third novel I've written in person person with alternating POVs.  I think that's fun too, but I'm probably better at third person.

That's why I like to limit it. All the fun of being deep in the POV character's opinions. A little more freedom with description. I think I usually go for first person in short works.

I know!  I hope Ash gets things fixed so we can update again before your story drops off too.  It would be sad to see no recently updated stories here.

Yay for 16,000 words!  I hate when that happens with short stories, when you have an inspired idea but are in the middle of something else, so you put it off and then never end up writing it.  That has happened to me, too.  I hope you do get around to writing this one someday though!

Six days left. I believe! I know, I keep checking. I really don't want to be the last one because Wednesday squeaked in.

I'm on a roll with my rewrite. It's been fun.

Same. I just didn't want to derail PNecklace and the PBox editing, but I should have because I think I had a clearer idea about it then and it's just tapered off since. It's there though, patiently waiting.

[FrickingKaos]

I've been working on my new story Breathe. I am almost done with Chapter 4 so it's going good. I just haven't had a lot of time to write lately. It's been so crazy with work and stuff so I was uninspired for a while. It's picking back up so hopefully I'll feel ready to start posting th satory soon!

[RokofAges75]

I'm glad you're getting into a groove with your new story!

[nicksgal]

Glad you're getting into the groove of a new story! Work stress is real! Sending good writing vibes!

[nicksgal]

It's been a while since we've had some writing questions.

Here's some fun ones I've found: What's something Fanfic related you feel you've "aged out of"? (from reddit) Alternatively, what's something fanfic related you feel like you should "age out of" but haven't? Or something you will keep doing as long as you write fanfic even if it's not "the norm" or what have you?

What's the weirdest fact you know because of writing? (also from reddit) I know we've mentioned this a few times, but have we ever fully discussed the weirdest things we know?

[RokofAges75]

It's been a while since we've had some writing questions.

Here's some fun ones I've found: What's something Fanfic related you feel you've "aged out of"? (from reddit) Alternatively, what's something fanfic related you feel like you should "age out of" but haven't? Or something you will keep doing as long as you write fanfic even if it's not "the norm" or what have you?

Those are fun questions!

I may have aged out of writing romance.  While I was never predominantly a romance writer, a lot of my old novels contained romance as a subplot, if not the main storyline.  I've gotten away from that in the past decade, where the only romance I've written has been slash or part of a horror story LOL.  I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the guys are all married now, but it may also have something to do with the fact that I'm older and more cynical than I was as a starry-eyed teenybopper.  However, the sequel idea I have for MBK would involve romance, and I also thought of a premise for a Brian romance that I could use if I ever felt the urge to go there again.  So it's highly possible I will write more romance someday.

Some would probably say I should have aged out of writing fanfic about the Backstreet Boys in the first place LOL, but I'm still going strong.  Within that, I guess I'd say all my disease/injury/hospital stories is something I maybe should have aged out of.  There were definitely a lot more of those around when the majority of the fanbase were teens.  But I still love the medical drama and will continue to write those as long as I continue to have new ideas or fresh takes on old ideas.

What's the weirdest fact you know because of writing? (also from reddit) I know we've mentioned this a few times, but have we ever fully discussed the weirdest things we know?

Male platypuses have venomous spurs on their hind legs that can cause agonizing pain?  I think I may have read that fact before using it for my first 1000 Ways to Kill Nick Carter story, but writing about Nick being stung by a platypus definitely committed it to my memory LOL.

I also know how to behave around different types of bear because of The Road to Bethlehem.  If it's black, fight back.  If it's brown, lie down.  If it's white, say goodnight. LOL.  We don't normally have wild bears roaming around Illinois, so I'd never heard these handy sayings until I started researching bear attacks.  I also never realized how dangerous moose were until I started reading and writing fanfic LOL.  I remember laughing at this old survival story I read back in the day where the Boys were attacked by a moose because it sounded so silly at the time, but then when I was researching dangerous things in New Hampshire, moose were #1 on the list!  (https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-hampshire/things-that-can-kill-you-nh/)

Besides these fun animal facts, the rest would probably be random medical knowledge.  Sometimes I surprise people by using medical terms in conversation, not realizing they're not necessarily words that everyone knows, and they're like, "What does that mean?" and then "How did you know that?"  My answer is always, "I dunno, probably from watching ER?" but some of it is also from researching for fanfics LOL.  I have learned to bite my tongue and play dumb sometimes when people talk about medical ordeals they or their loved ones have been through that I don't have any personal experience with but know all about because of a story so I don't have to explain how I know.  A coworker of mine had a really scary experience a few weeks ago when she witnessed her sister collapse and go into cardiac arrest.  She is okay, thank goodness, and has been implanted with a defibrillator just in case it were to happen again.  I've written a story involving a similar scenario, so when my coworker was describing what happened and explaining how her sister was being treated for it, I knew exactly what she was talking about, but didn't feel like I could share that without having to explain why, which would sound really weird.

I think I asked a question like this a few pages back, but I don't remember anyone answering it.  Has any of the random knowledge you've acquired from fanfic ever come in handy in your real life?

[RokofAges75]

Someone made a Reddit thread asking the same question I had over the summer about how to write a montage: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/qv9m8l/how_should_i_write_a_training_montage/  Answers ranged from "You can't. The montage is a tool for visual media and isn't needed in written work." to actual advice about different ways to summarize and show the passage of time, which is basically what I ended up doing - while listening to an inspiring playlist of 80s movie montage theme songs, including "Eye of the Tiger," of course!  It worked.  I guess it's good to figure things out for yourself, but don't you hate when you struggle with something and then find a resource way after that fact that would made it so much easier?

[mare]

That’s interesting. It’s so funny how different everyone’s writing processes are. I needed complete and total silence to write. I find music yo be way too distracting.

I’m going to try to come up with a brand new writing/fanfic/books survey this weekend. I’ll probably just post it in this thread instead of the survey place, just for convenience sake.

[RokofAges75]

Instrumental music helps me focus.  Music with lyrics is usually distracting, but if I'm really inspired, I can write to anything.  Sometimes I do write in silence, but I tend to lose focus more than if I have some soft classical music or movie scores playing in the background.

Yay for a new survey!  Sounds good!

[RokofAges75]

Happy New Year!  Hopefully this is the year that Backstreet's back!  (Alright!)

Anyone have any writing or reading-related resolutions for the new year?

[RokofAges75]

For anyone wanting/struggling to get back into their writing groove this year, I came across a Reddit thread with a strategy that has worked for me in the past:  The one word per day formula.

When I've set goals to write every day or see how long I could keep a daily writing streak going, this is basically what I did.  As long as I wrote at least one word that day, it counted.  Sometimes, on busy or uninspired days, I really did just write one word.  And sometimes I ended up deleting that word the next day and writing something different.  But most of the time, one word would lead to another, and I would end up writing over a hundred words... on a good day, over a thousand.  I've found that when I feel uninspired or am just out of the habit of writing, working up the motivation to open the story is often the hardest part.  But if I open it thinking, "Okay, I just have to add one word, and then I can quit if I want to," it makes it seem a lot less overwhelming.  Once I get over that hurdle of opening the story and writing one word, though, more words will usually follow.  And when I get a streak going, it becomes routine, which makes it easier to stay inspired so I want to open the story and write every day.

I need to remember this for my long-unfinished stories like Guilty Roads and my Harry Potter crossover.  With two other projects I'm actively working on right now, I'm not in the mindset to try to tackle either of those anytime soon, but next time I find myself between stories, that might be a way to force myself to make some progress on them:  challenge myself to write at least one word per day.

I hope this helps someone else!  I miss all your stories and our fanfic discussions.