Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => General Discussion => Topic started by: mare on February 19, 2011, 10:39:16 PM
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When writing stories, what are the things you find the most challenging as a writer?
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I think my biggest frustration is trying to get through beginnings and set-up and filler in the middle to get to the big parts/scenes that I've been visualizing in my head and looking forward to writing. I am not one of those writers who writes out of order just because they're inspired, and that, along with the fact that I tend to write long stories, means that sometimes I have to wait YEARS to get to those parts. I hate that.
I also hate when I start a story and get far enough along on it to post it and then completely lose my inspiration for it... or get another idea I like better and abandon it for a new story instead of finishing it first. :P
Also, with fanfic, writing the Boys' families. I usually prefer writing scenes with just one or two characters or, at most, the five Boys together. I don't usually like involving other people, besides my own original characters, but sometimes, for the sake of realism, it's unavoidable.
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Oh I agree with you on the famlies. I hate when I have to incpororate them into a story. Especially the Carter clan or Leighanne. Sometimes it just is necessary for the progression though.
I am still finding AJ to me my most challenging obstace these days. I have a heck of a time writing as him.
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Seriously... I hate the Carter clan. I don't mind Leighanne as much, though I only write AU Brian stories these days, so it's not like she's even in there much. I feel more comfortable writing her than the other wives/girlfriends because I know a lot more about her and how she acts and talks than I do the others. There's less I have to just make up.
I love writing AJ as a supporting character, but the only time I've written from his POV, first person, was for a short story. I can see why he'd be challenging.
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I hate writing about the Carter clan. I really do. Which is funny since RMTW makes it so that I really can't avoid it all that much. Especially right now. I love Nick...can't stand his family LOL. Though it's good to have it confirmed yet again I'm totally justified in writing Aaron Carter as a complete asswipe.
Writing in general, the transition chapters. Those bits where of course you can't have big event after big event, you need some calm down time. But it's hard writing those cause those are usually where I end up stuck. Even if I have a plan for them, those are my danger zones LOL.
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You know, I used to have issues writing Leighanne, but ever since December I haven't as much. I guess seeing her in action helped that a bit.
I love writing AJ, he can always be the weird oddball who says shit no other Boy will say or do LOL. His head can be really fun to get into.
Oh...I hate writing Howie scenes sometimes! I love Howie the person, but Howie the character can be really hard to do. I try so hard to give him justice and to showcase his own relationships within the group. But I always feel like he ends up with the filler cause even though he's awesome, he doesn't translate well into fiction LOL.
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I hate writing Howie unless he's evil or calling Nick "Nicky." That's pretty much the only use I have for him. Sorry, Howie! Like you said, Rose, I love him in person, but I just don't find him to be a very interesting character, unless I exaggerate parts of him enough to take him out of character. I find Kevin equally uninteresting, but I feel like I at least get more bromance out of Kevin than I do Howie.
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I agree about Kevin, but at least with Kevin there's more room to wiggle with in the bromance department. I try so hard with Howie though.
It is fun to exaggerate parts of Howie though and play with that LOL.
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I don't find it hard to write Leighanne, I just don't enjoy it lol Same with the Carters. I rarely if ever put them in my stories, especially the siblings. In my Nick related fanfic world, they rarely even exist. lol Ah, if life were only that easy! Out of all of them, I have always found Kristin to be the easiet to write although, I admit since I barely do real time fics anymore I don't think i'd ever find a reason to Write Rochelle or Lauren into my fics unless i'm dong a short story. Same with Leigh. I don't know if i've ever put her into a fic. She might have been in Why or The one that came after it that I don't remember the name of lol
I am having an easier time with Howie these days. AJ's POV is easier when writing comedic. It's dark AJ I have a hard time with. He's getting two chapters in a row and i'm struggling big time lol
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I admit, I am finding it harder to write Kevin nowadays. :( *kicks Kevin*
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*gasp* *kicks Kevin for you* Don't make it hard for Mare!
It's weird and a sign of how twisted I am, but sometimes I really love writing dark AJ. You can really go to this dark place that you just can't go with any of the other Boys. Not even Nick really. But I will say AJ is awesome for comedy.
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It took me 50 chapters to even include Kevin in Curtain Call. But that's his fault for leaving the freaking group. Fail, Kevin. Fail.
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I like dark AJ and funny AJ. He's usually not my first choice for main character, but I actually do like writing AJ quite a bit.
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^^ Same here, a lot of love has come to me in writing AJ lately. The fact I finally might write a story where he's the main is major LOL.
I still can't write a BSB story without Kevin not being in there soon after, but I think that's just cause none of mine are really "real time". Well, except Walked Out Of My Dreams, but Kevin's Brian's cousin (he's known him all his life :P) and I can't not include Kevin when Brian goes missing LOL.
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I can't see myself ever excluding Kevin. I would exclude AJ or Brian before I exclude Kevin. LOL
I am trying to get more comfortable writing AJ. I am just finding myself going really slow with him. He's being pokey.
It's really so easy to just say screw it! and write as Nick lol He's just so easy and Nick-ish.
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I think the problem is I do not posess an inner AJ. I think I have an inner all of the others but whe it comes to him, I can't relate in a positive way. LOL Which is weird because if he was just a normal guy and we went to school together, I could see him in my group of friends, but he'd be the one i'd be the most disconnected from.
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See, I'm the opposite - personality-wise, I am more like Kevin/Howie than the other guys, but I enjoy writing the other three way more. I don't know why that is. I guess even if I can relate better to Kevin and Howie, I still don't find them as interesting and fun to write as Nick, Brian, and AJ. Really, I think it's just because Brian, Nick, and AJ are my favorites.
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Honestly, I think I can write Nick, AJ and Brian the easiest is cause they're the ones I relate to. Nick's random process is very similar to my own lol. Only magnified since I think Nick's head would be worse LOL. Brian's way of just knowing things but being really silly and able to go with the flow is like a really good friend of mine. And then, AJ's issues hit close to home, so I find him easy to get into. And all his "wtf" type things he can say, well that's a very warped sense of humor of mine coming into play LOL.
Howie and Kevin, I just can't relate to them. Kevin's easier though cause I use a lot of my oldest brother's traits and put them onto him.
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I never find it hard to write Kevin... in fact I find it quite easy because I just don't do it! :P
For me there's two challenging bits. One of them has to do with fanfic as a whole. It is SO easy to not describe your characters based on the assumption that people know what they look like, their personalities, etc. I often find it weird to go into physical descriptions of the guys because I'm thinking 'ok, everyone already knows this it's on their desktop' or something lol
The actual writing challenge comes in the form of dialogue. I have ZERO problem with dialogue, and that is the problem. I find that I tend to visualize things like a movie, and write it out like a movie so it's easy to let people monologue instead of describing the scene.
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Hmmm I have a hell of a time writing Howie. I know hardly anything about him...its not that I don't like Howie, its just that he is hard to get right. I'm not sure if this makes sense, but he is just difficult for me. Him and Kevin especially. Nick's siblings, I avoid them completely. Too many characters gets confusing honestly. I only used a 12 year old Aaron and Nick's father Bob in my AU series. I don't like Aaron so I would rather not deal with him lol
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I never find it hard to write Kevin... in fact I find it quite easy because I just don't do it! :P
For me there's two challenging bits. One of them has to do with fanfic as a whole. It is SO easy to not describe your characters based on the assumption that people know what they look like, their personalities, etc. I often find it weird to go into physical descriptions of the guys because I'm thinking 'ok, everyone already knows this it's on their desktop' or something lol
The actual writing challenge comes in the form of dialogue. I have ZERO problem with dialogue, and that is the problem. I find that I tend to visualize things like a movie, and write it out like a movie so it's easy to let people monologue instead of describing the scene.
I am the same way with dialogue, but personally I enjoy reading dialogue more than description so I tend to write like that as well. I think sometimes that's one of my main problems. I tend to write what I would like to read. I am changing things a bit with this new one. What's funny is after editing this past Brian chapter I wrote, I actually said, "You know I probably would have totally skipped this chapter if I was reading this." I'm not sure I would even read this story if I wasn't the one writing it!" lmao Wow, what a ringing endorsement for my own story!
I never describe the guys in fanfics for the very reason you mentioned. Maybe it's naive of me but I do think the only people who really read BSB fanfics are interested enough in them to at least know what they look like. I really hate describing people in general lol
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LOL Mare, you're cracking me up. Um, I've only done small challenges so I don't have much...I've been wanting to write a longer story, but to be honest I'm having a hell of a time coming up with something. So that is challenging for me...hard to write a story without a plot. LOL. And I don't want to force anything, so I've just been trying to work on my writing in general by doing small challenges.
As far as writing the guys, I definitely relate to Kevin the most. I've written from his POV a couple of times. I have a lot of fun writing Nick and AJ in a comedic way, but I don't know about writing AJ in his dark places. I mean, I can relate but I just don't know if I can do it although I've never tried. I have to agree about Howie. He tends to just be there...sleepi ng or something. LOL! In interviews and whatnot, Howie seems really funny but in a sarcastic way but not sure how that would translate in writing.
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I'm going to have to make my next challenge be a Howie one. Poor guy lol
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I know! It's pretty funny too. When I'm reading I crack up whenever Howie is sleeping in a corner or something. LOL!
Mare, I think it was in Why I'd Do it...when you wrote his character feeling underused or whatever. Was that the right story? Where he's talking to his brother about taking more of a role in the group and putting more of his ideas out there? Anyways, I loved that.
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yes lol and he complained about it all throughout the 5 Backstreet Boys in search of a plot as well.
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Poor Howie lol
I think the part I find the most difficult is the build up. The parts that make the major plot points in the story flow all together. I think I'm good at writing the 'action-packed' scenes, but the filler parts that link the story together are really difficult for me. It's always really tempting for me to gloss over that stuff, and I've done it in the past. Going back I think it made my stuff seem really choppy. So I'm trying to work on that.
As far as BSB specific stuff goes, I have a really hard time writing Brian. I used to think it was Howie, but Brian has been really difficult for me because I think he has a lot of layers in his personality that are not that easy to convey. I also have a hard time writing anything that Nick's not involved in. Any time I try to start something where Nick is not the lead I lose interest very quickly.
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I also have a hard time writing anything that Nick's not involved in. Any time I try to start something where Nick is not the lead I lose interest very quickly.
That's me too! I am having a heck of a time with the new one because even though Nick is important this one truly is my very first group centered fic where there really is no main character and it's tough! (I'm sure Nick will end up being the main one eventually lol)
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I have a hard time writing their families, so I don't tend to include them or I give them made up wives/girlfriends. I'm not interested in any other Carter but Nick :)
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Mainly its girlfriends/families and kids. I don't have any kids so that one is kinda moot. I'm more about centering the story around less individuals than just a group of other people. Besides the guys of course. AJ is funny in some ways. Brian I like to play around with. Nick is sort of becoming easier. Howie I feel is a mystery. A lot of other authors may not see that. I'm starting to like him more and more. Kevin I could write but I choose not to.
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Howie is the most elusive character ever, just saying.
That said, my biggest challenge is keeping focused long enough to conclude a story. LOL My mind whirrs along and flits from story to story and I find myself writing new things that either a) was never intended for a particular story and must now be worked into a storyline, or b) is a whole new story altogether and eventually breaks off into its own thing and drives my readers nuts.
It's artistic ADD, I swear.
Yet none of my ideas are really bite-sizable stories that could be expressed right in a one shot or short story.
It's a catch 22.
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^ I see what you mean about that. When I get an idea for a story or a new plot and i'm already working on something I usually start it on Word but then leave it alone until i'm done with what I was working on. Sometimes when I go back and read what I wrote a few days or weeks later, it doesn't nearly have the effect on me that it had earlier so I leave it alone until some more of the story pops into my head.
Depending on the way each person writes, I think it's best to wait before you post something new. I think the problem with a lot of us (I have done this too, especially when I first started writing) We tend to want to post what we have right away because we are so excited about it or are anxious to see how it's received, but the problem with that is, if you lose interest in it and drop it, you eventually become known as 'one of those authors' who never finishes what they start and people will slowly but surely stop reading your stuff for fear that they'll get really into it and know it won't be finished.
For me I have about a 3 or 4 chapter rule. I never post a new one unless I have 3 or 4 solid chapters written and know exactly in my mind where i'm heading. I mean the middle tends to change from time to time but having a solid ending and know I will see it through to that ending is what's most important.
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I agree, Mare. When I first started posting here, I would get way excited over a story idea and post right away. I finished some of those stories, but I also still have a few sitting under my account that only have a few chapters and haven't been updated in ages.
I think that since I've started writing a few chapters before posting anything, the quality of my work has gone up. I've had more time to sit on a chapter and think about it before I post. I've also been able to re-read it with more of a clear mind and fix up awkward sounding sentences that I may not have caught if I posted right away. I also have a few stories with one or two chapters written, and now I'm re-thinking them and either wanting to change my direction with them or not wanting to continue them at all. It's much easier to do since it hasn't already been posted on the site.
This doesn't always work because I have a story on the site I kind of want to nuke LOL and I was way ahead of myself and even had a really detailed outline. But yeah, even so it still helps to curb my story ADD because I also find it challenging to stick to one or two stories at a time.
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Yeah, I found by just sitting and waiting on posting, it helped the overall writing as well. There are times that I end up almost changing half of what I had written originally in a prior chapter because I decided to go in a different direction in the following one. It's easy to just go and change things before you post it, but once it's there then you have to go with what you had. LOL
I had written a chapter of a story a long time ago and am so glad I didn't post it because since then I decided that it wasn't really a good fanfic type storyline for me. If I had posted it, the overall quality of the story would have ended up suffering because It would have been one of those stories I was posting just for the readers who wanted it and not really because I was 'feeling' it.
I think it's just one of those things you evenutally figure out. Sometimes on your own but sometimes the hard way lol
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That's how I operate, too. I have a whole folder of ideas and outlines and first chapters of stories that may never see the light of day... or maybe they will, eventually, when I'm done with some of my other projects.
I totally get wanting to post things right away because I'm excited about them and want the feedback, but a little self-control goes a long way. I feel bad because I started two new stories this past summer, one of which was one of those ideas that I'd been sitting on for YEARS before finally getting started on it, and the other was the result of a rush of inspiration that I couldn't get rid of. I sort of abandoned one for the other, but not until I'd spent like a week planning and churning out six chapters of the new story to make sure I was really going to stick with it. I'll go back to the other one once it's finished, and I hopefully won't post any new stories until both of them are.
I really prefer to be a one-story-at-a-time kind of writer and finish one project before I start another. With the ongoing collaborations I'm involved with, I let myself have those as back-up stories, but I've been unusually overwhelmed this past year with too many stories in progress at once. I really want to finish most of them before I start, or at least post, anything new. I don't want to be one of "those writers" you guys mentioned who starts story after story and never finishes anything, 'cause that's not fair to the readers.
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I agree! It's not at all fair to the readers. I still am hoping one day Eboni will come back and finish Prisoners of War lol And Chaos will finish his sequel to Ground Zero.
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You know, I was really bad about that. I'd have a case of story ADD, get an idea, run with it...and then start posting. Then I'd forget all about the stories I'd been working on. I feel like I've gotten a lot better about it. When I started RMTW, I vowed not to let myself really do that till I finished it. Of course I slipped up and posted WOOMD, but I also know I'm sticking to that anyway cause I know exactly where to go with it and how it'll end.
I notice when I let myself focus on one solo story, I carry it through rather quickly (for my standards lol). And I also feel like my writing quality goes up. I used to be that writer who'd start stuff and never finish, and I don't want to be that writer anymore.
I agree! It's not at all fair to the readers. I still am hoping one day Eboni will come back and finish Prisoners of War lol And Chaos will finish his sequel to Ground Zero.
Yes to both...I also want Eboni to finish "The Question" and Marina to come back and finish YBS :(
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Well, don't hold your breath for YBS lol or Eboni. :( They both have abandoned ship. What's worse is Maria has finished it in her head, or even in Spanish maybe? lol she's been done with it for a long time but hasn't typed it out!
I also notice when I wait to post things, the editing of my work is a lot better than when I post right away.
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I also notice when I wait to post things, the editing of my work is a lot better than when I post right away.
Same here. Sometimes it means I get an opportunity to go through and flesh a chapter out, and maybe include something I'd forgotten the first go round. Other times it means I can pare a chapter down if it gets a little floofy. (yes, floofy)
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yes! I agree about the floofiness. I always end up pruning my chapters, always! They seldom are posted how they originally turned out.
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I agree, too. I usually like to wait a day or at least a few hours before posting a chapter, so I can step away from it for awhile and then come back to proofread it. I catch more of my typos that way, and I make more revisions when I reread it while I'm not still "in the moment." I like to make sure I'm not forgetting something, which I worry about when I churn out a chapter really quickly and then post right away.
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I'm DEFINITELY an excited poster. Definitely. LOL You all know that. I feverishly write and post, write and post. Half the time I'm writing IN the dialogue box (though I've stopped doing that lately after losing several chapters of one of my stories that way). I like feedback, and I don't know anybody OFF AC that will give me feedback. I've thought about starting a blog to send my readers to where they can read "early exerpts" from works I'm thinking about refining into something at AC. I don't know how many of my readers would be interested in that, though.
Does anyone else have a blog like that?
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I don't have a blog like that, but I have a person lol. Usually if I get a new idea and have something started, I end up sending it to Julie to see what she thinks of it. This way I get some sort of response and it helps me from posting it ASAP on AC lol.
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Ditto - it's nice to have one person you can send stuff to before posting it. I don't always, but it's helpful to get an opinion and be able to share with someone if you're not ready to post.
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That may be why I've gotten really good about controlling myself lol. I think of how bad my Writing ADD used to be and yeesh...
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I feel like if my writing ADD improved I'd be able to actually finish one of my OF stories and work on getting published. LOL ...I'm way too ADD to finish something that I can't share with AC readers. I'm terrible. ???
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Honestly Hannah, I think you've got the worst case of Writing ADD I've ever seen lol.
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I miss having a person :( or people I should say. It does make all the difference in the world but what you were saying Hannah also might tell you why you're wriitng. It's sounds like you're writing more for the feedback and less for you. Maybe a good challenge for you would be to write an OF and not post it at all until it's complete.
It's hard as hell to do that but if you do find a person and I think you have Jen as your person? And just share it with her, it might help you out a bit.
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Honestly Hannah, I think you've got the worst case of Writing ADD I've ever seen lol.
LOL I really do. The funny thing is though that I actually DO have storylines and plots and resolutions to everything I've started... and everything will eventually be finished. That's why I stopped posting new stories. I've literally got like 4-5 chapters of a ton of stories that I haven't even posted yet.
But I refuse to post anything new until at least 1/2 the unfinished stuff in my cache is completed.
Course a few of them will never get compeleted (like my collab with Reb...she disappeared off the face of the earth once more *sniff*) but that's not MY fault...lol
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I miss having a person :( or people I should say. It does make all the difference in the world but what you were saying Hannah also might tell you why you're wriitng. It's sounds like you're writing more for the feedback and less for you. Maybe a good challenge for you would be to write an OF and not post it at all until it's complete.
It's hard as hell to do that but if you do find a person and I think you have Jen as your person? And just share it with her, it might help you out a bit.
Like I said ^^^ up there ^^^ (in the last post lol) ... I have several stories I've started that I haven't posted. I really like the idea of writing an OF and not posting until it's completed... I probably should do that. I love writing, I'm just terrible at being disciplined because my mind goes wooshing about like the wind with all these story ideas. Partially I blame that on my reading habits. I tend to read 3-4 books at a time, too. But I've never had issues keeping storylines straight, which is really odd. It's just a strange switch in my brain that I can't seem to shut off or tame.
I need to work on it ,though. LOL
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LOL I really do. The funny thing is though that I actually DO have storylines and plots and resolutions to everything I've started... and everything will eventually be finished. That's why I stopped posting new stories. I've literally got like 4-5 chapters of a ton of stories that I haven't even posted yet.
But I refuse to post anything new until at least 1/2 the unfinished stuff in my cache is completed.
Course a few of them will never get compeleted (like my collab with Reb...she disappeared off the face of the earth once more *sniff*) but that's not MY fault...lol
Been there... collaborations can be awesome (or ya know, Zombie Double Rainbow All The Way hehe), and sometimes...th ey suck just because your partner goes *POOF!*
I think you guys suffered the Best Collab curse instead of me and Julie lol. Every winner of that, the story is never updated again. We haven't suffered that, but you two were runner-up so it must've hit you instead LOL.
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LOL... I gave up on ever seeing an update on that collab LONG before we were even nominated for that.
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I'm way too ADD to finish something that I can't share with AC readers.
I think I'm that way too, when it comes to OF. Not that I've really tried much, but I don't have much motivation to really give it a shot when I'm perfectly happy writing fanfic and knowing that I'll get a reaction when I post it. There's some comfort in having that already-established reader base.
But there is an OF section on AC, so you could always post your stuff there while it's in-progress and then remove it later when/if you start trying to get it published. Unless you're worried about the Tanjas of the world stealing your ideas or something.
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I think I'm that way too, when it comes to OF. Not that I've really tried much, but I don't have much motivation to really give it a shot when I'm perfectly happy writing fanfic and knowing that I'll get a reaction when I post it. There's some comfort in having that already-established reader base.
But there is an OF section on AC, so you could always post your stuff there while it's in-progress and then remove it later when/if you start trying to get it published. Unless you're worried about the Tanjas of the world stealing your ideas or something.
Sidetracking, but I think this is the longest we've gone without catching Tanja plagiarizing again.
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It has been a long time! It just makes me wonder what new fandom/website she's discovered that we haven't yet. ;) Cause you know she's out there doing it again somewhere...
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My best friend approves everything before I post it since I can't post from my blackberry. I can post chapters but not a new story. So if she likes something I go with it.
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Aww I miss having people I can bounce ideas off of! If I am ever feeling unsure about a chapter or have a new story idea I just talk to my boyfriend about it. And I'm pretty sure he just says it's fine because he doesn't want to talk about BSB fanfic lol.
I had the same problem with OF too. I even have 2/3 of a rough draft done from Nano but I've never completed it because I don't know what I'd do with it when it's done. I think I'd be more scared to recieve feedback on that since it's all my own original characters and completely original situations.
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On a side note to this. I think a lot of wanting that instant feedback has to do with if you have someone reading your stuff or not.
I have noticed ever since I have gone personless (Lurks was my first story without Mersey and Maria reading it before I posted it) feedback from the site was much more important to me. At first I couldn't figure out why until it dawned on me that before, I was spoiled. By sharing your stuff with someone prior to posting you've already gotten some feedback so confidence is already built. Once I figured that out, I calmed down a bit with the disappointment I had initially felt. lol
That's why writing something OF and not posting it is so hard. Everyone wants words of encouragement and it's hard when you go into something blind. I think that's why I write a lot slower when it's not fanfic. lol
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Hannah, Reb popped in on TDS not too long ago and we reminded her of Last Christmas. She said she hasn't forgotten about writting and that she has a lot of catching up to do...reading as well! I'm gonna try to get her back :)
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What I find challenging is a collaboration. Finding someone who wants to write with you.
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^ Most of my collaborations have been with friends... which, honestly, isn't always the best way to go because I've lost friendships as a result of trying to collaborate with them. But if both people are on the same page, tend to think alike/agree most of the time, and are equally committed to the project and dependable, it can work out great. You just have to know your friends as writers before you decide whether or not you would mesh with them on a collaboration.
I've also gotten co-writers by asking, but the only time that I did that was for a story that was already in-progress, Code Blue. Basically, my original co-writer bailed on me, and I knew I wasn't going to be able to continue the story all by myself, so I asked for interested co-writers and ended up recruiting like six other people to help me, and that became my first big collab project like that. Some of them I knew as readers or fellow writers, but I didn't know most of them very well, so it was a risk, but it paid off for awhile; it was fun while everyone was into it. That's actually how I first got to know Rose.
Rose recruited writers for 00Carter by asking here, but I think the reason we got so many was because there was already an idea, so people kind of knew what they were getting into when they signed up. I think it helps if you have an idea to propose, and then people can decide if they're interested in being part of it or not.
There are writers who post threads here from time to time asking for co-writers, but I don't know that they get much of a response... It's kind of a gamble. I'll be honest; I would never agree to collaborate with someone unless I knew them well as a friend or writer, or I knew they had an idea that I was interested in writing.
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Like I said earlier, my best friend helps me with dialogue most of the time but when I wrote Figured You Out I was completely on my own for that one, I had to come up with everything myself. Except for the mc Donalds food chapter, which came from a co worker and the ending which came from my dad. I have never collaborated so I don't know what that is like. I would assume its hard if you don't see each other except when online right?
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I miss having a person :( or people I should say. It does make all the difference in the world but what you were saying Hannah also might tell you why you're wriitng. It's sounds like you're writing more for the feedback and less for you. Maybe a good challenge for you would be to write an OF and not post it at all until it's complete.
It's hard as hell to do that but if you do find a person and I think you have Jen as your person? And just share it with her, it might help you out a bit.
Yup I got hannah's back! Besides I'd love getting sneak peeks of her stories. :upcoming chapters of cardboard box cough cough:
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Like I said earlier, my best friend helps me with dialogue most of the time but when I wrote Figured You Out I was completely on my own for that one, I had to come up with everything myself. Except for the mc Donalds food chapter, which came from a co worker and the ending which came from my dad. I have never collaborated so I don't know what that is like. I would assume its hard if you don't see each other except when online right?
It's not really hard; Rose and I just chat on IM to plan out the story, and we make an outline that both of us have access to. We don't literally write the chapters together; we divide parts by character. It works out well, and it's fun. :)
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Ah ok. When I do my planning for my romance series, my friend and I talk on IM and work out dialogue, kind of plan the chapters a bit but I do the writing of the actual chapter myself. We bounce ideas of each other. However for my two latest stories I am pretty much on my own. Would like to do a collab someday but when I try the other person always vanishes on me.
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Me and Jen DM our story installments back and forth and other than that we talk on Twitter. I suck-suck-suck at remembering to log onto instant messanging programs (just ask my BFF lol). The stories usually drive themselves. We have similar writing styles and speed, so our ideas mesh well and we're able to keep up with each other. (YAY!)
Yup I got hannah's back! Besides I'd love getting sneak peeks of her stories. :upcoming chapters of cardboard box cough cough:
Hahaha... Nice hinting skillz. ;)
I don't have forward chapters written for CB yet, but when I do you'll def. be the first to know!
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Just wanna say that Jen/Hannah and Rose/Julie make awesome collab teams :) For Rose and Julie, I can't even tell who's writing which chap! Jen and Hannah, I know only because you tell. Lol. But it seems like with both teams, you're just on the same page.
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^ Thanks! :) Rose is definitely the best co-writer I've had, in terms of meshing with me and being reliable. She is my zombie double rainbow, all the way!
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Thanks Sel!
^ Thanks! :) Rose is definitely the best co-writer I've had, in terms of meshing with me and being reliable. She is my zombie double rainbow, all the way!
Awwww! I feel loved!
I have to agree, Julie's the best cowriter I've had. (And this is coming from a former collab whore, so that says a lot lol.) I'm totally spoiled by that, I can't imagine with collaborating with anyone else now. We're totally on the same brain waves, so much so that it's scary sometimes. It's awesome.
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I could not see myself doing a collab with anyone. I think it really depends on the way you write if a collab would work for you. For me, not so much lol
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Yeah I guess it works out for some not for all. For me, I'm too protective of my work. It would have to be with a friend or someone who appretiates writing as much as I do. Very few writers anymore who are open to that. Normally now people are just doing their own thing. Which is fine. I would just like to try it.
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LOL Yeahhhhhhhhhh. ...sometimes I think Jen and I share a brain. :D We're both a little loco ( :crazy: )
In a good way.
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Makes sense... I think if you're a control freak, that's when it's really important to have someone who shares a brain with you and writes up to your standards. It's hard when that isn't the case.
For me, though, reliability is the biggest thing. I've written with some lovely co-writers, but I always end up getting bailed on in the end because my enthusiasm for the project usually lasts longer than my co-writers'. I can't handle flaky people; I like to finish what I start.
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Makes sense... I think if you're a control freak, that's when it's really important to have someone who shares a brain with you and writes up to your standards. It's hard when that isn't the case.
For me, though, reliability is the biggest thing. I've written with some lovely co-writers, but I always end up getting bailed on in the end because my enthusiasm for the project usually lasts longer than my co-writers'. I can't handle flaky people; I like to finish what I start.
Exactly, that's a major issue that comes up in collaborating. You gotta find someone who's committed for the whole way though. My interest always ended up outliving the interest of my previous co-authors. It drives me nuts when people go POOF.
LOL Yeahhhhhhhhhh. ...sometimes I think Jen and I share a brain. :D We're both a little loco ( :crazy: )
In a good way.
Join the club! It's fun LOL. And isn't it great when you find someone who shares your brain?
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Join the club! It's fun LOL. And isn't it great when you find someone who shares your brain?
Much better than when you find someone who eats your brain! :nyahnyah:
:D ;)
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Much better than when you find someone who eats your brain! :nyahnyah:
:D ;)
LOL
Well we kind of do both. Julie's brain tastes like Fruity Pebbles, totally DRATW. It's why we each only have half a brain now LOL.
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... and Rose's brain tastes like Skittles, so it's totally double rainbow all the way!
Eating brains can be challenging. (Back on topic!)
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Yes, I hear brain-eating is berry-berry challenging. They're chewy, aren't they? Eeek. :P
YAY FOR BEING ON TOPIC.
*scampers away*
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For me, though, reliability is the biggest thing. I've written with some lovely co-writers, but I always end up getting bailed on in the end because my enthusiasm for the project usually lasts longer than my co-writers'. I can't handle flaky people; I like to finish what I start.
Its a huge blow to the craft when that happens. Especially when you think you know someone and than life gets in the way. What are you gonna say, you know?
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another reaosn why I don't collaborate. People who collaborate always go off topic lol
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I was going to say something about our collaboration (5 bsb in search) and I have no idea how I ended up reading a chapter (still doing it right now) lol that's the only collaboration where everything would have worked because it's so crazy.
And look I remembered my password yay...I wanna come back to the fanfic world!
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Now if you could start writing again I think fanfic teeny will squeal LOL. Welcome back!
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I was going to say something about our collaboration (5 bsb in search) and I have no idea how I ended up reading a chapter (still doing it right now) lol that's the only collaboration where everything would have worked because it's so crazy.
And look I remembered my password yay...I wanna come back to the fanfic world!
You and Mersey are the only two people I would ever collab with and we almost ended up killing each other. Luckily we are all so awesome it worked. And i'm glad you remembered your password. *ginko biloba is your friend!*
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Its a huge blow to the craft when that happens. Especially when you think you know someone and than life gets in the way. What are you gonna say, you know?
I know. And the worst is when you lose friends over it. It's so not worth all the drama, but at the same time, it is frustrating and annoying to get bailed on.
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another reaosn why I don't collaborate. People who collaborate always go off topic lol
LOL I know, sorry!
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You and Mersey are the only two people I would ever collab with and we almost ended up killing each other. Luckily we are all so awesome it worked. And i'm glad you remembered your password. *ginko biloba is your friend!*
Aww thank you. I think I've said this before, I have another chapter done but I didn't want to post it till I manage to write at least a couple more and that never happened :( Like mare said, I do have the whole story in my head but real life didn't give me a chance in the few last years. That said, I'm almost sure I will have more time in the months coming so I have to give it another try soon.
And mare I know you wanted to kill me at least a couple of times while writing the collaboration but you couldn't because I'm adorable lol (yeah right) And you know remembering the password wasn't as difficult as remembering which name I was using in here lol
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another reaosn why I don't collaborate. People who collaborate always go off topic lol
*sniffle*
But we crawled back on topic... :(
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I'm also hoping Chaos updates his sequel to Ground Zero too, really awesome story.
I tried working on a collab once, but then she vanished. I'm not sure I'd try it again, and anyway, I've got to get back into writing first, lol. Maybe I'll open up my word doc and see what happens.
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^ I hope you do open it soon! lol
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^ I hope you do open it soon! lol
Lol.
I actually opened my word doc, typed a few lines and then blanked. But at least it's a start. I hate leaving things, so will pull myself together and get typing more this week :)
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And the worst is when you lose friends over it.
Yep I lost Jeanette over it a while back. We had this whole elaborate idea for the story too than it just disappeared.
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Yes to both...I also want Eboni to finish "The Question" and Marina to come back and finish YBS :(
I just posted a new chapter and I wanna say thank you to you again because I thought by now everybody had completely forgotten YBS and even if it's just one person waiting for an update, that makes me really happy.
And to stay on subject... contrary to what people that knows that English is not my first language might believe, this story in particular is 'in English' in my head, I just have a hard time going from that English language (i.e. the one full of grammar mistakes) to real English since I'm really anal about grammar and things like that and I'm always complaining when a story is poorly edited, so I have a hard time writing in English because I keep finding mistakes every time I re-read things but then that happens to me in my own language too, I'm just a little too perfectionist when writing and it's way easier to be that way in your own language.
Other than that, although also connected to the language barrier, I have a hard time with descriptions because I'm always thinking the words I'm using are not the right ones. Dialogue always seems to be easier and then I love stories full of dialogue more than longer descriptions.
As for doing the boys justice, I'm sure 'my boys' (or the boys the way I write them hehe) have more of fanfic than of real life. I mean, I became a fan really late and I got to 'know them' through old videos as much as through reading the depictions by other fanfic writers. In other words, Mare's Nick is Nick and nobody comes and tell me otherwise please because I won't believe it :plugears:
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Awwww you're welcome. Sci-fi is such a rare genre in BSB fanfic and when you have a well written one with a plot that really captures you, that's even harder to find. I was really excited to see you updated. ;D
Back on topic...I'm again having transition chapter issues. I was on such a writing streak because I'd been building up to an event on my timeline for my story, and then the event and the reaction chapters were easy. The moment I went back to transition, the inspiration hit a wall. Bah.
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As for doing the boys justice, I'm sure 'my boys' (or the boys the way I write them hehe) have more of fanfic than of real life. I mean, I became a fan really late and I got to 'know them' through old videos as much as through reading the depictions by other fanfic writers. In other words, Mare's Nick is Nick and nobody comes and tell me otherwise please because I won't believe it :plugears:
LOL that's such a good point! I think there's a lot of truth to that. Of course we think we have some idea of what their personalities are like from watching them in videos all these years, but we also fill in the gaps with how we've seen them portrayed in fanfics. There are a lot of different ways they can be written, but there are also a lot of similarities between their portrayals that we've latched onto and used. And like you said, after reading about them a certain way for long enough, we want them to be that way in real life too!
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Other than that, although also connected to the language barrier, I have a hard time with descriptions because I'm always thinking the words I'm using are not the right ones. Dialogue always seems to be easier and then I love stories full of dialogue more than longer descriptions.
If it helps, English is my native language, and I do that, too LOL. I'm like you, a Grammar Nazi perfectionist, and I am always second guessing myself with words. Today it was "imbedded" vs. "embedded" - which one is right? According to Word spellcheck, they're both words, but are they interchangeabl e? Do they mean the same thing? And if not, which one should I use? I googled it. I google everything. Apparently they are interchangeabl e, though "embedded" is more popular, which was the one I was leaning towards. Ugh, it's so annoying LOL.
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If it helps, English is my native language, and I do that, too LOL. I'm like you, a Grammar Nazi perfectionist, and I am always second guessing myself with words. Today it was "imbedded" vs. "embedded" - which one is right? According to Word spellcheck, they're both words, but are they interchangeabl e? Do they mean the same thing? And if not, which one should I use? I googled it. I google everything. Apparently they are interchangeabl e, though "embedded" is more popular, which was the one I was leaning towards. Ugh, it's so annoying LOL.
I'm a grammar perfectionist in my own language, I can't be it in English because... well, I just noticed that in my last post I wrote 'nobody comes and tell me' so I simply can't be it because then I go and write something full of mistakes lol
I keep googling everything too and English-English dictionaries are my best friends online (as a translator I don't trust bilingual dictionaries that much), but then I go back to my stories and tend to find mistakes that I can't understand how I didn't see them the first time. I mean, I know the difference between 'two', 'too' and 'to', how come then I end up using them all wrong in a sentence? Well, it's because in my mind it 'sounds' perfectly when I read it the first time.
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I am SO proud of you Maria! YAY to you writing again! I haven't had time to read the new one you sent me but i'm looking forward to it now that i'm connected again!