Absolute Chaos Discussion Boards
Fic Talk => General Discussion => Topic started by: mare on August 08, 2012, 03:15:50 PM
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Here is Erika's question of the day!
I have another question. I think I'm better at coming up with questions than answering them anyway.
Out of all your stories which character is your ultimate favorite that you've written? What about your least favorite? Why?
When you think of stories you've read...what character do you think of first? Why?
Ok that's more than one question...lol
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My favorite character is Corin from Wulf's Bane. He's the villian. I love him because he is hell bent on gaining ultimate power. He has been the only character I've written that has been like that. He was fun to write how he would handle situations versus how the good guys would be. One of the scenes he kills someone in is my favorite death scene that I've written. I didn't think of this in time for Rose's question about this. But just the way he killed her and how little trouble he had killing this helpless woman who had given him the answers he wanted. Eve, in that same story, is a really close second for favorite character. She is a "bad guy" when she comes across Nick and his group but she isn't really all that bad. She had more layers to her and I really enjoyed writing her reactions to things.
Least favorite .... I don't think I have a least favorite. I have characters that need some work but I still like them and the part they play in the story they are in.
characters that stand out in stories I've read. Definitely Jack from Sinister Devotion. I think because I have a difficult time portraying AJ and he seemed to be written with such ease in this story that he really stood out for me. Max stands out in What Lurks Around the Corner because it was hard to tell what side he was really on. You were cheering for him one minute and wishing him dead shortly after. Valarie in FYO is another great one. And one portrayal of Nick that I can't forget was in a story from, I think Chava? I can't remember the title but he was just so mean and nasty and that was the first story I'd ever read like that. For some reason how he was portrayed in that story has just stood out to me all this time
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Out of all your stories which character is your ultimate favorite that you've written? What about your least favorite? Why?
My most favorite? Probably AJ from Song For The Undead, for one. I love writing his perspective because it's twisted but unique and I feel like you can really see his growth throughout the story while keeping that dark outlook. My other favorite is Nick in 00Carter, he's such a ball to write and I love writing him. He's kind of the stereotype, goofy, fun, a little blonde, but lovable, which is just fun :).
Least favorite...
I think Brian, in Here We Stand. He's really hard for me to relate to in that story, so it makes him hard to write. Because he's hard to write, it kills my love for writing him in that story a little bit LOL.
When you think of stories you've read...what character do you think of first? Why?
Stories I've read...
There's a few. Like Claire, in Broken, comes to mind immediately. Or Jordan the bot fly man in Save a Prayer LMAO. Oh, and Chub Chub, the teddy bear that kills in The Thirteenth Step. (Okay the last one is a bear not a character but he stands out in my head okay?)
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Hey! Chub Chub never killed anybody! He just stabs Nick in the chest by accident! LOL
And thanks, Lore! I'm glad you thought Max was complex. I really enjoyed him. I have no idea what my answer is going to be to this question yet. I'll have to come back after thinking about it.
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My favorite character i've ever written would probably be my Nick from the Mel's stories. I loved how much his character had to grow because of all the tragedy in his life. When he started out, he was just a vulnerable kid and you just aren't sure if he's going to make it because of all the crap he goes through but by the time he graduates college you can see he's going to be just fine.
My least favorite character would be Kevin senior from the Protect and Serve series because he's such a douche and terrible father. I tried to make him not totally hateable but it was hard because I didn't think the guy deserved the chances his kids kept giving him after he abandoned his family.
Characters i've read that stuck with me I have a lot!
AJ in Leaving on a Jetplane. I know it seems like i'm showing Izzy a lot of love lately and maybe I am lol but she in my opinion has written the most realistic AJ I have ever read. He's so complex but yet sweet. When I picture fictional AJ in my head it's usually the AJ from this story.
Clare in Broken because she was the first female character I actually enjoyed reading. Not in the sense that I wanted to just know all about her lol but in the extent that I felt like she was able to hold her own with Nick in that story and never felt like she didn't belong there. Since you all know how I feel about female leads, that says a lot lol
Nick in Rewind because he was a complete mess but then was able to change his circumstances and we see this great change in him from being an uber jerk to this great guy!
Kevin in Yesterday's Blue Skies because he is so layered and so protective. Once again everything I think of when I think of Kevin but only in a sci fi setting and the fact that it IS a sci fi setting says a lot!
Carla in On the Rails - another example of a super strong female character. Probably my favorite one. I want to root for her and see her succeed and that's hard for me. Usually I want them to be run over or to just go away!
I'm sure there are a lot more but those are just a few that have stuck with me!
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I think my favorite character that I've written is Claire in Broken & BMS. Thanks for mentioning her! She was the first really well-developed original character I created, and I enjoyed writing her. I liked her personality and the role she played in both stories.
I'm struggling with least favorite character because there's two ways to answer that - least favorite because they're not well-written or least favorite because they're not likable. Least favorite because they're not well-written would be most characters I wrote between 2000 and 2002 LOL. There's not one that stands out in my mind as being particularly awful; they were all just kind of one-dimensional. Least favorite for being unlikable... I guess Jamie in By My Side because he was a douche. He was based on a guy I went to college with, who I had a crush on before I found out he was dating my roommate, but when I saw what a roller-coaster ride he took her on, I realized I was better off not liking him. So I actually liked writing the character of Jamie because I could see how Claire could like him, but I could also see why Nick hated him. He's least favorite for coming between my power couple LOL.
These are some of my favorite characters in other people's stories:
Nick in Running Up That Hill - He is such a jackass, but I love the way Steph writes him. His narration always cracks me up, and his scenes are usually my favorite part of each chapter. He has a unique take on things compared to the other guys LOL.
Nick in Save a Prayer - This Nick is like the opposite of the other Steph's Nick LOL. Instead of acting like a douche, he actually becomes the hero and takes on the role usually reserved for Kevin, that of the leader. It was cool to see Nick step up and save the day! And dig bot flies out of Jordan's brain!'
Nick in Remember Me This Way - What can I say; most of the recent stories I've read have been Nick-centered! This is a great example of angsty Nick, and angsty Nick is one of my favorite Nicks there is! I felt so sorry for Nick in this story. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to slowly lose your mind, but Rose did an awesome job showing what it might be like through Nick's perspective.
Amanda in Something Beautiful - I wanted to hate Amanda in this story... first because she went along on a trip that I wanted to be just Nick and Brian... and second because of the sneakiness she was up to behind the scenes. But I couldn't hate her. I actually really liked her. She wasn't Mary Sue or Anti-Sue; she was just REAL. Far from perfect, but not annoyingly flawed. Just flawed in one major way that made for an interesting storyline.
Brian in Between the Lines - All of the guys in this story were actually really interesting because they were our Boys, but with a twist. But Brian was especially lovable. He was always upbeat, committed to his team, a good friend to everyone but especially Nick, and also a bit of a hoarder LOL. I really enjoyed him.
Kevin in The Importance of Fly Fishing - No one writes Kevin better than Mare. (Not that I read many Kevin stories by other authors LOL.) She does a great job at showing Kevin in his big brotherly role, but also letting his subtle sense of humor shine through. I really enjoyed him and his relationship with Nick in this one.
Ciara in Cover Me With Dreams - One reason I'm not a huge fan of full-out romance is that I have to really like both characters individually and as a couple to want to read a whole story about them, with no other subplots to keep me interested if I'm not so into them. Nick in this story is simply amazing, but Ciara is an equally good character. I though she was interesting on her own, and I adored the way her relationship with Nick grew and changed over the course of the story.
Kara in The Market - Another great female lead, this time not in a romantic role. Kara was just believable, down-to-earth, and cool, and I loved the part she played in Nick's life.
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Thanks for the Nick mention, Julie. I really enjoy writing him in that story. No thought is too random for Running Up That Hill Nick, lol.
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Since awards suddenly are the new white meat lol here are some awards centered questions
How do you feel about fanfic awards? Have you ever been nominated for one? Do you prefer awards voted on or judged? How important would it be for you to win an award? What award would you most like to win & which story of yours do you feel deserves an award.
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How do you feel about fanfic awards?
I think they're pretty fun and it's nice to recognize the bests in fanfic.
Have you ever been nominated for one?
Yes I have :).
Do you prefer awards voted on or judged?
I prefer judged but man I so understand why everyone does voting. Ten times easier LOL.
How important would it be for you to win an award?
It's great to be recognized and honored that way, but I wouldn't say it's "important" because I keep writing whether I win or not lol. But of course I want to win anytime I'm nominated for something.
What award would you most like to win & which story of yours do you feel deserves an award.
I'd like to see RMTW win Best Drama/Angst someday, just because of everything I put into that story :).
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Nick in Remember Me This Way - What can I say; most of the recent stories I've read have been Nick-centered! This is a great example of angsty Nick, and angsty Nick is one of my favorite Nicks there is! I felt so sorry for Nick in this story. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to slowly lose your mind, but Rose did an awesome job showing what it might be like through Nick's perspective.
Awwww thank you!
I agree with all your selections. :). I'd like to add in Nick from Curtain Call too. It's the most realistic I've seen Nick be written to true life Nick in awhile. You sometimes wanna smack his cocky little ass but it's real, and that's why I love him so much in that story.
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I like fanfic awards! It's just a fun way to recognize each other for all the time, effort, and creativity that goes into our writing. I like that they seem to be making a comeback; for awhile, it was just the Felix Awards, which of course are the best, but while we're waiting for the nomination period to begin, it's fun to have some other ones going on that are different.
I don't really have a preference when it comes to voted vs. judged. I like both, and I love when awards actually have a combination of both. Voting is quick and easy for the ones organizing the awards, and it takes everyone's opinion into consideration. The downside is that you can't expect every voter to have read every story that's nominated in order to make a truly informed decision, so it's basically a popularity contest. That said, popular stories are popular for a reason, so while the winners of voted awards may not be the best-written, they're certainly not bad. Judged awards are nice because they really take the quality of the story into account, and as long as the judges are using the same criteria to determine winners, it's fairly objective. The downside is that the winner is still being chosen by one person, and if there's not a rubric or something to keep it objective, the judging can be pretty subjective. Also, it's a lot more time-consuming.
The awards that mean the most to me are ones for the stories that I've put the most work into or stretched myself the most to write. It's also fun to win awards in categories that I've never won before.
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Thanks, Rose!
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How do you feel about fanfic awards?
They can be fun, and a nice way to shine a good light on stories that deserve it. On the flip side, they have the potential to cause a lot of drama and hurt feelings. I have honestly always been a little on the fence about them.
Have you ever been nominated for one?
Yes. Been nominated for Felix a few times and for some reason I Wish got nominated in those 1DFF awards. Kind of weird because the stories it's up against are a lot better, and the first ten chapters of that are basically just BSB fic.
Do you prefer awards voted on or judged?
I prefer judged, and the reason for that is winning the award definitely means that your writing is what got the award. Voted are fun too, and they have their merit to them as well. Winning a voted award means that enough people liked your story to think it deserved to win. Both are nice in their own way.
Or you know, like those ATB awards that combined BOTH judging and voted awards. In the same categories. I'm not trying to start drama, but the topic of fanfic awards always reminds me of that mess. First of all, we each had to judge a category. Then, the top 5 stories out of the judging got put to a poll. A poll! So what was the point in judging even? I have no idea what my score was (because I nominated my own story because that's what everyone was doing and it was like you wouldn't get a nomination if you didn't do that) and then my story got last place in the poll because they left the poll unlocked so everyone could see the results (I don't think that was intentional) but was my story actually bad? I have no idea!
Oh and then the awards never got handed out and the site disappeared. Fail.
How important would it be for you to win an award?
Not gonna lie, I've always wanted to win one. Obviously I would keep writing, but it'd be nice to win. But I know that I don't write/update a lot so that's cool.
What award would you most like to win & which story of yours do you feel deserves an award.
That's a hard question, I don't even know. There are a couple of one-shots I've written that I'd like to see get recognized. I don't know that any of my chaptered fic would win anything but I guess the category I'd like to take one day is either best drama/angst or best short story (I don't think that's even a real category though.)
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Lmao, wow that's a bad awards setup.
And yes, there's a short story category LOL.
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Swear to god if my 1D awards end up a mess like that I'll feel bad for those boys as they won't have any fans left on account of me destroying them all.
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I love your idea of the one shot awards & best short story is a very valid category.
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Thanks! They have been fun so far, got a good group of girls working on them with me. There should be BSB ones! Cause we don't have enough BSB awards right now, lol.
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A one shot awards would be fun. Someone (else) should do that lol
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Or you know, like those ATB awards that combined BOTH judging and voted awards. In the same categories. I'm not trying to start drama, but the topic of fanfic awards always reminds me of that mess. First of all, we each had to judge a category. Then, the top 5 stories out of the judging got put to a poll. A poll! So what was the point in judging even? I have no idea what my score was (because I nominated my own story because that's what everyone was doing and it was like you wouldn't get a nomination if you didn't do that) and then my story got last place in the poll because they left the poll unlocked so everyone could see the results (I don't think that was intentional) but was my story actually bad? I have no idea!
Oh and then the awards never got handed out and the site disappeared. Fail.
How important would it be for you to win an award?
Not gonna lie, I've always wanted to win one. Obviously I would keep writing, but it'd be nice to win. But I know that I don't write/update a lot so that's cool.
What award would you most like to win & which story of yours do you feel deserves an award.
That's a hard question, I don't even know. There are a couple of one-shots I've written that I'd like to see get recognized. I don't know that any of my chaptered fic would win anything but I guess the category I'd like to take one day is either best drama/angst or best short story (I don't think that's even a real category though.)
That sounds really backwards! Like I said in my response, I like awards that use a combination of voting and judging, but it would make more sense to put all the nominees in a poll FIRST and then have someone only judge the top five, assuming that decent stories are going to get enough votes to rank in the top five. The kind of combination I like best is just awarding two winners for each category, one judged and one Reader's Choice.
Have you never won a fanfic award?? That surprises me, Steph! You're such a good writer; you're plenty deserving of winning one! I ran an awards for a season or two back in the day called The Undiscovered Gem Awards just for stories that had never won an award to recognize talented authors who were flying under the radar for whatever reason.
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I know right? I was so surprised to learn she hadn't won one yet.
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Aw, thanks guys. I just go through phases of being active and inactive! Maybe one day the plethora of 1D contests I enter will get me an award haha.
And yes those ATB awards were a mess. I think you're right Julie - it would have been a lot better if they'd done the poll first and then the judging.
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Back when awards sites were everywhere I started to work out what I felt like were the fair ones versus not so much and I quickly decided the ones where you can nominate yourself & vote however many times you want were pretty much made only for those people who just want to say they got an award lol
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Back when awards sites were everywhere I started to work out what I felt like were the fair ones versus not so much and I quickly decided the ones where you can nominate yourself & vote however many times you want were pretty much made only for those people who just want to say they got an award lol
Definitely!
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I never got the point of nominating yourself and voting like crazy. Totally defeats the purpose LOL.
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Until Felix and the recent awards sites I had NEVER been nominated by someone else so if I wanted to have my story read I would nominate myself. It wasn't so much to get the award (cause I would never win) but it was more of a promotion thing, to get my name and my stories out to an audience.
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Awards....well I've only won one and gotten runner up for another at Felix last year, which I was pleasantly surprised about. This was the first time I'd been a part of any fanfic awards or even nominated, so it really meant a lot to me. Never once expected to win.
As for the judging part, I like how people can vote for who they want and not vote for themselves or nominate themselves, to me it keeps everything fair.
I would love to win more but I'm satisfied with just being nominated. I'm nominated in two different awards right now, still don't expect to win any, I'm up against a lot of talented people, but it would be awesome if I did.
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Until Felix and the recent awards sites I had NEVER been nominated by someone else so if I wanted to have my story read I would nominate myself. It wasn't so much to get the award (cause I would never win) but it was more of a promotion thing, to get my name and my stories out to an audience.
I remember the days when that was the thing to do. And it makes sense, to an extent - I'm pretty sure film producers submit their own movies to be considered for the Oscars. But I like the idea of having to be nominated by a reader who thinks your story is worthy better. It makes the nomination a lot more meaningful, and then you can honestly say, "It's an honor just to be nominated!" Not true if you just nominated yourself LOL.
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Ah, Steph this is what you're talking about LOL
I like awards... I used to be skeptical of them back in 1999-2003... I won a good bit of them. I wished I remember what they were. There used to be SO many awards back then, that you kind of took them for granted almost, and now, not so many.
Like the only real awards in BSB are the Felix Awards.... that's still going strong. That's why when Steph started the 1D awards, I decided to come up with the Trash awards for romance because of the joke we had that I wrote Nick trash.
I think out of any, I would like to win Best Author or some sort of similar award. I was kind of shocked when I was a runner up on the Felix Awards this past time. I wasn't expecting it because I'm not as prolific over here as I am at my own site. That made me feel good and made me felt like people really were glad that I was back writing in the fandom.
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Yeah I remember there were so many awards sites out there and then just one day they disappeared. I do also remember that the majority did let people nominate themselves in fact I'm pretty sure some if them ONLY let you nominate yourself just in case there were people who didn't want to be nominated. I can understand that but the vote a ton of times for your own story I don't get the point lol
I do think it means more when you know someone liked your story enough to take the time to find the link & chapter or specific scene or whatever the case to give you credit for your writing. That's a pretty awesome feeling.
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after my awards site went *poof* I turned it into a review site where it was required that the author submit their story for review... it didn't happen once and that was a mess until I cleared it up.
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Yeah, there used to be a TON of awards sites, but a lot of them were flaky and never finished or awarded any stories. I keep a list of the ones I've won on my site, and honestly, when I look at some of the stories I won awards for, I'm just like, "...How the hell did that happen??" Must have been a shallow pool of nominees! That shit would never win at the Felix Awards LOL.
The review sites were different; they really gave you a thorough critique, so that's definitely something authors need to sign up for themselves. I submitted Broken to one of those, but it wasn't yours, Lore. I remember yours, though; I think one of my friends submitted a story to yours.
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A one shot awards would be fun. Someone (else) should do that lol
Maybe after I finish the 1D ones I'll do BSB ones. But by then we'll be into Felix season, I think. My 1D awards are over October 1st.
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If it were the beginning of the summer, I'd volunteer too, but I'm not gonna have time to run an awards. I will next summer, though, if we're still interested.
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I don't remember review sites but it sounds like a good idea. Kind of like what we do for the reading challenge in giving CC?
The only awards I remember are the east water convergence ones which I loved because of the feedback that came with them. The Gravity awards & yours Julie. I used to have s page devoted to all my awards on my site but when I deleted the site the awards were deleted too lol
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I remember those water awards! I think I won one for "I Wanna Be Bad" or "The Right Kind of Wrong." LOL They seemed legit, unlike some of them that popped up.
I don't really remember any review sites, other than Lore's, but I don't think I ever submitted anything for it. I was too scared because I loved the Lipstick website so much that if she read my work and hated it, I'd be heartbroken. LOL!
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I don't remember the names of the other review sites, but yeah, it was kinda like the reading challenge, Mare, except there was no work required on your part. You just submitted your story to be read by one of the critics on the site, and they read it and filled out a form that reviewed different aspects of it. It was a great way to get in-depth feedback, if you could stomach the concrit.
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I don't remember any of the review sites, but I was sorta out of the loop for a while. They do a lot of that concrit thing on 1DFF though, actually. Where you fill out the form and get feedback and a score.
I think it's cool to get feedback along with the award! You guys gave out the scoresheets back when Felix was judged, right?
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I was the only reader for my review site. I rated it and gave CC to the authors. I also had an ongoing list of all the stories I read recommending all of them. Something like:
If you like gore then read:
Song for the Undead by Rose and Julie 4 stars
Follow along as the boys face death when they face off with Zombies.
I doubt anyone took my word for it when it came to stories. And one girl got completely pissed off because she wasn't expecting the review. Hence why I wanted the AUTHOR to submit it. LOL
The review site was the only way I was reading fanfic for a while. LOL
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I don't remember any of the review sites, but I was sorta out of the loop for a while. They do a lot of that concrit thing on 1DFF though, actually. Where you fill out the form and get feedback and a score.
I think it's cool to get feedback along with the award! You guys gave out the scoresheets back when Felix was judged, right?
I think we did for people who requested it and the rubric
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Aw, thanks guys. I just go through phases of being active and inactive! Maybe one day the plethora of 1D contests I enter will get me an award haha.
And yes those ATB awards were a mess. I think you're right Julie - it would have been a lot better if they'd done the poll first and then the judging.
The ATB awards had bigger issues. Being, of course, that they stole all of my ideas and my judging rebric from Felix and I made their life hell until they ran away. :)
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Like we said on twitter - they were missing the key ingredient, you and mare :)
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^ I'm actually surprised they didn't find generic versions of us.
"guys and here are the new mods brulilly & Cher" lol
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How do you feel about fanfic awards?
I think they're a great idea, if they are done properly like the Felix Awards are. Before joining here I'd never taken part in any kind of awards.
Have you ever been nominated for one?
Yes, I've been nominated for a couple of my stories in the Felix Awards and most recently in Rose's awards :)
Do you prefer awards voted on or judged?
I don't really mind, but I can see that voted awards would be a lot less time consuming than judged.
How important would it be for you to win an award?
Obviously I'd be happy to win an award, but if I don't, then it's not the end of the world and it wouldn't prevent me from writing. Being nominated and seeing my stories up there with my favourite writers is awesome!
What award would you most like to win & which story of yours do you feel deserves an award.
I hate answering questions like this because I don't feel that I deserve anything. But if I won one for any of my stories, of course I'd be grinning like a Cheshire Cat :)
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Brulilly and Cher.
This must have happened when I was out of the game and busy in college. I don't remember those awards lol
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I think it's safe to say you didn't miss much lol
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How do you feel about fanfic awards?
I think they are fun and a really good idea.
Have you ever been nominated for one?
Yes, I have been nominated for a few in the Felix Awards. Also for Rose and Karah's awards too.
Do you prefer awards voted on or judged?
I forgot what year it was, on AC for the Felix Awards that some judges flaked out. Made it harder on the rest of the judges...lucki ly they were able to work things out. I like either way. But when the time comes I think to myself what if the person judging your story doesn't like the genre of your story. Will they judge it fairly as opposed to the voting and knowing that whoever votes on your story probably already read it and enjoyed it. (did that even make sense?)
How important would it be for you to win an award?
I would say it's not important. It's just really awesome when you do win an award.
What award would you most like to win & which story of yours do you feel deserves an award?
Hmmm I would probably say Best AU, although I was runner up last year. So close! The story I would like to see win would be Fight Me...it's my baby at the time. lol.
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Yeah, I think that's a really valid point about who is judging what. I think that's why the use of a rubric for judging is so important because it kind of forces you to be fair and impartial when you have to justify the things you are saying and doing. Otherwise it really does just come down to a matter of personal taste. It's much harder to let your own taste get in the way when everyone uses the same criteria for judging.
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Here's another question:
Would you ever consider submitting one of your stories to a site for review? If yes which one would you choose & what would you hope to find out?
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Yeah, I think that's a really valid point about who is judging what. I think that's why the use of a rubric for judging is so important because it kind of forces you to be fair and impartial when you have to justify the things you are saying and doing. Otherwise it really does just come down to a matter of personal taste. It's much harder to let your own taste get in the way when everyone uses the same criteria for judging.
That is what I had to emphasize on my review site on every page in bold with several asteriks around it... everything on the site was based off of my subjective opinion (minus grammar/spelling/structure)
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Here's another question:
Would you ever consider submitting one of your stories to a site for review? If yes which one would you choose & what would you hope to find out?
Well since I'm working on rewriting I would submit Chronos Project. And I would hope for the kind of feedback I am getting/got from Rose, Amanda and (hopefully) my brother. They are asking questions about the plot or bringing to light something I might not have noticed that a character did that wasn't exactly in character. If I have glaring grammar issues without I'd like to know also. All through school my papers came back with "watch the tense changes" so I'd hope if I did that I would be told so I can watch out for it.
I am not sure I'd submit anything else for review since most of my stories won't change if there are those errors.
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That is what I had to emphasize on my review site on every page in bold with several asteriks around it... everything on the site was based off of my subjective opinion (minus grammar/spelling/structure)
Yeah, I'm sure! And even still, no matter how many times you warn people about that stuff, if they don't like what you have to say or in the case of awards, if you don't win. It's fixed lol Gotta love human nature sometimes.
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Here's another question:
Would you ever consider submitting one of your stories to a site for review? If yes which one would you choose & what would you hope to find out?
I've done that recently with my self-published books... surprisingly had all good reviews and I was nervous because they were pretty popular sites... ad I could see the numbers go up on the books after the reviews were posted, so people obviously listened. Doing that, I picked "Love This Pain," which I know a few on here read as a fan fiction.
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Here's another question:
Would you ever consider submitting one of your stories to a site for review? If yes which one would you choose & what would you hope to find out?
Nope cause I'd be terrified of the results. Especially for something already complete.
If I was going to have anyone to an extensive analysis of one of my stories it'd be before it was "published" online so that I'd have the ability to fix things before letting the world see it. Actually I'm writing one right now where it's nearly complete and I'm sending chapters to my friend as I write them. It's good because it's given me the opportunity to go back and fix things in previous chapters to make the story more consistent, which I wouldn't have been able to do had I been posting as I went along.
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Here's another question:
Would you ever consider submitting one of your stories to a site for review? If yes which one would you choose & what would you hope to find out?
I did submit Broken to a review site once back in 2004, when that was the thing to do. I don't really know why I did... I guess I was just curious to see what the feedback would be like. From what I remember, it was a pretty thorough review that commented on different aspects of the story, not just the plot, but the presentation of it too. I don't know that I really got a lot out of it, though. I'm pretty sure Broken was already finished when I submitted it, and I don't go back and change old stories. The lessons I learned from Broken are not things other people told me, but things I've realized myself in looking back at it.
I think the only reason I'd have for submitting a story for a review like that now would be if I was thinking of publishing it or if it was something I had never posted and was willing to revise based on the feedback. I don't see the point of submitting something that's already finished that I have no plans to do anything with.
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Would you ever consider submitting one of your stories to a site for review? If yes which one would you choose & what would you hope to find out?
I might, depending on what I planned to do with the story. Like if I wanted to convert it, then yes cause I'd want as much feedback and con-crit as possible.
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I don't know if I'd submit anything of mine because what's finished is finished and I have no plans to re-write.
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As an added reading challenge for myself this summer, I decided it was time to go back and read my own stuff, since I can never remember most of the things I had written. I've always had mixed feelings about doing that because I am so critical of my stuff. I don't find it enjoyable.
I decided to start with A Million Little Things because it's the one I don't remember AT ALL! And one a lot of people have mentioned as being a favorite. I just finished it which to me is a big accomplishment! LOL I haven't even been able to get through one of my stories! I admit, for that one I didn't cringe once. I thought it was pretty good actually. LOL I'm sure I won't feel like that for all of them though. I just started reading my cough medicine one and already am cringing! LOL
So, here are my questions to you. There are quite a few!
How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
One thing I found entertaining in A Million Little Things was how much stuff I managed to touch on in only 15 chapters. I never realized I wrote about that whole sketchy Lou being slimey with Nick issue or the whole Nick and Brian's waning friendship and blurry Brian confrontation LOL Weird to have no memory of that!
So things like that, maybe you've read something and realized wow I named this character after my ex boyfriend and didn't remember doing that!
Okay this was long, but I am curious :)
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How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
Not too often. I re-read some of it when I was copying things over to my site, and in December when I converted the completed stories to Kindle. If someone comments on a chapter or a specific thing that happened I might go back and re-read that chapter to refresh myself on what happened in it but I don't think I've ever sat down and re-read and entire one of my stories in one sitting.
Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
A little bit of both honestly. Re-reading In Pieces I cringed, honestly. I can't believe people liked that story so much and that it was even featured! It's not very well structured and the writing is a bit bland. Though there were parts of it I did enjoy.
Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
Nope. In fact if I go back to re-read something it'll usually be something someone else wrote that I remembered really enjoying, and I actually have stories in my mind that I re-read for inspiration for specific things. None of them are my own. Mare, your story "To The Magnificent Nickolas Carter..." is one I re-read often.
Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
I try not to do that because then I'll tend to be overly critical of my stuff and never be satisfied. If I were to compare my stories to ones I've read and loved, of course I'll feel like the ones I've read and loved are better - because I remember them and keep them in my mind for a reason.
If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
Typos and missing words, yes. Anything bigger than that like characterizati on or plot holes, no. I just leave it be. But I don't think that fixing the occasional typo is anything that anyone's going to miss or even figure out if they go back to re-read something of mine LOL.
Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
Ummm... depends on their assessment, I guess. I had a lot of reviews of praise for In Pieces and now I'm not sure I agree with them! There were a couple of con-crit reviews I definitely agree with now, like how Ashleigh and Nick's relationship moved too fast in the 2001 chapters. Definitely agree with that and I probably could have worked it better.
Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
Well, when I was converting over Left and Leaving I read some of it, and though the plotline made me cringe, the writing really surprised and impressed me. to the point where I thought to myself "I wrote that?!" I could really see the improvement from In Pieces to that story.
Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
YES. I don't even realize I'm doing it but in my copy over of all of my stuff to my site I realized that there's a line Ashleigh thinks to herself in My Happy Ending that is literally word for word something Brittany thinks in I Wish. Same situation, different outcome, but exactly the same train of thought. Not like anyone's ever going to read both of those stories so I'm probably okay.
There was also this scenario where one of the 1D guys was so nervous about going out on stage that he threw up in a trash can back stage. Then I re-read The Last Last One as I was copying... and I realized that I used that in there with AJ in the same situation. It was the same in both stories... the scene didn't actually happen, they were just relaying it to someone else. Oops lol. But I don't think it's happened in two fics in the same fandom.. excellent lol.
After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
Uh, In Pieces probably not, honestly.
What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
How much of myself I put into my longer stories, and how they are honestly a snapshot of what I'm feeling at the time. Some of them are less obvious than others, but to me the similarities are glaring. I wonder if I'll feel that way about some of my newer stories in a few years.
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How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
Not too often. I re-read some of it when I was copying things over to my site, and in December when I converted the completed stories to Kindle. If someone comments on a chapter or a specific thing that happened I might go back and re-read that chapter to refresh myself on what happened in it but I don't think I've ever sat down and re-read and entire one of my stories in one sitting.
Good lord, I could never do it one sitting either lol A Million Little Things was only 15 chpters but it took me almost a month to finish reading it lol
Glad you enjoyed Magnificent Nick.... It's one of the few short stories I wrote that i'm actually proud of. I do tend to go reread my favorite short stories a lot. I don't really reread novels from start to finish much, even books, but short stories i'll do over and over again. (not mine but everyone else's) lol
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How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
I never read my stuff once it's posted, I would probably cringe at a lot of it, lol
Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
It would probably be a bit of both.
Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
No.
Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
Not really, we all have our own styles of writing.
If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
I know for a fact there's a major continuity mistake in one of my romance stories, but I've left it as it is. Maybe one day I will go back and fix it, but then I'd be tempted to re-write it as it's a self-insert lol.
Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
If someone points out stuff to me that is wrong, then of course I agree with them, I know my stories aren't perfect (far from it!)
Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
I think if I were to go back and read some of my stories, I'd wonder if I actually wrote it.
Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
I probably have without realising it. I know I've written two romance stories featuring AJ, lol.
After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
Depends which story. I probably wouldn't recommend my early stuff, but as I've not read it back, I can't say how bad it actually is.
What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
I'll have to read some of it before I can reply.
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Good lord, I could never do it one sitting either lol A Million Little Things was only 15 chpters but it took me almost a month to finish reading it lol
Glad you enjoyed Magnificent Nick.... It's one of the few short stories I wrote that i'm actually proud of. I do tend to go reread my favorite short stories a lot. I don't really reread novels from start to finish much, even books, but short stories i'll do over and over again. (not mine but everyone else's) lol
I don't know that there are very many novel length stories I've gone back and read from beginning to end. I usually pick out specific chapters that I like and go back and re-read those.
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OK, I've just started reading my first BSB story and am cringing already (still on page one).
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How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
I very seldom go back and reread what I have written. I will reread un-posted chapters if I am keeping chapters from posting (which I also rarely do) or if I am wanting to rewrite the story into an original fiction. The only other time I reread what I've written is to figure out what someone might be commenting on in a review.
Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
There are times when I am a little in awe of something I wrote because I can't believe I actually was capable of writing it. Many, many times I cringe.
Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
I read other people's stories more than my own.
Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
I have done this, yes. I try not to because I know we all have different styles and voices when we write but I think this stems from my mom always comparing me to my little brother and his writing. She did it to me and so I just have grown up doing it to myself. Bad habit, yes. I am trying to break it, yes. Thank you for anyone who helps me feel better on those days that it really gets to me. :)
If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
I will fix typos, spelling errors, missing words or extra words. OR if it's a little detail at the beginning that I forgot and changed it later. I know in one story I mentioned a character having green eyes and the character had brown for the remainder of the story. I fixed the first instance. Major plot holes or issues with characters I don't touch unless I am rewriting.
Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
As far as CC goes, I haven't gotten a lot of it. I've gotten some when asked (thanks Mare) or for the reading challenge (thanks Rose) and sometimes for my parts for 00Carter. Other than that most people like what I've written. And yes, I've agreed with quite a bit that has been pointed out to me but then there are always things I don't agree with.
Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
When I am surprised it's for the better.
Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
I really try not to. But I really did it most recently with Chronos Breach. The same theme of Chronos Breach is quite similar to what happened in Chronos Project. BAD SEQUEL. slaps wrist
After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
I've recommended More Than That and Amnesia to others. I've read both of those again and thought they were decent for some of my first attempts into fanfiction.
What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
Seeing how I described something in one story vs. another. Or the wording I use to write a scene. I know I get influenced by what I'm reading and watching when I write and sometimes it's apparent to me when I re-read.
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How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
I don't reread my own stuff very often, especially not whole novels. I am more likely to reread short stories or standout scenes from my longer ones, especially when someone reviews them or nominates them for an award or something.
Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
Depends on the story! I find there is sort of a statute of limitations with me, where I feel proud of and pleased with a story for a certain period of time, usually a few years, until I write something that surpasses it, and then it starts to make me cringe. I reread Curtain Call on my Kindle this summer while Mare was reading it for the challenge, and I actually really enjoyed it! I hardly cringed, and that's a first for me! But then I tried to do the same with Broken and... yeesh! Lots of cringing. I haven't gotten to BMS, but even though I think it's better written than Broken, I'm sure it would make me cringe, too. And anything I wrote before those stories just makes me laugh more than cringe because it's so bad!
Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
Aside from proofreading, no
Do you find youself comparing your work to other people's?
Yes and no. There are certain writers whose work I admire, and I strive to raise myself to that level. And if I'm being totally honest, the opposite happens too. But at the same time, it's hard to really compare your work to someone else's because there's such a bias. You're going to be harder on yourself about some things, and yet, you may still prefer your own writing style because it's yours.
If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
Little mistakes, like typos or missing words, yes. I have a whole bunch of them highlighted in the Kindle version of Curtain Call that I want to go correct and repost just because they bother me. I'm pretty sure I've done that with Broken and BMS at least once, though I'm also sure there are still some mistakes in there. Big things that would require major revising, I don't fix in stories that are already finished. It is what it is.
Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
Sometimes I'm surprised that people liked certain stories as much as they did LOL. I have to remind myself that most readers don't analyze writing as much as we do in these discussion threads and aren't looking for perfection; they just want to be entertained with a good story. When I reread old favorite stories of mine that I've always put on a pedastal, I realize most of them aren't perfectly-written either. But I didn't love them for the quality of the writing; I loved them for the story. And even if I'm hard on my older stories for the quality of the writing, I do still like most of the storylines, so I guess I can see why other people liked [some of] them.
I haven't gotten a lot of concrit, but when I have, I usually agree with the person who gave it after the fact, when I go back and look at the story years later. It just sometimes takes me that much time to separate myself from something I was so attached to when I wrote it, in order to look at it more objectively.
Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
I'm usually not surprised for worse because I've come to realize that I will always start cringing at stories when I go back to read them years after writing them. As long as my writing keeps improving and my stories keep getting better, the old ones will always pale in comparison, even if I loved them at the time. That doesn't surprise me.
Sometimes I'm surprised for the better when I go back to read a scene or a story and think, "Wow, I wrote that??" Usually it's for stuff that I'm not accustomed to writing - the first person narration in Curtain Call, the first horror scenes I wrote for Song for the Undead, the action sequences in 00Carter. I recently reread the first "sex scene" I ever wrote because someone nominated it for Karah's awards, and I was shocked at how dirty it was for how long ago I wrote it, but it was better than I thought it would be.
Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
I feel like I do that all the time! I find myself opening up old stories and doing a Find search for certain phrases while I'm writing because I feel like I'm repeating myself. Sometimes I do find matches, and sometimes I don't, but I still have that feeling, like they're maybe just worded slightly differently.
I write enough medical dramas that sometimes I repeat whole scenes. I cracked up when I realized how similar the scene of AJ shaving Nick's head in CC was to the scene of AJ shaving Nick's head in Broken, right down to the same joke about "nicking him." Nice to know my sense of humor hasn't changed much in 8 years!
I've realized a theme that I write about often is hiding things or keeping secrets. Nick hid his illness in both CC and Broken (although he did it in Swollen Issues first, so that's probably where I got the idea). He is currently IN hiding in Guilty Roads. Secrets of the Heart has the word "secrets" in the title for a reason. I'm sure there are more examples, but those are the recent ones that stand out. I don't know if it's a psychological thing that I do because my writing is a secret I keep from most people in my real life, or if it just makes for an interesting story in my mind.
After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
My recent stories, yes. My older stories, no. I draw the line at Broken. Anything before Broken is not worth reading. Anything after Broken is. Broken itself is questionable, but if you like angst and hurt/comfort and don't mind melodrama, flowery writing, and unnecessary scenes/subplots, go for it!
What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
I just find it interesting to see how much my writing has grown over the years. I started out writing very simplistically . My writing wasn't bad in terms of conventions or story structure - I always had a good handle on that just from paying attention in school. But it was very dialogue-based and not very descriptive, more telling than showing, and my characters were not developed.
Then I moved into a more descriptive phase and went to the other extreme, with the flowery Stephenie Meyer-esque writing. That was the Broken era. The upside to this phase was that I learned how to write a well-developed character.
Now I'm to a place where I think my writing has a good balance. It's still detailed and flows nicely, but it's not so flowery and over the top. In a few more years, I may look back on the writing I'm doing now and cringe, but for now, I'm happy with how it's come along.
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OK, I've just started reading my first BSB story and am cringing already (still on page one).
Aww! When you're done with that, go read either Save a Prayer or Rewind and you['ll feel much better! :)
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Aww! When you're done with that, go read either Save a Prayer or Rewind and you['ll feel much better! :)
LOL I agree with this!
Is there anyone who really loves the first fanfic they ever wrote?
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I don't know that there are very many novel length stories I've gone back and read from beginning to end. I usually pick out specific chapters that I like and go back and re-read those.
Steph, I think you should go back and read Climbing Up That Hill when you're finished with it!
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Ugh Julie never compare yourself To Stephanie Meyer's flowery writing! I will take Broken over Twilight any day! That actually made me cringe when you said that LOL!
We should do a reading challenge your first and your latest. Where everyone has to read their first novel and then the last one they wrote to see how much they have grown!
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Ugh Julie never compare yourself To Stephanie Meyer's flowery writing! I will take Broken over Twilight any day! That actually made me cringe when you said that LOL!
We should do a reading challenge your first and your latest. Where everyone has to read their first novel and then the last one they wrote to see how much they have grown!
Well, this made me cringe when I read it: The previous day’s nightmare had already seeped across midnight’s boundary, assaulting the new day, purging the morning of its innocence. Does that not sound like something from Twilight? Well, it's not; it's from Chapter 101 of Broken LOL.
That's a great idea for a challenge! It must include a survey!
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I do reread my own stories a lot. But if it is one of mine that's like 55 chapters I won't read it all, just pieces of it. The shorter ones I can read easily.
Incomplete was my first story, full of fanfic cliches but it was an interesting concept. My writing has drastically improved since then :)
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How often if at all do you go back and read your stuff?
Not that often lol. Usually it's not unless I need to remember or something or they get nominated.
Do you tend to find it a fun experience or do you tend to cringe?
If the story's really old, I tend to cringe!
Do you read your own stories more than anyone else's?
Nope.
Do you find yourself comparing your work to other people's?
I know I shouldn't, but of course I do. I mean I'll read others' writing and do my best to strive to reach that level. I've always been like that, especially with collaborations because I want my writing to be on the same level. Like with Undead, I'm always trying to make sure my writing is as good as Julie's, which is a good thing cause it makes me better and gives me a goal.
If you find mistakes in the older stuff you've written, are you prone to go back and fix it or just leave it be?
Sure, if it's minor. If it requires a partial rewrite, maybe not lol. Once something's posted and finished I tend to not go back to it.
Do you tend to agree with people and their assessment of it after you've read it?
Usually, maybe not immediately. I need the time to separate myself from my writing first.
Are you ever surprised for better or worse after reading your own stories?
On my old stuff? For worse! LOL I've re-read my story "Just Another Day" recently because it's up for a Trash award. I was online talking to Julie and was like... "Okay, how did this win a Felix?" LOL. Because honestly, the whole thing to me was just bad.
Do you find yourself repeating themes or lines you've written in other stories without realizing you've done that?
Yes! LOL there's times I'll have Nick sing something, or Kevin's way of talking to Nick, that I know I've used in other stories but won't realize it till later.
After reading it yourself, would you recommend it to someone else?
Hmm, probably nothing pre-2006/2007 LOL. Everything that came after my mini-romance phase seems to be better. I feel like that's around the time I started looking at my writing more critically.
What's one thing you've found surprising or enlightening by reading your own work?
I've grown a lot as a writer over the years. I do a lot more research into everything, I make sure to watch how I write things as well. My first person POV used be VERY rambling, So much so that it killed the flow of writing rather than made it sound realistic. I also take my writing more seriously now than I did then so it's why I don't churn stuff out the way I used to LOL. I've also realized part of the reason I loved writing sci-fi was because I didn't need to give as much thought to looking things up lol. Now I enjoy it.
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Well, this made me cringe when I read it: The previous days nightmare had already seeped across midnights boundary, assaulting the new day, purging the morning of its innocence. Does that not sound like something from Twilight? Well, it's not; it's from Chapter 101 of Broken LOL.
That's a great idea for a challenge! It must include a survey!
I did not see the word sparkle in there at all so in my mind you're all good! LOL
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Aww! When you're done with that, go read either Save a Prayer or Rewind and you['ll feel much better! :)
I stopped reading, lol
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Ugh Julie never compare yourself To Stephanie Meyer's flowery writing! I will take Broken over Twilight any day! That actually made me cringe when you said that LOL!
We should do a reading challenge your first and your latest. Where everyone has to read their first novel and then the last one they wrote to see how much they have grown!
I agree, Julie is so much better than Stephenie Meyer and I like her Twilight books!
Oh god, I would take part in that challenge but would be cringing all the time and wouldn't blame the other person if they actually said "Steph, this sucks" lol.
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Incomplete was my first story, full of fanfic cliches but it was an interesting concept. My writing has drastically improved since then :)
Mine wasn't even interesting!
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LOL I agree with this!
Is there anyone who really loves the first fanfic they ever wrote?
I'll never know... mine is forever stuck on a floppy disk! lol
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LOL I agree with this!
Is there anyone who really loves the first fanfic they ever wrote?
No, the first one I wrote was hideous and I'm glad there is no trace of it anywhere, lol. The second one I loved though...well I loved it at the time, it was a Take That one. I bet if I re-read it, I'd cringe.
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Mizpah was my first one & I'm kind of nervous to read it lol
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I'm on chapter 3 of mine right now and can't believe how rushed it is and how childish it seems. I hope I've improved in the four years since I wrote it!
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My guess is you have Steph lol
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LOL I agree with this!
Is there anyone who really loves the first fanfic they ever wrote?
Oh god no lmao. Full of fanfic cliches mixed in with a love of sci-fi. But I was barely 13 when I wrote my first fanfic...so that's my excuse :P.
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I wish I had the excuse of being young when I wrote my first one *hangs head in shame*
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My guess is you have Steph lol
The more I'm reading, the more I'm thinking I've improved since then. But I'll have to read a recent one when I'm done with this crap, just to see, lol.
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I wish I had the excuse of being young when I wrote my first one *hangs head in shame*
If it helps I'm sure my first was worse than your first LOL.
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If it helps I'm sure my first was worse than your first LOL.
I really don't think it could've been! I wrote better stories when I was in school compared to the first fanfic I wrote, lol.
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I just posted a little survey ion the new thread for challenges! LOL
My guess is none of your stuff is as bad as you are thinking it is. All of you!
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I did not see the word sparkle in there at all so in my mind you're all good! LOL
LOL Thanks!
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my first fanfic has found it's way into the trash can since it was written in notebooks. My 2nd was lost when my site got taken down without warning and was rewritten from memory (Messing with Magic) ... my third is probably wretched but I haven't checked my CYDMR CD to see if actually got saved. With a title "How I Saved The Backstreet Boys" how could it not? though to be fair, it was for a challenge that had to include a certain line and that's the story I formed for that sentence. LOL.
I do have cringed worthy, they are just not posted because they were on my site when I lost it and now are on my CD and I am choosing not to post the ones I laugh at without reading.
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Does anyone have a good question for today?
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I do! What's the biggest "guilty pleasure" story you've written and why?
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Okay I was kind of waiting on someone to answer this first because I'm a little confused as to what you mean. I know what a guilty pleasure is but I'm not exactly sure in terms of writing what to consider as a guilty pleasure because in my mind writing any fanfic in general is a guilty pleasure lol I know there are some stories I've read that I might consider guilty pleasures in that they just make me feel warm & fuzzy even though they may not be the best or most realistic stories, but then again I really am not one to turn to fanfic to make me feel better. So, someone else answer this and then maybe I'll be able to get a better idea? Julie, what's your answer to this question? lol
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Okay, I'll answer first, and maybe that will help clarify!
I agree that fanfic in itself is pretty much all a guilty pleasure LOL, but I mean a story you've written that you felt like maybe you "shouldn't be" writing, maybe because it involved a certain fandom or genre or cliched idea or whatever might make you feel "guilty" about writing it... yet you had fun writing it anyway!
Of my early stories, the biggest guilty pleasure was a story called Through Thick and Thin, which was basically the non-parody version of Not Another Teenybopper Fanfic LOL. It was such a teeny fic! It was about a girl band, consisting of four characters who were based on myself and my friends, who get discovered by the Backstreet Boys while performing at an open mic night and given a record deal and invited on tour as the opening act. Of course, the four girls fall in love with the Boys (except Kevin, because none of my friends liked Kevin), and there was lots and lots of drama. I killed Leighanne in a car accident so that my character could hook up with Brian. I gave one of the girls an eating disorder and killed another one with cancer. I killed Howie's baby. It was a total soap opera! It was so bad that I knew even as I was writing it that it was a cheesy bopper fic, because it's not like it was my first fanfic, but it was fun to write anyway. THAT'S a guilty pleasure!
Of my recent stories, the biggest guilty pleasure I've written is Curtain Call. I literally felt guilty when I started writing it because I had just started posting Guilty Roads and was NOT looking to start another story. Then I felt like I shouldn't write it because it was another Nick cancer story, and I didn't want people to think that I was trying recapture the "magic" of Broken/BMS or that that's all I'm capable of writing. But I had fun writing it, and I'm glad people liked it!
Hope that helps! So does anyone else have a guilty pleasure story?
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Thanks, Julie! That did actually help a lot! lol I guess I have two stories that would fit into the guilty pleasure category then.
Five Backstreet Boys in Search of a Plot was just something the three of us wanted to write for us, mostly for the purpose of amusing each other. It was so much fun writing in genres I would normally never write in, like slash or crossovers. Doing things like using the ingredients from a cereal box as the medical lingo and being able to write an entire musical chapter were just fun and we didn't really care about how believable any of it was. We were over the top and loved it!
To Protect and Serve is the other one. I wrote it was because I wanted to read something like it. The boys as brothers but not in a dramatic setting like Mel's but an action adventure setting where they are looking out for each other and being overly protective. Kevin as an FBI agent, Howie as his partner. Brian as a first year in training under them, AJ as a fireman and Nick as the rebellious teen brother getting into all kinds of trouble. Yeah, I wrote that mainly for my own enjoyment. lol
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Oh, one more guilty pleasure and that was my latest story in Scatteted Pictures. I really just wanted to write an old school silly story with the main focus being a ghost story lol that was mainly for me as well!
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My guilty pleasure fanfic would have to be Jizzle Of Oz. Not only was it a direct movie parody....but it was full of cliche jokes and just old school BSB humor. I loved writing it. Especially Leighanne and her putting all the munchkins in wylee tees lol
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It's funny that you kept saying you wrote those stories because they were something you wanted to read, Mare. How many of you do that, write the kind of stories you would want to read?
For those of you who do, here are some follow-up questions:
1. What are some of the stories you've written because they were something you would want to read?
2. Have you ever actually gone back and read those stories, and if so, do you think you enjoyed them as much as you would have if you hadn't been the one who wrote them?
3. Are there any stories you've written that you don't think you would read if someone else had written them?
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It's funny because for me that was one of my definitions of guilty pleasure. Something I wrote mainly for my own entertainment more so than anyone else's lol
1. Quite a few of them were written because they were things I would have liked to read. What Lurks Around the Corner, It Stays With You, Cough Medicine, Why I'd Do it all Again, Shadow Woods, Separate Ways and Protect and Serve lol All of them kind of happened because I wanted to read something along those lines but no one was complying with me!
2. As of now, the one I'm currently reading is Cough Medicine but I do eventually plan on reading all of the ones above and honestly I'm looking forward to reading a couple of them. So far I am enjoying Cough Medicine, even though it's making me cringe. I am enjoying the suspense and action element of it and that's what I do look for when looking for something to read. I think I would have enjoyed them all a lot more if it was someone else who wrote them. It kind of sucks a bit of the fun out of it when you already know what's going to happen unless your like me and have NO memory of a few like A Million Little Things. When I read that it was like reading someone else's story because I didn't remember it at all! lmao How sad is that? :(
3. There are a lot of stories I know I wouldn't read if I didn't write them. LOL Whatever the Night May Bring being the most recent. I would have never even clicked on that one! I am picky when it comes to reading so I'm pretty sure if I saw anyone was a lead besides Nick l would have no interest at all.
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I feel like most of what I write is stuff I would want to read, especially my medical dramas. I have always enjoyed those kinds of stories, not just in fanfic, but in real books and TV shows too. Luckily, I'm not the only one, or I wouldn't have any readers LOL.
The only one of those stories that I've actually really enjoyed reading just as a reader, though, is Curtain Call. That was a first for me. Any other time, I've been too busy looking at the story through my writer's lens (and cringing) to really enjoy it. And like you said, Mare, it's hard when you already know what's coming. I do think I would have enjoyed reading stories like Broken and BMS, Beside the Ocean, and Identical if someone else had written them. And probably most of my older stories, if someone had taken the same storyline and written them better. (But back in 2000, I probably would have enjoyed them the way I wrote them because my standards were lower! LOL)
00Carter is the big one that I'm pretty sure I never would have even clicked on if I hadn't been involved in writing it LOL. I love a good parody, but I'm not into the James Bond stuff, and I've only read a few AUs that I really got into, so 00Carter is not my type of story at all. But as one of the writers, it's one that I love going back to read certain scenes of. I think most of my other stories have something that would attract me to them, whether it be Brian or Nick, medical drama, suspense, or zombies LOL. Like I said, I usually write what I like to read!
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1. What are some of the stories you've written because they were something you would want to read?
Games, Save A Prayer, Rewind, Unwinding Truth, Maybe Tomorrow, Patience (Take That story)
2. Have you ever actually gone back and read those stories, and if so, do you think you enjoyed them as much as you would have if you hadn't been the one who wrote them?
I re-read Games a couple of days ago and really enjoyed it, so if someone else had written it, I would've liked it too. I'm currently re-reading Patience, which is a story I wrote when I first discovered fanfics (although it's not the first one I wrote, probably the third). So far I'm enjoying it, but I'm not that far into the story yet. I think I'd read it by someone else though.
3. Are there any stories you've written that you don't think you would read if someone else had written them?
Plenty! But the only one posted here is Forces of Nature. I do have a couple of cringe worthy one-shots, but I'm not sure which ones they are :)
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Yeah... I guess anything I've written in the past four months counts as a guilty pleasure lol.
But specifically I am currently writing a 1D/BSB crossover in which Nick sorta goes after one of the 1D guys girlfriends. It's basically complete but I haven't posted it anywhere because I'm so ashamed that I actually wrote something like that LOL. I had already planned to do a story about Nick taking a younger artist onto his label and mentoring them and writing a story about their relationship/friendship... and then I realized I already had a young female popstar character created...and it sort of spiraled out of control from there. Not gonna lie though, it is a lot of fun to write.
1. What are some of the stories you've written because they were something you would want to read?
A lot of my focus-fail one-shots come from something I'd like to see explored in more depth. Like Nick angsting over Brian and Leighanne's wedding, for instance.
2. Have you ever actually gone back and read those stories, and if so, do you think you enjoyed them as much as you would have if you hadn't been the one who wrote them?
I haven't actually gone back and read too many of my one-shots! I think I'd be too critical of them though and wouldn't be able to separate myself as the person who wrote it from my enjoyment of it. I'd still have writer-brain going and think about awkward flowing sentences, I think.
3. Are there any stories you've written that you don't think you would read if someone else had written them?
Uh, yeah! Probably Left and Leaving. The plot of that even bored me while I was writing it.
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1. What are some of the stories you've written because they were something you would want to read?
Severed Identities, Chronos Project, Amnesia, More Than That, Messing with Magic, Widow's Walk, Unwinding Truth, Wulf's Bane
2. Have you ever actually gone back and read those stories, and if so, do you think you enjoyed them as much as you would have if you hadn't been the one who wrote them?
I have yet to read any of those stories completely through from start to finish. When I open them up I am typically looking for something or just trying to refresh my memory on what I wrote. Cause I wrote them I tend to not read them though I have started to reread Chronos Project in order to rewrite.
3. Are there any stories you've written that you don't think you would read if someone else had written them?
Darkness of Vampires, Fighting Fate, Of Love and Time and unfortunately it probably shows in the second 2
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What are some of the silliest lines you've ever had your characters say?
What about your favorite conversations? That made you laugh that you've written or someone else has?
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I would have to go back and read my stuff as I can't remember lines, lol. I'm sure there are many silly things they've said.
Same goes for stories I've read, I've laughed at loads but can't think what they were. I do remember laughing at Rose's killer grapes, AJ with the instagram and Twitter stuff in Scattered Pictures, but I'll need to think of others and come back.
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I'm sure I've written something silly in 00Carter but I can't remember. For having a humor page I don't think I'm that funny. HEH
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Yeah I guess this would test memory lol I can think of funny moments but can't remember what story they are from so maybe this is a bad question lol
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I do remember writing something funny in The Man With Two Brains, but I can't remember what :/ Maybe I'm going senile, lol
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In When I Grow Up there is a convo between AJ and Nick that goes "Nick you get pussy every night" and Nick (13 year old Nick in a 30 year old body) goes "That is a LOT of cats."
When Lauren does a strip tease for him, he squirms and says "put those away"
Nick looking at his body and going "THAT isn't mine"
So many funny moments in that story.
I have a lot from Jizzle of Oz as well.
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I try to put lots of lighter moments in my stories, and I'm sure I've written some funny things from Nick's POV, but I can't remember anything specific.
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Yeah same here. I do think my entire musical chapter in five BSBs was pretty funny lol but I can't site anything specific.
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Guilty Pleasure?
I'd have to say 00Carter. It's definitely over the top and it's never gotten a lot of readers and it takes forever for us to get an update out. But, at the same time, I still love writing it. It's entertaining for me and I always laugh and enjoy planning it out. So yeah, I'd say that was it.
1. What are some of the stories you've written because they were something you would want to read?
"Here We Stand" is one. I love bromance stories, and this was before Mare got inspired lol. It is totally the story I'd love to read by her (though her take is different :) ). Another one is "Song For The Undead". I love horror stories! And there's just not enough in fanfic anymore. If I wasn't writing it, it's definitely something I would love to read.
2. Have you ever actually gone back and read those stories, and if so, do you think you enjoyed them as much as you would have if you hadn't been the one who wrote them?
I've reread Undead at times so I can get into the mindset of writing it again. I actually enjoy it. Maybe it's because half of it isn't my writing. But I think I enjoy them a lot. If it was solely Julie who wrote it though, I might have liked it more because I wouldn't know what was going to happen.
3. Are there any stories you've written that you don't think you would read if someone else had written them?
I may not have read "Walked Out Of My Dreams" actually. I'm not sure. It's mainly Brian centered and it's definitely something I might have been iffy on. One I know for a fact I wouldn't have read was "Just Another Day". Definitely NOT something that's on my typical reading list LOL.
What are some of the silliest lines you've ever had your characters say?
I think it's funny. Mainly because as I wrote it I had to reread it like five times to make sure it made sense LOL. It's from RMTW.
“It’s unfair to them, and you know they’ll know I know, and they’ll wanna know why I know what Kevin knew and didn’t want me to know. So then they’ll bug you to tell me why I get to know what Kevin knows even though you didn’t want me to know, and that they should know whatever it is I know and Kevin knows and you know so that way we all know.” Brian replied in one very long breath, giving a cheesy smile.
Another one from RMTW... since I was trying to make sure I had some comic relief.
“Damn dude you still taste like hot sauce!” (After Nick licks Howie)
The two laughed as Nick put a slice of grapefruit on Brian’s head. “You look yummy by the way.”
“I’m magically delicious!”
My silliest definitely goes to...
It was those grapes!
Those fucking grapes!
That's all I can think of LOL. And thanks Steph for the grapes mention!
What about your favorite conversations? That made you laugh that you've written or someone else has?
Um... I'd have to think about full on conversations LOL.
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Ok I went back to five BSBs looking for the musical chapter but landed on the slash one instead. There isn't s particular line thats funny & for anyone who hasn't read it, it's hard to explain so I'm just giving the link because I thought the whole thing was pretty funny. Nick & Kevin thrust into a slash scene not by choice!
http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=4359&chapter=4
I'm sure I think I'm funnier than I actually am. Do you guys find that? Someone saying omg you have to read this, it's Thr funniest thing I've ever read only to be like uh... That wasn't funny lol
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Usually if I'm trying to be funny, I will show Julie a scene on yahoo to ask her opinion. In fact I just did that last night with HWS. Then again we have the same sense of humor, so that may not help any...LOL.
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I love 5 BSBs in Search Of A Plot lmfao. I found the whole thing hilarious, if that helps Mare.
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LOL I loved 5 BSBs in search of a plot. I loved how Howie gets sick and then an ominous voice says "wait Nick is the one who gets sick" and Nick thinks the tree is talking *dies*
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Thanks guys. I just reread the medical chapter! With dr. Lewis, dr. Kristoff dr. Jenkins and Jennifer the intern all fighting over what kind of cancer Nick has lmao I am funny!
I miss my M's lol
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^ Love! LOL
I will have to think about the funniest lines/conversations question. I'm not good at remembering stuff like that!
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Asked this on twitter and Mare said it'd be good here!
So, do you guys think that stories with a banner get read more than a story without a banner? I know for me personally, I never make banners for my one-shots, and they still get read. But I'm wondering what you guys have experienced?
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So, do you guys think that stories with a banner get read more than a story without a banner? I know for me personally, I never make banners for my one-shots, and they still get read. But I'm wondering what you guys have experienced?
I never make banners for my one-shots (except for the grape story where it was required lol) these days and they still get read as often as my stories with banners. I really don't think they make that great a difference. When it comes to reading, I always look at the summary. Is it grammatically correct, does it make sense, and does it sound interesting - those are what I consider.
The banner (which I always enjoy making) is just something pretty to look at LOL.
The only thing that a banner can do to deter me is if it has the author's picture in there. Because that's so shameless that I can't even consider reading it LOL.
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The banner question
As a reader, I never have clicked on a story because of the banner EVER! I do have to say I have stayed away from quite a few stories because of them. The summary is what I look at but if you are clogging that summary with an over the top banner that I can tell you spent too much time on, in my mind it's more important then your actually story so I don't even bother to read the summary. That's me though lol
As a writer, I haven't used banners for a really long time now and I have a good amount of readers. Would there be more if I had a banner? Probably, but again if someone is only going to click on my story because it looks pretty, I'm not sure they'd enjoy what I have to offer LOL
A good story should speak for itself without the aide of banners or character lists or fireworks or whatever else! That's why I do not allow them in any of my challenges! LOL
I think a great challenge for everyone would be to post a novel without a banner! Not just a one shot but an entire novel! To see if it actually does make a difference! I like that challenge very much!!
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I wouldn't be able to do that challenge anytime soon :P. I'm determined to finish my current novellas before going into something new LOL.
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Like Rose, I make banners for my novels, but usually not my one-shots, and I still get my regular crew of readers reading both. It shouldn't matter much either way. I will say, though, that when I'm just scrolling quickly through the Most Recent page, stories with banners catch my eye more than stories without. I could see stories without banners getting lost in the shuffle unless they're updated frequently enough to be on the Most Recent page a lot. I have clicked on stories because the banners caught my eye, but I've also avoided stories because their banners made them look like something I wouldn't enjoy. That said, I always at least read the summary before deciding whether or not to click on the story.
To me, banners are just like book covers - when I'm browsing in a book store, a brightly-colored or interesting-looking book jacket will grab my attention and get me to pull that book off the shelves, but my very next move is to turn it over and read the summary on the back. If the summary sounds like something I might like, I open the book and do a little skimming. If it doesn't, I put it back on the shelves. I'm the same way when browsing for fanfics to read.
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Like I said on twitter, I have stories that don't have banners. When I first joined AC none of them had any but I think it is like a book cover like Julie said. I've only clicked on a story because of a banner once, and that was Time Has A Way by Tri. It turned out to be a really good story.
I will read stories with or without banners but I look at the summary first. If the summary is interesting, I will read it :)
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Does anyone look at a story's reviews before deciding whether it's worth a try or not?
I know when I buy books online, like on Amazon, I always look at the reviews after reading the summary and so on, but I don't do that with stories on AC. I guess it's because they're free, so I'm not losing anything by giving a story a try. If I don't like it, I just don't read it, whereas if I'm going to spend money on a book, I want to know that other people thought it was worth buying!
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I actually look at the reviews too, same as when I buy an app or something off amazon. If I hear good things about a story I am likely to read as well.
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My guilty Pleasure?
My guilty pleasure was Sinister Devotion. Because I wrote it for myself because I was obsessed with the idea of AJ as an assassin. I knew that it wouldn't be a lot of readers cup of tea. Although, I did get more readers/reviews than I thought I would. I just had a blast writing that story and I wasn't really worried about Its popularity.
1. What are some of the stories you've written because they were something's you would want to read?
hmmm I would say "Sinister Devotion" I just loved AJ as a hitman. Also "Fight Me" because i suck at writing OF and I was able to use Nick as my main character so easily.
3. Are there any stories you've written that you don't think you would read if someone else had written them?
If I'm in the mood and have time I give anything a try. But I proly wouldn't have read "Driving Me Crazy" with Howie as the main character because Its just hard to read anything unless it's AJ or Nick as the main man.
4. What are some of the silliest lines you've ever had your characters say?
“You got a boner…with Abby right next to you?” AJ let out a husky laugh.
Nick rolled his eyes and checked if everything he owned was still there. “You just made me smash Mr. Twinkie against that tree.”
He waved a hand at Nick and passed Abby who was startled when he flew by. “Tall boy like yo butt!”
5. What about your favorite conversations? That made you laugh that you've written or someone else has?
They are both from Just One Kiss.
"Oh Jesus! I’ll do it.” She sounded so determined, but her insides were churning. Brian got up and threw his gloves away. She took a seat between Nick’s legs as she pulled on the gloves. She took hold of the end of the robe and carefully pulled it open.
“OMG! It’s big!”
Nick blushed, “Twinkie?”
“Oh please!” Brian exclaimed.
Abby turned tomato red as she stumbled on her words. “Um…the…I…your rash. It’s really big and red.”Nick didn’t know a woman could blush so many times in one day.
He couldn’t help the smile on his face as he felt Abby‘s hands on Mr. Twinkie!
“What if Hazeleyes06 isn’t a she. It might be some lard butt dude with an infatuation for blonde boys in tighty whities. Staring right at you from one of the telescopes.
“Shut the fuck up! You are a complete freak and I don't wear tighty whities”
"You did last week."
Tired of looking out at the city he turned his attention to the parking lot and the lawn, hoping to get a glimpse of his date. He leaned against the fence and crossed one arm. “That was all for my photoshoot asshole. It’s definitely a she…and she’s damn hot too.”
“If you say so. What if she’s not what you expect huh? She’s missing a leg or an eyeball. Argh…like a pirate.”
Nick rolled his eyes as if his friend could see him. “You’re in idiot mode. I see what happens when you’re really
in love…you go stupid!”
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Asked this on twitter and Mare said it'd be good here!
So, do you guys think that stories with a banner get read more than a story without a banner? I know for me personally, I never make banners for my one-shots, and they still get read. But I'm wondering what you guys have experienced?
I never make them for my one-shots, with the exception of the one challenge where we had to make one. I usually make them for my other stories though, just because I think of them as a book cover.
I don't decide to read a story because of a banner though. I read the summary to decide if it's something I'll like. The banner is just something pretty to look at :)
When I'm deciding on a book from Amazon, I do read reviews because I'm parting with money, lol. With fanfic, it's free so I don't need to read the reviews first as if I don't like it, I can just click out.
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I read reviews if I'm buying a book. Cause honestly you're parting with money. With fanfic? No. That and usually not many people give concrit. People will rave about stories that I can't see the appeal in at all LOL, like that Oreos story. So even if I did read fanfic reviews, it wouldn't do me any good!
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I wouldn't be able to do that challenge anytime soon :P. I'm determined to finish my current novellas before going into something new LOL.
The best part of this challenge is how simple it is! All you have to do, is go to a story you are currently working on, hit edit, go to the summary, highlight the banner and press delete! Yay!!!! :) lol life should be that simple for everyone.
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I will only read reviews before clicking in a story if I'm on the fence about it. Sometimes by just seeing who is reviewing kind of gives me an idea if I might like it, for example if I see it's someone who has the same taste I do. Otherwise I usually don't check out the reviews.
Like everyone else said, I do with books but usually I'll go by people's recs over what a review says anyway.
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I don't usually read reviews on a story I'm not reading or one that I'm on the fence about reading. I actually will more often read other reviews of a story I'm really caught up in and love, because I want to see if the other reviewers had the same thoughts as I did about chapters and stuff. I also like reading them because the author's reponses sometimes have interesting little tidbits to other readers that they may not have mentioned to me because it never came up.
I have another question.
If you tried reading something by an author, and it wasn't good, would that deter you from reading something of theirs in the future? Would you be less likely to try something from that author if something you read before from them ended up not being to your taste, even if the plotline of a different story from them looked interesting to you?
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Banners:
Banners catch my eye but it's the summary I read. I have made it a point to look at stories without banners more lately and read their summaries to see if I think it's something I will enjoy.
Reviews:
I won't read reviews for fanfic that I'm wanting to read because oftentimes the reviews have spoilers in them and I don't want the spoilers. I will read them if I am reading the story to see what others are saying though.
If you tried reading something by an author, and it wasn't good, would that deter you from reading something of theirs in the future? Would you be less likely to try something from that author if something you read before from them ended up not being to your taste, even if the plotline of a different story from them looked interesting to you?
It depends on why I didn't like the story. If I didn't like that plot I'd give another a try if the summary looked interesting. If I didn't like it because the writing wasn't easy to understand I am more likely to avoid another by the same author.
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I tend to look for a specific kind of story and I'm usually not concerned with who wrote it. One thing I do take into consideration before reading it though is if the author has a history of not finishing their stories or if they tend to make a lot of grammatical errors. That would be the only reason I might not give a story I would otherwise click on, a try.
I know what I like to read, if it's one of my favorite authors writing it, it's an added bonus but if not, that's okay too.
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I'm not sure if that actually answered your question lol
I guess my real answer would be similar to Lore's answer. It would depend on what I didn't like. I would think if the plot was something that excited me & the execution wasn't there, I might give that author another go if he or she came up with another interesting story idea. If it happened again, I'd most likely not give them a third chance lol
If I stopped because of horrible grammar, that would be the end most likely.
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Yeah I definitely agree with both of you guys. If it was something I didn't read because it had a lot of spelling/grammar errors, then I'd be really hesitant to try something from them again. But if it was purely the plot that just didn't interest me, I'd probably give another one of their stories a try.
I think I personally am more likely to give something I am a little on the fence about a try if it's by someone who has written things I've loved in the past rather than someone completely new. Not something that doesn't look interesting at all, but just something that I wouldn't normally try but am a little intrigued by.
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I'm like that more with one shots, like Rose's new short about AJ. If it was someone I didn't know, I probably would have skipped right over it because it was an AJ story lol but I already know I like her writing so I gave it a try. I'm really not as willing to do that with novels, no matter who wrote it. If its an AJ novel I'm not going to want to read it. lol
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Yeah I agree I'm definitely more willing to take risks on one shots. Less of a commitment.
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I have another question.
If you tried reading something by an author, and it wasn't good, would that deter you from reading something of theirs in the future? Would you be less likely to try something from that author if something you read before from them ended up not being to your taste, even if the plotline of a different story from them looked interesting to you?
If their story was full of mistakes and poorly presented, then I don't think I'd read anything else by them. Or maybe I'd take a look to see if they'd improved, if the story summary looked like something I might like.
I know that some writers write a variety of stuff, so just because one story might not be to my taste, it doesn't mean I wouldn't check out something else by them.
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I agree with everyone else - if I stopped reading a story because it was poorly-written, I probably wouldn't want to read another one by the same author. But if I could tell that it was well-written, just not something that interested me, I would absolutely check out a different story by the same author if it caught my attention.
I'll read anything that sounds interesting, no matter who it's by, as long as it's readable, but I'm more likely to read stories I'm on the fence about if they're written by authors whose work I've enjoyed in the past.
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I agree too! If it's because it was poorly written (grammatically, formatting/big wall of text, rushed plot, 1-D characters, whatever...) I'd be far less likely to give that author a chance. If it was just that the story wasn't my type of story, I'd be willing to check out another story by that author if a different story caught my eye.
I'll click on anything that piques my interest, but I will say if it's authors who I've always enjoyed, it'll definitely get me to click if I'm 50/50 on it LOL.
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rushed plot, 1-D characters
so does that mean I'm out *sniffs*
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I will read stuff by an author if I've consistently liked their other stories. Not every story appeals to me but I usually find something else they've written to enjoy. I will give everyone a fair chance, but I don't review unless I'm gonna keep reading until it is done.
Which brings me to a question, do you review something you've read even if you're not going to finish reading a story? Or if you didn't like it do you just not leave feedback at all?
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I will review so long as I'm reading. I leave a review at the end of every chapter if I am being good (and lately I always leave one). If I stop reading it's because I've forgotten I was even reading it or I lost interest, my reviews will just stop at that point.
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Which brings me to a question, do you review something you've read even if you're not going to finish reading a story? Or if you didn't like it do you just not leave feedback at all?
I'll review something if I'm liking it. If I don't like, I don't review.
Sometimes I'll start reading a story, then I'll fall behind for a while if I'm reading a few others. But if it's a story I like, I'll go back to it eventually :)
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Yep I am the same way. If I like something I will review every chapter as it is updated. If I miss one it is because I got busy, but I always make up for it. If I didn't like something, I just don't review the story at all. I haven't been reading anything other than Severed Identities, Unwinding Truth, and Walked Out Of My Dreams lately though. I need some new stories to read :)
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I used to always leave reviews for anything I read but then I found that if I lost interest and stopped reading, the author would often remind me that I hadn't read or reviewed yet and it got to be an awkward thing where I almost felt forced to continue reading something I just didn't like because I was too nice to just be honest about it. Since then I learned my lesson and will only review a story if I know it's going to hold my interest. There are times, that even though you have the best of intentions to finish a story, it might suddenly just not seem appealing anymore but I've also learned to be more honest about that, if the author asks me or reminds me to read their chapter I don't mind telling them I've stopped because I've also come to realize it's kind of pushy to keep asking for someone to read your stuff in the first place. LOL
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I will openly admit when I first started writing I did ask people why they weren't reviewing anymore...I probably inadvertently turned them off from reading my stuff ever again. It happens. I sometimes get overly excited about a new story I've started. I don't mean to be pushy, I just used to come off that way so I stopped doing it. I still feel badly about it.
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The whole writing/reading fanfic process is one big learning curve lol
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It really is lol I'm constantly learning what is and isn't ok to do.
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so does that mean I'm out *sniffs*
No because I've seen your writing in 00Carter remember? LOL Besides, Nick had depth.
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I will read stuff by an author if I've consistently liked their other stories. Not every story appeals to me but I usually find something else they've written to enjoy. I will give everyone a fair chance, but I don't review unless I'm gonna keep reading until it is done.
Which brings me to a question, do you review something you've read even if you're not going to finish reading a story? Or if you didn't like it do you just not leave feedback at all?
I try not to review unless I at least plan on reading it the whole way through. Then, I'll review as long as I'm reading it. Sometimes life happens and then I fall really behind. I'll try and catch up and sometimes it's been so long it needs a full re-read so then it takes even longer for me to get back to it. However, if someone asks, I'm honest and tell them.
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It really is lol I'm constantly learning what is and isn't ok to do.
Me too lol
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No because I've seen your writing in 00Carter remember? LOL Besides, Nick had depth.
Heh... true... my bad characters are always better.... I need a class on writing protagonists
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Sometimes I don't even realize I might be annoying someone unless they tell me politely. So if I am I apologize. I don't mean to lol
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I'm so behind in here with the move this weekend. Just got the internet today and start the new job tomorrow so hopefully I'll have time to eventually catch up lol
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Which brings me to a question, do you review something you've read even if you're not going to finish reading a story? Or if you didn't like it do you just not leave feedback at all?
I follow the Thumper rule when it comes to reviewing - if you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all. I only review stuff that I enjoyed or could at least see the potential in.
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The whole writing/reading fanfic process is one big learning curve lol
I think every writing community has their own sort of "culture," too, when it comes to that kind of stuff. For example, shameless self-promotion is not something that will earn you a lot of respect here, but Steph has mentioned that on the 1D site she posts on, self-promo is the only way to get people to read your stories. I've never seen people holding "auditions" to cast other posters as characters in their stories here, but on Refresh, that was the thing to do. And I remember Steph saying that on the Take That site she used to post stuff on, everyone wrote self-insert stories, which are not as popular at least among the people who post on the forum. So what is seen as acceptable in one fandom or even on one site/forum may be completely different from what's acceptable somewhere else. That's definitely part of the learning curve, but I also think everyone should just be confident in who they are as writers and not try to change themselves or their writing just to follow a trend or please someone other than themselves.
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I would never ask someone to review my stuff, or why they stopped reading. I know that if people aren't reading it's because they don't like it, lol.
Yes Julie, everyone wrote self-inserts on that site, and the only stories which got read were romance, the more sexed up, the better as far as they were concerned. Also, a couple of the writers on there - who were also mods - used to pester everyone to read and review their stuff. If they noticed someone reading and not reviewing, they would ban them! In the end I decided I couldn't handle that place. I hate being forced to do something I don't want to do! That's why I love this place so much :)
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I would be too embarrasses to ask someone why they stopped reading and reviewing. Although, it might be good to know. lol. I think people have stopped reading my stuff cause I have been lagging it to update! :(
Which brings me to a question...Do you ever feel like you're done with writing Fanfics? What are some of the reasons you want to quit and some of the reasons you don't quit?
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There's been times I've taken breaks because I got blocked. But time to give up? Oddly enough that's never happened for me LOL.
I agree about the BSB fanfic culture too. These days it's smaller, self-inserts are frowned upon, as is excessive self-promo. It wasn't always like that though. Self-inserts used to be the norm, and you had to nominate yourself for a lot of fanfic awards so that those running it knew you were okay with being up with one. So fanfic "cultures" change and evolve. Romances have always been big, yes. But Bus Crash stories used to be one of the major cliches too, along with BSB Meets Girlband.
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Yeah I would be too shy to ask why someone stopped reading, but I will admit it bothers me when I don't know. Like is it something I can improve upon? Or did they just feel it wasn't for them. I don't think about it as much as I used to, I've learned just ignore it and not dwell so much.
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As per Erika's question though, I don't see me quitting writing any time soon. I've had writer's block lasting a few weeks at a time, but never thought about giving up. I've been writing for a long time, no need to stop now :)
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I do remember way back in the day, all those other things that you mentioned about people and what they do in other fandoms, they used to do in this one. The self inserts, the self promotion. I remember at one point that if you didn't write slash or visuals or romances you were pretty much nothing in this fandom. I mean all that other stuff was stil out there but nowhere near as popular as it is now. We've come a long way and our standards have gotten higher but I think it's because we are all older.
I'm not positive but I think when you look at the 1D general fan population it represents more how this fandom was back for us maybe in 99 when most of their fans were teens and very early twenties.
Now most of us are in our mid twenties and up. Hopefully they'll evolve too as long as their group is still relevant lol
Not sure about the Take That fandom since i'm not really familiar with them, but that's just a mess! Banning people because they didn't read? That just takes power hungry douche to a whole new level!!
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Which brings me to a question...Do you ever feel like you're done with writing Fanfics? What are some of the reasons you want to quit and some of the reasons you don't quit?
I have quit writing novel length fics and if it weren't for these boys LIVING in one of my fanfics this summer, I most likely wouldn't have written a thing. After I'm done with Scattered Pictures I really only plan on writing a one shot here or there. I don't think I could give up writing entirely unless my love of BSB disappears completely and as long as they keep up how they are now, I don't see that happening.
The reason I made this decision though has to do with my love of Backstreet's slow decline over the years. I love them to death but not as much as I used to. I honestly can say I have have only listened to the entire This Is Us CD from start to finish once. Same with the other one that I can't even remember it's name. Ever since they became a four member band it just hasn't had the same appeal and their disconnection from one another hasn't helped either. It's the one thing I was always able to count on. Add New Kids and I had just about given up on them all together!
Thank GOD for Kevin! He has helped revive my love and then this living in a house all together and all the bromantic moments brought back that inner desire to write about them I had been missing for awhile. I admit though, once they left London, my desire left with them lol That's why I know I won't ever commit to a novel because I just don't have that burning desire in me anymore.
Now, if they all did me the favor of leaving their families and moving in together forver, that would be excellent! :)
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It's weird because the culture of that 1DFF site is changing, and I think it's because the older people are speaking up. I don't post on the actual forum a lot, but I do watch it. They're becoming like a mini-AC. A lot of the girls on there are around 19-22. Some people I have talked to are older. But still, it's that you won't get read if you do some form of self-promo. I don't even bother anymore. Too lazy lol. Also I'm in a weird place on that site because the teenies don't care to read my stuff because they don't like the boys to be wronged. A lot of the older people don't care to read my stuff because it's not up to their standards. Whatevs!
Anyway, to quit writing fanfic?! What would I do with all of my free time? lol. There have been times when I've been super discouraged, and a lot of that comes from the fact that IRL I am surrounded by academia and really smart people. People who have English degrees and write because that's what they were taught to do. I feel okay writing fanfic because that's just a hobby, but if I were ever to get a book published I think I'd honestly feel a little guilty.
In a BSB sense, I sometimes get a little bored with them. This summer was good because they were basically living a fanfic as others have said. I fell off of writing fanfic for a bit when This Is Us came out just because I really didn't like that album. Honestly, when I went to see the This Is Us tour, I even told my friends "It'll be nice to sit front row for who used to be my favourite band." I sort of can't believe I said that now, but NKOTBSB and Nick's solo album saved me. Seeing them on the cruise made me want to pick up and start writing about them again.
Maybe there'll come a day when I have less free time to sit and write, but for now I don't see myself stopping in BSB fandom in the forseeable future. I just enjoy it too much, and I enjoy talking to you guys too much to ever leave.
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Also, a couple of the writers on there - who were also mods - used to pester everyone to read and review their stuff. If they noticed someone reading and not reviewing, they would ban them!
Wow, that's extreme! ???
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Which brings me to a question...Do you ever feel like you're done with writing Fanfics? What are some of the reasons you want to quit and some of the reasons you don't quit?
I took a break from writing fan fiction, especially BSB, when I started college back in '04. I got into writing NASCAR and then when really got into my English / Creative Writing / Journalism classes, I was too busy writing and reading for those. That's the only real time I stopped fan fiction. I only got back into it in May of 2008 when I was out of work for Maymester and had no classes. I was recovering from surgery and one of my readers and I were talking and she talked me into writing something and I liked it. I had brought MC back the month before, kind of just as an archive. I wrote on that story that summer, but when fall started for my last year in college, I really didn't update much until I graduated and I started working at the newspaper the next week. That's when I got really into it again.
I'm not sure if anything will ever really make me stop writing.... if I'm not writing BSB, I'll be writing something else. I admit though, this whole moving 4 hours away from home and crap has caused me not to write in over a week. *sigh*
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What site are ya'll talking about with the mods banning people?
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^it was a Take That Fanfic site that UK Steph belonged to.
I had my fanfiction break. I really didn't write much of anything BSB fanfic related between 2007 and 2010, except 00Carter. That was the only fanfic I worked on and since the group was still relatively large during that time I didn't write that frequently even.
I go through a cycle. I really get into writing, then I get back into my needlework, then my computer games, then to reading, then back to writing and repeat. I am trying VERY hard not to stop writing as my cycle continues (I have hit my computer game part of my cycle).
I almost stopped writing fanfiction last year. It was whenever I left 00Carter for the brief time I left that group but then I met more people, switched jobs at work, and wrote a story with a plot I loved and came back to writing fanfic and rejoining 00Carter.
I think if I ever get published (not self published) then I would probably stop writing fanfiction to focus on writing more originals.
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I do remember way back in the day, all those other things that you mentioned about people and what they do in other fandoms, they used to do in this one. The self inserts, the self promotion. I remember at one point that if you didn't write slash or visuals or romances you were pretty much nothing in this fandom. I mean all that other stuff was stil out there but nowhere near as popular as it is now. We've come a long way and our standards have gotten higher but I think it's because we are all older.
I'm not positive but I think when you look at the 1D general fan population it represents more how this fandom was back for us maybe in 99 when most of their fans were teens and very early twenties.
Now most of us are in our mid twenties and up. Hopefully they'll evolve too as long as their group is still relevant lol
Not sure about the Take That fandom since i'm not really familiar with them, but that's just a mess! Banning people because they didn't read? That just takes power hungry douche to a whole new level!!
I think it's still like that on some BSB sites, like the fanfic section of the fan club forum. The difference here is what we've made certain things taboo by ranting about them so much LOL. You still see self-inserts on AC and self-promo on Twitter, and I doubt that will ever change, but those of us who spend so much time discussing this stuff on here have evolved past that.
I do think the 1D fandom is probably similar to how the BSB fandom started out. It's always been said that boybands come around every ten years or so, and here we are - though it's been more like fifteen. Craziness. It's cute, though!
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Which brings me to a question...Do you ever feel like you're done with writing Fanfics? What are some of the reasons you want to quit and some of the reasons you don't quit?
In 12+ years, I have honestly never felt like quitting fanfic. When I first started, I definitely never thought I would still be writing them as an adult; I thought I would stop when I went off to college, but I didn't, and here I am, 27 and still writing them! LOL I don't have any other hobbies that I enjoy nearly this much, and I can't imagine my life without fanfic or writing in general. My love for the Boys hasn't waned over the years, and as long as I love them and love writing and can keep coming up with ideas, I'll keep writing fanfic about them.
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Am I the only one who thinks the fanfic section of the BSB site or even Nick's site is a little too close for comfort? I would feel super awkward posting stories on there. I'm sure none of them ever go in and read them, but to have it right there on the official site where if they did, that might be the first place they'd look... yeah, no thanks. But maybe readership on there is really high?
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LOL I agree that if they were going to go read fanfic for kicks, their own forum probably would be the place they'd look first, but that's not the reason I don't post my stories there. I hate reading fanfics on a forum - that's why. Also, the fan club fanfic forums, from what I've seen of them, seem really teenybopper compared to AC. I haven't been on the BSB one in a long time, though, because my membership's expired.
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Oh I have another question that sort of relates to what you guys are saying about 1D being how our fandom was 10-15 years ago! There's this mega popular fanfic called Room 317 that started all this drama in the fandom because MTV did a bit about it, and the boys are aware of it, and it even trended on twitter partly because of all that.
If we'd had twitter back in the day, what BSB fanfic do you think could have trended/caused an uproar like that?
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I think it's still like that on some BSB sites, like the fanfic section of the fan club forum. The difference here is what we've made certain things taboo by ranting about them so much LOL. You still see self-inserts on AC and self-promo on Twitter, and I doubt that will ever change, but those of us who spend so much time discussing this stuff on here have evolved past that.
There's so much more than self-inserts over here.... it's inserting yourself into the banners LMFAO!! That's one thing I can honestly say I've never done - used my picture in a banner lol
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Oreos for Breakfast
It's not as popular on this forum, but back in the day, it seemed like everyone was raving about that story!! It was the 50 Shades of Grey of BSB fanfic back in the mid-2000s or so LOL.
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There's so much more than self-inserts over here.... it's inserting yourself into the banners LMFAO!! That's one thing I can honestly say I've never done - used my picture in a banner lol
LOL I know! Plenty of adult teenyboppers over here in the BSB fandom!
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Oh I have another question that sort of relates to what you guys are saying about 1D being how our fandom was 10-15 years ago! There's this mega popular fanfic called Room 317 that started all this drama in the fandom because MTV did a bit about it, and the boys are aware of it, and it even trended on twitter partly because of all that.
If we'd had twitter back in the day, what BSB fanfic do you think could have trended/caused an uproar like that?
Probably. They obviously know about it, but there was a hell of a lot of slash with mixtures of BSB and NSync members back in the day and I think that would have caused an uproar.
That whole 317 thing MTV did was crazy LOL!
As for a story, I have idea LOL Everybody talked about Oreos and IWBB (even tho it's mine, I hate it). And that one story that was AU where the guys were baseball players. Can't remember the name.
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Oh yeah, I completely forgot about Oreos! I read that as it was being updated, even when I was deep into being a hipster and not into BSB at all LOL I still checked for updates. For a while, that story was my only tie to the BSB world haha.
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I'd have to agree with Oreos... I never read it because it never interested me but I heard a lot about it all the time! It was always up for some award at any award page I'd go to.
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Yeah that stupid Oreos for Breakfast story would be the one most likely. It's all I ever heard about when I first discovered fanfics. It was definitely what i'd like to call the 'get on the bandwagon' story. Fortunately or unfortunately for me i'm always the one running behind the bandwagon throwing rocks at it. I think it's the growing up in the Bronx being a Mets fan in me LOL
I had no idea there was a fanfic section on the fanclubs, that's crazy! No, thank you!
Here's another question along the lines of what Steph just asked.
If you could pick five fanfics to put in a time capsule that would best represent the BSB fanfic fandom what would you choose and why?
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Not sure about the Take That fandom since i'm not really familiar with them, but that's just a mess! Banning people because they didn't read? That just takes power hungry douche to a whole new level!!
That was just on the site I used to go on. I don't know about any other Take That sites as I don't go on any, I was put off by the power hungry mods on that one.
The thing is though, the women who used to write on there were mostly older than me! But in amongst some of the rubbish, there were a few good ones, even though they were self-inserts.
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Which brings me to a question...Do you ever feel like you're done with writing Fanfics? What are some of the reasons you want to quit and some of the reasons you don't quit?
I can't see me quitting reading or writing because it's something I enjoy.
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Oh, and the baseball fic you mentioned Karah was called Between the Lines. I didn't realize that one was popular though lol weird.
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That was just on the site I used to go on. I don't know about any other Take That sites as I don't go on any, I was put off by the power hungry mods on that one.
The thing is though, the women who used to write on there were mostly older than me! But in amongst some of the rubbish, there were a few good ones, even though they were self-inserts.
That's just crazy though, no matter how you slice it! LOL
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Oh, and the baseball fic you mentioned Karah was called Between the Lines. I didn't realize that one was popular though lol weird.
LMFAO It's all I heard some people talking about... I guess because I was always friends with a lot of sports fans LOL! That might have been it LOL
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If you could pick five fanfics to put in a time capsule that would best represent the BSB fanfic fandom what would you choose and why?
Song For The Undead
Why I'd Do It All Again
Ground Zero
Homecoming
Just One Kiss
I'd pick these because they're some of my favourites and also because they show the diversity in the type of stories written about the boys.
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I've never read that Oreos story or the baseball one because baseball wouldn't appeal to me.
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I do remember way back in the day, all those other things that you mentioned about people and what they do in other fandoms, they used to do in this one. The self inserts, the self promotion. I remember at one point that if you didn't write slash or visuals or romances you were pretty much nothing in this fandom. I mean all that other stuff was stil out there but nowhere near as popular as it is now. We've come a long way and our standards have gotten higher but I think it's because we are all older.
I'm not positive but I think when you look at the 1D general fan population it represents more how this fandom was back for us maybe in 99 when most of their fans were teens and very early twenties.
Now most of us are in our mid twenties and up. Hopefully they'll evolve too as long as their group is still relevant lol
Not sure about the Take That fandom since i'm not really familiar with them, but that's just a mess! Banning people because they didn't read? That just takes power hungry douche to a whole new level!!
That's what I think. The 1D fandom is pretty much what we were like in the 90s LOL.
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Oreos for Breakfast
It's not as popular on this forum, but back in the day, it seemed like everyone was raving about that story!! It was the 50 Shades of Grey of BSB fanfic back in the mid-2000s or so LOL.
Oh god yes LOL. That would've been it. Still don't get why but I agree.
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If you could pick five fanfics to put in a time capsule that would best represent the BSB fanfic fandom what would you choose and why?
Where Can We Go From Here? by Whitney
Ground Zero by Chaos
The Answer is Yes by Eboni
Curtain Call by Julie
Why I'd Do It All Again by Mare
I tried to pull one of each trend or genre. Bus Crash, illness, bromance, sci-fi and kidnapping. Each one was incredibly well written. It's also a good mix of old school and recent.
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Song For The Undead
Why I'd Do It All Again
Ground Zero
Homecoming
Just One Kiss
I'd pick these because they're some of my favourites and also because they show the diversity in the type of stories written about the boys.
Awww thanks Steph!
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Here's a question...I'm sure I asked it before but it needs to come up again.
Why do you feel certain stories are talked about a lot/are popular? I mean we've all seen people come up with different theories. The "oh only people in a clique get noticed" or "people do nothing but brown nose when they mention stories instead of ones they like" or "it's because I write slash no one notices what else I write", etc. So what do you think?
I think a lot of it has to do with how well written it is. I know for me, I'm not going to rave about a story unless I really loved it. Hell half the stories I rave about aren't even posted here, the writers aren't even around anymore LOL. A story is popular based on three things: genre, quality of writing, and what boy it features. Which is more important varies. Romance is huge but there's romances that go ignored here. Quality of writing can get a usually ignored genre noticed but there's plenty of amazing stories that fly under the radar. What Boy it features though is usually a given though. A Nick story will always get noticed more than a Howie story LOL.
It's not that complicated, to me anyway.
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Here's a question...I'm sure I asked it before but it needs to come up again.
Why do you feel certain stories are talked about a lot/are popular? I mean we've all seen people come up with different theories. The "oh only people in a clique get noticed" or "people do nothing but brown nose when they mention stories instead of ones they like" or "it's because I write slash no one notices what else I write", etc. So what do you think?
For me, I don't care who writes it, as long as the story is something I like and is well written.
I suppose Nick stories are always going to be more popular than the rest, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't read a Howie story, because I would if it looked like something I'd enjoy.
I agree with Rose though, a story is popular because of the quality of writing and which boy it is (usually).
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Which brings me to a question...Do you ever feel like you're done with writing Fanfics? What are some of the reasons you want to quit and some of the reasons you don't quit?
I would be half-tempted to say no to this but then I think about what I was telling you earlier on Twitter. My last chapter was posted a year and a half ago. I'd say it's safe to say I already am done. :(
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When I compliment someone for their writing it is genuine. I don't read anything to please someone or because it is popular/unpopular. I like what I like. Sometimes I also forget old stories I've read and certain ones stick, that's why I mention them more than others. Doesn't mean the writer is horrible, just that I do read a lot of stories.
I tried reading Oreos For Breakfast, I didn't really get into it, I'm not usually into visuals or stories with a lot of sex. I like romance mixed with something else to be different. I like Karah's stories because she adds drama or comedy, I like comedy a lot. I really enjoyed Just One Kiss because of that as well. The comedy kept me interested :)
I think a story becomes popular because of the quality of writing. I am more likely to read a Nick centered story, but I like group centered as well. I have read ones about the other guys also.
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When I compliment someone for their writing it is genuine. I don't read anything to please someone or because it is popular/unpopular. I like what I like. Sometimes I also forget old stories I've read and certain ones stick, that's why I mention them more than others. Doesn't mean the writer is horrible, just that I do read a lot of stories.
I tried reading Oreos For Breakfast, I didn't really get into it, I'm not usually into visuals or stories with a lot of sex. I like romance mixed with something else to be different. I like Karah's stories because she adds drama or comedy, I like comedy a lot. I really enjoyed Just One Kiss because of that as well. The comedy kept me interested :)
I think a story becomes popular because of the quality of writing. I am more likely to read a Nick centered story, but I like group centered as well. I have read ones about the other guys also
Glad you enjoyed it Tracy!
Song For The Undead
Why I'd Do It All Again
Ground Zero
Homecoming
Just One Kiss
I'd pick these because they're some of my favourites and also because they show the diversity in the type of stories written about the boys.
Thanks Steph! :)
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I really think like everyone else has said, it's mainly the quality of writing but i'm also adding word of mouth.
It's funny what word of mouth can do for a story. All it takes really is someone on twitter saying "Did you read this by that person? It's so good!" and then that person reads it and passes it along to the next person etc... I'm not talking about self promo, i'm talking about other people promo lol
In the end if it's a great plot, very well written and about something that appeals to a lot of people, it's going to do well.
Nick, romance, some kind of drama = a story everyone will love (almost everyone)
I have yet to hear someone say "Did you read that great story about Howie being impregnated by Justin Timberlake with a ton of grammatcal errors and stuff? And the fifteen foot glittery banner with the author's face on Howie's pregnant belly? Yeah, that was AWESOME!" Well except for maybe the person who wrote it lmao
There's always going to be popular stories where some of us will be like "I don't get it!"
Just like stories some of us think are the bees knees and others are like uh... seriously?
I know it's sometimes irksome but that's how it goes.
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Thanks Steph and Rose :)
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Another question in relation to that one:
All of us have that one or two stories that we are known for even if it's the only story you have written lol
You know like when someone says your name someone will answer "Oh the girl who wrote...."
So, my question is, does it bother you when the particular story you are known for is what people think of when they see your name? Or would you rather it be something else?
To answer you can do something like this
I am most well known for writing - Why I'd Do It All Again
but i'd prefer being known for writing - Summer at Elkwood Pines
Unless you do agree with people. Either way, explain your answer lol
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So, my question is, does it bother you when the particular story you are known for is what people think of when they see your name? Or would you rather it be something else?
Not really. I feel like I'm most known for -
Remember Me This Way
Song For The Undead
Which, I'm okay with. I'm very proud of those stories and I feel like they showcase my best writing. I don't want to be completely labeled as a "horror" writer or something. I like the idea of being an author who can write a little of everything But at the same time if either of those stories are the ones people think of when they think of me, I'm happy about it.
And LMFAO at the one you'd prefer Mare. You would want the groundhog story.
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Oh, can I just add one thing?
I don't think what makes a story popular has anything to do with the author. I mean we can use that baseball story as a great example, because I can tell you the name of the story but I have no clue who wrote it. Same can be said for the Oroes for Breakfast story. I have no clue who wrote that lol
I am not sure why people think fanfic reading is a popularity contest and other people read and say nice things about people's stories just to kiss ass. This is fan fiction, what good comes out of kissing anyone's ass here? lmao I never understood that. I see it all the time though. Drives me bonkers!
I mean if you are willing to pay me to say your story is good, i'm there! I need the money but if you aren't then how is my telling everyone I think you are a great writer going to benefit me exactly?
Here's another question in relation to that:
Will someone please pay me to say you are a good writer? lol I am broke!
Thanks! :)
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And LMFAO at the one you'd prefer Mare. You would want the groundhog story.
I just used that as an example! But yes, I love my groundhog summary/story lmao
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So, my question is, does it bother you when the particular story you are known for is what people think of when they see your name? Or would you rather it be something else?
I think I'm most well known for writing Save A Prayer and Rewind, which is fine by me as I'm quite proud of those stories!
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I'm known for going years between updates. Maybe more on the infamy side...
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I just used that as an example! But yes, I love my groundhog summary/story lmao
I know but it's fun to pick on you ;D.
And yes, one of my biggest pet peeves is when I see or hear about people claiming others say nice things about stories just to kiss ass. It never makes sense. Of course, I'm sure they don't think that when people say nice things about their writing...lol
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I'm known for going years between updates. Maybe more on the infamy side...
You are known for Hawk & a Handsaw lol :p
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You are known for Hawk & a Handsaw lol :p
Well see, there's an example of "I wish I wasn't."
That story became the bane of my existence. I took me four years to finish it and I grew more and more resentful of it each year.
The end didn't turn out how I wanted, I feel like it totally jumped the shark, you even told me you could tell I wasn't in touch with the plot anymore. By the end I just hated it.
I was even so mad I angrily deleted the whole thing and had to repost it a couple of years ago once I realized what a dumb move that was to work so hard on it only to delete it.
For that story to be the one I'm known for frustrates me because it's not one I'm particularly proud of. Proud of finishing? Yes. Proud of the quality? Not so much. :/
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I would never kiss ass and say I love a story that I don't. What's the point in that? I love the stories I love because they are great stories :)
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I'm known for going years between updates. Maybe more on the infamy side...
Stockholm Syndrome is one I think of when I think of you :)
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Well see, there's an example of "I wish I wasn't."
That story became the bane of my existence. I took me four years to finish it and I grew more and more resentful of it each year.
The end didn't turn out how I wanted, I feel like it totally jumped the shark, you even told me you could tell I wasn't in touch with the plot anymore. By the end I just hated it.
I was even so mad I angrily deleted the whole thing and had to repost it a couple of years ago once I realized what a dumb move that was to work so hard on it only to delete it.
For that story to be the one I'm known for frustrates me because it's not one I'm particularly proud of. Proud of finishing? Yes. Proud of the quality? Not so much. :/
So which one would you choose?
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So which one would you choose?
As weird as this sounds, the story that I wish I was known for none of you have read.
It's been sitting unfinished (ironically with the exact same amount of chapters as History Repeating) on my computer for about a year.
That's the story I wish I was known for because I was really loving writing it while I was writing.
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Well then we'll be looking forward to eventually reading it one day lol
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I think I'm known for Running Up That Hill and I'm okay with that. I enjoy writing that story when I actually sit down to write it, lol.
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I guess I'm known for Figured You Out and I'm okay with that. I am really proud of that story :)
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I think stories become popular for a mixture of reasons. I partially think the author may pull some readers in because people have enjoyed stories from them in the past but it's their writing and the plot that will keep the readers there. The genre (yes I went there) also adds to how a story is received. Simply because more people in the fandom read drama and or romance. Also word of mouth, from other people. Word of mouth does A LOT to spread a stories name around and get it read. Twilight and 50 Shades are a couple of examples, I heard about these from other people before I saw anything about them anywhere in the media, or I didn't pay attention to anything I saw/heard about it until other people were talking about them.
As for what I'm known for
Chronos Project... cause I talked about it a lot I'm fine with being known for it but I'd love to be known for Wulf's Bane. Even though it's not finished and I haven't worked on it for a few years I still think those 13 chapters are some of the best I've written. It's a massive crossover though so I understand it not being read but I loved working on it and I should finish it since the OF version of that is really on the backburner.
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I guess I'm known for Figured You Out and I'm okay with that. I am really proud of that story :)
As you should be Tracy!! That is a great story! :)
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Stockholm Syndrome is one I think of when I think of you :)
I've not read Hawk & Handsaw, I know you for Stockholm Syndrome too.
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I didn't read Stockholm Syndrome but when I see Julilly I think of Hawk and a Handsaw bwc I really liked that one.
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Is Wolf's Bane on AC Lore?
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I've not read Hawk & Handsaw, I know you for Stockholm Syndrome too.
That's so interesting, I never really thought many people had read that one. Awesome though, thanks!
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Is Wolf's Bane on AC Lore?
Yup, it sure is. http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=2619 LOL video game crossover with some book characters too. *sigh* love it.
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Genre may help a little, but I feel like not as much as people think. There's plenty of romances that have little to no reviews because of how it's written. On that same end, I have a horror/au that has about 600 reviews. Its my highest reviewed story. Julie and I expected Undead to be unpopular because of the genre, and it's not. I'd like to think it's because it's well written and thanks to word of mouth :).
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I see people talking about AC stories in my twitter timeline, there are people who ask for story suggestions and I refer them to some.
Rose I saw a nice comment from someone that said your AJ one shot made them tear up. I see stuff about It Stays With You also. There definitely is a word of mouth for fanfics, twitter is living proof.
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Yup, it sure is. http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=2619 LOL video game crossover with some book characters too. *sigh* love it.
I will have to give it a go, probably tomorrow as I'm about to watch Supernatural now :)
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Genre may help a little, but I feel like not as much as people think. There's plenty of romances that have little to no reviews because of how it's written. On that same end, I have a horror/au that has about 600 reviews. Its my highest reviewed story. Julie and I expected Undead to be unpopular because of the genre, and it's not. I'd like to think it's because it's well written and thanks to word of mouth :).
I remember clicking on Undead when it was first posted. I was new here and liked the summary, I hadn't read anything else by you or Julie at the time, and of course, in the beginning we didn't know it was going to be zombies :)
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I see people talking about AC stories in my twitter timeline, there are people who ask for story suggestions and I refer them to some.
Rose I saw a nice comment from someone that said your AJ one shot made them tear up. I see stuff about It Stays With You also. There definitely is a word of mouth for fanfics, twitter is living proof.
Aww. I should prolly put my twitter on my profile here LOL. And yeah, "MINE" is infamous now LOL.
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Genre may help a little, but I feel like not as much as people think. There's plenty of romances that have little to no reviews because of how it's written. On that same end, I have a horror/au that has about 600 reviews. Its my highest reviewed story. Julie and I expected Undead to be unpopular because of the genre, and it's not. I'd like to think it's because it's well written and thanks to word of mouth :).
That is why I said there was a multiple reasons. Undead is written by authors that people know write well and it has had word of mouth. I really don't think it has to have all three things to be popular, it's a combination. You can definitely have romances that aren't read because they aren't written well and no one suggests them.
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I always see people discussing fanfics on Twitter or other message borads like TDS.
As far as genre, I think that does play a part in things but there are always exceptions to the rule. I remember everyone always talking about Signal to Noise which I believe was a classic suspense story and then of course there was Legend? Is that what it was called? Which was a really popular sci fi story. Between the Lines was an AU that I guess a lot of people have read and talked about. It's weird what people cling on to sometimes. But there are those stories that happen in every genre.
As far as my answer to my question
I believe I am most well known for Why I'd do it all Again and It Stays with You and I guess that's fine with me. I'm proud of both stories and they are completely different from one another. LOL I mean night and day different.
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Mare, I knew Mel's Tree from you before anything else even though I've not read it.
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Aww, thats nice to know. :) I would like to be known for that but for the OF not the fanfic version. I guess sometimes I tend to forget it was a fanfic lol
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That is why I said there was a multiple reasons. Undead is written by authors that people know write well and it has had word of mouth. I really don't think it has to have all three things to be popular, it's a combination. You can definitely have romances that aren't read because they aren't written well and no one suggests them.
I know, but your post made it sound like genre is the main one, which I disagreed with.
If the well known author thing was fool proof though, 00Carter would have more feedback lol. I wasn't that well known before Undead, actually. Obviously Julie was, but the readership from Broken didn't carry over really.
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If you could pick five fanfics to put in a time capsule that would best represent the BSB fanfic fandom what would you choose and why?
Life According to Baylee by Alota_Cookin
Chronos Project by PurpuraLipstic k
On Nightingale Hill by Filiklepto
Searching For Mercy by Honey
The Thirteenth Step by Mare
Why do you feel certain stories are talked about a lot/are popular?
I think word of mouth is definitely the main reason some stories are more popular.
Os4Also Nick is much more popular in the fandom. lol.
I'm most know for Sinister Devotion, Just One Kiss and Fight Me. I'm really happy with that. I'm proud of those stories and readers seem to really like them. It actually makes me giddy when I see someone recommending/mentioning them or when someone takes the time to nominate them.
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Thanks Erika! :)
I am having a lot of trouble with the five stories question lol because I want to make sure I am picking the ones i'd like Aliens to walk away from thinking "Wow, these Backstreet Boy earthlings are pretty awesome! And so are the people who write about them!"
1. Ground Zero by Chaos because i'd like aliens to know that even boys who aren't really fans of the BSB can write an incredible story about them told in first person.
2. Where Can We Go From Here by Whitney - to let them know we can be a little cheesy and sappy but in the end these boys cared about each other enough to sing one of the guys right out of a coma!
3. Climbing Up That Hill by Sakabelle - because this one shows that even through the hard times, in the end the boys all manage to come through for each other and what better way to tell that story then through all of their points of view.
4. Seven Days by Refuse - Because it's the classic survival story featuring a bus crash. You gotta have a good old fashioned bus crash and or hijacking followed by a kidnapping and hunt of the boys. And a pet squirrel...or was that the sequel? lol Either way. I loved it!
5. Documentaries by Izzy - I feel like I need to always include this story in anything epically related to a must read list because it's my favorite! lol and again, tells an angsty tale about lonliness even when uber famous.
I'm sneaking The One With Nick by Mersey in there because it's my all time favorite short short story! I don't really consider Documentaries that short of a short story. And Mersey deserves to be in this group because she is a perfect example of an incredible writer who isn't comfortable writing in English but you'd never know it! Plus she's my doppleganger and I loves her! lol
There are quite a few more i'd love to include but these are the five erm....six I whittled it down to. lol
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Fanfics in a time capsule?
Definitely Where Can We Go From Here by Whitney, I just read it for the first time last night, and I think it is simply amazing. Really shows the bond between the guys and how they pull together through tragedy.
Running Up That Hill by Sakabelle. Pretty
much for the same reason Mare said. It's a good representation of a tough time in the boys lives.
Song For The Undead by Rose and Julie because its just so good it doesn't really need a reason. Story explains itself, a really great survival story.
A Million Little Things by Mare - this story taking place during Never Gone, another time period in their lives that was explored really well, how the guys have changed and has a lot of real events in it.
I can't think of a 5th story so I will come back with one later.
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aw thanks for the mention Erika! :)
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Thanks, Tracy :)
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Thanks for mentioning me earlier Tracy :)
I think I might be more well known for the site than an individual stories. When I went to Miami for the acoustic concert before the first cruise, I had some spanish girl walk up to me hugging me. I had no idea what she was saying except for "My confession." I guess she recognized me from my picture on Twitter. If I had to pick a story... it would probably be "I Wanna Be Bad," and I wish I could change that. I wish I would be more well known for something like "The Story of Us" or the "Fearless" series. I think within the NKOTB fandom, I'm more well known for the "Fearless" series because it's the first real story I've written with NKOTB in it.
I think I missed a question, but I'm tired. Today was my first day at my new job and I was already breaking news seven hours into it lol
Got a feeling this new job might break into my writing time :-/
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It's weird when people recognize you for things. At the NKOTBSB show last summer, I had a few people who came here to Vegas from California come up to me as I was waiting (forever) for VIP. They recognized me from those youtube videos of me singing 10,000 promises with the Boys on the 2010 cruise. I had NO idea who they were LOL, but apparently they knew me!
I used to never have any pictures of me on the internet. I gave up after that because I already knew I was screwed.
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Fanfics in a time capsule?
Definitely Where Can We Go From Here by Whitney, I just read it for the first time last night, and I think it is simply amazing. Really shows the bond between the guys and how they pull together through tragedy.
Running Up That Hill by Sakabelle. Pretty
much for the same reason Mare said. It's a good representation of a tough time in the boys lives.
Song For The Undead by Rose and Julie because its just so good it doesn't really need a reason. Story explains itself, a really great survival story.
A Million Little Things by Mare - this story taking place during Never Gone, another time period in their lives that was explored really well, how the guys have changed and has a lot of real events in it.
I can't think of a 5th story so I will come back with one later.
Thank you Tracy, I needed the smile this post brought on. :)
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Why do you feel certain stories are talked about a lot/are popular?
From skimming over the responses, I think everyone's done a great job at mentioning the things that make a story popular - quality of writing, popular Boy/genre, word of mouth, etc. I think characterizati on is a big one, too. The way the Boys and their relationships with each other, as well as any original characters, are written is often the "IT" factor that makes some stories stand out more to me than others.
Between the Lines (the baseball AU) is one that was brought up here. That story WAS popular back in the day and still gets mentioned often on here. I've said that it took me a few tries to get into it, mostly because of the baseball AU thing, but once I did, I fell in love with it. It wasn't because of the baseball. It wasn't even that it was technically well-written (which it was!). It was the characters. Between the Lines has AMAZING characters. Each of the Boys are recognizable as themselves, even though they're the AU baseball player versions, and the way they fit into those roles is so interesting. But the relationships they form as part of a team is what makes that story so awesome to me. It also has some great original characters, too - Kevin's wife and little girl, AJ's wife, and Nick's girlfriend all stand out as unique, interesting characters that I didn't mind reading about along with the guys.
When I think of my all-time favorite fanfics, what separates them from the rest, even others that I consider favorites, are the characters.
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If you could pick five fanfics to put in a time capsule that would best represent the BSB fanfic fandom what would you choose and why?
1. Where Can We Go From Here - classic Millennium era bus crash story, really shows the brotherly relationship between the guys
2. Cover Me With Dreams - the best Nick romance of all time; great characters, including all the Boys, not just Nick
3. Signal to Noise - classic BSB suspense, involves all the guys (and their song lyrics), good original characters too
4. Something Beautiful - great Frick & Frack story; plus we gotta have a cancer story in the time capsule, even though this is really more of a bucket list story than a "cancer story."
5. Between the Lines - the best BSB AU of all time; shows how the Boys can still be the Boys even in an alternate universe in which they're a baseball team instead of a boyband LOL
Also, thanks for the mentions of Song for the Undead and Curtain Call as answers to this question! :)
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So, my question is, does it bother you when the particular story you are known for is what people think of when they see your name? Or would you rather it be something else?
I think I am best known for the Nick cancer stories - Broken/By My Side and now Curtain Call. And I am fine with that. Those three stories have meant more to me than anything else I've written individually in the last decade.
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Glad I could be of service, Rose. You guys know how much I love and adore that story. You helped me get over my fear of the horror genre. I used to hate scary movies and gore, now I am comfortable with it enough to laugh at it. I've become so morbid in the last year lol.
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LOL glad I could help you become more morbid.
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Being morbid helps you appreciate the finer details in life (and in fanfic)... like the rack of severed hands and feet Rose took a picture of and texted me yesterday, knowing it would make me smile. :)
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Being morbid helps you appreciate the finer details in life... like the rack of severed hands and feet Rose took a picture of and texted me yesterday, knowing it would make me smile. :)
Who else would appreciate that as much as I would? LOL. :)
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Only the Choppage Queen!
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LOL that's pretty cool. Only you guys. Whenever I hear about choppage I think of Julie :P
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I didn't put any of the disease stories on my list because I didn't want the aliens thinking one of the guys were dead and dead and dead again! lol
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Here's a question, do you tend to give your stories nicknames? And if so what are they? Because in all honesty when people only use letters to describe a story I seldom if ever know what people are talking about lol I'm guilty of it too. But when people use nicknames instead of just letters it makes life easier.
Like for me, I always just shorten my title like Why or Whatever or What Lurks lol
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I sometimes abbreviate my stories. Like Finding Carter I call FC but that could be confused for Fan Club. So I haven't thought about nicknames for any of them to be honest.
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Here's a question, do you tend to give your stories nicknames? And if so what are they? Because in all honesty when people only use letters to describe a story I seldom if ever know what people are talking about lol I'm guilty of it too. But when people use nicknames instead of just letters it makes life easier.
Like for me, I always just shorten my title like Why or Whatever or What Lurks lol
If a story doesn't have a name for a long time I may come up with a nickname and it might stick but I use the letters on twitter because of that whole 140 characters thing. If I had more characters I'd spell out my titles more often. If I do it on the forum it's because I'm probably in a rush.
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I've always been bad with the letters thing. Like when everyone does it for song titles, besides IWITW whenever people post letters I'm always like uh... Yeah, okay whatever you say lol
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The only time I shorten the name of a story is when I'm talking to Lore about Unwinding Truth, which we shorten to UT, or one of the other stories one of us has written which can be shortened to two letters, lol.
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Here's a question, do you tend to give your stories nicknames? And if so what are they? Because in all honesty when people only use letters to describe a story I seldom if ever know what people are talking about lol I'm guilty of it too. But when people use nicknames instead of just letters it makes life easier.
Like for me, I always just shorten my title like Why or Whatever or What Lurks lol
I shorten my longer titles to letters lol. RMTW - Remember Me This Way, WOOMD - Walked Out of My Dreams (though that caused a lot of jokes between Julie and I about a Woo, M.D. and was why when I needed a doctor character in the fic it was a Dr. Woo lmao.)
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How long do you actually spend writing before your mind starts to wander & you start browsing the net etc... And no, just having Word opened all day doesn't count lol
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It varies LOL. Sometimes I'll have been writing five minutes when I focus fail, mid sentence no less. Other times I'll write a full chapter with my focus unwavering and not go wander the net or something till it's done. There's no rhyme or reason to it with me.
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Aw thanks for all the Running Up That Hill mentions guys. :-*
I think the ones I'd put in a time capsule are...
1. Curtain Call by Julie
Definitely need to have one of the cancer stories in here, and even though Broken is a classic, this one was amazing. Nick in this story is so real, his thoughts sound exactly like something I could picture him thinking/saying.
2. Why I'd Do It All Again by Mare
I think this story is a perfect snapshot of the guys as the come back together to record and release Never Gone. There were so many hilarious moments, and so many really sweet bromantic moments as well. I think this story really showcases what the guys realistically are all about and how their relationships with each other probably are. It's a good bridge between their old school relationships, and the way they act now.
3. A Little Taste of Sin by Mel
Gotta have the Nick romance in there, and this is one of the best. The affair between Nick and Alyssa in this story is super hot, and the added emotional drama makes this story fantastic. Mel's characters are all very real and I'm sure over the course of reading this story I wanted to strangle all of them at some point!
4. Come Together by Izzy and Cecilia
I really loved this story, and I'm positive I read it back in the day, but I re-read it again very recently and it holds up. It's a nice story of the boys first starting out and learning about each other.
5. Where Can We Go From Here by Whitney
Of course we need a classic bus crash story. So old school, and awesome. I'm probably going to go read it right now, lol.
Wow, you can definitely tell my taste in fic from that list LOL.
My focus fails in writing tend to vary. Sometimes I can sit down and pound out an entire chapter without getting distracted. Other times I'll write a line, get up, walk around my apartment, write another line, check what's happening on twitter... I find that I get most of my writing done in the last hour of the evening before I go to bed, but other times I have been pretty good about spending the entire evening writing. It's hard for me not to get distracted. Twitter's bad for that!!
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Twitter is such an enabler for Writer's ADD. I swear it calls to you LOL.
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I was just going to ask, what is your biggest distraction? For me it's this board & twitter lol
And thanks, Steph! :)
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Yep, pretty much. Sometimes TDS but that's more to make sure the forum's not going to hell lol.
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Here's a question, do you tend to give your stories nicknames? And if so what are they?
I do tend to use nicknames. With longer titles, I usually use the main word from the title... "Secrets" for Secrets of the Heart and "Undead" for Song for the Undead. With shorter titles, I go with initials... BMS = By My Side, CC = Curtain Call, and GR = Guilty Roads. I like one-word titles like Broken and 00Carter - they're easy!
Here's a random follow-up question: When you see initials, do you read them as separate letters (i.e. "B. M. S.") or turn them into words ("Bums")? Or a combination... i.e. "Woo, M.D." instead of "W. O. O. M. D."
Believe it or not, I actually had a conversation with a friend about this once! I tend to find words in abbreviations. .. although I do call By My Side "B. M. S." in my head and not "Bums" LOL.
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How long do you actually spend writing before your mind starts to wander & you start browsing the net etc... And no, just having Word opened all day doesn't count lol
Two minutes?
LMAO Seriously, my attention span when it comes to writing is super short lately. I basically focus as long as it takes me to get a thought out, and then I get online and check Twitter. Sometimes I stop mid-sentence if I'm not sure how to finish the sentence. It's bad!!
The maximum I can focus is usually about fifteen minutes, UNLESS I am really inspired and emotionally into the scene I'm writing, OR it's 3 a.m. and no one is online, so I knew it's pointless to check Twitter and the forums LOL. Then I can write for half an hour, maybe even an hour or more without getting too distracted.
I was just going to ask, what is your biggest distraction? For me it's this board & twitter lol
And thanks, Steph! :)
Ditto on everything Mare said! This board and Twitter, and thanks, Steph! You just made my night with what you said about CC!! :)
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I have so much focus fail lately. I will go to write and stare at my phone for a while, then I will go check AC, then Facebook, then twitter. Sometimes I start watching youtube and fail even more.
I usually get more writing done while I'm at work, middle of the night or early morning when nobody is online. I'm up all night and bored easily so I will start something and write here and there.
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Two minutes?
LMAO Seriously, my attention span when it comes to writing is super short lately. I basically focus as long as it takes me to get a thought out, and then I get online and check Twitter. Sometimes I stop mid-sentence if I'm not sure how to finish the sentence. It's bad!!
The maximum I can focus is usually about fifteen minutes, UNLESS I am really inspired and emotionally into the scene I'm writing, OR it's 3 a.m. and no one is online, so I knew it's pointless to check Twitter and the forums LOL. Then I can write for half an hour, maybe even an hour or more without getting too distracted.
Ditto on everything Mare said! This board and Twitter, and thanks, Steph! You just made my night with what you said about CC!! :)
*coughs*Or mid-word...;D LOL.
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Hmmm biggest distraction? Work because I work like 6653635635 hours a week. I write in between jobs, on break, or when I am home in the morning before bed.
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With me it varies too, sometimes I can sit and type a couple of thousand words in one go and stay completely focused. Other times, I might type a few sentences and then wander over to Twitter, here or something like Amazon. I actually started a chapter of my story the other night, began doing some research and then didn't go back to it at all :( Instead I watched a bit of Supernatural, which has nothing to do with what I'm writing!
Biggest distraction for me would be the internet in general. I can lose hours browsing pointless stuff and I really don't know how I do it.
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I've been trying to figure out how to word this before I posted so I hope this question makes sense lol
What is one thing you find intriguing about BSB and their relationship to one another that you have explored or would like to explore?
For instance, I always found the huge age difference between Nick and Kevin kind of fascinating. How you can have a 12 year old and a 21 year old as co-workers. I always thought that relationship was always interesting and worth exploring because when I tried to picture that in my life it would be as if I was thrown into a band my first year teaching with a 6th grader! That's just insane to me!!
In the process of reading some of my older stories (which I still hope you guys do that in the challenge thread since I will be posting in there regularly and don't want to seem like a self involved douche lol) I noticed I used The Apartment to really showcase the weirdness that must have been those really early days for Kevin, being thrown into a band with a tween who wasn't the most mature kid to even begin with. I WISH I could have really seen what it was like back then for them. LOL
So yeah, I guess my answer is Kevin and Nick's relationship and age difference. I mean now that they're older it's not as big of a deal but still, it's kind of neat.
Did all that make sense?
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Brian and Nick's relationship. The fact that they were five years apart (which was a big difference and grew into a smaller one) but as their age gap seemed to be less prominent, Brian started to grow up and get a lot more mature. I've always been really interested in that because they were so close, yet their values seemed to be such polar opposites. I'm also really interested in reading about how Nick dealt with Brian getting married, and even when Brian started dating Leighanne in the first place. I don't know that there's any fic that really covered that first meeting of Brian and Leighanne at the video shoot and what Nick thought about it, or if he thought anything about it at all! But I think it'd be interesting to read, even as just a one-shot.
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Hrmm I don't know if I've ever seen a fic like that either but then again if it was a Brian fic & had Leighanne's name in the summary, I wouldn't have ever clicked on it in the first place lol
You know, I have to say that if they were all the same age I honestly don't think I would have become so into wanting to know more about them. The fact that their ages were all over the place & because of that they were more like brothers then just a gang of friends who all went to high school or college together is what drew me in lol even AU stories if they are the same age I'm like eww lol how odd is that?
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I love the Nick and Kevin relationship as well, it is really fascinating to me how all the guys are apart in age, yet they all seem to bond really well. Just the whole group dynamic is really fun to play with. I've been looking for a idea for a canon story since I wrote FYO, because I don't want to be known for only writing AU. I want to challenge myself :)
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Those are both good ones! I love Frick & Frack stories, and I find the Nick/Kevin relationship interesting too. Just to be different, I'm going to add that I find the A-Rok relationship interesting. Brian and AJ are complete opposites in so many ways, from their personal style to their whole lifestyle, and yet, in a classic case of opposites attracting, they mesh so well.
This video sums up my A-Rok love: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFGXQFhk3Gs
I love their sense of humor and the way they can just bounce back and forth off each other forever. I also love that AJ is the only one who still calls Brian "Rok."
As far as exploring it in my stories... I don't write a lot of combo stories; they're mostly either group stories or stories about one of them with the other four in basically equal supporting roles. So I haven't really delved into AJ and Brian's relationship any more or less than I have the other guys. But I have explored that idea of them being so different, yet so similar in some ways in the AU I'm writing, Secrets of the Heart. It's funny because they live completely separate lives in the story and only have one scene together (which is in the next chapter I need to post), but they're connected by tragedy and live lives that, while on different ends of the spectrum, are actually very similar in a lot of ways. It worked well to use those two because even in an AU, I like to keep their personalities as true to life as possible, and Brian and AJ just created such an interesting dynamic.
Rose and I have also explored their differences in Song for the Undead. Brian starts out as this happy family man who loves his life, whereas AJ is a suicidal addict who hates society, and as the world dies, Brian loses everything, including his faith in God, and completely falls apart, whereas AJ finally finds his place in life and thrives in the post-apocalyptic world. They don't exactly switch places, but their outlooks on life definitely change and become more similar to each other.
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I love the Frick/Frack bond. I typically tend to explore it in all my stories, group or otherwise. They're my two favorite boys and I just always liked their relationship, especially now that they've seemed to fix it over the past few years. I do like delving into the distant years, and what may have caused that for awhile.
The other one is Kevin/Nick, because of their age difference. I usually write it as Nick idolizing Kevin so much as a kid he drove him insane when all he wanted was for Kevin to like him LOL. Their brotherly relationship is one I can relate to because my oldest brother has a big age gap from me and our relationship is kinda similar.
Oh, and Howie/Nick. I like this one cause they really do seem close lately. Not to mention, Howie's been there a lot for Nick. Like during NON when they all seemed to be mad at him, Howie was the one who went to his video shoot for support and the most of his concerts. He's also the forgotten one so I really love to play off of that and show that Nick's always noticed what Howie does for him, even if fans forget about him. Plus, Nick loves to pick on Howie so that's fun LOL.
I also adore AJ/Brian, the best example of that is the one Julie mentioned in Undead. :)
I never really explored much beyond that, though now in Here We Stand I dove into the one between Kevin and Brian because lately I can really relate to the whole... "family who never really hung out much growing up but now are really good friends" deal. It's an interesting one since they grew up together.
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I love exploring Nick & Howie's relationship as well! Nick & AJ have an interesting relationship as well. And I guess the only pairing not mentioned is Kevin & Howie. I think out of all of them those two are more friends then brothers, in my mind anyway lol
It's weird but Nick/Brian is a bond I enjoy but one I noticed I don't really delve into all that much unless I have one carving words into the other lol
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I love Nick/AJ because in a lot of ways they're similar yet SO different in others. I feel like they probably get each other on a level others don't because they've dealt with a lot of the same issues.
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I agree, I think the two of them are a lot closer then they seem & I also think they really do tend to look out for each other.
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It's weird but Nick/Brian is a bond I enjoy but one I noticed I don't really delve into all that much unless I have one carving words into the other lol
LMFAO Best line ever!
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Thanks! :) lol
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I love Nick/Howie. I explored that a bit when I wrote my short "Howie Snaps" and I had a lot of fun having them interact. Howie's been growing on me lately :)
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You know, since we were talking a couple pages ago about everyone's spin on things. Maybe we should do another "Same Plot/Different Author" challenge again. The last one we did was what...2010? lol. And the various bus breaking down stories were pretty epic LOL.
Just a random thought, and it'd really show again how we can all use the same plot idea and still keep our own voices. I think it'd make for some neat discussion if each of us in here read them and then talked about it.
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Maybe when we start the challenges up again, that would be a possiblity as long as lots of people participated. Once life slows down a little bit for everybody. Fall seems to be bad for challenges just looking back to past years.
That would make a good question in the meantime here though.
Have you ever read a story where you see more than one author playing out the same exact plot or idea and think wow they are completely different takes on the same thing? Or do you tend to think wow one is totally copying off of the other? Or think it's too similar even if it's not copying? If so, have you ever given up on one story and continued reading the other?
Have you ever stayed away from a topic just because you see someone else tackle it? Or on the other end of the spectrum do you try to use other people's ideas and just make them your own?
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I've seen authors do the same idea. Usually it's just coincidence lol. I mean like there's been several Nick cancer stories, for example, but there's always a difference. Hell, Julie's written more than one and yet they're different takes completely on the same plot. So if the writing's good, I tend to not care. At least not unless there's every little thing that's the same and so you're pretty sure one stole the idea from the other. I've only seen that happen once in the past few years though.
I don't usually care if someone's tackling the same idea, though usually it's after me lol. There's only been one time where I had an idea, started it, and someone beat me to it. And the ideas were too similar even for my liking and it just kinda killed my inspiration. Total coincidence but I never touched it since lol. I think it's neat though when a few authors might have the same idea but took it in a total different direction. Like with HWS and Scattered Picture. Same concept, but different ways we went about it.
As for other ideas...usuall y I don't. I tend to have no problems coming up with new story ideas. That, and usually I feel like I wouldn't do them justice. In fact "Here We Stand" is really the first time I took an idea someone other than myself came up with. I just happened to see you say that Mare and fall in love with it LOL. I'm not even sure if I'm doing it justice but I love writing it so much that I just don't care.
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Yeah, I liken the whole same plot ideas to movies because movies are infamous for doing the same thing at once. Like this summer it was all about action heroes. And then you had those two takes on Snow White. In almost all instances they tend to be different enough that it doesn't make much of a difference as long as they aren't blatant copies of each other.
I think story trends seem to be the same, especially when it comes to the real life aspect of BSB. I mean now they are together you expect a surge in stories about them coming back together. Like when Kevin left, you kind of expected a wave of stories about that too. When anything major happens there are stories popping up having to deal with it but because each of us have our own distinct voices, it doesn't feel like it's a copy.
I do admit, when it's not real life events though and you see a story about something totally different like the boys joining a circus and the story is doing really well and then a month later someone else posts a story about the boys joining a circus I roll my eyes and think "copy cat" lol But I mean that's an extreme example of stealing an idea.
Other things like disease and family drama, bus crashes, etc... those plots are so over done they kind of belong to everyone. I think those are the interesting ones to read everyone's takes on those.
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Don't forget kidnapping/psycho fans lol. Those used to be a given too. Yeah, I noticed a little surge of old school type stories, mostly one-shots. And really, who's surprised by that? I mean the Boys lived a fanfic over in London, of course their bromancy time inspired us all.
Exactly, and I've even had that happen to me lol. When Undead started taking off, someone started posting a zombie fic that took place during a war in 2012 and I was like... wait, really? LOL. Not that it lasted long, but my immediate thought was "Wow, copycat much?"
That's a good question, how do you feel when your story becomes popular and you see stories like yours popping up? With the more "out there" ideas I mean, rather than the typical ones that kind of just go to everyone.
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I don't know if I can answer that question, because that's never happened to me lol. The stories I've written have pretty much all been Nick romance, so I don't think I've really done anything that's too "out there."
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Ok so in response to the question mare asked, I had forgotten about a zombie story that was being written while Rose and Julie were writing Song For The Undead. I will confess my friend writes that story but it's nowhere nearly as accurate as SFTU. There is so much stuff she has wrong, like how are you gonna be using cell phones and stuff if everything is shut down. I have pretty much given up on reading it. I don't want to just read because she is my friend, but the story just isn't believable.
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I don't know if I can answer that question, because that's never happened to me lol. The stories I've written have pretty much all been Nick romance, so I don't think I've really done anything that's too "out there."
Same here, at least to my knowledge. Unless i'm forgetting something, which I probably am. lol
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Nothing like that has happened to me either, unless I just haven't noticed, lol.
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You know, I don't think i've ever seen a story where the boys join a circus lol
Random...
But here's another question, if you could get rid of one completely overused plot in the genre you feel most comfortable writing in, which one would it be? I say the genre you write in to avoid the easiest boy meets girl answer most of us would have lol
Or you could name a plot for each genre if you write in multiple ones, like:
'
Drama:
Comedy:
Suspense:
etc...
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Have you ever read a story where you see more than one author playing out the same exact plot or idea and think wow they are completely different takes on the same thing? Or do you tend to think wow one is totally copying off of the other? Or think it's too similar even if it's not copying? If so, have you ever given up on one story and continued reading the other?
Usually when I see two different stories tackling the same general idea or subject matter, they end up being really different. I don't see what I would consider blatant copying very often, but the times that I have, it's usually a case of a less experienced writer copying a more experienced one, and in comparing the two stories, the original is usually better. Writers who aren't creative enough to at least put their own spin on someone else's idea usually aren't talented enough to write their copy well either.
Have you ever stayed away from a topic just because you see someone else tackle it? Or on the other end of the spectrum do you try to use other people's ideas and just make them your own?
I did have an idea for a suspense story that I'd been considering writing for awhile, until someone on AC (not any of you) started writing a story with a similar premise, so I put my idea on the backburner. The other writer never finished hers, and it ended up being a lot different from how mine would have gone, anyway, so it's an idea I'd still consider writing someday.
I also remember being a little concerned when Hannah started posting Something Beautiful because I had just started writing Curtain Call but hadn't posted any of it yet, so when I started reading SB and got the "cancer story" vibe, I was like, "Really, are you kidding me??" But SB and CC are a prime example of two stories that fall under the same basic premise (Backstreet Boy has cancer), but go in two totally different directions.
I never set out to blatantly steal someone else's idea, but I definitely get inspired by other people's ideas (not just in fanfic, but in books, shows, and movies too). There are a couple of old stories I've written that come too close to comfort to the original idea (and are not executed nearly as well), but for the most part, even if I am inspired by someone else's work, I take mine in a different direction by putting my own spin on it.
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But here's another question, if you could get rid of one completely overused plot in the genre you feel most comfortable writing in, which one would it be? I say the genre you write in to avoid the easiest boy meets girl answer most of us would have lol
Or you could name a plot for each genre if you write in multiple ones, like:
'
Drama:
Comedy:
Suspense:
etc...
Honestly, I can't think of an overused plot I would like to get rid of in the genres I enjoy. In drama, the disease stories and accident stories and so forth are all things that I like reading about LOL. Same with suspense and the stalker/kidnapper/crazy fan stories. As long as the story is written well, I don't care if it has the same basic premise as five other stories I've read. If you go through my favorites, you will see multiple stories that fall under the same category of plot.
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Yeah i'm not sure if there's anything I wouldn't want to read of my favorite genres. I guess that's a stupid question so we'll go with any genre I guess but you can't say boy meets girl! lmao
I can say the type of stories that don't appeal to me are the ones that aren't about the boys at all. They can go away. Like stories about the kids of the guys or the wives of the guys or siblings or cousins twice removed... If it's not about the boys, they can leave and never come back.
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I'm not a fan of the stories about random family members, especially fictional ones, either. But to each their own, I guess! As long as there are still stories being written that I want to read, I'm good.
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So does this ever happen to anyone else? You plan out a story, you write the story, you get through the beginning and the middle while envisioning the epic ending in your head, and when you finally get to the climax of the story, which you've been waiting four years to write, the words just don't pour out the way you thought they would?
This is what I'm dealing with right now, and argh, it's so frustrating!!! I want to finish this story this weekend before I go back to school, and I'm on the second to last chapter, and it should be exciting and dramatic and bloody and everything I love, but it's just not flowing for me. I'm debating whether to just keep forcing it out so I can finish the thing or quit and wait for a time when I have less on my mind.
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^ that is the worst and most annoying thing ever! I hate when that happens! No matter how many times you have pictured it in your head, it just doesn't translate the way you want it to when you try to write it down lol
When that happens to me I usually force it out but then leave it for a few days and then when I look at it again a few days later I end up changing it around to how I wanted it to be or sometimes what I actually wrote is what I end up going with because i'm pleased with the turn out!
It's always those pivitol scenes! LOL
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That is probably what I'll end up doing too. I'm like five chapters ahead of what I've posted, so I have plenty of time to play around with it more without feeling like I'm keeping anyone waiting.
It's just so frustrating because I know what it's like to feel that emotional rush you get when these scenes practically write themselves, so it sucks when that doesn't happen!
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I'm having a little better luck with it now. I only had a page written last time I posted in here, and now I have over two pages, so yay? I honestly think ranting about it helps! LOL
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Yay!! Sometimes that's all it takes lol
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On my way home from the concert and saw this. Yes I am having that problem with Weird World. Like I need to figure out how the boys get unbrainwashed. ..and some other stuff. I've gotten to the point where I was stuck before and...it just isn't coming out. I'm so frustrated lol
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How do you guys feel about authors try to "punish" their readers if they don't review?
I think it's incredibly shameless, egotistical, and douchey. It's not often I see it anymore, but now and again I see it. Sometimes a writer will tweet a reader who hadn't reviewed a new chapter yet and pester them. Or, they'll threaten not to update at all. I've seen writers threaten not to update at their normal time too because they have people who read and don't review.
We all love reviews, or we wouldn't post. But man, when reviews are that important that you refuse to post at all, are you really writing for yourself then? There's always going to be readers who don't review. It's like get over it or stop posting completely.
It's such a pet peeve lol.
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It is totally shameless. Is never want someone to read myself because I pestered them, and being pestered really makes me want to read whatever story it is I'm being pestered about a lot less!
That being said, I can understand It sort of. It can be hard to see a lot of other people get loads of comments and then you get a minimal amount. You want to know what parts of your update readers liked and if they got excited about the same things you got excited about while writing it. So it can be discouraging when that doesn't happen. Especially when read count goes up but reviews don't, I know I wonder what made people click out and why they didn't like it.
But I know that I personally write stuff that doesn't appeal to everyone. So meh. Begging for reviews takes a lot of time that could be better spent writing more.
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I have people on twitter who have told me if I update to let them know. These people don't review, so I just will let them know once and that's it. They aren't regulars on ac so they wouldn't know otherwise.
As for holding chapters until someone reviews, no I'd never do that. I have stories with no reviews for some chapters and I would get frustrated but still keep posting because I wanted to finish it. Even if nobody is gonna read it, I would continue to post until the story was completed. Like today I joked for someone to review FC because I don't like odd numbers, but it was a joke. I don't believe in holding stories hostage like that, its mean to the readers.
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It is totally shameless. Is never want someone to read myself because I pestered them, and being pestered really makes me want to read whatever story it is I'm being pestered about a lot less!
That being said, I can understand It sort of. It can be hard to see a lot of other people get loads of comments and then you get a minimal amount. You want to know what parts of your update readers liked and if they got excited about the same things you got excited about while writing it. So it can be discouraging when that doesn't happen. Especially when read count goes up but reviews don't, I know I wonder what made people click out and why they didn't like it.
But I know that I personally write stuff that doesn't appeal to everyone. So meh. Begging for reviews takes a lot of time that could be better spent writing more.
I get how the review thing is frustrating. It's just the fact is, threatening to delay updates or withhold them completely doesn't solve anything. Typically it's attention seeking and puts people off. I'm the same way, some of my ideas appeal, others are kind of out there so I know those won't get as much attention. But like you said, it's time wasted.
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I wouldn't say that's necessarily true, that It doesnt solve anything. I have withheld chapters, there have been times when I've had three or four written, but I space out the updates. It's not saying, oh I won't update until I get 25 reviews or whatever, but the logic behind it is the same.
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I have people on twitter who have told me if I update to let them know. These people don't review, so I just will let them know once and that's it. They aren't regulars on ac so they wouldn't know otherwise.
I will never get people like that. Why not just sign up for an account and favorite the stories you're reading so you'll know when they're updated and can leave reviews? Requesting that the author notify you personally when they update is just lazy and self-centered, and then to not even review after reading is downright douchey!
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Does anyone find they're just less motivated to actually post chapters when there's hardly anyone reading them or begging for updates? I find I can hang on to updates longer and even hoard a few chapters with stories that I know no one's waiting on the edge of their seat for, whereas with the more popular ones, I feel compelled to update ASAP.
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Ah, the withholding chapters until you review me threat. I used to see that a lot when I first started reading and writing fanfic to the point that I thought that was just the normal thing to do. I think 99% of us have moved on from that mind set, but then there's that 1% who never really ventured out of that old school way of thinking.
I don't ever see anyone doing that at all but then again, I'm also just going by what and who I currently am reading and none of them do that. I think there's a difference between saying "Hey I'd love some feedback!" And "If you don't review I'm not posting!" The first one is kind of saying I want to know what you think of my stuff so I can improve or at least figure out what people like or dislike about it. The other one is just pompous, assuming there are a billion people reading your story and that's it's so great that if you don't get an update on it, you might possibly die. Those people don't even want 'feedback' they just want to hear how incredible they are! Which is why when people do that and you are nice enough to leave them 'feedback' make it real and tell them what they are doing wrong!
I do really think feedback is an essential way to keep fanfic going strong and I do understand why people get disillusioned when they don't get it, especially when it's something they're really proud of. I also know that to say we write for ourselves is all well and good but I think the second sentence of that overused term should be but I post it for the readers and the reactions I'll get.
If all we really cared about was writing for ourselves then there would be no reason to post it on the Internet for people to read and people wouldn't be checking read counts or be discouraged about number or lack of reviews. I know I get bummed if something I've worked really hard on gets no response and it does make me not as excited to write on it.
When I used to write so much that I had a ton of chapters waiting to post, I always still posted them whether I got reviews or not. For me though, if I am writing on something that I feel like is barely being read, I don't try so hard to update it. The sequel to Protect and Serve was a perfect example of that. It's not like I had the chapters done and was like "Well screw you! I'm not posting another thing until you review!" But instead more like "Why even bother finishing it because I don't care, I already know how it ends in my mind. If they don't' want to read it, I don't have to write it" lol <-- I think in that story's case though, people bugged me relentlessly to write it and for updates but when I started those people disappeared. That is one of my pet peeves! When people bug you endlessly for an update and then don't even bother to review. It's as annoying as people who don't respond to their reviews.
Wow, tangents abound lol sorry this is so long and blabbery!
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I will never get people like that. Why not just sign up for an account and favorite the stories you're reading so you'll know when they're updated and can leave reviews? Requesting that the author notify you personally when they update is just lazy and self-centered, and then to not even review after reading is downright douchey!
I agree with this 100%
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Yeah I agree, if they want to know when I have updated they should get an account and get the email notifications. I do that with stories I'm reading. I also favorite authors so I know when they post something new.
I will admit that I do lose interest when nobody has reviewed something I was excited to write, it isn't about the review count but I just want to know how people liked it. That's why I lost interest in one of my romance stories, nobody was asking for updates or seemed excited, so I stopped writing it. If a story seems to be doing well, I'm more motivated to write on it.
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How do you guys feel about authors try to "punish" their readers if they don't review?
I don't agree with it at all! In fact, it's a peeve of mine. I used to see it over on another site I used to visit and it made me not want to read or review.
If the writer were to put something like 'feedback would be great', then that shows they actually care what the reader thinks. But to put things like 'No updates until I get 20 reviews' or something like that would just make me think they have a huge ego, lol.
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I have people on twitter who have told me if I update to let them know. These people don't review, so I just will let them know once and that's it. They aren't regulars on ac so they wouldn't know otherwise.
I think they should sign up for an account. It will only take a minute and then you don't have to chase them up on Twitter :)
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Yeah seriously, it takes hours for us to write these chapters & about twenty seconds for them to sign up for an account on AC!
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I don't understand why people dont sign up. It's free and it takes two seconds and it makes it really easy to keep track of everything you're reading lol
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I try to tell people that lol. I don't know why they don't want to join. It's free. You get notifications when someone updates and you don't have to post stories to have an account. It also irks me when they tell me to let them know when I've update, then they never tell me they read it. LOL it's so annoying. I just want to know if you liked it or not.
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Just wanted to say, Mare, I agree with everything you said about feedback and writing for yourself, but also posting it for readers' reactions. So true!
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I try to tell people that lol. I don't know why they don't want to join. It's free. You get notifications when someone updates and you don't have to post stories to have an account. It also irks me when they tell me to let them know when I've update, then they never tell me they read it. LOL it's so annoying. I just want to know if you liked it or not.
You should stop telling them then. Lazy asses lol
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Yeah I did with the one girl cause I would update, shed ask me if I updated, I would ask what she thought and all she would say is "update again" lol um I have a life, I am not a trained monkey waiting for you to tell me to write. She started getting pushy so I stopped telling her.
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I also agree with all of you about the reviews. At the begining it used to be a big deal to me...almost like a competition, but now I'm ok with what I get. Although, it would be nice to know who is reading and if they are liking it.
Is it me or are there less readers and reviewers lately? I've even noticed that on the authors I look up to. :shrug:
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I've noticed that as well. When I first started writing my new story, I had a bunch of people, now there's only one lol. A lot of people are back to school or away so I can understand that. The story isn't going anywhere and they can catch up at any time.
Your new one looks interesting, Erika. I've been meaning to check it out :)
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If you mean decline as of recently, the time of year has a lot to do with that but if you mean decline as in general over the years then yes, I noticed that too. I think the fandom has lost a lot of people over the years. I've been reading my older stuff and when I look at the reviews, a lot of those people aren't around anymore. It's sad but I think that's just the way it goes. There's a new batch of readers but I think there are a lot more who just don't bother to review as we just talked about. Because I'll always have random people pop in and say oh I love that story when are you going to update? And I didn't even know they read. lol
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Time of year is definitely a factor - as summer winds down, people get busy either going back to school themselves or with their kids going back to school. I don't know if reviews have decreased over the years, but I do agree with Mare that it's a different batch of people doing the reading and reviewing.
I know personally, I've averaged way fewer reviews per chapter on the story I'm writing now than Curtain Call last year, but that doesn't surprise me at all given that it's an AU and not about Nick. It doesn't have as wide of an appeal. I think AU in general is still a turn-off to some readers, no matter which Boy it's about.
When I compare the amount of reviews CC got to the amount of emailed feedback I got for Broken nine years ago, it's about the same, but the people giving that feedback were different. The reader base as a whole has probably decreased over the years as the fan base has decreased, but we also have newer readers who weren't reading fanfic ten years ago to replace some of the ones who have lost interest in it.
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I think a lot of the newer people just aren't reviewing like we talked about earlier, but I've noticed a drop as well. This time of year is always that way. Everybody is finishing their summer vacations, getting ready to go back to school like Julie said. It could be a number of things.
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It's interesting you mentioned competing for reviews, Erika. I'm curious if you meant with your own stories or other peoples? One thing I think people don't keep in mind when it comes to reviews is the amount of chapters that come along with those reviews. It's easy to see a story with 500 reviews and think "That's not fair!!" But then people don't bother to look and notice that the story is over 100 chapters long.
There are always exceptions of course but as a general norm, the more chapters there are to a story the more reviews that story is going to have.
The way I gauge if my story is doing well review wise is if I have at least double the amount of reviews as I do chapters. So if let's say I have a story with 15 chapters, as long as I have 30 reviews I feel like I'm doing okay and not discouraged and when you really think about it, that's only two people reviewing each chapter. If it's any less then that, that's when I start to doubt myself and don't really want to write on the story that much.
Like Julie said, AU's in general probably tend to get less than your normal ones. I know my least reviewed stories are my AUs and my best reviewed stories are the real life documentary style ones like Why I'd do it All Again and this recent one, again because of the amount of reviews versus the number of chapters.
So here's a question, how do you gauge your feelings about how well your story is doing? Do you go by reviews or read counts or any other way?
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I don't judge by read count just cause there's plenty of times I may double check past chapters or when I post click on it again to make sure I didn't miss anything. As for reviews, yeah I look at the ones who are consistent. If people stick with it, I figure I'm doing okay. But even when reviews drop to nothing, if I loved the plot enough I'll stick with it.
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I never even look at the read count because I know that doesn't mean anyone is actually reading it! They could click on and of it, or it could be me checking to make sure it posted correctly, lol.
If I like what I'm writing, then I'll continue with it. Of course it's nice if someone else likes it too, I'm always happy to see a review.
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Yeah seriously, it takes hours for us to write these chapters & about twenty seconds for them to sign up for an account on AC!
Though... as our email would indicate... not everyone knows how to do that. Sigh.
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I never even look at the read count because I know that doesn't mean anyone is actually reading it! They could click on and of it, or it could be me checking to make sure it posted correctly, lol.
If I like what I'm writing, then I'll continue with it. Of course it's nice if someone else likes it too, I'm always happy to see a review.
I look at read count and it's nice to see a read count go up on my older stories since I'm not in those very often to read or check for consistency issues as I write. *shrugs* I know it's not a definite on how many people are actually reading but I still like to see it.
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Mare it was childish I know but it was a competition in my head with other writers. I would get antsy when I wouldn't get as many as someone else and I would get all happy when I had more than others. Ugh now I think about it and it was so dumb of me cause it came down to what you all have said chapters, genre and the BSB used. Now I am happy with the reviews I get.
I also agree with you Mare about the 2 reviews a chapter. I've always said a story is doing well if it has at least 2-3 reviews a chapter. We aren't all lucky to get 5+ at least not on every story.
I do check read count just because I notice a really high read count between chapters and I thinkto myself, how many could seriously just click on it and click out lol. I guess I'd be surprised.
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Though... as our email would indicate... not everyone knows how to do that. Sigh.
This is sadly very true lol
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Mare it was childish I know but it was a competition in my head with other writers. I would get antsy when I wouldn't get as many as someone else and I would get all happy when I had more than others. Ugh now I think about it and it was so dumb of me cause it came down to what you all have said chapters, genre and the BSB used. Now I am happy with the reviews I get.
I also agree with you Mare about the 2 reviews a chapter. I've always said a story is doing well if it has at least 2-3 reviews a chapter. We aren't all lucky to get 5+ at least not on every story.
I do check read count just because I notice a really high read count between chapters and I thinkto myself, how many could seriously just click on it and click out lol. I guess I'd be surprised.
Aww it's not that childish. I have a feeling there are a lot of people who do think that way.
I also think consistency or reviewer is important as well. As long as I know I can keep those same two or three people entertained throughout I must be doing something right but if one of them suddenly disappears, I start to question why. I don't mean just for a chapter or are really late on reviewing but if they completely stop.
I never look at my read counts.
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With FC I started out really good at first, now I got only one person reading at the moment. I think because people are busy. Doesn't mean nobody is reading. I sometimes check the review count but that doesn't mean anything, they could be looking and click back out. I figure if there's at least one consistent reviewer I am doing okay, but if it is a story I like and I'm enjoying, I will continue to write even if nobody gave feedback. Sometimes I just want to know how I'm doing.
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I've been able to tell the past two or three weeks that feedback has become less on MC, I'm guessing with school starting back, etc. I know with me moving and starting my new job, I'm slacking on stuff (swear Tracy, I'm going to catch up on FC!).
But with me taking a short break from writing and updating (Lisa will be updating our collab story), I figure it's a good time to do so with everybody being busy.
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So here's a question, how do you gauge your feelings about how well your story is doing? Do you go by reviews or read counts or any other way?
I don't pay attention to read counts because they're not accurate. Like a lot of you have said, I'm happy as long as I average a few reviews per chapter and keep the same group of regulars reading for the whole story. And what those reviews actually say matters, too.
I'm usually not surprised when some stories do better or worse than others in terms of readers/reviewers. Like I said in my last post, there are just certain combinations of genre/Boy that, when written well, almost guarantee a good group of readers, whereas others are only going to attract a small, select group. I also know it's easier to keep a group of people reading regularly when you update regularly. My story Guilty Roads was averaging 5+ reviews per chapter when I was updating it regularly, but it's been so long since then that I wouldn't be at all surprised if that number dropped significantly when I do finally get around to updating it again, despite the number of people who have begged for updates. That's my own fault LOL.
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Don't worry about it, Karah. The story isn't going anywhere. In fact, I've been cooking up some good stuff for it. Had a big brainwashing session with my friend on the way to Hershey. That's why I've been fortunate to be cranking out daily chapters. I have Chapter 7 almost finished already. Anyone can play catch up when they need to :)
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^ when that happens there is a definite decline in reviews. I have noticed that too. I know I've done that as writer more than once. As a reader, if someone waits a super long time to update, I might decide to wait until its done to read it for fear that the story will disappear again because I know I'll have to start over anyway since I usually can't remember what happened. lol
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Yep that's what happened with my romance series. I took too long to update and people got bored.
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Speaking as a reader & not a writer, what are some of your biggest pet peeves?
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I don't pay attention to read counts because they're not accurate. Like a lot of you have said, I'm happy as long as I average a few reviews per chapter and keep the same group of regulars reading for the whole story. And what those reviews actually say matters, too.
I'm usually not surprised when some stories do better or worse than others in terms of readers/reviewers. Like I said in my last post, there are just certain combinations of genre/Boy that, when written well, almost guarantee a good group of readers, whereas others are only going to attract a small, select group. I also know it's easier to keep a group of people reading regularly when you update regularly. My story Guilty Roads was averaging 5+ reviews per chapter when I was updating it regularly, but it's been so long since then that I wouldn't be at all surprised if that number dropped significantly when I do finally get around to updating it again, despite the number of people who have begged for updates. That's my own fault LOL.
Well I'll be there to read and review when you do get back to it! :)
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Speaking as a reader & not a writer, what are some of your biggest pet peeves?
Writers who vanish off the face of the earth and leave the story unfinished, lol. There were a few I started reading a while ago and I'd love to see the writers come back and finish them off.
That's one of them.
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^ when that happens there is a definite decline in reviews. I have noticed that too. I know I've done that as writer more than once. As a reader, if someone waits a super long time to update, I might decide to wait until its done to read it for fear that the story will disappear again because I know I'll have to start over anyway since I usually can't remember what happened. lol
I do that too as a reader, so I wouldn't blame anyone for doing it to me. I wish I could say I'd been writing GR in secret all summer with the goal of waiting to post it until it was done, but haha, that was not the case. But I did go back and finish a story I had only written a total of 7 chapters for since 2008, so there is hope for GR.
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Well I'll be there to read and review when you do get back to it! :)
Thanks Steph! :) Now that school is starting, I'm taking a self-imposed break from writing for at least a few weeks to fully commit to that, although I do have an Undead chapter or two to write, so maybe I'll get to those on the weekends. But after that, I'm down to either GR or the HP story, so I'll have to do some writing on one of them! LOL
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Well, I am reading all of those too, lol
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I started the HP story.... lol you can write on that one ;)
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My reading pet peeves:
When stories just disappear without any announcement from the author
When author's don't respond to reviews
When an author constantly changes their chapters while posting their story and then expects you to go back and reread the new chapter again once it's reposted.
When you are reading something that is being co-written and it's clear that one person is into it more than the other so one updates consistently and then you wait twelve years for the other one to post an update
Banners!
lol
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My writing pet peeves?
When a writer has a really awesome story and never finishes.
When a writer doesn't respond to reviews
When there are a lot of grammar and spelling errors
When the author puts themselves on the banner
When the author doesn't finish a story and starts a new one instead
When an author goes a long time before updating (I will still keep reading, but the anticipation kills me)
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That should say "reading pet peeves" not "writing"
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I hate it when authors don't respond to reviews, but what gets to me more than that is when they respond to certain people and ignore the rest. It doesn't take long to write a simple "thanks for reading" to show that their review is as valued as the rest. That's my opinion anyway!
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My writing pet peeves?
When the author doesn't finish a story and starts a new one instead
THIS as well!
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I hate it when authors don't respond to reviews, but what gets to me more than that is when they respond to certain people and ignore the rest. It doesn't take long to write a simple "thanks for reading" to show that their review is as valued as the rest. That's my opinion anyway!
Yes!! Irks me to NO end!!! NO END!!!! lol
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It takes me forever to respond on my phone but i agree with everything you guys said!
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I will openly admit I've done things that I'm annoyed by lmao not that it makes sense or not.
I also agree with Steph, I don't like when people answer only certain reviews. It makes me want to read less and I lose interest in it.
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Wow is the question threads over? Well in case it's not here is a question.
Since I saw all the talk about collabs I thought about a question. Has there ever been someone you wanted to collab with, but you never had the nerve to tell them? Has someone asked you to collab, but you declined because you thought your writing styles were different?
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Nope, the threads not dead, I'm just busy with back to school stuff. Remember guys just feel free to post your questions in here! :)
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Wow is the question threads over? Well in case it's not here is a question.
Since I saw all the talk about collabs I thought about a question. Has there ever been someone you wanted to collab with, but you never had the nerve to tell them? Has someone asked you to collab, but you declined because you thought your writing styles were different?
I've always been pretty bold when it came to going for a collab lol. If I wanted to write with someone and thought it would actually work, I tried to tell them. I mean I was nervous as I did it sometimes, but I never really ever got turned down so I guess my method worked! LOL. I was really nervous when I first signed on to do Code Blue, because Julie was one of the well known writers at that point and I wasn't. I ranked her right up there with Mare and Chaos. I just wanted her to like my writing :P.
Clearly that's not an issue as geeze...I think it's a little over six years later and we're still writing together LOL. Holy shit, I hadn't realized it'd been that long.
I've had people ask to collaborate with me before, back when I was a major collab whore. And I turned plenty of them down because I figured we wouldn't mesh. Sometimes, it was because they didn't know the basics and I have NO patience in going over that with people LOL. It's not an easy thing to do, and I'll admit I lied and said I was too busy with my own stories.
It's amazing I collaborated as much as I did, seeing as my partners always went poof on me. Julie's the first one who hasn't LOL.
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The only reason I was afraid to ask people to collab with me was because I've had people flake out on me and one person hardly gave me anything to write off of so I felt I was writing the whole plot and then their chapter would change what I had in mind and it went to pot! I avoided collabs until 00Carter.
As for smaller collabs, it's not that I've been afraid to approach an author, I just want to find authors that I think I would mesh with. I want to find someone whose style isn't so completely different than mine that the story just wouldn't work. And I wanted to find people that I got along with outside of fanfiction so that I knew we'd be able to chat and plan for the story and not dread talking to each other. :)
I don't think I've had anyone ask to collab with me that I turned down, I might have but I would have said what Rose did, that I was busy focusing on the stories I had going on at the moment.
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That's one thing with collabs, outlines are essential cause otherwise they can write something so off the wall from what you had in mind. Could you imagine 00Carter without the outlines?
Unless your partner shares a brain with you, then you should be okay LOL.
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I've been wanting to do a collab for a while, I just am too shy to ask. I would love to one day though if anyone is interested.
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I have a terrible writing style for collabs with all the jumping around in storylines that I do! I'm sure it would drive a collaborator nuts!
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00Varter w/o outlines would be a nightmare indeed.
I don't think some of my plots would lend well to collaborations . I keep so much hidden and know where and when I want little details to slip out with someone esle's brain in the mix it would be much more difficult for some of my plots.
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Back when I first started writing I did collabs (or collages if you ask my autocorrect) but I don't now for obvious reasons - no one would be willing to wait 6 months for the nex chapter lol
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When I was quite new here, I started a collab with someone but she vanished before we'd really had a chance to get any writing done. I don't think we would've written a very good story either because the writing styles were different and I didn't really know her.
I knew when Lore and I started talking about a collab that it would be fun, because we had the same ideas and can talk about other stuff too, so I feel like I know her. I think that's important, to be able to talk to your collab partner.
I don't know who else I'd write with.
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I have never had the desire to write a collab. I enjoy the process of writing alone. I've been asked several times and have always politely declined.
The only collabs I would work on would be more like a do your own thing and have the other writer's play off what the the person proceeding you wrote like Phantasm and my collab with Mersey and Maria.
We never had to plot the story or discuss anything other than what genre we were going to write and then we just waited for each other to actually write it. It was more like improv and less like a real collaboration if that makes sense? Those I would be willing to do with anyone as part of a huge collab, but not to the point where we have to outline a story and assign parts etc... I give you guys credit for doing that. It's just not me. I'm too spontaneous. LOL
What I have noticed for me, with the exception of Swenglish and Jenna I find I usually tend not to enjoy reading collabs. I have no idea if it's just a coincidence or if it's a flow or inconsistency issue.
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See with Julie and I, our setup is different than it was with say Code Blue and 00Carter, which had so many writers at one point that you had to assign parts or it would get messy lol. With Undead, because there were ten characters, it was pretty simple to just divide up the characters and each wrote those parts. We outlined cause we're anal LOL.
I think you can tell earlier in the story who wrote what more, because that was when we still had Dee. Her style stood out the most against mine and Julie's, which is more similar. I'd like to think now that unless we've told you, it's harder to see who wrote what. Because we stuck to writing the same people the whole way through, I feel like consistency isn't too big of a problem.
One thing about collabs, is that I've learned that any more than two writers tends to fail lol. Or gets held up. Code Blue pretty much ended up on hiatus. 00Carter has had so many people drop and ends up on huge delays. Undead started off with three and did have problems in the beginning until it became just Julie and I and that's when everything smoothed itself out.
I can't imagine writing with anyone else now though. Undead is on it's way to being finished and we have so many future ideas for stories lined up it's a little insane LOL.
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Rose, you and Julie write so well together that you can't tell who wrote which bit.
With the collab that me and Lore are doing, we take turns writing the chapters and discuss what's going to happen in the chapter before writing it. I'm not sure if anyone can tell who wrote what, but it seems to flow well to me, I just have to keep remembering to spell things the American way, lol.
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What I have noticed for me, with the exception of Swenglish and Jenna I find I usually tend not to enjoy reading collabs. I have no idea if it's just a coincidence or if it's a flow or inconsistency issue.
I feel the same, though I didn't like Swollen Issues (aka the fic that never ends...). I typically avoid collabs because I can always tell when the writer changes. It's especially bad when it changes mid-chapter. It's not SO annoying when the writers are writing different characters because it stands to reason that they would have a different "voice" but overall I'm pretty meh about them.
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I loved Swollen Issues because of the actual story. I thought the drama was awesome but yeah, three stories is a bit long for any story to be told but for cancer it's just cruel which is why that one should win for best Nick torture story! I mean three really long stories culminating in him dying after all of that!! LOL Oops I should have put *spoiler alert!
I think it's harder to keep it consistent when there's more than two people writing on anything because that would be just a rarity to find that many people who were able to write in the same style.
I am trying to think of another question but nothing comes to mind lol my brain isn't working this afternoon.
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I loved Swollen Issues because of the actual story. I thought the drama was awesome but yeah, three stories is a bit long for any story to be told but for cancer it's just cruel which is why that one should win for best Nick torture story! I mean three really long stories culminating in him dying after all of that!! LOL Oops I should have put *spoiler alert!
I think it's harder to keep it consistent when there's more than two people writing on anything because that would be just a rarity to find that many people who were able to write in the same style.
I am trying to think of another question but nothing comes to mind lol my brain isn't working this afternoon.
LMAO you know I'm actually surprised it didn't get nominated for the "Please Don't Hurt Me Anymore!" one yet, since he does suffer for three stories before finally dying lmao. Then again, it's an older set of stories.
And yeah, it is harder to keep it consistent. 00Carter had that problem in the beginning cause we had like...10 people writing the damn thing lol. It's smoothed out once people left, but it was definitely an issue.
Rose, you and Julie write so well together that you can't tell who wrote which bit.
With the collab that me and Lore are doing, we take turns writing the chapters and discuss what's going to happen in the chapter before writing it. I'm not sure if anyone can tell who wrote what, but it seems to flow well to me, I just have to keep remembering to spell things the American way, lol.
Thanks Steph. :) I'm biased so it's nice hearing that from someone else LOL.
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^ With that many people the whole consistency thing while updating woule be a problem too i'm sure. Sometimes with two people it can still be bad if one person is more on top of things then the other. It means the reader diesn't have to wait for updates on week but then maybe waiting for a month when it's the other person's turn. LOL
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^ With that many people the whole consistency thing while updating woule be a problem too i'm sure. Sometimes with two people it can still be bad if one person is more on top of things then the other. It means the reader diesn't have to wait for updates on week but then maybe waiting for a month when it's the other person's turn. LOL
It is! LOL. It's why 00Carter has maybe an episode a year if we're lucky.
With Julie and I, we usually don't have that problem. I mean we both have moments where life gets in the way and it delays updates. But we're on the same page with it. If you find the right collaborator, it's the kind of thing that can bring out the best in both authors.
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I collaborate best with me. I hardly ever fight with myself and usually get my way. It's a perfect relationship! lol
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LOL as long as you don't kill yourself the way you have Nick do in Whatever The Night right?
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I loved Swollen Issues because of the actual story. I thought the drama was awesome but yeah, three stories is a bit long for any story to be told but for cancer it's just cruel which is why that one should win for best Nick torture story! I mean three really long stories culminating in him dying after all of that!! LOL Oops I should have put *spoiler alert!
That would be like putting a spoiler alert on the end of Star Wars lol Anyone who hasn't read it after like, ten years deserves to have it spoiled :P
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I collaborate best with me. I hardly ever fight with myself and usually get my way. It's a perfect relationship! lol
I get IN my way, does that count?
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LOL as long as you don't kill yourself the way you have Nick do in Whatever The Night right?
Yes, although he did get better lol
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That would be like putting a spoiler alert on the end of Star Wars lol Anyone who hasn't read it after like, ten years deserves to have it spoiled :P
This is true lol
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I get IN my way, does that count?
^ this leads me to a question!
When you are writing and you become conflicted about a direction you want your story to go in, do you tend to go with your gut? Do you refuse to change your mind and stick with what you had originally planned or do you let your readers influence your decisions? Any or all of the above?
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I've definitely gotten away from my outline because of sudden inspiration or because it just didn't feel right when I got to that point. It usually does me in though and then I get stuck lol
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I don't let my readers influence my decisions at all lol. It pisses them off at times I'm sure, but if I did, I'd be making some bad choices. I've done that before and learned never to do that again. I usually go with my gut and what direction the characters direct me in. I have changed my mind with what I originally planned before, usually because those damn characters have lives of their own LOL.
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Wow is the question threads over? Well in case it's not here is a question.
Since I saw all the talk about collabs I thought about a question. Has there ever been someone you wanted to collab with, but you never had the nerve to tell them? Has someone asked you to collab, but you declined because you thought your writing styles were different?
Thanks for reviving the thread! I was so busy this past week, being that it was the first week of school, I'm just now catching up on the last few pages.
I don't think I've ever wanted to collab with someone and not asked them. Then again, I don't remember seeking out most of the collaborations I have done. They sort of just... happened, either because a friend and I were chatting and were just like "Why don't we write a story together?" or because one of us had an idea and the other one jumped on it. My collabs have almost all come about spontaneously.
I have been asked to collaborate and said no, sometimes because I didn't think our writing styles would mesh, but more often because I had too many other projects, both collaborations and individual stuff, in the works at the time.
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Thanks for reviving the thread! I was so busy this past week, being that it was the first week of school, I'm just now catching up on the last few pages.
I don't think I've ever wanted to collab with someone and not asked them. Then again, I don't remember seeking out most of the collaborations I have done. They sort of just... happened, either because a friend and I were chatting and were just like "Why don't we write a story together?" or because one of us had an idea and the other one jumped on it. My collabs have almost all come about spontaneously.
I have been asked to collaborate and said no, sometimes because I didn't think our writing styles would mesh, but more often because I had too many other projects, both collaborations and individual stuff, in the works at the time.
I think the closest you came to asking someone is when you put up a notice asking for help on Code Blue, and then you were asking anyone willing to help lol. I'm the one who drags you into new stories :P LOL.
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^ this leads me to a question!
When you are writing and you become conflicted about a direction you want your story to go in, do you tend to go with your gut? Do you refuse to change your mind and stick with what you had originally planned or do you let your readers influence your decisions? Any or all of the above?
Good question! When that happens, I tend to stop writing and go write something else instead (*cough*GuiltyRoads*cough*). :)
LOL Honestly, that's a tough question. I try to go with my gut, and I'm not afraid to alter my original idea slightly if it will make it more realistic to the characters and situations I've created in the story. Where I struggle is when my gut is saying, "Your whole idea is flawed." I haven't figured out the trick to completely retooling an idea once the story is started. That's when writer's block happens for me.
As far as letting readers influence my decisions, yes and no. I have let readers influence my decisions in a negative way before, but I think I've learned my lesson about that. When I wrote You'll Never Walk Alone like 10 years ago, the readers guessed who the real killer was early on... and it was supposed to be a mystery, so I stole the Scream twist and added a second killer... which didn't make much sense because her motive was weak and weird. I should have just stuck to the original killer only and let my readers feel good that they cracked the case because I suck at writing mysteries LOL. I learned my lesson and didn't change anything in Secrets of the Heart.
That said, I do value my readers' opinions; if I didn't, I wouldn't post stories while they were in progress. Sometimes their feedback does influence the rest of the story. It doesn't change the whole direction of the story, but it does help me decide what to emphasize, de-emphasize, or clarify in future chapters. Sometimes I will even let my readers vote on things in the story, as long as I'm willing to go with whatever choice they make. I did that with BMS, and I knew either path would be "fun" to write and ultimately lead to the same destination, but I let the readers choose which route to go because I couldn't decide. I just don't let them change my mind on things I've already decided, like whether characters will end up together or apart, whether they'll live or die, etc. Those major decisions are mine to make, and I make them based on what fits the characters and the story the best.
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I think the closest you came to asking someone is when you put up a notice asking for help on Code Blue, and then you were asking anyone willing to help lol. I'm the one who drags you into new stories :P LOL.
Yep! And then I wasn't asking someone specific; I was asking anyone willing to help who could write a coherent, complete sentence! LOL
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I've definitely gotten away from my outline because of sudden inspiration or because it just didn't feel right when I got to that point. It usually does me in though and then I get stuck lol
This!
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I usually go with my gut when I write something. If I feel like my characters are fighting me in the direction i'm going i'll listen to them. As far as my reader's, I do tend to listen to them but never really let them influence my big decisions. I have changed direction before based on reader feedback if I felt like I was becoming too predictable or people were misreading what I was trying to have come across, but as far as life and death or other huge factors, I don't usually stray too far off the path I had originally planned on taking.
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What if anything do you feel most guilty about when it comes to one of your stories or something you read? Give us one big confession about something concerning fanfic?
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My stories? The fact I'm not updating as fast as I'd like due to some issues this week.
Things I read? The fact I fell behind on several stories and have yet to catch up on them.
Confession... oh! The fact I do randomly click on romances to see if I can find something to read. That's actually how I know it's so hard to find one that captures my interest. I actively try, or did before I fell behind on stories lol. It's just too often the same plot or a bland character so I click out.
The last one I thought I would enjoy With the Band story by evergreen/Jen. I was a couple chapters in when I saw how many stories (by then) it had lol. I don't do romances with more than one sequel so I immediately clicked out of it. I don't have the patience for that lol. So yes...anti-romance Rose does try romances in hopes of finding that rare one she enjoys! LOL.
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What if anything do you feel most guilty about when it comes to one of your stories or something you read? Give us one big confession about something concerning fanfic?
As far as writing goes, I feel guilty for my failure to update Guilty Roads. I don't regret writing Curtain Call or even wish the idea for CC had come to me, but I do feel bad that it came at the expense of GR. I think I probably would have been able to keep updating GR consistently for longer than I did if I hadn't gotten sidetracked writing another story.
As far as reading goes, my confession would be that I sometimes stick with stories written by people who are my friends or readers who have given me feedback longer than I would if they weren't written by people I want to please or reciprocate. Even though I've always said I never want people to read my stories out of a sense of obligation, I'm guilty of reading other people's stuff for that reason sometimes. And then sometimes I feel guilty when I DON'T read stories written by people who are my friends or readers. I am such a people pleaser!
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My own stories?: The fact that I put Forces Of Nature on Hiatus. Kevin tripped me up by deciding he wanted to screw with AJ. Damn Kevin.
With stories I read? I will admit that sometimes I will read stories out of obligation, like if the person is my friend I will try theirs to see if I like it. Sometimes I don't get into it and I will feel badly, especially since I have said that I don't read stuff to please anyone.
I write romance but have grown out of it, and it is hard to find one that holds my interest anymore. Erika's story Just One Kiss held my interest due to the comedy and drama mixed in. I also like Karah's stuff for this reason.....but those are the only romance writers I read. I tend to stay in the same circle of authors and won't read much else.
As for fanfic confessions, Nick in Finding Carter is loosely based off of a very good friend of mine from twitter who is studying in Florida right now :)
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What if anything do you feel most guilty about when it comes to one of your stories or something you read? Give us one big confession about something concerning fanfic?
I feel guilty for not writing much recently, I have no excuse, but it could be because the kids are off school and are always hovering!
I don't really feel guilty about reading. I wish I had more hours in the day sometimes so that I could get around to reading everything I want to. But I know that if I've started reading a story and like it, then I'll finish it eventually. I don't feel guilty for liking the stories I like, I always say I'll read any genre (apart from slash) and if the story if good then I don't care if it's pure romance or full on horror.
Hmm, confessions... I've self-inserted in the past, I've added people I know as characters, I've taken inspiration from TV and films, I don't really like writing sex scenes (but I've written them), I like complete peace and quiet to write, and I'm not sure what else to say.
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^ this leads me to a question!
When you are writing and you become conflicted about a direction you want your story to go in, do you tend to go with your gut? Do you refuse to change your mind and stick with what you had originally planned or do you let your readers influence your decisions? Any or all of the above?
This is hard to answer for me because it really depends on the story! I've had stories where the ending completely changed from what it was supposed to be, like In Pieces, and other times I get ideas but instead I go with what I originally had planned because it just seems to work better. I've gotten randomly inspired by things and let the course of the story change completely, but with the same end goal. It can be difficult because I find I really need an outline to keep writing and keep on track otherwise I'll just get lost in all my ideas and almost overwhelm myself. So I do try to stick to my original ideas as much as possible, but sometimes I will end up changing things.
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What if anything do you feel most guilty about when it comes to one of your stories or something you read? Give us one big confession about something concerning fanfic?
I feel super guilty about how sporadic my updates for Running Up That Hill are. I'll write like three chapters, post them all days apart from each other, and then forget about it for a month or so (or even longer)... rinse and repeat... ugh. I really want to finish it soon because I've been working on it for nearly two years and want to move on to something fresh.
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I used to feel guilty for dropping the ball on my story Scars Run Deep and Wide for as long as I did, but in the end I did finish it. I feel a tad bit guilty for saying there would be one more story for Scattered Pictures where as now I'm thinking that probably will not happen.
Reading wise, I don't really have a lot of guilt. I know I'm picky and sometimes maybe I feel bad about not giving some stories more of a try, but I do try to get into a fair share before clicking out. Once I do commit, I feel like I'm a pretty good reader/reviewer.
A few confessions of mine: If a chapter is really long and wordy, I tend to skim to just the dialogue to get an idea of what's happening lol
I always look at people's reviews before I read their story. Not even to see what people are saying but to see if they bother to respond. If they don't, I'll skip the story.
I also look and see who is reviewing a story and if it's a bunch of names that I know do not like the same things I do, I tend to take that into consideration.
Again, I rarely read the actual reviews though because I don't want to know the plot before I read the story lol I'm so weird!
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I don't have a question for today, Anyone else?
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Are there any subjects or storylines you avoid writing? If so, which ones and why?
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I typically avoid writing medical stories. I know I have one now and it's killing me to continue to write because I am not as familiar with those types of stories. I don't write "real world" stories with as much ease as other writers and I find it difficult to write something where the characters won't spontaniously fly through space and time or have to fight men in suits but wonder why they know how to fight in the first place. It's just not the kind of fiction I can write and I applaud all the ladies that pull these kinds of stories off with what appears to be such ease. :)
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I try to avoid killing the boys or writing overly gory scenes. I also avoid sex scenes and romance because I am just terrible at it lol
I don't see myself writing medical dramas either because of all the research it would take. I could never write stuff like you can, Lore. All those creative worlds etc...
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I try to avoid killing the boys or writing overly gory scenes. I also avoid sex scenes and romance because I am just terrible at it lol
I don't see myself writing medical dramas either because of all the research it would take. I could never write stuff like you can, Lore. All those creative worlds etc...
aw I thought the world you took the boys to in Whatever the Night was very creative!! :)
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I don't know if there's anything I actively avoid writing, but I do find the medical stuff really difficult. Any time I have a scene in a hospital even I have a hard time with it just because I don't have the patience to do all the research on it because I'm not all that interested in it, but I still want to make it seem real. I try to keep my characters out of hospitals and from getting sick but sometimes it can't be avoided.
I'm not sure there's anything I really actively avoid other than that. I sometimes do a fade to black if I don't feel like writing a sex scene. Mostly because I am lazy and I suck at writing them.
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Thanks! I guess I don't really look at that as an original world, just a little off-ish lol
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Fade to black, I like that lol
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I'm not sure there's anything I really actively avoid other than that. I sometimes do a fade to black if I don't feel like writing a sex scene. Mostly because I am lazy and I suck at writing them.
I'll do that too usually. I'll close the door, or leave them as they lay back on the bed and then poof next chapter/scene in which the characters are waking up next to each other with that morning after glow... LOL
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I tend to avoid straight up romance. I tried it and it was a good experiment as it helped me grow as a writer, but I find writing it doesn't capture me. Undead has the most romance I've written in ages. I find I'm a LOT better at it when its a subplot to something bigger - like a zombie apocalypse LOL.
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I tend to avoid straight up romance. I tried it and it was a good experiment as it helped me grow as a writer, but I find writing it doesn't capture me. Undead has the most romance I've written in ages. I find I'm a LOT better at it when its a subplot to something bigger - like a zombie apocalypse LOL.
I am better at it when it's a subplot too. When I write straight up romance I have a hard time figuring out what to do with the characters between the little glances and touches but if they are hunting down a rogue time agent, well... you get the point.
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Right. I feel like its best as a subplot cause it adds more then.
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OT: I want a creative AV
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Maybe the thing I actively avoid is writing a story without any romance at all, actually! It's interesting to me that you guys say you love it as a subplot, where it's easiest for me as the main plot. I love writing the slow build up of a relationship between two characters and all the awkward little moments.
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I can't seem to keep a love interest alive or nice. They either die or turn evil lmao
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oh I can do the slow build up and little glances/touches that lead them to it. I just like to have it as the side plot, something that happens along side the main story. Chronos Project it was really more than the side plot though, it kind of spurred the rest of the plot too. So what is that then? side plot? dual plots?
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I can't seem to keep a love interest alive or nice. They either die or turn evil lmao
I have a hard time killing off my love interests when I have planned to do so, they always seem to stay alive! lol opposites.
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^ just hand them over to me for a few hours. I can kill any female lead pretty quickly. I'm also pretty good at killing plants too. Just an FYI lol
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LOL I like killing characters, its fun.
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I don't mind killing fake people or the misc... People that come with the boys but the actual boys themselves, I like to keep alive. Besides, it's hard to have them bromancing if one of them is dead lol
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On the subject of romance: I love romance as a subplot. I would say at least half of my novels, if not most, include a couple or some kind of romantic storyline. It's just not usually the MAIN plot; there's usually something else, like a terminal illness or a mystery to solve or zombies, that takes center stage while the love story develops on the side.
You all know I love writing medical stuff and killing people. What I don't enjoy writing is the music business stuff, but it's kind of a necessity at times in our fandom, unless you only write AU. I just don't feel like I know very much about the business side of things and find that harder to research in order to write it realistically. I'm also not comfortable writing fantasy, where you have to create your own world and laws for that world that made sense. I admire people who have the creativity to do that!
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There isn't anything I'd avoid writing, I'm quite open to giving anything a go. Not saying it would be any good, but I'd try. Like with sex scenes, I'm not happy about writing them as they are never realistic and kind of make me cringe, but I've written them in the past.
Oh, I try to avoid writing the real wives/girlfriends and kids as I don't like to bring them into the story. I know it sounds weird, but I just don't feel comfortable writing about them and prefer to write made up ones. That way I won't feel bad if I kill them off or make them out to be a real bitch.
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have you ever been nervous to see how readers will react to a certain chapter? or information revealed in a chapter?
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I don't know why, but I'm comfortable with writing sex scenes. That might make me a freak or something, but *shrugs* It's human nature.
I don't really like writing real wives and girlfriends either and if I do, it's usually for a reason, like with Leighanne in "The Story of Us" series (specifically in "Ours").
I don't particularly care for gore either, which is why I'm not into horror movies and why I don't read them. Drama? Sure.
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I don't like writing wives or kids unless it is AU and I can make up my own. I avoid writing real life family/relationships as much as possible.
I also am not comfortable writing sex scenes that are heavily detailed, like a visual. I am not sure why, but I just can't. If I do include a sex scene it is a fast scene with little details.
I also avoid writing Nick's family. I always make his mother a bitch when I do. Like in Finding Carter I found it better to make Kevin Nick's guardian than include the Carters. That's why I love AU, you can change all that :)
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I don't know why, but I'm comfortable with writing sex scenes. That might make me a freak or something, but *shrugs* It's human nature.
No, it doesn't make you a freak or anything like that. I think we all have stuff we're comfortable writing and things we're not so comfy with. I don't mind reading it though, if I'm liking the story :)
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In response to Lore's question, yes there's been several times where I'm so excited and nervous to see people's reactions to an update lol. The anticipation sometimes makes me frustrated. That's one of my faults, sometimes I am impatient when it comes to my writing.
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I don't know why, but I'm comfortable with writing sex scenes. That might make me a freak or something, but *shrugs* It's human nature.
You ARE a freak! ... lol we all know what YOU like ;) lol...
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have you ever been nervous to see how readers will react to a certain chapter? or information revealed in a chapter?
The only time I ever got a bit nervous posting a chapter was when I killed Jordan off in Save A Prayer. I did wonder if the bot flies were a bit too much, and I'd even tamed the chapter down before posting because I was making myself gag a bit, lol.
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The only time I ever got a bit nervous posting a chapter was when I killed Jordan off in Save A Prayer. I did wonder if the bot flies were a bit too much, and I'd even tamed the chapter down before posting because I was making myself gag a bit, lol.
I still love that scene LOL.
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I don't know if I'd call it nervous but I do get excited to see what the reaction will be when I know my readers don't see what's coming. When I get the sense they have figured things out its not as fun but since I love writing plot twists & turns & some big reveal is coming up that I can tell no one has figured out I usually can't wait to see the reactions and like Tracy mentioned, that's the only time I find myself really impatient when it comes to reviews lol
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I still love that scene LOL.
Thanks :)
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I don't know if I'd call it nervous but I do get excited to see what the reaction will be when I know my readers don't see what's coming. When I get the sense they have figured things out its not as fun but since I love writing plot twists & turns & some big reveal is coming up that I can tell no one has figured out I usually can't wait to see the reactions and like Tracy mentioned, that's the only time I find myself really impatient when it comes to reviews lol
I love trying to guess what's going to happen, but I also love when I'm completely wrong :)
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I don't know why, but I'm comfortable with writing sex scenes. That might make me a freak or something, but *shrugs* It's human nature. .
I'm comfortable writing with writing murder scenes, does that make me a freak? Lol I think we all just have strengths and weaknesses. I think it's great too because it makes it possible for so many genres to exist so that there really is something for everyone! :)
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have you ever been nervous to see how readers will react to a certain chapter? or information revealed in a chapter?
Not nervous really, more curious. I feel like nervous would mean there's a chance for regret and for me it's take it or leave it with readers. They either dig it or they dont.
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Not nervous really, more curious. I feel like nervous would mean there's a chance for regret and for me it's take it or leave it with readers. They either dig it or they dont.
Nervous was probably the wrong word, I was anxious about a chapter I just updated wondering how my readers would react.
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Here's a question in relation to Lore's. Have you ever been surprised by some of the reactions you have gotten on a chapter? Like something you werent expecting? And did it effect your motivation for continuing with the story?
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I love trying to guess what's going to happen, but I also love when I'm completely wrong :)
Me too!! I love reading stories & being. Completely surprised by something because the Nancy Drew in me always tries to figure out what's happening the first few sentences lol
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I do feel nervous about posting certain chapters! But it's a good, excited kind of nervous. Usually the chapters that do that to me are the pivotal moments in the story - the first time the word "amputation" is mentioned in Broken, the first zombie chapter of Undead, the chapter where Nick finds out he's dying in Curtain Call (and I guess the chapter where you find out he's sick in the first place too). I have one of those coming up tomorrow in Secrets. I'm always anxious about the reaction those kinds of chapters are going to get.
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In response to the feedback question, I have gotten comments like that on Finding Carter. Some felt that I should have explained the reason for Brian and Nick being together more, and I was a little disappointed that some seemed to stop reading after that. If they'd just waited, they would see i have a reason for not revealing that right away.
I almost stopped writing it at that point, but i decided to keep going because I like writing it, not for the feedback but because I like the story idea.
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Here's a question in relation to Lore's. Have you ever been surprised by some of the reactions you have gotten on a chapter? Like something you werent expecting? And did it effect your motivation for continuing with the story?
If I'm surprised by the reactions, it's usually in a good way. I worried about the reaction all of the chapters in my above post were going to get ("Zombies? Really?" or "Another cancer story? Really?"), but they all got the reactions I was HOPING for and not the ones I was afraid of getting, so I was surprised in a good way.
The only time I'm surprised in a bad way is when I try to write a mystery and everyone figures it out right away LOL. I am just not creative enough to keep people guessing for long! But I can't blame people for trying to figure it out because I do the same thing when I'm reading. I just need to get better at fooling them or stop trying! LOL
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If I'm surprised by the reactions, it's usually in a good way. I worried about the reaction all of the chapters in my above post were going to get ("Zombies? Really?" or "Another cancer story? Really?"), but they all got the reactions I was HOPING for and not the ones I was afraid of getting, so I was surprised in a good way.
I'm kind of the same way. I come up with a story idea and I'm always afraid that people are gonna be like "another story about a singer?" or "another story with a NASCAR driver as a supporting character" or something like that.
Sometimes when I post chapters, I expect people to freak out about something or like something and they don't and go crazy about something else, like the scene in "Fearless" where Nick came in his pants and Karsyn called herself a super hero. People liked that one and I never expected that.
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have you ever been nervous to see how readers will react to a certain chapter? or information revealed in a chapter?
Definitely. When it was revealed in RMTW that Nick was diagnosed with Early-Onset Alzheimer's, I was really nervous about the reaction. It was different and I didn't know if people would think it was good or bad. I only waited five chapters I think it was before revealing it, and so far I was getting a positive response. So I was definitely nervous about posting that chapter LOL.
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Here's a question in relation to Lore's. Have you ever been surprised by some of the reactions you have gotten on a chapter? Like something you werent expecting? And did it effect your motivation for continuing with the story?
Yes! When Julie and I posted the chapter in Undead where it was zombies, because up till that point we kept it hidden. Hell the title was even different so people wouldn't know LOL. We figured a lot might stop reading at that point. We were shocked when people loved it. Or with RMTW where people loved that I went for a different form of angst with Alzheimer's lol. I was shocked for both, but in a good way cause I got the reactions I hoped for, but didn't expect.
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When starting a brand new story, what do you find you have the most trouble with? Your first chapter, the summary, the title, the banner or anything else?
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The title lol. I hate titles. I refuse to post a story before I have one, but titles drive me insane. I have the hardest time coming up with them. Typically the end up from a lyric or a phrase or something.
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The beginning. I usually have no clue where to actually start a story or where the best place to jump into my characters lives. I have tons of chapters sitting in my folder that aren't necessarily beginnings, but random chapters of stories that I don't know how to start! There's one story I have eight chapters of, but I'm blocked on how to actually start it, lol. And now it's kind of dead in the water anyways because I started a collab with a friend that's really similar.
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The beginning is usually the hardest for me. Sometimes titles are hard, and sometimes they come easily, but I never start writing without a title. Summaries usually aren't a struggle for me to write, and I enjoy making banners - those are the fun parts!
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I do find I spend a lot of time on summaries. I'll usually write a few different ones and play around with the wording until I go with the one I like, but I wouldn't say it's overly difficult. Just sort of time consuming.
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^ That's exactly how I do it too.
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Usually the title and the summary are the hardest for me, though my new story I started and not sure I like the beginning so I am attempting to start again. This beginning is being a pain, normally I LOVE writing beginnings. Ask my 00Carter girls, I like to take beginning parts. *whistles*
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What would you do for a Klondike Bar?
Sorry, it's 2:15 am & I can't fall asleep lol
I have nothing fanfic wise to ask. I feel like we've covered everything lol
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I sometimes don't know what to call my stories, so they end up with a song title or something like that.
I just had to google Klondike Bar, looks tasty!
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it's a commercial here. People would supposedly do all sorts of things for a Klondike Bar lol
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I'm so not into those Klondike bars. I saw when I was in the states though that they had ice cream sandwiches that were basically two chocolate chip cookies with ice cream in the middle. Nom.
Yeah I dunno. I have nothing interesting to add about fanfic lol
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Are you kidding me lol those are soooooo good. I love how now there's different kinds. I love my ice cream :P
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I would love them do much more if they were on a stick. They are so hard to eat just randomly square and sloppy!
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No I hate those ice cream bars on a stick! You always end up with that really awkward end part that's impossible to eat and it either falls off or you have to bite it all at once. Even those bars on a stick I'd eat on a plate with a spoon when I was a kid, LOL. Ice cream is challenging for me.
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^ Steph you are special. :)
I can't say I've had a Klondike bar. I LOVE ice cream bars though and ice cream sandwiches. I like the ice cream sandwiches with chocolate chip ice cream in the middle. YUM!
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Ice cream is messy okay lol not my fault they make it all melty! When it's in a bowl I can deal but in cone form... forget it.
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My favorite is mango ice cream. I love how we all are talking about ice cream now.
As for a fanfic related question...
Has there ever been a story where you've read it and went "Damn, wish I'd thought of that one."?
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I'm not a big ice cream eater, unless it's got chocolate in it, like Phish Food Ben & Jerry's, or Magnum. Oh, and I like mint choc chip too :)
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My favorite is mango ice cream. I love how we all are talking about ice cream now.
As for a fanfic related question...
Has there ever been a story where you've read it and went "Damn, wish I'd thought of that one."?
Maybe not wished I'd thought of it, but there are stories where I think "wow, I wish I could write like that".
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There's been lots of times where I've wished I could write as well as a lot of my favorites. I got my own style and I'm happy with it, I just feel they got something that I don't have lol
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Yeah, I'm happy enough with my own writing too, just some stories make me think "awesome".
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^I feel that way too a lot of the time.
I don't know that there's any story I wish i had come up with. Usually if there's a story I really love I'm happy I get to read it instead of having to work to write it lol. I guess I sort of want to write a story about that cake in London but there's already two about it so its on the backburner for now haha.
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there have definitely been plots that I've been jealous of others for thinking of and not myself. Definitely thought that when Ritz started her story... and Reb, I only WISH I could have thought of her angel story... I wish she'd come back and write it, wait I wish BOTH of those girls would come back and write. :)
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I'm so not into those Klondike bars. I saw when I was in the states though that they had ice cream sandwiches that were basically two chocolate chip cookies with ice cream in the middle. Nom.
Yeah I dunno. I have nothing interesting to add about fanfic lol
They have those at Superstore. PC brand. Even ones with peanut butter iced cream.
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My favorite is mango ice cream. I love how we all are talking about ice cream now.
As for a fanfic related question...
Has there ever been a story where you've read it and went "Damn, wish I'd thought of that one."?
I haven't really felt that way about fanfics. I have about a few books like the Book Theif & I wish I had come up with Once Upon a Time!
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They have those at Superstore. PC brand. Even ones with peanut butter iced cream.
Totally going there to pick up some of that deliciousness.
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I've definitely felt that way about fanfics before... both "I wish I had thought of that!" and "I wish I could write that way!"'
And I wish I had come up with Once Upon a Time too, Mare! It's such a creative concept and, yet, not that out there - it's like a fractured fairy tale. Why couldn't I have come up with that?? LOL
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I just kind of stole this from Steph's thread lol
What character of yours do you most identify with? It can be from any story you've written. And why were they so personal to you?
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I definitely identify with Camille from Left and Leaving the most, and that's basically because she's me. As I've stated before I largely based that story off of my own life, with Nick being the uncaring boyfriend who just moved away for work without a second thought, and then having his best friend like her and pull some pretty dick moves... yeah. I really identified with her, lol obviously. But I do think it was a good thing because I think when I put myself and my personal experiences into my stories they turn out a lot better. I guess it's because of the attachment and the raw emotion that I get from having dealt with what my characters are dealing with.
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I really identified with Nick in RMTW. Minus the Alzheimer's obviously LOL, he had a lot of my own issues. Aaron was based heavily on my own brother. I have four siblings myself and I always understood how that can be trying. The idea of trying to live up to expectations and knowing you're failing but trying anyway. I always put the most of me into Nick, but I think I did it more here than in any other story. So this Nick really felt cathartic in some ways to write.
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For me it's my Nick in the Mel's Series. He was me, plain and simple. It was theraputic at times but also really hard to write.
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If the boys were to ever come out and say they hated the fact that people wrote about them and wished we would stop, would you?
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Honestly, probably not lol. It would suck but meh, I don't want the Boys to read my fanfic anyway. I'm too mean to them in it. As long as I get ideas, I'll continue to write. It's as simple as that.
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I wouldn't stop writing, it's not like they are ever going to read my stuff, lol.
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I would stop lol
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LOL awww. Well that means you need to keep writing now since you're basking in the "Kevin Is Back" glow.
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I wouldn't stop lol sorry boys.
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Just for the record, you are all terrible human beings! lol
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Just for the record, you are all terrible human beings! lol
LOL!
Jason from Take That said in an interview that he wished fans would find other interests other than following them around, or words to that effect. It didn't stop fans :)
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LOL!
Jason from Take That said in an interview that he wished fans would find other interests other than following them around, or words to that effect. It didn't stop fans :)
Wow, that was pretty harsh for him to say, honest and true, but harsh lol
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Wow, that was pretty harsh for him to say, honest and true, but harsh lol
Some fans weren't too happy, lol
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I would imagine lol
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Some fans weren't too happy, lol
If they would have stopped, he proly would have changed his mind.
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LOL no I would not stop writing if the boys said to. As long as I enjoy what i do, I will keep writing.
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Just for the record, you are all terrible human beings! lol
I thought we already knew I was going to hell? LMAO.
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There are story ideas I would have thought about. Then again I wouldn't e able to do them justice. So I'm good with my own crazy ideas. I reall idetified with Ray in Ray of Hope. I was such a mess over my weight at some point. I did help my mom with housekeeping and my father was abusive. I just didn't have a Nick!
I wouldn't stop writing either. I just couldn't.
I'm not sure if this question is almost the same, but have you ever felt like one of your characters is your alter ego?
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I thought we already knew I was going to hell? LMAO.
Well apparently you'll have some company! lol
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Just for the record, you are all terrible human beings! lol
A lot of people have hoped they will quit but they haven't, why should we? :P lol
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I would say my alter ego is definitely all my Nicks.
If you could have dinner with any five characters from anyone's stories. Who would you pick and why?
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What character of yours do you most identify with? It can be from any story you've written. And why were they so personal to you?
Most recently, Becci in Secrets of the Heart. Since she was just a small supporting character, I gave her certain parts of my own lifestyle and personality, like making her a teacher, so I could relate to her. Mostly I just felt sorry for her because she had to face the thing I dread most, the illness/death of a loved one.
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If the boys were to ever come out and say they hated the fact that people wrote about them and wished we would stop, would you?
Honestly, probably not LOL. Like others have said, I doubt they ever have or would read any of my stories, and what they don't know won't hurt them! If I was really concerned about offending them, I could see myself moving to more AUs or writing "original fiction" using the Boys disguised as original characters.
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I can't think of five but I would love to hang out with Max from Lurks....he's just one of my favorite characters because he seemed like a bad guy and then ended up being a good guy....I'd love to know more about him. He reminded me a lot of Snape from Harry Potter.
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Story idea I wish was mine...hmm...
I can't think of fanfics right now, but I definitely agree with Once Upon a Time lol.
I don't really have story alter-egos lol.
Five people I want to hang out with?
00Carter - I feel like he would be epic lmfao.
Nick in "A Million Little Things" - he'd be a ball.
Max in Lurks - just so I can try and get into his head.
Cary in "Curtain Call" - just because I can't imagine how hard it had to be to be her. She could've used the comfort lol.
Brian in "Nick's Dirty Kicks" cause I'd love to watch him obsess over Nick's nasty shoes lmfao.
These are the kinds of answers you get from me at 4am when I haven't slept :P.
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OMG Rose. I'd pick 00Carter too. I didn't think of him. He's way too fun to not want to hang out with. Either him or Lancybassy cause I love them both.
For my other 3:
Any Nick that mare has written.... ;)
I would go with Cary as well, she was a favorite character of mine too. She just seems like a really strong person having dealt with Nick's cancer like that.
I would like to hang out with Dr. Rough too just because I love evil Howie!
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Fanfic alter egos....well I guess a cheesy self insert in my romance series is my alter ego. Although she's a lot bitchier than I am in real life. So I'd say Tracy in Not The Other Guy is my alter ego.
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It's been dead on here lately! I guess everyone is busy.
Fanfic alter egos... I put a little of myself in a lot of my characters, but the ones who are most similar to me are Gretchen in Undead and Becci in Secrets. My "glamorous" alter ego with the cool job is Red Jewel in 00Carter. And if you combined Claire's personality with Cary's 50s pinup look and musical talent, you would have my ideal - what I wish I was, not what I actually am.
And if I could hang out with any five characters, they would be...
1. Brian in "Between the Lines" because he is so nice and brightens everyone's whole world.
2. Nick in "Save a Prayer" because I like this new, mature Nick who manages to be heroic without trying too hard.
3. Kevin in "Casa de Backstreet Boys-ah" (from Mare's "Scattered Pictures") because his sense of humor shone through in that one, and I love to see Kevin's fun side.
4. AJ in "Come Together" because I prefer younger, pre-alcoholic, pre-nailpolish AJ.
5. Howie in "00Carter" because that would just entertain me LOL.
I knew I wanted to answer this question with the five Backstreet Boys because, c'mon, it's not like I would pick some random female or villain over one of them, but I actually found way more versions of them that I WOULDN'T want to hang out with because they were dying of a terminal illness or were sad because their friend/lover was dying/dead or were depressed or suicidal or addicted or losing their minds! And even now I just realized that one of my choices still has a brain tumor - damn it!! Questions like these would be easier to answer if I only read romantic comedies (or had EVER read ANY romantic comedy LOL).
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It's nice to see you here Julie! It has been kinda dead on here lately, I guess because of school. I'd love to meet Howie from 00Carter too :P
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Thanks - and thanks for the mentions of Cary and the other 00Carter characters too!
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Sorry guys this is meet the teacher/band parent meetings week. I haven't even had time to fart lol
Feel free to come up with questions though!
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I'll post one if I can think of one. I've got nothing right now! I'm kind of checked out of fanfic at the moment, but I do miss chatting on here! It makes me feel like a writer without requiring me to actually write or even think too hard about writing LOL.
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AC has been dead in general, I noticed my readers haven't been around much either!
What is the craziest idea you've had for a fanfic? Did you write it or have you saved it for a rainy day because it was so different?
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Okay, got something! These may be repeats; I can't even remember anymore!
1. What has been your favorite story to write and why?
2. How about your least favorite to write?
3. Do your feelings about your own stories tend to match up to your readers' feelings (that is, the stories you're really into writing are the same ones your readers are really into reading and vice versa)?
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LOL Yay, lots of questions now!
Craziest idea... I think the craziest one I've posted that isn't a challenge or a spoof is my Harry Potter crossover. It's doesn't seem too crazy yet because I've only posted three chapters, but the outline/idea file I have for it is pretty crazy.
It's a toss-up for the craziest idea I've come up with that I have written down somewhere but have never actually written. The sequel idea I had for BMS was crazy ridiculous, and I'm glad I didn't try to write it because it would have been epically bad. I have a fantasy idea saved that will probably never amount to anything, but it's pretty trippy. And I've had a suspense idea for like 7+ years that is fairly crazy, but that one I would consider writing if I could find a way to make it believable.
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Craziest idea?
Um... maybe 00Carter? LOL. I mean technically it's a bit of a spoof but I feel like when I created that all based off a hot coco bit, it was one of my nuttier ideas. There's another idea I have that may be a little out there, but it's not posted yet so yeah LOL.
Favorite Story - Probably a tie between Undead and Remember Me This Way. I love writing both those stories but for entirely different reasons. Undead is my favorite thing to write, action, drama, and lots and lots of gore. It's just this epic story I at first wasn't sure I could do, because I don't try to do epics lol. I just read them. RMTW I loved because of all the emotions tied into it. Some from my life, some from my imagination, and all the loves of psychology I have.
Least Fave - Probably a tie between Rehab and Glitz and Glamour. One was a sequel to my one and only finished romance, Just Another Day. The other was just a random thought. Both were horrible ideas and I lost interest quick in them. I just...big big mistakes. I leave them up cause I don't delete stories but man I'm embarrassed by them lol.
Feelings - Not always. I'm really into writing 00Carter but readers? Not so much, generally speaking. Sometimes they do. Like with RMTW people were as into it as I was. People were really into Just Another Day, and I wasn't towards the end. I wasn't that into Rehab but my readers were. So it's a toss up. Guess it depends if I'm writing one of the more popular type ideas or not. (Sci-Fi versus Nick Angst for example LOL.)
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My favorite stories to write have been the Nick cancer stories and my collabs, especially Undead and 00Carter. I was really emotionally attached to Broken and BMS. I wasn't as attached to Curtain Call, but I still loved writing it, loved the reaction it got, and love the way it turned out. Almost all of my collabs have been fun to write, even the ones that eventually fizzed out - I love the interaction with my co-writers, the fun we have just throwing ideas around and planning the stories, and the crazy stuff we come up with that I never would have been able to think of on my own, let alone bring to life.
My least favorites are mostly older stories that aren't on AC: Silent Desperation, The Other Child, and One Night are the first three that came to mind. Secrets of the Heart wasn't a picnic to write; I loved the idea of it, but never really loved writing it... I'm glad I finished it though.
As far as readers' feelings, it varies. The Nick cancer stories were all amazingly popular, for reasons I'll never totally understand. Undead has done well. 00Carter not so much. And sometimes stories that I'm not as into writing, like Guilty Roads, are the ones that people beg for updates on. (I still like GR, don't worry.) You just never know!
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Right now my favorite story is Finding Carter. Some were really into it in the beginning but it doesn't seem so at times now. I am really having fun with it though.
Favorite story I've written: has to be Figured You Out. It was a very different thing for me, the whole suspense and adventure type but I liked writing it a lot. It's something I could see myself reading as well.
Least favorite? It was my first story and had some fun one liners but Incomplete. I lost interest in it when I was winding down and wasn't into the idea which is why I struggled so much to finish it.
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I'm still amazed people got into Undead LOL. I totally expected that to go ignored since it's not the typical for the more popular stories. I agree about collabs, even the ones that died out were fun while they lasted.
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As for feelings....mo st of the time no lol depends on the story I'm writing.
Craziest idea is probably Figured You out. I never thought I could write something like that. It's my baby lol
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Don't get me wrong I am getting steady feedback for FC, just some seemed turned off by the story in the beginning. I'm not that bothered by it because I can understand why they stopped reading.
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If you could have dinner with any five characters from anyone's stories. Who would you pick and why?
Nick from Fight Me, because even though he can be a jerk, he's a good guy deep down. Plus he's hot in that story and is permanently undressed ;)
AJ from Song For The Undead, because I'd love to know what goes on in that head of his.
Kevin from A Million Little Things, just because I loved him.
Howie from Chronos Project because his character was interesting and I'd like to chat about time travel.
Brian from If We Were A Movie because he was really sweet and we could talk about movies.
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Thanks for the Howie mention Steph! LOL
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Thanks Steph! Yeah...Undead AJ has a complicated mind lol
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Thank you Steph for mentioning Nick. Maybe he'd show you some fighting techniques after dinner. :D
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What is the craziest idea you've had for a fanfic? Did you write it or have you saved it for a rainy day because it was so different?
Craziest idea so far has been my BSB/Supernatural crossover where Xbox gamers died the same way they did in the game. I liked that one!
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Okay, got something! These may be repeats; I can't even remember anymore!
1. What has been your favorite story to write and why?
2. How about your least favorite to write?
3. Do your feelings about your own stories tend to match up to your readers' feelings (that is, the stories you're really into writing are the same ones your readers are really into reading and vice versa)?
My favourite story to write was Save A Prayer because I loved the action, gore and adventure. It just seemed so easy to write.
Least favourite is Forces of Nature because it's just crap! I'm sure at the time I wrote it I probably thought it was alright, but looking back I don't know what I was thinking.
I think the ones I'm really into writing seem to be liked by readers :)
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Okay, got something! These may be repeats; I can't even remember anymore!
1. What has been your favorite story to write and why?
2. How about your least favorite to write?
3. Do your feelings about your own stories tend to match up to your readers' feelings (that is, the stories you're really into writing are the same ones your readers are really into reading and vice versa)?
My favorite- It's a toss up between Sinister Devotion and Fight Me. They were story ideas way out of my romance element. Plus I had fun making sweet AJ an assassin and Nick a fighter.
My least favorite- Hmmm...I don't think I have a least favorite. I like all my stories, I mean the oldies are probably a bit dumb, but I still had fun writing them.
Feelings- Yes, usually. Sometimes I'm feeling like something isn't goin to be liked and I am surprised by the amount of feedback.
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AC has been dead in general, I noticed my readers haven't been around much either!
What is the craziest idea you've had for a fanfic? Did you write it or have you saved it for a rainy day because it was so different?
Just catching up in the thread. Thanks for coming up with questions Tracy and Julie!
The craziest idea I have come up with for a fanfic was probably Whatever the Night May Bring. It was so far out of my comfort zone and knowing I was going to actually kill Nick it made it really crazy for me to write. lol I'm glad I went through with it though.
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Also thanks Rose, Tracy, Julie and Steph for inviting my characters to your dinner lol
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Okay, got something! These may be repeats; I can't even remember anymore!
1. What has been your favorite story to write and why?
2. How about your least favorite to write?
3. Do your feelings about your own stories tend to match up to your readers' feelings (that is, the stories you're really into writing are the same ones your readers are really into reading and vice versa)?
For 1. That was hard for me but I think I narrowed it down to two of them. Why I'd Do It All Again and What Lurks Around the Corner. My memory tends to be a little hazy but I don't think I ever really got totally bored or humdrum while writing either of those stories. I loved getting into their heads for Why and Couldn't wait to see reader's reactions to the plot twists and turns in Lurks.
For 2. Novel wise, there are a few.
Lion's Den - because I had a hard time getting the plot to work for that one. It wasn't flowing the way I wanted it to.
Scars Run Deep - I LOVED Protect and Serve and it was one of those instances of OMG why am I writing a sequel to this . It was one of those circumstances where I let reader pressure get the best of me and then when I start something I refuse to quit so I literally forced myself to write the rest of it. It was like doing Trig homework half the time! I'm about to read it when i'm done with PS so we'll see if that translates into the final product.
Comedy of Errors - because it was a hot mess! LOL
Short story wise Baby I'm Amazed - worst story i've ever written, hands down!
For 3. I think so for the most part but I also tend to love stories that maybe weren't as popular like Protect and Serve which is fast turning into my favorite lol and Separate Ways. Long Road Home. But overall i'd say that, the ones my readers like I do too when I remember them lmao