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Author Topic: The Writing Thread  (Read 146294 times)

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #390 on: January 10, 2021, 05:36:01 PM »

What's something you do in BSB fanfic that would never fly in an original novel? This can be something as big as a whole plot or something as small as "I often find myself not describing the Boys' appearances."

I include too many song lyrics.  Not as much as I used to, but I still have characters singing songs from time to time, and not just BSB songs.  I would need to edit all that out or get permission to use it if I were going to publish a novel.

I also describe features of the Boys' appearance more often than I need to (which would be almost never, since we all know what they look like LOL).  Especially Brian's blue eyes, Nick's blond hair, and Kevin's eyebrows LOL.

I came across a YouTube video once made by a former fanfic author who became published, talking about bad habits fanfic authors have.  https://youtu.be/SmbUAKi-ovY  I have probably been guilty of all of these at some point, but the one that I had never thought about was the eye-based reactions.  I am always having my characters raise their eyebrows, waggle their eyebrows, etc.  To be fair, though, Nick has really nice eyebrows, and Kevin has really prominent ones, so I blame them.  Maybe with different characters, I wouldn't do that so much. LOL

If anyone watches the video I linked above, let us know your thoughts and if you're guilty of any of those "bad habits."
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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #391 on: January 10, 2021, 05:45:56 PM »

Back on the "what do you listen to" question, I was clearly listening to The Labyrinth's soundtrack while originally writing the chapter I'm editing right now. I wonder if anyone else noticed that during their read.

Does anyone feel like whatever you're listening to seeps into your writing? Do you ever pick specific things to listen to for that reason because you want it to seep into the feel of your writing?

Hm, that's an interesting question.  I almost always listen to music when I write, but I don't feel like it really seeps into my writing.  I can tell you exactly what I was listening to during certain parts of certain stories, but that's more based on my memory than the story itself.

I try to pick music that will fit the mood of the scene, so maybe it does in that way.  I like listening to sad, dramatic music when I am writing sad, dramatic scenes.  But then sometimes I will pick the opposite of that to listen to just to lighten the mood when the story gets too intense.  I fell in love with the first Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack when I was writing the post-choppage section of Broken because I inevitably wrote some pirate/peg-leg joke into the story and thought I could use some pirate music to listen to.  I ended up knowing every note of that score before I even saw the movie because I loved it and listened to it so much while I was writing.
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~Julie

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RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #392 on: January 10, 2021, 05:47:18 PM »

Oh I mean, inside the document I have the side outline with all the chapters as headings so I can get to any part easily, then as I'm editing I comment on the chapter title with the original word count. And I also edit by day so I can keep track of what I changed. But yeah, my document to keep track of edits is called "untitled," PBox is "blorp," PNecklace is "blap" if it's been completed, whatever I'm currently working on is "blep," the interesting pieces and tidbits are "blep2." I have another project started called "blup" and I believe I titled my holiday story "blirp." I don't really know why, I just did it when I started and the random words still make me smile. And then each project is in its own folder and parts are numbered in order 1-5.

That would probably make me laugh too! LOL
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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #393 on: January 10, 2021, 06:16:20 PM »

I include too many song lyrics.  Not as much as I used to, but I still have characters singing songs from time to time, and not just BSB songs.  I would need to edit all that out or get permission to use it if I were going to publish a novel.

I also describe features of the Boys' appearance more often than I need to (which would be almost never, since we all know what they look like LOL).  Especially Brian's blue eyes, Nick's blond hair, and Kevin's eyebrows LOL.

I came across a YouTube video once made by a former fanfic author who became published, talking about bad habits fanfic authors have.  https://youtu.be/SmbUAKi-ovY  I have probably been guilty of all of these at some point, but the one that I had never thought about was the eye-based reactions.  I am always having my characters raise their eyebrows, waggle their eyebrows, etc.  To be fair, though, Nick has really nice eyebrows, and Kevin has really prominent ones, so I blame them.  Maybe with different characters, I wouldn't do that so much. LOL

If anyone watches the video I linked above, let us know your thoughts and if you're guilty of any of those "bad habits."

I found a "no one is glamorously lonely" in a sentence today and I still think its beautiful, but the wording was so awkward in whatever sentence I put it in, so I had to move things around. I've been actively trying to take song lyrics out. There's only one at the end where I'm debating whether to leave it or remove it. I haven't gotten there yet, but I know it's there.

Oh see, I for sure don't describe their appearances unless it's something they have in common or contrasting with another character that I wanted to highlight EXCEPT for Kevin's large caterpillar eyebrows. I just love them so much.

I watched it and laughed so hard. I feel like Nick is always more suave than the awkward he should be, even in moments where he hasn't thought "I'm going to be so f-ing suave and it will work. It did not... Nailed it?"

From her list, I've definitely been removing so many awkward dialogue tags and focusing instead on meaningful movement or fixing up speech so you can see it and know it's so and so speaking. I could honestly probably fix it again and just use "said," but that's a project for another time! Maybe if I ever follow through on the unfanficing thought.

I've also found a lot of those POV character is blushing moments and tried so hard to change them to other things. Why is that what I underwrote? I don't know.

She has a couple other videos that looked interesting on this topic, but they were twice as long and I wanted to respond to this.

What things does everyone think BSB fanfic writers are more guilty of and what things are they less guilty of? Like, I don't know that we have as many "monologue heavy villains," for instance.
« Last Edit: January 10, 2021, 06:17:59 PM by nicksgal »
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~*Dee*~

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From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #394 on: January 10, 2021, 06:17:46 PM »

I fell in love with the first Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack when I was writing the post-choppage section of Broken because I inevitably wrote some pirate/peg-leg joke into the story and thought I could use some pirate music to listen to.

I love that you picked your music because of a joke you used! haha
That would probably make me laugh too! LOL

You just gotta lighten the mood sometimes, you know?
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #395 on: January 10, 2021, 06:30:26 PM »

What things does everyone think BSB fanfic writers are more guilty of and what things are they less guilty of? Like, I don't know that we have as many "monologue heavy villains," for instance.

In general, I think we're definitely guilty of the dialogue tags and physical description stuff (including eye-based reactions).  Also the rakeish love interest.  Since most of us find the Boys attractive, we put in those sexy descriptions, such as Nick smirking or Howie winking.  (But to be fair, Howie does wink a lot in real life, and Nick is always flashing that cute, crooked smile, so some of that is realistic.)

I don't think we do the villain monologues as much, but I have seen it in this fandom, obviously more in suspense stories.  The overblown dramatic scenes, though, definitely!
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RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #396 on: January 10, 2021, 06:32:32 PM »

I love that you picked your music because of a joke you used! haha

You just gotta lighten the mood sometimes, you know?

Writing is such a lonely habit sometimes.  Gotta find ways to make yourself laugh!  I find the more serious/intense/dramatic a scene is, the more I laugh as I'm writing it.  I guess it's the same kind of awkward giggling I do on the rare occasion I write a sex scene.  It eases the tension.
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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #397 on: January 10, 2021, 06:39:52 PM »

Since most of us find the Boys attractive, we put in those sexy descriptions, such as Nick smirking or Howie winking.  (But to be fair, Howie does wink a lot in real life, and Nick is always flashing that cute, crooked smile, so some of that is realistic.)

Darn them for being so attractive.

I feel like if it was one character always winking, it wouldn't be that bad because that's believably plausible as "this character tends to wink when the situation calls for it." Or Nick having smile based reactions, because he just does that. I think you run into problem territory when either, every character is using the same reaction. Like Howie, AJ, and Brian winking all the time? No... Or if that's the only thing that one character does in the story... See below, I'm sorry, I had to:

Nick gripped the sides of his head, his pulse quickening as he hyperventilate d. "How did a bomb get on our tour bus?! What do we do?! All of my video games are in here! All of you are in here! I'm too young to die! What if this is like Speed and if the bus doesn't keep driving we die?!"

Howie winked.

Nick grabbed his shoulders and shook them. "Stop winking! This is serious!"

(That made me laugh so hard thinking about it, because that is not a situation Howie would wink in.)
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #398 on: January 10, 2021, 06:41:28 PM »

Writing is such a lonely habit sometimes.  Gotta find ways to make yourself laugh!  I find the more serious/intense/dramatic a scene is, the more I laugh as I'm writing it.  I guess it's the same kind of awkward giggling I do on the rare occasion I write a sex scene.  It eases the tension.

It's pretty lonely. That's why I'm much happier about it now that I'm being a supreme time waster again. I figure you can't be only sad when you're writing sad things. It's more fun to laugh.

Meanwhile, I'm still laughing about Howie winking about the bomb...
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #399 on: January 10, 2021, 06:42:41 PM »

LMAO!!  Howie's the only one I could see winking in that situation.  I swear he can't help it; it's more of a tic than a conscious decision.
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~Julie

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nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #400 on: January 10, 2021, 06:46:30 PM »

At this point? Yeah probably. So maybe he does wink after all. Meanwhile Kevin's like "There's the door, everyone just get off the bus in a calm and orderly manner."

That's the funniest thing I've written all day, I'm still laughing about it.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

FrickingKaos

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #401 on: January 10, 2021, 06:56:26 PM »

It's for If I Knew Then, actually the current chapter I'm writing right now.



Is it a fantastic idea for a new story or something in If I Knew Then? We were NSYNC twins yesterday, apparently, haha.
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nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #402 on: January 10, 2021, 07:04:21 PM »

It's for If I Knew Then, actually the current chapter I'm writing right now.

Thanks NSYNC! Never thought I would say that...

You've got this! Keep writing! Sorry that response got lost in the shuffle of the writing thread.
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

nicksgal

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #403 on: January 10, 2021, 07:30:28 PM »

Ooh, here's another music question for everyone because I'm jamming out to "Great Divide" right now. I forgot how many PBox vibes it used to give me. Do songs ever remind you of your stories?
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~*Dee*~

People think it would be fun to be a bird because you could fly. But they forget the negative side, which is the preening.

From "And Now, Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey

RokofAges75

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Re: The Writing Thread
« Reply #404 on: January 10, 2021, 07:32:37 PM »

Here's some questions from the first question archive post that I thought were funny, relevant, or worth revisiting.  Answer any or all!  You should be able to plug these into the search with quotes around them to look up the original thread they're from and find your original answer if you think you answered it before and want to compare.


18. Remember when people would write dialogue in Ebonics because that is how nick was speaking most of the time?

20. Do you think there is any subject matter that should be off limits when it comes to writing a story? Is there anything you would never write about?

32. Is there a storyline that you want to see covered that no one has really touched on?

86. How far do you take your hatred of someone when it comes to fan fiction? (ie: Leighanne or even a BSB fan).

92. Now I'm curious about the most random thing ever. What font do you guys write in? LOL

128. Have you ever considered writing a story or a sequel to one of your existing stories and then decided against it and were later glad you decided not to write it?  Share the most ridiculous idea you came up with, but never wrote!

130. Give us a random fact about something you've written that we might find surprising.

162. What is the biggest motivator for you to write?  And on the other end of things what is the thing that makes your motivation go bye bye?

185. What are some of the stories you've written because they were something you would want to read?

186. 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?

187. 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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~Julie

"Sometimes writers and sociopaths are hard to tell apart." -J.K. Rowling
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