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[RokofAges75]

I tend to divide my stories into two eras:  pre-Broken and post-Broken.  The pre-Broken stories are all pretty bad, but the one I'm least proud of is one of my oldies called "Silent Desperation."  It's about Brian dealing with a painkiller addiction.  I wrote it when I was 15 and way too naive to be writing a story about addiction LOL.  It wasn't my idea; a friend suggested the drug addiction storyline and somehow talked me into writing it.  I had no idea what I was talking about, and my attempts to do research only went as far as looking up drugs on my Encarta '95 CD-Rom, since I didn't have internet access in my bedroom back then.  My naivety, combined with my lack of solid research, led to an embarrassingly bad story.  If I cared enough to go back and make changes, I would do a lot more research and rewrite the entire thing with more detail and emotional depth.  I don't care enough to go to that effort, but at least I learned something about the importance of researching before you write about issues you have no experience dealing with.

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm proud of all the stories I've posted since Broken, but I think the part of one of those stories that I'm least proud of is in By My Side when Claire leaves Nick.  I knew I wanted them to break up in the middle (so I could get them back together in the end), but I sacrificed her character to do it in a dramatic, Siberia-inspired way ("When I came back, she wasn't there / just a note left on the stairs").  In real life, the strong, compassionate character I'd created would never have done something so cowardly and cruel, but I was obsessed with that song and wanted to work it into the story so badly.  I should have just written a songfic to get it out of my system.  If I were to go back and change it, I would still have them break up, but I would do it in a more mature, believable way that involved an actual, face-to-face conversation.  That story taught me to let the characters drive the plot and not the other way around.

[Rose]

Probably Just Another Day. Like everything I used to do wrong in writing first person, I did in that story LOL. I mixed up tenses, I let my characters go on too many tangents, I told rather than showed, etc. It's good it happened because it was the first fanfic I learned to focus on to the point where I wrapped up a fic (I wrote a lot of OF back then which I never had issues ending, fanfic I let my Writer's ADD get in the way). And it really helped me be more well rounded since I started it as a challenge to myself.

Actually I take it back. I learned a lot writing that one so, no regrets.

I checked my profile and there was a story called Rehab and omg there's so much wrong with that fic. I was in a mini romance phase decided to have a OC knocked up show up at Nick's door, start dating another guy, she was the epitome of an "Anti-Sue" and just awful all around. I eventually dropped it mainly cause I realized this as I wrote it LOL.

[Sakabelle]

Oh man Rose, I remember Rehab. That was a long time ago!

As for my stories, I had to comb through my account on AC to remember what I'd written. I'm actually going to go with In Pieces which was the first fic of mine that people seemed to really like. That's crazy to me because just re-reading bits of it, it's a huge mess. It's basically about Nick falling in love with a fan, but instead of it happening in the crazy days of Backstreet it's a fan he had a fling with and then gets back together with in the Unbreakable era. I would alternate one chapter of past and one chapter of present... except I had a lot more present day story so about halfway through the past stuff is complete filler and a total teeny-story. I cringed so hard reading it. But Rose, like you said about your stories, I learned a lot with that one. Like how to properly incorporate a flashback! lol

For something more recent I have a 1D story that is entirely in 3rd person limited Harry's POV. Except there was this bit that I wanted to reveal to the readers a few chapters before Harry found out about it. So in the middle of this story there's one scene that switches to his sister's POV. It's so out of place and awkward and every time I think about it I get annoyed by it. I should have just let the reader be surprised with him.

[Sakabelle]

At the risk of sounding arrogant, I'm proud of all the stories I've posted since Broken, but I think the part of one of those stories that I'm least proud of is in By My Side when Claire leaves Nick.  I knew I wanted them to break up in the middle (so I could get them back together in the end), but I sacrificed her character to do it in a dramatic, Siberia-inspired way ("When I came back, she wasn't there / just a note left on the stairs").

I read BMS a long time ago but I do recall that even if this was out of character, as you said, it was justified well. I think Claire's reasoning for leaving and having it done in that way was sound. But I can definitely relate to the being inspired by something random and decided to work it into your current WIP even if it doesn't necessarily fit.

I tend to divide my stories into two eras:  pre-Broken and post-Broken.

This made me think of another question. Does anyone else divide their "fanfic-career" like this? I guess the logical one for me is BSB fic and 1D fic.

[RokofAges75]

I would alternate one chapter of past and one chapter of present... except I had a lot more present day story so about halfway through the past stuff is complete filler and a total teeny-story. I cringed so hard reading it.

I love the idea of alternating between past and present, but that is such a challenge to pull off!  I think any time you follow a strict format, whether it's alternating past/present or different POVs or whatever, it makes it that much harder to plan out because you lose some of the flexibility that comes with having ONE point of view, ONE timeline, and so on.  That said, I think it's interesting to see different storylines (or different parts of the same storyline) interweaving throughout a story.  I'm sure you did learn a lot from writing that one!

[RokofAges75]

I read BMS a long time ago but I do recall that even if this was out of character, as you said, it was justified well. I think Claire's reasoning for leaving and having it done in that way was sound. But I can definitely relate to the being inspired by something random and decided to work it into your current WIP even if it doesn't necessarily fit.

This made me think of another question. Does anyone else divide their "fanfic-career" like this? I guess the logical one for me is BSB fic and 1D fic.

Thanks!  It's been a long time since I've read any of that too, but I think her reasoning was okay; it was just the way she did it that, in hindsight, I think was out of character for her.  Sometimes I get carried away with the drama.  I'm still learning to reign that in LOL.

BSB and 1D does seem like a logical way to divide your fanfic career!  I know writers who have taken a major hiatus tend to use that as a dividing point.  I use Broken as mine because I feel like that story shows a huge transformation in the quality and maturity of my writing from beginning to end.  I wonder when the next "era" will start for me, though, because it's been 13 years since I finished that story.  Kinda like how BSB released "Chapter 1: The Hits" after Black & Blue, but we don't know where "Chapter 2" of their career ended and "Chapter 3" began (or are they still in Chapter 2?).  Curious to hear how others divide up their "careers," if they do.

As a follow-up question, how would you divide BSB's career, chapter-wise?

[Sakabelle]

As a follow-up question, how would you divide BSB's career, chapter-wise?

Oooh good question! I think they're probably past "Chapter 2" at this point. I'd go with:

Chapter 1: Crazy days of BSB ending right before the "hiatus"
Chapter 1.5: Solo Nick and as I like to all it, "Cocaine Solo Tour" (Sorry Nick, lol)
Chapter 2: Up Close & Personal and Never Gone
Chapter 3: Unbreakable and This is Us, plus the NKOTBSB tour.
Chapter 4: Kevin's return, IAWLT and everything that's happening now.

[RokofAges75]

^ That's pretty much what I was thinking too (LOL at Cocaine Solo Tour).  You have to divide up everything after "Chapter 1" into separate eras based on whether or not Kevin was with them.

Next questions:

What is your favorite BSB era?

What is your favorite version of each Boy (according to era... for example, Ghetto-Fab Nick from the "Cocaine Solo Tour"/The Hollow/Punk'd era, ca. 2003)?

[RokofAges75]

My favorite BSB era is a toss-up between Chapter 1/Millennium era and the current era.  I liked the old-school days when BSB were at their peak of popularity because they did so many appearances and interviews and whatnot, there was no shortage of BSB material to watch, listen to, and read.

What's awesome about the current era is that it's so much easier to score good seats at shows and interact with the guys, whether through social media or events like VIP and cruises.  I think the fact that they're not as popular as they used to be has made the fan experience much more pleasant.  That said, it's nice to see them being embraced as part of the '90s nostalgia trend lately.  I also like this era because all the guys seem to be in a good place in their lives, which you can't say about other eras.

As for favorite versions of each of the boys...

Brian - Millennium era
AJ - Millennium era
Nick - current
Howie - current
Kevin - current

I think Nick, Howie, and Kevin have all gotten better with age.  I was never a Nick fan back in the day, and although I loved him through his hot mess phase in the 2000s, I love Nick who has his shit together the best.  I never fully appreciated Kevin until he left and came back, so I have to go with current Kevin.  Same with Howie - I don't think I really appreciated him until I met him and saw more of his personality on cruises and whatnot.

I still love Brian and AJ, but I loved them more back in the day.  I think Brian was better before Leighanne and Twitter, and AJ just seemed less weird (or was weird in his cool, "bad boy" way) and way hotter back then.

[mare]

What kind of endings do you prefer (happy, sad, bittersweet, wraps up nicely, leaves you hanging, etc.)?  You can answer as a reader and/or as a writer - it'll be interesting to see if you like to write the same kind of endings you like to read.

I definitely love open endings for both. When I read, I want there to be a possibility of more, except when the story feels like it should be over. If you are writing a trilogy, then I admit I'm disappointed if things don't wrap up. I guess for me, there's a difference between a well written cliff hanger and just not wanting to commit to finishing a story by never letting it end.

Like Rose mentioned, The Dark Tower. Epic ending! I loved it! Only someone like Stephen King can pull something like that off!

As a writer, I love to leave people hanging and wondering what really happened or what comes next. The best comments to me are when I'm asked about sequels even though I pretty much never intended to write sequels to most of the stuff I wrote.

[mare]

What's the story (or maybe part of a story) you've written that you're the least proud of, and what would you change to make yourself feel better about it?

I have to think about this for a while before I answer lol

Definitely The Lion's Den. I hated that one lol I probably just wouldn't have ever written it in the first place.

More recently would be my description of the van that the boys were trapped in, in my last story that I can't even remember the name of lol I pictured it one way but described it another and really messed it up. I'd definitely rewrite that description.

[mare]

^ That's pretty much what I was thinking too (LOL at Cocaine Solo Tour).  You have to divide up everything after "Chapter 1" into separate eras based on whether or not Kevin was with them.

Next questions:

What is your favorite BSB era?

What is your favorite version of each Boy (according to era... for example, Ghetto-Fab Nick from the "Cocaine Solo Tour"/The Hollow/Punk'd era, ca. 2003)?

I loved the Up Close and Personal and Never Gone era the most, simply because that's when I was a full blown fan. My first ever BSB concert was the Up Close one and then I went to see two Never Gone shows. That's also when I went to two fan events. I was in total BSB mode back then.

[RokofAges75]

^ The Up Close & Personal/Never Gone era is probably my third favorite era.  It was so exciting to get new music after what felt like FOREVER (even though it was only a few years).  I went to the Up Close & Personal show at the House of Blues in Chicago, and it was the first time I actually felt like I was "up close & personal" and could see their faces at a concert without looking at a jumbotron.  I loved the NG tour as well.  That was a good time in fanfic, too - all my friends were still writing!

I can't believe it's already been almost 4 years since IAWLT came out.  It doesn't seem that long, although I'm looking forward to a new album.  I think the various solo albums and tours have helped.  I guess that's why the hiatus before NG felt so much longer, because other than Nick's solo projects, there wasn't a whole lot of other BSB stuff going on.

[RokofAges75]

Definitely The Lion's Den. I hated that one lol I probably just wouldn't have ever written it in the first place.

More recently would be my description of the van that the boys were trapped in, in my last story that I can't even remember the name of lol I pictured it one way but described it another and really messed it up. I'd definitely rewrite that description.

Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost... it's a long title!

I don't remember anything being wrong with the van's description, except maybe it seemed bigger than it was supposed to be?  I dunno, I loved that story!  One of my favorites of yours.  I should go back and re-read it sometime.

[mare]

Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost... it's a long title!

I don't remember anything being wrong with the van's description, except maybe it seemed bigger than it was supposed to be?  I dunno, I loved that story!  One of my favorites of yours.  I should go back and re-read it sometime.

Yes! That's the one. I'm so bad with titles! lol

I think in my head I kept picturing a bus but I had written it was a van so when it was overturned and the guys were trying to help Brian and AJ, the description of the inside was so much bigger than it should've been. I'm not sure if many people even caught it, but it's something that has completely bothered me.

I'm glad you enjoyed that one.