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[RokofAges75]

I was browsing Reddit and came across this thread where a fanfic writer was talking about writing "The Scene (TM)" (that's how they put it LOL). https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/n7xi7d/im_writing_that_scene_tm/ It made me wonder, does everyone have that one certain scene or moment in the story they look forward to writing?  And is there one for every story you write or just certain stories?

I looked on TV Tropes to see if the "The Scene" is an actual trope there, and they have one called Signature Scene, which would be the one iconic scene everyone knows from a certain work.  Which could also be "The Scene" for the writer, but not necessarily.  I thought of the "MINE" scene from Mare's "It Stays With You" as being a Signature Scene, but I'm curious to know if that was also "The Scene" for Mare as she was writing it or not.  Sometimes what becomes iconic to readers or communities may not necessarily have seemed like such a big thing to the writer, and likewise, what may have been a big moment to the writer may not become a well-known, iconic moment to the larger community of writers.

So I guess some questions to discuss here would be:
1. What have been some of Those Scenes for you in your own stories?
2. What are some other Signature Scenes in other people's stories?


Edited to add: I am slightly disturbed by the one poster in that Reddit thread I linked who said, "And once when I was a substitute teacher (again, trying to meet a challenge deadline) I hand-wrote a shower sex scene in a notebook while I was on cafeteria monitor duty."  Dude... that is inappropriate and weird.

[nicksgal]

LOL That is exactly why I never/rarely take an actual vacation during winter or spring break, because then I wouldn't have time to relax and write at home and catch up on life before I have to go back to work.  But it would be nice to have more breaks during the year to travel when it's not scorching hot and peak tourist time.

If we take a vacation during winter break, it's usually traveling to visit family... which is not a vacation at all! Spring break we do travel sometimes, it depends. Fall break, we usually stay home; that one's my favorite. Yes, I would love to have breaks when everyone else is busy, but everyone else is busy because we're working, so... Maybe some day.

Yeah, it's been a long time coming LOL.  The writing streak is still alive, and I think once I get past this chapter (or even into this chapter), I will get back on track with my word count.  I knew this would happen when I hit this point in the story; it's why I wish I could make a video montage instead and move on LOL.  It was nice to just take a break and watch a movie.

You've got this! I believe in you! Or, just put a link to the Unbreakable Tour show and wipe your hands of it, lol. That's what I told my self today too, it's okay to do other stuff and not always stare at the screen and type away.

On one of his Twitch live videos last weekend, he changed Saoirse's diaper, threw the dirty diaper away, and went right back to cutting strawberries for breakfast WITHOUT WASHING HIS HANDS!  No wonder both his kids had stomach bugs last week!  That's probably how they got it LOL.  I thought maybe the pandemic had taught him to be more hygienic, but apparently not.  The whole chat was like, "Nick!  Wash your hands!"  He's gross LOL.

HORF! I thought for sure Mare would have had a barfing smiling on here. I'm going to mail Nick one of the CDC fliers we have at school about the spread of disease. It clearly says to wash your hands after toileting (along with several other times, one of which is before eating/preparing food). And that's very clearly your own toileting. You should 1000% wash your hands after assisting someone else with toileting. Nick! You're getting your children sick! Stop! Ugh... My husband is the same way (not with poop, thank goodness). But we've had many conversations that go something like "Yes, I know it's been in your pants. You were still in a bathroom where other people have flushed the toilet. You still flushed the toilet." I don't want to lump all guys together, but... why are guys so gross? Blegh. At least the chat was demanding he wash his hands; we remain, smart well-balanced individuals.

Maybe this is the solution to my problem. I just need to wait until the next time I laugh at hubs doing something mundane and that's my idea as long as it seems like something Nick would do too.

Wow, good for you with the outline!  And for being ahead of your word count goal!

I don't do a novel without an outline these days, but there are definitely some stories where I rely on my outline more than others.  They come in most handy when there's a lot to keep track of (characters, events, dates, whatever) or when it's a story I don't work on frequently and need to refresh my memory when I come back to it months or years later.

And it is not a lame outline either. It is an 800 word outline! That means it's semi-useful... I hope. I'm pretty excited to have three chapters done.

That makes sense that you'd rely on an outline more when there's lots of different moving parts or specific details you have to hit. That's probably why I'm happier plantsing. I just say "the characters are here when we start and here when we end; stuff happens in between... let's find out!" I wish I had an outline for some of my old stuff, then maybe I'd consider finishing more of it, lol.

OMG, the first one is SO you with the PBox series LOL.

Exactly! If you get me talking about the fanfic version, I will talk and talk and talk and talk for days. But if anyone's unfamiliar with the fanfic version they get "It's about demons... but they're the heroes." Which sells it short a little bit.

#7 was me this morning - spending more time revising the chapter I was about to post than writing the chapter I'm actually on.

All the ones about daydreaming/brainstorming vs. actually writing... so true! It always seems so much better in my head LOL.

I think #17 is all of us LOL.  Our poor characters... and it's even worse because they're real people.  Sorry, Boys.

Normalize writing things that make your friends go "jesus christ, dude”  <- Hahaha, yes!

I think it depends on the chapter for me whether I do a lot of revising or not. The one I posted this week had minimal revising, a few weeks before had a lot. But the more revising it requires, the more useless I am after updating.

I think it's because in our heads its more like a movie than prose and translating that to written words can be difficult at times.

#17 is all of us! But it's true, we just love them so much! I'd carry PBox Nick around in my purse like a small pet if I could! Possibly the real Nick too, but I'd for sure make him wash his hands before getting my purse all grimy.

At least we're normalizing them together. I would never say that to any of you, lol.

Edited to add: I like these discussion questions, but I am very tired. I will ponder them and get back to you tomorrow.

[RokofAges75]

You've got this! I believe in you! Or, just put a link to the Unbreakable Tour show and wipe your hands of it, lol. That's what I told my self today too, it's okay to do other stuff and not always stare at the screen and type away.

LOL!  That's totally what I should do.  Chapter 16... Nick: "Then I went on tour for a month.  Here's what happened every night of the tour." [Insert video of the Unbreakable Tour]

I have learned not to force it.  I will force myself to open the story and write enough to keep the streak alive (at least a word, but usually I can get at least a sentence or paragraph out of it), but beyond that, there's no point in forcing myself to sit and stare at a blank page if the words aren't flowing.  That's the nice thing about hoarding chapters; there's no immediate pressure to write to a certain point in a day.  And sometimes it's better to wait - maybe I'll come up with a better idea to liven the chapter up.  (Or maybe I'll think about what class I would make each of the Backstreet Boys if I wrote a "BSB on the Titanic" fanfic LOL.)

HORF! I thought for sure Mare would have had a barfing smiling on here. I'm going to mail Nick one of the CDC fliers we have at school about the spread of disease. It clearly says to wash your hands after toileting (along with several other times, one of which is before eating/preparing food). And that's very clearly your own toileting. You should 1000% wash your hands after assisting someone else with toileting. Nick! You're getting your children sick! Stop! Ugh... My husband is the same way (not with poop, thank goodness). But we've had many conversations that go something like "Yes, I know it's been in your pants. You were still in a bathroom where other people have flushed the toilet. You still flushed the toilet." I don't want to lump all guys together, but... why are guys so gross? Blegh. At least the chat was demanding he wash his hands; we remain, smart well-balanced individuals.

Yeah, we need the barfing emoji here!  He is super gross.  I hope it was just a wet diaper and not a poopy one.  He did the actual diaper-changing off camera, thankfully, so I'm not sure, but we definitely saw him throw the dirty one away and go straight back to the cutting board with the strawberries on it.

Are you aware of Nick Plague?  That is something else you may have missed during your hiatus.  Nick Plague is what we call the virus everyone seems to get sick with after interacting with Nick at BSB concerts/events.

Exactly! If you get me talking about the fanfic version, I will talk and talk and talk and talk for days. But if anyone's unfamiliar with the fanfic version they get "It's about demons... but they're the heroes." Which sells it short a little bit.

LOL That's me too.  I am usually pretty vague when talking about my plots with people who haven't read the story.  But I'm happy to discuss it in detail with anyone who's actually read it.

At least we're normalizing them together. I would never say that to any of you, lol.

I say it to myself sometimes LOL, but I would never say that to any of you either.

[nicksgal]

LOL!  That's totally what I should do.  Chapter 16... Nick: "Then I went on tour for a month.  Here's what happened every night of the tour." [Insert video of the Unbreakable Tour]

Perfect! You don't have to write a tour scene and everybody gets to spend a chapter watching the show, lol. I'm glad this worked out.

I have learned not to force it.  I will force myself to open the story and write enough to keep the streak alive (at least a word, but usually I can get at least a sentence or paragraph out of it), but beyond that, there's no point in forcing myself to sit and stare at a blank page if the words aren't flowing.  That's the nice thing about hoarding chapters; there's no immediate pressure to write to a certain point in a day.  And sometimes it's better to wait - maybe I'll come up with a better idea to liven the chapter up.  (Or maybe I'll think about what class I would make each of the Backstreet Boys if I wrote a "BSB on the Titanic" fanfic LOL.)

Same. That's why I like have multiple places to go, then if one's not feeling right, I can go to some other point in the story and hopefully come up with something.

Okay, but what class is each Boy when they sail the Titanic? Who gets the love story? Are any of them fighting over the same woman? Or man? Is Nick the "Rose-type" character? Does Kevin save the day historically like Molly? I would read this, lol.

Yeah, we need the barfing emoji here!  He is super gross.  I hope it was just a wet diaper and not a poopy one.  He did the actual diaper-changing off camera, thankfully, so I'm not sure, but we definitely saw him throw the dirty one away and go straight back to the cutting board with the strawberries on it.

Are you aware of Nick Plague?  That is something else you may have missed during your hiatus.  Nick Plague is what we call the virus everyone seems to get sick with after interacting with Nick at BSB concerts/events.

Oh Nick. Stop being so gross. Just... just wash your hands. Keep your kids healthy. And your fans.

lmao! I am not, but you must have been reading my mind while I was posting last night. I didn't type it, but I definitely thought "It might be a good idea to have some hand sanitizer handy when the day finally comes to meet them. Just in case."

LOL That's me too.  I am usually pretty vague when talking about my plots with people who haven't read the story.  But I'm happy to discuss it in detail with anyone who's actually read it.

I say it to myself sometimes LOL, but I would never say that to any of you either.

Statute of limitations on age. I'll talk about any minute detail of PBox or anything else pre-hiatus with anyone as long as it doesn't spoil something that's still a mystery now. PNecklace, I'm much quieter about... for now.

Same, I have said something like that to myself many times, then I come here and say "well, we've reached a whole new level of dark and depressing here," lol.

[nicksgal]

I was browsing Reddit and came across this thread where a fanfic writer was talking about writing "The Scene (TM)" (that's how they put it LOL). https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/n7xi7d/im_writing_that_scene_tm/ It made me wonder, does everyone have that one certain scene or moment in the story they look forward to writing?  And is there one for every story you write or just certain stories?

Interesting! I would say that I think so based on the fact that you've talked about your favorites, I've talked about my favorites, and there's a whole reddit thread where no one disagrees with the original poster. At least for every story the author is personally invested in.

I looked on TV Tropes to see if the "The Scene" is an actual trope there, and they have one called Signature Scene, which would be the one iconic scene everyone knows from a certain work.  Which could also be "The Scene" for the writer, but not necessarily.  I thought of the "MINE" scene from Mare's "It Stays With You" as being a Signature Scene, but I'm curious to know if that was also "The Scene" for Mare as she was writing it or not.  Sometimes what becomes iconic to readers or communities may not necessarily have seemed like such a big thing to the writer, and likewise, what may have been a big moment to the writer may not become a well-known, iconic moment to the larger community of writers.

Ooh, I'm curious too! "MINE" came to mind right away when you brought up "signature scene."

Edited to add: I am slightly disturbed by the one poster in that Reddit thread I linked who said, "And once when I was a substitute teacher (again, trying to meet a challenge deadline) I hand-wrote a shower sex scene in a notebook while I was on cafeteria monitor duty."  Dude... that is inappropriate and weird.

OMG, don't write sex scenes at school! You're supposed to be working! With children!

Speaking of sex scenes, though, lol. I ended up deep scrolling through that reddit page and was reading a post about sex scenes and had an epiphany, like "Ah yes, this is why my sex scene was not bad, but felt very porny instead of sweet and sentimental for the characters. Because the 'camera' was just too far out from their heads and feelings." So I spent part of today fixing that for longer than I should have so it still had some time to sit before I ultimately decided what to do with it come that update week, lol. There's more head hopping than I like, but it felt right? To be honest, even the porny version felt fine compared to how much I thought I hated it when I wrote it, so I'll probably just end up keeping this rewritten version in the story when the time comes.

So I guess some questions to discuss here would be:

1. What have been some of Those Scenes for you in your own stories?

I've mentioned it many times, but PBox's "Chapter Forty-Four: Disciple" was my one true love and the scene I dreamed about for as long I was writing the story. I don't know if anyone else would call it a "signature scene," but it probably remains my favorite, for sure of PBox, but possibly in the whole series. Link included if you consider PBox non-spoiler at this point and are curious.

I'm sure I had a "The Scene" for most of my unfinished works, but I can't really remember what they are. Except for Gobosei's, but it's not written and posted yet, so I won't say what it is.

In PNecklace, I think I have two? It's hard to say for certain since I'll write whatever comes to mind when it comes to mind these days rather than waiting with anticipation for it.

I'd say the big reveal in Chapter Ten: Fear/Chapter Eleven: Truth, though I do think now that I've been writing, it would be better slightly later than I put it, but that would require rewriting (or at least shuffling around) several of the chapters after it and it is what it is at this point. What became those two chapters was definitely something I dreamed of writing since writing PBox, so it's absolutely up there. The other one would be near the end and is written down, but not a competed chapter and is not posted yet. No links, since I'm still posting, but I'm fond of this little tale, so I continue to encourage everyone to give it a chance.

Do we have a version of the opposite? One we didn't think was a The Scene, but we've come to love afterward? Because the second scene in Chapter Fourteen: Soul comes to mind as that. I love that one so much after having written it down. Again, no links, see above.


2. What are some other Signature Scenes in other people's stories?

MINE was something I immediately thought of as well. Nick's leg choppage. The sandwich? It's been so long since I've read some "oldies but goodies" (at this point) where I would have immediately been able to list more back then, but like Nick and AJ, my fanfic recollecting is fuzzy at best. I need to go back and read some of these, then comment on them on AO3 and make everyone who cross-posted smile for a day or twelve. After I finish PNecklace. Then I must finish some current reading. But after that, I will reread and come back and answer this better, lol.

It's much easier to answer my own "The Scenes." I am shameless.

[nicksgal]

It's been raining for like three days and it finally stopped, and now my writing mojo is gone, lol.

While I was perusing the fanfic reddit Julie mentioned the other day, I saw a lot of posts that were akin to "I started writing my first longfic! Send me well wishes!" And I can't remember ever starting with short stories before moving on to novels with chapters. I mean, clearly I wouldn't call 300 words a "chapter" now by any means, but I certainly considered it a chapter of a novel when I started writing fanfics, lol. (I checked out of curiosity and a short/snappy Nick and Brian conversation I wrote today was that long. This clearly means I've finished another chapter, lol.) Then it got me thinking. Did everyone else start off thinking, "I'm writing a story it has multiple chapters" or did anyone here start with short stories and move into novels (or novellas) with chapters? Is this a new thing in fanfic to write a bunch of different short stories rather than focus on writing one long one? I'm curious why this is...

I also stumbled on a post that was like "how long is too long for a chapter?" and some people were saying they'd read chapters that were 10k words. And that gave me hives. That's clearly three chapters, lol. I'm a firm believer that a chapter ends when a chapter ends, so I guess if it needed to be 10k words, I would accept that. Although personally, when they inch closer to 5k or 6k, I do my best to split them up into two chapters instead of one really long one because they just feel incredibly verbose at that point.

[RokofAges75]

Perfect! You don't have to write a tour scene and everybody gets to spend a chapter watching the show, lol. I'm glad this worked out.

Hehe.  Well, I finally hit the four-digit mark in my chapter, so I guess it's going a little better.  I just watched this video of Show Me the Meaning from the Unbreakable tour like five times in a row: https://youtu.be/0spith0Ir6w  So good!  Still haven't gotten around to watching the whole tour video yet.

Okay, but what class is each Boy when they sail the Titanic? Who gets the love story? Are any of them fighting over the same woman? Or man? Is Nick the "Rose-type" character? Does Kevin save the day historically like Molly? I would read this, lol.

All I decided for sure was that Nick would definitely be in steerage like Jack Dawson, since he grew up as poor white trash.  I also thought Howie might come from a family of Irish immigrants.  Brian would probably be in first class, since he (his wife) likes the finer things in life.  Not sure about Kevin and AJ.  I feel like there used to be fanfics about BSB on the Titanic.  I remember a humor story that just made fun of them, but I think there were serious ones too.  I'm a Titanic buff, so if I ever felt like doing a historical fic, it could be a fun concept.

lmao! I am not, but you must have been reading my mind while I was posting last night. I didn't type it, but I definitely thought "It might be a good idea to have some hand sanitizer handy when the day finally comes to meet them. Just in case."

Hehe, I have actually started a collection of BSB hand sanitizers.  It started with the "I'm Taking Off Nick's Germs" sanitizer I made in 2011.  https://twitter.com/ForeverRebel/status/709707297618993153  There is also a Brian Ebola edition from 2014 and a Howie one from... 2017?  Next up is going to be a Kevin COVID edition for when the DNA tour finally resumes.

Same, I have said something like that to myself many times, then I come here and say "well, we've reached a whole new level of dark and depressing here," lol.

LOL Does anyone else feel like they subconsciously (or deliberately) try to one-up themselves when it comes to dark and depressing?  I've written things in the last few years that would have horrified me back when I was just chopping off Nick's leg, and it hardly fazes me now.

[RokofAges75]

It's been raining for like three days and it finally stopped, and now my writing mojo is gone, lol.

While I was perusing the fanfic reddit Julie mentioned the other day, I saw a lot of posts that were akin to "I started writing my first longfic! Send me well wishes!" And I can't remember ever starting with short stories before moving on to novels with chapters. I mean, clearly I wouldn't call 300 words a "chapter" now by any means, but I certainly considered it a chapter of a novel when I started writing fanfics, lol. (I checked out of curiosity and a short/snappy Nick and Brian conversation I wrote today was that long. This clearly means I've finished another chapter, lol.) Then it got me thinking. Did everyone else start off thinking, "I'm writing a story it has multiple chapters" or did anyone here start with short stories and more into novels (or novellas) with chapters? Is this a new thing in fanfic to write a bunch of different short stories rather than focus on writing one long one? I'm curious why this is...

Oh noes!  Come back, rain!

I imagine most of the posters on the Fanfiction section of Reddit are teenagers.  They sound really young.  It does seem like one-shots/short stories are the big thing now instead of "longfics"/novels.  I've noticed that on AO3 too.  I think a lot of that has to do with the emphasis on pairings/ships and smut over actual plot and character development, but to each their own.  Personally, I started the same way you did - with multi-chapter "novels" (which were really more novellas, some of which were the same length as short stories I would write today LOL).  I wrote the occasional one-shot too, but I've always preferred writing longer stories.  They just have more substance and depth.

I also stumbled on a post that was like "how long is too long for a chapter?" and some people were saying they'd read chapters that were 10k words. And that gave me hives. That's clearly three chapters, lol. I'm a firm believer that a chapter ends when a chapter ends, so I guess if it needed to be 10k words, I would accept that. Although personally, when they inch closer to 5k or 6k, I do my best to split them up into two chapters instead of one really long one because they just feel incredibly verbose at that point.

10k does seem long, although I'm like you - a chapter ends when a chapter ends.  I have written 10k-word chapters when there's one long scene that doesn't have a natural breaking point, but that is definitely not my norm.  I'm usually in the 2500-5000 word range.  As a reader, I don't really pay attention to the word count of chapters unless it feels really long.  Then I'm like, "When is this going to end??"  So if it's a super long chapter, it better be a good one!  Personally, the chapters of mine that get that long tend to be the intense, dramatic ones, so hopefully they feel exciting instead of long-winded and boring LOL.

[nicksgal]

Hehe.  Well, I finally hit the four-digit mark in my chapter, so I guess it's going a little better.  I just watched this video of Show Me the Meaning from the Unbreakable tour like five times in a row: https://youtu.be/0spith0Ir6w  So good!  Still haven't gotten around to watching the whole tour video yet.

Four digits! Glad it's going better; I knew it would eventually. Ah, SMTMOBL is always fantastic. I was thinking that in my car today that if IGBY didn't break up Millennium 1-3 and 5-8, that would be seven of the best songs in a row. Not that I don't like IGBY, but you know. Maybe the whole tour video is your reward when you finish the chapter. Unless you need it for inspiration, of course.

All I decided for sure was that Nick would definitely be in steerage like Jack Dawson, since he grew up as poor white trash.  I also thought Howie might come from a family of Irish immigrants.  Brian would probably be in first class, since he (his wife) likes the finer things in life.  Not sure about Kevin and AJ.  I feel like there used to be fanfics about BSB on the Titanic.  I remember a humor story that just made fun of them, but I think there were serious ones too.  I'm a Titanic buff, so if I ever felt like doing a historical fic, it could be a fun concept.

I see you still sending your love to Nowie in steerage, lol. Unless Brian is Rose and Nick is Jack, lol. I mean, I can't blame Leighanne for enjoying nice things; nice things are awesome! I say that as I sit here in the same little pink desk chair I've had since college that couldn't have been more than $100 if even that. I can't imagine that they wouldn't have existed because I feel like the center part of the venn diagram for "likes Titanic" and "likes the Backstreet Boys" would include a lot of people. Plus whatever the "and writes fanfic about it" chunk looks like. I think historical fiction is awesome and I love history, but "names and dates" were always the hardest part of history for me and I feel like that's a big part of historical fiction.

On a Titanic side note, the amount of times I've been to Molly Brown's house is astronomical.

Hehe, I have actually started a collection of BSB hand sanitizers.  It started with the "I'm Taking Off Nick's Germs" sanitizer I made in 2011.  https://twitter.com/ForeverRebel/status/709707297618993153  There is also a Brian Ebola edition from 2014 and a Howie one from... 2017?  Next up is going to be a Kevin COVID edition for when the DNA tour finally resumes.

LMFAO! Of course Nick hand sanitizer would be first. That picture was hilarious.

LOL Does anyone else feel like they subconsciously (or deliberately) try to one-up themselves when it comes to dark and depressing?  I've written things in the last few years that would have horrified me back when I was just chopping off Nick's leg, and it hardly fazes me now.

I don't think I try, I think my threshold for dark and depressing has expanded over the years. I think I mentioned that I preemptively added my PBox warnings to PNecklace, just so everyone knew it wasn't lighter and fluffier and I still haven't used any of them. It makes me miss my fantastical graphic violence a little bit... Because my one part that would have had graphic violence already was my "nope, kids" line. Oh well.

On the plus side, I feel like Broken Nick was pretty shaken up about having his leg chopped off, so he still thought it was dark and depressing then and probably would now if you asked him, lol.

[RokofAges75]

Interesting! I would say that I think so based on the fact that you've talked about your favorites, I've talked about my favorites, and there's a whole reddit thread where no one disagrees with the original poster. At least for every story the author is personally invested in.

I definitely have had "The Scene" for most, if not all of my stories.  Is it bad that I can't think of what that scene would be for my current story? LOL  There are definitely scenes I'm looking forward to, but not really one big one in particular.  The drama starts right at the end of Chapter 1, though, so there's not the same build-up to a big reveal or pivotal moment like I'm used to writing.

Speaking of sex scenes, though, lol. I ended up deep scrolling through that reddit page and was reading a post about sex scenes and had an epiphany, like "Ah yes, this is why my sex scene was not bad, but felt very porny instead of sweet and sentimental for the characters. Because the 'camera' was just too far out from their heads and feelings." So I spent part of today fixing that for longer than I should have so it still had some time to sit before I ultimately decided what to do with it come that update week, lol. There's more head hopping than I like, but it felt right? To be honest, even the porny version felt fine compared to how much I thought I hated it when I wrote it, so I'll probably just end up keeping this rewritten version in the story when the time comes.

Hm, that's an interesting epiphany!  That makes sense that it would feel more "porny" if you focus more on their actions than feelings.  I am definitely not an expert on writing sex scenes.  I'm like you in that I don't hate the ones I've written, but I also don't know if any of them are good.  I would need someone who is more prolific at writing them to critique mine and let me know LOL.  I'm glad you don't hate either version of yours and were able to revise it to make it even better.  Keep it!

I've mentioned it many times, but PBox's "Chapter Forty-Four: Disciple" was my one true love and the scene I dreamed about for as long I was writing the story. I don't know if anyone else would call it a "signature scene," but it probably remains my favorite, for sure of PBox, but possibly in the whole series.

I love those scenes that you dream about the whole time you're writing the story, whether they become a signature scene for readers or not.

Do we have a version of the opposite? One we didn't think was a The Scene, but we've come to love afterward? Because the second scene in Chapter Fourteen: Soul comes to mind as that. I love that one so much after having written it down. Again, no links, see above.

I don't know if there's an official term for it, but yes!  "The Scene" tends to be a big moment in the story, but there are also those little moments that become hidden gems.  For me, those scenes tend to be the ones with great conversations between the boys.  Nothing big necessarily happens, but they flow well and are just sweet/cute/funny/touching.  I had that happen with my ER crossover, Heroic Measures.  "The Scene" for me was always going to be Chapter 5, which is a big dramatic resuscitation scene.  But my favorite scene in that story end up being a conversation between AJ and Nick in Chapter 9.  It's one of the least dramatic/action-packed scenes in the whole story, but I love their banter and the way the tone shifts over the course of the chapter.

[RokofAges75]

Four digits! Glad it's going better; I knew it would eventually. Ah, SMTMOBL is always fantastic. I was thinking that in my car today that if IGBY didn't break up Millennium 1-3 and 5-8, that would be seven of the best songs in a row. Not that I don't like IGBY, but you know. Maybe the whole tour video is your reward when you finish the chapter. Unless you need it for inspiration, of course.

Totally agree about Millennium and IGBY!  I don't dislike IGBY, but it's not one of my favorites either.  On a random but semi-related note, I've been listening to my playlist of all BSB songs on shuffle in my car, and today on the way to work, Don't Want You Back came on.  As it was ending, I automatically started humming the beginning of Don't Wanna Lose You Now, which is my favorite BSB song, because I'm so used to hearing it after DWYB... and miraculously, it played next on shuffle!  That's when I knew it was going to be a good day LOL.

Maybe Unbreakable will end up being my reward for finishing this chapter LOL.  I've already looked up videos of the specific parts I'm writing about on YouTube and just watched those.

I see you still sending your love to Nowie in steerage, lol. Unless Brian is Rose and Nick is Jack, lol. I mean, I can't blame Leighanne for enjoying nice things; nice things are awesome! I say that as I sit here in the same little pink desk chair I've had since college that couldn't have been more than $100 if even that. I can't imagine that they wouldn't have existed because I feel like the center part of the venn diagram for "likes Titanic" and "likes the Backstreet Boys" would include a lot of people. Plus whatever the "and writes fanfic about it" chunk looks like. I think historical fiction is awesome and I love history, but "names and dates" were always the hardest part of history for me and I feel like that's a big part of historical fiction.

On a Titanic side note, the amount of times I've been to Molly Brown's house is astronomical.

LOL A slash twist on Titanic would be interesting, especially given they would probably feel the need to hide it from everyone in 1912.  Now that I think about it, I think Nick and Brian were a couple in that Titanic humor story I mentioned.  It totally makes sense that girls in our age group would love both BSB and Titanic.  I became a BSB fan around the same time I was going to see Titanic in the theater at least every other weekend (I saw it 7 times in its initial run LOL).

Add Molly Brown's house to the list of places I need to visit when I come to Colorado someday!  I would love that.  I usually do a Titanic unit with my class for one of our nonfiction reading units, and they always get so into it.  I'm doing a mini version of it this year.  I was reading a picture book to them about the Titanic, and when it got to the part about Molly trying to rally the people in her lifeboat to go back and pick up more passengers, my kids called her a Karen! LOL  I got defensive on her behalf and argued that she was NOT a Karen; she was a strong woman who was trying to do the right thing.  They were not convinced, and I was finally like, "You need to watch the movie.  You'll like Molly Brown!"

LMFAO! Of course Nick hand sanitizer would be first. That picture was hilarious.

Thanks!  Someone (Tracy?) shared a picture of it with Lauren on Twitter once, and she said it was hilarious too!

I don't think I try, I think my threshold for dark and depressing has expanded over the years. I think I mentioned that I preemptively added my PBox warnings to PNecklace, just so everyone knew it wasn't lighter and fluffier and I still haven't used any of them. It makes me miss my fantastical graphic violence a little bit... Because my one part that would have had graphic violence already was my "nope, kids" line. Oh well.

On the plus side, I feel like Broken Nick was pretty shaken up about having his leg chopped off, so he still thought it was dark and depressing then and probably would now if you asked him, lol.

I think that's my deal too.  I don't deliberately try to out-do myself, but what may have felt like crossing a line to me 10-20 years ago doesn't anymore.  Other than killing the real kids, I'll write just about anything now.

Losing a limb is definitely a big deal, and his angst over it was justified.  But there are also far worse things that can happen to a person.

[nicksgal]

Oh noes!  Come back, rain!

It's my fault, lol. I finished a scene and didn't know how to start the second scene in the chapter, so I skipped around to a scene I thought I wanted to write based on an out of order scene I wrote yesterday, but still not much of anything has come of it. So I figured it was a good time to be a supreme time water for a minute instead.

I imagine most of the posters on the Fanfiction section of Reddit are teenagers.  They sound really young.  It does seem like one-shots/short stories are the big thing now instead of "longfics"/novels.  I've noticed that on AO3 too.  I think a lot of that has to do with the emphasis on pairings/ships and smut over actual plot and character development, but to each their own.  Personally, I started the same way you did - with multi-chapter "novels" (which were really more novellas, some of which were the same length as short stories I would write today LOL).  I wrote the occasional one-shot too, but I've always preferred writing longer stories.  They just have more substance and depth.

Ah, to be a teenage fanfic writer again... I mostly say this because then it would be peak BSB time and that would be fun. I think I opened maybe an eighth of the stuff I scrolled through? I did think that those "I'll read your (type of story) and give them some love" threads were nice. There was one I saw that specifically listed RPF and it reminded me that there's probably much more fanfic out there for fictional works than there are for musicians or actors or what have you, even though we always felt big; regardless, I've still always adored our little corner of the fanfic world.

I'm glad I started writing fanfic before it felt like who was in it was more important than what happens (outside of Backstreet Boys being main characters in Backstreet Boys fanfics). That's not to say that romances weren't huge back in the day, but I still feel like it was more about what the characters did, what happened to them, and how they reacted more than it was "I'll read anything if it's about Nick/original female characters."

I did look at the words counts on my two oldest stories I added to AC (and didn't read, because so cringey), but one of them is about 24,000 words. That's like eight chapters of PBox, lol. So same, by today's standards, that's novella length, not novel length for sure.

I think I'll only write a one-shot if I have an idea and it's clearly not multiple chapters. But those are like "death by snail" and "BSB secret santa," not "Nick/Brian on a coffee shop date." I guess I don't think of cute romances when I think of coffee shops... I think of coffee, lol. For the most part, my ideas are lengthy if not epic, and provide ample time for character development, my favorite.

10k does seem long, although I'm like you - a chapter ends when a chapter ends.  I have written 10k-word chapters when there's one long scene that doesn't have a natural breaking point, but that is definitely not my norm.  I'm usually in the 2500-5000 word range.  As a reader, I don't really pay attention to the word count of chapters unless it feels really long.  Then I'm like, "When is this going to end??"  So if it's a super long chapter, it better be a good one!  Personally, the chapters of mine that get that long tend to be the intense, dramatic ones, so hopefully they feel exciting instead of long-winded and boring LOL.

I hunt for the natural breaking point or make a spot where I can leave it on a cliffhanger and then pick right back up, lol. I really get anxious when they start getting that long. I think I have two chapters right now that are a little over 5,000 words and I just want to chop them in half so bad, but I have nothing else to say and there's not a good spot to snip them, so... I guess they stay that way. 3,000 to 4,000 is probably my happy place.

I don't really pay attention either when reading, I suppose. I figure if it's long, it was meant to be long. And it's not like a book in the bookstore is going to say "this chapter is 5,000 words, yikes!" lol My longer ones usually end up being heavy character development or intense battle scenes. It's a toss up. So I hope they're enjoyable and not boring and verbose for no reason as well, lol!

[nicksgal]

I definitely have had "The Scene" for most, if not all of my stories.  Is it bad that I can't think of what that scene would be for my current story? LOL  There are definitely scenes I'm looking forward to, but not really one big one in particular.  The drama starts right at the end of Chapter 1, though, so there's not the same build-up to a big reveal or pivotal moment like I'm used to writing.

I'd say no! Especially if it's already drama-filled and not building to drama/pivotal moments. And it could be that you've been so focused on your montage chapters that you've been avoiding thinking of what's coming down the line as entities in themselves, especially if they don't have seeds you'd need to plant right now.

Hm, that's an interesting epiphany!  That makes sense that it would feel more "porny" if you focus more on their actions than feelings.  I am definitely not an expert on writing sex scenes.  I'm like you in that I don't hate the ones I've written, but I also don't know if any of them are good.  I would need someone who is more prolific at writing them to critique mine and let me know LOL.  I'm glad you don't hate either version of yours and were able to revise it to make it even better.  Keep it!

Okay, let's just both post on reddit and ask people to critique our sex scene writing, lol. It's definitely less porny and I like it better, but I'm not prolific at all in the sex scene department, so I still have no idea if it's any good either. I tried something new this year in my writing, so I guess that makes it a good effort if nothing else.

I love those scenes that you dream about the whole time you're writing the story, whether they become a signature scene for readers or not.

Same! It might be the one thing I miss about strictly writing in order, but it's also nice to get their bones out and then revise them until they're perfect when the time comes.

I don't know if there's an official term for it, but yes!  "The Scene" tends to be a big moment in the story, but there are also those little moments that become hidden gems.  For me, those scenes tend to be the ones with great conversations between the boys.  Nothing big necessarily happens, but they flow well and are just sweet/cute/funny/touching.  I had that happen with my ER crossover, Heroic Measures.  "The Scene" for me was always going to be Chapter 5, which is a big dramatic resuscitation scene.  But my favorite scene in that story end up being a conversation between AJ and Nick in Chapter 9.  It's one of the least dramatic/action-packed scenes in the whole story, but I love their banter and the way the tone shifts over the course of the chapter.

"Hidden Gems" is probably it and if it's not, I approve it for use from now on (because I am the authority on official vocabulary in our fandom, clearly). I think that's it, they're just great moments between the Boys. I think it reminds me of why I enjoy their bond and I feel like it's spot on if I think "aww, love this one." I love that AJ and Nick banter ended up being your favorite even if it wasn't action packed; they're very good for banter anyway and it's nice that the hidden gem came after "The Scene".

My favorite thing about that hidden gem I mentioned was that when it came time to edit before posting, I think I changed maybe ten words or less in it from when I'd first written it down. It was never a scene I agonized over, it just was. Plus it featured some Howie and we all know that Howie is my favorite original challenge from PBox, which was to give him an important role. Clearly, I need to get on the Kevin train because that's another challenge I need to give myself is to focus on Kevin as Kevin and not mostly Kevin as big brother to the others, lol.

[nicksgal]

Totally agree about Millennium and IGBY!  I don't dislike IGBY, but it's not one of my favorites either.  On a random but semi-related note, I've been listening to my playlist of all BSB songs on shuffle in my car, and today on the way to work, Don't Want You Back came on.  As it was ending, I automatically started humming the beginning of Don't Wanna Lose You Now, which is my favorite BSB song, because I'm so used to hearing it after DWYB... and miraculously, it played next on shuffle!  That's when I knew it was going to be a good day LOL.

Maybe Unbreakable will end up being my reward for finishing this chapter LOL.  I've already looked up videos of the specific parts I'm writing about on YouTube and just watched those.

Aw, love that. I listened to DWLYN four times today while driving. I felt like I kept missing the parts I wanted to enjoy, lol. They don't usually play one after the other for me on shuffle, but I'll sometimes skip the live versions from the deluxe In A World Like This (don't want to listen to fan noise on my drive) and sometimes the album versions will come on right afterward, so I'm always like "Alright, listening to this I suppose, the universe has spoken," lol

How are you liking splitting the concert up? I've been thinking about it as you've been talking and I don't think I ever liked writing concert scenes either. Maybe because it's not quite the same...

LOL A slash twist on Titanic would be interesting, especially given they would probably feel the need to hide it from everyone in 1912.  Now that I think about it, I think Nick and Brian were a couple in that Titanic humor story I mentioned.  It totally makes sense that girls in our age group would love both BSB and Titanic.  I became a BSB fan around the same time I was going to see Titanic in the theater at least every other weekend (I saw it 7 times in its initial run LOL).

And then Nick licks Brian's face in public and ruins the facade, lol. I think we all fall somewhere on the Frick&Frack to Frick/Frack scale... Except for maybe Mare? I know you're not Team Brian, Mare, but what about Frick&Frack? Are you "just Frack no &" instead?

Nice, 7 times! My mom wouldn't let me. I was also ten and it's not her thing, so that may have been more of the issue, lol. I saw it at a friend's house during a sleepover at some point in the next year or so... and then, history.

Add Molly Brown's house to the list of places I need to visit when I come to Colorado someday!  I would love that.  I usually do a Titanic unit with my class for one of our nonfiction reading units, and they always get so into it.  I'm doing a mini version of it this year.  I was reading a picture book to them about the Titanic, and when it got to the part about Molly trying to rally the people in her lifeboat to go back and pick up more passengers, my kids called her a Karen! LOL  I got defensive on her behalf and argued that she was NOT a Karen; she was a strong woman who was trying to do the right thing.  They were not convinced, and I was finally like, "You need to watch the movie.  You'll like Molly Brown!"

It's smaller than you would expect, but it's really neat. One of my students is doing a research project on her right now for a "famous Coloradoans study" type thing and watching them be fascinated about her is awesome. Although, they said something to the effect of "she's such a badass (my words not theirs), she's probably still alive and well!" And I was like... uhh... no, that's not how aging works at all. She would be long dead no matter what. But you're right, she was a badass into her old age.

OMG, they called Molly a Karen! The youths! I'm glad you defended her, but sad you couldn't convince them. Kathy Bates was the perfect choice for Molly, but you should probably not show Titanic in school to prove a point, lol. Maybe a clip of Molly being awesome would be fine.

Thanks!  Someone (Tracy?) shared a picture of it with Lauren on Twitter once, and she said it was hilarious too!

Good, at least she knows that he's gross and can laugh about it, lol.

I think that's my deal too.  I don't deliberately try to out-do myself, but what may have felt like crossing a line to me 10-20 years ago doesn't anymore.  Other than killing the real kids, I'll write just about anything now.

Losing a limb is definitely a big deal, and his angst over it was justified.  But there are also far worse things that can happen to a person.

Oh how we've grown. So proud of us.

And have happened to Nick in your fanfics! If only he knew, maybe he would pick going back to losing a limb.

[FrickingKaos]

Yes, I was the one who sent Lauren the picture of the hand sanitizer lol.

When I was writing If I Knew Then I was thoroughly inspired by Titanic. Julie and I had conversations about it for a while. Brian was Rose and Nick was Jack and Leighanne was Cal. It was such a great love triangle. I'd love someone to do a historical bsb story involving Titanic lol. Just for fun. I literally watched that movie every day for a few weeks when I wrote If I Knew Then because it would inapire me. I don't know if it was the music or the dialogue but I was heavily inspired.