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Fic Talk => General Discussion => Topic started by: nicksgal on March 10, 2021, 08:44:43 PM

Title: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 10, 2021, 08:44:43 PM
I just wanted to make sure I could keep making "The Fast and The Furious" jokes as these threads go on, lol!

Here are the last set of questions, but we are currently discussing Julie's answers in 2 Writing 2 Thread:

1. Without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic? Why do you think that is and is it the same one you would say is your best one?

2. Have you ever written a fanfic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

3. Have you ever written a fanfic and decided never to publish it? Why?

4. What’s the biggest change between your style when you started in fandom and today? Could you stand to reread your first fanfic?

5. What’s the biggest change in your taste between when you started in fandom and today?

6. Have you ever purposefully written one fandom/fic idea over another because you knew it’d be more popular?

7. If you had to pick one scene to describe your entire portfolio to a stranger, which would you pick? Would you be willing to share it with us?

8. Have/would you ever rewrite a fanfic? If yes, would you take the original down?

9. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?

10. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

11. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?

12. Is there any particular character whose scenes always wind up being longer/more frequent than you expected? Does the quality hold up?

13. Was there any fanfic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?

14. If you cross-post your fanfics on multiple sites, do you have a favorite? Are there certain fics you would only post on certain site?

15. If someone you know who isn’t involved in BSB fanfic fandom asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

16. Does anyone you know from outside of BSB fanfic know you write fanfic? Are they involved in the same BSB fandom too?

17. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?

18. What kind of impact has writing fanfic had on your life?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 10, 2021, 10:06:02 PM
Continuing the conversation from the last thread.


I feel you. I think it really takes the right rewrite project to really keep momentum going on it. Rewriting and reworking anything is a laborious effort for sure!

I commend you for doing it with PBox!  Do you think it helped knowing the original version of PBox was already finished, so even if you didn't finish rewriting it, you at least had the old version to fall back on?


The bombshell if they found out about your dark side and then found out how much time you spend torturing fictional Backstreet Boys! lmao I don't think being Howie is the worst, you could get away with murder.

This is only slightly related, but there's this silly online game you can play on your phone called "Role Models" where you give people roles based on categories and one of them is "Boy Bands" and I got the "cute tiny one," and I was so excited. "Apparently I'm 90's Nick!" haha.

I don't think being Howie is bad at all.  Howie definitely flies under the radar, which can be a good thing.  Stealth D!

LOL You're either 90s Nick or Brian in any decade.  "Cute tiny one" describes him too.  After all, he does resemble a small gnome.


Nick's just wordy. I think the pattern is fun, especially if it's in first person POV. Just playing devil's advocate. :)

It is a fun pattern!  This is the third novel I've written this way, alternating chapters in two different first person POVs.  It's a nice way to tell a story that has two main characters and keep it balanced between both perspectives, but it can be limiting in situations like this, when one character has a lot more to say than the other.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 11, 2021, 02:55:12 PM
1. Without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic? Why do you think that is and is it the same one you would say is your best one?

Without looking at numbers, I would say It Stays With You because it seems to be the one that most people associate with me and tend to remember. It is not the one I would say is my best though. After answering this I did go look at my numbers and was kind of shocked to see that this one wasn’t my most viewed or reviewed story. In fact it wasn’t even in the top five! My most viewed and reviewed one was Why I’d Do it All Again followed by my To Protect and Serve and it’s sequel which are actually my two favorite fics. So weird because at the time I really didn’t feel like people were reading those. 
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 11, 2021, 03:16:31 PM
2. Have you ever written a fanfic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

Several. It’s hard to be a suspense writer without using the same plot as other people. The very first fanfic I’d ever written was Nick gets kidnapped after reading Ground Zero by Chaos. It didn’t really effect my writing process at all because I was just starting my writing process. I’m pretty sure the only thing the two had in common was Nick gets kidnapped. We totally told different versions of that same idea. His was much better than mine. After that I’ve used several of the same plot ideas and never felt like I was copying from anyone.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 11, 2021, 03:42:37 PM
3. Have you ever written a fanfic and decided never to publish it? Why?

Nope

4. What’s the biggest change between your style when you started in fandom and today? Could you stand to reread your first fanfic?

I don’t think I’d ever go back and reread my first or my second or my third etc... lol unless I wanted to redo it or refer to something specific, but from start to finish, no!

5. What’s the biggest change in your taste between when you started in fandom and today?

I’m not really into reading or writing fanfic anymore. That’s obviously the biggest change lol

6. Have you ever purposefully written one fandom/fic idea over another because you knew it’d be more popular?

Nope
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 11, 2021, 03:51:16 PM
8. Have/would you ever rewrite a fanfic? If yes, would you take the original down?

I can’t see myself ever doing this but if I did it would mean I didn’t like the first one enough to keep it as is so yes, I’d take it down.

9. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?

My descriptions because I feel like that’s always been my weakest trait as a writer.

10. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

I don’t think there’s any way to get them all perfectly right but I’m pretty sure I screw up Kevin the most. I’m sure he’s really not as overly protective and responsible and fun lacking as how I tended to portray him.

11. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?

Probably Nick? Don’t really know.

12. Is there any particular character whose scenes always wind up being longer/more frequent than you expected? Does the quality hold up?

Nick lol he was just the easiest to channel.

Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 05:08:16 PM
1. Without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic? Why do you think that is and is it the same one you would say is your best one?

Without looking at numbers, I would say It Stays With You because it seems to be the one that most people associate with me and tend to remember. It is not the one I would say is my best though. After answering this I did go look at my numbers and was kind of shocked to see that this one wasn’t my most viewed or reviewed story. In fact it wasn’t even in the top five! My most viewed and reviewed one was Why I’d Do it All Again followed by my To Protect and Serve and it’s sequel which are actually my two favorite fics. So weird because at the time I really didn’t feel like people were reading those.  

Did you post It Stays With You on AC as you were writing it or after it was finished?  In my memory, that one was pre-AC, but I don't know if it was actually pre-AC or if I just think of it that way because I read it on your site before I frequented AC.  But if it wasn't posted on AC until after the fact, that is one reason why the numbers would be lower than you thought.  That is Broken for me; I didn't start posting Broken on AC until it had been finished for a couple years, so the number of reviews here don't reflect the actual amount of feedback it got while I was writing it.

It Stays is definitely one of your most memorable, probably because of the disturbing imagery - MINE especially and also the pastor with the lobster hand.  We've talked about it a lot on here, the same way we talk about bot flies LOL.  People remember disturbing stuff.  I loved that story, but my personal favorite of yours is Hope is the Last Thing Ever Lost.  That was a good one to go out on as your last finished fanfic novel.


It’s hard to be a suspense writer without using the same plot as other people.

I agree with this, and the same is probably true of medical drama.  Every suspense writer needs at least one kidnapping story, just as every medical drama writer needs at least one cancer story.  No two are exactly the same though.  These are both tropes I could (and have) read over and over again, so the more the better!


I don’t think there’s any way to get them all perfectly right but I’m pretty sure I screw up Kevin the most. I’m sure he’s really not as overly protective and responsible and fun lacking as how I tended to portray him.

I think we all tend to portray Kevin this way and have probably reinforced that depiction of him by reading each other's work over the years LOL.  I think some of that came from actually seeing him in action during appearances and interviews, and the rest came from our interpretation of his big brother role.  The famous stories like him breaking down AJ's door and giving Nick that self-help book definitely lend credence to that, but then we hear other stuff about him that is surprising, like that he is hard to wake up in the morning and is late a lot.  That doesn't go with my vision of Kevin as always being punctual because he's such a stickler.  But it does go to show that real people are complex and multifaceted and don't fit the tropes as easily as fictional characters.  I also think Kevin has mellowed over the years and was more this way in the early days, when he was an adult dealing with teenagers.  The age/maturity gap made more of a difference in the group dynamic back then.


Probably Nick? Don’t really know.

Definitely Nick!  But also Kevin - the way you wrote those two together was always so sweet.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 11, 2021, 05:27:48 PM
13. Was there any fanfic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?

Like I said in the answer to the first question, It Stays With You. I was surprised at how popular that one got. As I was writing it and saw how dark it was getting, I wasn’t sure how people were going to feel about it. Apparently everyone enjoys reading about mental and physical torture. Lol

15. If someone you know who isn’t involved in BSB fanfic fandom asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

Not sure. I really try to keep Mare the fanfic writer and Marianne two completely different people.

16. Does anyone you know from outside of BSB fanfic know you write fanfic? Are they involved in the same BSB fandom too?

See above ^

17. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?

Do you mean people in this fandom? Probably. If you mean people who just know me then no.

18. What kind of impact has writing fanfic had on your life?

It made me realize that I love to write and used to be pretty decent at it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 11, 2021, 05:36:21 PM
I posted It Stays as I was writing it. I was one of the first posters on this site before it became open to everyone. Actually before I even had my own site. Although I’m not sure if the review button was a thing right away or not. It’s funny but I don’t really consider It Stays as one of my older fics but I guess maybe it is.

I’m glad you feel that way about Hope. I’m proud of that one too. The villain in that one was my favorite original character to write, even though I can’t remember his name right now lol

I was going to comment about Kevin always bring the late one as opposed to how most of us rote him always on time.

And yes indeed, one can’t have a medical drama without cancer or a bus crash. Bonus points for also using a bus crash for suspense as well!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 05:42:59 PM
Like I said in the answer to the first question, It Stays With You. I was surprised at how popular that one got. As I was writing it and saw how dark it was getting, I wasn’t sure how people were going to feel about it. Apparently everyone enjoys reading about mental and physical torture. Lol

LOL It's true; we all love torture.  The darker the better!  The stories I tend to remember are the ones that gave me a reaction and maybe even made me a little uncomfortable, but in a good way.  That shows that the author took risks and wrote in a descriptive enough way to put images and feelings in my head that I couldn't forget, which is definitely something you did with that story.  I will have to remember this next time I start second-guessing myself because I have been there before too.


It made me realize that I love to write and used to be pretty decent at it.

Used to?  I'm sure you still are more than pretty decent at it!  While writing is definitely something you get better at with practice, I don't think it's something you get worse at even if you stop doing it.  Or maybe you do?  I don't really know.  Even if you felt a little rusty, I think it would be like riding a bike if you ever went back to writing fanfic.  I bet whatever you have been working on lately is great!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 06:02:59 PM
I posted It Stays as I was writing it. I was one of the first posters on this site before it became open to everyone. Actually before I even had my own site. Although I’m not sure if the review button was a thing right away or not. It’s funny but I don’t really consider It Stays as one of my older fics but I guess maybe it is.

It's crazy how quickly time passes.  I guess in the scheme of things, it is one of your older stories, even though it doesn't seem like it's been that long.  I still only consider my "old" stories to be pre-Broken, even though Broken itself is now 18 years old.  I just had to check my math on that because how can that be???  But I started it in 2003, and yep, that was 18 years ago.  WTF LOL.


I’m glad you feel that way about Hope. I’m proud of that one too. The villain in that one was my favorite original character to write, even though I can’t remember his name right now lol

Tim!  He's one of my favorite original characters in BSB fanfic too.  He was such a creep, yet you wrote him a sympathetic way that made me understand him and even feel a little sorry for him, even though I was rooting against him.

I actually just reread some of Hope last year for inspiration as I was writing The Road to Bethlehem.  No villains like Tim in my story, but I was inspired by the bromance and getting-injured-and-stranded-in-the-woods element.


And yes indeed, one can’t have a medical drama without cancer or a bus crash. Bonus points for also using a bus crash for suspense as well!

LOL Didn't we have a conversation in one of the threads referenced in the MIA nostalgia thread about a teenybopper story where the villain kidnapped the boys by causing a bus crash and then diagnosed Nick's cancer?  Kidnapping, crashes, and cancer - the holy trinity of BSB fanfic tropes LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 07:23:14 PM
Are there any aspects of writing you seem to have trouble with?  I am generally pretty good with spelling and grammar, but one thing I've noticed about myself is I often want to make compound words out of terms that are really two separate words, like "seat belt" and "light switch."  I always write "seatbelt," and I just caught a "lightswitch" in the last sentence of the last chapter I finished.  Sometimes Google Docs corrects me, and sometimes it doesn't, so I have to look it up if I'm not sure if it should be one word or two.  I also struggle to spell the word "fluorescent" correctly on the first try, although I got it this time - maybe I've finally committed that one to memory LOL.  I tend to use it a lot when describing the lighting in my hospital scenes, so it always bugs me when it takes me more than one try to get it right.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 07:33:21 PM
I commend you for doing it with PBox!  Do you think it helped knowing the original version of PBox was already finished, so even if you didn't finish rewriting it, you at least had the old version to fall back on?

Not necessarily! I knew going into PNecklace that I did want to edit some stuff from it and once I got going, I was ready to just keep going and finish it out. :) My only real hangup was the time restraints plus life that I put on myself. Once I relaxed the "10 chapters a week" business, I was happy as a clam to keep going and I think it's better for having received the edit. I think what helped keep me motivated (other than it being my deepest love) was the parameters I set in the beginning: the plot of the whole novel and each individual chapter stays the same. So I wasn't completely scrapping anything, I was just tweaking it (sometimes with a hack and slash, sometimes with minor changes, sometimes with just removing unnecessary dialogue tags).

Now taking the fanfic out of it... That is a much slower and more arduous process!

I have realized that I did some improper commas in my edit and found some typos I still missed, but have been less motivated to go back and fix them than I was motivated to do the initial edit; I keep noticing them and hating them when I go back and reference things, haha! I think if I can get myself back up to 15 or 20 chapters ahead on PNecklace, I might give myself two weeks to go back and fix those.

I don't think being Howie is bad at all.  Howie definitely flies under the radar, which can be a good thing.  Stealth D!

LOL You're either 90s Nick or Brian in any decade.  "Cute tiny one" describes him too.  After all, he does resemble a small gnome.

Yes! Stealth D!

lmao Just put him in a gnome hat, I hear they're essential workers! ;) I'd rather be early 90's Nick, because in that world, Brian is the heartthrob and I still get to grow up and become a heartthrob myself. Everyone wins!

It is a fun pattern!  This is the third novel I've written this way, alternating chapters in two different first person POVs.  It's a nice way to tell a story that has two main characters and keep it balanced between both perspectives, but it can be limiting in situations like this, when one character has a lot more to say than the other.

What's the deciding factor in writing a story with alternating first person POVs as opposed to third person?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 07:40:56 PM
2. Have you ever written a fanfic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

Several. It’s hard to be a suspense writer without using the same plot as other people. The very first fanfic I’d ever written was Nick gets kidnapped after reading Ground Zero by Chaos. It didn’t really effect my writing process at all because I was just starting my writing process. I’m pretty sure the only thing the two had in common was Nick gets kidnapped. We totally told different versions of that same idea. His was much better than mine. After that I’ve used several of the same plot ideas and never felt like I was copying from anyone.

I agree with this, and the same is probably true of medical drama.  Every suspense writer needs at least one kidnapping story, just as every medical drama writer needs at least one cancer story.  No two are exactly the same though.  These are both tropes I could (and have) read over and over again, so the more the better!

And yes indeed, one can’t have a medical drama without cancer or a bus crash. Bonus points for also using a bus crash for suspense as well!

LOL Didn't we have a conversation in one of the threads referenced in the MIA nostalgia thread about a teenybopper story where the villain kidnapped the boys by causing a bus crash and then diagnosed Nick's cancer?  Kidnapping, crashes, and cancer - the holy trinity of BSB fanfic tropes LOL.

Isn't there an argument out there that at their cores "there are no new stories"? I feel like as long as enough of it's different and you know going in what elements you'll change to make yours unique, then let's get hundred of BSB fanfics about kidnappings and cancer!  ;D

I'll reiterate again that a bus crash is a perfect story catalyst for any BSB fanfic! And we've all probably used it at one point or another. #Team bring back bus crash stories!

And yes, we did talk about a teenybopper story like that. I wish I remembered what it was; that was so long ago.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 07:46:57 PM
10. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

I don’t think there’s any way to get them all perfectly right but I’m pretty sure I screw up Kevin the most. I’m sure he’s really not as overly protective and responsible and fun lacking as how I tended to portray him.

I think we all tend to portray Kevin this way and have probably reinforced that depiction of him by reading each other's work over the years LOL.  I think some of that came from actually seeing him in action during appearances and interviews, and the rest came from our interpretation of his big brother role.  The famous stories like him breaking down AJ's door and giving Nick that self-help book definitely lend credence to that, but then we hear other stuff about him that is surprising, like that he is hard to wake up in the morning and is late a lot.  That doesn't go with my vision of Kevin as always being punctual because he's such a stickler.  But it does go to show that real people are complex and multifaceted and don't fit the tropes as easily as fictional characters.  I also think Kevin has mellowed over the years and was more this way in the early days, when he was an adult dealing with teenagers.  The age/maturity gap made more of a difference in the group dynamic back then.

People who are sticklers like sleeping in too! Maybe Kevin's a stickler about everything except for time... Or realistically, he says "I'm the one who is late and you all know this. If you are noticeably later than me, then that's clearly a glaring problem."

I think age/maturity for sure has a lot to do with it. He had to come off as more responsible when dealing with teenagers and now he can relax a little more when he doesn't have to wrangle the forty-somethings.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 08:02:20 PM
13. Was there any fanfic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?

Like I said in the answer to the first question, It Stays With You. I was surprised at how popular that one got. As I was writing it and saw how dark it was getting, I wasn’t sure how people were going to feel about it. Apparently everyone enjoys reading about mental and physical torture. Lol

LOL It's true; we all love torture.  The darker the better!  The stories I tend to remember are the ones that gave me a reaction and maybe even made me a little uncomfortable, but in a good way.  That shows that the author took risks and wrote in a descriptive enough way to put images and feelings in my head that I couldn't forget, which is definitely something you did with that story.  I will have to remember this next time I start second-guessing myself because I have been there before too.

Team Dark! AC is probably the best audience for the dark things, since the majority of us seem to enjoy them. If you all want to put dark things in your stories, I will support you every time, no matter how disturbing! Dark things are also way more memorable than fluffy things, for me anyway. :)


It made me realize that I love to write and used to be pretty decent at it.

Used to?  I'm sure you still are more than pretty decent at it!  While writing is definitely something you get better at with practice, I don't think it's something you get worse at even if you stop doing it.  Or maybe you do?  I don't really know.  Even if you felt a little rusty, I think it would be like riding a bike if you ever went back to writing fanfic.  I bet whatever you have been working on lately is great!

As someone who took a very long hiatus, I can confirm that ability to write does not disappear with time. (And thank goodness, because I would have cried a lot if my writing ability reverted to early teeny Dee writing style. "Let's dance." "I love you." lmao) I won't validate that it is comparable to riding a bike though, as I don't know how to do that! (Fun surprising Dee fact!)

So whenever inspiration strikes again, I think it will be fine! :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 08:10:47 PM
Are there any aspects of writing you seem to have trouble with?  I am generally pretty good with spelling and grammar, but one thing I've noticed about myself is I often want to make compound words out of terms that are really two separate words, like "seat belt" and "light switch."  I always write "seatbelt," and I just caught a "lightswitch" in the last sentence of the last chapter I finished.  Sometimes Google Docs corrects me, and sometimes it doesn't, so I have to look it up if I'm not sure if it should be one word or two.  I also struggle to spell the word "fluorescent" correctly on the first try, although I got it this time - maybe I've finally committed that one to memory LOL.  I tend to use it a lot when describing the lighting in my hospital scenes, so it always bugs me when it takes me more than one try to get it right.

I always second guess myself on spelling conscious, conscience, etcetera.  And I have no idea why they get me. All the vowels in a row probably? Every time I type two separate words and then you type them with a hyphen, I mentally chide myself, haha. Does that need a hyphen? I've failed in front of the Almighty General of Grammar.

I think one that always gets me is that I tend to have a "got to list" of ways to describe things based on force (typically) or volume (less so) and I'll catch myself doing them many times in the same chapter and go "Okay, well, not everything has to be 'gripped' or 'thrust,' dang Dee." But then I hate the alternatives and spend too much time deciding on different ones.

And now I'm caught up!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 08:15:43 PM
It's crazy how quickly time passes.  I guess in the scheme of things, it is one of your older stories, even though it doesn't seem like it's been that long.  I still only consider my "old" stories to be pre-Broken, even though Broken itself is now 18 years old.  I just had to check my math on that because how can that be???  But I started it in 2003, and yep, that was 18 years ago.  WTF LOL.

Right? I wrote in my update thread that PBox in some form has existed in my head (and partly on paper) for about fifteen years! That such a long time.

(I forgot that I wanted to comment on this, haha. Now I'm caught up.)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 08:42:51 PM
lmao Just put him in a gnome hat, I hear they're essential workers! ;)

LOL Is that an Underpants Gnomes reference?!  The South ParQ Vaccination Special last night was so good!


What's the deciding factor in writing a story with alternating first person POVs as opposed to third person?

I like first person for stories with just one or two main characters.  I have read stories that alternated first person POV between all five Boys, but I haven't attempted one of those yet.  I think it could get confusing and hard to capture five different narrative voices, so I stick with third person for group stories.  Two is more manageable, and I like the dynamic it creates with telling two different sides of the same story.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 08:51:03 PM
Isn't there an argument out there that at their cores "there are no new stories"? I feel like as long as enough of it's different and you know going in what elements you'll change to make yours unique, then let's get hundred of BSB fanfics about kidnappings and cancer!  ;D

I'll reiterate again that a bus crash is a perfect story catalyst for any BSB fanfic! And we've all probably used it at one point or another. #Team bring back bus crash stories!

Totally agree with both of these points.  As long as you're changing some details and not blatantly copying someone else's story, I think it's fine to be inspired by other authors and use the same general premise as other stories.  It's not like any of those particular premises are original to begin with, in or outside of BSB fanfic.

I feel like we discussed a challenge one time where everyone was supposed to write a bus crash story, but I don't know if that ever happened.  It may have been while I was getting my master's, so maybe it did and I just didn't participate LOL.  I don't think I have another bus crash story in me right now, but maybe down the road... haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 08:53:09 PM
LOL Is that an Underpants Gnomes reference?!  The South ParQ Vaccination Special last night was so good!

It was a reference to last night's episode! :D I liked it, but did feel kind of sad about their Kenny friend divorce schedule. But it's also been decades, so I'm sure they're running out of ideas that keep the overall status quo.


I like first person for stories with just one or two main characters.  I have read stories that alternated first person POV between all five Boys, but I haven't attempted one of those yet.  I think it could get confusing and hard to capture five different narrative voices, so I stick with third person for group stories.  Two is more manageable, and I like the dynamic it creates with telling two different sides of the same story.

I think it would be really challenging if it was a consistent rotation between all five of them! I gave the other four Boys one third limited chapter each in PBox and definitely felt ready to get back to Nick afterward.

It's always fun hearing two sides of the same story! I think you get a little more from both the major characters and the nuanced different things they would notice that way. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 08:54:26 PM
People who are sticklers like sleeping in too! Maybe Kevin's a stickler about everything except for time... Or realistically, he says "I'm the one who is late and you all know this. If you are noticeably later than me, then that's clearly a glaring problem."

I think age/maturity for sure has a lot to do with it. He had to come off as more responsible when dealing with teenagers and now he can relax a little more when he doesn't have to wrangle the forty-somethings.

This describes me pretty well!  I can be particular about things, especially in my classroom, and I hate waking up early!  I am not a perpetually late person, but I'm also not an early bird.

"Wrangle the forty-somethings" LOL That made me laugh.  But yes, so true!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 08:56:47 PM
Totally agree with both of these points.  As long as you're changing some details and not blatantly copying someone else's story, I think it's fine to be inspired by other authors and use the same general premise as other stories.  It's not like any of those particular premises are original to begin with, in or outside of BSB fanfic.

I feel like we discussed a challenge one time where everyone was supposed to write a bus crash story, but I don't know if that ever happened.  It may have been while I was getting my master's, so maybe it did and I just didn't participate LOL.  I don't think I have another bus crash story in me right now, but maybe down the road... haha.

We all get inspiration from somewhere! And it makes sense that creativity inspires creativity, so there's probably lots of people that have gotten ideas from reading or watching something someone else did. Just don't Tanja it. :)

There's nothing that says you can't write a story for an old challenge if an idea comes along. I've been considering refining my ability to write short works here recently, so I may peruse some old challenges myself. Or i could just go back to Gobosei's bus crash, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 08:57:36 PM
As someone who took a very long hiatus, I can confirm that ability to write does not disappear with time. (And thank goodness, because I would have cried a lot if my writing ability reverted to early teeny Dee writing style. "Let's dance." "I love you." lmao) I won't validate that it is comparable to riding a bike though, as I don't know how to do that! (Fun surprising Dee fact!)

So whenever inspiration strikes again, I think it will be fine! :)

That is reassuring to hear!  Also, wow, that is a fun and surprising Dee fact!  Definitely one to bust out during a game of Never Have I Ever.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:02:18 PM
This describes me pretty well!  I can be particular about things, especially in my classroom, and I hate waking up early!  I am not a perpetually late person, but I'm also not an early bird.

"Wrangle the forty-somethings" LOL That made me laugh.  But yes, so true!

As a perpetually "later than I should be" person who also likes a tight ship, I feel for Kevin.

We'd have a more unhappy Kevin if he did have to wrangle the forty-somethings, but possibly a less uptight Brian? It has its pros and cons?

That is reassuring to hear!  Also, wow, that is a fun and surprising Dee fact!  Definitely one to bust out during a game of Never Have I Ever.

You're right! I have busted that out then, actually, but had to be very clear that it's "without training wheels" though, haha. I did start learning to ride a bike, but outgrew it before I learned and we never bought a more appropriate sized one. I'm a champion tricycle rider though, which served me well at "Trike Race Night" in college.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 09:07:01 PM
I always second guess myself on spelling conscious, conscience, etcetera.  And I have no idea why they get me. All the vowels in a row probably? Every time I type two separate words and then you type them with a hyphen, I mentally chide myself, haha. Does that need a hyphen? I've failed in front of the Almighty General of Grammar.

I think one that always gets me is that I tend to have a "got to list" of ways to describe things based on force (typically) or volume (less so) and I'll catch myself doing them many times in the same chapter and go "Okay, well, not everything has to be 'gripped' or 'thrust,' dang Dee." But then I hate the alternatives and spend too much time deciding on different ones.

And now I'm caught up!

Hyphenates are hard too!  If in doubt, I just Google, but sometimes I don't doubt myself when I should LOL.  I hear you with the conscious/conscience thing too.

Do you have an actual typed up list of those words or just a mental one?  I don't keep actual lists of stuff like that, but I do tend to use similar descriptions and have to watch to make sure I don't repeat myself too often within the same story.  I think it's fine if it's in different stories or even different chapters/scenes.  But yeah, sometimes certain words just work best.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: Rose on March 11, 2021, 09:12:06 PM
LOL Is that an Underpants Gnomes reference?!  The South ParQ Vaccination Special last night was so good!


I like first person for stories with just one or two main characters.  I have read stories that alternated first person POV between all five Boys, but I haven't attempted one of those yet.  I think it could get confusing and hard to capture five different narrative voices, so I stick with third person for group stories.  Two is more manageable, and I like the dynamic it creates with telling two different sides of the same story.

I think you could do it.

I only did that once, with Here We Stand and that was admittedly the biggest challenge, keeping in mind the different types of nuances so that you could tell who was telling the story.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 09:12:30 PM
It was a reference to last night's episode! :D I liked it, but did feel kind of sad about their Kenny friend divorce schedule. But it's also been decades, so I'm sure they're running out of ideas that keep the overall status quo.

That's what I thought!  Yes, it's sad to see the broship end, but I'm sure it's only temporary.  Remember when they killed Kenny off "permanently" for a couple of seasons?  They eventually brought him back.  It was nice to see Mr. Garrison (and Mr. Hat!) back at South Park Elementary.  He's not one of my favorite characters, but I liked the nostalgia of it.  I especially liked that the episode wasn't about Randy and Tegridy Farms.  I'm sick of Randy.


You're right! I have busted that out then, actually, but had to be very clear that it's "without training wheels" though, haha. I did start learning to ride a bike, but outgrew it before I learned and we never bought a more appropriate sized one. I'm a champion tricycle rider though, which served me well at "Trike Race Night" in college.

LOL!  You should have your husband teach you how to ride a bike.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: Rose on March 11, 2021, 09:14:47 PM
You know, when I think about fanfic tropes I don't think I did many in terms of actual plotlines. I'm not counting the romance ones cause the one and only fic I have in that genre was to take the most obvious ones on purpose and sort of put my own spin on it. I do have the Bus Crash one in Miles To Go, though that's because that fic is definitely my homage to Misery. Just like how in many ways Song For The Undead did it's thing for The Stand.

Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 09:16:48 PM
I think you could do it.

I only did that once, with Here We Stand and that was admittedly the biggest challenge, keeping in mind the different types of nuances so that you could tell who was telling the story.

Thanks!  I could, but I don't know that I would do it well.  I don't even know if I'm good at differentiatin g between two different voices, which is why I always just label the character at the top of the chapter.  But I've come to really enjoy writing that way anyway.  After three third person stories in a row, I was ready for another one in first.

The five-voice first person POV would be a good thing to try first with a short story, like one chapter from each perspective.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: Rose on March 11, 2021, 09:18:11 PM
Thanks!  I could, but I don't know that I would do it well.  I don't even know if I'm good at differentiatin g between two different voices, which is why I always just label the character at the top of the chapter.  But I've come to really enjoy writing that way anyway.  After three third person stories in a row, I was ready for another one in first.

The five-voice first person POV would be a good thing to try first with a short story, like one chapter from each perspective.

Yeah I don't know if I could do a full blown novel that way. HWS was 10 chapters and that was enough. I'm more comfortable with two when it's alternating. I love first person more than 3rd but that's because I just love, love LOVE to get into a character's head and show their thoughts and feelings on things. You can do that in third but there's more of an in depth thing for first.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 09:20:33 PM
You know, when I think about fanfic tropes I don't think I did many in terms of actual plotlines. I'm not counting the romance ones cause the one and only fic I have in that genre was to take the most obvious ones on purpose and sort of put my own spin on it. I do have the Bus Crash one in Miles To Go, though that's because that fic is definitely my homage to Misery. Just like how in many ways Song For The Undead did it's thing for The Stand.

That's true; I can't think of many you've done either.  Your ideas are more outside the box!  Have you ever found other writers seeming to take ideas or inspiration from your stories?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 11, 2021, 09:22:32 PM
Yeah I don't know if I could do a full blown novel that way. HWS was 10 chapters and that was enough. I'm more comfortable with two when it's alternating. I love first person more than 3rd but that's because I just love, love LOVE to get into a character's head and show their thoughts and feelings on things. You can do that in third but there's more of an in depth thing for first.

Yeah, first person definitely feels more intimate and personal.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:23:51 PM
Hyphenates are hard too!  If in doubt, I just Google, but sometimes I don't doubt myself when I should LOL.  I hear you with the conscious/conscience thing too.

Do you have an actual typed up list of those words or just a mental one?  I don't keep actual lists of stuff like that, but I do tend to use similar descriptions and have to watch to make sure I don't repeat myself too often within the same story.  I think it's fine if it's in different stories or even different chapters/scenes.  But yeah, sometimes certain words just work best.

I also don't doubt myself when I should. Keep on keepin' on!

As a lover of lists... I actually don't have it written down. I do tic them off as I find them though and do my best to not be too repetitive, but I have my pitfalls. Just like fist clenching, Nick smiling is something I've given up on, but that's not necessarily a word choice thing.

That's what I thought!  Yes, it's sad to see the broship end, but I'm sure it's only temporary.  Remember when they killed Kenny off "permanently" for a couple of seasons?  They eventually brought him back.  It was nice to see Mr. Garrison (and Mr. Hat!) back at South Park Elementary.  He's not one of my favorite characters, but I liked the nostalgia of it.  I especially liked that the episode wasn't about Randy and Tegridy Farms.  I'm sick of Randy.

LOL!  You should have your husband teach you how to ride a bike.

Yes! Mr. Hat was the best part of that! I am very sick of Randy and Tegridy Farms. I stopped caring about it the first episode it appeared in.

You know, he's offered, but he doesn't have a bike right now either, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:25:55 PM
You know, when I think about fanfic tropes I don't think I did many in terms of actual plotlines. I'm not counting the romance ones cause the one and only fic I have in that genre was to take the most obvious ones on purpose and sort of put my own spin on it. I do have the Bus Crash one in Miles To Go, though that's because that fic is definitely my homage to Misery. Just like how in many ways Song For The Undead did it's thing for The Stand.

It's more fun to subvert them. I don't think I've actually ever written a kidnapping story or a cancer story? I'll leave those to y'all.

More bus crashes!

What's your next homage, Rose?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:27:20 PM
The five-voice first person POV would be a good thing to try first with a short story, like one chapter from each perspective.

I was just thinking the same thing, it could be a fun challenge for everyone with a five or ten chapter story. One or two chapters per person seems doable with the right idea.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:37:46 PM
1. Without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic? Why do you think that is and is it the same one you would say is your best one?

I mean... Probably PBox? It was the one I got the most feedback on while I was writing it, but it was also the only thing I worked on for a very long time. I don't really know. I've been gone a long time, but people (or several spam bots) have been reading it while I've been gone (I’ve cheated and do vaguely know it’s numbers off hand), but who knows if anyone who really read it way back when even remembers it much now, haha. It's probably the most popular simply because it's complete more than anything else, but I would say it's my best work, especially if you read it now.


2. Have you ever written a fanfic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

Uhhh... No? I don’t think so? It’s harder to tell with fantasy, I feel like, but I’m sure there’s stories out there that are similar, I just haven’t come across them myself. I mean Gobosei is the Backstreet Project with a fantasy flip instead of sci-fi. I'm sure plenty of people have done BSB in college stories at one point too. I guess the important thing is to make sure that you're putting your own spins and self into it. I’ll be honest, I came across so few BSB fantasies, that at one point, I just kind of stopped trying to look for them and decided to focus on writing them instead to keep our genres diverse. If there’s been a great one I missed, someone should probably tell me.


3. Have you ever written a fanfic and decided never to publish it? Why?

You know, I almost didn't come back and post PNecklace just because it had been so long and I figured it wouldn’t be even remotely the same. That and I really did just starting writing it for me and PBox Nick. I'm glad I ultimately decided to come back though and then decided to post it on top of that. It's been fun sharing it again, even if it's quiet on the main site. At least it's chatty here! :)


4. What’s the biggest change between your style when you started in fandom and today? Could you stand to reread your first fanfic?

I had the great gift of brevity when I started out in middle school, but that was only because the plots were so minimal and the characters were really underdeveloped . Once I got more practice with developing a narrative, I lost the gift of brevity. However, now my writing is more interesting and nuanced. I cannot read my early work; it is very cringey.


5. What’s the biggest change in your taste between when you started in fandom and today?

Writing-wise, I guess I've committed to my little fantastical corner of the BSB fanfic-verse; gotta keep it alive! Reading-wise, I've mostly sought out recommendation s. Going well so far!


6. Have you ever purposefully written one fandom/fic idea over another because you knew it’d be more popular?

Nope! I write what's interesting to me, which is definitely not what's popular here. It’s also been a long time since I’ve had more than one idea, so I guess when the time comes, it will probably be based on whatever goes better.

8. Have/would you ever rewrite a fanfic? If yes, would you take the original down?

Yes, and did. I guess I rewrote the edit over the original PBox, so technically I took it down? But as I mentioned, the plot of the whole story and each chapter is the same, so I don’t necessarily consider it a rewrite myself, even though, yes, some of the words are different. I think if I continued anything uncompleted, I would likely give it an edit before continuing it just so it aligned with whatever I was writing now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:38:16 PM
9. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?

The characters! They're what drive all my works, so I love when they're praised. But in the past, I also enjoyed when people said they were “sucked back into the story and world” of PBox after being away from it. It made me feel like all of my hard world world building was worthwhile for the readers. :)


10. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

I think they’ve all given me trouble at one point or another, but I generally find myself struggling with Kevin overall, because so much of how I see Kevin is in how he relates to the others and not just his Kevin-ness. I think I should maybe join this Kevin trend to challenge myself to focus on Kevin. I used to have more trouble with AJ (it’s part of why he ended up in PBox so late) and Howie (which I challenged myself to overcome in PBox and did mostly). Nick and Brian have always been easier for me.


11. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?

I guess Nick? He always ends up the strongest character in any of my works, but I don’t know that I would call him “perfectly right” either. Maybe someday, Nick can read PBox and let me know, lol.


12. Is there any particular character whose scenes always wind up being longer/more frequent than you expected? Does the quality hold up?

I mean, again Nick, but I wouldn’t say that I don’t expect it. I’ve fully given in to him doing what he wants when he wants for however long it takes. The chattyness of Brian when he’s given the proper lead did surprise me. So, basically I am warning all of you that the “Nick is Brian’s guardian angel” story might be the most verbose thing you’ve ever read.


13. Was there any fanfic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?

No? Thanks everyone who took the time to read anything I wrote. :)


14. If you cross-post your fanfics on multiple sites, do you have a favorite? Are there certain fics you would only post on certain site?

AC is my one true love for the community. I wish it were still popping, but these things happen.


15. If someone you know who isn’t involved in BSB fanfic fandom asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

Does recruiting them to read it count? Haha I guess PBox? Not sure that letting people read my BSB fanfics as is on purpose if they’re not also BSB fans who read fanfic is a Pandora’s Box I’m ready to open (pun intended!).


16. Does anyone you know from outside of BSB fanfic know you write fanfic? Are they involved in the same BSB fandom too?

My mom did, though I assume she doesn’t think I picked it back up again here recently. Oh, I guess my best friend did and I did talk to her about this adventure as is and she basically said, “Inspiration is inspiration.” They’re not BSB fans.


17. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?

Uhhh… No idea.


18. What kind of impact has writing fanfic had on your life?

You know, it was a great place to practice and hone my writing skills. I loved being part of this community back in the day and leaving it may have been part of my journey as a lost twenty-something, so I’m happy I’m back (as I’ve mentioned many times).
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:45:45 PM
7. If you had to pick one scene to describe your entire portfolio to a stranger, which would you pick? Would you be willing to share it with us?

I initially started answering these yesterday and decided not to because I did not have an answer to this question! There’s a couple in PNecklace that I would feel comfortable representing my portfolio, but do not want to post yet (mainly because… they’re not posted yet at all). So, if we could go for a whole chapter, I feel inclined to recommend PBox’s “Chapter Forty-Four: Disciple (https://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=44)” or possibly “Chapter Thirty-Two: Abyss (https://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=33).” If I had to limit it to a scene, I would probably toss out the last scene from “Chapter Thirty: To The Castle (https://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=31)” that begins with the line "The storm was blinding, a furious blizzard of ice and snow." It was too long to post here in its entirety, but here's some descriptions of the titular castle from that scene for your enjoyment:

Quote
It finally stood before them, the castle. It seemed old in appearance, desecrated, rotted, and decayed next to the palaces in the other countries, a beautiful and haunting ghost of bygone times. The moat surrounding it had frozen over and fused to the tall wall surrounding the compound. The keep and several towers could be seen looming over the outer wall. Despite the decay of time, the castle remained untouched by the blizzard that surrounded them.

The grounds of the castle compound were littered with the decayed and rotting remains of patches of pine trees and likely once lush gardens overgrown with weeds. These surrounded the scattered stone remains of the foundations of building compounds and gates. Several holes were nestled in the ground of the barren garden that once held tranquil ponds. Beyond the desolate gardens, a large, sloped stone foundation loomed above them, the only structure fully intact, though the stone was draped in ivy and moss. Towering above that, sat the five story castle’s keep -- the last sanctuary from impending infiltration. Nestled within the stone foundation was a final gate featuring a sloped stone roof and surrounded by four stone columns. Between the columns, listless half-open chipped and rotting wood doors barred the gate and weakly protected this bastion of refuge. Everywhere, the castle smelled of death and decay.

Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 11, 2021, 09:47:27 PM
It looked like it was going to stay busy and chatty there for a minute, so I was waiting to post my answers, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 12, 2021, 10:04:19 PM
It’s harder to tell with fantasy, I feel like, but I’m sure there’s stories out there that are similar, I just haven’t come across them myself. I mean Gobosei is the Backstreet Project with a fantasy flip instead of sci-fi. I'm sure plenty of people have done BSB in college stories at one point too. I guess the important thing is to make sure that you're putting your own spins and self into it. I’ll be honest, I came across so few BSB fantasies, that at one point, I just kind of stopped trying to look for them and decided to focus on writing them instead to keep our genres diverse.

I do think fantasy lends itself to originality just by the nature of the genre, especially within a real person fandom.  Not that people don't borrow ideas from each other in fantasy because of course they can and do.  But I bet there's also a lot of ideas that haven't been done, at least not in BSB fanfic.


I had the great gift of brevity when I started out in middle school, but that was only because the plots were so minimal and the characters were really underdeveloped . Once I got more practice with developing a narrative, I lost the gift of brevity. However, now my writing is more interesting and nuanced. I cannot read my early work; it is very cringey.

Same.  But I think it's definitely better to have a fully developed plot and characters and descriptive prose in an epic novel than a bare bones novella with no depth.  Was PBox your breakout story in terms of learning to fully develop a narrative?  If not, what's the first story you don't consider cringey?


Writing-wise, I guess I've committed to my little fantastical corner of the BSB fanfic-verse; gotta keep it alive!

I write what's interesting to me, which is definitely not what's popular here.

Absolutely!  I love the diversity in our fandom.  Although certain genres seem to be more popular than others, there are BSB fics of every genre out there - something for everyone!  AO3 could use some more of that diversity, so you do you!  Also, it's much less fun to write something that's not interesting to you.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 12, 2021, 10:11:06 PM
But in the past, I also enjoyed when people said they were “sucked back into the story and world” of PBox after being away from it. It made me feel like all of my hard world world building was worthwhile for the readers. :)

It does sound like you've put a lot of time into world-building, so I'm sure that praise was well-deserved!


I think they’ve all given me trouble at one point or another, but I generally find myself struggling with Kevin overall, because so much of how I see Kevin is in how he relates to the others and not just his Kevin-ness. I think I should maybe join this Kevin trend to challenge myself to focus on Kevin.

Yes, come on board the Kevin train!


The chattyness of Brian when he’s given the proper lead did surprise me. So, basically I am warning all of you that the “Nick is Brian’s guardian angel” story might be the most verbose thing you’ve ever read.

Yay chatty Brian!  Bring it!


AC is my one true love for the community. I wish it were still popping, but these things happen.

Me too, but at least there are still a few of us keeping it alive.


I loved being part of this community back in the day and leaving it may have been part of my journey as a lost twenty-something, so I’m happy I’m back (as I’ve mentioned many times).

I'm glad you're back, too!  Did you ever consider writing any other fiction while you were away from this fandom?  Like original fic or fanfic for other fandoms?


7. If you had to pick one scene to describe your entire portfolio to a stranger, which would you pick? Would you be willing to share it with us?

I initially started answering these yesterday and decided not to because I did not have an answer to this question! There’s a couple in PNecklace that I would feel comfortable representing my portfolio, but do not want to post yet (mainly because… they’re not posted yet at all). So, if we could go for a whole chapter, I feel inclined to recommend PBox’s “Chapter Forty-Four: Disciple (https://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=44)” or possibly “Chapter Thirty-Two: Abyss (https://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=33).” If I had to limit it to a scene, I would probably toss out the last scene from “Chapter Thirty: To The Castle (https://www.absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=31)” that begins with the line "The storm was blinding, a furious blizzard of ice and snow." It was too long to post here in its entirety, but here's some descriptions of the titular castle from that scene for your enjoyment:

Great description!  This definitely captures your world-building prowess.  And I agree, that was the question that hardest to answer for me, too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 02:22:42 PM
I do think fantasy lends itself to originality just by the nature of the genre, especially within a real person fandom.  Not that people don't borrow ideas from each other in fantasy because of course they can and do.  But I bet there's also a lot of ideas that haven't been done, at least not in BSB fanfic.

A lot of the originality in BSB fanfic fantasy probably stems from there being less of it. Sci fi is likely similar in our fandom. It's probably harder to be original with fantasy elements in fanfic fandoms that lend themselves to fantasy elements based on the source material.

Borrowing elements from other people is part of why Elves are a standard fantasy race these days (and why a lot of them are LOTR style elves) or why vaguely European Medieval stasis is a common setting for High Fantasy type stories, but also why tropes like "Our Demons are Different (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurDemonsAreDifferent)" exist. Obviously I picked that one on purpose, lol.


Same.  But I think it's definitely better to have a fully developed plot and characters and descriptive prose in an epic novel than a bare bones novella with no depth.  Was PBox your breakout story in terms of learning to fully develop a narrative?  If not, what's the first story you don't consider cringey?

Oh, of course it's better to have fully developed plot and characters with descriptive prose! I will never argue that with you, haha.

This timeline is complicated because I would say Gobosei or an OF I've had popping in my head since 2003ish because they both technically started prior to PBox, but were not originally conceived to be novels. They later became novels, but it was after I started writing PBox. I guess despite not being novels, they did give me practice conceiving and developing character and plot arcs, researching, world building, etcetera. And those would be the two where I really focused on characters as the drivers of plot, which is at the heart of PBox as well. Realistically, it was probably easy enough after those long exercises to come back and say, "Let me work on telling you about this castle in written prose rather than visually drawing it." So I'm going to count it.

I do cringe at other things I published around PBox for different reasons. Like that "Absinthe" story I started, but never finished... The amount of times Nick said "shorty" makes me cringe every time, but that's also why I cringe at She's A Dream sometimes (that and using pesos specifically for a rhyme when it didn't really need to be the currency mentioned?). The late 00's were such a weird time, lmao.

And this isn't to say that PBox didn't have its cringey pieces. The beginning was definitely cringey by the time I got to the end (that's why it deserved a nice revision and why Gobosei should get one too), but the overall narrative wasn't the reason for the cringe so much as "I can tell this even better than when I started and it deserves that care and attention." I think I'm an outlier for doing it, but it probably has more to do with me "technically still writing it" than wanting to edit old things. I have zero desire to go back and edit most of my unfinished works.


Absolutely!  I love the diversity in our fandom.  Although certain genres seem to be more popular than others, there are BSB fics of every genre out there - something for everyone!  AO3 could use some more of that diversity, so you do you!  Also, it's much less fun to write something that's not interesting to you.

I think more than other fandoms I've seen, BSB fanfic tends to be very diverse in its stories. And I don't know if that's a symptom of it being RPF where you get characters, but not plot (so much, obviously they have their lives and history). Or if it's based on how we all see the Boys within their unit and their adaptability as that unit. Are other RPF fandoms as diverse? I've never participated in any of them, so I'm genuinely curious.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 03:38:46 PM
I do cringe at other things I published around PBox for different reasons. Like that "Absinthe" story I started, but never finished... The amount of times Nick said "shorty" makes me cringe every time, but that's also why I cringe at She's A Dream sometimes (that and using pesos specifically for a rhyme when it didn't really need to be the currency mentioned?). The late 00's were such a weird time, lmao.

LOL I think we all (except Rose) cringe at She's a Dream.  Oh Shorty...


And this isn't to say that PBox didn't have its cringey pieces. The beginning was definitely cringey by the time I got to the end (that's why it deserved a nice revision and why Gobosei should get one too), but the overall narrative wasn't the reason for the cringe so much as "I can tell this even better than when I started and it deserves that care and attention." I think I'm an outlier for doing it, but it probably has more to do with me "technically still writing it" than wanting to edit old things. I have zero desire to go back and edit most of my unfinished works.

I wondered if the fact that you're still working on the PBox series is what gave you the motivation to go back and do all that rewriting.  It makes sense to want the beginning of the series to be of the same quality as the later stories you're writing many years after you started.  If I was still working on BMS, maybe I would be more interested in going back and revising Broken.


I think more than other fandoms I've seen, BSB fanfic tends to be very diverse in its stories. And I don't know if that's a symptom of it being RPF where you get characters, but not plot (so much, obviously they have their lives and history). Or if it's based on how we all see the Boys within their unit and their adaptability as that unit. Are other RPF fandoms as diverse? I've never participated in any of them, so I'm genuinely curious.

I also have not participated in any other fandoms, real person or otherwise, so I'm not sure.  But I think you have a great point.  There's so much you can do with the Boys as themselves without making it AU, and AU offers even more possibilities.  The "canon" is constantly changing as time goes by and new events happen in their careers and personal lives, which opens up even more possibilities, whereas the canon is much more limited when you're writing about fictional characters.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 03:39:07 PM
It does sound like you've put a lot of time into world-building, so I'm sure that praise was well-deserved!

Aw, thanks!


Yes, come on board the Kevin train!

Yay chatty Brian!  Bring it!

I mean, I would, except I have zero Kevin-focused ideas. And in an effort to challenge myself to focus on Kevin's Kevin-ness as an individual, starting from "I should write a Kevin story" seems like a terrible idea. It's why "I should give Howie something important to do" would have been terribly executed outside of having a role that would be a good fit for him in a larger narrative (and getting to introduce Brian still sidelined him despite that).

You say "yay" now, but chatty Brian and chatty Nick seems like a wordy undertaking.


Me too, but at least there are still a few of us keeping it alive.

I'm glad you're back, too!  Did you ever consider writing any other fiction while you were away from this fandom?  Like original fic or fanfic for other fandoms?

I'm doing my best to be a supreme time waster. I've posted at least 2,000 times since coming back, lmao.

I pretty much did zero fiction writing until 2012 and I only know that I wrote something in 2012 because my NaNoWriMo profile says I started some sort of novel in November 2012 and wrote 2,065 words of it. What that novel was or what those words are, I can't remember at all. But clearly it felt like enough of something that I wanted to commit to NaNo again... Maybe one of my goals in 2012 was to try writing fiction again? I did blog under a pen name from fall 2010 to... some time in 2012 probably? But it was all fairly short except for some epic memoir type posts and my "X Things before X age" yearly goals.

In 2013, In A World Like This inspired some Gobosei writing, but it was fairly minimal. Maybe a chapter at most.

Because Nick was on DWTS, I attempted NaNo again in 2015 with Gobosei and actually wrote 15,832 words for that (so my NaNo profile says), but clearly not enough to get inspiration to stick. Probably because I was also meandering back in PBox at the time. It says that I tried Camp NaNo in April 2016 and wrote 753 words for some untitled fantasy novel that I'm willing to bet was PNecklace. I'm not sure why I labeled it "untitled" since it was always called PNecklace even back when PBox was ending, but maybe it wasn't PNecklace. That venture with Gobosei was also my first foray into "write what's interesting" because of NaNo and because whatever chapter I ended on didn't seem interesting enough to keep plowing through. Something to explore when I revisit it, but it feels likely that it was either a lack of connection with the other Boys or maybe a sign that the direction of the plot needed to change.

In 2018, I started turning that 2003 OF into a novel instead of a comic, but didn't focus on it too much. I made that my 2019 NaNo project and wrote 2,684 words that month. Overall, as you can see, I am quite unsuccessful with NanNo. I'm not sure why I kept trying, but I'm happy that I finally completed it once.

My stint writing fanfic for other fandoms was in 2004ish-2007ish and none of them stuck the same way the Boys did, maybe because I enjoyed their cannon stories as is and felt like I didn't have any new stories to tell about them to completion.

I guess the point of this long list was that when the mood to write struck, I was still mostly writing BSB fanfic, it just didn't stick for very long. Who knows if it would have if I'd thought "Inspiration? Be around BSB fans again?" or not. Thanks AJ and Nick for being on reality tv at the same time. I guess I was right when I said AJ spurs inspirational moments, then Nick latches on to them and steers. It did feel a little lonely committing to a fanfic without everyone around, but I think that had more to do with all this than with not having anyone to read it.


Great description!  This definitely captures your world-building prowess.  And I agree, that was the question that hardest to answer for me, too.

Thanks! :-* I'm sure it was even more difficult for you to pick with your extensive body of work! I could at least say, "definitely something from PBox." I think it's the length of a scene that made it tricky. If it said "which novel would you pick to showcase your entire portfolio," that seems like an easy enough answer. Narrowing down the novel to chapter was harder, but I figured if I could narrow it down to a chapter, I could find the perfect scene.

So I started thinking about what would need to be in a chapter or scene to showcase what's typical for my work and made a mental list. It had to be character-focused, it had to feature world building of some sort, there had to specifically be some of the mythos of the world building featured, fantastical elements, a fight scene would be a good addition since I write a lot of them, some good descriptive chunks, great dialogue, character interactions were a must. Plus it had to be short enough to share and not give away major spoilers, lol.

And I thought, uh... How am I going to find all of that and fit the short/no spoilers requirement? I was able to narrow it down to two chapters, but couldn't decide on a specific chunk to pull out of them, especially because as PBox neared its end, "scene" and "chapter" basically became synonymous. I decided there wasn't a fight scene I could pull that had enough of the other typical elements without having major spoilers, so I started thinking of character focused ones that included mythos type things and settled on either the first or last scene of "To The Castle" and figured you all would enjoy the last scene more since it featured all five of the Boys fairly equally rather than the Nick lean of the first scene, plus more mythos-based fantastical elements. But then realized it was too long to post here in its entirety when I previewed and just gave you all the castle, haha. ~1,200 words is still a lot!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 03:44:42 PM
I was going to ask Dee this, but thought it would be a fun topic for everyone to discuss.  We were talking about breakout stories, the first story you wrote that was actually decent and wouldn't make you cringe to go back and read it now.

What was your breakout story?

When did you write it, and/or how old were you when you wrote it?

How did that story change you as a writer?

Why do you think the quality of your writing improved with that story?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 04:04:44 PM
I mean, I would, except I have zero Kevin-focused ideas. And in an effort to challenge myself to focus on Kevin's Kevin-ness as an individual, starting from "I should write a Kevin story" seems like a terrible idea. It's why "I should give Howie something important to do" would have been terribly executed outside of having a role that would be a good fit for him in a larger narrative (and getting to introduce Brian still sidelined him despite that).

I agree, it's better to have an actual idea than start with "I should write a Kevin story" and try to force one.  This is why it has taken me so long to write a Kevin novel, too, and why I only have one Howie novel.  I love them both, but let's be honest - neither are my favorites, so why would I force an idea about them when I could just keep writing about Brian or Nick? LOL  It needs to come naturally and be something you're actually interested in writing.  But maybe that idea will come someday.


I guess the point of this long list was that when the mood to write struck, I was still mostly writing BSB fanfic, it just didn't stick for very long. Who knows if it would have if I'd thought "Inspiration? Be around BSB fans again?" or not. Thanks AJ and Nick for being on reality tv at the same time. I guess I was right when I said AJ spurs inspirational moments, then Nick latches on to them and steers. It did feel a little lonely committing to a fanfic without everyone around, but I think that had more to do with all this than with not having anyone to read it.

I'm impressed with how productive and consistent you've been since officially coming back, especially after dabbling with writing fanfic here and there over the years without sticking with it.  I definitely think having a writing community to talk shop with helps.  I have never been comfortable  talking about my writing or sharing it with other people in person, but I love doing it here.  It helps to keep me motivated more than the boys themselves do.

Thanks! :-* I'm sure it was even more difficult for you to pick with your extensive body of work! I could at least say, "definitely something from PBox." I think it's the length of a scene that made it tricky. If it said "which novel would you pick to showcase your entire portfolio," that seems like an easy enough answer. Narrowing down the novel to chapter was harder, but I figured if I could narrow it down to a chapter, I could find the perfect scene.

So I started thinking about what would need to be in a chapter or scene to showcase what's typical for my work and made a mental list. It had to be character-focused, it had to feature world building of some sort, there had to specifically be some of the mythos of the world building featured, fantastical elements, a fight scene would be a good addition since I write a lot of them, some good descriptive chunks, great dialogue, character interactions were a must. Plus it had to be short enough to share and not give away major spoilers, lol.

And I thought, uh... How am I going to find all of that and fit the short/no spoilers requirement? I was able to narrow it down to two chapters, but couldn't decide on a specific chunk to pull out of them, especially because as PBox neared its end, "scene" and "chapter" basically became synonymous. I decided there wasn't a fight scene I could pull that had enough of the other typical elements without having major spoilers, so I started thinking of character focused ones that included mythos type things and settled on either the first or last scene of "To The Castle" and figured you all would enjoy the last scene more since it featured all five of the Boys fairly equally rather than the Nick lean of the first scene, plus more mythos-based fantastical elements. But then realized it was too long to post here in its entirety when I previewed and just gave you all the castle, haha. ~1,200 words is still a lot!

Yes, picking an entire story would have been easier than just one scene.  My process was similar to yours; I made a mental list of the most important or prevalent elements of my writing and then started thinking about stories and specific scenes that had those elements, read a few of them, and narrowed it down to one that wouldn't spoil anything for the people who would read my answer on this forum.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 04:07:03 PM
LOL I think we all (except Rose) cringe at She's a Dream.  Oh Shorty...

Sorry, Rose! I forgot the other reason it makes me shake my head sometimes. Is that girl living under a rock? I get that it was 2009 and not 1999, but even in 2009 she still doesn't know what a Backstreet Boy is and she's old enough to date one? And her guy is gone all the time, what does he tell her he's doing for a job where he's not around for a good chunk of time? And other people have to recognize him when they go out! I get telling your family that you don't want to talk about your job, but still... How does that girl not know?! In hindsight, maybe this is my least favorite song on that album, lol!


I wondered if the fact that you're still working on the PBox series is what gave you the motivation to go back and do all that rewriting.  It makes sense to want the beginning of the series to be of the same quality as the later stories you're writing many years after you started.  If I was still working on BMS, maybe I would be more interested in going back and revising Broken.

Still writing compounded by "after so many years" is probably a lot of it. Since it's finished, but the whole story isn't finished, I do want them all to feel similar and not have one stand out as "a new young adult wrote this" and the rest be "a thirty-year old wrote this." Although, since I did start editing the first nine chapters back in 2008, I probably would have still edited a little bit if the two novels were closer together, but likely just that 10/11/12 chunk and called it good.

I'm glad you have had the chance to work on other things besides BMS. I feel like 2007 you would have been very sad to have to put it on hold during your Masters program.


I also have not participated in any other fandoms, real person or otherwise, so I'm not sure.  But I think you have a great point.  There's so much you can do with the Boys as themselves without making it AU, and AU offers even more possibilities.  The "canon" is constantly changing as time goes by and new events happen in their careers and personal lives, which opens up even more possibilities, whereas the canon is much more limited when you're writing about fictional characters.

I think the more wide-open canon helps. Now I kind of want to poke around on a more recent boy band and see what their fanfic is like. Not in-depth or anything, just to see what kind of genres are represented.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 04:48:59 PM
I agree, it's better to have an actual idea than start with "I should write a Kevin story" and try to force one.  This is why it has taken me so long to write a Kevin novel, too, and why I only have one Howie novel.  I love them both, but let's be honest - neither are my favorites, so why would I force an idea about them when I could just keep writing about Brian or Nick? LOL  It needs to come naturally and be something you're actually interested in writing.  But maybe that idea will come someday.

Maybe it will! I'm not sure what idea will scream "Kevin" to me, but there's gotta be one out there. I agree, why force a Kevin story when I can dedicate more thousands of words to Nick! He just begs to be written about, haha.


I'm impressed with how productive and consistent you've been since officially coming back, especially after dabbling with writing fanfic here and there over the years without sticking with it.  I definitely think having a writing community to talk shop with helps.  I have never been comfortable  talking about my writing or sharing it with other people in person, but I love doing it here.  It helps to keep me motivated more than the boys themselves do.

Thanks! I'm happy it finally stuck again, even knowing the catalyst, I'm still not sure what the differentiatin g factor was, but I'll take it.

I do think keeping track of my word count has helped me stay productive since starting, even if I don't have a specific goal (though I definitely got the most done in November). It reminds me that if I don't actually open the page and commit to writing something, nothing will get written. Nick poking helps. I just also make sure to remember that berating myself for not writing anything never actually helped, so I give myself more grace. I've lacked some motivation to write since getting my second dose, but I've focused on jotting down ideas and notes that come to me and include gems like "I probably should have figured this out before sending those chapters over," "Nick obviously has no idea what he's doing (does he ever?)," "Did he know this all along? What an ahole," and "This article says that (spoiler) probably smells like jungle juice, lmao."

Having a writing community is the best! It's nice to be able to talk writing and get lots of different perspectives on it and have people to bounce things off of, even if those things are just writing craft related things. I think it's been motivating for me too because it keeps my mind on writing even if I'm not physically writing anything.


Yes, picking an entire story would have been easier than just one scene.  My process was similar to yours; I made a mental list of the most important or prevalent elements of my writing and then started thinking about stories and specific scenes that had those elements, read a few of them, and narrowed it down to one that wouldn't spoil anything for the people who would read my answer on this forum.

"Nick has cancer and has to get his leg chopped off" is pretty common knowledge here even if anyone hasn't read Broken, lol. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 05:42:29 PM
Sorry, Rose! I forgot the other reason it makes me shake my head sometimes. Is that girl living under a rock? I get that it was 2009 and not 1999, but even in 2009 she still doesn't know what a Backstreet Boy is and she's old enough to date one? And her guy is gone all the time, what does he tell her he's doing for a job where he's not around for a good chunk of time? And other people have to recognize him when they go out! I get telling your family that you don't want to talk about your job, but still... How does that girl not know?! In hindsight, maybe this is my least favorite song on that album, lol!

Right?!?  I wrote a story making fun of dumbass Shorty for the fairy tale challenge we did here in 2013, and it was so much fun roasting her in a fanfic.  I hate that song so much.  It's my least favorite BSB song of all time.


I'm glad you have had the chance to work on other things besides BMS. I feel like 2007 you would have been very sad to have to put it on hold during your Masters program.

Me too!  I can't imagine how long BMS would be if I had still been working on it in 2013 LOL, but I'm glad I wasn't.  Though I may have found the time and energy to keep writing BMS during my master's program because I somehow did during student teaching and my first year of teaching, which had to have been the busiest, most stressful years of my life.  I still don't know how I did that.  Oh, to be young again LOL.


I think the more wide-open canon helps. Now I kind of want to poke around on a more recent boy band and see what their fanfic is like. Not in-depth or anything, just to see what kind of genres are represented.

I know One Direction fanfic was big a few years ago, and BTS fanfic seems to be popular on AO3.  If you do any poking around, let us know your findings.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 05:51:43 PM
It reminds me that if I don't actually open the page and commit to writing something, nothing will get written. Nick poking helps. I just also make sure to remember that berating myself for not writing anything never actually helped, so I give myself more grace. I've lacked some motivation to write since getting my second dose, but I've focused on jotting down ideas and notes that come to me and include gems like "I probably should have figured this out before sending those chapters over," "Nick obviously has no idea what he's doing (does he ever?)," "Did he know this all along? What an ahole," and "This article says that (spoiler) probably smells like jungle juice, lmao."

This is all good advice.  You never know what you'll accomplish if you don't at least open the story and try.  But it's good to give yourself grace, especially when you have a good reason not to write.  Like, "I just got vaccinated, and my arm hurts, and I don't feel good."  Totally valid excuse to skip a day (or several days) and do nothing!  At the end of the day, this is a hobby, not a job - it should be fun, not feel like work.  If it gets to the point when it feels like a chore, stop forcing it and do something different.


I think it's been motivating for me too because it keeps my mind on writing even if I'm not physically writing anything.

This!  It has definitely helped keep me motivated during the work week so I can be productive on the weekends.  I even wrote on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week.


"Nick has cancer and has to get his leg chopped off" is pretty common knowledge here even if anyone hasn't read Broken, lol. :)

LOL That's what I figured and why I was fine with the scene I picked.  That plot point has been talked about so much on this forum, it's no longer a spoiler.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 13, 2021, 05:56:56 PM
Most of my stories are written in first person with five points of view. I find that the easiest way to write for some reason.

That probably seemed very random, but I saw it in conversation and sometimes these threads move so fast I can’t remember where so... lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 06:00:37 PM
Most of my stories are written in first person with five points of view. I find that the easiest way to write for some reason.

That probably seemed very random, but I saw it in conversation and sometimes these threads move so fast I can’t remember where so... lol

LOL No worries, we did talk about that the other day.  You were good at writing the five different POVs, and I don't remember it getting confusing in your stories.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 07:07:17 PM
I was going to ask Dee this, but thought it would be a fun topic for everyone to discuss.  We were talking about breakout stories, the first story you wrote that was actually decent and wouldn't make you cringe to go back and read it now.

I sort of answered the first two, but not the second two! Although, I do think there's some level of cringe with any old work, especially if there's growth in craft (or life experience for certain elements) between the beginning and the end or then and now.

What was your breakout story?

Probably Gobosei or PBox, but we can all call it PBox since it was complete for several years with minimal cringe and Gobosei is not complete while still possessing some minimal cringe. None of this cringe stops the readability for me though.

When did you write it, and/or how old were you when you wrote it?

Gobosei: 2005-2006, 2013, 2015 (17/18, 25, 27)

PBox: 2005-2008 with an update from September 2020-January 2021 (17-20, 32-barely 33)

How did that story change you as a writer?/Why do you think the quality of your writing improved with that story?

I realized that I was answering both of these questions as the same time, so I'm just going to put them together.

Gobosei was my second foray in characters driving the plot, so I worked very hard developing character arcs and focusing on how the characters would react to the plot and drive it forward. The strength of character and character planning in addition to general enjoyment of the plot is probably why I feel like the pull to go back and finish it at some point has merit. Prior to this, I tended to focus on plot ideas and only vaguely on character development, even though in my own reading I chose books for character development. As I learned about character development (and I read many books about it since coming up with that 2003 OF), I started basing characters on people I knew, pretty much to a T, but they weren't doing anything good for the plot or being shaped by the plot, they just kind of... were? Which is why there's other stories I wrote as a high schooler that make me cringe, even ones I would have started around the same time. It got fixed earlier in that 2003 OF because I had a friend reading along that knew I based a character off of them, wholly supported it, and had zero qualms telling me "this sucks" when it did suck. I took this perspective to heart and started looking at my fanfics with the same lens. (The delay in finishing that one was my art ability being worse than my writing ability. That and episodic writing is hard. It also got pushed to the side for our favorite pushy novel.)

All of that makes me see why self-insert stories would have been popular outside of "My life would be awesome if I dated a Backstreet Boy." It's easier to write a character when you know how they would react to things! But this has the same problem as "my friends are characters" if there's no character development over the course of the story. This is all very vague for Gobosei since there's not much there for anyone else to say "oh yes, all these things are there in it," but they're there in it with the whole picture in my head.

But along came pushy PBox that leapt to life, especially after I realized that Nick wasn't a character who was going to go along with the plot, even when the plot happened. More than just being a character, he was protagonist who was going to make the plot happen, grow, and change as he continued on his journey, grew, and changed. And more than being just a reactor (which he's great at), he's a real doer. He's probably the reason it leapt to life more than anything else, so all that hard work on character development really paid off. And over the years, he's ultimately continued to breathe life into it as an entity, something akin to "You're writing it, but this is my story. I drive this bus." (It's cool, Nick, keep driving the bus. I trust you.)

Even with strong characters, I came to the realization that PBox was dark. Even with "our demons are different" at play (which is a type of dark in and of itself if your main characters are this "typically always malevolently chaotic evil" type thing; not that PBox demons are that, or at least not our Boys, they're downright heroic saving innocent bystanders and taking cats out of trees in their free time), it was incredibly dark in a way that Gobosei was not and that I had shied away from in the past. But I wanted to write it and Nick wanted control of that bus... immensely. But how to write a very dark thing? Well? The writing to needed to mature; the fun-fest jokey and at times ridiculous way of writing a Gobosei wouldn't fly for a PBox, not with its inherent setting of "the world is crummy." I learned to embrace the dark (Team Dark!) and how to draw lines for too dark, which I kept crossing as time went on. I guess I learned that you have to write dark things a certain way and saved my fun-fest jokey writing for stories that would support it.

Gobosei is also largely based in our world as is, so it wasn't a whole new adventure world building. At minimum, Gobosei required a "how does this magic system work?" PBox required that and a whole slew of things from geography to climate to political systems to cultural norms and so on. Creating these things meant I had to learn how to research (in a different way than for writing a paper or doing a project in school) and research hard! Even things that wouldn't seem like they needed research, like "how does this magic system work," but that has been a constant fun romp in researching and has gotten me down so many rabbit holes I never knew I would end up in just based on the nature of the answer. I wish I'd kept track of my hours of research because it would be something else, as I'm sure you all know in your own adventures in researching.

And it wasn't only world building or plot elements. I wanted to have fight scenes which I'd never written before, so I watched hours of kung fu movies and sword fighting movies. I've watched fencing competitions. I know a ridiculous amount of vocabulary for parts of weapons that is not useful in any other aspect of my life; at least kung fu movies are just fun. When that Bruce Lee 30 for 30 aired last year, I actually jotted down some notes (though that isn't directly applicable to PBox, it fits this overall point). If an exhibit came to one of our museums that felt relevant, I went (outside of my love for museums). I'd include my mythology related research in this too, but that's just fun and a regular hobby that happens to tie into my love of writing. I have run the gambit of things I've researched for PBox from "plants that typically grow in x climate" to "how the body reacts to toxins and poisons" to "furniture of the Muromachi era" to "how do big things fly." And those are just four examples, in addition to specific ones I listed.

In the name of character development, I also had to learn how to portray real things in believable, nuanced, and non-hand waving ways. Nick is, essentially, an amnesiac with PTSD, so what does that actually look like in real life and not in fiction land? This includes research, but then how to turn research into believable narrative? It's all super subtle and it's only improved with time, since writing is an ongoing process. I don't know if anyone noticed this, for instance, but Nick (especially in the beginning of PBox) usually stands with his back to walls so he can see everything happening in the room and react as needed; he does it less as time goes on because he has other people to "watch his back."

While Gobosei helped me start improving on my meaningful dialogue/character interactions, PBox helped me improve on description because I did all this research and creating that couldn't just be explained with a "they were at a mall" type thing because none of it actually exists in a "this is in the real world" way. And the only way to make it exist outside of my head for anyone reading it is to write it down in a way that makes it exist. I'll admit, I am still fairly lazy with my landscapes more than my buildings, probably because the buildings don't exist outside of PBox's world, but a tree or a mountain does. I guess if anyone wants better descriptions of trees or mountains, I'll do better. I also nerd out about clothing more than I probably should, and possibly more than is necessary. I realize I've never taken much time to describe what a character looks like (especially in later chapters when the "villains of the chapter" are basically faceless even though I know exactly which one is which, though y'all don't then); I think this is a symptom of it being fanfic, I assume y'all know what everyone looks like if they're not an original character (obviously the Boys, but even NSYNC). But, I will always talk to you about Nick's eyes and smile, even more than the other Boys.

I think that's about it? Or at least, those are the major things I associate with PBox and my craft as a writer. And now, this has been your weekly diatribe on PBox and another novel about my novel. At some point, I can publish a book called "And here is everything you wanted to know about the background of PBox and my growth as a writer."

I have now done nothing productive today except post really long winded things on this forum. Supreme time waster indeed!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 07:24:49 PM
Right?!?  I wrote a story making fun of dumbass Shorty for the fairy tale challenge we did here in 2013, and it was so much fun roasting her in a fanfic.  I hate that song so much.  It's my least favorite BSB song of all time.

I don't know if that's a fairy tale for her, but it's probably a fairy tale for a celebrity, lmao.


Me too!  I can't imagine how long BMS would be if I had still been working on it in 2013 LOL, but I'm glad I wasn't.  Though I may have found the time and energy to keep writing BMS during my master's program because I somehow did during student teaching and my first year of teaching, which had to have been the busiest, most stressful years of my life.  I still don't know how I did that.  Oh, to be young again LOL.

Very long! You may have included some of the unwritten third book in it at that point. You probably would have if you did during student teaching and first year, since I can confirm that those are stressful and probably a lot of my lack of inspiration in that 2015-2016 time frame. I'm sure part of it was youth and part of it was hyperfocus on "I care about this A LOT, possibly THE MOST."


I know One Direction fanfic was big a few years ago, and BTS fanfic seems to be popular on AO3.  If you do any poking around, let us know your findings.

Those were both of my possible research topics, actually. Since I've done nothing else today, I might as well stay unproductive and go research this, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 07:35:06 PM
This is all good advice.  You never know what you'll accomplish if you don't at least open the story and try.  But it's good to give yourself grace, especially when you have a good reason not to write.  Like, "I just got vaccinated, and my arm hurts, and I don't feel good."  Totally valid excuse to skip a day (or several days) and do nothing!  At the end of the day, this is a hobby, not a job - it should be fun, not feel like work.  If it gets to the point when it feels like a chore, stop forcing it and do something different.

It doesn't help that Nick cared more about the second half of this chapter than the first half. Stop being quiet Nick, tell me your plans! Realistically, at the end of the day, inspiration can't be forced and the process of forcing it is draining. But if it's one thing that keeps holding up a bunch of other things, it's good to try to bust through it. I am totally using my valid excuse to be a completely useless writer, haha. I preemptively edited my next update chapter, so there's nothing on next week's plate. Gotta get past this "no looming deadlines" bit and write something. It probably doesn't help that I already "see the end" of PNecklace and am trying to figure out what to work on next. I am feeling better and did drink two coffees today, so maybe inspiration will still strike today.

This!  It has definitely helped keep me motivated during the work week so I can be productive on the weekends.  I even wrote on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday this week.

Woah! Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday writing! You are really productive and motivated on this one! I'm glad you found the thing to work on with very little WADD.

LOL That's what I figured and why I was fine with the scene I picked.  That plot point has been talked about so much on this forum, it's no longer a spoiler.

I love when we have ubiquitous things like that, if for nothing else than the jokes.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 07:39:24 PM
Most of my stories are written in first person with five points of view. I find that the easiest way to write for some reason.

That probably seemed very random, but I saw it in conversation and sometimes these threads move so fast I can’t remember where so... lol

LOL No worries, we did talk about that the other day.  You were good at writing the five different POVs, and I don't remember it getting confusing in your stories.

It is never random! If you brought this up two weeks from now, I may have forgotten the original discussion, but not when we talked about it on Thursday.

I can't remember, Mare, did you switch between the POVs evenly or were they skewed toward one of the Boys (I assume Nick if that's the case)? I don't feel like your stories were ever confusing because of it, regardless.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 08:15:05 PM
When did you write it, and/or how old were you when you wrote it?

Gobosei: 2005-2006, 2013, 2015 (17/18, 25, 27)

PBox: 2005-2008 with an update from September 2020-January 2021 (17-20, 32-barely 33)

I asked the age question because I was curious to see how many of us were around the same age when we had that leap in writing development.  I was also 17 when I started Broken, so we are alike in that way!


It got fixed earlier in that 2003 OF because I had a friend reading along that knew I based a character off of them, wholly supported it, and had zero qualms telling me "this sucks" when it did suck. I took this perspective to heart and started looking at my fanfics with the same lens.

Wow, that is some friend!  Was it hard to hear "this sucks" from her then, or did you welcome the harsh but honest feedback?  I'm glad it helped you look at your writing through another lens and learn from her constructive criticism.


All of that makes me see why self-insert stories would have been popular outside of "My life would be awesome if I dated a Backstreet Boy." It's easier to write a character when you know how they would react to things! But this has the same problem as "my friends are characters" if there's no character development over the course of the story. This is all very vague for Gobosei since there's not much there for anyone else to say "oh yes, all these things are there in it," but they're there in it with the whole picture in my head.

Yeah, it's definitely easier to use characters who already exist, whether they're people we know in real life or celebrities.  It can be fun to base characters on people, too, but it's also fun to create your own.  I think the problem with most of the teenybopper Mary Sue stories back in the day was that if the writers created an original character instead of a self-insert, they focused more on her external traits, like her appearance and clothing, than internal traits, so they ended up with this flat drawing of a pretty girl who everyone seemed to love even though she had no substance, rather than a realistic, three-dimensional character.  The ability to create one of those comes with experience, so self-inserts may have been a better choice for beginning writers.


And over the years, he's ultimately continued to breathe life into it as an entity, something akin to "You're writing it, but this is my story. I drive this bus." (It's cool, Nick, keep driving the bus. I trust you.)

Just don't crash the bus, Nick!  Or do, and then we can get another fanfic out of it.


Even with strong characters, I came to the realization that PBox was dark. Even with "our demons are different" at play (which is a type of dark in and of itself if your main characters are this "typically always malevolently chaotic evil" type thing; not that PBox demons are that, or at least not our Boys, they're downright heroic saving innocent bystanders and taking cats out of trees in their free time), it was incredibly dark in a way that Gobosei was not and that I had shied away from in the past. But I wanted to write it and Nick wanted control of that bus... immensely. But how to write a very dark thing? Well? The writing to needed to mature; the fun-fest jokey and at times ridiculous way of writing a Gobosei wouldn't fly for a PBox, not with its inherent setting of "the world is crummy." I learned to embrace the dark (Team Dark!) and how to draw lines for too dark, which I kept crossing as time went on. I guess I learned that you have to write dark things a certain way and saved my fun-fest jokey writing for stories that would support it.

I can relate to this too.  Broken doesn't seem that dark to me now, but it is certainly angsty and depressing in parts.  Back when I was writing it, I had a lot of angst over the impending amputation.  I don't know why because I had already put the Boys through all kinds of tragedies in my earlier stories, even killed some of them... but for whatever reason, chopping off Nick's leg felt like a really big deal to me.  But it was also a compelling enough idea that I committed to it, and that is when I learned to take risks, cross lines, embrace the darkness, and run with it.  The fact that Broken doesn't seem that dark and chopping off Nick's leg doesn't seem like a big deal to me now just shows me how much darker I've gotten since then LOL.  As we've talked about before, it's good to occasionally cross lines and write things that make you uncomfortable because by stepping outside your comfort zone, you're more likely to learn and grow.  That being said, there's still a place for comic relief and flashes of light in a dark story, and there's nothing wrong with fun-fest jokey writing when it fits the story.  I don't know if "Death by Snail" fits your definition of fun-fest jokey writing, being more of a dark humor, but I'm looking forward to it!


Gobosei is also largely based in our world as is, so it wasn't a whole new adventure world building. At minimum, Gobosei required a "how does this magic system work?" PBox required that and a whole slew of things from geography to climate to political systems to cultural norms and so on. Creating these things meant I had to learn how to research (in a different way than for writing a paper or doing a project in school) and research hard! Even things that wouldn't seem like they needed research, like "how does this magic system work," but that has been a constant fun romp in researching and has gotten me down so many rabbit holes I never knew I would end up in just based on the nature of the answer. I wish I'd kept track of my hours of research because it would be something else, as I'm sure you all know in your own adventures in researching.

And it wasn't only world building or plot elements. I wanted to have fight scenes which I'd never written before, so I watched hours of kung fu movies and sword fighting movies. I've watched fencing competitions. I know a ridiculous amount of vocabulary for parts of weapons that is not useful in any other aspect of my life; at least kung fu movies are just fun. When that Bruce Lee 30 for 30 aired last year, I actually jotted down some notes (though that isn't directly applicable to PBox, it fits this overall point). If an exhibit came to one of our museums that felt relevant, I went (outside of my love for museums). I'd include my mythology related research in this too, but that's just fun and a regular hobby that happens to tie into my love of writing. I have run the gambit of things I've researched for PBox from "plants that typically grow in x climate" to "how the body reacts to toxins and poisons" to "furniture of the Muromachi era" to "how do big things fly." And those are just four examples, in addition to specific ones I listed.

In the name of character development, I also had to learn how to portray real things in believable, nuanced, and non-hand waving ways. Nick is, essentially, an amnesiac with PTSD, so what does that actually look like in real life and not in fiction land? This includes research, but then how to turn research into believable narrative? It's all super subtle and it's only improved with time, since writing is an ongoing process. I don't know if anyone noticed this, for instance, but Nick (especially in the beginning of PBox) usually stands with his back to walls so he can see everything happening in the room and react as needed; he does it less as time goes on because he has other people to "watch his back."

I'm always impressed by the level of research you do, as well as your attention to detail when it comes to building worlds and creating characters.  I know we've already discussed the strange things we've looked up for stories, but another question could be, "What random knowledge have you acquired thanks to fanfic?"  Like parts of weapons and the rules of fencing!  

I also admire how much thought you put into your characters and their actions and words.  It's one thing to come up with all little quirks, like Nick always standing with his back against the wall in the beginning, but then to write them in such a subtle and nuanced way so that your readers may not even notice that or realize why...  That takes a certain level of sophistication .  When you spend a lot of time researching and crafting a character or world, it's tempting to want to include every detail you know in the actual story.  I struggle with that temptation of wanting to over-explain and include details that don't really need to be in the story just because I find them interesting.


While Gobosei helped me start improving on my meaningful dialogue/character interactions, PBox helped me improve on description because I did all this research and creating that couldn't just be explained with a "they were at a mall" type thing because none of it actually exists in a "this is in the real world" way. And the only way to make it exist outside of my head for anyone reading it is to write it down in a way that makes it exist. I'll admit, I am still fairly lazy with my landscapes more than my buildings, probably because the buildings don't exist outside of PBox's world, but a tree or a mountain does. I guess if anyone wants better descriptions of trees or mountains, I'll do better. I also nerd out about clothing more than I probably should, and possibly more than is necessary. I realize I've never taken much time to describe what a character looks like (especially in later chapters when the "villains of the chapter" are basically faceless even though I know exactly which one is which, though y'all don't then); I think this is a symptom of it being fanfic, I assume y'all know what everyone looks like if they're not an original character (obviously the Boys, but even NSYNC). But, I will always talk to you about Nick's eyes and smile, even more than the other Boys.

With description, I think it's important to find a balance between "not enough" and "too much."  Obviously, description is needed to help bring a story to life in the reader's head.  But too much description can bog down the story, bore the reader, and put you in purple prose territory.  With fantasy, I think it makes sense to save your longer descriptions for things that don't exist the same way in our world.  That helps the reader picture and understand the world you've created for your story.  They don't need a detailed description of every leaf on a tree.  They also don't need constant reminders of what the Backstreet Boys look like, although I never mind a description of their pretty eyes or smiles.  Or hair!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 08:36:25 PM
I'm sure part of it was youth and part of it was hyperfocus on "I care about this A LOT, possibly THE MOST."

Definitely!  I'm sure it helped that I was already about halfway through BMS when I started student teaching, so it wasn't like I was writing a new story.  I already knew those characters well and was committed to telling the rest of their story, so it was easy to stay inspired and write when I had time.

This was also before smartphones and social media, which have really hurt my focus. The only thing I had to distract me at that time was IM, but even that was usually helpful in the same way this forum is.  Most of the people I chatted with were fellow fanfic authors or at least readers (who were reading my story), so we could encourage each other and bounce ideas off each other.  There were plenty of nights when I'd have an IM window open with a friend who was also writing, and we would just use it to occasionally check in on each other.  "How's the writing going?"  "I've written two pages so far!  You?"  Then we'd send each other chapters to read and give feedback on before we posted them for the rest of the world.  We never called it beta-reading, but that's basically what we were doing.


It probably doesn't help that I already "see the end" of PNecklace and am trying to figure out what to work on next. I am feeling better and did drink two coffees today, so maybe inspiration will still strike today.

This is always me toward the end of a novel, too.  Sometimes I know (or think I know) what idea I'm going to write next, and I get so excited about it that it's hard to stay focused on finishing the in-progress story.  Other times I have no idea what idea I'm going to tackle next, and the uncertainty is what interferes with my focus.  And it's dumb because even when I think I know what idea I'm going to work on, that doesn't always end up being the one I really do write next.  I always figure it out eventually though.

I'm glad you're feeling better and hope the two coffees help!


Woah! Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday writing! You are really productive and motivated on this one! I'm glad you found the thing to work on with very little WADD.

I didn't write much on any of those days - maybe Monday, which is I think when I finished Chapter 5.  I only had like two paragraphs written for Chapter 6 before today.  Now I'm up to 1500 words, which is fairly productive for me these days.  But it's taken me the better part of the day to get to that point.  I wrote all morning, then took a break to shower, eat, watch TV, and do a bit of cleaning, and then wrote more this afternoon.  But I am definitely into it, which I'm happy about - I wasn't sure how that would go for my first Kevin story LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 09:14:13 PM
I know One Direction fanfic was big a few years ago, and BTS fanfic seems to be popular on AO3.  If you do any poking around, let us know your findings.

It's weird that there's only about 1,400 BSB fanfics on AO3. I guess it makes sense since AO3 didn't exist in our fanfic heyday, but I know there's way more than 1,400 BSB fanfics out there. And it's weird to think about when fanfiction.net removed all its RPF fandoms and so we all had to go rogue, haha. One Direction and BTS fans are lucky they didn't have to deal with that. (I also have found that there are 66 fanfics about TSwift's Bad Blood music video?)

I also found out "face f-ing" is a tag? And that story is tagged "fantasy" in a way the genre is not intended (I assume, I didn't click on it) in addition to "sexual fantasy" that might be valid?

Here's a smattering of BSB fanfic info via AO3 (1,464 works) and AC for comparison (3,187 stories; it doesn't give hard numbers, so I'm listing pages -- there's about 15 stories per page and 213 pages for all stories if that helps, though obviously most stories are multi-genre):


One Direction on AO3 (63,651 works):


BTS on AO3 (152,327 works... dang that's a lot):


I guess our "Additional tags" section included more things that I would call genres and the other two had more subtags for sex (as I noted above with anal sex being listed for all three fandoms in the "additional tags" section) or character related tags. So we might define our work by genre more than the other fandoms do? I also realized I didn't initially look up historical fiction and added it in. And then I realized it was 8pm and I hadn't eaten dinner yet.

Percentage that is slash (again, if you wanted more detailed statistics):

I'm willing to do more math and extrapolate more data if anyone would like it. And turn AC's data into numbers of stories rather than pages of stories, I'm just being lazy.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 13, 2021, 09:19:39 PM
It is never random! If you brought this up two weeks from now, I may have forgotten the original discussion, but not when we talked about it on Thursday.

I can't remember, Mare, did you switch between the POVs evenly or were they skewed toward one of the Boys (I assume Nick if that's the case)? I don't feel like your stories were ever confusing because of it, regardless.

On the ones that are all five points of view, it was never really focused on any one person. At least I never intended it to be. Nick seemed to have the most dramatic chapters because Nick was always the most dramatic lol but I always gave them equal time and an equal amount of chapters.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 13, 2021, 09:46:45 PM
It's weird that there's only about 1,400 BSB fanfics on AO3. I guess it makes sense since AO3 didn't exist in our fanfic heyday, but I know there's way more than 1,400 BSB fanfics out there. And it's weird to think about when fanfiction.net removed all its RPF fandoms and so we all had to go rogue, haha. One Direction and BTS fans are lucky they didn't have to deal with that. (I also have found that there are 66 fanfics about TSwift's Bad Blood music video?)

Yeah, I think it's just because AO3 is newer.  There are way more than 1,400 BSB fanfics out there, but the majority of them were written in the late 90s or early 2000s and are either still out there on Angelfire or Tripod sites that haven't been updated in 20+ years or went down with Geocities.  I'm sure AC has the largest collection of them on one site.


I also found out "face f-ing" is a tag? And that story is tagged "fantasy" in a way the genre is not intended (I assume, I didn't click on it) in addition to "sexual fantasy" that might be valid?

I guess our "Additional tags" section included more things that I would call genres and the other two had more subtags for sex (as I noted above with anal sex being listed for all three fandoms in the "additional tags" section) or character related tags. So we might define our work by genre more than the other fandoms do? I also realized I didn't initially look up historical fiction and added it in. And then I realized it was 8pm and I hadn't eaten dinner yet.

The tags!  Everything is a tag there LOL.  It honestly drives me nuts.  I guess I can see why you might like to search out stories tagged "kidnapping" (there are 14 BSB fics with this tag) or "bus crash" (none!!), but hello spoilers!  That's the reason I didn't tag most of my stories as medical dramas specifically - unless it's obvious in the summary or happens in the first chapter, that's a spoiler!  Judging by the tags, readers on AO3 seem to care more about the character pairings and sexual positions than genres or plot points though.

I mostly tagged mine with characters and genres because that's how I'm used to classifying them, both here on AC and on my site.  I guess that's mainly what I look at after the summary when I'm browsing for stories to read - what's it about, who's it about, and what kind of story is it?  I definitely don't need to know if there's anal sex in it or not LOL.  If it's a slash, I'm going to assume there is.  But maybe this is just us being old-school.  The whole concept of tags is a newer thing; we didn't have those back in the day LOL.

Thanks for doing all that research!  Holy shit, there's a lot of BTS fanfics!  I wonder how many BSB fics there would have been on AO3 if it had been the main place to post fanfics back in the late 90s.  I also wonder if they would have been overwhelmingly slash like they are now.  Somehow I don't think so.  Slash has always been around, but I think het romance was more popular in the peak days of BSB fic.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 10:54:39 PM
I asked the age question because I was curious to see how many of us were around the same age when we had that leap in writing development.  I was also 17 when I started Broken, so we are alike in that way!

I was curious too (for science), so I'm glad you did! I hope other people write long diatribes about their novels too! :) Or short diatribes. Y'all know I'm long-winded.


Wow, that is some friend!  Was it hard to hear "this sucks" from her then, or did you welcome the harsh but honest feedback?  I'm glad it helped you look at your writing through another lens and learn from her constructive criticism.

The amount of times we edited the first chapter was insane! It hurt a little at the beginning, because I don't think anyone likes to hear that something they wrote sucks? I assume this is universally true? But I'm also grateful that I had that frame for constructive criticism early. In my mind, no one is going to give constructive criticism from a bad place, it all comes from a good place of wanting to get the best story out of it. Especially when it is someone close to you who also cares about your stories or how your writing is going. Similar to how a teacher will only tell you to fix something before a final draft because they want you to get the best grade you possibly can. I definitely think it gave me a thicker skin earlier while also showing me that there's always things to improve, even on something you love. I was definitely better for it in the long run, especially knowing that after reworking things, I usually got "this is much better/more interesting/makes more sense" in that case. So I figured that something like that was true in all cases.


Yeah, it's definitely easier to use characters who already exist, whether they're people we know in real life or celebrities.  It can be fun to base characters on people, too, but it's also fun to create your own.  I think the problem with most of the teenybopper Mary Sue stories back in the day was that if the writers created an original character instead of a self-insert, they focused more on her external traits, like her appearance and clothing, than internal traits, so they ended up with this flat drawing of a pretty girl who everyone seemed to love even though she had no substance, rather than a realistic, three-dimensional character.  The ability to create one of those comes with experience, so self-inserts may have been a better choice for beginning writers.

I think Mary Sue characters are fairly flat in general, or their flaws aren't really flaws (I'm looking at you "clumsy, but in an endearing way.") There was also a danger in the self-inserts that they also lacked flaws because I feel like it's harder to admit your own flaws, let alone write them down for the whole world to see. But at least self-inserts had a little more personality to them in general. Even if the Boys cared more about Nick's relationship with Gypsydoodle than they cared about their own problems.

I feel like we've had this conversation many times, lol.


Just don't crash the bus, Nick!  Or do, and then we can get another fanfic out of it.

LMFAO! He doesn't technically know what a bus is, but I guess he's fine because it's a metaphorical bus? Maybe that's what PBox related writer's block is, Nick crashing the bus. Hopefully the others do something useful and Howie doesn't spend the whole time winking. lmao


I can relate to this too.  Broken doesn't seem that dark to me now, but it is certainly angsty and depressing in parts.  Back when I was writing it, I had a lot of angst over the impending amputation.  I don't know why because I had already put the Boys through all kinds of tragedies in my earlier stories, even killed some of them... but for whatever reason, chopping off Nick's leg felt like a really big deal to me.  But it was also a compelling enough idea that I committed to it, and that is when I learned to take risks, cross lines, embrace the darkness, and run with it.  The fact that Broken doesn't seem that dark and chopping off Nick's leg doesn't seem like a big deal to me now just shows me how much darker I've gotten since then LOL.  As we've talked about before, it's good to occasionally cross lines and write things that make you uncomfortable because by stepping outside your comfort zone, you're more likely to learn and grow.  That being said, there's still a place for comic relief and flashes of light in a dark story, and there's nothing wrong with fun-fest jokey writing when it fits the story.  I don't know if "Death by Snail" fits your definition of fun-fest jokey writing, being more of a dark humor, but I'm looking forward to it!

I can see why chopping off Nick's leg made you feel angsty, especially if it was around the time your writing improved. It's easy enough to say "And he died and everyone was sad, but then they moved on and there was a wedding" or whatever, but it's harder to portray a character's emotions about a dark thing happening to them. Which I know I didn't have pre-Gobosei and still didn't refine until going through PBox. If Broken was your breakout piece, you had to make sure that Nick's feelings about being an amputee were adequately explored, shark dreams and all. ;) :) I agree with all of that! I'm grateful PBox gave me a chance to grow and push boundaries. I knew the potential for dark was there, but the stories never felt like the right place to commit to the dark. I guess with PBox, I just finally thought, "cool, let's get dark?" I think we've discussed before that it's equally important to have those comic relief moments and flashes of light in a dark story; even in dark situations, nothing is always all dark.

Edited to Add: I meant to comment on this and forgot. I'd say, overall "Death by Snail" has a little more of the "fun-fest jokey" type stuff, at least in the beginning.


I'm always impressed by the level of research you do, as well as your attention to detail when it comes to building worlds and creating characters.  I know we've already discussed the strange things we've looked up for stories, but another question could be, "What random knowledge have you acquired thanks to fanfic?"  Like parts of weapons and the rules of fencing!

Thanks! It has been extensive, but it helps that I like learning about random things, haha. The internet has only made it easier. I love that question! I'll have to come up with a more detailed list. On the topic of parts of weapons, it has always bothered me that "gripped" is one of my go-to verbs, because I cannot properly call the part of a sword's handle that is held the "grip" rather than referring to the whole thing as a "hilt" because variants of "gripped the grip" sound ridiculous. And I know there are other verbs, but "gripped" the verb!


I also admire how much thought you put into your characters and their actions and words.  It's one thing to come up with all little quirks, like Nick always standing with his back against the wall in the beginning, but then to write them in such a subtle and nuanced way so that your readers may not even notice that or realize why...  That takes a certain level of sophistication .  When you spend a lot of time researching and crafting a character or world, it's tempting to want to include every detail you know in the actual story.  I struggle with that temptation of wanting to over-explain and include details that don't really need to be in the story just because I find them interesting.

Thanks again! I'm super touched by these nice compliments about my hard work researching and character crafting!  :bighug: I work really hard on it, even if it doesn't all end up in the narrative. That's why I like chatting here, because I can share all these interesting facts and details in the context of our discussions without the story feeling bloated from them.

I joked that I wanted to add a chapter called "castles are super f-in interesting," because... well castles are really interesting, first of all, and then I'd have a spot to really explain why the capital of Safaiananpou is a walled city surrounding a castle and the other countries' capitals aren't that way. The short answer is that castle compounds typically house what the sovereign deems essential to running their empire, which typically does not include the average citizen of their empire, but obviously Howie would consider everyone and everything to be essential. Which then leads to the rest of the country being fairly sparse, untouched natural elements and the inherent problems with housing your entire country in the same place (chiefly that it's fairly easy to wipe your entire civilization out if it's in one spot and you're not constantly prepared for that threat, but it's also a choice based directly on an earlier event in universe, so... I digress again).

However, I don't think I've quite obtained Victor Hugo status to natter on about things that interest me for many pages and include it in the narrative, but I also thought it was fascinating to learn all about the Paris sewer system from him (I don't think everyone has this same opinion, haha). I think we all just need to create companion books titled "All the super interesting things I learned while researching x story," then there might be less temptation to bog down the narrative with it? Because I feel you, I also would love to include so much of my research because I find it fascinating (clearly, I wrote a whole story that required me to find it), but I agree that there's places for it in the narrative and there's places where it really doesn't need to be.


With description, I think it's important to find a balance between "not enough" and "too much."  Obviously, description is needed to help bring a story to life in the reader's head.  But too much description can bog down the story, bore the reader, and put you in purple prose territory.  With fantasy, I think it makes sense to save your longer descriptions for things that don't exist the same way in our world.  That helps the reader picture and understand the world you've created for your story.  They don't need a detailed description of every leaf on a tree.  They also don't need constant reminders of what the Backstreet Boys look like, although I never mind a description of their pretty eyes or smiles.  Or hair!

"The tree had many leaves, they all looked the same: green, jagged, slightly oval. Just like you would imagine a tree looked. They were also next to this building you've never heard of, but we can't talk about that next time. This magnificent specimen of natural beauty was..." lmao. This is why I don't bother describing terrain aside from "surrounded by a forest" unless knowing something specific about it is important or that same element pops up later for some reason. I'll say that I spend 0.05% of my time waxing poetic about some natural feature because I felt like it; it's not there often, but it is there sometimes. "Gardens of an estate" fall into the same category as "buildings that exist in the imagined world of PBox" for me, so I don't count them in that 0.05%.

Same. Eyes, smiles, hair, Kevin's eyebrows, facial hair. I assume most of us feel the same, so I never feel bad including it or waxing poetic on it (within reason). I won't call it totally purple, but possibly periwinkle prose.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 11:14:25 PM
Definitely!  I'm sure it helped that I was already about halfway through BMS when I started student teaching, so it wasn't like I was writing a new story.  I already knew those characters well and was committed to telling the rest of their story, so it was easy to stay inspired and write when I had time.

This was also before smartphones and social media, which have really hurt my focus. The only thing I had to distract me at that time was IM, but even that was usually helpful in the same way this forum is.  Most of the people I chatted with were fellow fanfic authors or at least readers (who were reading my story), so we could encourage each other and bounce ideas off each other.  There were plenty of nights when I'd have an IM window open with a friend who was also writing, and we would just use it to occasionally check in on each other.  "How's the writing going?"  "I've written two pages so far!  You?"  Then we'd send each other chapters to read and give feedback on before we posted them for the rest of the world.  We never called it beta-reading, but that's basically what we were doing.

Also true! It's definitely harder to start something new when you feel busy and have to plan or research without feeling committed to the characters or story yet.

Oh, I miss IM and just having it open in the tray while working on something else, it was nice to occasionally check in and get some quick feedback if you needed to bounce something. I often wish that I had joined twitter when it started so I could be twitter famous. I like to think I'm funny, but I just never got super into it.


This is always me toward the end of a novel, too.  Sometimes I know (or think I know) what idea I'm going to write next, and I get so excited about it that it's hard to stay focused on finishing the in-progress story.  Other times I have no idea what idea I'm going to tackle next, and the uncertainty is what interferes with my focus.  And it's dumb because even when I think I know what idea I'm going to work on, that doesn't always end up being the one I really do write next.  I always figure it out eventually though.

I'm glad you're feeling better and hope the two coffees help!

It's pretty much me deciding whether to keep going through the next book or take a break and do something different. I think Nick's deliberately pouting right now because he knows what needs to happen  in the story and supports his decision, but simultaneously hates it and doesn't want it to happen. So he's being agonizingly silent to stall the inevitable. Stop being complicated like a real person, Nick, and fix whatever broke on the bus so you can keep driving! I don't know if I'm super excited about any of the next ideas yet (other than writing pieces of the next novel of the series), but it's definitely crossed my mind.

If nothing else, the two coffees helped me in my quest to figure out genre numbers for similar fandoms, lol. Which is a different kind of productive?


I didn't write much on any of those days - maybe Monday, which is I think when I finished Chapter 5.  I only had like two paragraphs written for Chapter 6 before today.  Now I'm up to 1500 words, which is fairly productive for me these days.  But it's taken me the better part of the day to get to that point.  I wrote all morning, then took a break to shower, eat, watch TV, and do a bit of cleaning, and then wrote more this afternoon.  But I am definitely into it, which I'm happy about - I wasn't sure how that would go for my first Kevin story LOL.

Woo! 1,500 words plus personal needs, breaks, and home needs! I'm glad your first Kevin story is going well and you're into it. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 13, 2021, 11:15:59 PM
On the ones that are all five points of view, it was never really focused on any one person. At least I never intended it to be. Nick seemed to have the most dramatic chapters because Nick was always the most dramatic lol but I always gave them equal time and an equal amount of chapters.

Nick is the most dramatic.

Mare is so wise and balanced. Teach me your ways, Mare. I keep finding myself saying I should have listened to you a long time ago, lol!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 14, 2021, 12:12:31 AM
Yeah, I think it's just because AO3 is newer.  There are way more than 1,400 BSB fanfics out there, but the majority of them were written in the late 90s or early 2000s and are either still out there on Angelfire or Tripod sites that haven't been updated in 20+ years or went down with Geocities.  I'm sure AC has the largest collection of them on one site.

Oh man, Angelfire and Tripod! Those are two other things I haven't thought about in a while. Late 90's/early 00's internet was a wild and lawless time.


The tags!  Everything is a tag there LOL.  It honestly drives me nuts.  I guess I can see why you might like to search out stories tagged "kidnapping" (there are 14 BSB fics with this tag) or "bus crash" (none!!), but hello spoilers!  That's the reason I didn't tag most of my stories as medical dramas specifically - unless it's obvious in the summary or happens in the first chapter, that's a spoiler!  Judging by the tags, readers on AO3 seem to care more about the character pairings and sexual positions than genres or plot points though.

I guess in a tag-culture, people don't really care about spoilers if it ends up searchable in the tags? I also don't like to reveal spoilers in tags (as I've mentioned many times in my perceived difference between "death" and "major character death"), so I figured that was why you only had two listed as "medical," as I mentioned. They also don't have a standard section for genres, which seems weird to me. Like why are warnings a section, but genres are only a tag? Bizarre.

Our dreams are answered though, apparently "I suck at summaries" is a tag and there are 204 people willing to admit it on all of AO3. There's also 11 "really wordy" tags, lol.


I mostly tagged mine with characters and genres because that's how I'm used to classifying them, both here on AC and on my site.  I guess that's mainly what I look at after the summary when I'm browsing for stories to read - what's it about, who's it about, and what kind of story is it?  I definitely don't need to know if there's anal sex in it or not LOL.  If it's a slash, I'm going to assume there is.  But maybe this is just us being old-school.  The whole concept of tags is a newer thing; we didn't have those back in the day LOL.

I think it's the natural progression for a story in a world with #s and @s. There's a lot less subtext (or more and it's really blatant, haha). There's probably a world in the future where publish novels can be sorted by "hurt/comfort" too. I don't think I've ever wanted to click a tag either? Sorting by genre or characters makes sense to me, but even though I love a good trope, I don't think I feel the need to sort by a specific one? There's 4,850 stories with the tag "demons" if anyone wanted to know. Talking about this has basically became a fascinating adventure in searching for things in the name of science. I won't lie to to you all, I may have also done a quick "is PBox in any of these other fandoms" scan just in case (and curiosity got the better of me, there are 14 pages of stories called "Pandora's Box" on AO3, but only one of them is PBox that I can tell... it glitched halfway through my flicking and started being the same stories over and over again).


Thanks for doing all that research!  Holy shit, there's a lot of BTS fanfics!  I wonder how many BSB fics there would have been on AO3 if it had been the main place to post fanfics back in the late 90s.  I also wonder if they would have been overwhelmingly slash like they are now.  Somehow I don't think so.  Slash has always been around, but I think het romance was more popular in the peak days of BSB fic.

Happy to help us all in the name of science, two coffees, and minimal inspiration.  I guess ff.net would be comparable? Rose might know that answer best, I think she was most involved with it back in the day.

I mean, AC as comparison could be helpful, so I'll do some more specific math. Let's say all slash stories on AC are included in the romance genre and that each possible page of genre has the full 15 stories on it (for the sake of quickness of math, not perfect accuracy).

We know that AC has 3,187 stories. The above logic assumes that 1,485 of them are romance and 180 of them are slash. 47% of the stories on AC have romance as a genre, 6% of the stories are slash. 12% of the romances are slash.

I guess there can be pairings without romance, but it's kind of weird to me that the number of slash stories is overwhelmingly higher than the ones tagged as romance.

If anything, our numbers tell me that BSB fans enjoy drama as a genre more than anything else, lol. I wonder if slash is more popular now because it seems easier to remove a wife for another Boy than an OC female love interest. Or because so many of us have done everything that we've all now tried things we originally said we wouldn't, like slash. Or pairings and AUs are such a big part of fanfic these days that slash and AU are just more popular because of that. Or people are writing more one-chapter things than novels, so the tags are inflated with the preferences of those one-chapter authors who happen to like slash.

I looked out of curiosity and most of the stuff on AO3 doesn't start being multi-chapter (or x/?) until it hits about 11,000 words; based on what updates, I'd be willing to give an extra page of intended multi-chaptered works, plus one more for the few I saw along the way even though their word counts were smaller. So of the 1,465 works on AO3, only about 300 of them have more than one chapter. AC doesn't let you sort by word count, but everything on the most recent page is multi-chapter.

I am so useless today, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 14, 2021, 01:43:04 AM
I guess in a tag-culture, people don't really care about spoilers if it ends up searchable in the tags? I also don't like to reveal spoilers in tags (as I've mentioned many times in my perceived difference between "death" and "major character death"), so I figured that was why you only had two listed as "medical," as I mentioned. They also don't have a standard section for genres, which seems weird to me. Like why are warnings a section, but genres are only a tag? Bizarre.

Yeah, it's definitely a different culture over there.  I'm fine with a warnings section, although I haven't used it for most of my stories on AO3 (again, spoilers - and yes, "Major Character Death" gives away a lot more than general "Death"), but I wish there was a genre section too.

Now that I think about it, most of my medical dramas actually aren't on AO3 yet.  I think the only other one I could have given that tag was Curtain Call.  I consider Bethlehem more of a survival story than a medical drama since most of it's set outside a hospital.

Our dreams are answered though, apparently "I suck at summaries" is a tag and there are 204 people willing to admit it on all of AO3. There's also 11 "really wordy" tags, lol.

LOL!  Well, if I ever get bored enough to post BMS on there, I now know another tag to include.


I think it's the natural progression for a story in a world with #s and @s. There's a lot less subtext (or more and it's really blatant, haha). There's probably a world in the future where publish novels can be sorted by "hurt/comfort" too. I don't think I've ever wanted to click a tag either? Sorting by genre or characters makes sense to me, but even though I love a good trope, I don't think I feel the need to sort by a specific one? There's 4,850 stories with the tag "demons" if anyone wanted to know. Talking about this has basically became a fascinating adventure in searching for things in the name of science. I won't lie to to you all, I may have also done a quick "is PBox in any of these other fandoms" scan just in case (and curiosity got the better of me, there are 14 pages of stories called "Pandora's Box" on AO3, but only one of them is PBox that I can tell... it glitched halfway through my flicking and started being the same stories over and over again).

LOL I also went down a rabbit hole of tags earlier, which led to my discovery of two Dobby/Hagrid slash stories by different authors in the Harry Potter fandom.  https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Dobby*s*Rubeus%20Hagrid/works  I read them both out of morbid curiosity and got a good laugh.  I think they were both written as jokes...

I came across a Child's Play slash on there a couple years ago... Chucky the killer doll and Andy the little boy.  There was no murder in it at all, just doll sex.  Rule #34 strikes again. LOL


I guess there can be pairings without romance, but it's kind of weird to me that the number of slash stories is overwhelmingly higher than the ones tagged as romance.

I think that's because a lot of them are just porn without any of the romance that would normally lead up to a sex scene.


If anything, our numbers tell me that BSB fans enjoy drama as a genre more than anything else, lol. I wonder if slash is more popular now because it seems easier to remove a wife for another Boy than an OC female love interest. Or because so many of us have done everything that we've all now tried things we originally said we wouldn't, like slash. Or pairings and AUs are such a big part of fanfic these days that slash and AU are just more popular because of that. Or people are writing more one-chapter things than novels, so the tags are inflated with the preferences of those one-chapter authors who happen to like slash.

Yes, we all love the drama!

Those definitely could be reasons why slash has seen a rise in popularity.  I wonder if it's also because homosexuality is more accepted now than it was in the 90s.  It's a bigger part of pop culture, and gay characters are more common now.


I looked out of curiosity and most of the stuff on AO3 doesn't start being multi-chapter (or x/?) until it hits about 11,000 words; based on what updates, I'd be willing to give an extra page of intended multi-chaptered works, plus one more for the few I saw along the way even though their word counts were smaller. So of the 1,465 works on AO3, only about 300 of them have more than one chapter. AC doesn't let you sort by word count, but everything on the most recent page is multi-chapter.

I have also noticed that about AO3; there are a lot more one-shots and short stories.  Our really long, complete novels are a rarity there.  Which is exactly why we should keep posting them.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 14, 2021, 03:17:04 AM
I better answer these myself before they get buried too deep in this thread.


What was your breakout story?

Broken


When did you write it, and/or how old were you when you wrote it?

January 2003 - March 2004.  I was 17 when I started it and 18 when I finished.


How did that story change you as a writer?

I got a lot better at description and character development during the writing of Broken.  You can see that development happen over the course of the story.  It starts off still a little teenybopperish and cringey, but it gets better as it goes on.  I spent a lot of time in Broken Nick's head, and I think it shows.  He really changes throughout the story as I break him down and build him back up.  And I think Claire is still one of the strongest original characters I've ever created. 

This is also the story that taught me how to research for a fanfic.  I had looked things when writing before, especially for Code Blue, but not to the level I had to for Broken, especially once I got to the choppage section because I knew nothing about that and had to learn a lot to be able to write it realistically.  That definitely changed the way I write because now I research a ton.


Why do you think the quality of your writing improved with that story?

I think it was a mixture of inspiration and maturity.  The idea for Broken came from reading the Swollen Issues series, specifically Swollen Issues II.  I was obsessed with that story, and while it wasn't the best quality of writing I've ever read in a fanfic, it hooked me with its strong characters, detailed descriptions, and emotional punch.  I wasn't even a big Nick fan back then, but that story just made me want to give him a huge hug.  As I refreshed the site it was on multiple times a day as I desperately waited for updates, I wished I could create something that would give my readers that kind of reaction.  So when I started writing Broken, that's what I tried to do.

At the same time, I was a senior in high school, taking AP English, where of course we read and analyzed classic literature.  I think all our discussions and essays about symbolism and imagery in "The Great Gatsby" and "Of Mice and Men" is what sparked the dream interpretation phase I mentioned not too long ago.  I made a lot of awkward attempts at putting some symbolism of my own into Broken, and while they weren't great, they at least added some more depth to my writing.

Then I went away to college, where I wrote the last part of the story, the post-choppage section, which I think is the strongest part.  I didn't plan it that way, but it just happened to coincide that my Nick was undergoing a huge life change in the story at the same time I was in real life.  I don't know if being on my own for the first time and the life experience and maturity that came with it actually spilled over into my writing or if that would have been the natural progression of it anyway, but that is where I really seemed to make the jump from teenybopper to young adult writer.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 14, 2021, 11:58:40 AM
Yeah, it's definitely a different culture over there.  I'm fine with a warnings section, although I haven't used it for most of my stories on AO3 (again, spoilers - and yes, "Major Character Death" gives away a lot more than general "Death"), but I wish there was a genre section too.

Now that I think about it, most of my medical dramas actually aren't on AO3 yet.  I think the only other one I could have given that tag was Curtain Call.  I consider Bethlehem more of a survival story than a medical drama since most of it's set outside a hospital.

LOL!  Well, if I ever get bored enough to post BMS on there, I now know another tag to include.

I'm also fine with a warning section, but, yes, I also wish genre was a section and not just tags.

Yeah, Bethlehem really only becomes a medical drama as a natural consequence of being a survival story. You can't spoil Curtain Call though, so it's better to just call it a drama.

You know, I thought about it for PBox, but I figured the word count spoke for itself. I looked out of curiosity and in the ten wordiest stories, I see you, Rose, Mare, and me. Mare fills out most of the rest of the twenty wordiest stories and I see another one that I know is on AC too. We're all the rebels with our novels in a one-shot world.


LOL I also went down a rabbit hole of tags earlier, which led to my discovery of two Dobby/Hagrid slash stories by different authors in the Harry Potter fandom.  https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Dobby*s*Rubeus%20Hagrid/works  I read them both out of morbid curiosity and got a good laugh.  I think they were both written as jokes...

I came across a Child's Play slash on there a couple years ago... Chucky the killer doll and Andy the little boy.  There was no murder in it at all, just doll sex.  Rule #34 strikes again. LOL

lmao, Rule #34 strikes again! I think we can never assume things were written as jokes, but you're probably right. I also want to make a joke about BDSM and house elves so badly, but it's only half formed in my head. This will bother me all day.

But there was murder in that story. Andy's childhood was murdered by doll sex.


I think that's because a lot of them are just porn without any of the romance that would normally lead up to a sex scene.

I figured that was why as well. Which if you're only writing a one-shot type thing, you don't really need any romantic buildup to the sex.


Yes, we all love the drama!

Those definitely could be reasons why slash has seen a rise in popularity.  I wonder if it's also because homosexuality is more accepted now than it was in the 90s.  It's a bigger part of pop culture, and gay characters are more common now.

I have also noticed that about AO3; there are a lot more one-shots and short stories.  Our really long, complete novels are a rarity there.  Which is exactly why we should keep posting them.

I think loving drama is a characteristic we all share, regardless of our overall genre preferences. Although, I just looked and I've never listed PBox as a drama, even though it's very dramatic.

That might have a lot to do with it too! Just look at all our opinions back in the day "I will never write this," and many of us have at some point or another (although I've never written a BSB one and don't really have an interest in writing one still, reading is fine if it has a story and not just pwp). I think back in the day, it was always there for us too, but possibly a little more taboo.

If nothing else, it takes a lot less effort to write one-shots and short stories. The amount of research I've done for any of them is fairly minimal compared to a novel. When we all have several outside responsibiliti es (I assume), it's easier to put out consistent content if you're keeping it short (or being patient and hoarding).
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 14, 2021, 12:37:04 PM
I better answer these myself before they get buried too deep in this thread.

lol! As Mare said, that tends to happen.

When did you write it, and/or how old were you when you wrote it?

January 2003 - March 2004.  I was 17 when I started it and 18 when I finished.

I feel like I knew that you wrote the whole thing over the course of about a year, but it's always wild to me when I see it confirmed. Did you ever have times where you didn't write it for long stretches of time or were you always writing fairly consistently?


How did that story change you as a writer?

I got a lot better at description and character development during the writing of Broken.  You can see that development happen over the course of the story.  It starts off still a little teenybopperish and cringey, but it gets better as it goes on.  I spent a lot of time in Broken Nick's head, and I think it shows.  He really changes throughout the story as I break him down and build him back up.  And I think Claire is still one of the strongest original characters I've ever created. 

This is also the story that taught me how to research for a fanfic.  I had looked things when writing before, especially for Code Blue, but not to the level I had to for Broken, especially once I got to the choppage section because I knew nothing about that and had to learn a lot to be able to write it realistically.  That definitely changed the way I write because now I research a ton.

I think the more time you spend with a character, the more nuanced they become, especially when you're directly in their head. Nick's character arc was great! And only became stronger as time went. Claire is definitely a strong original character and she only got better as time went on when she had more of her own motivations and goals. :) I know we've discussed it before, but it feels like that "care and investment" in the characters and their story might be a major turning point in the "teenybopper versus nuanced writer" divide. Or at least for you and I. While I enjoyed writing stories prior to the 2003 OF/Gobosei/PBox era, they lacked a lot of that care and investment that led me to really try crafting a better piece of work to really depict a complete story and write about things in realistic and believable ways.

That's true to your research as well, which I also love your care and attention for the accuracy of the smallest details! It's easy enough to say that Nick's leg was amputated, but in a story full of investment in the character, it almost feels like you gotta do it accurate justice for them, especially when it's something you know nothing about going in. I know I realized that research led to more interesting writing, as I'm sure you did too, so I think we're all better for our days of research. You're much better at keeping yours organized though! I've been slowly trying to recreate mine to keep in a safe place, rather than in the same spot in my head as the lyrics to QPG, haha.


Why do you think the quality of your writing improved with that story?

I think it was a mixture of inspiration and maturity.  The idea for Broken came from reading the Swollen Issues series, specifically Swollen Issues II.  I was obsessed with that story, and while it wasn't the best quality of writing I've ever read in a fanfic, it hooked me with its strong characters, detailed descriptions, and emotional punch.  I wasn't even a big Nick fan back then, but that story just made me want to give him a huge hug.  As I refreshed the site it was on multiple times a day as I desperately waited for updates, I wished I could create something that would give my readers that kind of reaction.  So when I started writing Broken, that's what I tried to do.

At the same time, I was a senior in high school, taking AP English, where of course we read and analyzed classic literature.  I think all our discussions and essays about symbolism and imagery in "The Great Gatsby" and "Of Mice and Men" is what sparked the dream interpretation phase I mentioned not too long ago.  I made a lot of awkward attempts at putting some symbolism of my own into Broken, and while they weren't great, they at least added some more depth to my writing.

Then I went away to college, where I wrote the last part of the story, the post-choppage section, which I think is the strongest part.  I didn't plan it that way, but it just happened to coincide that my Nick was undergoing a huge life change in the story at the same time I was in real life.  I don't know if being on my own for the first time and the life experience and maturity that came with it actually spilled over into my writing or if that would have been the natural progression of it anyway, but that is where I really seemed to make the jump from teenybopper to young adult writer.

I bolded this part specifically because I think this is immensely important advice (sentiment?) for anyone aspiring to write something down. If a work touches you so much that you want to create the feeling of it, then do! (Easier said than done, I know.) But I think that if there's a spark of anything like that in anyone from reading something else, then they have that power to try. We're having a discussion here about breakout novels, but all of us have said we wrote many things before that. Many cringey things. But, we all eventually settled on something where there was care, love, and motivation that switched something on in our brains and forced this progression in writing ability. I'm not going to lie and say that writing is never frustrating (I especially don't think I can), but when there's so many strong feelings about wanting to do it, just doing it helps get you there. Everyone started from somewhere. :)

You know, all those discussions about analyzing literature have always made me wonder how much authors purposefully put things in to be symbolic and how much of it was just them thinking things like "awww, it's so hard for the big one because he loves little things, but doesn't know his own strength" or "I just really like the color green." lmao

It could be a little of both, but I definitely think writing is stronger for those types of "write what you know" things than the "I am very familiar with the climate of mountains" type things. It allows us to put a little of ourselves into the writing without blatantly being ourselves. I think Nick was stronger for his "huge life change" coming during your "huge life change." :)

I was the opposite of mature as a freshman, lmao. Anxious might be a better term. Apparently, I like to write PBox when I'm feeling anxious, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 14, 2021, 01:51:59 PM
I feel like I knew that you wrote the whole thing over the course of about a year, but it's always wild to me when I see it confirmed. Did you ever have times where you didn't write it for long stretches of time or were you always writing fairly consistently?

LOL Yeah, that just shows how fast I used to write compared to now.  I was very consistent; I think the longest break I took was about a week when I moved to college.  I wasn't sure how much  fanfic writing I would get done in a dorm room, but thankfully, my roommate had a double major, a job, and a boyfriend, so she was gone a lot, which gave me time to write uninterrupted.


I think the more time you spend with a character, the more nuanced they become, especially when you're directly in their head. Nick's character arc was great! And only became stronger as time went. Claire is definitely a strong original character and she only got better as time went on when she had more of her own motivations and goals. :) I know we've discussed it before, but it feels like that "care and investment" in the characters and their story might be a major turning point in the "teenybopper versus nuanced writer" divide. Or at least for you and I. While I enjoyed writing stories prior to the 2003 OF/Gobosei/PBox era, they lacked a lot of that care and investment that led me to really try crafting a better piece of work to really depict a complete story and write about things in realistic and believable ways.

Thanks!  I agree with what you said about "care and investment" of characters.  I have always been more of a plot-driven writer than character-driven, but at a certain point, I started thinking more deeply about not just what was going to happen to the characters, but how that would change them.  I definitely spent more time living in Nick's head and developing Claire's character than I had in previous stories.


That's true to your research as well, which I also love your care and attention for the accuracy of the smallest details! It's easy enough to say that Nick's leg was amputated, but in a story full of investment in the character, it almost feels like you gotta do it accurate justice for them, especially when it's something you know nothing about going in. I know I realized that research led to more interesting writing, as I'm sure you did too, so I think we're all better for our days of research. You're much better at keeping yours organized though! I've been slowly trying to recreate mine to keep in a safe place, rather than in the same spot in my head as the lyrics to QPG, haha.

Thanks again!  Yeah, I couldn't exactly write it like the children's book version LOL.  "Nick, we need to amputate your leg now."  "Oh noes!"  Nick was sad at first, but then he put on his peg leg and limped out of the hospital and lived happily ever after.  The End!

I think the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about it at first actually helped because it forced me to research thoroughly.  Whereas with the cancer stuff earlier in the story, I still relied a lot on the background knowledge I already had, which came mostly from reading outdated and simplistic Lurlene McDaniel YA books from the 80s, and it shows.  Nick's bone cancer is written more accurately than Claire's leukemia and bone marrow transplant because Lurlene didn't have a book about bone cancer, so I did have to look up some stuff for that LOL.  But with the choppage stuff, I looked up everything.  I learned a lot, and that probably did make that part of the story more interesting.  It was interesting to write, at least.

Folders are your best friend when it comes to organizing bookmarks!  I don't know how I would find anything without folders.  I organize everything by story and then by subtopic within the story.


I bolded this part specifically because I think this is immensely important advice (sentiment?) for anyone aspiring to write something down. If a work touches you so much that you want to create the feeling of it, then do! (Easier said than done, I know.) But I think that if there's a spark of anything like that in anyone from reading something else, then they have that power to try. We're having a discussion here about breakout novels, but all of us have said we wrote many things before that. Many cringey things. But, we all eventually settled on something where there was care, love, and motivation that switched something on in our brains and forced this progression in writing ability. I'm not going to lie and say that writing is never frustrating (I especially don't think I can), but when there's so many strong feelings about wanting to do it, just doing it helps get you there. Everyone started from somewhere. :)

Absolutely!  Everyone does have to start somewhere, and no one's first attempt at writing is their best.  (I would hope not - how sad would it be to peak with your first story?  You'd have nowhere else to go but down.)  Practice makes progress!

This also shows how important it is to read and learn from other writers, whether it's fellow fanfic writers or published authors.  Reading inspires us and helps us grow as writers.


You know, all those discussions about analyzing literature have always made me wonder how much authors purposefully put things in to be symbolic and how much of it was just them thinking things like "awww, it's so hard for the big one because he loves little things, but doesn't know his own strength" or "I just really like the color green." lmao

LOL I know, I always wondered that too.  I hated analyzing literature for class for that reason.  I felt like my teachers always tried to get us to interpret the symbols a certain way and didn't leave a lot of room for our own interpretation .  From my teacher perspective now working with younger students who are mostly still pretty literal in their thinking, I get the need to push them to think deeper and model more abstract thinking for them, but it was frustrating to me as a high school student to be forced to read books and then told how to interpret them.  Maybe F. Scott Fitzgerald really did just like the color green! LOL


I was the opposite of mature as a freshman, lmao. Anxious might be a better term. Apparently, I like to write PBox when I'm feeling anxious, haha.

LOL Oh same here, for sure!  I am an introvert and a homebody, so for me to go away to college by myself and live in a dorm with a roommate I didn't know before the start of the semester was a huge step for me.  I'm sure having Broken to write helped me work through my own anxiety about this change, and I probably channeled a lot of that into Nick's angst.  It worked out perfectly - for me more so than poor Nick, who would have preferred to keep his leg.

Editing to add:  Did you ever read the novel "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell?  If not, I highly recommend it for any fanfic author.  It's about a girl who writes fanfic for a fictional fandom that's basically Harry Potter and how her life changes when she goes away to college.  It didn't come out until I was out of college, but reading it brought back so many memories of my freshman year and writing Broken.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 14, 2021, 02:20:14 PM
LOL Yeah, that just shows how fast I used to write compared to now.  I was very consistent; I think the longest break I took was about a week when I moved to college.  I wasn't sure how much  fanfic writing I would get done in a dorm room, but thankfully, my roommate had a double major, a job, and a boyfriend, so she was gone a lot, which gave me time to write uninterrupted.

I blame real life for our current pace, haha. Moving always makes me useless. I think in half those "where is everybody" threads, I mentioned that I was busy moving, lol. I'm glad it worked out for you. What would you have done if your roommate had been around all the time? Even better, what if your roommate was around all the time, but then it turned out that they were also writing BSB fanfics? That would have been crazy!


Thanks!  I agree with what you said about "care and investment" of characters.  I have always been more of a plot-driven writer than character-driven, but at a certain point, I started thinking more deeply about not just what was going to happen to the characters, but how that would change them.  I definitely spent more time living in Nick's head and developing Claire's character than I had in previous stories.

Your hard work and time speaks for itself. :)


Thanks again!  Yeah, I couldn't exactly write it like the children's book version LOL.  "Nick, we need to amputate your leg now."  "Oh noes!"  Nick was sad at first, but then he put on his peg leg and limped out of the hospital and lived happily ever after.  The End!

I think the fact that I knew absolutely nothing about it at first actually helped because it forced me to research thoroughly.  Whereas with the cancer stuff earlier in the story, I still relied a lot on the background knowledge I already had, which came mostly from reading outdated and simplistic Lurlene McDaniel YA books from the 80s, and it shows.  Nick's bone cancer is written more accurately than Claire's leukemia and bone marrow transplant because Lurlene didn't have a book about bone cancer, so I did have to look up some stuff for that LOL.  But with the choppage stuff, I looked up everything.  I learned a lot, and that probably did make that part of the story more interesting.  It was interesting to write, at least.

Folders are your best friend when it comes to organizing bookmarks!  I don't know how I would find anything without folders.  I organize everything by story and then by subtopic within the story.

What a short story Broken would have been if you did, lol! Oh noes! Not Nick's peg leg! At least he lived happily ever after with it! I was worried the choppage wouldn't go well! lol

I'm glad we all stumbled on "I know absolutely nothing about this" ideas, because I agree, it forces you to grow and do better. lol, I love that your initial justification for research was "Well, Lurlene doesn't have a book about bone cancer, so I guess I'd better figure it out somewhere else!" Whatever makes it happen, right? That's kind of why I think the "write what you know" advice is a little simplistic. It should honestly be "write feelings/emotions/reactions with what you know; write anything else with what you know or what you can thoroughly research." I think when something is interesting to write, it shines through in the narrative. We've all said it, we can tell when writers are doing things for genuine care and when they're doing things for external reasons.

I just didn't keep those bookmarks back then, let alone with that level of organization! That's the problem, haha.


Absolutely!  Everyone does have to start somewhere, and no one's first attempt at writing is their best.  (I would hope not - how sad would it be to peak with your first story?  You'd have nowhere else to go but down.)  Practice makes progress!

This also shows how important it is to read and learn from other writers, whether it's fellow fanfic writers or published authors.  Reading inspires us and helps us grow as writers.

I'd be curious to hear from someone who thought their first story was their best. It would be an interesting perspective! Because I agree with you, practice makes progress.

That's always the biggest advice I see from published authors is to read as much as you write. There's only so many things to do in a bubble.


LOL I know, I always wondered that too.  I hated analyzing literature for class for that reason.  I felt like my teachers always tried to get us to interpret the symbols a certain way and didn't leave a lot of room for our own interpretation .  From my teacher perspective now working with younger students who are mostly still pretty literal in their thinking, I get the need to push them to think deeper and model more abstract thinking for them, but it was frustrating to me as a high school student to be forced to read books and then told how to interpret them.  Maybe F. Scott Fitzgerald really did just like the color green! LOL

I always hated that too! Unless an author comes out and says "there's a lot of x symbolism" is in the story, why try to force interpretation s on it? Reading is an inherently person activity, so each reader should be able to take out the interpretation s and impressions they like! When they're younger, we're still trying to teach them those higher order thinking skills, so it's important to model and scaffold, but most high schoolers should be able to make interpretation s and connections based on their own experience if they had the skills taught and encouraged at a young age. There was a poetry course I took in high school where we did both analyzing and creating, and that teacher was awesome. She let everyone who wanted to discuss whatever symbolism or connections they had before she even inserted her opinion. If she disagreed, her question was always "I wonder why we thought about that differently" instead of saying "this is it, the only interpretation ." College was more like her teaching as well, thank goodness.


LOL Oh same here, for sure!  I am an introvert and a homebody, so for me to go away to college by myself and live in a dorm with a roommate I didn't know before the start of the semester was a huge step for me.  I'm sure having Broken to write helped me work through my own anxiety about this change, and I probably channeled a lot of that into Nick's angst.  It worked out perfectly - for me more so than poor Nick, who would have preferred to keep his leg.

LMAO, sorry anxiety and learning to channel it productively led to you losing your leg, Nick. I also feel a little bad for Nick that he gets to embody anxiety constantly. It must be really stressful for him.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 14, 2021, 04:29:14 PM
I blame real life for our current pace, haha. Moving always makes me useless. I think in half those "where is everybody" threads, I mentioned that I was busy moving, lol. I'm glad it worked out for you. What would you have done if your roommate had been around all the time? Even better, what if your roommate was around all the time, but then it turned out that they were also writing BSB fanfics? That would have been crazy!

So true!  Damn real life adult responsibiliti es getting in the way!

I dunno, I may have had to get more creative or go to the library or somewhere else to write.  She actually had liked BSB back in the day (as most teenage girls our age did at one point or another) and ended up going to two of their shows with me in 2005.  So it was fun to be able to talk BSB with her as a casual fan, but in the three years we lived together, I never let her find out about the fanfic.  It would have been crazy if she was also writing fanfic though.  I've sometimes wondered if I know anyone outside the fandom who has also written fanfic of some sort and never mentioned it.  I might be more willing to talk about it with real life friends if I knew they also wrote fanfic, even if it was for a different fandom.  At least there would be a certain level of understanding there.  Do any of you know anyone in real life (that you didn't meet through BSB) who writes it?


I'm glad we all stumbled on "I know absolutely nothing about this" ideas, because I agree, it forces you to grow and do better. lol, I love that your initial justification for research was "Well, Lurlene doesn't have a book about bone cancer, so I guess I'd better figure it out somewhere else!" Whatever makes it happen, right? That's kind of why I think the "write what you know" advice is a little simplistic. It should honestly be "write feelings/emotions/reactions with what you know; write anything else with what you know or what you can thoroughly research." I think when something is interesting to write, it shines through in the narrative. We've all said it, we can tell when writers are doing things for genuine care and when they're doing things for external reasons.

LOL I relied on Lurlene's books as my main source of medical information for way too long.  In fairness, I didn't have internet in my bedroom for the first year or two I wrote fanfic, so I had to be fairly stealthy in looking stuff up on my mom's computer in the den where anyone in my family could walk by and see the screen.  I didn't want them to know what I was doing or writing, so I would save the info I needed on a floppy disc and then delete my internet history and take it back to my own computer to write offline.  But I had a whole shelf full of Lurlene books with info on cancer treatments and organ transplants and whatnot in my room, so I used the resources I had on hand.  I think Code Blue was the first story where I really had to do more in-depth research, but not to the level I did for Broken.

I totally agree about "write what you know."  That is so limiting.  Like you said, I think it should be "write what you know or are willing to research."  Especially nowadays, when information is so easily accessible.  It can still be a challenge to write about an experience you've never had, but that's a big part of the fun of writing - you can put yourself in a character's shoes and imagine a life that's vastly different from your own.  That's why I'm so into what I'm researching and writing right now - it's new and interesting.


I just didn't keep those bookmarks back then, let alone with that level of organization! That's the problem, haha.

I bookmark just about everything so I can easily refer back to it if I need to fact-check, instead of going, "I know I read something about this, but I can't remember where..."  I have well over a hundred bookmarks already for My Brother's Keeper alone LOL.  That's why I keep them so organized, or it would take forever to sort through them all.


I'd be curious to hear from someone who thought their first story was their best. It would be an interesting perspective! Because I agree with you, practice makes progress.

I would too.  But so many of us started writing fanfic as adolescents.  I'm sure there are people who wrote their first piece of fic as an adult with more education and life experience than us, so it was probably a lot better written than our first stories were.  I still assume they would keep growing and getting better with practice because I've certainly gotten better since my first "adult" story, but it may go back to that question of if your "best" work is your best-written work or just the one you like best.  I can see how your first story would hold such a special place in your heart that you might consider it your best, even if it wasn't the best-written.  That is not my experience, but I will also say that my first story is not my worst either.


I always hated that too! Unless an author comes out and says "there's a lot of x symbolism" is in the story, why try to force interpretation s on it? Reading is an inherently person activity, so each reader should be able to take out the interpretation s and impressions they like! When they're younger, we're still trying to teach them those higher order thinking skills, so it's important to model and scaffold, but most high schoolers should be able to make interpretation s and connections based on their own experience if they had the skills taught and encouraged at a young age. There was a poetry course I took in high school where we did both analyzing and creating, and that teacher was awesome. She let everyone who wanted to discuss whatever symbolism or connections they had before she even inserted her opinion. If she disagreed, her question was always "I wonder why we thought about that differently" instead of saying "this is it, the only interpretation ." College was more like her teaching as well, thank goodness.

Kudos to your poetry teacher!  I think that's how it should be.  I feel like the most useful skill I learned in my high school English classes was how to bullshit my way through essays, which also came in handy in college.  I would just take whatever interpretation the teacher presented in class and write about that, whether I agreed with it or not, and I would get an A.  I was also the student that would write the essay first and then write the outline based on that if I was required to turn one in with the final draft.  I didn't see outlining as an important part of the writing process until I started doing it for fanfic LOL.


LMAO, sorry anxiety and learning to channel it productively led to you losing your leg, Nick. I also feel a little bad for Nick that he gets to embody anxiety constantly. It must be really stressful for him.

LOL Poor Nick.  We've put him through so much.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 14, 2021, 05:51:57 PM
I dunno, I may have had to get more creative or go to the library or somewhere else to write.  She actually had liked BSB back in the day (as most teenage girls our age did at one point or another) and ended up going to two of their shows with me in 2005.  So it was fun to be able to talk BSB with her as a casual fan, but in the three years we lived together, I never let her find out about the fanfic.  It would have been crazy if she was also writing fanfic though.  I've sometimes wondered if I know anyone outside the fandom who has also written fanfic of some sort and never mentioned it.  I might be more willing to talk about it with real life friends if I knew they also wrote fanfic, even if it was for a different fandom.  At least there would be a certain level of understanding there.  Do any of you know anyone in real life (that you didn't meet through BSB) who writes it?

But the library is so public! lmao I guess a library, more than most places, people don't really creep on what other people are doing as much. And in a college library, there's more extended hours. You could have done it! Aw, it's fun that she was a BSB fan even if she wasn't a fanfic writer.

I don't know anyone who writes fanfic for any fandom except for you all. I don't know that any of us really tell people away from places like this that we do, so it would be hard to find them unless any of boisterously talked about it! I wonder what percentage of the BSB fandom is into fanfic at all and then what percentage of those people not only read them, but write them too.

We should be more vocal about it and find those people, haha. Maybe that's part of the stigma is people just don't talk about it.


LOL I relied on Lurlene's books as my main source of medical information for way too long.  In fairness, I didn't have internet in my bedroom for the first year or two I wrote fanfic, so I had to be fairly stealthy in looking stuff up on my mom's computer in the den where anyone in my family could walk by and see the screen.  I didn't want them to know what I was doing or writing, so I would save the info I needed on a floppy disc and then delete my internet history and take it back to my own computer to write offline.  But I had a whole shelf full of Lurlene books with info on cancer treatments and organ transplants and whatnot in my room, so I used the resources I had on hand.  I think Code Blue was the first story where I really had to do more in-depth research, but not to the level I did for Broken.

I totally agree about "write what you know."  That is so limiting.  Like you said, I think it should be "write what you know or are willing to research."  Especially nowadays, when information is so easily accessible.  It can still be a challenge to write about an experience you've never had, but that's a big part of the fun of writing - you can put yourself in a character's shoes and imagine a life that's vastly different from your own.  That's why I'm so into what I'm researching and writing right now - it's new and interesting.

So stealthy! Saving things on your floppy disks and deleting your internet history! I used to go to my mom's work with her on the weekends and didn't even think of that. They probably had such a weird search history, haha. I think as long as my mom saw the Boys at the top of whatever website, she didn't question a thing. Or maybe she did? Maybe my mother knows so many things about me that I have no idea. If they're the resources you had, at least you were using your resources. Any research is better than no research if it's a story that needs some level of research. Like if an oncology doctor wanted to write a story like Broken, I would trust them to have the appropriate medical knowledge without research; but for the majority of people, it would need at least something whether that Lurlene's books, internet, whatever.

The wealth of readily accessible things on the internet including academic sources for research is insane! At that point, anything should be researchable. I love researching, especially when it's something I'm interested in; I've learned so many interesting things. I'm glad you're having fun with My Brother's Keeper! :)


I bookmark just about everything so I can easily refer back to it if I need to fact-check, instead of going, "I know I read something about this, but I can't remember where..."  I have well over a hundred bookmarks already for My Brother's Keeper alone LOL.  That's why I keep them so organized, or it would take forever to sort through them all.

I'm starting to now, but I may need to go back and find things if I need to fact check. I gotta be better about saving, haha.


I would too.  But so many of us started writing fanfic as adolescents.  I'm sure there are people who wrote their first piece of fic as an adult with more education and life experience than us, so it was probably a lot better written than our first stories were.  I still assume they would keep growing and getting better with practice because I've certainly gotten better since my first "adult" story, but it may go back to that question of if your "best" work is your best-written work or just the one you like best.  I can see how your first story would hold such a special place in your heart that you might consider it your best, even if it wasn't the best-written.  That is not my experience, but I will also say that my first story is not my worst either.


Now we need more people who started writing later to weigh in! Is your early work as cringey for you? I couldn't even tell you what my first story was now. It holds no special places in my heart. I've named the three that do and the rest are kind of "eh, I wrote it?"


Kudos to your poetry teacher!  I think that's how it should be.  I feel like the most useful skill I learned in my high school English classes was how to bullshit my way through essays, which also came in handy in college.  I would just take whatever interpretation the teacher presented in class and write about that, whether I agreed with it or not, and I would get an A.  I was also the student that would write the essay first and then write the outline based on that if I was required to turn one in with the final draft.  I didn't see outlining as an important part of the writing process until I started doing it for fanfic LOL.

"Fake it 'til you make it" is regular life advice I spout to anyone who will listen to it, lmao. I also tailored essays to the teacher, but in a way, isn't that just knowing your potential audience? I also wrote the outline afterward if I needed one. It was not great. I do the same thing for fanfics. I am more than happy to write an outline to keep track of things once it's written, but while writing, I would rather work from vague scribbles and notes.


LOL Poor Nick.  We've put him through so much.

He's gotten stronger for it. I'd say "obviously he survived," but he doesn't always... lmao

Editing to add:  Did you ever read the novel "Fangirl" by Rainbow Rowell?  If not, I highly recommend it for any fanfic author.  It's about a girl who writes fanfic for a fictional fandom that's basically Harry Potter and how her life changes when she goes away to college.  It didn't come out until I was out of college, but reading it brought back so many memories of my freshman year and writing Broken.

I didn't read that! I'd heard of another one about fanfic for a GOT type series and the main fanfic writer in the story was writing with some dude who ended up actually being one of the actors. The one you're discussing sounds better, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 14, 2021, 07:39:49 PM
But the library is so public! lmao I guess a library, more than most places, people don't really creep on what other people are doing as much. And in a college library, there's more extended hours. You could have done it! Aw, it's fun that she was a BSB fan even if she wasn't a fanfic writer.

My college library was awesome because it had like eight floors, so if I needed to go there, I could always find some empty area to work where no one would bother me.


We should be more vocal about it and find those people, haha. Maybe that's part of the stigma is people just don't talk about it.

That's probably true, but I'm never going to be the first to bring it up LOL.


So stealthy! Saving things on your floppy disks and deleting your internet history! I used to go to my mom's work with her on the weekends and didn't even think of that. They probably had such a weird search history, haha. I think as long as my mom saw the Boys at the top of whatever website, she didn't question a thing. Or maybe she did? Maybe my mother knows so many things about me that I have no idea.

LOL I used to read fanfic at my mom's work!  My mom's a computer teacher at the middle school I went to, which is basically right across the street from where my parents still live.  The summer I discovered fanfic (1999), she got mad at me for tying up the phone line all the time by getting on the dial-up and wasting printer paper and ink printing out fanfics to read offline, so she let me come over to the school computer lab where the internet was faster and read while she worked.  I found out what visuals were while I was on one of the school computers - whoops LOL.  I wasn't writing fanfic yet then though.


"Fake it 'til you make it" is regular life advice I spout to anyone who will listen to it, lmao. I also tailored essays to the teacher, but in a way, isn't that just knowing your potential audience? I also wrote the outline afterward if I needed one. It was not great. I do the same thing for fanfics. I am more than happy to write an outline to keep track of things once it's written, but while writing, I would rather work from vague scribbles and notes.

Haha, great points!  As far as actually outlining chapter by chapter, I'm like you - I don't usually do that all in advance, but more as I go if I do it at all.  My outlines are typically more timelines of events and when they happen, character info, and research notes.  If the timeline doesn't matter as much or if the story takes place in a short window of time, it's more just a synopsis of all the major events in the order they happen that I add to as I figure out more.  That's what Bethlehem's outline was, whereas My Brother's Keeper has the timeline-style outline because it takes place in a specific period of BSB history.


He's gotten stronger for it. I'd say "obviously he survived," but he doesn't always... lmao

No, no he does not.  But at least he's always resurrected for a new story.  He's like the Jason Vorhees of BSB fanfic LOL.


I didn't read that! I'd heard of another one about fanfic for a GOT type series and the main fanfic writer in the story was writing with some dude who ended up actually being one of the actors. The one you're discussing sounds better, haha.

I haven't heard of the GOT one, but that sounds interesting too.  Fangirl was a really fun and relatable read!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 14, 2021, 08:09:50 PM
My college library was awesome because it had like eight floors, so if I needed to go there, I could always find some empty area to work where no one would bother me.

That's huge! I feel like ours was taller than I think, but it was very squat and wide more than tall. Many nooks and crannies. The "library" in my sorority house, less so. I did most of my writing in my room.


That's probably true, but I'm never going to be the first to bring it up LOL.

I'd say I would, but I also won't even tell my husband or anyone who asks specifically what I'm writing about. I just say "demons" when they ask what it's about. Then I always get "You can't say 'demons' with zero context" as a response, lol. But you asked what it's about and it's about demons! ::) I've clearly answered the question!


LOL I used to read fanfic at my mom's work!  My mom's a computer teacher at the middle school I went to, which is basically right across the street from where my parents still live.  The summer I discovered fanfic (1999), she got mad at me for tying up the phone line all the time by getting on the dial-up and wasting printer paper and ink printing out fanfics to read offline, so she let me come over to the school computer lab where the internet was faster and read while she worked.  I found out what visuals were while I was on one of the school computers - whoops LOL.  I wasn't writing fanfic yet then though.

She just hated me being home alone if she had to work on the weekends, so she dragged me with her. Which worked out, because I could use one of the computers at her work for BSB to my heart's content! LMAO, I also found a visual at her work and clicked right out of there so fast! 11-year-old me was not prepared for that at the time, lol. At least your mom is pragmatic, if you tied up the phone line and wasted precious printer ink, at least you could do it at her work where it didn't do those things (as much). I once printed one of my fanfics that I wrote at my middle school and it wasted so much paper and ink! I'm not even sure how I got into the computer lab to do it, but I did. My BFF watched the door for me, lmao. I'm not usually that bold.


Haha, great points!  As far as actually outlining chapter by chapter, I'm like you - I don't usually do that all in advance, but more as I go if I do it at all.  My outlines are typically more timelines of events and when they happen, character info, and research notes.  If the timeline doesn't matter as much or if the story takes place in a short window of time, it's more just a synopsis of all the major events in the order they happen that I add to as I figure out more.  That's what Bethlehem's outline was, whereas My Brother's Keeper has the timeline-style outline because it takes place in a specific period of BSB history.

As usual, just trying to justify our bad habits, haha.

Yeah, same. I'd call mine more of a chapter-by-chapter synopsis for going back and looking up things I reference or to keep track of what characters are doing. I know in the beginning I used to have a handwritten one, that I can't find, but I specifically remember writing down what Nick was doing in green pen, Howie in purple, Brian in aquamarine, Kevin in blue, and AJ in yellow (written over with orange because I couldn't read it). I want to get back to that again, actually, because it would help me keep character arcs straight.

Always impressed with y'all's timelines. I'd keep it accurate if I did it, but I just have no interest in actual timelines, haha.


No, no he does not.  But at least he's always resurrected for a new story.  He's like the Jason Vorhees of BSB fanfic LOL.

lmao We have a Samara!Brian, Jason!Nick, is AJ Willy Wonka? lol


I haven't heard of the GOT one, but that sounds interesting too.  Fangirl was a really fun and relatable read!

I'll have to check it out. I have a pile of "want to read this books" that hasn't gotten any smaller since I've been busy writing again.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 14, 2021, 09:43:00 PM
I once printed one of my fanfics that I wrote at my middle school and it wasted so much paper and ink! I'm not even sure how I got into the computer lab to do it, but I did. My BFF watched the door for me, lmao. I'm not usually that bold.

LOL I'm sure you were not the first to do that, but I'm glad your friend stood guard so you didn't get caught.  Stories are always so much longer on actual paper than they seem online!  I actually only printed one of them, the first fanfic I ever read, and that was like 50 pages, which seems like nothing now, but was a lot of paper to print.  That's the one I got in trouble for, so I never did it again (except for when I printed out all of Broken so I could see what it looked like - but I specifically bought my own ream of paper and ink for that and did it on my own printer.)  Nostalgic hoarder me still has both that first story and Broken in binders though, so at least it didn't go to waste LOL.


Always impressed with y'all's timelines. I'd keep it accurate if I did it, but I just have no interest in actual timelines, haha.

Thanks!  I'm loving this one so far.  I realized last week I have never actually written about Nick in his hot mess phase.  When he was in it in real life, I was writing Broken and BMS, in which he was not that much of a mess.
 Then I wrote a bunch of AUs in the mid-2000s, and by the time I got to Curtain Call, Nick had gotten his shit together.  So it's kinda fun writing him at the tail end of his hot mess phase at the beginning of 2008 - not that I would ever want to see him go back to his old ways in real life, but it's a different side of him as a character that I haven't ever really explored before.


I'll have to check it out. I have a pile of "want to read this books" that hasn't gotten any smaller since I've been busy writing again.

Ugh, same!  I haven't been reading anything except fanfic (and forum posts LOL) lately because I've been writing so much.  Here it is Sunday night, and I haven't even watched any of my shows because I would rather write while the inspiration is there.  Sunday is my favorite TV night, so you know I'm inspired when I choose writing over watching Walking Dead and 90 Day Fiance LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 15, 2021, 09:23:26 AM
I have been the total opposite. I can’t seem to read fast enough, but that’s all I seem to be able to do lol not much else.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 01:18:38 PM
LOL I'm sure you were not the first to do that, but I'm glad your friend stood guard so you didn't get caught.  Stories are always so much longer on actual paper than they seem online!  I actually only printed one of them, the first fanfic I ever read, and that was like 50 pages, which seems like nothing now, but was a lot of paper to print.  That's the one I got in trouble for, so I never did it again (except for when I printed out all of Broken so I could see what it looked like - but I specifically bought my own ream of paper and ink for that and did it on my own printer.)  Nostalgic hoarder me still has both that first story and Broken in binders though, so at least it didn't go to waste LOL.

They really don't seem as long online! I think it's because there's no page breaks and its just continuous scrolling. 50 pages seems like nothing! I guess even when typing in google docs, I don't really notice the length until it gets to the end of the document and starts being ridiculously slow. And then I say, "Oh, this is 100 pages long." And then I split it and the next part becomes 100 pages long, and so on. PBox on its own is easily 500-600 pages long if I printed it out. When it's online, I tend to think of them more in "Oh this is x words? That will take me about x minutes to read" than "x words is x pages of writing." Glad you saved both of them. And printing that first one taught you to be more stealthy in your fanfic reading, lol. I also have the printed version of that fanfic. Thanks [redacted] for letting me print it rather shadily! Our education system at work!


Thanks!  I'm loving this one so far.  I realized last week I have never actually written about Nick in his hot mess phase.  When he was in it in real life, I was writing Broken and BMS, in which he was not that much of a mess.
 Then I wrote a bunch of AUs in the mid-2000s, and by the time I got to Curtain Call, Nick had gotten his shit together.  So it's kinda fun writing him at the tail end of his hot mess phase at the beginning of 2008 - not that I would ever want to see him go back to his old ways in real life, but it's a different side of him as a character that I haven't ever really explored before.

Yay! Glad you're loving it! I think it's good to try it if you've never written hot mess Nick! He's definitely a wild card! And fun to dabble with, sometimes... I realize I say this and any present-day story I started during that time never got finished and PBox Nick is an emotional wreck, but not as much of a hot mess. Beta Sigma Beta Nick was probably the closest I got to successfully and sustainably writing hot mess Nick, but that was only in the AU parts -- Nick in the "canon" parts was very much 90's Nick. It's probably easier writing hot mess Nick knowing that it's a moment in time and not forever. Whereas back then, we spent a lot of time going "Oh Nick, I love you, but..." Or maybe that was just me. At least I hit 22 and ended up saying "Still not sorry for worrying about you, Nick, but sorry for judging your decisions."


Ugh, same!  I haven't been reading anything except fanfic (and forum posts LOL) lately because I've been writing so much.  Here it is Sunday night, and I haven't even watched any of my shows because I would rather write while the inspiration is there.  Sunday is my favorite TV night, so you know I'm inspired when I choose writing over watching Walking Dead and 90 Day Fiance LOL.

Same, or writing forum posts, lol. Woah, that is inspiration! You skipped your favorite tv night to write! Good for you!

I had the most unproductive weekend. I wrote a sentence on Friday. I did nothing on Saturday... Well, I wrote 1,000s of words here, but nothing novel-wise. Yesterday, I was feeling pretty inspired and got 543 words of PNecklace written, was still thinking about it during weekly meal prep and feeling pretty inspired, then found out we had a snow day today at like 3pm when we finished cooking. And my motivation drained. So I wrote a few notes for myself on the things I had been thinking about while chopping potatoes and cauliflower, then watched the NCAA tournament bracket announcement show and played on my phone or checked here. I got a second wind of inspiration as I went to bed and wrote another 169 words on my phone. Today feels like a solid inspiration day, so I think I can be a little more productive, especially since refreshing the forum constantly would be silly since 9-5 weekdays are slower here, haha. Wish me luck, basically!


I have been the total opposite. I can’t seem to read fast enough, but that’s all I seem to be able to do lol not much else.

What are you reading right now, Mare?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 01:50:04 PM
Today feels like a solid inspiration day, so I think I can be a little more productive, especially since refreshing the forum constantly would be silly since 9-5 weekdays are slower here, haha. Wish me luck, basically!

In the spirit of being totally useless and not productive, I decided to see what my word counts were like around this time (14th of the month) for all the other months that I've been keeping track (since November).


I broke the pattern, oh noes! lol I'm going to call this fairly consistent. Anyway, all this being said, I think I'm going to do the Camp NaNo in April if anyone wants to join me. It's a little less of a commitment than November's event since you get to set your own word count goal for writing or editing, rather than the 50,000 words of writing November requires for completion. Not sure what my word count goal will be yet, but my plan is to have PNecklace finished by the end of the month; about six months of committed writing, that would be pretty good work! I have about 60,000 words left to go (based on chapters left and my typical chapter length goals); I think I can do it! :)

Now I'll stop stalling, take advantage of this Monday snow day, and go write, lol. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 15, 2021, 04:23:01 PM
I have been the total opposite. I can’t seem to read fast enough, but that’s all I seem to be able to do lol not much else.

I go through phases like that too.  It's usually either/or for me... either I write a lot, or I read a lot.  It's hard to find the time to do a lot of both, and although I love to read, I tend to choose writing when I have the time and motivation because I'm always like, "I can read any time, but I can't write any time, so I should write now."  And then I realize it's been a while since I've read an actual book.  I have a pile of half-finished, barely-started, or not-started-yet-but-someday books waiting on my night table.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 15, 2021, 04:33:15 PM
Yay! Glad you're loving it! I think it's good to try it if you've never written hot mess Nick! He's definitely a wild card! And fun to dabble with, sometimes... I realize I say this and any present-day story I started during that time never got finished and PBox Nick is an emotional wreck, but not as much of a hot mess. Beta Sigma Beta Nick was probably the closest I got to successfully and sustainably writing hot mess Nick, but that was only in the AU parts -- Nick in the "canon" parts was very much 90's Nick. It's probably easier writing hot mess Nick knowing that it's a moment in time and not forever. Whereas back then, we spent a lot of time going "Oh Nick, I love you, but..." Or maybe that was just me. At least I hit 22 and ended up saying "Still not sorry for worrying about you, Nick, but sorry for judging your decisions."

Yes!  Especially the part I bolded.  Back when Nick was a hot mess, I was happier writing about a fictional version who wasn't (or was at least less so).  But now that he's moved on to a new and better phase of his life, it's been interesting to look back and work some of his real life drama into my fanfic.  It makes me appreciate the personal growth he's made since then even more.


Same, or writing forum posts, lol. Woah, that is inspiration! You skipped your favorite tv night to write! Good for you!

I had the most unproductive weekend. I wrote a sentence on Friday. I did nothing on Saturday... Well, I wrote 1,000s of words here, but nothing novel-wise. Yesterday, I was feeling pretty inspired and got 543 words of PNecklace written, was still thinking about it during weekly meal prep and feeling pretty inspired, then found out we had a snow day today at like 3pm when we finished cooking. And my motivation drained. So I wrote a few notes for myself on the things I had been thinking about while chopping potatoes and cauliflower, then watched the NCAA tournament bracket announcement show and played on my phone or checked here. I got a second wind of inspiration as I went to bed and wrote another 169 words on my phone. Today feels like a solid inspiration day, so I think I can be a little more productive, especially since refreshing the forum constantly would be silly since 9-5 weekdays are slower here, haha. Wish me luck, basically!

I told myself I would watch my shows tonight because nothing else is on (except Snowpiercer, which I have already fallen a few weeks behind on - whoops).  But I wrote before school again this morning and am hoping to write more tonight, so we'll see.  I didn't watch Walking Dead last Sunday night either because I got sucked into the Meghan and Harry interview, and I didn't end up watching it until Saturday night because I wrote most of the other nights.  Too much inspiration and not enough time... it's a good problem to have!

I figured you must have had a snow day today when I saw what time you posted on here.  We had shitty weather here today too - rain, then freezing rain, then back to regular rain.  Not cold enough to get any snow, but some of the trees were covered in ice on the way home, while the grass is starting to get green... very weird looking. 

Don't feel bad about having an unproductive weekend.  We all have weekends like that, and you weren't feeling your best.  I hope you had better luck writing today!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 15, 2021, 04:40:49 PM
In the spirit of being totally useless and not productive, I decided to see what my word counts were like around this time (14th of the month) for all the other months that I've been keeping track (since November).

  • November: 20,412 words
  • December: 10,370 words
  • January: 20,891 words
  • February: 11,027 words
  • March: 7,900 words

I broke the pattern, oh noes! lol I'm going to call this fairly consistent. Anyway, all this being said, I think I'm going to do the Camp NaNo in April if anyone wants to join me. It's a little less of a commitment than November's event since you get to set your own word count goal for writing or editing, rather than the 50,000 words of writing November requires for completion. Not sure what my word count goal will be yet, but my plan is to have PNecklace finished by the end of the month; about six months of committed writing, that would be pretty good work! I have about 60,000 words left to go (based on chapters left and my typical chapter length goals); I think I can do it! :)

Now I'll stop stalling, take advantage of this Monday snow day, and go write, lol. :)

Wow, you were super productive in November and January!  Hopefully you're more productive for the rest of March, especially if you want to write 60,000 words between now and the end of April!

I've never tried keeping track of a monthly word count that way.  That is probably helpful for setting a goal for Camp NaNo.  I have never done that before either, but I'd be willing to give it a try.  I've always wanted to do NaNoWriMo, but November is never a good month for me.  April is more doable because at least it starts with my spring break.  It doesn't have to be a brand new story/project, right?  I can just set a word count goal for what I'm currently writing?  That would be good for me.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 15, 2021, 05:53:17 PM
Answering your question, Dee. I just finished The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett. It was really great. I’m now reading Slaughterhouse Five. I promised myself I’d read at least one classic book a year that I’ve never read before. It’s really weird and funny and strange. Very Kurt Vonnegut lol

And I’m the same way too, Julie. Physically all I seem to be able to do is lay in bed or on my recliner so reading is the way to go for me. When I had the writing bug, I barely read anything except maybe a few fanfics I was following.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 06:09:07 PM
I'm going to come back and respond to all of this, but I need someone to appreciate this that is not my husband, because his response was "Okay, sorry you spent your time doing that instead of being productive." (still mostly productive)

In the name of quick research, I tried looking up videos of birds falling without being injured/able to stick the landing and stumbled on a bunch of videos of baby birds attempting flight for the first time instead. So, have some videos of baby birds attempting flight because they look like tiny puff balls bouncing off the ground that should have some sort of accompanying silly sound effect.

https://youtu.be/8BjYZnJEYwI (https://youtu.be/8BjYZnJEYwI) or https://youtu.be/ZbOCsQbeaZM (https://youtu.be/ZbOCsQbeaZM)

I did stumble on one where the baby bird probably shouldn't have been trying to jump, but a predatory bird and fox wanted to nom on them. It went less well and made me sad. :(

Back to writing while feeling inspired and working hard!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 15, 2021, 06:17:44 PM
Aww, cute! Thanks for only sharing the successful ones LOL. I can't handle sad animal videos.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on March 15, 2021, 08:35:15 PM
Sorry for not being so chatty in the last few days, I’ve had a really crazy weekend with work and today is my day off so I am here and there. I did manage to write a little bit over the weekend and almost have a new chapter of History written.


I was going to answer questions but they are pretty buried so I am going to try to answer at least one lol

there’s nothing that I’ve ever written that I didn’t post, other than a death I started for 1000 Ways last year, I never finished it so I never posted it but it’s in my drafts on Google Docs somewhere. I also still have the beginnings of that Brian romance story that I was playing with too. Not sure if I want to post it or not, I’m undecided.

I’ve never regretted writing anything but looking back on my older stories recently, there’s things I would change or tweak to make them bettter. I don’t because it’s good to reread them and look back to see how I have grown as a writer. I used to use such short chapters and very little description so it’s nice to see how I have improved in that area.

As for my most popular story? If I had to guess I would say You Give Love A Bad Name only because I know it’s my most read story on Wattpad so it could very well be the same case on AC too. On Wattpad it has 10,400 hits on it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 09:26:08 PM
Yes!  Especially the part I bolded.  Back when Nick was a hot mess, I was happier writing about a fictional version who wasn't (or was at least less so).  But now that he's moved on to a new and better phase of his life, it's been interesting to look back and work some of his real life drama into my fanfic.  It makes me appreciate the personal growth he's made since then even more.

It's like real life character development! Once again, Nick just screams protagonist, lmao. ;) I appreciate it too. :) In the right crowd, he's got a good head on his shoulders.

Ooh, that actually reminds me of something I was reading today about things people notice about men who are insecure in their masculinity and one of them was something like "Put their friends down constantly. Real men constantly celebrate and love their brothers for their accomplishment s. Insecure men are always trying to one-up everyone or make others look small so they look better." And my first thought was definitely "Nick versus Justin" rather than anyone I knew in real life, lol.


I told myself I would watch my shows tonight because nothing else is on (except Snowpiercer, which I have already fallen a few weeks behind on - whoops).  But I wrote before school again this morning and am hoping to write more tonight, so we'll see.  I didn't watch Walking Dead last Sunday night either because I got sucked into the Meghan and Harry interview, and I didn't end up watching it until Saturday night because I wrote most of the other nights.  Too much inspiration and not enough time... it's a good problem to have!

If you wrote before school, you almost gotta keep the momentum going if you can? Or take a break because you deserve it. I see both arguments. That interview was wild! I think I'd rather have too much inspiration and not enough time rather than loads of time and no inspiration. I can confirm that no writing gets done without inspiration.


I figured you must have had a snow day today when I saw what time you posted on here.  We had shitty weather here today too - rain, then freezing rain, then back to regular rain.  Not cold enough to get any snow, but some of the trees were covered in ice on the way home, while the grass is starting to get green... very weird looking. 

Don't feel bad about having an unproductive weekend.  We all have weekends like that, and you weren't feeling your best.  I hope you had better luck writing today!

I am bold enough to write at work if I have nothing else to do, no one is around, and I'm feeling inspired. I am not bold enough to check the forums. Or play on my phone... I figure writing looks like doing work, so unless someone sneaks up on me and says "Who stabbed what now?" they would never know, lol.

That's what Saturday was like. Loads and loads of rain. Then our fourth largest snow storm in record-tracking years. And then snow day number two tomorrow! It's a sign to write. Also a great time to be recovering from the vaccine if it had gone more poorly. Extra days. :) It's always super weird when it's green out and there's ice. It's like that here a lot just because of the sun being out most of the time, even when it snows.

I was just mostly bummed that Sunday felt like an inspiration day and ended up being a wash. But you're right, we all have days and weekends and weeks like that. :) After all that, I ended up finishing the chapter I was working on and writing about 1,300 new words today so far. Next chapter is fun because I basically have two versions of it written, I'm just figuring out how to splice it together the best so that it's the most interesting. So I'll go back to having several documents open at once, the worst, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 15, 2021, 09:27:02 PM
I hope you've enjoyed your day off, Tracy!  Glad to hear you got some written over the weekend.  I also hope you'll finish that Nick death and post it at some point!  What has you undecided about the Brian romance?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 15, 2021, 09:35:59 PM
It's like real life character development! Once again, Nick just screams protagonist, lmao. ;) I appreciate it too. :) In the right crowd, he's got a good head on his shoulders.

Ooh, that actually reminds me of something I was reading today about things people notice about men who are insecure in their masculinity and one of them was something like "Put their friends down constantly. Real men constantly celebrate and love their brothers for their accomplishment s. Insecure men are always trying to one-up everyone or make others look small so they look better." And my first thought was definitely "Nick versus Justin" rather than anyone I knew in real life, lol.

Haha, that is so true!  I love how our boys embrace their "feminine" side.  They're not afraid to share their feelings or cry in front of other people or tell each other "I love you" or, in AJ's case, wear nail polish and eye makeup and women's clothing LOL.  They must be fairly confident in their masculinity to do those things.  I also think their willingness to emote and show their love for each other makes them more fun fanfic characters to write.


If you wrote before school, you almost gotta keep the momentum going if you can? Or take a break because you deserve it. I see both arguments. That interview was wild! I think I'd rather have too much inspiration and not enough time rather than loads of time and no inspiration. I can confirm that no writing gets done without inspiration.

I've been writing all evening and haven't even turned on my TV!  I guess no Walking Dead or 90 Day Fiance again tonight.  I'll catch up when my inspiration runs out.  It is rare for me to be on such a roll this early on in a story (especially a story I was stuck on for three years LOL), so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.


That's what Saturday was like. Loads and loads of rain. Then our fourth largest snow storm in record-tracking years. And then snow day number two tomorrow! It's a sign to write. Also a great time to be recovering from the vaccine if it had gone more poorly. Extra days. :) It's always super weird when it's green out and there's ice. It's like that here a lot just because of the sun being out most of the time, even when it snows.

I was just mostly bummed that Sunday felt like an inspiration day and ended up being a wash. But you're right, we all have days and weekends and weeks like that. :) After all that, I ended up finishing the chapter I was working on and writing about 1,300 new words today so far. Next chapter is fun because I basically have two versions of it written, I'm just figuring out how to splice it together the best so that it's the most interesting. So I'll go back to having several documents open at once, the worst, lol.

Yay for another snow day tomorrow!  And congrats on finishing your chapter!  I hope you can keep the momentum going and take advantage of the extra writing time tomorrow.  Snow days are the best because there's no pressure to go out and do anything with your unexpected day off.  You can just stay home and do whatever you want.

I hate splicing!!!  And yet, it makes me happy to be able to use excerpts from old versions of a scene in the new one.  I just hate the process of putting everything together.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 09:42:01 PM
Wow, you were super productive in November and January!  Hopefully you're more productive for the rest of March, especially if you want to write 60,000 words between now and the end of April!

I've never tried keeping track of a monthly word count that way.  That is probably helpful for setting a goal for Camp NaNo.  I have never done that before either, but I'd be willing to give it a try.  I've always wanted to do NaNoWriMo, but November is never a good month for me.  April is more doable because at least it starts with my spring break.  It doesn't have to be a brand new story/project, right?  I can just set a word count goal for what I'm currently writing?  That would be good for me.

Here's to hoping!

NaNo is fun, but an undertaking! This was the only year I've been successful and pretty much all I did was write nonstop, like Hamilton, lol.

They've gotten a lot more lax on the rules over the years, like they didn't use to allow fanfic and verified everyone's word count on their own servers. But even for the actual event in November, the idea is starting a brand new novel (just because they've found people are more successful getting it from start to finish rather than continuing an ongoing project), but they basically say "you do you" now. So rebels who continue old projects can still be winners! :) You just have to write 50,000 words.

But definitely for the April/July Camp Nanos, you can set whatever word count as a goal and have at it for any old or new project or projects, they don't even have to be "novels" in the traditional sense: poems, research papers, scripts, blogs, whatever are all fine as long as we're writing. And then we just cheer each other on and update our word counts as we work. :) Camp used to be a little more complicated set-up wise (like you could join pre-made writing groups based on what you were writing), but it's a lot simpler now that it's all the same site. Here's their little blurb: https://nanowrimo.org/what-is-camp-nanowrimo (https://nanowrimo.org/what-is-camp-nanowrimo)

And I already preemptively made our writing group back whenever we all discussed the July one, so it's ready to go whenever, it just needs a little visual love, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 09:47:27 PM
Answering your question, Dee. I just finished The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett. It was really great. I’m now reading Slaughterhouse Five. I promised myself I’d read at least one classic book a year that I’ve never read before. It’s really weird and funny and strange. Very Kurt Vonnegut lol

And I’m the same way too, Julie. Physically all I seem to be able to do is lay in bed or on my recliner so reading is the way to go for me. When I had the writing bug, I barely read anything except maybe a few fanfics I was following.

For sure, Slaughterhouse Five is quintessential Kurt Vonnegut! I'm glad you're enjoying everything you're reading. What's next on the list, either general or a classic you haven't read?

I can't think of the last thing I read that wasn't a fanfic... Depending on how writing is going, I think I'm going to commit to reading something over spring break.

I go through phases like that too.  It's usually either/or for me... either I write a lot, or I read a lot.  It's hard to find the time to do a lot of both, and although I love to read, I tend to choose writing when I have the time and motivation because I'm always like, "I can read any time, but I can't write any time, so I should write now."  And then I realize it's been a while since I've read an actual book.  I have a pile of half-finished, barely-started, or not-started-yet-but-someday books waiting on my night table.

How do you feel about reading in public places? Like at work?

I have the same pile in our living room. It's bad.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 09:51:09 PM
Aww, cute! Thanks for only sharing the successful ones LOL. I can't handle sad animal videos.

I'll share any weird video I look up, but I was laughing so hard that they just went for the jump, bounced, then carried on their merry way. I kept expecting to hear the ducks make that weird, surprised gasp/bump sound that kids make when they fall down ("Hnew" seems like a good approximation), but they did not. I also hate sad animal videos; I can't stand those SPCA videos.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on March 15, 2021, 10:08:08 PM
I hope you've enjoyed your day off, Tracy!  Glad to hear you got some written over the weekend.  I also hope you'll finish that Nick death and post it at some point!  What has you undecided about the Brian romance?

I had so many ideas for one shots over the weekend but also no motivation to write any of them lol.

I’m not sure what is making me hesitate on the Brian story. It could be a few reasons. I think it is a very interesting idea but I don’t think I have enough to make a whole story and commit to regular updates on it. I have not written any romance that is not slash in about two years, so I think that is why i am having trouble connecting to that story again. I find myself revisiting old ideas I’ve had and the stories on AC that I abandoned, like the storm chasing story that had AJ as the main character. I’d love to actually rework it and make another attempt on it one day. It’s just going to need a LOT of research and I just don’t have time to take  to do that with how my work is going. It’s been very hectic at my night job for the last month or so. I had to take over a job in my department that’s not my normal job, without being trained properly on said job. I was thrown into it and I winged it. So my stress level has been through the roof.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 10:08:47 PM
Sorry for not being so chatty in the last few days, I’ve had a really crazy weekend with work and today is my day off so I am here and there. I did manage to write a little bit over the weekend and almost have a new chapter of History written.

We've missed you! (I did at least; it's always more fun when everyone's feeling chatty.) But I hope you're enjoying your well deserved day off after a crazy week and also glad that you're still getting some writing done despite being busy. :) Hope your neck is feeling better too!


I was going to answer questions but they are pretty buried so I am going to try to answer at least one lol

Yay! Answers to questions! Always answer if you want to answer, no matter how buried!

If you wanted to keep answering, this is the post with those questions and the others (and/or the first post of this thread):

Stumbled on some fun questions to answer

Julie asked:

Are there any aspects of writing you seem to have trouble with?  I am generally pretty good with spelling and grammar, but one thing I've noticed about myself is I often want to make compound words out of terms that are really two separate words.

And then Julie asked about breakout stories:

We were talking about breakout stories, the first story you wrote that was actually decent and wouldn't make you cringe to go back and read it now.

What was your breakout story?

When did you write it, and/or how old were you when you wrote it?

How did that story change you as a writer?

Why do you think the quality of your writing improved with that story?

And then we had some discussions about keeping things balanced when switching POV and what genres are popular for popular boybands in fanfic and I did lots of math instead of anything writing related, lol. And here we are. Summarizing fast-moving long things is one of my talents. ;)


there’s nothing that I’ve ever written that I didn’t post, other than a death I started for 1000 Ways last year, I never finished it so I never posted it but it’s in my drafts on Google Docs somewhere. I also still have the beginnings of that Brian romance story that I was playing with too. Not sure if I want to post it or not, I’m undecided.

I’ve never regretted writing anything but looking back on my older stories recently, there’s things I would change or tweak to make them bettter. I don’t because it’s good to reread them and look back to see how I have grown as a writer. I used to use such short chapters and very little description so it’s nice to see how I have improved in that area.

As for my most popular story? If I had to guess I would say You Give Love A Bad Name only because I know it’s my most read story on Wattpad so it could very well be the same case on AC too. On Wattpad it has 10,400 hits on it.

Julie asked already, but I'd love to hear your thought process on your Brian story too.

Those ideas for tweaks and changes can always be used for newer stories. I think I'm an outlier in the rewriting/major editing. I wonder if it's similar in other fandoms.

Dang! That's a lot of hits! A kudos for you! :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 10:32:07 PM
Haha, that is so true!  I love how our boys embrace their "feminine" side.  They're not afraid to share their feelings or cry in front of other people or tell each other "I love you" or, in AJ's case, wear nail polish and eye makeup and women's clothing LOL.  They must be fairly confident in their masculinity to do those things.  I also think their willingness to emote and show their love for each other makes them more fun fanfic characters to write.

Me too, and they always have. It's the best part of their bond. :) I was never sure why anyone called them the "serious ones" like they had zero emotions. They're the best little emoters. ;)


I've been writing all evening and haven't even turned on my TV!  I guess no Walking Dead or 90 Day Fiance again tonight.  I'll catch up when my inspiration runs out.  It is rare for me to be on such a roll this early on in a story (especially a story I was stuck on for three years LOL), so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

Woah! Go, Julie, go! I'm sending good vibes to your inspiration! Now was just the right time to write this one!


Yay for another snow day tomorrow!  And congrats on finishing your chapter!  I hope you can keep the momentum going and take advantage of the extra writing time tomorrow.  Snow days are the best because there's no pressure to go out and do anything with your unexpected day off.  You can just stay home and do whatever you want.

I hate splicing!!!  And yet, it makes me happy to be able to use excerpts from old versions of a scene in the new one.  I just hate the process of putting everything together.

I am so excited. It's a four day weekend! I knew I had it in me eventually. I'm hoping I can as well. I'm trying to keep my sleep schedule fairly consistent, but I'm honestly wide awake, so I may just keep writing until I can't or it hits midnight or something. Tomorrow's schedule is a little writing, a little of my volunteer stuff, some coffee, and paper shredding, lol. Today I deep cleaned the bathrooms, so I deserve some writing time.

I don't mind splicing, but it's usually a "I wrote part of this scene already and now we're here." Then I type over it in suggest mode as I see fit until it goes with the rest of what's there. Suggest mode is my favorite, but the walls of green are something else after a while. I think this one might be a little harder because I have a "here's what happened" version and "here's Nick saying 'here's what happened' as everyone reacts" version. There's good in both, it's just putting them together in the right way, because I don't think it warrants both a "here's what happened" chapter and a "everyone reacts" chapter. Not sure what this is yet! I may have to reread both of them first, then decide.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 15, 2021, 10:39:25 PM
I had so many ideas for one shots over the weekend but also no motivation to write any of them lol.

Write them down and save them for when motivation comes!


I’m not sure what is making me hesitate on the Brian story. It could be a few reasons. I think it is a very interesting idea but I don’t think I have enough to make a whole story and commit to regular updates on it. I have not written any romance that is not slash in about two years, so I think that is why i am having trouble connecting to that story again. I find myself revisiting old ideas I’ve had and the stories on AC that I abandoned, like the storm chasing story that had AJ as the main character. I’d love to actually rework it and make another attempt on it one day. It’s just going to need a LOT of research and I just don’t have time to take  to do that with how my work is going. It’s been very hectic at my night job for the last month or so. I had to take over a job in my department that’s not my normal job, without being trained properly on said job. I was thrown into it and I winged it. So my stress level has been through the roof.

Could be a novella if you think it has enough for a little story, but not a lot of story? I wonder if there's a romancey movie that would get you in the groove? 27 Dresses is always one of my go-tos.

I do love that you're getting inspired on old ideas too! Maybe we can all make a commitment to each other to tackle Guilty Roads, Gobosei, and the AJ story (or another old one you like) if we're all feeling inspired about them. :)

It's hard to find creative motivation when work is stressful. Sorry you had an entire new job thrust on you without training; that's always hard! I'm sending you lots of good vibes that it gets better. Make sure that you're taking time for you! Whether that involves writing or not! You're a champ!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 16, 2021, 10:56:37 AM
For sure, Slaughterhouse Five is quintessential Kurt Vonnegut! I'm glad you're enjoying everything you're reading. What's next on the list, either general or a classic you haven't read?

I can't think of the last thing I read that wasn't a fanfic... Depending on how writing is going, I think I'm going to commit to reading something over spring break.

How do you feel about reading in public places? Like at work?

I have the same pile in our living room. It's bad.

Next up is probably a John Grisham novel I haven’t read yet. I think it’s called The Partner? I’ve read his newer stuff but never read much of his older stuff.

I missed the where I read question. I always had a book with me at school in case of last minute assemblies or class no shows. I usually bring a book with me wherever I go, like my Dr. Appt. tomorrow, but if it’s too loud I can’t concentrate on what I’m reading. I prefer reading at home, especially when the weather is warm enough for me to sit outside.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 16, 2021, 05:37:28 PM
But definitely for the April/July Camp Nanos, you can set whatever word count as a goal and have at it for any old or new project or projects, they don't even have to be "novels" in the traditional sense: poems, research papers, scripts, blogs, whatever are all fine as long as we're writing. And then we just cheer each other on and update our word counts as we work. :) Camp used to be a little more complicated set-up wise (like you could join pre-made writing groups based on what you were writing), but it's a lot simpler now that it's all the same site. Here's their little blurb: https://nanowrimo.org/what-is-camp-nanowrimo (https://nanowrimo.org/what-is-camp-nanowrimo)

And I already preemptively made our writing group back whenever we all discussed the July one, so it's ready to go whenever, it just needs a little visual love, lol.

Yeah, that sounds more my speed.  I don't like having a lot of requirements for something that's supposed to be fun.  I could probably churn out 50,000 in June or July with the right story, but not in any other month.  Count me in for the Camp Nano!


How do you feel about reading in public places? Like at work?

I have the same pile in our living room. It's bad.

I can read in public places if I have to (like in waiting rooms or airports), but I prefer to read at home.  I do read at work sometimes, but only children's books or professional texts.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 16, 2021, 05:43:43 PM
I had so many ideas for one shots over the weekend but also no motivation to write any of them lol.

I’m not sure what is making me hesitate on the Brian story. It could be a few reasons. I think it is a very interesting idea but I don’t think I have enough to make a whole story and commit to regular updates on it. I have not written any romance that is not slash in about two years, so I think that is why i am having trouble connecting to that story again. I find myself revisiting old ideas I’ve had and the stories on AC that I abandoned, like the storm chasing story that had AJ as the main character. I’d love to actually rework it and make another attempt on it one day. It’s just going to need a LOT of research and I just don’t have time to take  to do that with how my work is going. It’s been very hectic at my night job for the last month or so. I had to take over a job in my department that’s not my normal job, without being trained properly on said job. I was thrown into it and I winged it. So my stress level has been through the roof.

I'm glad to hear you have a lot of ideas!  Sorry the time/motivation is lacking.  Your work situation does sound stressful!  I hope it gets better as you get used to it or until you can hire someone new for that position.

I hear you on the romance woes.  I usually write romance more as a subplot so I don't worry about running out of ideas or getting bored with it.  I've gotta have some other drama outside of the relationship to keep me interested.  If it helps, you sound exactly like me when I was getting ready for write By My Side back in the day - worried I wouldn't have enough ideas, worried I wouldn't be able to commit to it.  Somehow it turned into a 200-chapter novel that I had no trouble finishing.  But even though it is a romance, it definitely had outside drama, too.  Maybe there's a way you could combine the Brian romance storyline with another idea to beef it up.  Or you could always envision it as a shorter story, like a novella instead of a novel.  Not everything needs to be an epic, as I'm learning LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 16, 2021, 06:03:40 PM
I am so excited. It's a four day weekend! I knew I had it in me eventually. I'm hoping I can as well. I'm trying to keep my sleep schedule fairly consistent, but I'm honestly wide awake, so I may just keep writing until I can't or it hits midnight or something. Tomorrow's schedule is a little writing, a little of my volunteer stuff, some coffee, and paper shredding, lol. Today I deep cleaned the bathrooms, so I deserve some writing time.

I don't mind splicing, but it's usually a "I wrote part of this scene already and now we're here." Then I type over it in suggest mode as I see fit until it goes with the rest of what's there. Suggest mode is my favorite, but the walls of green are something else after a while. I think this one might be a little harder because I have a "here's what happened" version and "here's Nick saying 'here's what happened' as everyone reacts" version. There's good in both, it's just putting them together in the right way, because I don't think it warrants both a "here's what happened" chapter and a "everyone reacts" chapter. Not sure what this is yet! I may have to reread both of them first, then decide.

You definitely deserved some writing time after deep cleaning your bathrooms!  I hope you got some writing done today too, in between volunteering and paper shredding.

I have never really used suggesting mode for fanfic because I feel like the walls of green would bother me, but it's worth a shot sometime.  I can't wait until I can safely delete the copy I made of the original version of My Brother's Keeper when I went back to revise/rewrite some of it.  I'm past the point I was in that version, plotwise, but I keep finding new places to put some of the little snippets of dialogue or description I liked in the first version.  It is nice not to have to rewrite everything from scratch, but I don't like to have multiple versions of the same story junking up my folders.


Woah! Go, Julie, go! I'm sending good vibes to your inspiration! Now was just the right time to write this one!

Thanks!  Apparently so!  I wrote before school again this morning and am hoping to write more tonight.  I'm almost done with Chapter 9, but then I have to go back and write Chapter 8, which I skipped because the scene I'm working on now was originally tacked onto Chapter 7 until it got too long.  So I wrote two Kevin chapters in a row, and next I'll go back and write two Nick ones.  And that will put me through Chapter 10, so if this writing streak continues, I'll be ready to start posting this thing in April.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 16, 2021, 08:14:11 PM
Next up is probably a John Grisham novel I haven’t read yet. I think it’s called The Partner? I’ve read his newer stuff but never read much of his older stuff.

I didn't think I've actually ever read one of his novels! Then I looked it up and none of the covers for the books looked familiar, but the film posters did. So, apparently, I have seen a bunch of movies based on his novels without reading them, lol.

Which one that you've read did you like best?


I missed the where I read question. I always had a book with me at school in case of last minute assemblies or class no shows. I usually bring a book with me wherever I go, like my Dr. Appt. tomorrow, but if it’s too loud I can’t concentrate on what I’m reading. I prefer reading at home, especially when the weather is warm enough for me to sit outside.

Mare! Reading during assemblies! Shame. Kidding. ;) I like reading outside too (or at the pool). It's not as bad with a book because you can still wear sunglasses. :)

I can read in public places if I have to (like in waiting rooms or airports), but I prefer to read at home.  I do read at work sometimes, but only children's books or professional texts.

I do most of my reading on airplanes these days. That's probably why I feel like I haven't read anything in a while, lol. I don't really read at work either, but I always see other teachers reading on their lunches, so I was curious if you were a work reader or not (and also if Mare was, really).
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 16, 2021, 08:19:04 PM
Yeah, that sounds more my speed.  I don't like having a lot of requirements for something that's supposed to be fun.  I could probably churn out 50,000 in June or July with the right story, but not in any other month.  Count me in for the Camp Nano!

Wahoo! Everyone who's interested in joining me for a little craziness, go to nanowrimo.org (http://nanowrimo.org) and click "sign up" if you don't already have an account. Then everyone tell me your usernames and I will invite you to "The Absolutely Chaotic Backstreet Project" writing group. :)


Not everything needs to be an epic, as I'm learning LOL.

Psh! Shhh! ;)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 16, 2021, 08:34:59 PM
You definitely deserved some writing time after deep cleaning your bathrooms!  I hope you got some writing done today too, in between volunteering and paper shredding.

I ended up shredding zero papers today, lol. Next time. But I did get a lot of writing done! I successfully spliced the two chapters and still ended up writing 1,700 new words for the chapter, including two times where I actually laughed out loud while writing, which I didn't know this was a chapter for jokes, but apparently it was.

And we can all play another addition of "Which Backstreet Boy is being discussed?" Hooray!:

“Clueless, unpredictable, and impulsive! At least something always gets done!”

I also get to add more kinky tags to this epic story at some point in the future as I constantly write ahead. I assume there's got to be some kind of tag for "kinky claiming by supernatural beings," no? lol I'm a horrible person because I'm sure most of those tags are meant legitimately and I never intend for anything to be kinky and just like to joke.


I have never really used suggesting mode for fanfic because I feel like the walls of green would bother me, but it's worth a shot sometime.  I can't wait until I can safely delete the copy I made of the original version of My Brother's Keeper when I went back to revise/rewrite some of it.  I'm past the point I was in that version, plotwise, but I keep finding new places to put some of the little snippets of dialogue or description I liked in the first version.  It is nice not to have to rewrite everything from scratch, but I don't like to have multiple versions of the same story junking up my folders.

I have so many versions of all of these at this point that it is what it is, haha. I try to limit the walls of green text to one chapter at a time, then track the new words, then accept the changes so it's not always walls and walls of green text. I think it's fun to have a "complete old version" copy, then you can see how much has changed. :) It's why I still have my circa 2008 version of PBox even though I updated it on the site.


Thanks!  Apparently so!  I wrote before school again this morning and am hoping to write more tonight.  I'm almost done with Chapter 9, but then I have to go back and write Chapter 8, which I skipped because the scene I'm working on now was originally tacked onto Chapter 7 until it got too long.  So I wrote two Kevin chapters in a row, and next I'll go back and write two Nick ones.  And that will put me through Chapter 10, so if this writing streak continues, I'll be ready to start posting this thing in April.

April is so soon! I'm excited for you; you're getting a lot done! Are you changing over to two chapters for Nick and two chapters for Kevin or just this time because of the length?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 16, 2021, 08:50:03 PM
I didn't think I've actually ever read one of his novels! Then I looked it up and none of the covers for the books looked familiar, but the film posters did. So, apparently, I have seen a bunch of movies based on his novels without reading them, lol.

Which one that you've read did you like best?


Mare! Reading during assemblies! Shame. Kidding. ;) I like reading outside too (or at the pool). It's not as bad with a book because you can still wear sunglasses. :)

I do most of my reading on airplanes these days. That's probably why I feel like I haven't read anything in a while, lol. I don't really read at work either, but I always see other teachers reading on their lunches, so I was curious if you were a work reader or not (and also if Mare was, really).

Only the assemblies I did not have to attend lol which was most of them.

Favorite a John Grisham novels are Callico Joe and The Guardians. I just finished Slaughterhouse Five so I’ll be starting The Partner tomorrow.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 16, 2021, 09:31:34 PM
Only the assemblies I did not have to attend lol which was most of them.

Favorite a John Grisham novels are Callico Joe and The Guardians. I just finished Slaughterhouse Five so I’ll be starting The Partner tomorrow.

I feel better that you were only reading if you didn't have to go to the assemblies, not during the assemblies.

You're reading so quickly!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on March 16, 2021, 11:35:50 PM
Have you ever been dissatisfied and unsure about a chapter and either posted it anyway or not posted it, and why? What made your decision for you.

That was me today. I was very hesitant to post the update for history today because I've been feeling less than confident in many things, writing being one of them. Also it was a silly chapter so I wasn't sure if it would fit in. I just had doubts. I ended up posting it and a couple of my readers on wattpad liked it so I'm happy I changed my mind about rewriting the whole thing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 17, 2021, 04:44:10 PM
Wahoo! Everyone who's interested in joining me for a little craziness, go to nanowrimo.org (http://nanowrimo.org) and click "sign up" if you don't already have an account. Then everyone tell me your usernames and I will invite you to "The Absolutely Chaotic Backstreet Project" writing group. :)

Done!  I'm RokofAges75.


I ended up shredding zero papers today, lol. Next time. But I did get a lot of writing done! I successfully spliced the two chapters and still ended up writing 1,700 new words for the chapter, including two times where I actually laughed out loud while writing, which I didn't know this was a chapter for jokes, but apparently it was.

And we can all play another addition of "Which Backstreet Boy is being discussed?" Hooray!:

“Clueless, unpredictable, and impulsive! At least something always gets done!”

I'm glad you got a lot of writing done!  That is more satisfying than shredding papers.

I guess Nick!


I have so many versions of all of these at this point that it is what it is, haha. I try to limit the walls of green text to one chapter at a time, then track the new words, then accept the changes so it's not always walls and walls of green text. I think it's fun to have a "complete old version" copy, then you can see how much has changed. :) It's why I still have my circa 2008 version of PBox even though I updated it on the site.

That is smart to go one chapter at a time.  I don't like having multiple versions of a story and typically delete the old ones after I don't need them anymore, but that is for works in progress.  I do think if I ever went back and rewrote a finished story that was already posted, I would save the original version.  Although I didn't do that for Code Blue, so maybe not.  (But Code Blue also wasn't finished.)


April is so soon! I'm excited for you; you're getting a lot done! Are you changing over to two chapters for Nick and two chapters for Kevin or just this time because of the length?

No, I'm still switching back and forth between their POVs every chapter, but I ended up splitting the two scenes I had written for Chapter 7 into two separate chapters, which would make the other one Chapter 9, since they're both from Kevin's POV.  That means I have to go back and write Chapter 8, which will come between them and be from Nick's POV.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 17, 2021, 04:52:22 PM
Have you ever been dissatisfied and unsure about a chapter and either posted it anyway or not posted it, and why? What made your decision for you.

That was me today. I was very hesitant to post the update for history today because I've been feeling less than confident in many things, writing being one of them. Also it was a silly chapter so I wasn't sure if it would fit in. I just had doubts. I ended up posting it and a couple of my readers on wattpad liked it so I'm happy I changed my mind about rewriting the whole thing.

I loved your chapter!  It was really cute.  I didn't think it was too silly; it fit with the theme of the story, and I liked how it told the story behind that picture of the four of them in the bed.

I think there's a difference between being dissatisfied and being unsure.  I have definitely felt both.  If I'm dissatisfied with the chapter and feel I can do better, I will revise it before posting.  If I'm unsure, I think about my reasons for writing whatever I was unsure about it and whether it warrants changing or not.  If I'm really unsure, I'll ask someone else for an opinion before posting it for everyone to read.  If I think it needs changing, I'll go back and revise, but as long as I can justify my decisions within the chapter, I'll go ahead and post it.  The chapters I tend to be most unsure about are the ones that make me uncomfortable.  I'll wonder, "Is this too much?  Too intense/inappropriate/gross/weird?"  I usually end up going for it and not regretting it.  At the end of the day, we have to write what we want to write and not worry about what other people think, although I know that's easier said than done.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 17, 2021, 08:28:06 PM
Have you ever been dissatisfied and unsure about a chapter and either posted it anyway or not posted it, and why? What made your decision for you.

That was me today. I was very hesitant to post the update for history today because I've been feeling less than confident in many things, writing being one of them. Also it was a silly chapter so I wasn't sure if it would fit in. I just had doubts. I ended up posting it and a couple of my readers on wattpad liked it so I'm happy I changed my mind about rewriting the whole thing.

I really need to catch up! Sorry I'm running behind! I think silly chapters absolutely have value, even in serious stories, and I'm happy to hear that some of your readers on Wattpad enjoyed it. :) It's always a good feeling when you hear otherwise about your worries.

I think dissatisfied or unsure are smaller things for me that I try to address before posting. Nervous, though, definitely!

Like Julie said, If I'm feeling dissatisfied, I keep tweaking it until I feel like it's good enough for me, then I'll post it. No matter how long that takes, whether it's a week or six months, lol. Especially now, haha. My process is usually write, quick edit a couple of days after finishing, let it sit, edit again. I don't really have beta readers anymore since I've been gone so long, but in the past I did bounce parts off people if I was unsure about what I wrote. Now, letting it sit usually helps me work through it myself.

There's a lot of things I've been nervous to post! I think we've talked about it before, usually ones that felt too dark (character deaths and whatnot) or like Beta Sigma Beta where I knew it would be part AU/part "canon." I was worried to post my big reveals ch.10/ch.11 in PNecklace and people still read those two, so I figure all was good. But then no one's read the last two chapters I posted, so maybe everyone did hate it, lmao. It is what it is and I'm happy with the direction of the story, so that's really what matters. And think positively! You obviously felt like including it had merit when you started writing it. :) I always take that as a good sign when I feel like writing something to begin with, and you should too. :)

Julie's absolutely right with this:

At the end of the day, we have to write what we want to write and not worry about what other people think, although I know that's easier said than done.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 17, 2021, 08:38:59 PM
Done!  I'm RokofAges75.

Hooray! Invite sent!


I'm glad you got a lot of writing done!  That is more satisfying than shredding papers.

I guess Nick!

Some day I will finish shredding my old phone bills, haha. It was more satisfying.

It is Nick. And he is fine with it because he said something to the effect of "I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing" directly prior.


That is smart to go one chapter at a time.  I don't like having multiple versions of a story and typically delete the old ones after I don't need them anymore, but that is for works in progress.  I do think if I ever went back and rewrote a finished story that was already posted, I would save the original version.  Although I didn't do that for Code Blue, so maybe not.  (But Code Blue also wasn't finished.)

I think I'd save whatever I had for me depending on the level of rewriting. I have three different version of PBox right now, so I'm just rolling with it, haha.


No, I'm still switching back and forth between their POVs every chapter, but I ended up splitting the two scenes I had written for Chapter 7 into two separate chapters, which would make the other one Chapter 9, since they're both from Kevin's POV.  That means I have to go back and write Chapter 8, which will come between them and be from Nick's POV.

Oh that makes sense! Whose chapters spill on to the page easier or is it about the same?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 18, 2021, 06:39:17 PM
Hooray! Invite sent!

Thanks!  Accepted!


Oh that makes sense! Whose chapters spill on to the page easier or is it about the same?

I guess it's been about the same.  Kevin's chapters have been more research-intensive, which slows me down some, but they've been interesting to write.  A Nick chapter is where I got stuck on this story the first time around, and his chapters are the ones I've been splicing, rewriting, and piecing back together.  But the new Nick parts I've written from scratch have flowed pretty well.  I'll be writing a lot of Nick this weekend, so we'll see!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 18, 2021, 07:08:53 PM
Thanks!  Accepted!

Hope a bunch of the rest of you join this adventure! Especially if you're writing anyway.  :biggrin:

I guess it's been about the same.  Kevin's chapters have been more research-intensive, which slows me down some, but they've been interesting to write.  A Nick chapter is where I got stuck on this story the first time around, and his chapters are the ones I've been splicing, rewriting, and piecing back together.  But the new Nick parts I've written from scratch have flowed pretty well.  I'll be writing a lot of Nick this weekend, so we'll see!

Harder to keep track of Kevin's whereabouts via memory in the Unbreakable-era, haha. I wonder if you got stuck before because Nick had some tiny hot mess stuff going on 3-4 years ago. Like a "oh no, it's back" type thing. Glad they've all been flowing well though! Did you spend most of yesterday writing or did you finally catch up on your shows?

I've been going through my OF edit the past couple of days and adding a chapter that probably should have been there in the beginning and I have been dilly-dallying because I keep thinking "Nick was such a wreck in the beginning of this. It's been so long since we've been here (editing aside), that I'd forgotten!" I'm all over the place. I should really focus on my two other writing commitments, haha. Yet, I've got nothing to do since my husband is out of town, so I just sit here click clacking away.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 18, 2021, 07:29:16 PM
Harder to keep track of Kevin's whereabouts via memory in the Unbreakable-era, haha. I wonder if you got stuck before because Nick had some tiny hot mess stuff going on 3-4 years ago. Like a "oh no, it's back" type thing. Glad they've all been flowing well though! Did you spend most of yesterday writing or did you finally catch up on your shows?

LOL Yeah, Kevin kinda just disappeared during that era.  Nah, I didn't think my Nick struggles had anything to do with Nick himself.  It was more finding myself in a Nick chapter that would never end and realizing I needed to change the order of some events to be able to switch back to Kevin's perspective in the next chapter.  That's what got me stuck in the first place, and then life happened.  I took an extended break and then came back and wrote A Heart That Isn't Mine instead of getting myself unstuck on this one.  No regrets about that because I think I needed to get the idea for AHTIM out of my head before I could concentrate on something else.  I always felt pretty confident I would come back to this one when the time was right, and I guess that time is now.  I wrote before school again yesterday (and today!), but I was so tired last night, I actually watched The Masked Singer live and went to bed right after.  I still haven't watched this week's Walking Dead!


I've been going through my OF edit the past couple of days and adding a chapter that probably should have been there in the beginning and I have been dilly-dallying because I keep thinking "Nick was such a wreck in the beginning of this. It's been so long since we've been here (editing aside), that I'd forgotten!" I'm all over the place. I should really focus on my two other writing commitments, haha. Yet, I've got nothing to do since my husband is out of town, so I just sit here click clacking away.

Is it hard to get back into your characters' heads when it's been that long and you're hopping from story to story?  I would probably need to do a lot of rereading.

Hey, as long as you're working on some writing project, that's all that matters.  I get the frustration of feeling like you're all over the place though.  I hate feeling that way.  I hope you can refocus and take advantage of the quiet time while your husband's away.

It occurred to me earlier this week that April Fool's Day is in two weeks and, as usual, I have nothing planned or started.  I know we talked about pranks in one of these threads a while back, so I went looking to see what fantastic ideas you all came up with for me.  I think I've got a fun one now, but it's going to require some writing, and I'm like, "Ugh... I just wanna keep writing what I've been writing and not get derailed writing something dumb for a joke that no one else will even appreciate."  Hopefully I'll have a little more motivation this weekend when I'm not so tired.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 18, 2021, 08:09:14 PM
LOL Yeah, Kevin kinda just disappeared during that era.  Nah, I didn't think my Nick struggles had anything to do with Nick himself.  It was more finding myself in a Nick chapter that would never end and realizing I needed to change the order of some events to be able to switch back to Kevin's perspective in the next chapter.  That's what got me stuck in the first place, and then life happened.  I took an extended break and then came back and wrote A Heart That Isn't Mine instead of getting myself unstuck on this one.  No regrets about that because I think I needed to get the idea for AHTIM out of my head before I could concentrate on something else.  I always felt pretty confident I would come back to this one when the time was right, and I guess that time is now.  I wrote before school again yesterday (and today!), but I was so tired last night, I actually watched The Masked Singer live and went to bed right after.  I still haven't watched this week's Walking Dead!

I think Nick's preference is to have his chapters never end! At least for me, haha! He just demands to be the center of attention.

I always hate when I get something written and then after the fact think that the order needs to be shuffled. It's always a headache, so I feel you. AHTIM sounds like another pushy idea. How many of your stories would you say were pushy ideas when they started?

You're really on a roll! That's every day this week so far, isn't it? I'm surprised you still haven't watched Walking Dead! That's commitment to writing. I watched Masked Singer live (as usual, and laughed so hard at "pork grind," I have the worst taste in jokes.), then said to my little group chat that I had to go write. It helps that Masked Singer is a 7pm show here.

Is it hard to get back into your characters' heads when it's been that long and you're hopping from story to story?  I would probably need to do a lot of rereading.

You know, it's not too bad since it's the same characters at different points in the story; I did let Snail drop off a bit because of it, though. I feel like I can comfortably hop back and forth between the whole PBox series, within reason, but probably not the whole of PBox plus Snail... Maybe I'll feel better once I get this "new in an old part of the story" chapter written, because then the rest is back to hacking and slashing something that exists on paper instead of only in my head. I mostly just realized it had been a month since I'd given my non-BSB test audience anything to look over for me, so I figured I should get back to work, especially since I was writing from scratch. And then it came up in PNecklace in passing, so it seemed like the right time to commit backstory to paper. I think most of what throws me is that PBox Nick now is very different from PBox Nick at the beginning. He's done so much character developing, good for him. *sniff* :D

Mood listening has actually helped a lot. When I know that I'm focusing on PNecklace and it's fairly Nick focused, I've been listening to a lot of I'm Taking Off (especially during my commute, but sometimes quietly in the background if I want some ambient sounds and the tv is too distracting). When I'm focusing back on PBox and it's fairly Nick focused (as the first few chapters I'm currently in are), I listen to a lot of Now or Never. Guess that means I'll be enjoying a lot of All American for the next one, lol. When I did the big PBox edit, I did find myself gravitating to BSB songs pre-2008 as well when I was in shuffle mode (unless one of my favorites off a later album came on). My years of playing all my favorite songs on repeat non-stop have prepared me for listening to one CD for six months! No regrets! (I'm mostly kidding.) I do miss the other Boys after only listening to Nick for a while, haha. And sometimes I've gotta mix it up in general.


Hey, as long as you're working on some writing project, that's all that matters.  I get the frustration of feeling like you're all over the place though.  I hate feeling that way.  I hope you can refocus and take advantage of the quiet time while your husband's away.

It's my fault for listening to Nick and writing what's interesting instead of writing what's in order, haha. I think I'm almost done with this chapter though and then I can let OFPBox sit and percolate for a while. It's a perfect writing week, really! A weekend, two snow days, and then no husband around and another weekend. March Madness may get me though.


It occurred to me earlier this week that April Fool's Day is in two weeks and, as usual, I have nothing planned or started.  I know we talked about pranks in one of these threads a while back, so I went looking to see what fantastic ideas you all came up with for me.  I think I've got a fun one now, but it's going to require some writing, and I'm like, "Ugh... I just wanna keep writing what I've been writing and not get derailed writing something dumb for a joke that no one else will even appreciate."  Hopefully I'll have a little more motivation this weekend when I'm not so tired.

I'd be impressed if you did have something planned out that far in advance! Pansting is appropriate for April Fool's!

Just make your site a 404 error, lol. The joke is that there are no jokes and also no fanfics. And then you can keep writing and working hard on Nick and Kevin, especially if you think you might be able to start posting next month! :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 18, 2021, 08:57:38 PM
AHTIM sounds like another pushy idea. How many of your stories would you say were pushy ideas when they started?

Hm... there are pushy ideas that demand to be written right away, and then there are ideas that don't push but linger.  They're more patient, but they still demand to be written at some point.  AHTIM was one that lingered.  It took me three tries within a year or so to get it going, but I knew I had to give it a shot and get it out of my system before I could concentrate on anything else.

I don't tend to have a lot of truly pushy ideas; if I start writing an idea right after getting it, it's usually because I'm not in the middle of writing anything else, so I'm like, "Well, this is something I could write, so I will try it."  The pushiest idea I've ever had was probably Curtain Call.  I had just started posting another new novel (Guilty Roads) a month before, and it was going well, and then came the idea for Curtain Call.  I didn't want to start another story, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.  So I thought, "Well, it won't hurt to write a chapter or two and get it out of my system.  I don't have to post anything."  So I wrote two chapters... and then four more... and by then I couldn't stop, so I went ahead and started posting it.  The only thing it hurt was Guilty Roads LOL.


You're really on a roll! That's every day this week so far, isn't it? I'm surprised you still haven't watched Walking Dead! That's commitment to writing. I watched Masked Singer live (as usual, and laughed so hard at "pork grind," I have the worst taste in jokes.), then said to my little group chat that I had to go write. It helps that Masked Singer is a 7pm show here.

Yes!

I feel like I need to watch Walking Dead when it's dark, and now that it's getting dark later, I'm usually already on here or writing by then and don't feel like watching TV.  I'll watch it tomorrow or Saturday when I have more time.

The reveal on Masked Singer was so obvious last night.  I'm not a good guesser on that show, but I knew who it was even before the clue package was over.  I'm ashamed to admit I can say that about this person and not the Crocodile, but that's how obvious it was LOL.


You know, it's not too bad since it's the same characters at different points in the story; I did let Snail drop off a bit because of it, though. I feel like I can comfortably hop back and forth between the whole PBox series, within reason, but probably not the whole of PBox plus Snail... Maybe I'll feel better once I get this "new in an old part of the story" chapter written, because then the rest is back to hacking and slashing something that exists on paper instead of only in my head. I mostly just realized it had been a month since I'd given my non-BSB test audience anything to look over for me, so I figured I should get back to work, especially since I was writing from scratch. And then it came up in PNecklace in passing, so it seemed like the right time to commit backstory to paper. I think most of what throws me is that PBox Nick now is very different from PBox Nick at the beginning. He's done so much character developing, good for him. *sniff* :D

I think that's what would be hard, hopping back and forth between different phases of a character's development.  But it shows what a dynamic character you created that you can see how different he was at the beginning compared to the end.  That's great!


Mood listening has actually helped a lot. When I know that I'm focusing on PNecklace and it's fairly Nick focused, I've been listening to a lot of I'm Taking Off (especially during my commute, but sometimes quietly in the background if I want some ambient sounds and the tv is too distracting). When I'm focusing back on PBox and it's fairly Nick focused (as the first few chapters I'm currently in are), I listen to a lot of Now or Never. Guess that means I'll be enjoying a lot of All American for the next one, lol. When I did the big PBox edit, I did find myself gravitating to BSB songs pre-2008 as well when I was in shuffle mode (unless one of my favorites off a later album came on). My years of playing all my favorite songs on repeat non-stop have prepared me for to listen to one CD for six months! No regrets! (I'm mostly kidding.) I do miss the other Boys after only listening to Nick for a while, haha. And sometimes I've gotta mix it up in general.

I'm Taking Off is a great album to channel Nick.  It's so very him.  It's nice to be able to go back to Now or Never for younger Nick too.  LOL I listen to the same stuff over and over again too.


It's my fault for listening to Nick and writing what's interesting instead of writing what's in order, haha. I think I'm almost done with this chapter though and then I can let OFPBox sit and percolate for a while. It's a perfect writing week, really! A weekend, two snow days, and then no husband around and another weekend. March Madness may get me though.

It really is!  I don't usually follow March Madness at all, but go Illini!


I'd be impressed if you did have something planned out that far in advance! Pansting is appropriate for April Fool's!

Just make your site a 404 error, lol. The joke is that there are no jokes and also no fanfics. And then you can keep writing and working hard on Nick and Kevin, especially if you think you might be able to start posting next month! :)

Pantsing is usually what I end up doing for April Fool's, but then I always get stressed out about it and wish I had planned more in advance LOL.

I've even done the 404 error before!  But I think the idea I have will be fun once I get started on it.  Hopefully this weekend.  It might be a nice little break from Nick and Kevin's drama.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 18, 2021, 09:46:38 PM
Hm... there are pushy ideas that demand to be written right away, and then there are ideas that don't push but linger.  They're more patient, but they still demand to be written at some point.  AHTIM was one that lingered.  It took me three tries within a year or so to get it going, but I knew I had to give it a shot and get it out of my system before I could concentrate on anything else.

I don't tend to have a lot of truly pushy ideas; if I start writing an idea right after getting it, it's usually because I'm not in the middle of writing anything else, so I'm like, "Well, this is something I could write, so I will try it."  The pushiest idea I've ever had was probably Curtain Call.  I had just started posting another new novel (Guilty Roads) a month before, and it was going well, and then came the idea for Curtain Call.  I didn't want to start another story, but I couldn't stop thinking about it.  So I thought, "Well, it won't hurt to write a chapter or two and get it out of my system.  I don't have to post anything."  So I wrote two chapters... and then four more... and by then I couldn't stop, so I went ahead and started posting it.  The only thing it hurt was Guilty Roads LOL.

I knew Curtain Call was a pushy one, since we've talked about our pushy ideas leaving some things unfinished, lol. "It won't hurt to write a chapter or two..." LMAO. Famous last words. If it's something you can't stop thinking about, it will hurt... only your other novel in progress. Hopefully. At least Guilty Roads was the only casualty, lol.

Didn't you say that AHTIM didn't really click until it had a title? I feel like I remember that... So which ones are worse, the pushy ideas that come with demands or the pushy ideas that linger? Worse might not be exactly what I mean, but I assume you understand my intent in asking.


I feel like I need to watch Walking Dead when it's dark, and now that it's getting dark later, I'm usually already on here or writing by then and don't feel like watching TV.  I'll watch it tomorrow or Saturday when I have more time.

The reveal on Masked Singer was so obvious last night.  I'm not a good guesser on that show, but I knew who it was even before the clue package was over.  I'm ashamed to admit I can say that about this person and not the Crocodile, but that's how obvious it was LOL.

I've been a much happier person since it started getting dark later. But I feel you on certain shows needing a certain mood. I've put off most of the most recent season of This Is Us because I just haven't felt like sobbing for an hour. Now I have like nine hours of sobbing left to squeeze in at some point, lol.

I had an inkling, but I am terrible at this game, lol. I was mostly disappointed that a neat costume was going home right away. I have a couple of guesses on some others, but our Boy Croc was the only one I was ever sure of. His linebacker thighs and chipmunk voice! I just knew! And then he opened his mouth without distortion, of course.


I think that's what would be hard, hopping back and forth between different phases of a character's development.  But it shows what a dynamic character you created that you can see how different he was at the beginning compared to the end.  That's great!


I'm Taking Off is a great album to channel Nick.  It's so very him.  It's nice to be able to go back to Now or Never for younger Nick too.  LOL I listen to the same stuff over and over again too.

Aww, thanks! :) I'm happy for his sake that he's no longer a neurotic mess, lol.

It is very Nick, a good blend of silly and serious. It's interesting to listen to it so much now, because it's this weird dichotomy of it reminding me of being 22/23 while I'm now around the age Nick was when he was recording it, so I relate to it on a new level. Same with Now or Never once I hit 22. I was like "Yes, this is 22," but also it pulls me right back to being 14/15. I was thinking about that the other day, actually, because I stumbled on one of those "old pictures we thought were attractive in the 90's" articles and there were a few BSB ones and I thought "Yes, they are so attractive!" Like eighteen-year-old Nick, the love of my life from 1997/1998 on, and still very attractive. Is this weird? Is it fine because he's now a forty-one year-old man and I am not twice his age as is? I look at eighteen-year-old actors or singers now and think "That is a child." But teenage Nick will get me every time.


It really is!  I don't usually follow March Madness at all, but go Illini!

I've got them going fairly far in my bracket. My alma mater is in it too! And the husband's hometown team that he cares about more than his alma mater. As long as we don't play each other, we're golden!


Pantsing is usually what I end up doing for April Fool's, but then I always get stressed out about it and wish I had planned more in advance LOL.

I've even done the 404 error before!  But I think the idea I have will be fun once I get started on it.  Hopefully this weekend.  It might be a nice little break from Nick and Kevin's drama.

Don't stress so much over a joke! Unless you need to code an entire video game for your April Fool's joke, you're fine to pants.

Aw, man. You've really done everything. If Nick and Kevin are being dramatic, you tell them to shape up or ship out. Or get more dramatic?  :shrug: Whatever works for you, really, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 19, 2021, 09:25:07 PM
Didn't you say that AHTIM didn't really click until it had a title? I feel like I remember that... So which ones are worse, the pushy ideas that come with demands or the pushy ideas that linger? Worse might not be exactly what I mean, but I assume you understand my intent in asking.

Yeah, I had started two different versions under different titles before Don't Go Breaking My Heart came out, and it never quite felt right.  Then I changed the title and started over again from scratch, and that's the version I kept and continued.  I don't know if it really was the title that did it, or if it was just a case of "Third time's the charm," but the title definitely was what re-inspired me to go back and give it another try.

I actually love both kinds of pushy ideas because at least they're inspiring.  The demanding ones are fun because they tend to be those lightbulb flashes of inspiration, followed by days of feverish outlining and writing.  The downside is sometimes they disrupt what you're already doing.  I like the ones that linger because I can come back to them when the time is right, when I'm between projects and they're not going to be pushing anything else aside.

How about you?


I've been a much happier person since it started getting dark later. But I feel you on certain shows needing a certain mood. I've put off most of the most recent season of This Is Us because I just haven't felt like sobbing for an hour. Now I have like nine hours of sobbing left to squeeze in at some point, lol.

If it helps, I haven't cried much at this season of This Is Us.  A few episodes, but not every episode.  It's been a good season, but nothing compares to that first season... when I literally did cry every episode LOL.


It is very Nick, a good blend of silly and serious. It's interesting to listen to it so much now, because it's this weird dichotomy of it reminding me of being 22/23 while I'm now around the age Nick was when he was recording it, so I relate to it on a new level. Same with Now or Never once I hit 22. I was like "Yes, this is 22," but also it pulls me right back to being 14/15. I was thinking about that the other day, actually, because I stumbled on one of those "old pictures we thought were attractive in the 90's" articles and there were a few BSB ones and I thought "Yes, they are so attractive!" Like eighteen-year-old Nick, the love of my life from 1997/1998 on, and still very attractive. Is this weird? Is it fine because he's now a forty-one year-old man and I am not twice his age as is? I look at eighteen-year-old actors or singers now and think "That is a child." But teenage Nick will get me every time.

LOL I feel the same way looking back on old pictures of them.  Teenage Nick never did anything for me, but late 90s Brian still makes me swoon.  But yes, actual 18-year-olds do look like children.  I think it's just because the guys have always been older than us, so we still see them as older even when we look at pictures when they were like half our current age.


I've got them going fairly far in my bracket. My alma mater is in it too! And the husband's hometown team that he cares about more than his alma mater. As long as we don't play each other, we're golden!

I actually went to Illinois State, not the University of Illinois, but I'll root for them when they're as good as they apparently are this year.  Good luck to your teams too!


Don't stress so much over a joke! Unless you need to code an entire video game for your April Fool's joke, you're fine to pants.

Aw, man. You've really done everything. If Nick and Kevin are being dramatic, you tell them to shape up or ship out. Or get more dramatic?  :shrug: Whatever works for you, really, lol.

I know I shouldn't stress, but I feel a certain level of pressure to deliver after doing something twenty years in a row.  Then I wonder if anyone would even mention it if I didn't do something?

Aww, you know I love them best when they're being dramatic.  Bring it, boys!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 20, 2021, 07:45:26 PM
Yeah, I had started two different versions under different titles before Don't Go Breaking My Heart came out, and it never quite felt right.  Then I changed the title and started over again from scratch, and that's the version I kept and continued.  I don't know if it really was the title that did it, or if it was just a case of "Third time's the charm," but the title definitely was what re-inspired me to go back and give it another try.

I actually love both kinds of pushy ideas because at least they're inspiring.  The demanding ones are fun because they tend to be those lightbulb flashes of inspiration, followed by days of feverish outlining and writing.  The downside is sometimes they disrupt what you're already doing.  I like the ones that linger because I can come back to them when the time is right, when I'm between projects and they're not going to be pushing anything else aside.

How about you?

Did you splice either of those other two versions into the final version or did you delete them once the third one stuck? I'm glad that the third version finally stuck! :)

I think you're right on that. If Curtain Call is the only truly pushy one, which ones have been lingering pushy besides AHTIM?

You know, the pushy ones are fun because it just feels like they leap to life. And if a break for life is necessary, they still breathe and leap to life. I guess the lingering ones are nice because I know they're always there if I want to come back to them. What's interesting, actually, is that Gobosei was a pushy idea when it started, but then it quietly sat aside for PBox, not sure why.


If it helps, I haven't cried much at this season of This Is Us.  A few episodes, but not every episode.  It's been a good season, but nothing compares to that first season... when I literally did cry every episode LOL.

That does help! That's why I don't watch it live anymore because the first season wrecked me!


LOL I feel the same way looking back on old pictures of them.  Teenage Nick never did anything for me, but late 90s Brian still makes me swoon.  But yes, actual 18-year-olds do look like children.  I think it's just because the guys have always been older than us, so we still see them as older even when we look at pictures when they were like half our current age.

That's probably true about them always being older than us. I'm sure if BSB existed now like they did then (same ages as in 1999, but in 2021 I mean), I probably wouldn't think twice about it. Maybe I'd be team Kevin, lol. Thank goodness they did not because my life would not be the same if I was an NSYNC fan.

I actually went to Illinois State, not the University of Illinois, but I'll root for them when they're as good as they apparently are this year.  Good luck to your teams too!

I think I did remember that, actually, but you've gotta support Illinois teams, right? They've both moved on, so we're a happy household! :) Funny story, my bracket's doing pretty well and it has a little fire emoji by it on the app. I was telling my husband about it and he said "You're my fire." And this is at like 11pm last night and I just couldn't help it, so I said "But am I your one desire?" And he laughed quietly and whispered "Damnit." So I responded, "Well, believe when I say that I want it that way." And I laughed so hard that I was no longer tired and he was not amused at all, lol.


I know I shouldn't stress, but I feel a certain level of pressure to deliver after doing something twenty years in a row.  Then I wonder if anyone would even mention it if I didn't do something?

Aww, you know I love them best when they're being dramatic.  Bring it, boys!

Oh, I know. You've gotta keep the streak alive! But I suppose you'll never know if anyone would mention it unless you don't do something?

Alright, Nick and Kevin. Hear that? Continue being as dramatic as possible!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 20, 2021, 09:34:15 PM
So I've been scouring for new questions and stumbled on someone's answer to their first story they ever wrote:

"I think my first was a fanfic about Backstreet Boys that I wrote when I was about 14. It was so horribly written and I was given so much praise for it in the fandom that I thought I was a fantastic author. Yeah, it gave me a big head for a short period of time and thank whatever high power there is that I ended up losing it in one of the moves that I did since then!"

My first question is: Well what was this fanfic about? I definitely think certain characters and genres would garner more praise in general. But then it also makes me curious, think anyone who use to write fanfic around here has moved on to other fandoms or only to original fiction?

I also found a "question" that was: Send me assumptions you have about me based on my writing. Which is interesting, but I feel like we're all familiar enough with each other that assumptions need not be made?

Anyway, here's some work-in-progress questions (obviously skip any you worry would be spoilers):

1.  Summarize your work-in-progress in 10 words or less.

2.  Post a line from your work-in-progress with no context.

3.  Does your work-in-progress have a title? If so, explain its significance. If not, what are you calling it for now?

4.  Describe the setting of your work-in-progress.

5.  Search for the word "knife" in your work-in-progress. If you find it, paste the line and explain the significance.

6.  Search for the word "dream" in your work-in-progress. If you find it, paste the line and explain the significance.

7.  What are you most proud of?

8.  What is your biggest challenge?

9.  How would you describe your writing style for your work-in-progress?

10.  How would you describe your work-in-progress' narrative style?

11.  Which character do you have the most in common with?

12.  Which character do you have the least in common with?

13.  Your characters are stranded on a deserted island? What happens?

14.  Have you chosen birthdays for any of your characters? If so, what are they? (Exclude any Boys, because I assume their birthdays in your stories are their birthdays.)

15.  Do you know your characters' MBTI personalities?

16.  What would your characters be for Halloween?

17.  Does your work-in-progress have any themes or motifs?

18.  What's easier, dialogue or description?

19.  Post a picture or gif that describes your work-in-progress.

20.  Post a brief excerpt.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 20, 2021, 09:50:41 PM
Did you splice either of those other two versions into the final version or did you delete them once the third one stuck? I'm glad that the third version finally stuck! :)

I think you're right on that. If Curtain Call is the only truly pushy one, which ones have been lingering pushy besides AHTIM?

You know, the pushy ones are fun because it just feels like they leap to life. And if a break for life is necessary, they still breathe and leap to life. I guess the lingering ones are nice because I know they're always there if I want to come back to them. What's interesting, actually, is that Gobosei was a pushy idea when it started, but then it quietly sat aside for PBox, not sure why.

I may have used bits and pieces of dialogue from the first two versions, but most of it was rewritten from scratch.  I think I kept the old versions until I got through the first few chapters of the third one and then deleted them.  I'm glad the third one stuck too!

As for lingering ideas, Guilty Roads was one of those.  I'd had that idea in one form or another for like eight years before I finally wrote it.  Same with Heroic Measures.  The two I've been working on this year, My Brother's Keeper and Fallen Angel, are both lingering ideas I've been hanging onto for years too.

I agree, both kinds of ideas are nice in different ways.  I guess PBox was just pushier than Gobosei!


That's probably true about them always being older than us. I'm sure if BSB existed now like they did then (same ages as in 1999, but in 2021 I mean), I probably wouldn't think twice about it. Maybe I'd be team Kevin, lol. Thank goodness they did ​not because my life would not be the same if I was an NSYNC fan.

Same!  They would probably just be like another One Direction to me - some good songs, but not a group I care about any more than any other pop group.  Thank goodness they were born when they were.


I think I did remember that, actually, but you've gotta support Illinois teams, right? They've both moved on, so we're a happy household! :) Funny story, my bracket's doing pretty well and it has a little fire emoji by it on the app. I was telling my husband about it and he said "You're my fire." And this is at like 11pm last night and I just couldn't help it, so I said "But am I your one desire?" And he laughed quietly and whispered "Damnit." So I responded, "Well, believe when I say that I want it that way." And I laughed so hard that I was no longer tired and he was not amused at all, lol.

Yep!

LOL That is cute.  Hubby walked right into that one LOL.


Oh, I know. You've gotta keep the streak alive! But I suppose you'll never know if anyone would mention it unless you don't do something?

Alright, Nick and Kevin. Hear that? Continue being as dramatic as possible!

Good news on the April Fool's front.  I got a new idea that required less writing than my original idea and spent my day working on that.  I'm saving the other idea for another year or maybe even a real story - it actually could be a cute one if I ever felt like taking a break from Team Dark and writing something light and fluffy.

I have not written anything for MBK yet today, but I'm hoping now that I got this April Fool's stuff out of my way, I'll be able to refocus on that.

How's the writing going for the rest of you?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 20, 2021, 10:15:41 PM
I may have used bits and pieces of dialogue from the first two versions, but most of it was rewritten from scratch.  I think I kept the old versions until I got through the first few chapters of the third one and then deleted them.  I'm glad the third one stuck too!

As for lingering ideas, Guilty Roads was one of those.  I'd had that idea in one form or another for like eight years before I finally wrote it.  Same with Heroic Measures.  The two I've been working on this year, My Brother's Keeper and Fallen Angel, are both lingering ideas I've been hanging onto for years too.

I agree, both kinds of ideas are nice in different ways.  I guess PBox was just pushier than Gobosei!

You really hate having multiple versions of the same story, haha.

It's nice that you have so many patiently waiting to possibly be chosen. Good for MBK that it's finally getting its turn! I can't remember if I already asked this, when you go through ideas in progress/stored ideas when you're starting something new, how often do you go with one of those and how often do you go with a completely new idea?

The pushiest, really, lol.


Same!  They would probably just be like another One Direction to me - some good songs, but not a group I care about any more than any other pop group.  Thank goodness they were born when they were.

Definitely! Like how I feel about that BTS song in the galaxy commercials. It's pretty boppy, but I could care less about them. I also found out they call their fans an army? And I was like, uhh... the original boy band army existed when y'all were born. Respect your elders BTS fans! lol


LOL That is cute.  Hubby walked right into that one LOL.

He knew it, he accepted it begrudgingly. And I laughed a lot.


Good news on the April Fool's front.  I got a new idea that required less writing than my original idea and spent my day working on that.  I'm saving the other idea for another year or maybe even a real story - it actually could be a cute one if I ever felt like taking a break from Team Dark and writing something light and fluffy.

I have not written anything for MBK yet today, but I'm hoping now that I got this April Fool's stuff out of my way, I'll be able to refocus on that.

Glad to hear it didn't require too much writing! Gasp! Taking a break from Team Dark? But we have cookies, kidnapping, stabbings, and death! lmao Stories that start as jokes are my favorites.

Sending you good vibes!


How's the writing going for the rest of you?

I actually ventured out of the house and watched our basketball game at a sports bar with hubby and a friend who was in town to visit. I'm exhausted!

I wrote two words though, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 21, 2021, 10:49:36 AM
You really hate having multiple versions of the same story, haha.

It's nice that you have so many patiently waiting to possibly be chosen. Good for MBK that it's finally getting its turn! I can't remember if I already asked this, when you go through ideas in progress/stored ideas when you're starting something new, how often do you go with one of those and how often do you go with a completely new idea?

I really do! LOL

It's about half and half.  I take so long to finish stories, I tend to accumulate a lot of ideas during that time.  My plan is always to use one of them for my next project, but sometimes a new idea will pop up at the perfect time.  Bethlehem and Sick as My Secrets were both brand new ideas when I started writing them.


Definitely! Like how I feel about that BTS song in the galaxy commercials. It's pretty boppy, but I could care less about them. I also found out they call their fans an army? And I was like, uhh... the original boy band army existed when y'all were born. Respect your elders BTS fans! lol

Damn right!  Also, they have seven members, which is too many for a boyband.


I wrote two words though, haha.

Congrats on your two words LOL.  I wrote a sentence on MBK last night at 11:45 when I realized if I didn't add something, I would break my week-long writing streak.  So the streak is still alive LOL.

I'm glad you got to get out of the house and do something though.  I didn't write yesterday morning because I met my parents for lunch, which was also nice.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 21, 2021, 11:03:44 AM
So I've been scouring for new questions and stumbled on someone's answer to their first story they ever wrote:

"I think my first was a fanfic about Backstreet Boys that I wrote when I was about 14. It was so horribly written and I was given so much praise for it in the fandom that I thought I was a fantastic author. Yeah, it gave me a big head for a short period of time and thank whatever high power there is that I ended up losing it in one of the moves that I did since then!"

My first question is: Well what was this fanfic about? I definitely think certain characters and genres would garner more praise in general. But then it also makes me curious, think anyone who use to write fanfic around here has moved on to other fandoms or only to original fiction?

I know some former BSB authors who have moved on to writing about other boybands, like One Direction and BTS.  I wouldn't be surprised if some wrote for completely different, not real person fandoms as well.


I also found a "question" that was: Send me assumptions you have about me based on my writing. Which is interesting, but I feel like we're all familiar enough with each other that assumptions need not be made?

Yeah, I think we've all discussed our writing enough here that there's not a lot left to assume.  But it would be interesting to hear the assumptions of readers who have never actually talked to me or seen my posts here.

I'm gonna save the list of questions for a separate post!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 21, 2021, 11:23:35 AM
It's about half and half.  I take so long to finish stories, I tend to accumulate a lot of ideas during that time.  My plan is always to use one of them for my next project, but sometimes a new idea will pop up at the perfect time.  Bethlehem and Sick as My Secrets were both brand new ideas when I started writing them.

Especially if you're not typically writing much during the school year, that's a long time to accumulate story ideas! Would you say those two were pushy or just "right time, right place."


Damn right!  Also, they have seven members, which is too many for a boyband.

lol! I mean, in the countries that do more of the "boy band factory" model, they seem less stringent on the five boys in a boy band rule. But what are the stereotypes of the last two? What needs to be added to "the cute young one," "the heartthrob," "the bad boy," "the shy one," and "the older brother"? "The sick one?" "The brooding one?" "The smart one?" "The angsty one?" I have no idea!

Congrats on your two words LOL.  I wrote a sentence on MBK last night at 11:45 when I realized if I didn't add something, I would break my week-long writing streak.  So the streak is still alive LOL.

I'm glad you got to get out of the house and do something though.  I didn't write yesterday morning because I met my parents for lunch, which was also nice.

I also sat down to write so that I didn't break my streak since last Saturday, haha. My very important two words were "I can," I'm basically a literary genius! ;) Glad your streak is still alive as well!

Me too. It definitely reminded me of my life in pre-COVID days. Don't remember being completed exhausted afterward though, lol! Glad you got lunch with your parents! That sounds like a fun way to get out of the house too. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 21, 2021, 11:33:53 AM
I know some former BSB authors who have moved on to writing about other boybands, like One Direction and BTS.  I wouldn't be surprised if some wrote for completely different, not real person fandoms as well.

Are the ones writing about other boybands mostly younger or is it a mixed bag? I suppose just because I can't see myself really caring about another boyband doesn't mean that other people around our age wouldn't. :shrug: There's other things I've enjoyed, but not enough to write stories about them. I dabbled a bit in the 2005-2007 days, but nothing really gave me as much enjoyment as writing about the Boys (or just not fanfic). While characters are more important to me than plot, I wonder if that's because there's never been a plot that stuck out to me for other characters I've enjoyed.


Yeah, I think we've all discussed our writing enough here that there's not a lot left to assume.  But it would be interesting to hear the assumptions of readers who have never actually talked to me or seen my posts here.

I'm gonna save the list of questions for a separate post!

Writing and just lives in general. No secrets!

"Julie's an apocalypse-prepper with a medicine-related degree of some sort." "Dee's a scientologist with a demon fetish." lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 21, 2021, 12:48:45 PM
1.  Summarize your work-in-progress in 10 words or less.

I ruin Kevin's life.


2.  Post a line from your work-in-progress with no context.

"It’s a good thing I have such expressive eyebrows."


3.  Does your work-in-progress have a title? If so, explain its significance. If not, what are you calling it for now?

I was originally going to call it "Take Care" after the song that inspired it, but when I actually started writing it, I changed it to my "My Brother's Keeper."  This is a Bible reference that means brothers should take care of one another and have each other's back, which is the theme of this story.


4.  Describe the setting of your work-in-progress.

It's set in early 2008 in L.A.


5.  Search for the word "knife" in your work-in-progress. If you find it, paste the line and explain the significance.

I have not used the word "knife" in this story.


6.  Search for the word "dream" in your work-in-progress. If you find it, paste the line and explain the significance.

I've used "dream" eight times already!  Here is the first occurrence:  "It had been a dream come true… until it wasn’t."  This is Kevin reflecting on why he left the Backstreet Boys.  He goes on to say, "When I realized I was no longer living the dream, but dreading the next tour, I knew my time with the group needed to come to an end."


7.  What are you most proud of?

I'm proud of the time and effort I've put into researching and "world-building" for this one.  Once again, I've found myself writing about a situation I have no firsthand experience with, so I've tried to immerse myself in stories of people who do.  I read an entire memoir three or four years ago when I was first working on this idea, and since coming back to it, I've been listening to podcasts and watching YouTube channels about the issues I'm writing about in this story.


8.  What is your biggest challenge?

Going along with my answer to the last question, I think it's going to be writing about something I've never experienced in a realistic, sensitive way that will make for a compelling story without getting too melodramatic.


9.  How would you describe your writing style for your work-in-progress?
10.  How would you describe your work-in-progress' narrative style?


I feel like these questions go together.  I'm writing this one in first person, alternating between Kevin and Nick's point of view.  Because it's in first person, there's more emphasis on the characters' thoughts and feelings than flowery descriptions of the setting and whatnot.  I'm trying to only describe what the character who's telling the story would notice.


11.  Which character do you have the most in common with?
12.  Which character do you have the least in common with?


I don't really have anything in common with any of them LOL.  I guess that's the fun of writing fiction, though, trying to put myself in their shoes.


13.  Your characters are stranded on a deserted island? What happens?

Nick would probably flourish on a deserted island, away from all the temptations of society, but Kevin would be screwed.


14.  Have you chosen birthdays for any of your characters? If so, what are they? (Exclude any Boys, because I assume their birthdays in your stories are their birthdays.)

Not for this story.  It doesn't have any original main characters, and those are the only ones I would go as far as choosing birthdays for.


15.  Do you know your characters' MBTI personalities?

I took a test at https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test for Nick and Kevin in my story.

According to that, Nick is a Campaigner, ENFP-T.  Extraverted, intuitive, feeling, prospecting, turbulent.  

"The Campaigner personality is a true free spirit. They are often the life of the party, but unlike types in the Explorer Role group, Campaigners are less interested in the sheer excitement and pleasure of the moment than they are in enjoying the social and emotional connections they make with others. Charming, independent, energetic and compassionate, the 7% of the population that they comprise can certainly be felt in any crowd."
(https://www.16personalities.com/enfp-personality)


Kevin is an Advocate, INFJ-A.  Introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging, assertive.

"Advocates are the rarest personality types of all. Still, Advocates leave their mark on the world. They have a deep sense of idealism and integrity, but they aren’t idle dreamers – they take concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting impact.

Advocates’ unique combination of personality traits makes them complex and quite versatile. For example, Advocates can speak with great passion and conviction, especially when standing up for their ideals. At other times, however, they may choose to be soft-spoken and understated, preferring to keep the peace rather than challenge others."
(https://www.16personalities.com/infj-personality)

It would be interesting to see if others got the same or similar results for the Boys.


16.  What would your characters be for Halloween?

Kevin would probably be something cute for his son Mason, who would have been a year old on Halloween 2008.  Maybe Thomas the Tank Engine... Train as a train LOL.

Nick had a show on Halloween 2008 and apparently dressed up as a gecko. Geico Gecko, perhaps?  https://youtu.be/l9ZyY5XpScI  This was in Montclair, NJ.  Were you at this show, Tracy?


17.  Does your work-in-progress have any themes or motifs?

Role reversal, dependability vs. dependency, brotherhood, and change are going to be the big themes of this one.  The only motif I can think of that has come up so far is dancing.


18.  What's easier, dialogue or description?

Dialogue


19.  Post a picture or gif that describes your work-in-progress.

Here's the banner: https://i2.wp.com/dreamers-sanctuary.com/fanfic/wp-content/uploads/brotherbanner.png


20.  Post a brief excerpt.

Quote
As the other guys returned to their own rooms to get ready to go, AJ and I picked up around mine.  He grabbed every piece of clothing I’d left laying around and tossed it to me to put in my luggage.

“You need to invest in a laundry bag, dude,” he said, giving me a look of disgust as he lifted a pair of my dirty underwear with his thumb and forefinger, trying to touch as little of the fabric as possible.  “Since when do you even wear undies?  What happened to going commando?”

“Chafing.  Chafing happened,” I said, ducking out of the way as he whipped them at my head.

Chuckling, AJ went into the bathroom.

“Wait!” I called, suddenly remembering what I’d left on the counter.  “I’ll clean up in there!”

AJ didn’t say anything until he walked back out a few seconds later.  “Too late, Prick,” he replied, holding up a plastic baggie in each of his hands.  One contained a small amount of white powder; the other, an array of colorful pills.  “I already found your stash.”

My heart sank as I heard the disappointment in his voice and saw the look of defeat on his face.  I hung my head, ashamed, as he continued, “Damn it, Nick, I thought you quit this shit!”

“I did!” I cried.  “It’s not like I do it all the time, just… you know, sometimes, when I’m out partying.  It’s like how some people only smoke when they drink.”  I hesitated.  “You’re not gonna tell the other guys, are you?  Please, AJ…  What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right?”  I knew I sounded pathetic, but I didn’t care.  As far as Brian and Howie knew, I had cleaned up my act over the past few months.  They had enough to worry about without finding out I was still using.  I didn’t want them to see what a mess I was.

AJ shook his head.  “Now’s not the time for that.”  At least we agreed on that much.  “We’ll talk about it later.”

He flushed my drugs down the toilet while I finished packing my bag.  Neither of us spoke again until we were out in the hall with the others.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 21, 2021, 01:16:15 PM
Especially if you're not typically writing much during the school year, that's a long time to accumulate story ideas! Would you say those two were pushy or just "right time, right place."

I have gotten better at writing during the school year the last few years.  It was really just when I was in my master's program that I hardly wrote during the school year because I didn't have time, since I spent most weekends doing homework.  Since I came back from my little hiatus with AHTIM, I've been able to at least write pretty consistently on the weekends.

Bethlehem was definitely "right place, right time," since it took place during the pandemic.  But I had been wanting to write a survival story for a while, so I guess it wasn't an entirely new idea - the car accident and Kevin's injury were elements I was planning for a survival story that would have taken place in the desert outside Vegas during the residency.  Everything else I came up with shortly before I started writing it.

SAMS was a little pushier.  It came at a time when I had other stories in progress - Undead, Guilty Roads, and my Harry Potter crossover - but none that I was actually updating regularly.  So I followed my inspiration and started writing it in the summer of 2013, but didn't post any of it until February 2014.


lol! I mean, in the countries that do more of the "boy band factory" model, they seem less stringent on the five boys in a boy band rule. But what are the stereotypes of the last two? What needs to be added to "the cute young one," "the heartthrob," "the bad boy," "the shy one," and "the older brother"? "The sick one?" "The brooding one?" "The smart one?" "The angsty one?" I have no idea!

"The sick one!"  LMAO!  Dead.  I dunno about boyband archetypes, but the sick one, the brooding one, and the angsty one would all be great for fanfic.


I also sat down to write so that I didn't break my streak since last Saturday, haha. My very important two words were "I can," I'm basically a literary genius! ;) Glad your streak is still alive as well!

Me too. It definitely reminded me of my life in pre-COVID days. Don't remember being completed exhausted afterward though, lol! Glad you got lunch with your parents! That sounds like a fun way to get out of the house too. :)

Those are very inspiring words!  "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."  Better than "I can't." LOL

It is definitely weird going out to places again after a year of quarantining.  I've pretty much only gone to work, the grocery store, and occasionally my parents' house in the past year.  The monthly Google Maps timeline emails I get are so pathetic because they only show the same three places every month.


Are the ones writing about other boybands mostly younger or is it a mixed bag? I suppose just because I can't see myself really caring about another boyband doesn't mean that other people around our age wouldn't. :shrug: There's other things I've enjoyed, but not enough to write stories about them. I dabbled a bit in the 2005-2007 days, but nothing really gave me as much enjoyment as writing about the Boys (or just not fanfic). While characters are more important to me than plot, I wonder if that's because there's never been a plot that stuck out to me for other characters I've enjoyed.

The two I'm thinking of are around my age.  I can't see myself ever caring enough about another boyband to write about them either, but I also don't write or read fanfic for other fandoms that I do really love, like Harry Potter or The Walking Dead.  I have shrines to both HP and TWD in my house, but fanfic?  Not interested.  There's just something uniquely special about BSB.


"Julie's an apocalypse-prepper with a medicine-related degree of some sort." "Dee's a scientologist with a demon fetish." lol

LOL Pretty much!  And then they find out you're a sorority girl and we're both elementary school teachers.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 21, 2021, 02:09:48 PM
1.  Summarize your work-in-progress in 10 words or less.

I ruin Kevin's life.


2.  Post a line from your work-in-progress with no context.

"It’s a good thing I have such expressive eyebrows."

LMFAO!

3.  Does your work-in-progress have a title? If so, explain its significance. If not, what are you calling it for now?

I was originally going to call it "Take Care" after the song that inspired it, but when I actually started writing it, I changed it to my "My Brother's Keeper."  This is a Bible reference that means brothers should take care of one another and have each other's back, which is the theme of this story.

Ooh themes! Do you plan out your themes and motifs ahead of time or do they just kind of happen?


6.  Search for the word "dream" in your work-in-progress. If you find it, paste the line and explain the significance.

I've used "dream" eight times already!  Here is the first occurrence:  "It had been a dream come true… until it wasn’t."  This is Kevin reflecting on why he left the Backstreet Boys.  He goes on to say, "When I realized I was no longer living the dream, but dreading the next tour, I knew my time with the group needed to come to an end."

Aww. :( Glad it became living the dream again. :) I missed Kevin and I bet hot mess Nick did too! I look back on some of the things he said in regards to Kevin back then with the wisdom of age and say, "Ah, yes, there's a scared kid who feels betrayed by what he thought was a constant in his life."

But also, poor Kevin. He probably deserved more sympathy from all of us than he got.


7.  What are you most proud of?

I'm proud of the time and effort I've put into researching and "world-building" for this one.  Once again, I've found myself writing about a situation I have no firsthand experience with, so I've tried to immerse myself in stories of people who do.  I read an entire memoir three or four years ago when I was first working on this idea, and since coming back to it, I've been listening to podcasts and watching YouTube channels about the issues I'm writing about in this story.


8.  What is your biggest challenge?

Going along with my answer to the last question, I think it's going to be writing about something I've never experienced in a realistic, sensitive way that will make for a compelling story without getting too melodramatic.

That's cool!  Do you often find your research involving reading other books or is it typically "things you can find on the internet"? When you do need to read other books, do you feel like writing goes slower afterward or quicker?

9.  How would you describe your writing style for your work-in-progress?
10.  How would you describe your work-in-progress' narrative style?


I feel like these questions go together.  I'm writing this one in first person, alternating between Kevin and Nick's point of view.  Because it's in first person, there's more emphasis on the characters' thoughts and feelings than flowery descriptions of the setting and whatnot.  I'm trying to only describe what the character who's telling the story would notice.

Do you find yourself starting to write about things they wouldn't notice often or after you switch POV, writing about something Nick or Kevin would notice, but not both?


13.  Your characters are stranded on a deserted island? What happens?

Nick would probably flourish on a deserted island, away from all the temptations of society, but Kevin would be screwed.

Nick would learn to build a boat, escape, and save Kevin on a harrowing high seas adventure, lol.


15.  Do you know your characters' MBTI personalities?

I took a test at https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test for Nick and Kevin in my story.

According to that, Nick is a Campaigner, ENFP-T.  Extraverted, intuitive, feeling, prospecting, turbulent.  

"The Campaigner personality is a true free spirit. They are often the life of the party, but unlike types in the Explorer Role group, Campaigners are less interested in the sheer excitement and pleasure of the moment than they are in enjoying the social and emotional connections they make with others. Charming, independent, energetic and compassionate, the 7% of the population that they comprise can certainly be felt in any crowd."
(https://www.16personalities.com/enfp-personality)


Kevin is an Advocate, INFJ-A.  Introverted, intuitive, feeling, judging, assertive.

"Advocates are the rarest personality types of all. Still, Advocates leave their mark on the world. They have a deep sense of idealism and integrity, but they aren’t idle dreamers – they take concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting impact.

Advocates’ unique combination of personality traits makes them complex and quite versatile. For example, Advocates can speak with great passion and conviction, especially when standing up for their ideals. At other times, however, they may choose to be soft-spoken and understated, preferring to keep the peace rather than challenge others."
(https://www.16personalities.com/infj-personality)

It would be interesting to see if others got the same or similar results for the Boys.

I love 16-personalities. It's actually a tab I often have open on my phone. Taking their little mini quiz polls and reading research results is fun.

I feel like Nick and Kevin could be both of those!


16.  What would your characters be for Halloween?

Kevin would probably be something cute for his son Mason, who would have been a year old on Halloween 2008.  Maybe Thomas the Tank Engine... Train as a train LOL.

Nick had a show on Halloween 2008 and apparently dressed up as a gecko. Geico Gecko, perhaps?  https://youtu.be/l9ZyY5XpScI  This was in Montclair, NJ.  Were you at this show, Tracy?

Aww, train as a train!

lol, a Gecko is like a tiny crocodile.


17.  Does your work-in-progress have any themes or motifs?

Role reversal, dependability vs. dependency, brotherhood, and change are going to be the big themes of this one.  The only motif I can think of that has come up so far is dancing.

Interesting! Did you pick these ahead of time or did they come out as you were planning and writing?


19.  Post a picture or gif that describes your work-in-progress.

Here's the banner: https://i2.wp.com/dreamers-sanctuary.com/fanfic/wp-content/uploads/brotherbanner.png

The stark white is interesting! Less busy than many banners!


20.  Post a brief excerpt.

Oh, hot mess Nick. "I only do x when x" is a slippery slope! It really hits when it's AJ being disappointed. I laughed that he picked up Nick's underpants at all, lol. Also the "chafing" bit.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 21, 2021, 02:35:36 PM
I have gotten better at writing during the school year the last few years.  It was really just when I was in my master's program that I hardly wrote during the school year because I didn't have time, since I spent most weekends doing homework.  Since I came back from my little hiatus with AHTIM, I've been able to at least write pretty consistently on the weekends.

It's hard to write for fun when you have constantly looming deadlines, especially when they involve intense amounts of writing.

Bethlehem was definitely "right place, right time," since it took place during the pandemic.  But I had been wanting to write a survival story for a while, so I guess it wasn't an entirely new idea - the car accident and Kevin's injury were elements I was planning for a survival story that would have taken place in the desert outside Vegas during the residency.  Everything else I came up with shortly before I started writing it.

SAMS was a little pushier.  It came at a time when I had other stories in progress - Undead, Guilty Roads, and my Harry Potter crossover - but none that I was actually updating regularly.  So I followed my inspiration and started writing it in the summer of 2013, but didn't post any of it until February 2014.

The pandemic was what you needed for the survival story to click! Nothing that happened seemed too crazy and it was plausibly remote. :) I enjoyed it.

Poor Guilty Roads. It keeps getting knocked to the side, haha.


"The sick one!"  LMAO!  Dead.  I dunno about boyband archetypes, but the sick one, the brooding one, and the angsty one would all be great for fanfic.

2Ge+her did it sympatheticall y! lol And you're right, they're all great in fanfics. Perhaps "the brooding one" and "the angsty one" are better combined as "the one who can be changed with love." That's all boyband archetypes are, right? Different types of boys that would be "good" romantic interests for the target demographic?

Those are very inspiring words!  "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."  Better than "I can't." LOL

If only they were that inspiring! lol I changed the less consent-oriented "I'll" to the more consent oriented "I can" in the line "I can give you a boost [up this tree]?” And then I laid on the couch and watched tv instead.


It is definitely weird going out to places again after a year of quarantining.  I've pretty much only gone to work, the grocery store, and occasionally my parents' house in the past year.  The monthly Google Maps timeline emails I get are so pathetic because they only show the same three places every month.

I don't even go to the grocery store, hubby does that! lol I stopped looking at the Google Maps timeline because I don't want to be reminded that I don't go anywhere, haha.


The two I'm thinking of are around my age.  I can't see myself ever caring enough about another boyband to write about them either, but I also don't write or read fanfic for other fandoms that I do really love, like Harry Potter or The Walking Dead.  I have shrines to both HP and TWD in my house, but fanfic?  Not interested.  There's just something uniquely special about BSB.

It's that little spark of care and love. :) I wish RPF was less taboo in the fanfic world. But I get it. I enjoy it more because it feels like there's more creating that gets to be done, even when the story sticks closer to "canon."


LOL Pretty much!  And then they find out you're a sorority girl and we're both elementary school teachers.

I'm the peppiest, most exuberant kind of dark, haha! I think it works both ways, people outside the writing/fanfic world would never know that we're secretly so dark and people in the writing/fanfic world would never know that we're so... fluffy (?) outside of writing. I'm going to call us well balanced, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 21, 2021, 04:14:43 PM
Ooh themes! Do you plan out your themes and motifs ahead of time or do they just kind of happen?

With themes, it depends on the story.  Some ideas already have an obvious theme, whereas with others, they come about as the plot and characters develop.  My Brother's Keeper is one that had themes sort of built in to the idea.  I don't usually plan out motifs in advance; they happen as the story progresses.


Aww. :( Glad it became living the dream again. :) I missed Kevin and I bet hot mess Nick did too! I look back on some of the things he said in regards to Kevin back then with the wisdom of age and say, "Ah, yes, there's a scared kid who feels betrayed by what he thought was a constant in his life."

But also, poor Kevin. He probably deserved more sympathy from all of us than he got.

Aww, I did too, and I'm sure Nick and all the guys did.  Nick could have used his guidance during that time, although he probably wouldn't have accepted it then.  I think everything worked out the way it was meant to be.  It gave Kevin a chance to start his family and rediscover the love he had for being part of a group, and it gave Howie a chance to shine and Nick a chance to grow up.


That's cool!  Do you often find your research involving reading other books or is it typically "things you can find on the internet"? When you do need to read other books, do you feel like writing goes slower afterward or quicker?

My research is typically things I can find on the internet, but sometimes I need more of an in-depth, personal account.  Memoirs are good for that.  In my experience, they slow my writing down, but make it stronger in the long run.  I read one called "Sick Girl" about a woman's experience as a heart transplant recipient while researching for Secrets of the Heart, and it was really good.  One thing I learned that I had never realized before was that when they put the new heart in, they can't reattach the nerves that connected to the old heart, so the new one is slower to respond to stimuli that would normally tell it to speed up, like exercise or being startled.  It will eventually react due to adrenaline, but it's a delayed response.  I never would have thought to include that detail in the story if I hadn't read the firsthand description of how it feels in that book.


Do you find yourself starting to write about things they wouldn't notice often or after you switch POV, writing about something Nick or Kevin would notice, but not both?

I probably do both.  I have so much more experience writing in third person that I'm sure it bleeds into my first person stories.  I try to find a balance between my more flowery, descriptive third person prose and writing first person the way a real person would actually tell a story, which would probably make it a rambling mess.  And when I write stories like these that alternate between two POVs, I'm not sure I do enough to differentiate between the two voices.


Nick would learn to build a boat, escape, and save Kevin on a harrowing high seas adventure, lol.

Sounds like a good story to me!  That, or Nick and the other could just cannibalize Kevin to stay alive after he dies.  Maybe it could be a choose your own adventure!


I love 16-personalities. It's actually a tab I often have open on my phone. Taking their little mini quiz polls and reading research results is fun.

I feel like Nick and Kevin could be both of those!

I thought the descriptions fit both of them pretty well!



lol, a Gecko is like a tiny crocodile.

Boy likes his reptiles! LOL  He also went as a Ninja Turtle on one of the cruises.


The stark white is interesting! Less busy than many banners!

It's definitely simple.  I made it a few years ago when I started the story, but I haven't felt the urge to remake it yet.  I'm not really sure what else I would do that wouldn't spoil anything.


Oh, hot mess Nick. "I only do x when x" is a slippery slope! It really hits when it's AJ being disappointed. I laughed that he picked up Nick's underpants at all, lol. Also the "chafing" bit.

Yeah, that's the kind of thing addicts say because they can't see that it's a problem.  This was written before AJ came out with all the stuff last year about just how often he fell off the wagon over the years when we thought he was still sober.  But he claimed to have been five years sober when Unbreakable came out, so I'm just gonna stick with that for this story.

Glad you liked the funny parts!  Thanks!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 21, 2021, 04:28:37 PM
The pandemic was what you needed for the survival story to click! Nothing that happened seemed too crazy and it was plausibly remote. :) I enjoyed it.

Yeah, it gave me what the desert idea was missing - a good reason for the five of them to be in a remote location with none of their families or security or anyone else around.  And the inherent craziness of 2020 made every bad thing that happened seem more believable.  Thanks!


2Ge+her did it sympatheticall y! lol And you're right, they're all great in fanfics. Perhaps "the brooding one" and "the angsty one" are better combined as "the one who can be changed with love." That's all boyband archetypes are, right? Different types of boys that would be "good" romantic interests for the target demographic?

That's true; I did think of QT.  And you're right about the reason for the archetypes.  There's a boy for every fan!


If only they were that inspiring! lol I changed the less consent-oriented "I'll" to the more consent oriented "I can" in the line "I can give you a boost [up this tree]?” And then I laid on the couch and watched tv instead.

LOL Well, kudos for making sure that boost was consensual.

I have spent more time lying on the couch and watching TV this weekend than actually writing too.  I made the same mistake I always used to make with Heroic Measures, when I started watching ER for "research purposes" and then get sucked into a marathon and stop writing.  I started watching another old favorite of mine for "research purposes" last weekend and have since finished half of the first season and no new chapters.  Fail LOL.  I did finally watch Walking Dead Friday night though.


It's that little spark of care and love. :) I wish RPF was less taboo in the fanfic world. But I get it. I enjoy it more because it feels like there's more creating that gets to be done, even when the story sticks closer to "canon."

Yeah... I get it too.  I'm just glad there's a community of us who get the appeal and don't judge.


I'm the peppiest, most exuberant kind of dark, haha! I think it works both ways, people outside the writing/fanfic world would never know that we're secretly so dark and people in the writing/fanfic world would never know that we're so... fluffy (?) outside of writing. I'm going to call us well balanced, lol.

LOL So true!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 21, 2021, 06:31:46 PM
With themes, it depends on the story.  Some ideas already have an obvious theme, whereas with others, they come about as the plot and characters develop.  My Brother's Keeper is one that had themes sort of built in to the idea.  I don't usually plan out motifs in advance; they happen as the story progresses.

I wanted to know so much that I asked it twice, apparently. lol I wonder if new themes will appear as you keep writing.


Aww, I did too, and I'm sure Nick and all the guys did.  Nick could have used his guidance during that time, although he probably wouldn't have accepted it then.  I think everything worked out the way it was meant to be.  It gave Kevin a chance to start his family and rediscover the love he had for being part of a group, and it gave Howie a chance to shine and Nick a chance to grow up.

He would have been too stubborn to do so! And all good points. With the bonus of Howie getting some love too.


My research is typically things I can find on the internet, but sometimes I need more of an in-depth, personal account.  Memoirs are good for that.  In my experience, they slow my writing down, but make it stronger in the long run.  I read one called "Sick Girl" about a woman's experience as a heart transplant recipient while researching for Secrets of the Heart, and it was really good.  One thing I learned that I had never realized before was that when they put the new heart in, they can't reattach the nerves that connected to the old heart, so the new one is slower to respond to stimuli that would normally tell it to speed up, like exercise or being startled.  It will eventually react due to adrenaline, but it's a delayed response.  I never would have thought to include that detail in the story if I hadn't read the firsthand description of how it feels in that book.

I didn't know that either! That is really interesting. I wonder what kind of adverse reaction that has when exercising.


I probably do both.  I have so much more experience writing in third person that I'm sure it bleeds into my first person stories.  I try to find a balance between my more flowery, descriptive third person prose and writing first person the way a real person would actually tell a story, which would probably make it a rambling mess.  And when I write stories like these that alternate between two POVs, I'm not sure I do enough to differentiate between the two voices.

It's especially a rambling mess if Nick is really telling the story, lol! Which Boy is most likely to do flowery, descriptive third person prose in their head as they narrate their life? (In general, not necessarily Nick or Kevin specifically.)

Your Nick excerpt sounded pretty Nick. I'd say "give me a Kevin excerpt" but I understand, spoilers.


Sounds like a good story to me!  That, or Nick and the other could just cannibalize Kevin to stay alive after he dies.  Maybe it could be a choose your own adventure!

I've secretly always wanted to write a CYOA story, but I've never really thought I could make it strong enough to carry a narrative, let alone multiple narratives.


Boy likes his reptiles! LOL  He also went as a Ninja Turtle on one of the cruises.

A super hero reptile, you say? I believe that.


It's definitely simple.  I made it a few years ago when I started the story, but I haven't felt the urge to remake it yet.  I'm not really sure what else I would do that wouldn't spoil anything.

There's beauty in simplicity.


Yeah, that's the kind of thing addicts say because they can't see that it's a problem.  This was written before AJ came out with all the stuff last year about just how often he fell off the wagon over the years when we thought he was still sober.  But he claimed to have been five years sober when Unbreakable came out, so I'm just gonna stick with that for this story.

Glad you liked the funny parts!  Thanks!

I'm guilty of it, or qualifiers would be more accurate: "I only drink heavily on the weekends" is something I said a lot in my twenties.

Having known other addicts, I always assumed he actually fell off the wagon a lot, but that he didn't want to disappoint anyone by saying so. But I did like believing that he had gotten everything together and was sticking to it. I think it's fine if you stick with what he said, especially if he was hiding the "falling off" from the POV characters. Unless they caught him, they wouldn't know. I suspect AJ would worry about disappointing the other Boys a lot.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 21, 2021, 06:40:29 PM
Yeah, it gave me what the desert idea was missing - a good reason for the five of them to be in a remote location with none of their families or security or anyone else around.  And the inherent craziness of 2020 made every bad thing that happened seem more believable.  Thanks!

They were escaping fans who wanted to kidnap them! lol


That's true; I did think of QT.  And you're right about the reason for the archetypes.  There's a boy for every fan!

Unless she likes green. You can only love someone if you have the same favorite colors!


LOL Well, kudos for making sure that boost was consensual.

I have spent more time lying on the couch and watching TV this weekend than actually writing too.  I made the same mistake I always used to make with Heroic Measures, when I started watching ER for "research purposes" and then get sucked into a marathon and stop writing.  I started watching another old favorite of mine for "research purposes" last weekend and have since finished half of the first season and no new chapters.  Fail LOL.  I did finally watch Walking Dead Friday night though.

haha. Can't let our hero do toxic things! Plus I figure someone who avoids being touched would probably ask other people before touching them when they're consciously thinking about it.

I've been useless today. Glad you finally watched Walking Dead. I've mostly watched basketball and did some house things. I was a little productive this morning and hopefully I can get back to that point.

Hopefully your research is going well, even if it's not productive right now.


Yeah... I get it too.  I'm just glad there's a community of us who get the appeal and don't judge.

Same!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 21, 2021, 06:55:58 PM
1.  Summarize your work-in-progress in 10 words or less.

Demons save the day! Plucky Nick angsts through life!

2.  Post a line from your work-in-progress with no context.

Quote
“Nick…” Brian batted his eyelashes as he put his hand to his chest, stifling a laugh with his other hand.

3.  Does your work-in-progress have a title? If so, explain its significance. If not, what are you calling it for now?

Despite me calling it “PNecklace” (call it a lazy holdover from calling the first one “PBox”), it’s actually called Pandora’s Necklace. I always envisioned this second story being called “Pandora’s Necklace” because it really focused on Nick’s journey, more than anything else. Outside of their bodies, demon hearts became gemstones and Nick’s popped out as a necklace. So I guess you could call the story “Nick’s Heart,” but that seems silly in comparison.

4.  Describe the setting of your work-in-progress.

A “medieval stasis" Asian-inspired fantasy world of suck. 

5.  Search for the word "knife" in your work-in-progress. If you find it, paste the line and explain the significance.

You know, in a “sword and sorcery” world, the word “knife” doesn’t appear at all. “Sword” (or “swords” or “sword-something”) is in it 61 times and “dagger” four times. Since “dagger” is more spiritually akin to knife, I’ll go with that one. And the question doesn’t specify that the first instance needs to be used, so I’ll go with the second, because I like it better:

Quote
“That is a price of battle. We own many daggers; they are easily replaced, you are not.”

As always, a key tenet of our heroes’ MO is that someones should not be sacrificed for somethings, even when those somethings are the goal. I hesitate to use “people” and “things” because, well… are demons people? A question to ponder… perhaps in our themes and motifs… ;)

6.  Search for the word "dream" in your work-in-progress. If you find it, paste the line and explain the significance.

“Dream” (or “dreams” or “dreaming” and so on) appears 53 times so far, which is not at all surprising to me since the dichotomy of dreams and nightmares is a recurring motif in the series.

I like the next one better, but it’s less funny without the surrounding context of “other crazy things Nick has said,” so have the following:

Quote
The immovable power of fate makes me call out in my dreams.

I mostly think it’s pretty, but it does tie into a theme. Is it fate, Nick, or is it choices? Hmmm...

7.  What are you most proud of?

Being able to still write it after letting the idea sit for a decade! Once I “retired,” I honestly wasn’t ever sure that I would get back into writing again, let alone finishing an idea that wasn’t even partially on paper. So, I guess thanks to the whole of the PBox series for being pushy?

8.  What is your biggest challenge?

Not immediately feeling frustrated if it suddenly doesn’t go well. I think in the back of my head, I’m having nightmare flashbacks to my six-month PBox hiatus and how writing went after I finished it. I think if I had more going on besides writing in my free time, I would worry about it a lot less. But, since I don’t really have anywhere to go or anything else to do, I do worry.

9.  How would you describe your writing style for your work-in-progress?

Plantsing, foreshadowing, and call-backs. Gardening? Like planting things and letting them grow for the next book.

10.  How would you describe your work-in-progress' narrative style?

Limited third pov. It’s pretty Nick focused in this one, but it still switches between him and Minako like it did before and the other Boys do get their moments to shine. But Nick made it clear a long time ago that he drives this bus.

11.  Which character do you have the most in common with?
12.  Which character do you have the least in common with?

None of them? Howie might be the most? Howie is all of us, after all.. There’s bits of me in all of them, but no one where it’s abundantly most or least. Kevin might be the least?

13.  Your characters are stranded on a deserted island? What happens?

Mass hysteria, lol. I’m kidding. Since no one is actively looking to kill them, I think they’d work together to stay alive while they figured out how to leave. I think they’d be fine? Nick would complain a lot.

14.  Have you chosen birthdays for any of your characters? If so, what are they? (Exclude any Boys, because I assume their birthdays in your stories are their birthdays.)

I’d call Minako a pisces, so somewhere in the late February to early March timeframe. I don’t think I ever actually picked a birthday for her, because it never came up in the story, haha. Renee’s is some time in August. I haven’t really thought about the other two Pandoras.

15.  Do you know your characters' MBTI personalities?

Even though I love MBTI, I did not! Until I took the same quiz Julie used on their behalf. (I know mine: ENFJ forever!)

I took it for Nick and started taking it for Minako, but didn’t agree with the result, so I did it again, and then I got tired of looking at it, especially after Nick got it too and they are not the same thing. Clearly I am the turbulent one, lol! Ask me later.

I also took it twice for Nick, I think because I’m so all over the place in the grand scheme of the story, but the only thing that changed was the introverted/extroverted part when I retook it. I guess the difference in growing over the course of the story? I don’t know, I’m not entirely happy with either of these choices either... I guess PBox Nick is either:

The Adventurer (ISFP): Introverted, Observant, Feeling, and Prospecting (plus turbulent)

Adventurer personalities are true artists, but not necessarily in the typical sense where they’re out painting happy little trees. Often enough though, they are perfectly capable of this. Rather, it’s that they use aesthetics, design and even their choices and actions to push the limits of social convention. Adventurers enjoy upsetting traditional expectations with experiments in beauty and behavior – chances are, they’ve expressed more than once the phrase “Don’t box me in!”

The Entertainer (ESFP): Extraverted, Observant, Feeling, and Prospecting (plus turbulent)

If anyone is to be found spontaneously breaking into song and dance, it is the Entertainer personality type. Entertainers get caught up in the excitement of the moment, and want everyone else to feel that way, too. No other personality type is as generous with their time and energy as Entertainers when it comes to encouraging others, and no other personality type does it with such irresistible style.

16.  What would your characters be for Halloween?

What’s Halloween? lol This is a lazy copout on my part; they are obviously too busy fighting the forces of evil to participate in holidays. Nick would do it because Minako asked, but question every minute of it until he actually got the costume on, then he would love it. AJ would probably be Nick or Kevin, because they would hate it, then he would laugh about it with Brian.

17.  Does your work-in-progress have any themes or motifs?

Hahahahahahaha ha, obviously.

Themes: What measure is a non-human?/What measure is a monster?, light versus dark (all incarnations including, but not limited to: the Holy light, light is not good, dark is not evil, the sacred dark, etcetera), Right Makes Might versus Might Makes Right, definitions, fate versus choice, the power of intangible things, sacrifices, strength in true companionship… I could go on, but I’d call a lot of these sub-themes to the big themes of how to define yourself and the world plus another I won’t say.

Motifs: light/darkness, dreams and nightmares, loneliness and togetherness… I guess juxtaposition of opposing things is a motif in and of itself.

18.  What's easier, dialogue or description?

When I write interesting bits ahead of where I am currently working, I usually end up writing dialogue. So I will say dialogue. I often don’t even add “so and so said” tags unless I have a clear body language thing to convey. Who speaks what is all very clear to me.

19.  Post a picture or gif that describes your work-in-progress.

This one should work! https://images.app.goo.gl/NtCi9LSyRSTVj321A

20.  Post a brief excerpt.

Quote
A knock sounded at the door.

He turned toward it quickly. “Uh, hang on…” He picked up a crumpled pair of jeans from the floor between the bed and the window, yanking them over each leg as he hopped toward a chair between the door and a large closet. After grabbing the gray sweatshirt slung over the arm, he pulled it over his head quickly before opening the door. “Kevin…”

The second man leaned on his door frame, his black button down shirt contrasting against the dark wood. Kevin narrowed his thick eyebrows against his green eyes as he matched the tone of his voice. “Nick…”

“You’re doing house calls again?” Nick crossed his arms.

He smiled and patted Nick’s shoulder. “Just making sure you’re awake and not staring at that necklace again.”

Nick hung his head.

Kevin lips quirked into a frown. “Well, you’re awake at least. Step one.”

“It… I… That weird dream again…” Nick put his hand to his head, but kept his arms crossed.

Kevin mirrored Nick and crossed his arms as well. “Do you want to talk to someone about it?”

“No, I’ll just sound crazy repeating myself…” Nick shook his head.

“Nick…”

He raised his hands in mock defense. “You keep suggesting that I talk to someone other than you all, you obviously also think I sound crazy… ‘I keep having this dream where I scream for someone I don’t know.’ ‘This weird necklace I had a death grip on when I woke up four months ago… Also a ring!’ ‘No other updates, still don’t know where anything came from.’ Did I forget a crazy sounding thing I’ve said?”

Kevin frowned. “You know I’m just worried about you…”

“Yeah, because it sounds--”

“Because it’s bothering you.” He smirked. “You’ve done plenty of things over the years that seem ‘crazy,’ I’m used to it.”

Nick crossed his arms again and crumpled into himself. “Gee… thanks…”
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 21, 2021, 10:49:34 PM
2.  Post a line from your work-in-progress with no context.

Aww, I could picture Brian doing this.  So cute LOL.


Outside of their bodies, demon hearts became gemstones and Nick’s popped out as a necklace. So I guess you could call the story “Nick’s Heart,” but that seems silly in comparison.

How did you come up with the idea to have demon hearts become gemstones?  Is Pandora's Necklace like the [Nick's] Heart of the Ocean? LOL


You know, in a “sword and sorcery” world, the word “knife” doesn’t appear at all. “Sword” (or “swords” or “sword-something”) is in it 61 times and “dagger” four times. Since “dagger” is more spiritually akin to knife, I’ll go with that one. And the question doesn’t specify that the first instance needs to be used, so I’ll go with the second, because I like it better:

As always, a key tenet of our heroes’ MO is that someones should not be sacrificed for somethings, even when those somethings are the goal. I hesitate to use “people” and “things” because, well… are demons people? A question to ponder… perhaps in our themes and motifs… ;)

Good point - plus, "dagger" sounds a lot cooler than "knife."  I love that line you posted.  It does seem very thematic, especially with the way you described it after the quote.  It seems like you do put effort into planning motifs and whatnot in advance with all your lists, but did you know the theme(s) of PBox before you started writing it?  And would you say PNecklace has its own theme separate from PBox, or do they share a common theme?


I mostly think it’s pretty, but it does tie into a theme. Is it fate, Nick, or is it choices? Hmmm...

This reminds me of our conversation about stubborn characters who control the plot.  Do our characters have free will to make choices, or is it "fate" (a.k.a. the author's choices) that guide them?  "The immovable power of fate" = the words the author writes on the screen LOL.  Those words are pretty!


Being able to still write it after letting the idea sit for a decade! Once I “retired,” I honestly wasn’t ever sure that I would get back into writing again, let alone finishing an idea that wasn’t even partially on paper. So, I guess thanks to the whole of the PBox series for being pushy?

You should definitely be proud of that!  Ten years is a long time to let something sit and still come back to it.  That's an accomplishment!


Not immediately feeling frustrated if it suddenly doesn’t go well. I think in the back of my head, I’m having nightmare flashbacks to my six-month PBox hiatus and how writing went after I finished it. I think if I had more going on besides writing in my free time, I would worry about it a lot less. But, since I don’t really have anywhere to go or anything else to do, I do worry.

I totally get this.  I did not have a good writing weekend; I only wrote a few paragraphs of my story today.  But I just keep telling myself that happens; the streak couldn't last forever (although technically my streak is still alive since I did write something today, even if it wasn't a lot).  My pattern is usually that if I have a really good, productive writing day, the next day will not be great.  It's like I need more than one night to recharge.  I guess that may apply to weeks, too.
 I know you'll push through this rough patch and get back on track.  It does help if you have something else to focus on instead of worrying about writing, but that's what TV and basketball are for!


11.  Which character do you have the most in common with?
12.  Which character do you have the least in common with?

None of them? Howie might be the most? Howie is all of us, after all.. There’s bits of me in all of them, but no one where it’s abundantly most or least. Kevin might be the least?

LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't have an answer to these questions.  I put bits of myself in all of my characters too, but yeah, there wasn't an obvious most or least.


I also took it twice for Nick, I think because I’m so all over the place in the grand scheme of the story, but the only thing that changed was the introverted/extroverted part when I retook it. I guess the difference in growing over the course of the story? I don’t know, I’m not entirely happy with either of these choices either... I guess PBox Nick is either:

The Adventurer (ISFP): Introverted, Observant, Feeling, and Prospecting (plus turbulent)

Adventurer personalities are true artists, but not necessarily in the typical sense where they’re out painting happy little trees. Often enough though, they are perfectly capable of this. Rather, it’s that they use aesthetics, design and even their choices and actions to push the limits of social convention. Adventurers enjoy upsetting traditional expectations with experiments in beauty and behavior – chances are, they’ve expressed more than once the phrase “Don’t box me in!”

The Entertainer (ESFP): Extraverted, Observant, Feeling, and Prospecting (plus turbulent)

If anyone is to be found spontaneously breaking into song and dance, it is the Entertainer personality type. Entertainers get caught up in the excitement of the moment, and want everyone else to feel that way, too. No other personality type is as generous with their time and energy as Entertainers when it comes to encouraging others, and no other personality type does it with such irresistible style.

I feel like Nick is a combination of these two.  The Entertainer sounds more like his real life personality, but he definitely has that artistic side of The Adventurer too.

When I have more time, maybe I'll go back and take this for some of my original characters from other stories.


When I write interesting bits ahead of where I am currently working, I usually end up writing dialogue. So I will say dialogue. I often don’t even add “so and so said” tags unless I have a clear body language thing to convey. Who speaks what is all very clear to me.

I do this, too.  When I think through upcoming scenes, I think of them in terms of the dialogue, so if I'm short on time and trying to get the words on the page before I have to go to bed or go to work, I just write the dialogue.  Then I go back and add in description, dialogue tags, body language, etc. later.


This one should work! https://images.app.goo.gl/NtCi9LSyRSTVj321A

Still my favorite of their album photo shoots!  I love the concept of them each representing a different element.


20.  Post a brief excerpt.

Aww, I love the brotherly Nick and Kevin exchange.  Leave it to Kevin to be worried about Nick.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 22, 2021, 05:38:46 PM
Which Boy is most likely to do flowery, descriptive third person prose in their head as they narrate their life? (In general, not necessarily Nick or Kevin specifically.)

Your Nick excerpt sounded pretty Nick. I'd say "give me a Kevin excerpt" but I understand, spoilers.

Thanks!

I have actually never written first person from Brian or AJ's POV, so I don't know how they compare, but I make Kevin and Howie slightly more flowery/eloquent than Nick.  I guess that is how I differentiate, but I don't think it's a huge difference.  I try not to make any of them sound like Bella from Twilight LOL.  But I know my Howie can't be that accurate because I searched Sick as My Secrets and didn't find a single "and stuff like that." LOL

Though who knows, maybe Nick is actually the one who narrates his life in purple prose.  He is certainly the most dramatic one.  And he's also written a book and a screenplay, so maybe I don't give him enough credit for his literary prowess.


I've secretly always wanted to write a CYOA story, but I've never really thought I could make it strong enough to carry a narrative, let alone multiple narratives.

I think Mare wrote one a long time ago.  From what I remember, she said it was harder than she thought it would be.  Mare, please weigh in with your perspective.  It sounds fun, but challenging.


I'm guilty of it, or qualifiers would be more accurate: "I only drink heavily on the weekends" is something I said a lot in my twenties.

Having known other addicts, I always assumed he actually fell off the wagon a lot, but that he didn't want to disappoint anyone by saying so. But I did like believing that he had gotten everything together and was sticking to it. I think it's fine if you stick with what he said, especially if he was hiding the "falling off" from the POV characters. Unless they caught him, they wouldn't know. I suspect AJ would worry about disappointing the other Boys a lot.

Eh, the drinking heavily on the weekends thing is true of a lot of people.  It only becomes a problem when it's every night or starts interfering with other aspects of your life.  I'm definitely a social drinker; how much I drink has a lot to do with who I'm with and how much they like to drink.

Yeah, I knew AJ had fallen off the wagon before, but I guess I was naive and thought he had it together more than he did since starting a family.  I respect his honesty in admitting he slipped up so recently, but now I'm not sure we can ever really trust him when he claims to be sober.  Not judging him though - it's really none of our business, as long as it doesn't affect the group.  I hope he can stay clean and sober for Rochelle and the girls' sake though, as well as for himself and the group.

That's a good point; he could be drinking behind the scenes and hiding it from the other guys, and Nick or Kevin would never know.  Thanks!


Unless she likes green. You can only love someone if you have the same favorite colors!

I guess that means I'm stuck with Howie LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 22, 2021, 06:39:45 PM
Aww, I could picture Brian doing this.  So cute LOL.

Making fun of Nick? Yes. Yes, I could also picture him doing that, lol. "Hi my name is Nick." Thanks for enjoying my Brian quips.


How did you come up with the idea to have demon hearts become gemstones?  Is Pandora's Necklace like the [Nick's] Heart of the Ocean? LOL

You know... It was mostly leaning into the gemstone aesthetic with the countries in the story. That and they needed to be something tangible for the end of PBox/beginning of PNecklace. I never intended it to be anything deep and poetic necessarily. Please tell the children that I “just liked green,” lmao

lol Nick's heart of the ocean, he'll never let go.

I think it just ended up being a necklace because Nick would probably subconsciously think, "Well if I'm literally giving this to you, it better be easy for you to have and hold on to." It's easier to wear jewelry than hold a loose gemstone.


Good point - plus, "dagger" sounds a lot cooler than "knife."  I love that line you posted.  It does seem very thematic, especially with the way you described it after the quote.  It seems like you do put effort into planning motifs and whatnot in advance with all your lists, but did you know the theme(s) of PBox before you started writing it?  And would you say PNecklace has its own theme separate from PBox, or do they share a common theme?

"Dagger" does sound way cooler than "knife." And thanks!

You know, some of them I did, some of them I didn't. "True Companions/The Power of Friendship" is both a trope and a theme I use often, probably more than anything else, so it obviously went in. The "what measure is non-human?/what measure is a monster?" was planned from the beginning, but is definitely strongest in PBox. So was "what defines individuals/groups/the world?" I also knew that our heroes would definitely be on the "right makes might" side of that scale. A few of those grew with time, like the juxtapositions and the theme I wouldn't say didn't come into play until PNecklace. They share common themes for sure, but I'd say the “fate versus choices” is really just starting to come into play in PNecklace. They were all pretty adamant about their “fate” in life in the first book.


This reminds me of our conversation about stubborn characters who control the plot.  Do our characters have free will to make choices, or is it "fate" (a.k.a. the author's choices) that guide them?  "The immovable power of fate" = the words the author writes on the screen LOL.  Those words are pretty!

Thanks, I try to save my more poetic moments for when they’ll really pack a punch! lol! I mean, I told Nick his fate and he said, “F that, I’m not dying.” So… I’ll let them have free will as long as it’s great for the story. Nick’s never steered the bus wrong yet.


You should definitely be proud of that!  Ten years is a long time to let something sit and still come back to it.  That's an accomplishment!

I accept this kudos and would like to thank the academy and AC and pushy free will Nick for the honor. lol


I totally get this.  I did not have a good writing weekend; I only wrote a few paragraphs of my story today.  But I just keep telling myself that happens; the streak couldn't last forever (although technically my streak is still alive since I did write something today, even if it wasn't a lot).  My pattern is usually that if I have a really good, productive writing day, the next day will not be great.  It's like I need more than one night to recharge.  I guess that may apply to weeks, too.

I know you'll push through this rough patch and get back on track.  It does help if you have something else to focus on instead of worrying about writing, but that's what TV and basketball are for!

I did end up finishing the chapter I was working on today by finally finishing the fight scene I was putting off for no discernible reason. Now I can get back to PNecklace? Probably? I’m vaguely sure of what’s happening next, but not quite sure on how to execute it. We'll all push through together! Having March Madness has helped. My bracket is now destroyed, but I am loving all the madness and getting to back the Pac this year. Glad your streak is still alive! Hopefully today is a productive writing day.

Speaking of knives, I did get to write this today, so that was fun:

Quote
Nick tossed the knife on the ground. "You left this in the tree."

I bet y'all could come up with any random word and I've probably written it down somewhere in this epic.


LOL I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't have an answer to these questions.  I put bits of myself in all of my characters too, but yeah, there wasn't an obvious most or least.

I want to see people who have a definitive answer. I don’t think I even had one for my whole body of work.


I feel like Nick is a combination of these two.  The Entertainer sounds more like his real life personality, but he definitely has that artistic side of The Adventurer too.

Well now I feel better about it! Yesterday I just gave up. Haha I got so sick of looking at it that I didn’t even bother trying Brian or Howie like I had planned on to round out more of the Boys we had character MBTIs for.


I do this, too.  When I think through upcoming scenes, I think of them in terms of the dialogue, so if I'm short on time and trying to get the words on the page before I have to go to bed or go to work, I just write the dialogue.  Then I go back and add in description, dialogue tags, body language, etc. later.

I wonder why it’s dialogue scenes that stick out to us more than other types? I think I’ve written maybe two “I have clear pictures of the action here in this section” scenes ever and they were both for the next book.


Still my favorite of their album photo shoots!  I love the concept of them each representing a different element.

Same!! It was a fun addition to the “stark white” that is Millennium. It was the photo shoot I had in mind for this “find an image” because of the mirroring and reflecting of the water, but I don’t think I’d actually seen this specific photo before. Happy accident.


Aww, I love the brotherly Nick and Kevin exchange.  Leave it to Kevin to be worried about Nick.

Thanks! He felt like the right one to do this health and wellness check I was envisioning, haha. I figured that I kept mentioning Nick talking about how he’s crazy, so may as well share it, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 22, 2021, 07:19:36 PM
I have actually never written first person from Brian or AJ's POV, so I don't know how they compare, but I make Kevin and Howie slightly more flowery/eloquent than Nick.  I guess that is how I differentiate, but I don't think it's a huge difference.  I try not to make any of them sound like Bella from Twilight LOL.  But I know my Howie can't be that accurate because I searched Sick as My Secrets and didn't find a single "and stuff like that." LOL

I've written all of them in limited third (close enough?) and Howie's the most eloquent but I also chalk that up to his persona as "the good king" in the story. I have never made him say "and stuff like that." Someone give me an eloquent way to say it and I will, lol!


Though who knows, maybe Nick is actually the one who narrates his life in purple prose.  He is certainly the most dramatic one.  And he's also written a book and a screenplay, so maybe I don't give him enough credit for his literary prowess.

I figure he would be the most likely to narrate his life at all, dramatically or not! However he wants to do it is fine, unless he thinks things like "I'm drowning in the ocean of disappointment in Kevin's Persian green orbs." Then we'll have to have a serious talk with him!


I think Mare wrote one a long time ago.  From what I remember, she said it was harder than she thought it would be.  Mare, please weigh in with your perspective.  It sounds fun, but challenging.

Geez, as always, Mare is so wise. Please inspire us with your wisdom, Mare!

It wouldn't be the worst type of thing to collaborate on; different people could write different paths.


Eh, the drinking heavily on the weekends thing is true of a lot of people.  It only becomes a problem when it's every night or starts interfering with other aspects of your life.  I'm definitely a social drinker; how much I drink has a lot to do with who I'm with and how much they like to drink.

Yes, the crowd for sure changes it. Don't tell my primary care physician! lol


Yeah, I knew AJ had fallen off the wagon before, but I guess I was naive and thought he had it together more than he did since starting a family.  I respect his honesty in admitting he slipped up so recently, but now I'm not sure we can ever really trust him when he claims to be sober.  Not judging him though - it's really none of our business, as long as it doesn't affect the group.  I hope he can stay clean and sober for Rochelle and the girls' sake though, as well as for himself and the group.

That's a good point; he could be drinking behind the scenes and hiding it from the other guys, and Nick or Kevin would never know.  Thanks!

I also respect his honesty, that's a tough thing to share with the world when they're your own demons and whatnot. I figure, everyone's got their own, so the best thing we can do is to give them support and grace. :) Me too! Getting told you smell off by your kid and that they don't want to hang out with you must be heartbreaking for everyone involved.

Any time! Happy to help make your story as dramatic as possible in the background. ;)


I guess that means I'm stuck with Howie LOL.

Stuck with Howie or dancing the night away on the Lido Deck with Howie or having the time of your life committing murder and getting away with it with Howie? Hardly stuck.

Meanwhile, guess I'll go back to liking green. I'm not super committed to pink or yellow anyway. I just look great in them, but I can pull off a good green too, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 22, 2021, 07:32:22 PM
I've all written them in limited third (close enough?) and Howie's the most eloquent but I also chalk that up to his persona as "the good king" in the story. I have never made him say "and stuff like that." Someone give me an eloquent way to say it and I will, lol!

He could be like the king in The King and I:  "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"  That's "and stuff like that" in Latin LOL.


I figure he would be the most likely to narrate his life at all, dramatically or not! However he wants to do it is fine, unless he thinks things like "I'm drowning in the ocean of disappointment in Kevin's Persian green orbs." Then we'll have to have a serious talk with him!

LMAO!!


It wouldn't be the worst type of thing to collaborate on; different people could write different paths.

Yes, it would be less overwhelming as a collaboration.  *wonders if the word COLLABORATION will summon Rose to the forum*


Stuck with Howie or dancing the night away on the Lido Deck with Howie or having the time of your committing murder and getting away with it with Howie? Hardly stuck.

Good points!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 22, 2021, 07:40:07 PM
That last one literally took me half an hour to write during the commercial breaks of this basketball game!

I also just came up with the stupidest idea while thinking of this discussion:

I have read stories that alternated first person POV between all five Boys, but I haven't attempted one of those yet.  I think it could get confusing and hard to capture five different narrative voices, so I stick with third person for group stories.

for a short novella with this premise:

8. "Nick gets a 'Summer of Happiness' where all the other Boys are main characters and he gets a nice paid vacation to pull from some of their old fanfic habits like 'only sleeps,' 'wears several hats throughout,' 'gets to pop in to make silly jokes,' or 'shakes his head at *someone's* antics.' haha"

but set in the '90s and the other four plots are all old fanfic cliches. All because this gem of an exchange popped into my head:

"Nick, are you trying to look at me sternly?"

"Yes. Is it working? It's hard without you know... your eyebrows." If anything, he looked constipated.

I tried so hard to hide my smile, but ended up chuckling. "No, it definitely isn't."

Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 22, 2021, 07:44:46 PM
That last one literally took me half an hour to write during the commercial breaks of this basketball game!

I also just came up with the stupidest idea while thinking of this discussion:

for a short novella with this premise:

but set in the '90s and the other four plots are all old fanfic cliches. All because this gem of an exchange popped into my head:

"Nick, are you trying to look at me sternly?"

"Yes. Is it working? It's hard without you know... your eyebrows." If anything, he looked constipated.

I tried so hard to hide my smile, but ended up chuckling. "No, it definitely isn't."

LOL!  I love that idea.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 22, 2021, 07:48:08 PM
He could be like the king in The King and I:  "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera!"  That's "and stuff like that" in Latin LOL.

"I've all written them!" Yikes! You can tell I was not fully paying attention to writing that.

LMAO "in Latin." I will do my best to sneak it in at some point when it makes sense.  ;D


Yes, it would be less overwhelming as a collaboration.  *wonders if the word COLLABORATION will summon Rose to the forum*

You know, it used to. Maybe we have to say it three times like Beetlejuice. I wonder what the differing plot lines would look like in a collaboration CYOA? Maybe the inciting incident is a bus crash!


Good points!

I'm always here with my #TeamHowie sign.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 22, 2021, 07:51:08 PM
LOL!  I love that idea.

Me too! lmao

Apparently that's what happens when I retire for a decade. I come back and want to write my magnum opus and the weirdest joke fanfics that somehow end up very dramatic and serious.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 22, 2021, 08:10:16 PM
You know, it used to. Maybe we have to say it three times like Beetlejuice. I wonder what the differing plot lines would look like in a collaboration CYOA? Maybe the inciting incident is a bus crash!

That sounds like a great inciting incident for a CYOA COLLABORATION.


Me too! lmao

Apparently that's what happens when I retire for a decade. I come back and want to write my magnum opus and the weirdest joke fanfics that somehow end up very dramatic and serious.

You know, when you're an active member of Team Dark, you need to write weird joke fanfics from time to time.  Hence my stupid pandaskunk stories.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 22, 2021, 08:55:57 PM
That sounds like a great inciting incident for a CYOA COLLABORATION.

Now we wait.  :biggrin:


You know, when you're an active member of Team Dark, you need to write weird joke fanfics from time to time.  Hence my stupid pandaskunk stories.

Maybe that's it. I'm trying to offset the dark.

Now what to make their very cliche plots... AJ should clearly be the Mary Sue becomes an opening act or backup dancer so that Nick has many opportunities to make perverted jokes while wearing several hats/having several wardrobe changes, lol.

OMG, Nick hits his head and becomes fandom savvy and that's how he avoids being the main character, lmao.

A new girl suddenly joining our tour? Nope! I'm out of here! I pushed AJ toward her as I ran away. "She's all yours, Bone!"
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 22, 2021, 09:13:50 PM
I saw my name up there somewhere and you asked me to weigh in on something that I tried but was hard? I have no clue what that was in reference to lol but I do enjoy when Dee calls me wise. So what where you talking about? It looks like a collaboration? Was it a choose your own adventure?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 22, 2021, 09:30:37 PM
I saw my name up there somewhere and you asked me to weigh in on something that I tried but was hard? I have no clue what that was in reference to lol but I do enjoy when Dee calls me wise. So what where you talking about? It looks like a collaboration? Was it a choose your own adventure?

Yes, Julie and I both said that writing a CYOA story intrigues us, but seems difficult. And she said you had possibly written one already.

I'll call you wise as many times as you'd like to hear it.  :biggrin:
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 23, 2021, 05:40:57 PM
I occasionally browse the writing and fanfiction subreddits on Reddit and saw this post that someone had linked, claiming switching to Comic Sans will help with writer's block. https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/dplcz0/comic_sans_is/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3  I feel like I've heard this theory before, but I don't know that I've ever tried it.  Has anyone else?  If not, we should try it next time we feel uninspired and see if it makes a difference.

Personally, I don't understand the hatred of Comic Sans.  Maybe because it's the font I used for my entire website when I first created it as a young teenybopper.  Maybe it's because I teach elementary school, so I appreciate cutesy, kid-friendly fonts.  I get that it's not appropriate for serious/professional documents, but there's nothing wrong with it for fun, lighthearted stuff.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 23, 2021, 07:35:05 PM
Interesting! Maybe I'll do it in my next chapter and let you know how it goes. I'm not personally super offended by it either, but I think it is that cutesy teenybopper stigma. In my mind it's really just an italic type face where the letters are more distinct. Great for anyone with the -lexia/-graphia/-etceterias. (lol That joke was awesome.) And as far as cutesy fonts go, it's not even the worst one out there! Like looking at google docs, "indie flower" is one I would call way cutesier. I figure, life could use a little whimsy.

Also on the topic of writer's block, NaNo has dubbed April's Camp "NaNoFinMo," so they writing resources they're providing throughout the month are all geared toward finishing novels (it's like they read my mind). Let's see what pops up! :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 23, 2021, 08:27:00 PM
I saw my name up there somewhere and you asked me to weigh in on something that I tried but was hard? I have no clue what that was in reference to lol but I do enjoy when Dee calls me wise. So what where you talking about? It looks like a collaboration? Was it a choose your own adventure?

I did attempt one of those. I only posted it on my site because it would’ve been too complicated to post it on AC. Sadly when my site went down, so did the story. It wasn’t very long but it was pretty complicated to do. It would probably work much better as a collab.

I do believe I did alternate endings on whatever the night may bring as well.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 23, 2021, 10:15:46 PM
I did attempt one of those. I only posted it on my site because it would’ve been too complicated to post it on AC. Sadly when my site went down, so did the story. It wasn’t very long but it was pretty complicated to do. It would probably work much better as a collab.

I do believe I did alternate endings on whatever the night may bring as well.

I wondered that too. Does a CYOA have an update chapter for each path? Are they just scenes in one chapter? Are the chapters long? Short? I guess it's personal preference, probably.

Oh fun! How was it to write multiple alternate endings?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 24, 2021, 06:44:56 AM
I wondered that too. Does a CYOA have an update chapter for each path? Are they just scenes in one chapter? Are the chapters long? Short? I guess it's personal preference, probably.

Oh fun! How was it to write multiple alternate endings?

Oh my God! I had written a whole answer to this question and then lost it! So frustrating lol

The plot was very simple and kind of a short story. About five chapters long. But with each chapter having two choices I think I ended up writing almost twenty five chapters. It was a big undertaking and I doubt I’d ever do anything like it again. The chapters were short, probably about 1,500 or so. I wish I had figured out a way to save it.

The alternate endings were fun. I only wrote three of them and I did manage to post those onto AC using pick a,b or c.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 24, 2021, 06:24:20 PM
Oh my God! I had written a whole answer to this question and then lost it! So frustrating lol

I hate when this happens. And then whatever I type afterward is just so half-assed because I can't be bothered.


The plot was very simple and kind of a short story. About five chapters long. But with each chapter having two choices I think I ended up writing almost twenty five chapters. It was a big undertaking and I doubt I’d ever do anything like it again. The chapters were short, probably about 1,500 or so. I wish I had figured out a way to save it.

The alternate endings were fun. I only wrote three of them and I did manage to post those onto AC using pick a,b or c.

That's crazy that a five chapter story ended up being 25 chapters because of the choices. Do you remember the basic plot you picked, out of curiosity?

That's fun! You really have done everything. I always wanted to write alternate endings for a story that made sense, but then tell people there was one other  one and have them all freak out trying to find it.  :biggrin:

Any other wisdom you'd like to impart on us? Just in case I missed out on any! lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 25, 2021, 05:49:06 PM
I hate when this happens. And then whatever I type afterward is just so half-assed because I can't be bothered.


That's crazy that a five chapter story ended up being 25 chapters because of the choices. Do you remember the basic plot you picked, out of curiosity?

That's fun! You really have done everything. I always wanted to write alternate endings for a story that made sense, but then tell people there was one other  one and have them all freak out trying to find it.  :biggrin:

Any other wisdom you'd like to impart on us? Just in case I missed out on any! lol

It was AJ centered story. He was going to go to the store and one choice was going with Howie and the other was Nick and depending on which one he chose, different things happened. After thinking about it yesterday, I’m beginning to remember that maybe I never actually finished it. I can’t seem to remember actually posting it. I’m not positive though. I know I wrote at least 25 chapters but I think maybe at that point I felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew? I do remember that the end result was going to be how AJ meets Rochelle.

I can’t think of any words of wisdom I have except that maybe always save everything you write and always have a plan B  lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 25, 2021, 06:20:04 PM
It was AJ centered story. He was going to go to the store and one choice was going with Howie and the other was Nick and depending on which one he chose, different things happened. After thinking about it yesterday, I’m beginning to remember that maybe I never actually finished it. I can’t seem to remember actually posting it. I’m not positive though. I know I wrote at least 25 chapters but I think maybe at that point I felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew? I do remember that the end result was going to be how AJ meets Rochelle.

I can’t think of any words of wisdom I have except that maybe always save everything you write and always have a plan B  lol

I'm not sure you ever posted it either.  I went looking on your old site through the Wayback Machine on archive.org and couldn't find it posted.  https://web.archive.org/web/20110207224137/http://mares-braincandy.com/

I can't remember if you shared some of it through email or your Yahoo group, or if you just talked about the fact that you were writing it.  I remember you writing it, but I can't remember anything about the actual plot, so maybe I never read it.

But yes... words of wisdom:  save everything!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 25, 2021, 08:52:17 PM
It was AJ centered story. He was going to go to the store and one choice was going with Howie and the other was Nick and depending on which one he chose, different things happened. After thinking about it yesterday, I’m beginning to remember that maybe I never actually finished it. I can’t seem to remember actually posting it. I’m not positive though. I know I wrote at least 25 chapters but I think maybe at that point I felt like I had bitten off more than I could chew? I do remember that the end result was going to be how AJ meets Rochelle.

I can’t think of any words of wisdom I have except that maybe always save everything you write and always have a plan B  lol

So much can happen if you go to the store with Howie or Nick, lol.

Got it. Update days, chapter hoarding, save everything, plan B.

I don't have a plan B. Can I get the non-pharmaceutical kind at the store with Howie or Nick? lol

I'm not sure you ever posted it either.  I went looking on your old site through the Wayback Machine on archive.org and couldn't find it posted.  https://web.archive.org/web/20110207224137/http://mares-braincandy.com/

Oh man, the wayback machine! That's something I haven't thought of in a long time.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 25, 2021, 09:28:20 PM
New questions? Feel free to skip ones you feel like we've already answered; I italicized some of them.

1. Is there a story you're holding off on writing for some reason?

2. What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

3. What order do you write in? Front of book to back? Chronological? Favorite scenes first? Something else?

4. Favorite character you've written?

5. Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

6. Something you would go back and change in your writing that it's too late/complicated to change now?

7. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

8. Favorite genre to write?

9. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

10. Write in silence or with background noise? With people or alone?

11. What aspect of your writing do you think has most improved since you started writing?

12. Your weakness as an author.

13. Your strengths as an author.

14. Do you make playlists for your stories while working on them?

15. Why did you start writing?

16. Are there any characters who haunt you?

17. If you could give your fledgling author self any advice, what would it be?

18. Were there any works you read that affected you so much that it influenced your writing style? What were they?

19. When it come to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etcetera?

20. Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

21. What do you think when you read over your older work?

22. Are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

23. Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

24. Have you ever become an expert on something you previously knew nothing about in order to better a scene or a story?

25. Copy/paste a few sentences or a short paragraph that you're particularly proud of.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 26, 2021, 01:02:26 AM
I'm not sure you ever posted it either.  I went looking on your old site through the Wayback Machine on archive.org and couldn't find it posted.  https://web.archive.org/web/20110207224137/http://mares-braincandy.com/

I can't remember if you shared some of it through email or your Yahoo group, or if you just talked about the fact that you were writing it.  I remember you writing it, but I can't remember anything about the actual plot, so maybe I never read it.

But yes... words of wisdom:  save everything!

Oh my God! Thank you for that link! I didn’t even know I could access my old site again. I think that I was probably sharing the chapters with Mersey, Maria and probably Kris but ended up never finishing it and because it was a cyoa, never posting what I had. In the end I think I took some of my ideas and chapters and turned it into another story and I’m pretty sure it was the cough medicine one. I can’t see myself just leaving it totally be and that one seems to match up the best with where it was going, minus Howie lol sorry Howie.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 26, 2021, 09:20:03 PM
Oh my God! Thank you for that link! I didn’t even know I could access my old site again. I think that I was probably sharing the chapters with Mersey, Maria and probably Kris but ended up never finishing it and because it was a cyoa, never posting what I had. In the end I think I took some of my ideas and chapters and turned it into another story and I’m pretty sure it was the cough medicine one. I can’t see myself just leaving it totally be and that one seems to match up the best with where it was going, minus Howie lol sorry Howie.

You're welcome!  Here's another link to an older(?) version I also had linked.  https://web.archive.org/web/20050204191925/http://brain_candy.pitas.com/  It's so fun to see these old sites with the guestbooks and mailing lists and shoutboxes and frames.  Such a throwback!

Angelfire is still online, so everything posted there still works without the Wayback Machine.  It's the domain (mares-braincandy.com) and the pitas.com stuff that doesn't work.  I don't know if you can still access your old Angelfire account, but if you created a new index page and linked to all the other pages - My Stories, Favorite Stories, About Me, etc. - you would have a fully functional website again.  If you want help tracking down links to preserve everything, I'd be happy to help.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 26, 2021, 11:57:47 PM
1. Is there a story you're holding off on writing for some reason?

I actually thought I would hold off on the one I'm currently writing, My Brother's Keeper, because of what it has in common with my last two stories. I thought I would need a break from the medical drama aspect of it, but maybe I've just been building up to it.

I guess the one I'm holding off on now is the Brian horror story I thought I was going to write next.  Although it would seem "easier" to write than MBK because it requires less research, I'm anticipating it being harder because it's something different from what I'm used to writing.  Let's just say psychological stuff seems more intimidating than physical stuff.


2. What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

That would be a "novel" I wrote in 2000 called Silent Desperation.  It's about Brian getting addicted to painkillers after being injured in a car accident.  Decent idea... terrible execution.  I didn't come up with the premise myself; it was given to me by a friend, and at fifteen, I was still too young and naive to do it justice.  This was when I didn't have internet in my bedroom, so I did a scant amount of research using the only source I had easy access to - Encarta '95 on CD-Rom LOL.  It definitely shows that I had no idea what I was talking about.  After all, Lurlene McDaniel didn't have a book about drug addiction LOL.


5. Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

I'm pleasantly surprised to finally be writing a Kevin novel.  I guess after 21 years, it was about freaking time.  Sorry, Kevin LOL.

As far as original characters go, my first thought was Jori from Secrets of the Heart.  I based her on my sister, which is not something I thought I would do.  I don't even remember why I did, but it worked for that story.  My sister would hate her portrayal, but I love it.  She made for an interesting character.


6. Something you would go back and change in your writing that it's too late/complicated to change now?

I would go back and fix the grammatical mistakes I used to make - stuff like writing "His heart sunk" instead of "His heart sank."   Another one I learned just a few years ago is that "blonde" is the female version of the word and "blond" is the male version, so technically Nick has blond hair, not blonde.  I probably still mess that one up from time to time because I am so used to using "blonde" indiscriminate ly.  If I'm editing a story anyway and come across mistakes like that, I'll fix them, but I haven't gone as far as reposting chapters of old stories just to correct that stuff.  It wouldn't really be complicated, just time-consuming.  I haven't gotten that bored yet LOL.


7. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

Embarrassed.  I never even mention writing when I'm asked about my hobbies, even though it's been my favorite hobby for two decades and is the only real hobby I have these days outside of watching TV, which I don't think really counts LOL.  I just don't want to have to any follow-up questions about what I write or if someone else can read it.  No!

Part of that has to do with it being BSB fanfic, part of it is the subject matter I write about it, and part of it is just me.  I have always been shy about sharing my writing, even before I started writing fanfic.  I wrote a story for the Young Author's competition every year in elementary school, and I won for my class every year from 4th grade to 8th, but I was always embarrassed about letting anyone but my teacher read my story.


9. What, if anything, do you do for inspiration?

Lately, I've been listening to a podcast and watching YouTube videos.  I have a mental list of other stuff to watch for inspiration when the time is right, such as the Unbreakable concert video from London, but I haven't gotten that far in the story yet.


14. Do you make playlists for your stories while working on them?

Sometimes.  I don't do this as often as I did in the mid-2000s with Broken and BMS, 00Carter, and Undead.  The last story-specific one I made was for A Heart That Isn't Mine.  Otherwise, I just have playlists of instrumental writing music that I add on to as I discover new pieces.  Sometimes certain pieces or scores will remind me of certain stories because of how often I listened to it when writing that story.  The Braveheart soundtrack reminds me of Broken, especially the track called "The Princess Pleads for Wallace's Life," (https://youtu.be/Xv3Kxg56Dak) which I listened to on repeat when I was writing the choppage chapter.  There's a song called "Primavera," (https://youtu.be/n-Jl71LY5tc) that is still a staple of my writing playlist because it's so sad and beautiful, but I'll always associate it with Sick as My Secrets.  My favorite piece for My Brother's Keeper is "Arrival of the Birds," (https://youtu.be/n88MReEC27k) although I've also been loving these long piano medleys of Linkin Park songs (https://youtu.be/iHylxc5-_ak).


15. Why did you start writing?

I read a Brian story that was about his illness when he was five, told from the perspective of his best friend at the time, the little girl who lived next door.  It started out the same as the version Brian tells, but Brian ended up dying... only it turned out the whole thing was just a dream that the girl was having as a grown woman.  She woke up at the end and found herself in bed next to Brian, her husband.  It was a cute little story, but I went into it expecting a novel and was disappointed to discover it was only a short story.  I wanted to read more, so I decided to try my hand at writing a story of my own about Brian and his childhood best friend growing up and falling in love.  I never finished the first version of it, but that's how I started writing fanfic.  I eventually went back to that idea and rewrote it as "Years of Grace."


19. When it come to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etcetera?

I have one big outline for each novel that includes all that kind of information.  The outline for my current story is 13 pages long so far and has a section on settings, a section on characters, a timeline, a chapter by chapter outline that I'm adding to as I go, a bulleted list of future plot points and ideas, and a section for research notes.  It's one of my more elaborate outlines because it's a medical drama set in BSB history, so there's a lot to keep track of.


20. Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

I can sit in front of my computer and "write" for hours, but in reality, I'm not actually writing that whole time.  Usually I'll write a few words or maybe a few sentences, then open a new tab to look something up or check Twitter or this forum.  Then I'll go back to the story and write a little more.  So I'm not sure if that counts as long sit-down sessions or little spurts LOL.  I guess it's a combination of both.


21. What do you think when you read over your older work?

I am generally proud of everything I've written post-Broken.  The really old, pre-Broken stuff is pretty bad, but when I think about how young I was then, I'm still proud of myself for putting forth the effort to write it.  Everyone starts somewhere, and I had to write those stories to become a better fiction writer.  I can't say I really go back and read those stories, but on the rare occasion I've skimmed through one for whatever reason, it puts a smile on my face - partly because of how bad it was, but also because of the nostalgia.  I love the references to early-2000s pop culture and outdated technology.  All those old fanfics - not just mine - are such a throwback to one of my favorite times in my life.


22. Are there any subjects that make you uncomfortable to write?

Darker sexual stuff, like rape and fetishes.


23. Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

I studied abroad at the University of Stirling in Scotland for a summer when I was in college.  Stirling is where William Wallace and the Scottish army defeated the English - the "They may take our lives, but they'll never take our FREEDOM!" scene in Braveheart.  One day we went to see the Wallace Monument there, which is this beautiful tower on top of a big hill.  You have to walk up the hill to get to it.  There is a paved path, but for some reason, one of my friends suggested we take the "scenic route" by hiking up what looked like a trail that snaked through the trees on the hill.  I was not a fan of this idea, but I followed the others off the path.  As we picked our way up the hill, the "trail" disappeared, and the terrain got steeper and harder to climb.  None of us were prepared for that intense of a hike.  As I was climbing one particularly steep section, my foot slipped out from under me in the mud, and I fell and landed hard on my right side.  I'm pretty sure I broke or at least bruised a rib because it was sore for weeks, to the point that I couldn't sleep on that side.  But we eventually made it to the top of the hill and saw the monument, and I got a good story of it, so it all worked out.  Anyway, that is the obscure life experience I draw on when writing about broken ribs or hiking injuries, such as in Road to Bethlehem.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 27, 2021, 01:22:08 PM
Happy Saturday!  How's everyone's day going?

I finished Chapter 8 of my story this morning, so I'm feeling good.  Chapter 9 is already written, so I'm on track to at least have Chapter 10 started by spring break, which starts on Friday for me.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 27, 2021, 02:04:00 PM
Happy Saturday! That's great that you finished Chapter Eight and you'll probably finish Chapter 10 over Spring Break! You're on a roll!

I'm counting down the days to Spring Break. We're in the weird part where the main school district is on break all of next week and we're not yet, so we're just going to do some fun things Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday is an Inservice Day. Then our very short break. Several of the students said that they would be gone on extended trips and I'm hoping it's true; I really need a break, lol

Writing-wise, I'm joining this little Kevin party in a more truncated form with a Kevin-focused chapter. I realized it was what was missing in this portion of the novel. It's going slower than some of the others (much like that Kevin part that held me up back in January/February), which tells me that I may need to go soul searching with Kevin. Anyone have any "This is great to reconnect with Kevin" videos or anything like that they've saved during their adventures with Kevin? My current plan was to aimlessly scour youtube or listen to Nobody But You on repeat for hours, lol.

I'll come back to engage in conversations about questions a little later since I'm writing some things down that feel important, but I re-stumbled on this video yesterday that made me nod and laugh: How To Do Research (https://youtu.be/sigJwoeU6OI) because it reminded me of our research conversations, but also "I'll remember this. I don't need to write it down" is me in a nutshell -- which is insane for the amount of research I do when I write, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 27, 2021, 05:04:09 PM
You're welcome!  Here's another link to an older(?) version I also had linked.  https://web.archive.org/web/20050204191925/http://brain_candy.pitas.com/  It's so fun to see these old sites with the guestbooks and mailing lists and shoutboxes and frames.  Such a throwback!

Angelfire is still online, so everything posted there still works without the Wayback Machine.  It's the domain (mares-braincandy.com) and the pitas.com stuff that doesn't work.  I don't know if you can still access your old Angelfire account, but if you created a new index page and linked to all the other pages - My Stories, Favorite Stories, About Me, etc. - you would have a fully functional website again.  If you want help tracking down links to preserve everything, I'd be happy to help.


Thanks so much! I might take you up on that offer at some point. For now it’s just nice to know it’s there. I’m going to have fun exploring it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on March 27, 2021, 05:18:08 PM
Dee, I feel you! I remember how frustrating it was to see the district off while we still had school followed by a smaller break than everyone else. I never understood why Catholic schools never took off the entire Holy Week!! I mean it’s their time to shine for goodness sake!!

Today’s been okay. Yesterday, I finally got an appointment for a vaccine at the end of the month. That took forever. I’ve been feeling okay today for the first time in days. I was able to walk from one end of my apartment to the other without having to stop. My brain and my legs haven’t been working together lately. I know I don’t talk about it very much, but every once in while it’s nice to share.

I plan on finishing up Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is a fantastic book and was also a fantastic movie.

That’s about all from me. Maybe I’ll try to answer some of those questions later.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 27, 2021, 05:55:50 PM
I'm counting down the days to Spring Break. We're in the weird part where the main school district is on break all of next week and we're not yet, so we're just going to do some fun things Monday and Tuesday, then Wednesday is an Inservice Day. Then our very short break. Several of the students said that they would be gone on extended trips and I'm hoping it's true; I really need a break, lol

I hear ya.  I hope your students do go on trips to lighten your load a little this week.  Hang in there!


Writing-wise, I'm joining this little Kevin party in a more truncated form with a Kevin-focused chapter. I realized it was what was missing in this portion of the novel. It's going slower than some of the others (much like that Kevin part that held me up back in January/February), which tells me that I may need to go soul searching with Kevin. Anyone have any "This is great to reconnect with Kevin" videos or anything like that they've saved during their adventures with Kevin? My current plan was to aimlessly scour youtube or listen to Nobody But You on repeat for hours, lol.

My absolute favorite Kevin performance is from the 2013 cruise.  They each did a solo event, and Kevin's was called "Cover Story" - a little late night concert of him performing covers of some of his favorite songs.  He was supposed to release a solo album like this in 2015, but that never happened.  Anyway, he brought everyone (including himself) to tears singing "Danny's Song."  There is also a beautiful studio version (https://youtu.be/krKDi_iFrm0) of his cover that I listened to on repeat three years ago when I was starting MBK, but watch the live performance (https://youtu.be/TeJKP_7e8Fc) too.  It's such a perfect representation of Kevin and his tender heart.  Otherwise, maybe watch the documentary or that Instagram live he did with Nick. 


I'll come back to engage in conversations about questions a little later since I'm writing some things down that feel important, but I re-stumbled on this video yesterday that made me nod and laugh: How To Do Research (https://youtu.be/sigJwoeU6OI) because it reminded me of our research conversations, but also "I'll remember this. I don't need to write it down" is me in a nutshell -- which is insane for the amount of research I do when I write, lol.

Watching it now, and I'm already nodding in agreement.  I absolutely love Wikipedia.  I get why it's not considered a reputable source, but it's great for an overview and, like the video said, to find reputable sources.  I never use Wikipedia as my only source, but the information I read there almost always aligns with what other sources say and is easier to understand than scholarly articles.  The beauty of researching for writing fiction is that no one's going to nail you for not using 100% "reputable" sources, as long as your information is correct enough to be believable.

I hear you with the "I'll remember this. I don't need to write it down."  I don't trust myself to remember it, which is why I bookmark every site I find useful, but I don't take a ton of notes for most fanfics.  I tend to include more research notes in my outlines for my medical dramas, where there may be a lot of new information or complicated treatment schedules to keep track of.  If I'm researching far in advance of when I'll need the information, I'm more likely to write it down so I don't have to start all over from scratch when I actually get to that part, but usually I have a more general idea of what I'm writing about and look up specific details when I need them.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 27, 2021, 06:01:01 PM
Thanks so much! I might take you up on that offer at some point. For now it’s just nice to know it’s there. I’m going to have fun exploring it.

Anytime!


I never understood why Catholic schools never took off the entire Holy Week!! I mean it’s their time to shine for goodness sake!!

Right?!  That makes no sense.

One perk of teaching in a predominantly Christian area is that our spring break almost always aligns with Easter, and we always get a week off.  If Easter is super late, we sometimes have spring break in March and then still get a four-day weekend around Easter.  I know some districts got rid of spring break this year to give the kids more instructional time, but I'm really glad mine didn't.  We all - staff and students alike - need the break!


Today’s been okay. Yesterday, I finally got an appointment for a vaccine at the end of the month. That took forever. I’ve been feeling okay today for the first time in days. I was able to walk from one end of my apartment to the other without having to stop. My brain and my legs haven’t been working together lately. I know I don’t talk about it very much, but every once in while it’s nice to share.

I plan on finishing up Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is a fantastic book and was also a fantastic movie.

That’s about all from me. Maybe I’ll try to answer some of those questions later.

I'm glad you've been feeling good and super happy to hear you finally got your vaccine appointment!  You can share any time here, and I hope you will answer some of those questions.  It's more fun when lots of people participate.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 27, 2021, 06:35:16 PM
I'll come back later again as I'm about to leave the house again (omg) and it's more complicated to use the forum on my cell phone, but this was stuck in my head and I know that no one else would appreciate it.

So I apparently really need to stop doing "I'll remember this. I don't need to write it down" because I ended up in an internet rabbit hole today, as one often does, and was watching something and going "Why does this sound like PBox?" And then a lightbulb went off and I was like "Oh yeah, this was in my inspiration and plans way back when I first started writing. Oops." So, I may need to go back and actually write down some of my research as the plot thickens back to it. I'm a mess. However, the thing gave me some new ideas to research and include that I don't think I'd originally seen, so yay?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 28, 2021, 10:42:29 AM
I'll come back later again as I'm about to leave the house again (omg) and it's more complicated to use the forum on my cell phone, but this was stuck in my head and I know that no one else would appreciate it.

So I apparently really need to stop doing "I'll remember this. I don't need to write it down" because I ended up in an internet rabbit hole today, as one often does, and was watching something and going "Why does this sound like PBox?" And then a lightbulb went off and I was like "Oh yeah, this was in my inspiration and plans way back when I first started writing. Oops." So, I may need to go back and actually write down some of my research as the plot thickens back to it. I'm a mess. However, the thing gave me some new ideas to research and include that I don't think I'd originally seen, so yay?

Well that's good you got some new ideas from old inspiration!  I bet it is hard to remember things you came across a decade ago without writing them down LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 28, 2021, 11:43:58 AM
Dee, I feel you! I remember how frustrating it was to see the district off while we still had school followed by a smaller break than everyone else. I never understood why Catholic schools never took off the entire Holy Week!! I mean it’s their time to shine for goodness sake!!

lol! They're trying to be humble, of course.

Right?!  That makes no sense.

One perk of teaching in a predominantly Christian area is that our spring break almost always aligns with Easter, and we always get a week off.  If Easter is super late, we sometimes have spring break in March and then still get a four-day weekend around Easter.  I know some districts got rid of spring break this year to give the kids more instructional time, but I'm really glad mine didn't.  We all - staff and students alike - need the break!

Lucky! That sounds so nice! I'm glad your district didn't remove Spring Break. We removed Spring Break last year since we were operating as usual for essential workers and I was a little bummed, but I understood, gotta makes some sacrifices to help get pandemics under control. However, I was also ready for a break.

This is only slightly related to both of these because of Easter/Holy Week, but my friend got a weird ad yesterday and I'm so grateful she shared it with me because I laughed so hard. So if anyone was looking for a good Easter outfit (https://www.saturdaymorningpancakes.com/products/oh-my-god-hes-back-again-adult-unisex-tee), I've got you covered. haha


Today’s been okay. Yesterday, I finally got an appointment for a vaccine at the end of the month. That took forever. I’ve been feeling okay today for the first time in days. I was able to walk from one end of my apartment to the other without having to stop. My brain and my legs haven’t been working together lately. I know I don’t talk about it very much, but every once in while it’s nice to share.

I plan on finishing up Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which is a fantastic book and was also a fantastic movie.

That’s about all from me. Maybe I’ll try to answer some of those questions later.

Yay! I'm glad you finally got a vaccine appointment close to you! I was sending good thoughts out into the universe. :) I'm also glad you were having a good health day yesterday! That's great! Like Julie said, always share when you want to. :) Love hearing from you too. :) And also you're a book reading machine! Makes me feel like I should read something.

And it is more fun when everyone answers the questions.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 28, 2021, 12:19:20 PM
I hear ya.  I hope your students do go on trips to lighten your load a little this week.  Hang in there!

Fingers crossed!


My absolute favorite Kevin performance is from the 2013 cruise.  They each did a solo event, and Kevin's was called "Cover Story" - a little late night concert of him performing covers of some of his favorite songs.  He was supposed to release a solo album like this in 2015, but that never happened.  Anyway, he brought everyone (including himself) to tears singing "Danny's Song."  There is also a beautiful studio version (https://youtu.be/krKDi_iFrm0) of his cover that I listened to on repeat three years ago when I was starting MBK, but watch the live performance (https://youtu.be/TeJKP_7e8Fc) too.  It's such a perfect representation of Kevin and his tender heart.  Otherwise, maybe watch the documentary or that Instagram live he did with Nick.

This is great! Thanks for the help as always! I was thinking about rewatching the documentary as well. Perhaps someday I will be able to provide you with assistance. :)


Watching it now, and I'm already nodding in agreement.  I absolutely love Wikipedia.  I get why it's not considered a reputable source, but it's great for an overview and, like the video said, to find reputable sources.  I never use Wikipedia as my only source, but the information I read there almost always aligns with what other sources say and is easier to understand than scholarly articles.  The beauty of researching for writing fiction is that no one's going to nail you for not using 100% "reputable" sources, as long as your information is correct enough to be believable.

I hear you with the "I'll remember this. I don't need to write it down."  I don't trust myself to remember it, which is why I bookmark every site I find useful, but I don't take a ton of notes for most fanfics.  I tend to include more research notes in my outlines for my medical dramas, where there may be a lot of new information or complicated treatment schedules to keep track of.  If I'm researching far in advance of when I'll need the information, I'm more likely to write it down so I don't have to start all over from scratch when I actually get to that part, but usually I have a more general idea of what I'm writing about and look up specific details when I need them.

I also always start with Wikipedia because of the wealth of other sources, unless I don't think I'll find the answer to my question there (e.g., are snails smart?) or a quick youtube serach would be more beneficial (e.g., show me birds falling out of trees and sticking the landing). I've always loved the little references section, there's so many neat things there. I enjoy scholarly articles sometimes, but I think that's because of the subject matter I tend to research. I know that if I was looking up medical information, I would gloss over at all of the large vocabulary words. Math and science are the same way. Humanities topics are a little easier until it gets into philosophical stuff, then it becomes a process.

That's so true! Unless you're writing historical fiction, the plausibility is more important than exact accuracy. I imagine anyone who writes historical fiction does a lot of exact research.

I think your way is probably better and I'm trying to use it to inspire myself to create more documentation for myself. I am always impressed by your level of organization. Bookmarks seems daunting, but note pages are probably more my speed. Then I can do my self-reactionary commentary that I enjoy.

Well that's good you got some new ideas from old inspiration!  I bet it is hard to remember things you came across a decade ago without writing them down LOL.

I was pretty excited about it! New things to research and learn. And now some old weird doodles and notes I found make a lot more sense again, rather than the vague vagueness I remembered. I looked back over the original version  of PBox and found some seeds where the inspiration shone through a little, but I think all the initial classical mythology inspiration got overshadowed by my (at the time) new found love of Asian mythology. PBox is kind of a mess in that way, it's a mishmash of all the bits and pieces of mythology that I love. There's even some Ancient Egyptian inspired stuff in there, It's just a lot less prevalent!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 28, 2021, 01:34:08 PM
1. Is there a story you're holding off on writing for some reason?

I actually thought I would hold off on the one I'm currently writing, My Brother's Keeper, because of what it has in common with my last two stories. I thought I would need a break from the medical drama aspect of it, but maybe I've just been building up to it.

I guess the one I'm holding off on now is the Brian horror story I thought I was going to write next.  Although it would seem "easier" to write than MBK because it requires less research, I'm anticipating it being harder because it's something different from what I'm used to writing.  Let's just say psychological stuff seems more intimidating than physical stuff.

I always found some hesitation with starting new projects, even if I enjoyed the idea. I wonder why this is. Since medical drama is your wheelhouse, how often do you find yourself wanting to "take a break" from it?

Ooh, horror. Psychological stuff is harder! The brain is a mysterious thing and getting into someone's psyche can take a toll.


2. What work of yours, if any, are you the most embarrassed about existing?

That would be a "novel" I wrote in 2000 called Silent Desperation.  It's about Brian getting addicted to painkillers after being injured in a car accident.  Decent idea... terrible execution.  I didn't come up with the premise myself; it was given to me by a friend, and at fifteen, I was still too young and naive to do it justice.  This was when I didn't have internet in my bedroom, so I did a scant amount of research using the only source I had easy access to - Encarta '95 on CD-Rom LOL.  It definitely shows that I had no idea what I was talking about.  After all, Lurlene McDaniel didn't have a book about drug addiction LOL.

How many of your premises were ideas from other people? It seems like the ones that came from other people are your least favorite stories. Oh Encarta '95. World Book '98 on CD-Rom was also one of my research tools, so I understand this completely! lmao, you needed to call up Lurlene and tell her that you needed some teen drug addiction stories, stat!


5. Character you were most surprised to end up writing?

I'm pleasantly surprised to finally be writing a Kevin novel.  I guess after 21 years, it was about freaking time.  Sorry, Kevin LOL.

I guess we need a new hashtag around here. #TeamKevin! What do you think made you put off writing a Kevin story for such a long time?


6. Something you would go back and change in your writing that it's too late/complicated to change now?

I would go back and fix the grammatical mistakes I used to make - stuff like writing "His heart sunk" instead of "His heart sank."   Another one I learned just a few years ago is that "blonde" is the female version of the word and "blond" is the male version, so technically Nick has blond hair, not blonde.  I probably still mess that one up from time to time because I am so used to using "blonde" indiscriminate ly.  If I'm editing a story anyway and come across mistakes like that, I'll fix them, but I haven't gone as far as reposting chapters of old stories just to correct that stuff.  It wouldn't really be complicated, just time-consuming.  I haven't gotten that bored yet LOL.

I'm about to blow your mind, lol. Brunet is male, brunette is female. Luckily, "has brown hair" is a perfectly acceptable equivalent, whereas "has yellow hair" is not. This might be one of English's more bizarre borrows from French language, since adjectives get changed to match the genders (and quantities) of nouns, but our nouns aren't gendered. I think Spanish, Italian, and Latin may do the same thing, but I'm not as familiar with them. If anything stuck from my years of French, it was definitely that Nick is blond and not blonde.

How bored would you have to be to go back and fix stuff like that? (I'm channeling Howie, lol.)


7. When asked, are you embarrassed or enthusiastic to tell people that you write?

Embarrassed.  I never even mention writing when I'm asked about my hobbies, even though it's been my favorite hobby for two decades and is the only real hobby I have these days outside of watching TV, which I don't think really counts LOL.  I just don't want to have to any follow-up questions about what I write or if someone else can read it.  No!

Part of that has to do with it being BSB fanfic, part of it is the subject matter I write about it, and part of it is just me.  I have always been shy about sharing my writing, even before I started writing fanfic.  I wrote a story for the Young Author's competition every year in elementary school, and I won for my class every year from 4th grade to 8th, but I was always embarrassed about letting anyone but my teacher read my story.

Watching TV is a hobby, I think. I haven't ever actually gotten many follow-up questions. I think it's all about how you frame the initial response? But I understand the shyness aspect of it. Writing is fairly personal. What happens after you win the Young Author's competition? Does it get published?


14. Do you make playlists for your stories while working on them?

Sometimes certain pieces or scores will remind me of certain stories because of how often I listened to it when writing that story.  The Braveheart soundtrack reminds me of Broken, especially the track called "The Princess Pleads for Wallace's Life," (https://youtu.be/Xv3Kxg56Dak) which I listened to on repeat when I was writing the choppage chapter.  There's a song called "Primavera," (https://youtu.be/n-Jl71LY5tc) that is still a staple of my writing playlist because it's so sad and beautiful, but I'll always associate it with Sick as My Secrets.  My favorite piece for My Brother's Keeper is "Arrival of the Birds," (https://youtu.be/n88MReEC27k) although I've also been loving these long piano medleys of Linkin Park songs (https://youtu.be/iHylxc5-_ak).

I love that you listened to the Braveheart soundtrack so much while writing Broken. Why was that?

Also Linkin Park, how emo.


15. Why did you start writing?

I wanted to read more, so I decided to try my hand at writing a story of my own about Brian and his childhood best friend growing up and falling in love.  I never finished the first version of it, but that's how I started writing fanfic.  I eventually went back to that idea and rewrote it as "Years of Grace."

I love that wanting to read more made you decide to start writing. I think that happens a lot with inspiration, something was just too short.


19. When it come to more complicated narratives, how do you keep track of outlines, characters, development, timeline, etcetera?

I have one big outline for each novel that includes all that kind of information.  The outline for my current story is 13 pages long so far and has a section on settings, a section on characters, a timeline, a chapter by chapter outline that I'm adding to as I go, a bulleted list of future plot points and ideas, and a section for research notes.  It's one of my more elaborate outlines because it's a medical drama set in BSB history, so there's a lot to keep track of.

This is so organized! Teach me your ways, haha.


20. Do you write in long sit-down sessions or in little spurts?

I can sit in front of my computer and "write" for hours, but in reality, I'm not actually writing that whole time.  Usually I'll write a few words or maybe a few sentences, then open a new tab to look something up or check Twitter or this forum.  Then I'll go back to the story and write a little more.  So I'm not sure if that counts as long sit-down sessions or little spurts LOL.  I guess it's a combination of both.

Maybe it depends on how long those "breaks" are? Or whatever you would like to call it; you're the writer after all.


21. What do you think when you read over your older work?

I am generally proud of everything I've written post-Broken.  The really old, pre-Broken stuff is pretty bad, but when I think about how young I was then, I'm still proud of myself for putting forth the effort to write it.  Everyone starts somewhere, and I had to write those stories to become a better fiction writer.  I can't say I really go back and read those stories, but on the rare occasion I've skimmed through one for whatever reason, it puts a smile on my face - partly because of how bad it was, but also because of the nostalgia.  I love the references to early-2000s pop culture and outdated technology.  All those old fanfics - not just mine - are such a throwback to one of my favorite times in my life.

I think that, overall, you have the most positive feelings about your old writing. I think that's great!

Yes, references to early-2000s pop culture! Those are always hilarious to look back on. Technological advancement is wild! Have you ever watched the "Kids React" episodes on YouTube? Whenever they pull out old technology, it is hilarious.


23. Any obscure life experiences that you feel have helped your writing?

But we eventually made it to the top of the hill and saw the monument, and I got a good story of it, so it all worked out.  Anyway, that is the obscure life experience I draw on when writing about broken ribs or hiking injuries, such as in Road to Bethlehem.

That sounds like it was painful! Glad you made it to the top, injury aside, and have a good story. How often do you tell this one?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 28, 2021, 01:35:04 PM
This is only slightly related to both of these because of Easter/Holy Week, but my friend got a weird ad yesterday and I'm so grateful she shared it with me because I laughed so hard. So if anyone was looking for a good Easter outfit (https://www.saturdaymorningpancakes.com/products/oh-my-god-hes-back-again-adult-unisex-tee), I've got you covered. haha

LMAO!!  I saw that same ad on Facebook weeks ago and died laughing at it too.


This is great! Thanks for the help as always! I was thinking about rewatching the documentary as well. Perhaps someday I will be able to provide you with assistance. :)

You're welcome!  Happy to help.

I almost asked for suggestions for what my character should see in a hallucination, but I figured it out just now.  While browsing for ideas, I found this fun Wikipedia article about animal stereotypes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_animals  I went down a rabbit hole in the section on lemmings and learned that the stereotype about lemmings committing mass suicide by jumping off cliffs one after the other was perpetuated by Disney in a nature documentary they did in the 50s where the movie makers literally threw the lemmings off the cliff themselves to get more dramatic footage.  There's your disturbing fact of the day.  Disney is fucked up.


I enjoy scholarly articles sometimes, but I think that's because of the subject matter I tend to research. I know that if I was looking up medical information, I would gloss over at all of the large vocabulary words. Math and science are the same way. Humanities topics are a little easier until it gets into philosophical stuff, then it becomes a process.

I love medical journal articles, especially case reports, because the information is so much more detailed than the stuff on medical sites designed for patients and families, but I definitely have to look up some of the vocabulary.  At one point yesterday, I had like ten tabs open at the same time trying to figure out something for my story.  Math and science that's not biology make my head hurt.  Philosophy is interesting, but also complex.


I was pretty excited about it! New things to research and learn. And now some old weird doodles and notes I found make a lot more sense again, rather than the vague vagueness I remembered. I looked back over the original version  of PBox and found some seeds where the inspiration shone through a little, but I think all the initial classical mythology inspiration got overshadowed by my (at the time) new found love of Asian mythology. PBox is kind of a mess in that way, it's a mishmash of all the bits and pieces of mythology that I love. There's even some Ancient Egyptian inspired stuff in there, It's just a lot less prevalent!

That's cool that you were able to use bits and pieces of mythology from different cultures.  That seems like a good way to do it when you're world-building in a fantasy because then you can make it more your own.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 28, 2021, 01:56:51 PM
LMAO!!  I saw that same ad on Facebook weeks ago and died laughing at it too.

Glad I wasn't the only one. I wondered if it made me a terrible person!


I almost asked for suggestions for what my character should see in a hallucination, but I figured it out just now.  While browsing for ideas, I found this fun Wikipedia article about animal stereotypes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereotypes_of_animals  I went down a rabbit hole in the section on lemmings and learned that the stereotype about lemmings committing mass suicide by jumping off cliffs one after the other was perpetuated by Disney in a nature documentary they did in the 50s where the movie makers literally threw the lemmings off the cliff themselves to get more dramatic footage.  There's your disturbing fact of the day.  Disney is fucked up.

Ooh, hallucinations . Fun! I was reading about hallucinations today too, not for any specific reasons, just kind of ended up there, lol. There's apparently theories about old religious rites involving the use of fungi, molds, parasites, etcetera to induce hallucinogenic effects for immersion in the rites, but we can't be sure since ancient mystery cults don't really write down their rituals being... well mystery cults and all. Things like that have only become more fascinating to me after being in a sorority; not sure if it's the "I get it" factor or what.

I did know that about the lemmings! It's so sad! Early Hollywood is wild! The other one that's really fascinating is all the crazy behind-the-scenes stuff from Wizard of Oz.


I love medical journal articles, especially case reports, because the information is so much more detailed than the stuff on medical sites designed for patients and families, but I definitely have to look up some of the vocabulary.  At one point yesterday, I had like ten tabs open at the same time trying to figure out something for my story.  Math and science that's not biology make my head hurt.  Philosophy is interesting, but also complex.

Ten tabs would drive me crazy! I try to keep my tabs as clean as possible, but it's near impossible when researching. Case reports are great! I remember enjoying them a lot when I was getting my licensure. I always love things written for other professionals because it gets into the nitty gritty rather than broad overviews, like you said.


That's cool that you were able to use bits and pieces of mythology from different cultures.  That seems like a good way to do it when you're world-building in a fantasy because then you can make it more your own.

I love mythology. I think it's fascinating how religion, science, culture, etcetera all get woven together into interesting stories. I think it speaks to the part of me that loves writing. And you're correct, it definitely helps create something a little more unique. Though PBox as is definitely leans heavily into Asiatic aesthetics. I've been working on the more well-roundedness of it as I delve into OF territory. Including just going full-Tolkien and creating a language. I'm a little worried about it, to be honest.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 28, 2021, 02:39:35 PM
I always found some hesitation with starting new projects, even if I enjoyed the idea. I wonder why this is. Since medical drama is your wheelhouse, how often do you find yourself wanting to "take a break" from it?

Ooh, horror. Psychological stuff is harder! The brain is a mysterious thing and getting into someone's psyche can take a toll.

I think it's a comfort thing.  The longer you write a story, the more comfortable you feel with it.  Once you finish it and are facing starting a brand new project, there's the fear of, "Can I pull this off?  Will it be as good as my last story?"  I feel that way even when I'm excited about the idea.  At least with my medical drama, I've gotten to the point where I trust in my own ability to do it justice, even when I know it's going to take a lot of research.  I look forward to the challenge.  That's probably why I went with My Brother's Keeper over Fallen Angel - they're both ideas that will challenge me, but in different ways.  MBK is still solidly in my wheelhouse, whereas Fallen Angel is totally new territory for me.

I probably say I'm ready to take a break from medical drama every time I finish writing a particularly intense one, but I always go right back to it within a few months LOL.  I finished A Heart That Isn't Mine (medical drama) in November 2019, took a break to write The Year Without a Pandaskunk (not medical drama), and then went back to Heroic Measures (medical drama) in April 2020.  Road to Bethlehem started out being a break from medical drama and then kind of turned into a medical drama, which is why I thought I was ready for another break from it.  But here I am, back at it again. LOL


How many of your premises were ideas from other people? It seems like the ones that came from other people are your least favorite stories. Oh Encarta '95. World Book '98 on CD-Rom was also one of my research tools, so I understand this completely! lmao, you needed to call up Lurlene and tell her that you needed some teen drug addiction stories, stat!

Only a couple that I can think of offhand, but yes, those are probably my two least favorite stories of all time LOL.  I obviously liked the ideas enough at the time to try writing them, but I just wasn't as committed to them as I am with most of my own ideas.  With Silent Desperation, I just didn't really know what I was doing.  The other one like this was my first AU, a long-lost sibling story called The Other Child, and that one I just ran out of steam on and wrapped it up too quickly so I could be done writing it.

LOL I think addiction was too scandalous for Lurlene.  Her books were all pretty wholesome.


I guess we need a new hashtag around here. #TeamKevin! What do you think made you put off writing a Kevin story for such a long time?

#TeamKevin!  I just never had a good idea for a Kevin novel.  The closest I've come is with Guilty Roads, which feels like a Nick/Kevin story because a lot of the focus is on Kevin... but since Kevin gets shot in the head in Chapter 3 and has been in a coma ever since, he doesn't really do enough for me to consider him a main character LOL.


I'm about to blow your mind, lol. Brunet is male, brunette is female. Luckily, "has brown hair" is a perfectly acceptable equivalent, whereas "has yellow hair" is not. This might be one of English's more bizarre borrows from French language, since adjectives get changed to match the genders (and quantities) of nouns, but our nouns aren't gendered. I think Spanish, Italian, and Latin may do the same thing, but I'm not as familiar with them. If anything stuck from my years of French, it was definitely that Nick is blond and not blonde.

How bored would you have to be to go back and fix stuff like that? (I'm channeling Howie, lol.)

I think I actually discovered the brunet/brunette thing at the same time as blond/blonde.  (I obviously did not take French LOL.)  I don't tend to use that word to describe men with brown hair though the way I use "blond" for men... mainly Nick LOL.  Like you said, "brown hair" sounds a lot better than "yellow hair."

I don't think I would ever get bored enough to go back and fix stuff like that in anything pre-Broken.  I did get bored enough during quarantine last year to go back and fix typos in some of my post-BMS novels.  I had highlighted every mistake I came across when reading them on my Kindle as I was working on my 20th anniversary blogs, so when I decided to start putting some of my stories on AO3, I thought I better go back through them and fix that stuff before I posted them.  I have not gotten bored enough to go back to Broken and BMS because the number of highlights is overwhelming LOL.


Watching TV is a hobby, I think. I haven't ever actually gotten many follow-up questions. I think it's all about how you frame the initial response? But I understand the shyness aspect of it. Writing is fairly personal. What happens after you win the Young Author's competition? Does it get published?

Well, good!  Then I have more hobbies than I thought LOL.

Writing is definitely personal.  I don't have any non-fandom friends who write for fun that I'm aware of, but maybe some of them have secret hobbies too LOL.

A copy of the winning Young Author's books would be put in the school library so other kids could check them out, and the winners would get a trophy or plaque.  In 8th grade, I won first place for the whole district, and my grandparents had my book professionally bound as a hardback as a gift for me.  That was the last piece of fiction I wrote before I started writing fanfic, and it was the perfect bridge into what I'm best known for now - it was a cancer story LOL.  Another girl in my class had won first place the year before for a story about drunk driving, which gave me the idea that if I also wrote a tearjerker about a serious topic, I would have a better shot at winning.  Well, sure enough... my plan totally worked LOL.  That was the start of me writing medical drama.


I love that you listened to the Braveheart soundtrack so much while writing Broken. Why was that?

Also Linkin Park, how emo.

The Broken era is when I really got into listening to music while I wrote, so I started with what I had, which was the Titanic soundtracks and apparently Braveheart.  I don't remember if I actually owned the Braveheart soundtrack before Broken or if I bought it while I was writing Broken for that purpose, but I have always loved that score.  James Horner is one of my favorite movie composers.  I needed something sad and dramatic to listen to while I angsted my way through that story, and it fit that mood well.

I've always loved Linkin Park.  But yes, very emo!  I listened to a lot of LP and Evanescence while writing Broken too LOL.


Maybe it depends on how long those "breaks" are? Or whatever you would like to call it; you're the writer after all.

LOL I call them "focus fails."  But being able to focus fail and go back to actually writing when I feel like it is part of what makes it fun for me and not something that feels like word.  I don't ever want it to feel like work.


Yes, references to early-2000s pop culture! Those are always hilarious to look back on. Technological advancement is wild! Have you ever watched the "Kids React" episodes on YouTube? Whenever they pull out old technology, it is hilarious.

Yes, it's crazy!  Writing a story set in 2008 has been interesting because, to me, 2008 doesn't feel that long ago... and yet, I find myself having to fact check so many little details to make sure I'm not writing about things that didn't exist yet then.  Questions I've looked up include:  Did people have smartphones then?  (The first iPhone came out in 2007, so yes.)  Did most households still have a landline phone then?  (Yes.)  Did TMZ exist?  (Yes.  I had fun browsing TMZ's website from 2008 via the Wayback Machine yesterday.  It was actually way more user friendly than TMZ's current site because there weren't a ton of ads slowing it down!)

I love the Kids React videos.  I'm assuming you've seen the Kids React to BSB one?  And BSB reacts to Kids React to BSB? LOL


That sounds like it was painful! Glad you made it to the top, injury aside, and have a good story. How often do you tell this one?

I don't think I've ever told it online before, but I've told it a few times in real life.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 28, 2021, 03:12:15 PM
Glad I wasn't the only one. I wondered if it made me a terrible person!

If I was more religious, I'd probably buy it, but it would just look sacrilegious on me LOL.  It reminded me of these funny Jesus condiment shirts (https://www.etsy.com/listing/666721134/christian-condiments-shirts-catch-up?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_d-clothing-unisex_adult_clothing-tops_and_tees-tshirts&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjw0oCDBhCPARIsAII3C_GR91vfs8rx4pt6f137JbvHzjkDK8ld-WMsCILXKxOX0a_8ZquydjMaAk5FEALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_11756615436_112903794134_483580457511_pla-299872739640_c__666721134_115254808&utm_custom2=11756615436&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0oCDBhCPARIsAII3C_GR91vfs8rx4pt6f137JbvHzjkDK8ld-WMsCILXKxOX0a_8ZquydjMaAk5FEALw_wcB) Rose and I saw in Tennessee a few years ago.  


Ooh, hallucinations . Fun! I was reading about hallucinations today too, not for any specific reasons, just kind of ended up there, lol. There's apparently theories about old religious rites involving the use of fungi, molds, parasites, etcetera to induce hallucinogenic effects for immersion in the rites, but we can't be sure since ancient mystery cults don't really write down their rituals being... well mystery cults and all. Things like that have only become more fascinating to me after being in a sorority; not sure if it's the "I get it" factor or what.

Yeah, I came across multiple anecdotes by different people about having hallucinations as a side effect of certain medications, so I decided that would be fun to include.

There's a theory that the Salem Witch Trials were perpetuated by the effects of a type of fungus that grows in bread and can cause hallucinations, paranoia, spasms, and so on.  I wrote a paper about it once in college.  It was an interesting theory.


I did know that about the lemmings! It's so sad! Early Hollywood is wild! The other one that's really fascinating is all the crazy behind-the-scenes stuff from Wizard of Oz.

I have heard some of the Wizard of Oz stuff, like the guy supposedly hanging from the tree.  I love that behind-the-scenes stuff in movies; it's so interesting!


Ten tabs would drive me crazy! I try to keep my tabs as clean as possible, but it's near impossible when researching. Case reports are great! I remember enjoying them a lot when I was getting my licensure. I always love things written for other professionals because it gets into the nitty gritty rather than broad overviews, like you said.

It drove me crazy once I looked up and realized how many there were!  I like to keep my tabs clean too.  My students drive me crazy cause they'll have like 20 tabs open at the same time.  I'm like, "No wonder your Chromebook is slow!  Close all those tabs!"


I love mythology. I think it's fascinating how religion, science, culture, etcetera all get woven together into interesting stories. I think it speaks to the part of me that loves writing. And you're correct, it definitely helps create something a little more unique. Though PBox as is definitely leans heavily into Asiatic aesthetics. I've been working on the more well-roundedness of it as I delve into OF territory. Including just going full-Tolkien and creating a language. I'm a little worried about it, to be honest.

It really is interesting.  I also think it's cool how many connections you can make between mythology and religion from different cultures and time periods in history.  It just goes to show how much humans have in common.  If only we could focus more on our similarities than our differences.

I came across a cool-looking tool this weekend called the Fantasy Language Generator: https://www.vulgarlang.com/  I didn't delve into it much, so don't know if this would be helpful to you or not, but it looked interesting.

I think creating your own language would be complicated, but really cool if you could pull it off.  How much do you think you would actually use it in the story?  I wonder because, as a reader, I would probably just skim right over anything not written in English.  I remember reading the "Redwall" books as a kid and skimming through the heavy dialect some of the characters spoke with because it took so much effort to figure out what their dialogue was actually saying LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 28, 2021, 07:01:52 PM
I think it's a comfort thing.  The longer you write a story, the more comfortable you feel with it.  Once you finish it and are facing starting a brand new project, there's the fear of, "Can I pull this off?  Will it be as good as my last story?"  I feel that way even when I'm excited about the idea.  At least with my medical drama, I've gotten to the point where I trust in my own ability to do it justice, even when I know it's going to take a lot of research.  I look forward to the challenge.  That's probably why I went with My Brother's Keeper over Fallen Angel - they're both ideas that will challenge me, but in different ways.  MBK is still solidly in my wheelhouse, whereas Fallen Angel is totally new territory for me.

That's true! There is a level of uncertainty when starting something new, no matter how much research or planning has gone into it. I always worry about how things will go further down the line.

I think it's great that you relish in the challenge and continue to challenge yourself, whether they're wheelhouse challenges or otherwise!


I probably say I'm ready to take a break from medical drama every time I finish writing a particularly intense one, but I always go right back to it within a few months LOL.  I finished A Heart That Isn't Mine (medical drama) in November 2019, took a break to write The Year Without a Pandaskunk (not medical drama), and then went back to Heroic Measures (medical drama) in April 2020.  Road to Bethlehem started out being a break from medical drama and then kind of turned into a medical drama, which is why I thought I was ready for another break from it.  But here I am, back at it again. LOL

Bethlehem was a little bit of a break, it was mostly a survival story, lol. I get this too. When something feels like an undertaking, looking at any other thing like it just feels like yet another undertaking. But it all seems to be going well for you, so maybe Bethlehem was enough of a break! :)


Only a couple that I can think of offhand, but yes, those are probably my two least favorite stories of all time LOL.  I obviously liked the ideas enough at the time to try writing them, but I just wasn't as committed to them as I am with most of my own ideas.  With Silent Desperation, I just didn't really know what I was doing.  The other one like this was my first AU, a long-lost sibling story called The Other Child, and that one I just ran out of steam on and wrapped it up too quickly so I could be done writing it.

LOL I think addiction was too scandalous for Lurlene.  Her books were all pretty wholesome.

Commitment to the idea probably makes a big difference. lol, addiction is scandalous. You've become so scandalous since expanding from Lurlene for research.  ;D


#TeamKevin!  I just never had a good idea for a Kevin novel.  The closest I've come is with Guilty Roads, which feels like a Nick/Kevin story because a lot of the focus is on Kevin... but since Kevin gets shot in the head in Chapter 3 and has been in a coma ever since, he doesn't really do enough for me to consider him a main character LOL.

I don't know if you can be a main character if you're in a coma... More like an inciting incident or a macguffin? Unless there was anything paranormal going on?


I think I actually discovered the brunet/brunette thing at the same time as blond/blonde.  (I obviously did not take French LOL.)  I don't tend to use that word to describe men with brown hair though the way I use "blond" for men... mainly Nick LOL.  Like you said, "brown hair" sounds a lot better than "yellow hair."

I figured you did, actually; writing it that way just made me laugh. It's men! Brian's fairly blond also, especially compared to AJ, Kevin, and Howie. I wonder why "yellow hair" sounds weird, but "brown hair," "black hair," and "red hair" all seem fine. To be fair, French for the last two would be "hair of x color" instead of having a widely used term. And technically, black is lumped in with brown in practice.


I don't think I would ever get bored enough to go back and fix stuff like that in anything pre-Broken.  I did get bored enough during quarantine last year to go back and fix typos in some of my post-BMS novels.  I had highlighted every mistake I came across when reading them on my Kindle as I was working on my 20th anniversary blogs, so when I decided to start putting some of my stories on AO3, I thought I better go back through them and fix that stuff before I posted them.  I have not gotten bored enough to go back to Broken and BMS because the number of highlights is overwhelming LOL.

So basically, you need a quarantine round two to even think about Broken or BMS, lol! Maybe for your thirtieth anniversary. ;)


Well, good!  Then I have more hobbies than I thought LOL.

Writing is definitely personal.  I don't have any non-fandom friends who write for fun that I'm aware of, but maybe some of them have secret hobbies too LOL.

According to the authority on hobbies that is me, lol. I say take it and run with it.

I've been so curious on other peoples' hobbies that they don't talk about since this has come up a few times. But just asking people "what's a hobby you have that you don't talk about" seems like a great way to open up a can of worms. Maybe if it's prefaced with "I won't ask additional questions"...


A copy of the winning Young Author's books would be put in the school library so other kids could check them out, and the winners would get a trophy or plaque.  In 8th grade, I won first place for the whole district, and my grandparents had my book professionally bound as a hardback as a gift for me.  That was the last piece of fiction I wrote before I started writing fanfic, and it was the perfect bridge into what I'm best known for now - it was a cancer story LOL.  Another girl in my class had won first place the year before for a story about drunk driving, which gave me the idea that if I also wrote a tearjerker about a serious topic, I would have a better shot at winning.  Well, sure enough... my plan totally worked LOL.  That was the start of me writing medical drama.

I love that you pandered to the audience for glory, lol! What made you pick cancer specifically for that one other than "tearjerker about a serious topic"? Did writing Broken feel like going back to that at all?

It's sweet that your grandparents had it bound for you. :) That whole thing sounds fun! Did only one person get picked for each grade? And were the district-wide prizes by grade or just overall for all submissions?


The Broken era is when I really got into listening to music while I wrote, so I started with what I had, which was the Titanic soundtracks and apparently Braveheart.  I don't remember if I actually owned the Braveheart soundtrack before Broken or if I bought it while I was writing Broken for that purpose, but I have always loved that score.  James Horner is one of my favorite movie composers.  I needed something sad and dramatic to listen to while I angsted my way through that story, and it fit that mood well.

I've always loved Linkin Park.  But yes, very emo!  I listened to a lot of LP and Evanescence while writing Broken too LOL.

That all makes sense to me! It's a pretty sad and dramatic soundtrack! I would love it even more if you bought it specifically for Broken and didn't already have it, lol.

The summer I liked Blink 182 and Linkin Park was my teenage emo phase, haha. Angsty Nick needs emo inspiration, of course.


LOL I call them "focus fails."  But being able to focus fail and go back to actually writing when I feel like it is part of what makes it fun for me and not something that feels like word.  I don't ever want it to feel like work.

Aw, a "focus fail" sounds way more productive than "time suck." I'm going to start calling them that. Except sometimes I focus fail and sometimes I focus BSOD. Like that time a couple of weeks ago when I spent my time determining differing diversity in different boy band fanfic circles, lol.


Yes, it's crazy!  Writing a story set in 2008 has been interesting because, to me, 2008 doesn't feel that long ago... and yet, I find myself having to fact check so many little details to make sure I'm not writing about things that didn't exist yet then.  Questions I've looked up include:  Did people have smartphones then?  (The first iPhone came out in 2007, so yes.)  Did most households still have a landline phone then?  (Yes.)  Did TMZ exist?  (Yes.  I had fun browsing TMZ's website from 2008 via the Wayback Machine yesterday.  It was actually way more user friendly than TMZ's current site because there weren't a ton of ads slowing it down!)

1990 doesn't feel that long ago to me and yesterday someone told me they were born in 1995 and I just... felt so old. I also had to fact check things like that for my little holiday story. What cell phone would Nick reasonably had in 1999? A Nokia brick? (Technically the model before the infamous brick.) Great. Oh man, TMZ back in the day... I miss when websites didn't have a million ads. Does the Wayback Machine cut out ads too or if there were ads, would it have had ads?


I love the Kids React videos.  I'm assuming you've seen the Kids React to BSB one?  And BSB reacts to Kids React to BSB? LOL

I have! It's one of my favorites when I need a quick BSB laugh. Brian's singing commentary ("I could be your dad..."), the whole "why are we in a tube?" bit, and how excited Howie was when the one teenager said "Howie had the great hair?" LOL!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 28, 2021, 07:41:41 PM
I don't know if you can be a main character if you're in a coma... More like an inciting incident or a macguffin? Unless there was anything paranormal going on?

Only if the whole story is a coma dream or there's something paranormal going on, which is not the case.  Kevin is not irrelevant enough to be a MacGuffin, but I agree, he's not a main character either.  He's more like... a carrot.  Poor Koma Kevin, stuck in limbo for the last decade because I stopped updating that story LOL.


I love that you pandered to the audience for glory, lol! What made you pick cancer specifically for that one other than "tearjerker about a serious topic"? Did writing Broken feel like going back to that at all?

It's sweet that your grandparents had it bound for you. :) That whole thing sounds fun! Did only one person get picked for each grade? And were the district-wide prizes by grade or just overall for all submissions?

That was all because of Lurlene again! LOL  My favorite book in middle school was "Don't Die, My Love," which was a tearjerker romance about a high school football player who dies of cancer.  I was inspired by that story, but I made my main character a basketball player instead and let him live at the end.  Broken didn't really remind me of that because it was a lot different and because I had already written a bad Brian cancer story called Don't Wanna Lose You Now LOL.

It was really fun, one of my favorite parts of grade school!  There was one winner from each classroom in grades 2-8 and then an overall winner for the whole district.  I won for my classroom every year from grades 4-8 and then got the overall in 8th grade, so I went out on a high note.  That's really the only fiction writing I remember doing in school, so it was good practice for my future fanfics.


That all makes sense to me! It's a pretty sad and dramatic soundtrack! I would love it even more if you bought it specifically for Broken and didn't already have it, lol.

I very well may have! LOL  I don't remember.


The summer I liked Blink 182 and Linkin Park was my teenage emo phase, haha. Angsty Nick needs emo inspiration, of course.

Did we all have a teenage emo summer? LOL  Mine was when I was 15.  My dad got into a car accident and couldn't sleep on the waterbed my parents still had at that time because he had broken ribs and a busted knee and needed more support, so he moved into my bedroom, and I spent the summer living in the cold, spider-infested basement.  I started listening to Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and other early 2000s emo-rock bands and writing stories about suicide.  It was an angsty summer. LOL  But yes, perfect inspiration for emo Nick.  I listened to a lot of angry Eminem music around the Broken era too.


Does the Wayback Machine cut out ads too or if there were ads, would it have had ads?

I'm not sure if it cut out the ads or if there were just significantly fewer ads.  All I know is that it scrolled much faster than the current site, which I could hardly stand trying to navigate.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 28, 2021, 07:52:21 PM
If I was more religious, I'd probably buy it, but it would just look sacrilegious on me LOL.  It reminded me of these funny Jesus condiment shirts (https://www.etsy.com/listing/666721134/christian-condiments-shirts-catch-up?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_d-clothing-unisex_adult_clothing-tops_and_tees-tshirts&utm_custom1=_k_Cj0KCQjw0oCDBhCPARIsAII3C_GR91vfs8rx4pt6f137JbvHzjkDK8ld-WMsCILXKxOX0a_8ZquydjMaAk5FEALw_wcB_k_&utm_content=go_11756615436_112903794134_483580457511_pla-299872739640_c__666721134_115254808&utm_custom2=11756615436&gclid=Cj0KCQjw0oCDBhCPARIsAII3C_GR91vfs8rx4pt6f137JbvHzjkDK8ld-WMsCILXKxOX0a_8ZquydjMaAk5FEALw_wcB) Rose and I saw in Tennessee a few years ago.

Same, I won't say that I don't buy things that make me laugh, because that's a driving factor in me buying lots of things. But it just feels like crossing a line. Those condiment shirts are also hilarious!


Yeah, I came across multiple anecdotes by different people about having hallucinations as a side effect of certain medications, so I decided that would be fun to include.

There's a theory that the Salem Witch Trials were perpetuated by the effects of a type of fungus that grows in bread and can cause hallucinations, paranoia, spasms, and so on.  I wrote a paper about it once in college.  It was an interesting theory.

I believe that! What an interesting thing to include.

I'd heard that theory too; it seems pretty plausible to me. Grains in general are really susceptible to all kinds of fungi, bacteria, infections, infestations, and so on. I wonder if these things happen less because society has gotten better about recognizing that these things happen before it gets into cooked food or if everything is so processed that it doesn't matter.


I have heard some of the Wizard of Oz stuff, like the guy supposedly hanging from the tree.  I love that behind-the-scenes stuff in movies; it's so interesting!

The stunts gone wrong ones are interesting too! Like Isla Fisher almost drowning for real in the "trick gone wrong" that's in the script for Now You See Me.


It drove me crazy once I looked up and realized how many there were!  I like to keep my tabs clean too.  My students drive me crazy cause they'll have like 20 tabs open at the same time.  I'm like, "No wonder your Chromebook is slow!  Close all those tabs!"

Since we were talking about it, I've been closing some of the tabs I'm not actively using, haha.


It really is interesting.  I also think it's cool how many connections you can make between mythology and religion from different cultures and time periods in history.  It just goes to show how much humans have in common.  If only we could focus more on our similarities than our differences.

Yes! So many cultures have similar myths about creation and similar legends surrounding various gods or goddesses and their roles. And then that leads to whether there's common ancestry or how myths move. It's all so neat. And I agree, there's so many similarities even in modern monotheistic religions. I wish we could all reframe how we look at the differences.

I came across a cool-looking tool this weekend called the Fantasy Language Generator: https://www.vulgarlang.com/  I didn't delve into it much, so don't know if this would be helpful to you or not, but it looked interesting.

I think creating your own language would be complicated, but really cool if you could pull it off.  How much do you think you would actually use it in the story?  I wonder because, as a reader, I would probably just skim right over anything not written in English.  I remember reading the "Redwall" books as a kid and skimming through the heavy dialect some of the characters spoke with because it took so much effort to figure out what their dialogue was actually saying LOL.

Vulgar is cool! I also found Zompist (https://www.zompist.com/kit.html) when I started looking into this, which is root word building, and The International Phonic Alphabet (http://www.internationalphoneticalphabet.org/ipa-sounds/ipa-chart-with-sounds/), which is interesting to hear sounds and distinguish how they're formed (which is what Vulgar uses for the basis of their generator). I've also read that The Art of Language Invention (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/24611649-the-art-of-language-invention) by David J. Peterson (the guy who created Dothraki for GOT, among other things) is an interesting read. I've always found linguistics fascinating and wish it had been part of my major or I'd actually looked into it for fun. I did take a class in college that was part of my minor that focused on how culture influenced the Japanese language and it was so fascinating.

I don't know how much time I would spend on it, since how much slower can I get in my actual writing? lol! But I do think that I need to get away from using real languages in an otherwise non-explicitly "x country" setting ("inspired by" is more appropriate), especially when representation, but not appropriation, is something that's been on my mind. It would probably be similar to all it is now, for the reason you mentioned: names, places, landmarks. And even character names are English anyway, but I did come up with an in-universe reason for that, so that's all good. I think there's one point where something is mentioned as being written in an older text, but what's written there is just summarized in English by our crew. I remember having similar issues with the heavy dialect in Redwall as a kid; that's part of why I try not to use dialects. But then there's fun instances like the rabbit language in Watership Down where it's mostly noted in footnotes until the end of the story where a sentence is made up of words in the footnotes. The only other reasoning I could think of for mentioning it in the text and not just in my head and plans would be something for rites and rituals, maybe swears of some sort (the Boys swear way more than I ever have them do, but I wouldn't mind writing it as much if I made them up), and possibly a few other specific places just based on the age of the characters in question.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 28, 2021, 08:17:07 PM
Only if the whole story is a coma dream or there's something paranormal going on, which is not the case.  Kevin is not irrelevant enough to be a MacGuffin, but I agree, he's not a main character either.  He's more like... a carrot.  Poor Koma Kevin, stuck in limbo for the last decade because I stopped updating that story LOL.

Aww, I would never consider Kevin irrelevant. #TeamKevin! LMAO! A carrot! Poor Koma Karrot Kevin in limbo.


That was all because of Lurlene again! LOL  My favorite book in middle school was "Don't Die, My Love," which was a tearjerker romance about a high school football player who dies of cancer.  I was inspired by that story, but I made my main character a basketball player instead and let him live at the end.  Broken didn't really remind me of that because it was a lot different and because I had already written a bad Brian cancer story called Don't Wanna Lose You Now LOL.

LOL! Lurlene strikes again! I'm glad you let your high school basketball player live. Now I know why when you poked around making Broken OF that Nick was a high school basketball player (well that, and Nick is more basketball oriented). Did your Brian cancer story remind you of it? lol


It was really fun, one of my favorite parts of grade school!  There was one winner from each classroom in grades 2-8 and then an overall winner for the whole district.  I won for my classroom every year from grades 4-8 and then got the overall in 8th grade, so I went out on a high note.  That's really the only fiction writing I remember doing in school, so it was good practice for my future fanfics.

I love things like that! It sounds awesome! And such a great way to get students excited about writing. I'm glad it helped you in your career as a fanfic writer. You should look into the NaNo Young Writer's Program for your students. I always wanted to do it with a classroom, but I ended up teaching too young. Unless the district you're in now does that Young Authors thing too.


Did we all have a teenage emo summer? LOL  Mine was when I was 15.  My dad got into a car accident and couldn't sleep on the waterbed my parents still had at that time because he had broken ribs and a busted knee and needed more support, so he moved into my bedroom, and I spent the summer living in the cold, spider-infested basement.  I started listening to Papa Roach, Linkin Park, and other early 2000s emo-rock bands and writing stories about suicide.  It was an angsty summer. LOL  But yes, perfect inspiration for emo Nick.  I listened to a lot of angry Eminem music around the Broken era too.

At least! From what I can tell, it was "teenage emo years" if said teenagers were not firmly in team boyband (specific or general). I feel like it's hard to be super emo when the Backstreet Boys exist.

A cold spider-infested basement sounds like my nightmare, that would have made me want to be emo. Mine was... Eighth grade? Seventh grade? Eighth grade sounds right. I'm mostly glad I got it out of the way before high school so I could go back to "happy sunshine Backstreet joy" full time. I can't remember what was the catalyst for it? Peer pressure of some sort, probably.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 28, 2021, 11:28:33 PM
I'll reply to the last couple posts tomorrow when I have more time, but as I stay up too late writing, I just thought of a question I'll probably forget by morning.

What is the funniest or most random word you've added to your personal dictionary on whatever word processing program you use?

I feel like I had a lot more on Microsoft Word, but my top three favorites on Google Docs are:

1. esophagull (as in, Aaron Carter's pronunciation of his fake esophageal cancer he claimed to be in the early stages of)

2. pandaskunk

3. Sphynkter
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 29, 2021, 07:56:26 PM
You know, I just looked and don't have any words added at all! I'm pretty surprised!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 29, 2021, 08:33:35 PM
That is surprising!  But I guess you either use the personal dictionary, or you don't.  I use it to stop the red squiggles on words it insists aren't real words LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 29, 2021, 08:47:07 PM
LOL! Lurlene strikes again! I'm glad you let your high school basketball player live. Now I know why when you poked around making Broken OF that Nick was a high school basketball player (well that, and Nick is more basketball oriented). Did your Brian cancer story remind you of it? lol

LOL!  The Brian cancer story may have reminded me of it more than Broken did.  With OF Broken, I made him a basketball player more because, as you said, Nick liked basketball at that age, and it seemed like a sport he could conceivably play again once he learned how to run on the prosthetic leg.


I love things like that! It sounds awesome! And such a great way to get students excited about writing. I'm glad it helped you in your career as a fanfic writer. You should look into the NaNo Young Writer's Program for your students. I always wanted to do it with a classroom, but I ended up teaching too young. Unless the district you're in now does that Young Authors thing too.


My district now does it too!  I just looked it up because I wasn't sure how widespread of a program it was, and I guess it's just an Illinois thing. https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Young-Authors.aspx  I bet the NaNo program is great too!


At least! From what I can tell, it was "teenage emo years" if said teenagers were not firmly in team boyband (specific or general). I feel like it's hard to be super emo when the Backstreet Boys exist.

A cold spider-infested basement sounds like my nightmare, that would have made me want to be emo. Mine was... Eighth grade? Seventh grade? Eighth grade sounds right. I'm mostly glad I got it out of the way before high school so I could go back to "happy sunshine Backstreet joy" full time. I can't remember what was the catalyst for it? Peer pressure of some sort, probably.

One word:  hormones.  LOL

I'm glad you were able to go back to happy sunshine Backstreet joy full time by high school!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 29, 2021, 09:05:47 PM
LOL!  The Brian cancer story may have reminded me of it more than Broken did.  With OF Broken, I made him a basketball player more because, as you said, Nick liked basketball at that age, and it seemed like a sport he could conceivably play again once he learned how to run on the prosthetic leg.

Nick's determined enough, he would try to get back to it before learning to run on the prosthetic leg! lol!

 
My district now does it too!  I just looked it up because I wasn't sure how widespread of a program it was, and I guess it's just an Illinois thing. https://www.isbe.net/Pages/Young-Authors.aspx  I bet the NaNo program is great too!

Aw! That conference sounds awesome! That's great that your BOE does that! :) Are you nurturing any young authors in your classroom?


One word:  hormones.  LOL

I'm glad you were able to go back to happy sunshine Backstreet joy full time by high school!

Yes, yes, that's probably exactly it, lol!

Me too! To be honest, I got all my drama out of the way early, divorced parents and what not. And like I said, it's hard to be super emo when the Backstreet Boys exist (at least for me, personally).
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 29, 2021, 09:17:51 PM
Nick's determined enough, he would try to get back to it before learning to run on the prosthetic leg! lol!

LOL True.  At least he could shoot free-throws... or play wheelchair basketball.


Aw! That conference sounds awesome! That's great that your BOE does that! :) Are you nurturing any young authors in your classroom?

We didn't have it this year because of COVID. :(  But we do a fiction writing unit every year in fourth grade, so they at least all got to write a story.


Me too! To be honest, I got all my drama out of the way early, divorced parents and what not. And like I said, it's hard to be super emo when the Backstreet Boys exist (at least for me, personally).

I agree.  I was #blessed with a pretty happy childhood, so I didn't have any real reason to be emo.  Most of my drama was self-created or fictional LOL.  And making up fictional drama about the Backstreet Boys actually makes me happy, so...
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 29, 2021, 09:31:07 PM
LOL True.  At least he could shoot free-throws... or play wheelchair basketball.

Work on his 3-pointers or Harlem Globetrotter moves. Mostly I'm a jerk picturing him hopping around a basketball court, lol.


We didn't have it this year because of COVID. :(  But we do a fiction writing unit every year in fourth grade, so they at least all got to write a story.

That's disappointing, but at least they got to write something. Do you share any of your writing expertise with your students or do they also not know your history with writing?


I agree.  I was #blessed with a pretty happy childhood, so I didn't have any real reason to be emo.  Most of my drama was self-created or fictional LOL.  And making up fictional drama about the Backstreet Boys actually makes me happy, so...

You don't need to be dramatic to make life dramatic for fictional Backstreet Boys! Maybe it's gotten a lot of your drama out of the way, lol.

That is surprising!  But I guess you either use the personal dictionary, or you don't.  I use it to stop the red squiggles on words it insists aren't real words LOL.

Like "Howie." Poor Howie.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 29, 2021, 09:38:44 PM
Work on his 3-pointers or Harlem Globetrotter moves. Mostly I'm a jerk picturing him hopping around a basketball court, lol.

LMAO!


That's disappointing, but at least they got to write something. Do you share any of your writing expertise with your students or do they also not know your history with writing?

I write in front of them when I'm modeling things, but no, they have no idea I regularly write for fun.  I have brought in my Young Authors story from 4th grade to show them though.


You don't need to be dramatic to make life dramatic for fictional Backstreet Boys! Maybe it's gotten a lot of your drama out of the way, lol.

LOL Maybe.  Writing fictional drama always makes me feel better about my own mundane problems.


Like "Howie." Poor Howie.

Seriously!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 29, 2021, 09:47:50 PM
I write in front of them when I'm modeling things, but no, they have no idea I regularly write for fun.  I have brought in my Young Authors story from 4th grade to show them though.

I love that! What a fun way to share an experience in a relatable way! I hope you're not demonizing "said" for them. What kinds of stories do you start writing when you're modeling? I'm guessing it's not the type of things you usually write, lol.


LOL Maybe.  Writing fictional drama always makes me feel better about my own mundane problems.

Yes! Torturing Backstreet Boys is a powerful form of catharsis, lol! Thanks for being scapegoats, guys!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 29, 2021, 10:01:25 PM
I love that! What a fun way to share an experience in a relatable way! I hope you're not demonizing "said" for them. What kinds of stories do you start writing when you're modeling? I'm guessing it's not the type of things you usually write, lol.

LOL Definitely not.  We focus on realistic fiction, so I have them start by creating a character who's kind of like them in some ways and either drawing on real life experiences or writing the kind of story they would like to read.  I have them help me create a character and come up with a problem for him/her to have that will be the basis for the plot.  This year we ended up with a girl who wants to try out for a softball team because her friends are on the team, but she is not coordinated or athletically gifted, so she has to practice really hard to get better before tryouts.  Pushing that growth mindset! LOL  I'm just happy if they include dialogue and dialogue tags, "said" or otherwise!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 29, 2021, 10:13:33 PM
LOL Definitely not.  We focus on realistic fiction, so I have them start by creating a character who's kind of like them in some ways and either drawing on real life experiences or writing the kind of story they would like to read.  I have them help me create a character and come up with a problem for him/her to have that will be the basis for the plot.  This year we ended up with a girl who wants to try out for a softball team because her friends are on the team, but she is not coordinated or athletically gifted, so she has to practice really hard to get better before tryouts.  Pushing that growth mindset! LOL  I'm just happy if they include dialogue and dialogue tags, "said" or otherwise!

Fourth grade is probably too young to convert children to Team Dark, lol.

Ah, yes, self inserts and autobiographie s are good places to start fiction from. Easier for the author to relate to before they learn how to research properly! Aw, your softball character sounds like me. That's why I have a kickball scar on my arm! That's fun that you all create the character and problem together, plus yes, getting them focused on growth mindset!

I try to coach mine through dialogue and they have no interest. Alas. Especially my feisty one, every time it's writing stamina, it's like pulling teeth. Meanwhile I'm like, "I would love it if someone said 'You have fifteen minutes, write about anything' to me."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 29, 2021, 10:26:45 PM
Fourth grade is probably too young to convert children to Team Dark, lol.

LOL I can usually tell which ones are already on Team Dark.  Some of them want to write horror stories or stories where the main character ends up in the hospital.  As long as they can keep them semi-realistic, I let them go for it.  Except for the one year I had a little girl who, when working on a "Somebody... wanted... but... so... then..." summary of her story idea, had a character named "Mangle" who wanted to make the swim team, but she couldn't stop hurting other kids.  Imagining Mangle as a budding young serial killer who couldn't control her impulses to drown her classmates in the pool, I was like, "So... are you saying Mangle's a bully?  And she has to learn to be a better friend and not bully her teammates if she's going to be on the team?"   I'm not sure if that was actually her intent or not, but that's what she went with LOL.  She was a girl after my own heart - sweet and quiet on the outside, secretly dark and twisted on the inside LOL.


I try to coach mine through dialogue and they have no interest. Alas. Especially my feisty one, every time it's writing stamina, it's like pulling teeth. Meanwhile I'm like, "I would love it if someone said 'You have fifteen minutes, write about anything' to me."

Right?!  Although I never liked being forced to write for fifteen minutes right there in the classroom.  I've always written better when I'm by myself, on my own schedule.

By fourth grade, most of them do include dialogue, especially after I've modeled it for them and taught them about showing not telling, but some of their stories are like ALL dialogue... just characters talking back and forth without a lot of description or action in between.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: Rose on March 30, 2021, 09:08:56 PM
Fun fact, I still have them to this day cause my mom had saved it, but my elementary school had a "publishing" program where they'd pick kids from each grade who wrote the best stories to make a little book with their story. In 2nd grade, which was legitimately the grade I discovered I loved writing, I wrote a story about a Fox that loved life but got hunted down by a hunter and died lmao. In 3rd grade I got picked again and this time it was about a kid who's stepmother tried to cook them after marrying her dad - like a hybrid of cinderella and hansel and gretel LOL.

My teachers were always encouraging but sometimes I wonder if my weird ideas didn't scare them a bit lmao.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 30, 2021, 09:21:27 PM
Fun fact, I still have them to this day cause my mom had saved it, but my elementary school had a "publishing" program where they'd pick kids from each grade who wrote the best stories to make a little book with their story. In 2nd grade, which was legitimately the grade I discovered I loved writing, I wrote a story about a Fox that loved life but got hunted down by a hunter and died lmao. In 3rd grade I got picked again and this time it was about a kid who's stepmother tried to cook them after marrying her dad - like a hybrid of cinderella and hansel and gretel LOL.

My teachers were always encouraging but sometimes I wonder if my weird ideas didn't scare them a bit lmao.

LMAO That is awesome!  I love how twisted you were even as a kid!  The fox story... brutal!!!  Of course, so is the cannibalistic stepmom, but Hansel & Gretel was always one of my favorite fairy tales LOL.  I must read these someday.

Hopefully your teachers were secretly twisted like me, in which case they probably loved your weird ideas!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: Rose on March 30, 2021, 09:47:54 PM
LMAO That is awesome!  I love how twisted you were even as a kid!  The fox story... brutal!!!  Of course, so is the cannibalistic stepmom, but Hansel & Gretel was always one of my favorite fairy tales LOL.  I must read these someday.

Hopefully your teachers were secretly twisted like me, in which case they probably loved your weird ideas!

The fox one cracks me up cause I gave the fox a cutesy name, for such a morbid story. Foxy Fox lol. Very 2nd grade. But getting picked twice and asking my mom to buy me notebooks is what got her to buy me a typewriter for my birthday. I loved the hell out of that thing LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on March 31, 2021, 06:59:47 PM
I love that you had a typewriter, too!  So cool!

The most morbid story I wrote as a kid was an epic survival tale about three kids trying to find their way out of the woods after a grizzly bear ate their parents on a camping trip LOL.  That was my third grade entry for Young Authors, and it did not win.  I should have known my audience better - my teacher that year was not the type to appreciate my illustrations of an angry, blood-soaked grizzly bear.  She picked a cutesy story about a kitten instead. LOL
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 31, 2021, 10:14:31 PM
LOL I can usually tell which ones are already on Team Dark.  Some of them want to write horror stories or stories where the main character ends up in the hospital.  As long as they can keep them semi-realistic, I let them go for it.  Except for the one year I had a little girl who, when working on a "Somebody... wanted... but... so... then..." summary of her story idea, had a character named "Mangle" who wanted to make the swim team, but she couldn't stop hurting other kids.  Imagining Mangle as a budding young serial killer who couldn't control her impulses to drown her classmates in the pool, I was like, "So... are you saying Mangle's a bully?  And she has to learn to be a better friend and not bully her teammates if she's going to be on the team?"   I'm not sure if that was actually her intent or not, but that's what she went with LOL.  She was a girl after my own heart - sweet and quiet on the outside, secretly dark and twisted on the inside LOL.

Forget my earlier statement! Give these kids cookies and initiate them already! I love that a character named "Mangle" was sparking your imagination, yet you kept a straight face. There are so many times I have to fight not to react to things. It's usually laughter, to be honest.

Right?!  Although I never liked being forced to write for fifteen minutes right there in the classroom.  I've always written better when I'm by myself, on my own schedule.

By fourth grade, most of them do include dialogue, especially after I've modeled it for them and taught them about showing not telling, but some of their stories are like ALL dialogue... just characters talking back and forth without a lot of description or action in between.

Oh, I know. I've tried help her come up with ideas when it's not that time because she always says she has no ideas. I have also run out of ideas about princesses getting married to princes, so I understand her struggle.

You can tell a short story with only dialogue! But this way, they just have something to improve on for the next draft. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 31, 2021, 10:25:52 PM
Fun fact, I still have them to this day cause my mom had saved it, but my elementary school had a "publishing" program where they'd pick kids from each grade who wrote the best stories to make a little book with their story. In 2nd grade, which was legitimately the grade I discovered I loved writing, I wrote a story about a Fox that loved life but got hunted down by a hunter and died lmao. In 3rd grade I got picked again and this time it was about a kid who's stepmother tried to cook them after marrying her dad - like a hybrid of cinderella and hansel and gretel LOL.

My teachers were always encouraging but sometimes I wonder if my weird ideas didn't scare them a bit lmao.

I like to think that if they picked them, they were also Team Dark! ;D Nurture the twisted young and initiate them! :) That poor fox though. Cinderella would have been a wild ride if she was getting cooked instead of married!

My school had something similar. In Kindergarten, my story was about a family of four cats who went to a spooky graveyard. The details are vague in my mind, but there were definitely cats and a graveyard. Third grade was a detective story (because I really liked Harriet the Spy) where the villain was posing as a doctor, but was actually Dracula and in true hammy villain nature called himself "Dr. Acula" because... well, names were not my strong point back then, lol. I think in second grade, I wrote about frogs and it did not get picked; I was bitter and that should have been my indicator that I should have been Team Dark, or maybe my frog story was dark and my teacher was not. I can't remember!

The fox one cracks me up cause I gave the fox a cutesy name, for such a morbid story. Foxy Fox lol. Very 2nd grade. But getting picked twice and asking my mom to buy me notebooks is what got her to buy me a typewriter for my birthday. I loved the hell out of that thing LOL.

Foxy Fox would love life. Poor Foxy Fox. :(

Aww, the origin story of the oft-mentioned typewriter!

The most morbid story I wrote as a kid was an epic survival tale about three kids trying to find their way out of the woods after a grizzly bear ate their parents on a camping trip LOL.  That was my third grade entry for Young Authors, and it did not win.  I should have known my audience better - my teacher that year was not the type to appreciate my illustrations of an angry, blood-soaked grizzly bear.  She picked a cutesy story about a kitten instead. LOL

You learned an important lesson that year. Team Fluffy does not like angry, blood-soaked grizzly bears, lol! Team Dark rewards morbid. I approve this morbid tale.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on March 31, 2021, 10:29:40 PM
Tomorrow Camp NaNo starts! Come join Julie and I in committing to April writing of some sort for the Absolutely Chaotic Backstreet Project!  ;D
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 01, 2021, 09:38:46 PM
Third grade was a detective story (because I really liked Harriet the Spy) where the villain was posing as a doctor, but was actually Dracula and in true hammy villain nature called himself "Dr. Acula" because... well, names were not my strong point back then, lol.

That is actually really clever!  Of course Dracula would pose as a doctor - easy access to blood!  Dr. Acula LOL - I love that!!  It sounds like something out of Bailey School Kids.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 01, 2021, 09:40:17 PM
Tomorrow Camp NaNo starts! Come join Julie and I in committing to April writing of some sort for the Absolutely Chaotic Backstreet Project!  ;D

Yes, join us!  Here is the link: https://nanowrimo.org/writing-groups/the-absolutely-chaotic-backstreet-project
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 02, 2021, 02:02:08 PM
That is actually really clever!  Of course Dracula would pose as a doctor - easy access to blood!  Dr. Acula LOL - I love that!!  It sounds like something out of Bailey School Kids.

Haha, thanks! I think he was murdering patients if I remember correctly? It was all very twisted, lol. This is really what we should have been discussing in out "how dark is too dark" chat. When did you know that you were Team Dark? Apparently all very young. I wonder why that is... I'd actually forgotten about this one until we started discussing children's writing. I think I know where the cat story is, but I'm not sure about this Dracula detective story.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 02, 2021, 02:17:01 PM
Yes, join us!  Here is the link: https://nanowrimo.org/writing-groups/the-absolutely-chaotic-backstreet-project

So it is day two of April and I wrote six words yesterday. Not currently on pace with my goal, but we'll get there! I blame Opening Day and a PD training I registered for.

I did, however, mention that I was writing a book to a friend with the usual "it's about demons, but they're the heroes" lack of context when asked (although, saying "they're the heroes" does provide more information about the story, I guess). And my friend was telling me how he hadn't written anything in a while, but that he used to write fanfic when he was younger! Like completely unprompted! Curiosity got the better of me and I asked about what and he said Redwall (and also said "you probably haven't heard of this," like what... I haven't heard of Redwall? We've clearly never discussed reading before apparently, lol). So I decided to live dangerously and said "I wrote fanfics when I was younger too, about the Backstreet Boys" (which is technically true and leaves off the end of that sentence "and I still do and that novel we were talking about earlier is a Backstreet Boys fanfic," lol). I sensed no judgement, but he also said "you don't seem like the type of person that would ever write fanfics, but I also didn't know you were writing a book at all or liked to write. I think it sounds cool. I'd read it... Your book, not the Backstreet Boys fanfics you used to write."

So... I guess the moral of this story is... get your friends drinking and then tell them you starting writing novels during COVID and they might tell you that they used to write fanfics! lmao
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 02, 2021, 02:45:14 PM
Haha, thanks! I think he was murdering patients if I remember correctly? It was all very twisted, lol. This is really what we should have been discussing in out "how dark is too dark" chat. When did you know that you were Team Dark? Apparently all very young. I wonder why that is... I'd actually forgotten about this one until we started discussing children's writing. I think I know where the cat story is, but I'm not sure about this Dracula detective story.

I have been Team Dark my entire life LOL.  I have always had a love of horror and a morbid fascination with death, disease, and medical stuff.  Even as a little kid, my favorite Curious George book was "Curious George Goes to the Hospital."  I remember watching the old black and white Universal monster movies - Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc. - with my mom when I was like five years old.  That was my introduction to horror movies, and I loved them.  They gave me nightmares, but I never told my parents that because then they wouldn't let me watch those movies anymore.  Jurassic Park also gave me nightmares, but I loved it so much, I saw it two or three times in the theater when it came out.  I've always liked the things that scare me.

I hope you still have your Dracula detective story!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 02, 2021, 02:50:22 PM
So it is day two of April and I wrote six words yesterday. Not currently on pace with my goal, but we'll get there! I blame Opening Day and a PD training I registered for.

I did, however, mention that I was writing a book to a friend with the usual "it's about demons, but they're the heroes" lack of context when asked (although, saying "they're the heroes" does provide more information about the story, I guess). And my friend was telling me how he hadn't written anything in a while, but that he used to write fanfic when he was younger! Like completely unprompted! Curiosity got the better of me and I asked about what and he said Redwall (and also said "you probably haven't heard of this," like what... I haven't heard of Redwall? We've clearly never discussed reading before apparently, lol). So I decided to live dangerously and said "I wrote fanfics when I was younger too, about the Backstreet Boys" (which is technically true and leaves off the end of that sentence "and I still do and that novel we were talking about earlier is a Backstreet Boys fanfic," lol). I sensed no judgement, but he also said "you don't seem like the type of person that would ever write fanfics, but I also didn't know you were writing a book at all or liked to write. I think it sounds cool. I'd read it... Your book, not the Backstreet Boys fanfics you used to write."

So... I guess the moral of this story is... get your friends drinking and then tell them you starting writing novels during COVID and they might tell you that they used to write fanfics! lmao

That's awesome!  Redwall would be a fun fandom to write for.  Fellow fanfic writers are probably more understanding than people who have never written or read fanfic.  If I found out someone I knew in real life wrote fanfic, I would probably admit that I "used to" write it too.  Maybe you can share the OF version of Pbox with him someday and not tell him it was a BSB fanfic.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 02, 2021, 03:39:17 PM
I have been Team Dark my entire life LOL.  I have always had a love of horror and a morbid fascination with death, disease, and medical stuff.  Even as a little kid, my favorite Curious George book was "Curious George Goes to the Hospital."  I remember watching the old black and white Universal monster movies - Frankenstein, Dracula, Creature from the Black Lagoon, etc. - with my mom when I was like five years old.  That was my introduction to horror movies, and I loved them.  They gave me nightmares, but I never told my parents that because then they wouldn't let me watch those movies anymore.  Jurassic Park also gave me nightmares, but I loved it so much, I saw it two or three times in the theater when it came out.  I've always liked the things that scare me.

I hope you still have your Dracula detective story!

I would call mine a fascination with "what happens when you die." That's probably why I like mythology so much, lol! Except for ghosts and zombies kind of freak me out too. I guess if the dead people go somewhere else and aren't actively bothering me when I'm alive, it's all good. Except for maybe Dia de los Muertos. I think that's fascinating and wouldn't mind being visited one day a year by deceased relatives. Graveyards aren't my favorite, but I think that's more in the vein of them being a "sacred space" that I don't really want to be traipsing around in. I felt the same way at Pompeii. Like this is all super interesting, but also a place where a bunch of people died horrifically. I'll call it "awed fear and reverence." And I guess there's this "removed" feeling from something that's thousands of years old versus "could have died yesterday."

Horror movies freak me out, but I don't mind the older ones as much. The newer ones, the special effects get me. My favorite game growing up was this "VHS game" called Doorways to Horror where you tried to collect monsters and money throughout the game and people tried to steal them from you, but you could protect them with magic spells. And the monsters up for grabs were determined by rolling a colored die and fast forwarding to the next "doorway" of that color on the VHS tape, then a monster movie clip would play and you had until the end of your clip to capture/protect the monsters up for grabs that round. They for sure gave me nightmares and that's probably why I'm Team Dark now, lol! I don't really like being scared (haunted houses make my skin crawl even though I know they're actors and they aren't supposed to touch you), but I find scary and macabre things fascinating. I don't know what it is. If the jump scares aren't there, it's better. It's probably that I don't like being scared and startled at the same time, lol.

You know, my mom gave me a box of my old school stuff recently, so it might be in there, I just wasn't ready to tackle it yet while I'm still tackling other "paper" type things and not sentimental things.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 02, 2021, 03:47:55 PM
That's awesome!  Redwall would be a fun fandom to write for.  Fellow fanfic writers are probably more understanding than people who have never written or read fanfic.  If I found out someone I knew in real life wrote fanfic, I would probably admit that I "used to" write it too.  Maybe you can share the OF version of Pbox with him someday and not tell him it was a BSB fanfic.

Who doesn't love rodents going on adventures! I was pleasantly surprised, and like you said, wanted to share that moment since I didn't think anyone I know away from fanfic ever wrote fanfic. You know, I might, but won't say it was BSB fanfic unless he asks. I feel like if one of my friends straight up asked "Did this start its life as a BSB fanfic?" I don't think I'd be able to lie. I'm finding out that a lot of my friends think demons are "interesting" here lately (or they just want to be overly supportive of the fact that I decided to write a book). This is how I find out who's Team Dark away from the fanfic world, apparently, lol!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 02, 2021, 11:23:47 PM
I would call mine a fascination with "what happens when you die." That's probably why I like mythology so much, lol! Except for ghosts and zombies kind of freak me out too. I guess if the dead people go somewhere else and aren't actively bothering me when I'm alive, it's all good. Except for maybe Dia de los Muertos. I think that's fascinating and wouldn't mind being visited one day a year by deceased relatives. Graveyards aren't my favorite, but I think that's more in the vein of them being a "sacred space" that I don't really want to be traipsing around in. I felt the same way at Pompeii. Like this is all super interesting, but also a place where a bunch of people died horrifically. I'll call it "awed fear and reverence." And I guess there's this "removed" feeling from something that's thousands of years old versus "could have died yesterday."

I don't really like being scared (haunted houses make my skin crawl even though I know they're actors and they aren't supposed to touch you), but I find scary and macabre things fascinating. I don't know what it is. If the jump scares aren't there, it's better. It's probably that I don't like being scared and startled at the same time, lol.

That makes sense.  I am more of a skeptic when it comes to paranormal stuff like ghosts, which is maybe why I don't get scared easily by horror movies.  I prefer older horror movies to the newer ones that seem to rely more on cheap jump scares.  I don't like haunted houses either - they're too reliant on jump scares and darkness.  I would rather slow down and appreciate the details than be rushed through and only get a glimpse of everything because of the strobe lights flashing.

I love graveyards, but that has to do with my love of history as well as my fascination with death.  I love finding really old tombstones.  I understand what you mean about Pompeii.  That's really cool that you've been there!  I haven't, but I imagine I would feel the same way.  Same goes for any historical site of mass death - concentration camps, battlegrounds, Ground Zero, etc.  It's interesting, but sad.


Horror movies freak me out, but I don't mind the older ones as much. The newer ones, the special effects get me. My favorite game growing up was this "VHS game" called Doorways to Horror where you tried to collect monsters and money throughout the game and people tried to steal them from you, but you could protect them with magic spells. And the monsters up for grabs were determined by rolling a colored die and fast forwarding to the next "doorway" of that color on the VHS tape, then a monster movie clip would play and you had until the end of your clip to capture/protect the monsters up for grabs that round. They for sure gave me nightmares and that's probably why I'm Team Dark now, lol!

I don't know that game, but it sounds fun!  It reminded me of a horror-themed VHS game I had as a kid called Nightmare, which was a staple at all my slumber parties.  It was a board game set in a graveyard, and you had to finish it in under an hour to win.  You put in a tape that had a countdown clock, and this creepy Grim Reaper type guy would pop up and scare you and make threats about how you were running out of time throughout.  I loved it so much, I actually still have it.  I have no idea if the tape still works or not.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 02, 2021, 11:28:36 PM
Who doesn't love rodents going on adventures! I was pleasantly surprised, and like you said, wanted to share that moment since I didn't think anyone I know away from fanfic ever wrote fanfic. You know, I might, but won't say it was BSB fanfic unless he asks. I feel like if one of my friends straight up asked "Did this start its life as a BSB fanfic?" I don't think I'd be able to lie. I'm finding out that a lot of my friends think demons are "interesting" here lately (or they just want to be overly supportive of the fact that I decided to write a book). This is how I find out who's Team Dark away from the fanfic world, apparently, lol!

I haven't read Redwall in a long time, but those books had such a vivid world and history, it seems like perfect source material for fanfic.

I'm glad your friends are interested and supportive!  I'm sure mine would be too (supportive, not necessarily interested LOL), but I have never even been tempted to tell them.  That's a big no for me LOL.  It is nice to have friends in the fandom who are genuinely interested and understanding though.  I guess that's why I've never felt the need to talk about my writing in real life.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 03, 2021, 11:56:14 AM
That makes sense.  I am more of a skeptic when it comes to paranormal stuff like ghosts, which is maybe why I don't get scared easily by horror movies.  I prefer older horror movies to the newer ones that seem to rely more on cheap jump scares.  I don't like haunted houses either - they're too reliant on jump scares and darkness.  I would rather slow down and appreciate the details than be rushed through and only get a glimpse of everything because of the strobe lights flashing.

I totally believe ghosts are real, but I also absolutely do not want to meet one. I did a lantern tour at Cave of the Winds (there's another thing that's really fascinating: caves) and I didn't feel anything paranormal. I know that the tour guides specifically pick on people who seem like they'll have big reactions, so I purposefully went with the persona of "externally cool as a cucumber, internally screaming" to the point that when they volunteered me and and another friend (who was one of my bridesmaids) to do the 'Lover's Lane" walk, I said "We're not even that close. Business associates really." Then I let her volunteer someone else, lol.


I love graveyards, but that has to do with my love of history as well as my fascination with death.  I love finding really old tombstones.  I understand what you mean about Pompeii.  That's really cool that you've been there!  I haven't, but I imagine I would feel the same way.  Same goes for any historical site of mass death - concentration camps, battlegrounds, Ground Zero, etc.  It's interesting, but sad.

I love history too, which is why it probably gets easier for me the more removed it is from modern. Of the ancient preserved sites we went too, I liked Akrotiri (in Santorini) better, but they were both really interesting (this might be my predisposition to all things Greek over Roman, but who knows). In Akrotiri, there's a theory that everyone escaped the town before the eruption since they've found things preserved in the layers of ash but never any remains. They also built a structure around the ruins to keep them from deteriorating as they excavated, which was also fascinating. I would go again to either in a heartbeat. It had been unbearably hot the week we went to Pompeii and that day it started pouring rain (but wasn't cold), so most of the tour groups left and ours didn't, so we basically had all of Pompeii to ourselves. It was amazing.

I only went to Ground Zero after it became the memorial, but it was a huge gut punch since the original tower site is now this big water structure surrounded by the black name walls. I definitely stood there for a long time pondering existence and tragedy.


I don't know that game, but it sounds fun!  It reminded me of a horror-themed VHS game I had as a kid called Nightmare, which was a staple at all my slumber parties.  It was a board game set in a graveyard, and you had to finish it in under an hour to win.  You put in a tape that had a countdown clock, and this creepy Grim Reaper type guy would pop up and scare you and make threats about how you were running out of time throughout.  I loved it so much, I actually still have it.  I have no idea if the tape still works or not.

It was super fun. I still have it as well, but also don't know if the tape even works! I'd love to get that and all my old BSB VHS tapes on to some other type of media so I could use them again.

Nightmare sounds fun! Like Jumanji crossed with an escape room!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 03, 2021, 12:03:59 PM
I haven't read Redwall in a long time, but those books had such a vivid world and history, it seems like perfect source material for fanfic.

I haven't either, but I feel like that one and Watership Down (the rabbit one) are both so vivid that they would make great source material.


I'm glad your friends are interested and supportive!  I'm sure mine would be too (supportive, not necessarily interested LOL), but I have never even been tempted to tell them.  That's a big no for me LOL.  It is nice to have friends in the fandom who are genuinely interested and understanding though.  I guess that's why I've never felt the need to talk about my writing in real life.

I am too, albeit a little surprised. And now I get to find out about everyone's writing related history or aspirations, it's been fascinating. You know, other than the two I recruited as gamma readers? delta readers? (I guess the old version of PBox was pretty much just written and posted with minimal editing from me, then AC got to read it, then I edited it, and now AC gets to read it again, now I'm editing it again, and they read it... so whatever that is... third version? Sixth if you count all the editing?), it mostly comes up when people start talking about all the bread and puzzles they did during quarantine/stay-at-home recommendation s, lol. I didn't bake any bread or do any puzzles, but I did start writing a book.

We're here for you! (I assume this is another case where I can speak for everyone.)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 03, 2021, 12:31:27 PM
So NaNoFinMo is more like NaOhnoFinMo for me... I wrote my six words on Thursday and then have had no inspiration whatsoever on it, but I did have some major inspiration on OFPBox, so I did about 2100 words of that instead yesterday. NaNo won't let you have multiple projects associated with official events, but I figure if it's all PBox universe related, it all counts, so I counted it. I have this sneaking suspicion that this chapter may stick me for a while and I'll just have to find some other part of the story to start writing ahead. I'm just trying to decide which section would be more immediately interesting for me. I thought it would be the more Nick focused portion (for obvious reasons), but the other one is where little bits and pieces have been popping up lately, so...  :shrug:

Also, just wanted to let everyone know that this:

How did you come up with the idea to have demon hearts become gemstones?  Is Pandora's Necklace like the [Nick's] Heart of the Ocean? LOL
You know... It was mostly leaning into the gemstone aesthetic with the countries in the story. That and they needed to be something tangible for the end of PBox/beginning of PNecklace. I never intended it to be anything deep and poetic necessarily. Please tell the children that I “just liked green,” lmao

apparently did have a reason that I just found again while researching the "additional things that would be interesting" that came up last week, although what I said ("just leaning into the gemstone aesthetic") is still true. But I don't know that I can say "why gemstones" without giving something big away that has yet to be revealed. I have really got to stop thinking I'll remember things and actually write them down! I'm pretty good about remembering that things are important for PBox et al., but not where the inspiration came from, lol! At this point, I should just assume that any tiny thing is "all mythology somewhere," probably...

Julie, how's Camp Nano going for you? It seems that on a whole MBK is going great! Also how was your April Fool's joke? I forgot to check.

Anyone else writing who wants to challenge themselves to NaNo with us? Or has writing they want to talk about without necessarily taking on a challenge?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 03, 2021, 03:00:19 PM
I totally believe ghosts are real, but I also absolutely do not want to meet one. I did a lantern tour at Cave of the Winds (there's another thing that's really fascinating: caves) and I didn't feel anything paranormal. I know that the tour guides specifically pick on people who seem like they'll have big reactions, so I purposefully went with the persona of "externally cool as a cucumber, internally screaming" to the point that when they volunteered me and and another friend (who was one of my bridesmaids) to do the 'Lover's Lane" walk, I said "We're not even that close. Business associates really." Then I let her volunteer someone else, lol.

The part of me that likes creepy stuff would like to believe in ghosts, but I've never had a paranormal experience that has convinced me they're real.  The only thing that even came close was once when I was in college, a group of friends and I drove to this supposedly haunted bridge in another town.  In typical urban legend fashion, the story went that a school bus crashed off the bridge, and if you stopped your car in the center and put it in neutral, the ghosts of the dead children would push the car to safety.  We tried it in the middle of the night - stopped the car just past the center of the bridge and put it in neutral.  And sure enough... the car started rolling slowly backwards, going slightly UPHILL back over the bridge.  It was freaky.  We didn't see anything, but we couldn't explain how it could have rolled up an incline.  We ended up going back the next night in a different car and put baby powder on the hood and bumper to try to get finger prints, but nothing happened, and there were no obvious prints.  So who knows.

Cave of the Winds makes me think of South Park too LOL.  Did you see Manbearpig there?  Someday I will have to make it out to Colorado and do a tour of places referenced in South Park - Casa Bonita and Cave of the Winds for sure.


I love history too, which is why it probably gets easier for me the more removed it is from modern. Of the ancient preserved sites we went too, I liked Akrotiri (in Santorini) better, but they were both really interesting (this might be my predisposition to all things Greek over Roman, but who knows). In Akrotiri, there's a theory that everyone escaped the town before the eruption since they've found things preserved in the layers of ash but never any remains. They also built a structure around the ruins to keep them from deteriorating as they excavated, which was also fascinating. I would go again to either in a heartbeat. It had been unbearably hot the week we went to Pompeii and that day it started pouring rain (but wasn't cold), so most of the tour groups left and ours didn't, so we basically had all of Pompeii to ourselves. It was amazing.

I only went to Ground Zero after it became the memorial, but it was a huge gut punch since the original tower site is now this big water structure surrounded by the black name walls. I definitely stood there for a long time pondering existence and tragedy.

Your trip to Greece sounds so cool!  I like ancient Greece better than Rome too, although I would happily visit either place.

I went on a high school choir trip to NYC nine months after 9/11, so I got to see Ground Zero when it was still a hole.  There was a temporary monument made of plywood there at the time, where people had written messages and put up pictures, flags, flowers, etc.  It was incredibly sad.  I haven't been back to that site since they built the new building and memorial, but I'd like to someday.  I take my class there via Google Maps street view every year when we do our 9/11 lesson, so I have seen what it looks like now, just not in person.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 03, 2021, 03:12:39 PM
So NaNoFinMo is more like NaOhnoFinMo for me... I wrote my six words on Thursday and then have had no inspiration whatsoever on it, but I did have some major inspiration on OFPBox, so I did about 2100 words of that instead yesterday. NaNo won't let you have multiple projects associated with official events, but I figure if it's all PBox universe related, it all counts, so I counted it. I have this sneaking suspicion that this chapter may stick me for a while and I'll just have to find some other part of the story to start writing ahead. I'm just trying to decide which section would be more immediately interesting for me. I thought it would be the more Nick focused portion (for obvious reasons), but the other one is where little bits and pieces have been popping up lately, so...  :shrug:

Oh no!  Sorry to hear you're having a hard time so far.  Do you think the pressure of having a goal and a time limit is getting to you, or were you just due to hit a road block?  It happens to all of us.  I'm glad you were inspired to work on something.  I think it still counts, since it's all in the same universe.  Sending good vibes your way; hope you can keep making progress on one project or the other!


Julie, how's Camp Nano going for you? It seems that on a whole MBK is going great! Also how was your April Fool's joke? I forgot to check.

Anyone else writing who wants to challenge themselves to NaNo with us? Or has writing they want to talk about without necessarily taking on a challenge?

So far so good!  I've written every day of April, and my streak is up to 22 consecutive days.  I didn't update my word count the first day and now wish I had when I saw there was a badge I could have earned for doing so.  Rookie mistake!

Three people acknowledged my April Fool's joke, which is better than some years, so I guess it was a success.  That is partly why I went ahead and posted MBK this week, since my new Brian story was obviously not real.

Yes, I hope more people come on here and share!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 03, 2021, 03:43:33 PM
The part of me that likes creepy stuff would like to believe in ghosts, but I've never had a paranormal experience that has convinced me they're real.  The only thing that even came close was once when I was in college, a group of friends and I drove to this supposedly haunted bridge in another town.

The car went uphill?!!! I hate everything about that, lol. I bet they didn't help you the second time because they saw the baby powder and knew you weren't actually in trouble. That's like a definite "meant to be here, meant to test this" sign.

Have we talked about sleep paralysis here yet? Because that's the only thing that's ever happened to me that felt paranormal and I thought maybe I saw something, but could have just been spooky shadows while unable to move. It only happened once, but it was horrifying.


Cave of the Winds makes me think of South Park too LOL.  Did you see Manbearpig there?  Someday I will have to make it out to Colorado and do a tour of places referenced in South Park - Casa Bonita and Cave of the Winds for sure.

I'm sure that I could mention anything vaguely Coloradoan and it would remind you of South Park, lol. The waterpark episode, for instance, is based on our waterpark, but I'm betting they were not on board with them saying the water was 99% pee anyway. But the shot with the little "street sign" for the rides is all accurate.

lol! I did not see Manbearpig, but maybe that's the monster that pulls people into the pit, lol. I wonder if they have one of those that's already being run... There's not that I can find, which is surprising to me, but I found this little article that would be a start: https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/11-real-south-park-locations-you-ll-find-in-colorado/article_495a072e-dc36-58ca-a174-5eaa87de649c.html (https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/11-real-south-park-locations-you-ll-find-in-colorado/article_495a072e-dc36-58ca-a174-5eaa87de649c.html)


Your trip to Greece sounds so cool!  I like ancient Greece better than Rome too, although I would happily visit either place.

I went on a high school choir trip to NYC nine months after 9/11, so I got to see Ground Zero when it was still a hole.  There was a temporary monument made of plywood there at the time, where people had written messages and put up pictures, flags, flowers, etc.  It was incredibly sad.  I haven't been back to that site since they built the new building and memorial, but I'd like to someday.  I take my class there via Google Maps street view every year when we do our 9/11 lesson, so I have seen what it looks like now, just not in person.

It was super cool! I wish we'd had more time. There were a lot of things I wanted to see, but it was a lot of "____ or _____" things. And we didn't see Crete at all because we docked at like 7am and left at noon, so it just wasn't worth it to rush to any place only to rush back to the boat.

The temporary monument seems even more sad, the freshness probably. That's cool that you do a virtual tour for them. It's nice that we have access to stuff like that now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 03, 2021, 03:58:47 PM
Oh no!  Sorry to hear you're having a hard time so far.  Do you think the pressure of having a goal and a time limit is getting to you, or were you just due to hit a road block?  It happens to all of us.  I'm glad you were inspired to work on something.  I think it still counts, since it's all in the same universe.  Sending good vibes your way; hope you can keep making progress on one project or the other!

I'm just happy to be writing at all, so I'm not super worried yet. If I go the entire month without writing PNecklace anything, then I will worry. I was probably just due for a roadblock. I also had a small "if I could go back and change x in the beginning" moment, so I'm trying to get away from wanting to do major editing while posting (especially when x thing in the beginning is semi-helpful to the story as is, but becomes redundant with some additions to the OF version, which is where the want to change it probably came from, I think). It probably doesn't help that I'm also thinking "Yeah, that series discussion, I think that this is the weak one right now... still got some awesome stuff, but could use some love..." while I'm writing, ha. I think it will all be fine. I just need to get out of my head and back into the characters' heads. Thanks for the good vibes!


So far so good!  I've written every day of April, and my streak is up to 22 consecutive days.  I didn't update my word count the first day and now wish I had when I saw there was a badge I could have earned for doing so.  Rookie mistake!

Woo! 22-day streak! That's awesome! You can go back and add it after the fact and it will count it in your streak! Go to https://nanowrimo.org/stats (https://nanowrimo.org/stats) and it should pop up with MBK as your current project. Then in the "Progress Updates" box, you can click the "+Add New Update" link and at the bottom where the date is, just change it to the first by either manually writing "01" where "03" is or by clicking the little calendar icon and selecting the first. You deserve those words you wrote on April 1st to count toward your goal and give you a two-day streak badge!


Three people acknowledged my April Fool's joke, which is better than some years, so I guess it was a success.  That is partly why I went ahead and posted MBK this week, since my new Brian story was obviously not real.

Yes, I hope more people come on here and share!

What was this fake Brian story about? Self-insert romance and a bus crash? lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 03, 2021, 07:38:50 PM
The car went uphill?!!! I hate everything about that, lol. I bet they didn't help you the second time because they saw the baby powder and knew you weren't actually in trouble. That's like a definite "meant to be here, meant to test this" sign.

Yep!  We had that thought, too, that if there were ghosts, they saw the baby powder and decided not to cooperate the second time.  Who knows.


Have we talked about sleep paralysis here yet? Because that's the only thing that's ever happened to me that felt paranormal and I thought maybe I saw something, but could have just been spooky shadows while unable to move. It only happened once, but it was horrifying.

That does sound terrifying!  I'm glad it only happened to you once.


I'm sure that I could mention anything vaguely Coloradoan and it would remind you of South Park, lol. The waterpark episode, for instance, is based on our waterpark, but I'm betting they were not on board with them saying the water was 99% pee anyway. But the shot with the little "street sign" for the rides is all accurate.

lol! I did not see Manbearpig, but maybe that's the monster that pulls people into the pit, lol. I wonder if they have one of those that's already being run... There's not that I can find, which is surprising to me, but I found this little article that would be a start: https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/11-real-south-park-locations-you-ll-find-in-colorado/article_495a072e-dc36-58ca-a174-5eaa87de649c.html (https://www.outtherecolorado.com/adventures/11-real-south-park-locations-you-ll-find-in-colorado/article_495a072e-dc36-58ca-a174-5eaa87de649c.html)

That's awesome!  I love that list.  Adding Fairplay to my personal list of places to go.


I'm just happy to be writing at all, so I'm not super worried yet. If I go the entire month without writing PNecklace anything, then I will worry. I was probably just due for a roadblock. I also had a small "if I could go back and change x in the beginning" moment, so I'm trying to get away from wanting to do major editing while posting (especially when x thing in the beginning is semi-helpful to the story as is, but becomes redundant with some additions to the OF version, which is where the want to change it probably came from, I think). It probably doesn't help that I'm also thinking "Yeah, that series discussion, I think that this is the weak one right now... still got some awesome stuff, but could use some love..." while I'm writing, ha. I think it will all be fine. I just need to get out of my head and back into the characters' heads. Thanks for the good vibes!

I hate when that happens.  I get stuck in my own head sometimes too, obsessing over small details.  "Is this right?  Should I go back and change this?"  I was doing it yesterday and spent way too long researching, trying to find an answer to what seemed like a simple question.  But I never could find a clear answer... I assume because every case is different.  I finally decided if I am actively searching and can't find an answer, no one is going to be able to fact-check me anyway, so I might as well just stick with my thought and not worry about whether it's right or not.  As long as it sounds realistic, no one's going to question it.

That is one challenge of writing a series - always comparing the later stories to the earlier ones and trying to live up to the original.  It's hard to compare a work in progress to one that is already complete though.  PNecklace probably only seems like the weak one because it's not done.  By the time you finish it, I'm sure you'll be happy with the final product.  I have faith in you!


Woo! 22-day streak! That's awesome! You can go back and add it after the fact and it will count it in your streak! Go to https://nanowrimo.org/stats (https://nanowrimo.org/stats) and it should pop up with MBK as your current project. Then in the "Progress Updates" box, you can click the "+Add New Update" link and at the bottom where the date is, just change it to the first by either manually writing "01" where "03" is or by clicking the little calendar icon and selecting the first. You deserve those words you wrote on April 1st to count toward your goal and give you a two-day streak badge!

Thanks for the tip!  I went back and added Thursday's writing too and got my badge.


What was this fake Brian story about? Self-insert romance and a bus crash? lol

http://dreamers-sanctuary.com/2021-04-01/
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 03, 2021, 09:03:43 PM
Yep!  We had that thought, too, that if there were ghosts, they saw the baby powder and decided not to cooperate the second time.  Who knows.

That does sound terrifying!  I'm glad it only happened to you once.

Next time do it when it's snowing. Could be "in trouble," could catch hand prints in the snow, win-win.

I don't know if you've ever googled it in your adventures, but it is crazy what is likely going on in your brain and then the weird stories people have.


That's awesome!  I love that list.  Adding Fairplay to my personal list of places to go.

It's a cute little town. :)


I hate when that happens.  I get stuck in my own head sometimes too, obsessing over small details.  "Is this right?  Should I go back and change this?"  I was doing it yesterday and spent way too long researching, trying to find an answer to what seemed like a simple question.  But I never could find a clear answer... I assume because every case is different.  I finally decided if I am actively searching and can't find an answer, no one is going to be able to fact-check me anyway, so I might as well just stick with my thought and not worry about whether it's right or not.  As long as it sounds realistic, no one's going to question it.

That is one challenge of writing a series - always comparing the later stories to the earlier ones and trying to live up to the original.  It's hard to compare a work in progress to one that is already complete though.  PNecklace probably only seems like the weak one because it's not done.  By the time you finish it, I'm sure you'll be happy with the final product.  I have faith in you!

It's always the small details that get me too! Whether that's a research thing or getting stuck on one word and none of the options sounding right. That sounds frustrating that it seemed like a thing that would be easy to fact-check and then wasn't. I say if you did your due diligence, then you're all good.

I guess that's true. And I also wanted to edit early PBox while I was writing it too, lol. I think this is just a place I hit once I get a third of the way through. It doesn't help that my brain is like "We're stuck. Let's go back and do this instead!" So once again, I've worked for about two hours, edited about 700 words, and researched materials for paving streets, the history of columns in architecture, and when carriages were invented/where they were widely used, but nothing for PNecklace. I'm hoping something will come to me tonight as I lay awake that is as persistent as the stuff I wrote yesterday. I've also spent some time making my first verb, but I don't think any of the conlang sites can do what I want... So, I've been messing around with that and just putting in a placeholder for now as I familiarize myself with verb conjugation in Greek, lol.

Thanks for the tip!  I went back and added Thursday's writing too and got my badge.

Yay! Keep that writing streak up!

http://dreamers-sanctuary.com/2021-04-01/

LMFAO! The sound effects! The video effects! I'm dying! It reminded me of that episode of South Park where it reveals Gerald is the internet troll, lol. Was that your real voice? Because I think that's brave.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 03, 2021, 11:08:53 PM
Next time do it when it's snowing. Could be "in trouble," could catch hand prints in the snow, win-win.

I don't know if you've ever googled it in your adventures, but it is crazy what is likely going on in your brain and then the weird stories people have.

Good idea!

I have looked up a little bit on sleep paralysis because it's something I may include in my Brian horror story if I ever get around to writing more of it.  It is interesting!


It's always the small details that get me too! Whether that's a research thing or getting stuck on one word and none of the options sounding right. That sounds frustrating that it seemed like a thing that would be easy to fact-check and then wasn't. I say if you did your due diligence, then you're all good.

I guess that's true. And I also wanted to edit early PBox while I was writing it too, lol. I think this is just a place I hit once I get a third of the way through. It doesn't help that my brain is like "We're stuck. Let's go back and do this instead!" So once again, I've worked for about two hours, edited about 700 words, and researched materials for paving streets, the history of columns in architecture, and when carriages were invented/where they were widely used, but nothing for PNecklace. I'm hoping something will come to me tonight as I lay awake that is as persistent as the stuff I wrote yesterday. I've also spent some time making my first verb, but I don't think any of the conlang sites can do what I want... So, I've been messing around with that and just putting in a placeholder for now as I familiarize myself with verb conjugation in Greek, lol.

Wow!  At least you've gotten a ton of research done.  As you've told me many times, that still counts!  Research can be a way to get re-inspired too.  I hope it helps!


LMFAO! The sound effects! The video effects! I'm dying! It reminded me of that episode of South Park where it reveals Gerald is the internet troll, lol. Was that your real voice? Because I think that's brave.

Thanks!  I had fun making that LOL.  I love that it reminded you of South Park - high praise!  And yes, that is my real voice, although I lowered the pitch a little because I always think my voice sounds too high-pitched in recordings.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 11:24:09 AM
I have looked up a little bit on sleep paralysis because it's something I may include in my Brian horror story if I ever get around to writing more of it.  It is interesting!

It definitely belongs in a horror story, haha. I look forward to this actual Brian horror story and not internet troll Brian horror story, lol!


Wow!  At least you've gotten a ton of research done.  As you've told me many times, that still counts!  Research can be a way to get re-inspired too.  I hope it helps!

It was mostly mundane things I didn't look up before and an attempt to smooth out the blatant fantasy Asia aspects by mixing them up with some fun fantasy Mediterranean stuff. I actually did end up writing about 300 words of two little scenes from PNecklace, so maybe it will happen!


Thanks!  I had fun making that LOL.  I love that it reminded you of South Park - high praise!  And yes, that is my real voice, although I lowered the pitch a little because I always think my voice sounds too high-pitched in recordings.

I can tell! It's too funny not to enjoy while making it. I'm surprised you didn't just laugh hysterically take after take. Ugh, my voice is also too high-pitched, but we've talked about this. I don't think I would ever make anyone listen to it that didn't need to, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 11:28:14 AM
I stumbled on this little compilation of Tumblr posts about fanfics and it made me laugh: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf (https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf)

Although not all of them apply to us, technically. My two main questions were, did we ever have "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys"? I don't think I've ever read something like that. And do we have salt fics? Are the "Everybody Hates Leighanne" fics our salt fics? I feel like those are the only ones, because we're fine with the Boys doing whatever.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 06:47:30 PM
It definitely belongs in a horror story, haha. I look forward to this actual Brian horror story and not internet troll Brian horror story, lol!

LOL Thanks!  Hopefully I'll get around to writing it someday.  I did write the first scene back in February and then moved on to MBK.


It was mostly mundane things I didn't look up before and an attempt to smooth out the blatant fantasy Asia aspects by mixing them up with some fun fantasy Mediterranean stuff. I actually did end up writing about 300 words of two little scenes from PNecklace, so maybe it will happen!

Mundane is okay; sometimes that's what is needed.  I'm glad you got something written!  Every little bit moves the story forward.


I can tell! It's too funny not to enjoy while making it. I'm surprised you didn't just laugh hysterically take after take. Ugh, my voice is also too high-pitched, but we've talked about this. I don't think I would ever make anyone listen to it that didn't need to, lol.

It actually only took me two takes to record it, and I made it through without laughing.  The part that kept cracking me up was the Psycho music playing as his tweet pops up.

I think everyone hates the sound of their own voice on a recording!  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Anyone out there love to listen to themselves? LOL
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 07:23:42 PM
I stumbled on this little compilation of Tumblr posts about fanfics and it made me laugh: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf (https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf)

I could relate to most of those!


“People are naturally lazy and will never do any kind of work for free.”

Fanfiction Writers:  Words: 1,066,979


LOL So true.  Writing fanfic definitely takes time and effort, but I don't think of it as "work."  It's a hobby, and we do it for the fun of it, not for money.  Sure, we're providing free reading material, but we also benefit from the free books provided by fellow fanfic writers.  Feedback is our form of compensation, which is why it's so important to give it after reading someone's work,


fanfiction is so wild cause im like…..ugh im not in the mood to read a book…..i’ll just read an 82k word fic instead……

I used to be like this at the height of my fanfic addiction.  I'm not really anymore, but I understand the feeling.  Fanfic is like the comfort food of reading.  Sometimes you just wanna read something that doesn't require a lot of thought - not that fanfic plots are simple, but because you're already familiar with the main characters, it doesn't take as much commitment to get into the world of the story.  It's like watching reruns of your favorite show instead of starting a new series.  The familiarity is comforting.


me externally: I write fanfic because I enjoy it! I write for myself!

me internally: validate me. drown me in kudos. i will sell my soul for comments and fic recs

Behind every writer on AO3 is actually a dragon that hoards kudos, comments and bookmarks.


Yep!  I do write fanfic because I enjoy it, and I write for myself to a certain extent, but obviously I want validation and feedback too, or I wouldn't post my work for the world to read.  I squeed with excitement when I opened my email and found two comments and an email about my new story.  An email is rare; I don't get many of those anymore.  I like how AO3 and AC save all your reviews in one place, but I miss the days of hoarding feedback emails.  I save every one I get, but I lost a bunch of the old ones that I used to have saved in my old Hotmail and Yahoo accounts that were deactivated after I switched to Gmail and stopped signing in.  So sad!


My coping mechanism is reading fanfiction from 9pm-3am every night and my therapist is not pleased.

Again, this was more me in my early days of reading fanfic than it is now, but if you replace reading with writing, it still applies.  If I had less self-control, I could easily stay up writing until 3 a.m. most nights and would be even more continually sleep-deprived than I am now LOL.  Although my new weekend routine has been writing from 9am-3pm instead.  I'm getting old!


Fanfiction is the literal embodiment of “if you want something done right, do it yourself

I just told the story of how I got started writing fanfic the other day, and yep, it was pretty much this.  My Brother's Keeper came about this way too.  Who else can relate?


i can read 100,000 words of fanfiction a day but if a professor assigns more than 30 pages of reading i just stare off into space while tears fill my eyes

100% accurate.


*me writing fic*

me to me: don’t use the word eyes, you just used it in the previous sentence. use something else

my inner me to me: no, don’t call eyes orbs, it’s cringey

my deeper inner me to me: call them face balls


This one cracked me up because... orbs.  Let's call them face balls!


Although not all of them apply to us, technically. My two main questions were, did we ever have "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys"? I don't think I've ever read something like that. And do we have salt fics? Are the "Everybody Hates Leighanne" fics our salt fics? I feel like those are the only ones, because we're fine with the Boys doing whatever.

I don't think I've ever read a "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys" story either.  That sounds like a sex trafficking situation.

I had to look up what salt fics are.  For anyone else wondering, it's when the author doesn't like something about the canon (or in our case, the Boys in real life) and writes a story that fixes it, reworks it, or bashes certain characters.  I do think you could make a case for Leighanne bashing being a form of salt fic in our fandom.  I also thought of Hot Mess Nick and how so many of us wrote Nick romance in which he was not a hot mess during that time - trying to fix canon LOL.  There may be a bit of that going on with Brian stories right now.  Seems like the Brian stories being written are either set in the past or put him with Nick instead of Leighanne (or both).  90s Brian was better.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 07:29:32 PM
LOL Thanks!  Hopefully I'll get around to writing it someday.  I did write the first scene back in February and then moved on to MBK.

Definitely stay inspired on MBK! Always sending you and everyone good vibes for whatever compelling thing is currently being written!


Mundane is okay; sometimes that's what is needed.  I'm glad you got something written!  Every little bit moves the story forward.

It definitely does! And then yet again today, I had a stroke of genius because of the 300 words I wrote yesterday, but still not for PNecklace. I'm apparently just sitting here writing an entire epic out of order and not caring about being structured or focused at all, lol. I wonder how PBox would have gone if I hadn't written in strict order back then. Would I still be writing the first version? I hope not.


It actually only took me two takes to record it, and I made it through without laughing.  The part that kept cracking me up was the Psycho music playing as his tweet pops up.

I think everyone hates the sound of their own voice on a recording!  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  Anyone out there love to listen to themselves? LOL

Only two takes! Impressive! Yes, the Psycho music got me too; the way it just zoomed in on the tweet with the Psycho music in the background, I laughed so hard.

People on radio? I think that's all. You'd have to if you were listening to yourself all the time. The Boys? Do the Boys or any actor, singer, etcetera mind the sound of their own voice? Maybe the more your job involves hearing your voice recorded and/or blared over speakers, the less it bothers you.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 07:43:16 PM
I stumbled on this little compilation of Tumblr posts about fanfics and it made me laugh: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf (https://www.buzzfeed.com/kellymartinez/fanfiction-tumblr-posts?origin=web-hf)

Although not all of them apply to us, technically. My two main questions were, did we ever have "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys"? I don't think I've ever read something like that. And do we have salt fics? Are the "Everybody Hates Leighanne" fics our salt fics? I feel like those are the only ones, because we're fine with the Boys doing whatever.

Why aren’t there drive-throughs for fanfiction though?

“Can I help you?”

“Yes, I’d like a modern “pretend boyfriends” AU, no dub-con, add frottage, please.”

“Would you like a happy ending with that?”

“Yes, please.”

“And for length?”

“Oh, a 50k-er, please.”

“Will do, please pull around to the first window.”



If you could "order up" the ideal fanfic to read, what would yours include?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 07:47:42 PM
I could relate to most of those!

Your thoughts were pretty much on par with my thoughts; everything you've said is spot on. Especially the investment back in the day. It was so easy to get invested in a BSB fanfic because the investment for the Boys and more of them and new things happening to them was so much of my dedication. (I am also guilty of rewatching the same four tv shows over and over again.)

I love that you got email feedback! That's awesome! And commitment rather than just being able to comment on the story itself.


This one cracked me up because... orbs.  Let's call them face balls!

I laughed so hard at this too! Because my first thought was "I wonder what Mare thinks about 'face balls'." And then, "I have to share this list over at AC because Julie will also laugh really hard at 'orbs' followed by 'face balls.'" lmao So, yes, let's start calling them "face balls" unless Mare disapproves.


I don't think I've ever read a "my parents sold me to the Backstreet Boys" story either.  That sounds like a sex trafficking situation.

I had to look up what salt fics are.  For anyone else wondering, it's when the author doesn't like something about the canon (or in our case, the Boys in real life) and writes a story that fixes it, reworks it, or bashes certain characters.  I do think you could make a case for Leighanne bashing being a form of salt fic in our fandom.  I also thought of Hot Mess Nick and how so many of us wrote Nick romance in which he was not a hot mess during that time - trying to fix canon LOL.  There may be a bit of that going on with Brian stories right now.  Seems like the Brian stories being written are either set in the past or put him with Nick instead of Leighanne (or both).  90s Brian was better.

That's what I thought; it sounded squicky. Also, why would someone's parents sell them to the Backstreet Boys when they could be a backup dancer or an opening act instead?! More drama. More exposure. More fun.

I have to stop using fandom type terms I come across without defining them, my bad!

Poor Hot Mess Nick. I would call those a retcon more than salt, since we all enjoy Nick, just when he's less of a hot mess. Thank goodness he had all of us around to give him some great potential ladies that encouraged him to do things other than being a hot mess. lol

You're right, Brian stories may be intentionally avoiding his current political shennaniganery . What are we going to call "blatantly conservative Brian" so we can reference this time later. It needs a good ring to it like Hot Mess Nick. Internet Troll Brian? Trump Troll Brian? lol #Team90'sBrian
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 07:51:05 PM
If you could "order up" the ideal fanfic to read, what would yours include?

Just our Boys True Companioning in any setting/plot. I'm not super picky. Preferences for none of their actual wives or children being involved; fictional wives and children are fine.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 08:01:21 PM
Definitely stay inspired on MBK! Always sending you and everyone good vibes for whatever compelling thing is currently being written!

Thanks!  I plan to.  Although it's still early in the plot, I think I'm past the point of wondering whether MBK is a story I will stick with or not.  I've gotten into it, and it's going well enough that I'm not worried about it.


It definitely does! And then yet again today, I had a stroke of genius because of the 300 words I wrote yesterday, but still not for PNecklace. I'm apparently just sitting here writing an entire epic out of order and not caring about being structured or focused at all, lol. I wonder how PBox would have gone if I hadn't written in strict order back then. Would I still be writing the first version? I hope not.

Yay for your stroke of genius!  Sorry it wasn't for PNecklace, but if it helps you write another piece of the epic, that's still progress.  Eventually everything will connect.  As long as you're okay with writing out of order, go for it!  Whatever works for you.


Only two takes! Impressive! Yes, the Psycho music got me too; the way it just zoomed in on the tweet with the Psycho music in the background, I laughed so hard.

People on radio? I think that's all. You'd have to if you were listening to yourself all the time. The Boys? Do the Boys or any actor, singer, etcetera mind the sound of their own voice? Maybe the more your job involves hearing your voice recorded and/or blared over speakers, the less it bothers you.

Yay!  Thanks!

Yeah, I'm sure people who record themselves for a living (radio personalities, voice actors, singers, audiobook readers, etc.) do get used to the sound of their own voice.  I thought about the Boys too.  I bet even they cringe sometimes when they hear themselves, especially on older songs.  The AIHTG Conversation Mix comes to mind... LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 08:10:36 PM
Thanks!  I plan to.  Although it's still early in the plot, I think I'm past the point of wondering whether MBK is a story I will stick with or not.  I've gotten into it, and it's going well enough that I'm not worried about it.

How does it feel to get to the point of not worrying? I bet it's a relief knowing that you'll keep going even if you get stuck a little.


Yay for your stroke of genius!  Sorry it wasn't for PNecklace, but if it helps you write another piece of the epic, that's still progress.  Eventually everything will connect.  As long as you're okay with writing out of order, go for it!  Whatever works for you.

It felt good to write something down on the big mystery even if it's still a long way off, since, like you said, eventually everything will connect. You know, I don't mind it. I thought it would bother me, but it gets the exciting things out. :) Then there's more space for the things I get stuck on to grow in the "garden."


Yeah, I'm sure people who record themselves for a living (radio personalities, voice actors, singers, audiobook readers, etc.) do get used to the sound of their own voice.  I thought about the Boys too.  I bet even they cringe sometimes when they hear themselves, especially on older songs.  The AIHTG Conversation Mix comes to mind... LOL.

lol! Yes! Oh the Conversation Mix...

I wonder how Howie feels about suggesting his ideal lady cooks all his meals and he just eats them.

Meanwhile, Nick's probably like "Yup, kiss her, and kiss her, and kiss her. Good job 17-year-old me." I did feel glad for him that in that "I hate watching myself" youtube thing that they did not play the "resign" interview. I'm sure he would have hated that, but for nothing that was related to the sound of his voice.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 08:24:56 PM
Your thoughts were pretty much on par with my thoughts; everything you've said is spot on. Especially the investment back in the day. It was so easy to get invested in a BSB fanfic because the investment for the Boys and more of them and new things happening to them was so much of my dedication. (I am also guilty of rewatching the same four tv shows over and over again.)

Exactly.  It's easier to read stories where you already love the characters than try something totally new and different.  That's why so many people (kids especially) seem to prefer series to standalone stories.  There's a familiarity there.  My mom used to get on my case as a kid for only wanting to read books from my favorite series - Babysitter's Club, Goosebumps, etc. - instead of branching out, but I loved those books because they were comfortable and entertaining without being overly challenging.  Goosebumps had different characters from book to book, but with BSC, it was nice to read about the same characters from book to book and not have to get to know all new ones.

I am terrible about that with TV shows.  I was told to watch Queen's Gambit on Netflix.  I watched the first episode a few weeks ago.  It was good, but long, so I didn't feel like watching the second one immediately after.  Then I started rewatching Friday Night Lights from the beginning and am now on the second season, but still haven't watched the second episode of Queen's Gambit.  But damn, I almost forgot just how good FNL was, especially that first season.


I laughed so hard at this too! Because my first thought was "I wonder what Mare thinks about 'face balls'." And then, "I have to share this list over at AC because Julie will also laugh really hard at 'orbs' followed by 'face balls.'" lmao So, yes, let's start calling them "face balls" unless Mare disapproves.

Face balls sounds exactly like a funny Mare description LOL.


That's what I thought; it sounded squicky. Also, why would someone's parents sell them to the Backstreet Boys when they could be a backup dancer or an opening act instead?! More drama. More exposure. More fun.

Yeah.  I know squicky stuff has always existed in our fandom to some extent, but AO3 seems to have brought it into the mainstream.  I noticed a new story on there yesterday that was written in Chinese, which I thought was cool.  It was clearly tagged "Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot," but just for kicks, I clicked on it and let Chrome translate it so I could see what it looked like in English.  From what I understood in my skimming, the Boys (or at least Brian and Kevin) were bunnies?  Literally rabbits, with long ears and puffball tails.  And, as you might imagine, they were doing what rabbits are stereotypicall y known for doing.  That was something I'd never seen in our fandom LOL.


I have to stop using fandom type terms I come across without defining them, my bad!

It doesn't seem like our fandom uses as many of those terms as other fandoms do.  Obviously we've adopted some, like "slash" and "visuals/vizzies," but most of the other ones I know, I've picked up from pages about fanfic in general, not specifically BSB fic.  Since I don't read or write in any other fandoms, there are a lot I don't know.  But it's always nice to learn some new terminology.


Poor Hot Mess Nick. I would call those a retcon more than salt, since we all enjoy Nick, just when he's less of a hot mess. Thank goodness he had all of us around to give him some great potential ladies that encouraged him to do things other than being a hot mess. lol

You're right, Brian stories may be intentionally avoiding his current political shennaniganery . What are we going to call "blatantly conservative Brian" so we can reference this time later. It needs a good ring to it like Hot Mess Nick. Internet Troll Brian? Trump Troll Brian? lol #Team90'sBrian

Yes, you're probably right about Nick, since we weren't really bashing him, just making his life different.

LOL Oh jeez... Brian probably does need a nickname to reflect this era.  I bet Mare will come up with something better than me.  Blatantly Conservative Brian and Trump Troll Brian both have a nice ring, though I would rather not have to type Trump's name when discussing this 10+ years in the future.  Damn it Brian.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 08:35:21 PM
Just our Boys True Companioning in any setting/plot. I'm not super picky. Preferences for none of their actual wives or children being involved; fictional wives and children are fine.

I'm all for more True Companioning and less kinky slash!


If you could "order up" the ideal fanfic to read, what would yours include?

Mine would include:
- all five guys but Brian or Nick as the main character
- bromance
- hurt/comfort angst
- some sort of illness, injury, or life-threatening situation
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 08:46:11 PM
How does it feel to get to the point of not worrying? I bet it's a relief knowing that you'll keep going even if you get stuck a little.

It is a relief!  Especially after getting stuck and staying like that for three years LOL.  I may get stuck again, but I feel like I'm committed enough to the story at this point that I'll be able to push through it sooner the next time it happens.


It felt good to write something down on the big mystery even if it's still a long way off, since, like you said, eventually everything will connect. You know, I don't mind it. I thought it would bother me, but it gets the exciting things out. :) Then there's more space for the things I get stuck on to grow in the "garden."

I feel like it would bother me too, but maybe I'll have to try it sometime and find out for myself.  I would be most worried about maintaining continuity, trying to keep track of what has already happened and what hasn't happened yet, and that sort of thing.  Does that get complicated for you?


lol! Yes! Oh the Conversation Mix...

I wonder how Howie feels about suggesting his ideal lady cooks all his meals and he just eats them.

Meanwhile, Nick's probably like "Yup, kiss her, and kiss her, and kiss her. Good job 17-year-old me." I did feel glad for him that in that "I hate watching myself" youtube thing that they did not play the "resign" interview. I'm sure he would have hated that, but for nothing that was related to the sound of his voice.

It always makes me laugh when it pops up on my BSB playlist.  Sometimes I skip it, and other times I listen to it and crack myself up saying all the lines along with them.  I'm sure I took it way too literally as a young teenybopper, but Howie was my least favorite for a while because of his stupid part in that song LOL.  Howie!  Your wife is not just there to cook you food!  Make your own damn breakfast!

Brian and AJ came off looking the best, although it's interesting that Brian talked about being attracted to a smart girl who had a good head on her shoulders and liked to go to school (teenybopper me was like, "That's me!"), yet he married an uneducated bimbo with big boobs.  Nick was right for calling him out in the song LOL.

I bet Nick and Kevin both cringe at the sound of their voice in that one - Nick because he sounds so young and Kevin because he's doing that cheesy Boys II Men-style sexy deep voice.  "Yes, baby... no diggity."  LMFAO!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 08:53:32 PM
Exactly.  It's easier to read stories where you already love the characters than try something totally new and different.

I assume that this is what people who write book series are counting on. Though I feel like there's less serial type ones going on now than there used to be? Like how did Ann M. Martin come up with so many plots involving the same 10 girls?


I am terrible about that with TV shows.  I was told to watch Queen's Gambit on Netflix.  I watched the first episode a few weeks ago.  It was good, but long, so I didn't feel like watching the second one immediately after.  Then I started rewatching Friday Night Lights from the beginning and am now on the second season, but still haven't watched the second episode of Queen's Gambit.  But damn, I almost forgot just how good FNL was, especially that first season.

I keep meaning to watch FNL. That exact situation you describe is me, just replace Queen's Gambit with The Crown, and FNL with the Big Bang Theory. I finally caved and started watching HBO Max. Friends is next.


Face balls sounds exactly like a funny Mare description LOL.

If we keep writing her name, she'll eventually see it and comment a week from now, lol. We need to know!


Yeah.  I know squicky stuff has always existed in our fandom to some extent, but AO3 seems to have brought it into the mainstream.  I noticed a new story on there yesterday that was written in Chinese, which I thought was cool.  It was clearly tagged "Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot," but just for kicks, I clicked on it and let Chrome translate it so I could see what it looked like in English.  From what I understood in my skimming, the Boys (or at least Brian and Kevin) were bunnies?  Literally rabbits, with long ears and puffball tails.  And, as you might imagine, they were doing what rabbits are stereotypicall y known for doing.  That was something I'd never seen in our fandom LOL.

I saw that one today when I just kind of checked to see what else was going on/if tons of people were still posting on Wednesdays. I did not go to the lengths that you did to figure out what it was about because I saw "cousin incest" and noped on out of there.

lol, rabbits! Happy Easter, here's a BSB pwp bunny fanfic. I don't think I can judge too much, since I'm probably at the top of the list of "writes stories where the Boys have odd body parts."

It doesn't seem like our fandom uses as many of those terms as other fandoms do.  Obviously we've adopted some, like "slash" and "visuals/vizzies," but most of the other ones I know, I've picked up from pages about fanfic in general, not specifically BSB fic.  Since I don't read or write in any other fandoms, there are a lot I don't know.  But it's always nice to learn some new terminology.

I wonder if it's just a compound of it being RPF and an older fandom. Like "slash" and "visuals/vizzies" I would consider older terms. I feel like now fandoms just portmanteau names for couples and then you just know it's slash or not based on that? And then I think PWP is the new version of "visuals." "Salt" wasn't a thing I saw until the last year or so when I'm looking up something and fandom-related things appear. Curiosity always got the better of me and I like fanart more than fanfic for other things. The Boys are my only fanfic love.


Yes, you're probably right about Nick, since we weren't really bashing him, just making his life different.

LOL Oh jeez... Brian probably does need a nickname to reflect this era.  I bet Mare will come up with something better than me.  Blatantly Conservative Brian and Trump Troll Brian both have a nice ring, though I would rather not have to type Trump's name when discussing this 10+ years in the future.  Damn it Brian.

We got through Hot Mess Nick, we'll get through Blatantly Conservative Brian together too (I also prefer not typing Trump a billion times). We could always just call him BAnon, lol. We loved Nick and we'll love Brian too. Unless anyone plans on bashing him, I guess.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 08:57:38 PM
I'm all for more True Companioning and less kinky slash!

Just to round it out a little. If people want to write slash, people want to read it. But I also like writing True Companions, so there must be people who want to read that too.


Mine would include:
- all five guys but Brian or Nick as the main character
- bromance
- hurt/comfort angst
- some sort of illness, injury, or life-threatening situation

I probably lean Nick as main character too, now that you mention it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 09:23:17 PM
I assume that this is what people who write book series are counting on. Though I feel like there's less serial type ones going on now than there used to be? Like how did Ann M. Martin come up with so many plots involving the same 10 girls?

They were ghostwritten after the first 36 books - that's how.  But still, 36 books is a lot!  It seems like the big series are more prevalent in books written for elementary readers, probably because of the point you made - the authors know kids who read and like one book in a series will keep coming back for more because of that familiarity, and they capitalize on that.

Series don't seem as prevalent for adult fiction.  Most of the ones I've read as an adult were actually YA fiction, like Twilight and The Hunger Games.


I keep meaning to watch FNL. That exact situation you describe is me, just replace Queen's Gambit with The Crown, and FNL with the Big Bang Theory. I finally caved and started watching HBO Max. Friends is next.

FNL is so good!!  I grew up in a small town that was obsessed with high school football, so I could relate to so much of it.  But also, the cast is excellent, and ​it has one of the best pilot episodes I've ever seen.  If you make it to the end of the first episode, you'll be hooked.

I'm the same way with The Crown.  I started watching that over a year ago, and I'm only on episode 9 of the first season LOL.  It's well done, but it's not a binge-worthy show for me.  I have to be in the right mood for it, which apparently doesn't happen very often.  Meanwhile, I caught up on all 9 seasons of The Office in a matter of months when it was on Netflix.  I'm not a big sitcom person, but it's much easier to binge-watch 22-minute episodes of a comedy than 60-minute episodes of a period drama.


lol, rabbits! Happy Easter, here's a BSB pwp bunny fanfic. I don't think I can judge too much, since I'm probably at the top of the list of "writes stories where the Boys have odd body parts."

LOL Yep!  I can't judge too much either because I've written my own weird/squicky stuff.  To each their own.  It just made me laugh.  Gold star for originality, especially in a PWP!


I wonder if it's just a compound of it being RPF and an older fandom. Like "slash" and "visuals/vizzies" I would consider older terms. I feel like now fandoms just portmanteau names for couples and then you just know it's slash or not based on that? And then I think PWP is the new version of "visuals." "Salt" wasn't a thing I saw until the last year or so when I'm looking up something and fandom-related things appear. Curiosity always got the better of me and I like fanart more than fanfic for other things. The Boys are my only fanfic love.

Oh absolutely, that makes sense.  And you're right, PWP is the new version of visual.  I guess it's because there just aren't many places to discuss BSB fanfic anymore that we don't adopt or create as many terms.  And since we mainly only write about five "characters," we don't have as many cutesy couple names as other fandoms.  Go figure, the only one I've ever used is "Nowie," and I don't think that's a popular pairing on AO3.

I like learning new terms, though, so keep sharing them as you come across them!  I remember the first time I came across the term "hurt/comfort" years ago - I was like, "OMG... that's exactly what I like to read and write!"  I never knew there was a specific name for that trope.  That was way before TV Tropes existed, or at least before I discovered that site.


We got through Hot Mess Nick, we'll get through Blatantly Conservative Brian together too (I also prefer not typing Trump a billion times). We could always just call him BAnon, lol. We loved Nick and we'll love Brian too. Unless anyone plans on bashing him, I guess.

BAnon LOL.  I like BCB best too.  And yes, this too shall pass.  I hope we can get to a place where being conservative isn't seen as a bad thing.  I still love Brian and will only bash him with love.  All in good fun!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 09:25:33 PM
Just to round it out a little. If people want to write slash, people want to read it. But I also like writing True Companions, so there must be people who want to read that too.

Yes, very true.  I don't mean to knock slash; I've actually grown to appreciate slash more over the years.  I just get tired of scrolling through AO3 and seeing so much of it, especially the PWP kind.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 09:43:21 PM
It is a relief!  Especially after getting stuck and staying like that for three years LOL.  I may get stuck again, but I feel like I'm committed enough to the story at this point that I'll be able to push through it sooner the next time it happens.

I think you will too! And I'm here to commiserate with you should it happen. Because I get being committed and getting stuck. I'm like the poster child for it, really. I'm pretty sure when PBox was featured, Mare said she picked it because it "might inspire you to update it this month." That did not happen, lol.


I feel like it would bother me too, but maybe I'll have to try it sometime and find out for myself.  I would be most worried about maintaining continuity, trying to keep track of what has already happened and what hasn't happened yet, and that sort of thing.  Does that get complicated for you?

I think I only noticed it once and it was more in the vein of "tiny plot hole, oops!" that I forgot to write down, but had clearly always thought because I did write it and say "you know, I don't think that I actually wrote that down the first time, my bad." I've got the overall continuity down pretty well. It helps that PBox was fairly self-contained, being an "in search of MacGuffin" type story and I have two notes documents going that are basically timelines (but in the more jumbled way I tend to write things down rather than outlines) where I'll note things that have yet to happen in PNecklace or things that clearly happen in the next one.

Anything I write ahead of time, I label it very meticulously as "Book title (likely chapter range if I know it, plot point or sub-plot): description of thing that's happening." I'll make up an example since everything I have in there now is fairly spoilery to list verbatim even with character names replaced with letters. Let's say back in PBox days I got an idea for the little excerpt I posted of the Kevin talking about medicinal salves scene and wrote it, I would have labeled it as "PBox (early twenties, after Renee/NSYNC stuff; while traveling to Rubiihoppou to find AJ): Kevin has a hobby making medicinal salves and Nick thinks it smells terrible (haha), demons smell really well and all smell different." That meticulous labeling also shows you that Nick's hilarious reaction is probably why I wanted to write it down so badly, lol. Then all the scenes are put in the order they probably go in once they're actually in chapters, though I did end up moving some around in PNecklace from my initial thought of where they should go once I actually got around to writing the full chapter and have also ultimately decided to take some things I thought were interesting out after I decided it wasn't important. So it lives and breathes.

It's only getting slightly confusing now in the OF editing since I have an opportunity to bring even more things in earlier and different things that are better than the laziness of the fanfic version, like some early symbolism for the "omg they're x" stuff that was poorly done in the original fanfic/too late to majorly change now. That and I've thought "aww, I wish I could add this to the fanfic" several times, but it would create a domino effect of stuff to change and it just feels like I would be constantly changing the fanfic version, which would break my "nothing major actually changes in the fanfic edit down to the plot of each chapter" rule.

And half of my changes to the narrative right now are in my effort to demonstrate, "See this little demon that is not at all Nick Carter (*cough*), you should care about him so much and invest in his story, here is why" versus "in this story, Nick is demon! Let's continue to the part that does need an explanation for you to enjoy this story, the world building." lol


It always makes me laugh when it pops up on my BSB playlist.  Sometimes I skip it, and other times I listen to it and crack myself up saying all the lines along with them.  I'm sure I took it way too literally as a young teenybopper, but Howie was my least favorite for a while because of his stupid part in that song LOL.  Howie!  Your wife is not just there to cook you food!  Make your own damn breakfast!

Sometimes I go out of my way to listen to it, lol. I thought Howie was ridiculous for it, but also understood that someone who liked to cook would be an awesome person to be with, because then I could just eat it, lol. Although cooking together is more enjoyable.

Howie and Kevin were tied for me. Nick, then Brian (aka the blond/blue-eyed not Nick, lol), then AJ, then Howie and Kevin. Now it's probably either Nick and everybody else or Nick, then Howie and I could be thick as thieves, but I love all of you for the good times. It's hard to shake the Nick love even being an old married lady at this point. All my favorite songs now are the ones they all have solo bits on, where in my younger years, they were all the Nick and Brian dominated ones (which wasn't hard to do, lol).


Brian and AJ came off looking the best, although it's interesting that Brian talked about being attracted to a smart girl who had a good head on her shoulders and liked to go to school (teenybopper me was like, "That's me!"), yet he married an uneducated bimbo with big boobs.  Nick was right for calling him out in the song LOL.

You sound so reasonable. Teenybopper me was like "Yeah, I'll kiss you at the movies, and when we go dancing, and whenever! Name the place! I'm there!" Nick was right to call him out. He knew. Guardian angel, boom.


I bet Nick and Kevin both cringe at the sound of their voice in that one - Nick because he sounds so young and Kevin because he's doing that cheesy Boys II Men-style sexy deep voice.  "Yes, baby... no diggity."  LMFAO!

I don't know that Nick does. That video where they're all calling out IYWITBGG (and AJ even says "It should have never been made, it should not exist"). And Nick's just like, "I don't know. We have a lot of great songs." like he didn't think it was that bad, lol. And there are points in that song where his voice is pretty cringey sounding too. Speaking of young Nick, now I have a deep desire to go listen to Tell Me That I'm Dreaming, lol!

Kevin is probably so glad to have moved on from songs with the cheesy sexy deep voice. I bet he got so tired of that. "No diggity," lmfao. Poor Kevin.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 10:00:56 PM
They were ghostwritten after the first 36 books - that's how.  But still, 36 books is a lot!  It seems like the big series are more prevalent in books written for elementary readers, probably because of the point you made - the authors know kids who read and like one book in a series will keep coming back for more because of that familiarity, and they capitalize on that.

Series don't seem as prevalent for adult fiction.  Most of the ones I've read as an adult were actually YA fiction, like Twilight and The Hunger Games.

Did not know that! That makes so much more sense. It's like Magic Tree House. I pick them up and think, you've got to have run out of places for Jack and Annie to go by now. No? This is new? Okay. What are they doing now? lol

I think if it's a series in adult fiction, there's not a million of them, but there's more than three or four (i'm thinking GOT and Sookie Stackhouse). YA is usually like "You have three to four of these before your target audience moves on, tick tock." lol


FNL is so good!!  I grew up in a small town that was obsessed with high school football, so I could relate to so much of it.  But also, the cast is excellent, and ​it has one of the best pilot episodes I've ever seen.  If you make it to the end of the first episode, you'll be hooked.

I liked the movie a lot and I've heard good things, so I really keep meaning to! Is it back on Netflix now?


I'm the same way with The Crown.  I started watching that over a year ago, and I'm only on episode 9 of the first season LOL.  It's well done, but it's not a binge-worthy show for me.  I have to be in the right mood for it, which apparently doesn't happen very often.  Meanwhile, I caught up on all 9 seasons of The Office in a matter of months when it was on Netflix.  I'm not a big sitcom person, but it's much easier to binge-watch 22-minute episodes of a comedy than 60-minute episodes of a period drama.

Same on all of that, even The Office bit, lol. You can watch about three episodes in an hour of a sitcom, it takes much less time.


LOL Yep!  I can't judge too much either because I've written my own weird/squicky stuff.  To each their own.  It just made me laugh.  Gold star for originality, especially in a PWP!

Right? lol Gives some substance to the PWP.


Oh absolutely, that makes sense.  And you're right, PWP is the new version of visual.  I guess it's because there just aren't many places to discuss BSB fanfic anymore that we don't adopt or create as many terms.  And since we mainly only write about five "characters," we don't have as many cutesy couple names as other fandoms.  Go figure, the only one I've ever used is "Nowie," and I don't think that's a popular pairing on AO3.

I like learning new terms, though, so keep sharing them as you come across them!  I remember the first time I came across the term "hurt/comfort" years ago - I was like, "OMG... that's exactly what I like to read and write!"  I never knew there was a specific name for that trope.  That was way before TV Tropes existed, or at least before I discovered that site.

We're too old to change and all have the same terminology. It's fine, lol.

There's at most, what?... 25 cutesy couple names? But we're just as likely to use them platonically as we are to use them for couples? That's why we need "slash" too, lol. I can't think of any besides Frick & Frack, ARok, and Nowie though. Kentucky Cousins? Is that one?

I like coming across new terms too, especially when it's things like that where I was like "This thing I enjoy has name? Awesome!" I can't think of any examples right now, but I do always like when I know the specific trope for whatever thing.


BAnon LOL.  I like BCB best too.  And yes, this too shall pass.  I hope we can get to a place where being conservative isn't seen as a bad thing.  I still love Brian and will only bash him with love.  All in good fun!

Alright, unless anyone else has objections, it sounds like Blatantly Conservative Brian (BCB for short) is our term for this, lol. I think as we get further away from the extreme right that it has been, it'll be fine. :)


Yes, very true.  I don't mean to knock slash; I've actually grown to appreciate slash more over the years.  I just get tired of scrolling through AO3 and seeing so much of it, especially the PWP kind.

I didn't think you did. I didn't either. I get tired of scrolling through all the PWP on AO3 whether it's slash or not! It's more the PWP aspect of it than the slash aspect for me. As I said before, I'm really not that picky as long as there's a plot, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 10:54:35 PM
I think you will too! And I'm here to commiserate with you should it happen. Because I get being committed and getting stuck. I'm like the poster child for it, really. I'm pretty sure when PBox was featured, Mare said she picked it because it "might inspire you to update it this month." That did not happen, lol.

Aww, thanks!  This forum is great for commiserating.  I'm either going to hit a wall soon, or I'm going to roll right through it.  I can't tell yet.  I'm already almost through the first phase of the story, which I had a pretty clear vision for.  I also have a lot planned for the third phase of the story, which I feel is really the heart of the whole story idea.  It's the second phase I'm unsure about.  That's the part I wish I could film as a brief montage set to some upbeat 80s music and move on from.  It's really just the bridge between the first and third phase of the story, but I can't completely rush through it.  I just don't have a lot of specific scenes planned out yet, so I need to get on that.  I did take your suggestion and start a list, but it's a pretty short list so far LOL.  I'm hoping when I get to the point of actually needing scenes, I'll come up with something.  This is me plantsing LOL.


Anything I write ahead of time, I label it very meticulously as "Book title (likely chapter range if I know it, plot point or sub-plot): description of thing that's happening." I'll make up an example since everything I have in there now is fairly spoilery to list verbatim even with character names replaced with letters. Let's say back in PBox days I got an idea for the little excerpt I posted of the Kevin talking about medicinal salves scene and wrote it, I would have labeled it as "PBox (early twenties, after Renee/NSYNC stuff; while traveling to Rubiihoppou to find AJ): Kevin has a hobby making medicinal salves and Nick thinks it smells terrible (haha), demons smell really well and all smell different." That meticulous labeling also shows you that Nick's hilarious reaction is probably why I wanted to write it down so badly, lol. Then all the scenes are put in the order they probably go in once they're actually in chapters, though I did end up moving some around in PNecklace from my initial thought of where they should go once I actually got around to writing the full chapter and have also ultimately decided to take some things I thought were interesting out after I decided it wasn't important. So it lives and breathes.

It's only getting slightly confusing now in the OF editing since I have an opportunity to bring even more things in earlier and different things that are better than the laziness of the fanfic version, like some early symbolism for the "omg they're x" stuff that was poorly done in the original fanfic/too late to majorly change now. That and I've thought "aww, I wish I could add this to the fanfic" several times, but it would create a domino effect of stuff to change and it just feels like I would be constantly changing the fanfic version, which would break my "nothing major actually changes in the fanfic edit down to the plot of each chapter" rule.

And half of my changes to the narrative right now are in my effort to demonstrate, "See this little demon that is not at all Nick Carter (*cough*), you should care about him so much and invest in his story, here is why" versus "in this story, Nick is demon! Let's continue to the part that does need an explanation for you to enjoy this story, the world building." lol

I almost asked you about labeling all these scenes, but I remembered you talking a while back about naming your files in Google Drive.  The way you explained it here makes more sense and seems like it would help you remember what you wrote and find the right scene when you need it.

I think you're wise to save the big changes for the OF version instead of constantly editing the fanfic.  Especially since the fanfic is already online.  And yeah, you probably would need to focus more on character development in the OF version, since you're no longer writing about "Nick." 

That seems like it would be one of the biggest differences between writing fanfic and original fic.  I know in the stories where I have created original characters that play an important role, I've put a lot more time into developing them than I did the Boys, because the readers already know the Boys.  It's more about orienting them to when in Backstreet time the story takes place and showing how the Boys change as a result of whatever happens in the plot.


Howie and Kevin were tied for me. Nick, then Brian (aka the blond/blue-eyed not Nick, lol), then AJ, then Howie and Kevin. Now it's probably either Nick and everybody else or Nick, then Howie and I could be thick as thieves, but I love all of you for the good times. It's hard to shake the Nick love even being an old married lady at this point. All my favorite songs now are the ones they all have solo bits on, where in my younger years, they were all the Nick and Brian dominated ones (which wasn't hard to do, lol).

I was the same way with having a clear order of favorites in my teenybopper days, although it changed from time to time.  Brian was always my favorite, and AJ was #2 for a long time.  Nick was my least favorite very early on, which I think was based on a combination of wanting to go against the grain of him being everyone else's favorite and finding him annoying in their Millennium era appearances.  But then Nick started to grow on me (helped by fanfic, no doubt), which left Howie and Kevin alternating between the #4 and #5 spot.  I know Nick had risen to my second favorite by 2001 because my custom license plate on my first car began with BNAHK, and I put their initials in order of favorites LOL.  Now I would rank them in two tiers:  Brian and Nick on the top tier, Kevin, Howie, and AJ on the bottom tier.  I don't have a least favorite anymore; I love them all.


I don't know that Nick does. That video where they're all calling out IYWITBGG (and AJ even says "It should have never been made, it should not exist"). And Nick's just like, "I don't know. We have a lot of great songs." like he didn't think it was that bad, lol. And there are points in that song where his voice is pretty cringey sounding too. Speaking of young Nick, now I have a deep desire to go listen to Tell Me That I'm Dreaming, lol!

Kevin is probably so glad to have moved on from songs with the cheesy sexy deep voice. I bet he got so tired of that. "No diggity," lmfao. Poor Kevin.

I'm with Nick on that.  Sure, IYWITBGG is bad, but it's far from their worst song.  It's a guilty pleasure song - catchy and fun, even if it the lyrics are cringey.  Boys Will Be Boys is just as bad, and I love both songs.  I would take songs like that any day over She's a Dream.  Tell Me That I'm Dreaming is adorable.

I wonder if Kevin realized how cheesy it was when he got roped into doing that deep voice back then, or if it actually seemed cool and sexy at the time because Boys II Men had done it.  I agree; I'm sure he's glad that trend is over LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 04, 2021, 11:07:14 PM
Did not know that! That makes so much more sense. It's like Magic Tree House. I pick them up and think, you've got to have run out of places for Jack and Annie to go by now. No? This is new? Okay. What are they doing now? lol

I think if it's a series in adult fiction, there's not a million of them, but there's more than three or four (i'm thinking GOT and Sookie Stackhouse). YA is usually like "You have three to four of these before your target audience moves on, tick tock." lol

Yes, I almost mentioned Magic Tree House as an example!  I guess with those books, they just have to think of a historical time period or event or a scientific topic they want to focus on and develop the plot around that.  All those series are so formulaic, I'm sure that helps the authors (or ghostwriters) churn them out quickly.

YA series aiming for 3-4 books to match their readers' attention span totally makes sense LOL.


I liked the movie a lot and I've heard good things, so I really keep meaning to! Is it back on Netflix now?

The show is better than the movie, but I may be biased because I didn't see the movie until after I fell in love with the show.  It used to be on Netflix, but I think it's only on Hulu right now.


There's at most, what?... 25 cutesy couple names? But we're just as likely to use them platonically as we are to use them for couples? That's why we need "slash" too, lol. I can't think of any besides Frick & Frack, ARok, and Nowie though. Kentucky Cousins? Is that one?

There must be one for Kevin/Nick, but I'm not sure what is most commonly used.  Kick?  Nevin?  I think Brian/Kevin would be Kentucky Cousins or KFC (Kentucky's Finest Cousins).  Not sure if there is one for AJ/Kevin, AJ/Howie, AJ/Nick, Howie/Kevin, or Howie/Brian.  I don't see those pairings often, if ever.  Can you imagine a Howie/Brian slash? LMAO.


I get tired of scrolling through all the PWP on AO3 whether it's slash or not! It's more the PWP aspect of it than the slash aspect for me. As I said before, I'm really not that picky as long as there's a plot, lol.

I'm with you!  It's not the slash that annoys me; it's the PWP.  It just so happens that most of the PWP on AO3 seems to be slash, not het.  I'm fine with slash with a plot.  And slash without a plot is fine too for people who prefer that.  It's just not my thing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 11:41:55 PM
Aww, thanks!  This forum is great for commiserating.  I'm either going to hit a wall soon, or I'm going to roll right through it.  I can't tell yet.  I'm already almost through the first phase of the story, which I had a pretty clear vision for.  I also have a lot planned for the third phase of the story, which I feel is really the heart of the whole story idea.  It's the second phase I'm unsure about.  That's the part I wish I could film as a brief montage set to some upbeat 80s music and move on from.  It's really just the bridge between the first and third phase of the story, but I can't completely rush through it.  I just don't have a lot of specific scenes planned out yet, so I need to get on that.  I did take your suggestion and start a list, but it's a pretty short list so far LOL.  I'm hoping when I get to the point of actually needing scenes, I'll come up with something.  This is me plantsing LOL.

I hope you roll with it.  :biggrin:

lmao, I'm sorry, I had to, lol! On a more serious note, I always feel frustrated when the beginning seems clear and the end seems clear and the middle is just kind of wibbly wobbly. But yay for Team Plantsing! Maybe that's the part where you test out writing things out of order and see what happens. ;)


I almost asked you about labeling all these scenes, but I remembered you talking a while back about naming your files in Google Drive.  The way you explained it here makes more sense and seems like it would help you remember what you wrote and find the right scene when you need it.

You're right, I've fully admitted to being disorganized and mislabeling things for fun, lol. I didn't do it at first when it was whole chunks of nearly upcoming chapters (when they were just called "chapter something or other"), but once it started being a big document, and especially now that it has two books worth of scenes here and there written, I made a point to be a little better about it. With the added bonus that I can turn them into headings and not have to scroll through the whole document to get to a certain one. That little "outline" navigation bar on the side of google docs is the best.


I think you're wise to save the big changes for the OF version instead of constantly editing the fanfic.  Especially since the fanfic is already online.  And yeah, you probably would need to focus more on character development in the OF version, since you're no longer writing about "Nick."  

That seems like it would be one of the biggest differences between writing fanfic and original fic.  I know in the stories where I have created original characters that play an important role, I've put a lot more time into developing them than I did the Boys, because the readers already know the Boys.  It's more about orienting them to when in Backstreet time the story takes place and showing how the Boys change as a result of whatever happens in the plot.

Big changes indeed! I'm about five chapters in, I opted to skip tackling the first chapter of the fanfic for the moment to start with Nick, so we'll call it chapter 2-5 of the fanfic, and I've already written about 9,000 new words, including an entirely new chapter. It's an undertaking! He's still PBox Nick to me, but I've definitely had to fill out a few things that would be settled by "It's Nick!" in the fanfic. I've had a few "oops" moments that have been pointed out to me so far, but not in a "oops, this was blatantly a BSB fanfic way," thank goodness, lol. I'm almost to the point of needing to give Howie a new name and I'm dreading it. Then I'm dreading having to scour the story for accidental "Brain" on top of "Brian," lol. Sorry everybody else, you were the casualty for Nick to keep on keepin' on mostly as is.

The blessing and the curse of the Boys as characters. "This is Nick in 1999," great! Versus "This is Gypsydoodle in 1999," who? lol But the "why you should care about me right away even when I x" definitely needed a little love. Because "why you should care about Nick in a BSB fanfic, well he's Nick" is more implied.

Where are we in Backstreet Time? lol If it happened in the past, is it still subject to Backstreet Time? Are we all in a fanfic where the author has been writing about the Boys making a Christmas album, but they've had writer's block since 1999? lol


I was the same way with having a clear order of favorites in my teenybopper days, although it changed from time to time.  Brian was always my favorite, and AJ was #2 for a long time.  Nick was my least favorite very early on, which I think was based on a combination of wanting to go against the grain of him being everyone else's favorite and finding him annoying in their Millennium era appearances.  But then Nick started to grow on me (helped by fanfic, no doubt), which left Howie and Kevin alternating between the #4 and #5 spot.  I know Nick had risen to my second favorite by 2001 because my custom license plate on my first car began with BNAHK, and I put their initials in order of favorites LOL.  Now I would rank them in two tiers:  Brian and Nick on the top tier, Kevin, Howie, and AJ on the bottom tier.  I don't have a least favorite anymore; I love them all.

I love that your license plate was BNAHK! Aw. Thank goodness AJ provides a vowel so their initials can actually sound like a word. You know what, go against the grain, save more Nick for the rest of us to fight over, lol. I'm kidding. I don't think I wanted to rank Howie and Kevin because I didn't want one of them to feel bad for being the least favorite. That's probably why I said they were tied, lol.


I'm with Nick on that.  Sure, IYWITBGG is bad, but it's far from their worst song.  It's a guilty pleasure song - catchy and fun, even if it the lyrics are cringey.  Boys Will Be Boys is just as bad, and I love both songs.  I would take songs like that any day over She's a Dream.  Tell Me That I'm Dreaming is adorable.

I wonder if Kevin realized how cheesy it was when he got roped into doing that deep voice back then, or if it actually seemed cool and sexy at the time because Boys II Men had done it.  I agree; I'm sure he's glad that trend is over LOL.

And I mean, it was all marketing. "The tiny one is less sexually threatening than the others. Make him sing an entire song about sex by himself." It's a guilty pleasure for sure. Boys Will Be Boys is just as bad, but I think they think that they can get away with not talking about it since it wasn't technically released worldwide and it wasn't mostly Nick singing, lol. Stay classy, Shorty, lol.

I wanted the Boys to carry my books home and help me with my homework so badly, lol. They just sounded so sweet and wholesome.

I would be fine adding that to the list of "questions I would not at all be embarrassed to ask them." I could see Kevin going either way, but with the emphasis that he would rather sing than speak in a song.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 04, 2021, 11:55:13 PM
Yes, I almost mentioned Magic Tree House as an example!  I guess with those books, they just have to think of a historical time period or event or a scientific topic they want to focus on and develop the plot around that.  All those series are so formulaic, I'm sure that helps the authors (or ghostwriters) churn them out quickly.

They've got to be ghostwritten. Or team written? I can't imagine having that many ideas for stories even with an infinite number of historical time periods or events to draw from.


The show is better than the movie, but I may be biased because I didn't see the movie until after I fell in love with the show.  It used to be on Netflix, but I think it's only on Hulu right now.

Alright, after rewatching Friends, I will commit to FNL. You've convinced me. Hulu's fine too, good to know it's somewhere.


There must be one for Kevin/Nick, but I'm not sure what is most commonly used.  Kick?  Nevin?  I think Brian/Kevin would be Kentucky Cousins or KFC (Kentucky's Finest Cousins).  Not sure if there is one for AJ/Kevin, AJ/Howie, AJ/Nick, Howie/Kevin, or Howie/Brian.  I don't see those pairings often, if ever.  Can you imagine a Howie/Brian slash? LMAO.

I was being overzealous with 25, lol. Big Bro & Baby (or Little) Bro is what I've always called it personally, but I can't imagine that's right. Someone tell me! I need to know! lol. Ooh, yeah, KFC. I forgot that, bonus points for being quicker to type.

You know, if there's not one, and since I like to pretend that the universe revolves around AC when it comes to BSB fanfic these days, it's probably our esteemed duty to create one for those, lol.

Howie bingewatches TV while drinking margaritas and Brian types furiously on his phone? They go to church and celebrate holidays? They argue about living in Georgia or Florida? Brian is secretly the kinky one? Their relationship seems like a movie montage to me, lol.

At least Nick can make Howie pancakes for his breakfast so he can continue not cooking, lmfao.


I'm with you!  It's not the slash that annoys me; it's the PWP.  It just so happens that most of the PWP on AO3 seems to be slash, not het.  I'm fine with slash with a plot.  And slash without a plot is fine too for people who prefer that.  It's just not my thing.

At this point, I'm team more BSB fanfics at all, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 05, 2021, 12:17:35 AM
I hope you roll with it.  :biggrin:

lmao, I'm sorry, I had to, lol! On a more serious note, I always feel frustrated when the beginning seems clear and the end seems clear and the middle is just kind of wibbly wobbly. But yay for Team Plantsing! Maybe that's the part where you test out writing things out of order and see what happens. ;)

LMAO Love it!

Nice try with the suggestion, but now that I've started posting it, absolutely not LOL.  Part of me would love to just go ahead and write the scenes I've been picturing in my head that come later, but I'd be afraid of running out of chapters to post two months from now if I don't stay the course and keep writing in order.


You're right, I've fully admitted to being disorganized and mislabeling things for fun, lol. I didn't do it at first when it was whole chunks of nearly upcoming chapters (when they were just called "chapter something or other"), but once it started being a big document, and especially now that it has two books worth of scenes here and there written, I made a point to be a little better about it. With the added bonus that I can turn them into headings and not have to scroll through the whole document to get to a certain one. That little "outline" navigation bar on the side of google docs is the best.

Ahh, I see!  And yes, I love the outline bar too!


I'm almost to the point of needing to give Howie a new name and I'm dreading it. Then I'm dreading having to scour the story for accidental "Brain" on top of "Brian," lol. Sorry everybody else, you were the casualty for Nick to keep on keepin' on mostly as is.

Have you picked out new names for the other boys yet?  I actually had fun with that when planning my ill-fated OF Broken.  I kept Nick's name the same too and changed all the others.


Where are we in Backstreet Time? lol If it happened in the past, is it still subject to Backstreet Time? Are we all in a fanfic where the author has been writing about the Boys making a Christmas album, but they've had writer's block since 1999? lol

LOL That's what I meant by Backstreet time in this case - where are we in BSB history?  Like in my current story, part of my character introduction at the beginning is reminding everyone where Kevin and the boys all were in their lives at the beginning of 2008.

Hey, stranger things have happened.  You came back after 10+ years!  And does anyone else remember Marley, who wrote comedies with really long, quirky titles?  I think her stories were hosted on Izzy's site back in the day, like late 90s/early 00s. She emailed me out of the blue a few weeks ago, asking if I was interested in hosting her old stories or knew of another place she could post them.  I directed her here and to AO3, and I noticed she's been posting them on AO3.  Who will come back next?!


I love that your license plate was BNAHK! Aw. Thank goodness AJ provides a vowel so their initials can actually sound like a word. You know what, go against the grain, save more Nick for the rest of us to fight over, lol. I'm kidding. I don't think I wanted to rank Howie and Kevin because I didn't want one of them to feel bad for being the least favorite. That's probably why I said they were tied, lol.

Me too!  I have that old plate hanging on the wall of my writing room now.

I'm glad we've come to appreciate Howie and Kevin in our old age.  I think Kevin leaving was good for Howie, and Kevin coming back was good for Kevin LOL.  I started to appreciate Howie more after Kevin left, and I appreciated Kevin more after he came back.


And I mean, it was all marketing. "The tiny one is less sexually threatening than the others. Make him sing an entire song about sex by himself." It's a guilty pleasure for sure. Boys Will Be Boys is just as bad, but I think they think that they can get away with not talking about it since it wasn't technically released worldwide and it wasn't mostly Nick singing, lol. Stay classy, Shorty, lol.

I wanted the Boys to carry my books home and help me with my homework so badly, lol. They just sounded so sweet and wholesome.

I would be fine adding that to the list of "questions I would not at all be embarrassed to ask them." I could see Kevin going either way, but with the emphasis that he would rather sing than speak in a song.

LOL Such an odd choice.  I still remember the friend who got me into BSB warning me not to play Track #12 of their first (US) album in front of my parents.  Her parents were stricter than mine, so they probably would have found IYWITBGG scandalous, but mine didn't care.  The first album I was allowed to buy with my own money was TLC's Crazy Sexy Cool when I was like 9, so listening to BSB sing about sex when I was 12 was not a big deal.

Yes, that would be a good question to ask them.  I love when they get asked about embarrassing old songs LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 05, 2021, 12:37:42 AM
They've got to be ghostwritten. Or team written? I can't imagine having that many ideas for stories even with an infinite number of historical time periods or events to draw from.

Yeah, and those require research too, more so than I would imagine BSC did.  I looked it up, and apparently they're not ghostwritten.  Impressive if that's true.


Alright, after rewatching Friends, I will commit to FNL. You've convinced me. Hulu's fine too, good to know it's somewhere.

Yes!  You'll have to let me know what you think when you get around to watching it.  I know Mare liked it too, and she hates football.  (Yep, we just keep bringing up her name.  Are your ears burning, Mare?)


Howie bingewatches TV while drinking margaritas and Brian types furiously on his phone? They go to church and celebrate holidays? They argue about living in Georgia or Florida? Brian is secretly the kinky one? Their relationship seems like a movie montage to me, lol.

At least Nick can make Howie pancakes for his breakfast so he can continue not cooking, lmfao.

LMAO!!  That sounds about right.  I bet both Howie and Brian are kinkier than we think, though.

I searched the Brian Littrell/Howie Dorough tag on AO3, and there are actually 55 works!  Some of them seem to be "The boys all have sex with each other" stories where all the possible pairings are tagged, but not all of them.  Some are just Brian/Howie.  Browie?  I guess I don't need to challenge myself to write a Browie slash that's not the most boring/vanilla slash in the world now. LOL

Now I wish I could go back to SAMS and add in a scene where Nick makes Howie pancakes LOL.  I don't think that ever happened because most of it was written before Nick had kids and became Pancake Daddy.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 05, 2021, 12:47:55 AM
Nice try with the suggestion, but now that I've started posting it, absolutely not LOL.  Part of me would love to just go ahead and write the scenes I've been picturing in my head that come later, but I'd be afraid of running out of chapters to post two months from now if I don't stay the course and keep writing in order.

Some day, lol. Running out of chapters is a real fear, so I get it. I have until the end of June to figure out this current chapter, but the fear of running out becomes more real each day, lol.


Have you picked out new names for the other boys yet?  I actually had fun with that when planning my ill-fated OF Broken.  I kept Nick's name the same too and changed all the others.

I haven't, as I said, I'm dreading it. I even wrote a tiny bit for an upcoming chapter edit that was clearly stuck in my head and definitely wrote Howie where whatever Howie's future name is would go, lol. I started considering some on my list and some front runners for Howie are Richard or Charles. Current front runners for Brian are Matthew or Samuel. I have not even begun considering Kevin or AJ yet. I guess it's not necessarily dread and more the worry that once I commit to another name, they stop being the other Boys and I'll probably have a lot more of those "oops" moments that I need to reconcile for them. Of all the Boys, PBox Nick is definitely the strongest character and relies less on the "I'm Nick" than the other ones do.


LOL That's what I meant by Backstreet time in this case - where are we in BSB history?  Like in my current story, part of my character introduction at the beginning is reminding everyone where Kevin and the boys all were in their lives at the beginning of 2008.

"In case you all forgot, BSB land is burning. Muahahaha. Just kidding! Kevin's doing great! And Nick is not..." lol


Hey, stranger things have happened.  You came back after 10+ years!  And does anyone else remember Marley, who wrote comedies with really long, quirky titles?  I think her stories were hosted on Izzy's site back in the day, like late 90s/early 00s. She emailed me out of the blue a few weeks ago, asking if I was interested in hosting her old stories or knew of another place she could post them.  I directed her here and to AO3, and I noticed she's been posting them on AO3.  Who will come back next?!

I'm the strange thing in BSB fandom, good to know, lol. Blame the crocodile.

I saw that and thought "why does this sound familiar," Marley, yes. Now that makes way more sense! That's good that she found you to reach out to and you were able to point her on her way. I don't know what I would have done if I came here and it was a ghost town. It's nice that oldies are coming back and that y'all have kept a place going for us to come back to. :) I hope more people start coming back! I would love some more hubbub again! :)


Me too!  I have that old plate hanging on the wall of my writing room now.

I'm glad we've come to appreciate Howie and Kevin in our old age.  I think Kevin leaving was good for Howie, and Kevin coming back was good for Kevin LOL.  I started to appreciate Howie more after Kevin left, and I appreciated Kevin more after he came back.

Aww, such good inspiration!

Yes, same. And here we thought Kevin leaving would be the worst thing ever. In 2006, we were all bitter and betrayed Nick, apparently, lol.


LOL Such an odd choice.  I still remember the friend who got me into BSB warning me not to play Track #12 of their first (US) album in front of my parents.  Her parents were stricter than mine, so they probably would have found IYWITBGG scandalous, but mine didn't care.  The first album I was allowed to buy with my own money was TLC's Crazy Sexy Cool when I was like 9, so listening to BSB sing about sex when I was 12 was not a big deal.

Yes, that would be a good question to ask them.  I love when they get asked about embarrassing old songs LOL.

But sex sells! lol

My mom did not like it once I had a boombox, but by that point I had been listening to it on a walkman for a couple of years, so unless she listened to it while I was sleeping she had no idea until too late, lol.

Really, any question is good as long as we've stopped keeping track of Nick's underwear preferences on the daily, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 05, 2021, 12:54:55 AM
Yeah, and those require research too, more so than I would imagine BSC did.  I looked it up, and apparently they're not ghostwritten.  Impressive if that's true.

That is impressive! A kudos for all that research and continued inspiration.


Yes!  You'll have to let me know what you think when you get around to watching it.  I know Mare liked it too, and she hates football.  (Yep, we just keep bringing up her name.  Are your ears burning, Mare?)

Will do! Mare! Mare! Mare! Wasn't she getting her first does at the end of March? I hope she's feeling well.


LMAO!!  That sounds about right.  I bet both Howie and Brian are kinkier than we think, though.

I searched the Brian Littrell/Howie Dorough tag on AO3, and there are actually 55 works!  Some of them seem to be "The boys all have sex with each other" stories where all the possible pairings are tagged, but not all of them.  Some are just Brian/Howie.  Browie?  I guess I don't need to challenge myself to write a Browie slash that's not the most boring/vanilla slash in the world now. LOL

Now I wish I could go back to SAMS and add in a scene where Nick makes Howie pancakes LOL.  I don't think that ever happened because most of it was written before Nick had kids and became Pancake Daddy.

Oh, I'm sure. I had a hard time deciding which one to put as the secretly kinky one.

55 tags for Browie! Glad you don't have to take it upon yourself to make sure they get some love. Does that mean that the other two are AJowie and Kowie? I feel like we're missing out on some great opportunities to have AJ's include Bone. Maybe Howie/AJ is Sweet Bone, lmao.

His hidden talents. To be honest, I was always a little worried about his nutrition growing up. Did he eat vegetables? Were they only on pizza? lol I'm glad he's cooking.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 05, 2021, 10:07:07 PM
Y'all, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time today staring at my screen messing around on Vulgar Language and finally might have something. I'm exhausted, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 06, 2021, 09:17:24 PM
I haven't, as I said, I'm dreading it. I even wrote a tiny bit for an upcoming chapter edit that was clearly stuck in my head and definitely wrote Howie where whatever Howie's future name is would go, lol. I started considering some on my list and some front runners for Howie are Richard or Charles. Current front runners for Brian are Matthew or Samuel. I have not even begun considering Kevin or AJ yet. I guess it's not necessarily dread and more the worry that once I commit to another name, they stop being the other Boys and I'll probably have a lot more of those "oops" moments that I need to reconcile for them. Of all the Boys, PBox Nick is definitely the strongest character and relies less on the "I'm Nick" than the other ones do.

I'm sure that will be weird.  I would be tempted to keep their names the same until the end and then do find/replace to change them, but the character development might go better if you write them as "original characters" with different names from the very beginning.


Will do! Mare! Mare! Mare! Wasn't she getting her first does at the end of March? I hope she's feeling well.

Mare!  Come back!  She posted about baking and then dropping a cheesecake right before Easter.  I hope it still tasted good!


55 tags for Browie! Glad you don't have to take it upon yourself to make sure they get some love. Does that mean that the other two are AJowie and Kowie? I feel like we're missing out on some great opportunities to have AJ's include Bone. Maybe Howie/AJ is Sweet Bone, lmao.

His hidden talents. To be honest, I was always a little worried about his nutrition growing up. Did he eat vegetables? Were they only on pizza? lol I'm glad he's cooking.

Sweet Bone for sure! LMAO

I'm proud of Nick for learning to cook!


Y'all, I have spent a ridiculous amount of time today staring at my screen messing around on Vulgar Language and finally might have something. I'm exhausted, lol.

Wow, good for you!  That sounds tough and time-consuming for sure, but I'm glad you came up with something.

I have had a lot of plans with friends so far this spring break, most of which involve day drinking.  The introvert in me is screaming, "But I just want to stay home in my pajamas and write all day!"  I get my second shot Thursday, so that will be my excuse to stay home and do nothing Thurs-Sun.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 09:35:44 PM
I'm sure that will be weird.  I would be tempted to keep their names the same until the end and then do find/replace to change them, but the character development might go better if you write them as "original characters" with different names from the very beginning.

I would do that, but as I majorly overhaul it, I'm having two of my friends look it over. And I feel like Nick, Howie, Brian, Kevin, and AJ running around PBox land is a sure indicator that it began its life as a Backstreet Boys fanfic, lol. Whereas I can explain away the "Nick." Though they thought he was named after my husband and asked if he'd read it, actually, lol. No, no, I started writing this in 2005. "Oh, so it's Nick Carter inspired?" Sure, "inspired," let's go with that, lol.


Mare!  Come back!  She posted about baking and then dropping a cheesecake right before Easter.  I hope it still tasted good!

On twitter? I feel like I miss out on so much, but I just hate social media. Not the cheescake! Those things are soooo temperamental. I hope it tasted delicious aside from being dropped.


Sweet Bone for sure! LMAO

It just sounds like a sexual BBQ sauce or dry rub, lol.


Wow, good for you!  That sounds tough and time-consuming for sure, but I'm glad you came up with something.

I was really mad because the first or second one it generated, I actually liked, so I purchased it and it deleted it when I tried to get more words. So upset. It took me a couple of hours to get something even close to the first one again. I had the worst headache afterward.

That and it gives you bizarre words for sample words. No, I really don't care about the word for "prostitute." Can you tell me pronouns for people? Some verbs? Anything normal? No? lol


I have had a lot of plans with friends so far this spring break, most of which involve day drinking.  The introvert in me is screaming, "But I just want to stay home in my pajamas and write all day!"  I get my second shot Thursday, so that will be my excuse to stay home and do nothing Thurs-Sun.

That sounds fun! Day drinking with friends was one of my favorite hobbies pre-COVID, lol. That's what I did last week during Spring Break as well. Afternoon drink? Then you can hang out in your pjs until at least noon. I'm just happy it's getting warm out again for patio cocktails. :)

Hopefully you get some writing done during your shot instead of researching boyband fanfic on AO3, lol. Because that's a great use of recovery mode. ::) I enjoyed every minute of it, it was just not helpful for writing, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 06, 2021, 09:47:24 PM
I would do that, but as I majorly overhaul it, I'm having two of my friends look it over. And I feel like Nick, Howie, Brian, Kevin, and AJ running around PBox land is a sure indicator that it began its life as a Backstreet Boys fanfic, lol. Whereas I can explain away the "Nick." Though they thought he was named after my husband and asked if he'd read it, actually, lol. No, no, I started writing this in 2005. "Oh, so it's Nick Carter inspired?" Sure, "inspired," let's go with that, lol.

LOL Very true.  That might be a bit obvious to the beta readers.


On twitter? I feel like I miss out on so much, but I just hate social media. Not the cheescake! Those things are soooo temperamental. I hope it tasted delicious aside from being dropped.

Facebook.  I hate Facebook, but I just can't quit it.  I'm too nosy.  I like knowing what's going on with people without having to actually call or text them LOL.  I like Twitter better, but that's probably because I only use Twitter for fandom stuff.

The cheesecake still looked good to me!  I'd eat it.


It just sounds like a sexual BBQ sauce or dry rub, lol.

LMFAO!  I'm sure there is a fetish for having BBQ sauce rubbed all over you... which could lead to cannibalism.  And now I'm thinking about cannibalism slash.  Maybe that should be my April Fool's story next year.


I was really mad because the first or second one it generated, I actually liked, so I purchased it and it deleted it when I tried to get more words. So upset. It took me a couple of hours to get something even close to the first one again. I had the worst headache afterward.

That and it gives you bizarre words for sample words. No, I really don't care about the word for "prostitute." Can you tell me pronouns for people? Some verbs? Anything normal? No? lol

You have to pay for it??  Oh man, that sucks.  Especially if it's not even giving you good words.  I bet you had a headache!


That sounds fun! Day drinking with friends was one of my favorite hobbies pre-COVID, lol. That's what I did last week during Spring Break as well. Afternoon drink? Then you can hang out in your pjs until at least noon. I'm just happy it's getting warm out again for patio cocktails. :)

Hopefully you get some writing done during your shot instead of researching boyband fanfic on AO3, lol. Because that's a great use of recovery mode. ::) I enjoyed every minute of it, it was just not helpful for writing, lol.

That's what we've been doing - drinking on someone's driveway or patio in the afternoon.  So yes, I can still sleep in and spend the morning writing in bed before I have to burst the bubble and leave my house.  Not a bad routine, but then I come home sleepy and sunburned and don't feel like doing anything.  I have still been writing every day, just not as much as I would like to be writing.  I hope to be more productive the last four days of break!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 06, 2021, 09:57:03 PM
I thought of a question/topic to discuss.  I usually listen to podcasts when I fall asleep at night, and most of them have Patreon accounts and are always begging their followers to become patrons and give them money.  A lot of them also have sponsors and ads, which drive me nuts.  I've also noticed certain YouTube channels have Patreons, and of course many of them have ads as well.  It made me wonder if any fanfic writers have created Patreon accounts to get paid for their work.  I Googled and found a Reddit thread on this exact topic. https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/734r62/patreon_and_fanfiction/  The short answer is, yes, apparently it has been done, but many people question the legality of making money writing fanfic because of copyright issues.

So I guess my question is, how do you feel about content creators being paid/asking for donations for their work, and does this apply to fanfic as well?  If it became trendy for fanfic writers to have Patreons or something similar, would you do it?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 10:10:16 PM
LOL Very true.  That might be a bit obvious to the beta readers.

Especially since they know I like the Boys and are familiar enough with them themselves. So, I've got like four more chapter before I have to figure out what to about Howie because his name doesn't come up until then, thank goodness.

In the meantime, I'm doing my weekly edit and decided to change perspective on a scene and got to add this gem: “It’s Nick and his cute butt! He deserves our appreciation!” Because what better way to distract someone from being emo than talking about their butt, lol.


Facebook.  I hate Facebook, but I just can't quit it.  I'm too nosy.  I like knowing what's going on with people without having to actually call or text them LOL.  I like Twitter better, but that's probably because I only use Twitter for fandom stuff.

The cheesecake still looked good to me!  I'd eat it.

Good luck getting me on Facebook. I know who really loves me if they say "I invited you to this thing on FB, but I know you don't check it and I still want you to come."

I don't like to eat food off the floor, but I love cheesecake, so... I guess, how often do you mop your kitchen, Mare?


LMFAO!  I'm sure there is a fetish for having BBQ sauce rubbed all over you... which could lead to cannibalism.  And now I'm thinking about cannibalism slash.  Maybe that should be my April Fool's story next year.

Mmm, finger lickin' good. lmao. I'll see myself out. Please do it. Is Sweet Bone more or less popular than Browie? (I keep mistyping it as Brownie, by the way, can we just call it that, lol.


You have to pay for it??  Oh man, that sucks.  Especially if it's not even giving you good words.  I bet you had a headache!

To save it, get thousands of words, a translator function, and be able to edit or create multiple languages. It was only $25 forever, so it honestly wasn't too bad. And I finally got the words I was actually wanting to create (which weren't even that complicated... "to open" seems like a standard thing you'd need in a language), plus mucked around with making up some words. It made up "diamond" but not "sapphire" and I was like... okie dokie... where could you possibly get etymology for sapphire... I settled on "ocean-diamond" because I hated the way "blue-diamond" and "blue-jewel" sounded. Like I said... a headache...


That's what we've been doing - drinking on someone's driveway or patio in the afternoon.  So yes, I can still sleep in and spend the morning writing in bed before I have to burst the bubble and leave my house.  Not a bad routine, but then I come home sleepy and sunburned and don't feel like doing anything.  I have still been writing every day, just not as much as I would like to be writing.  I hope to be more productive the last four days of break!

See, that's why I always offered up my house over the summer. I could make the time later and when it was time to leave, I just went inside, lol. I also feel lazy when I get sunburned, so I understand. I believe in your productivity in writing and day drinking!  ;D
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 06, 2021, 10:24:00 PM
In the meantime, I'm doing my weekly edit and decided to change perspective on a scene and got to add this gem: “It’s Nick and his cute butt! He deserves our appreciation!” Because what better way to distract someone from being emo than talking about their butt, lol.

Nick does have a cute butt!


Good luck getting me on Facebook. I know who really loves me if they say "I invited you to this thing on FB, but I know you don't check it and I still want you to come."

Very true!  Meanwhile, I just unfollow people I don't care to keep in touch with and pretend I don't get on Facebook because I rarely post anything.  But I lurk there every day.  I'm that person LOL.


Mmm, finger lickin' good. lmao. I'll see myself out. Please do it. Is Sweet Bone more or less popular than Browie? (I keep mistyping it as Brownie, by the way, can we just call it that, lol.

I almost typed Brownie too.  We can definitely call it Brownie.  Brian has an N in it, so it still works.  There are 62 works tagged with Howie/AJ, so Sweet Bone is slightly more popular than Brownie.  BSB fans must prefer BBQ sauce to chocolate.


To save it, get thousands of words, a translator function, and be able to edit or create multiple languages. It was only $25 forever, so it honestly wasn't too bad. And I finally got the words I was actually wanting to create (which weren't even that complicated... "to open" seems like a standard thing you'd need in a language), plus mucked around with making up some words. It made up "diamond" but not "sapphire" and I was like... okie dokie... where could you possibly get etymology for sapphire... I settled on "ocean-diamond" because I hated the way "blue-diamond" and "blue-jewel" sounded. Like I said... a headache...

That's not bad if it's something you'll actually use.  I'm glad you were able to get at least some of what you were looking for.  I hate when you spend money on something that you think will be useful, and then it turns out to be not what you thought it would be.


See, that's why I always offered up my house over the summer. I could make the time later and when it was time to leave, I just went inside, lol. I also feel lazy when I get sunburned, so I understand. I believe in your productivity in writing and day drinking!  ;D

Good idea!

Tomorrow I am going to visit my grandma (which will not involve day drinking) and then going axe throwing with some friends (which will involve night drinking).  That is my last day of planned social activities, and then I can get my vaccine and retreat back into my cave of solitude for the rest of my break LOL.  The weather has been beautiful here this week, which is not always the case on spring break, so at least I can say I saw the sun and enjoyed some outdoor time.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 10:25:32 PM
So I guess my question is, how do you feel about content creators being paid/asking for donations for their work, and does this apply to fanfic as well?  If it became trendy for fanfic writers to have Patreons or something similar, would you do it?

Interesting topic! A lot of fan artists do it, I think more so than fan fiction, but I also question the legality of that. What's that other one? "Buy me a kofi?" I've never actually become a patron for anyone, so I'm only vaguely aware of how it works.

Sponsorship ads also annoy me, but I recognize the draw for it if you're doing something time consuming, but fulfilling and popular, yet still need to pay your bills.

I'm on the fence when it comes to fandom specifically, less so for some YouTube content creators that aren't really fandom based. I'm thinking of the Overly Sarcastic Productions channel that I really enjoy where they do retellings of history and mythology (which I wouldn't call fanfic), but then again, I stumbled on the TV Trope fanfic recommendation page for "Classical Mythology" and someone listed the Percy Jackson series on that page and the Illiad, so... lol.

It's less the legality of it for me and more that part of the joy in being part of a fandom is sharing it together and it's all well and good when it's reviews and certain types of stories or certain well-known authors getting more reviews, but then it just seems like an uneven playing field if people monetize, because can you break through that ceiling without actually monetizing yourself? Is it worth it? Would people only start associating in dollar-related circles? Would it dissuade readers who always got it for free? Who knows! (I've actually thought about this and would honestly lean toward just sending OF PBox to anyone around here who wanted to read it if it ever actually got published... but future pipe dreams). But then there's also the argument that if you can make money (without getting sued) and people want to pay you money to write fanfic, then why shouldn't you?

I don't think it would be worth it for me personally, but I say to each their own.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 10:43:50 PM
Nick does have a cute butt!

Agreed. PBox Nick would be embarrassed to know that it's being appreciated outside of that conversation, lol.


Very true!  Meanwhile, I just unfollow people I don't care to keep in touch with and pretend I don't get on Facebook because I rarely post anything.  But I lurk there every day.  I'm that person LOL.

That's my husband. He checks it every day, but only posts when he's at a sporting event, lol.


I almost typed Brownie too.  We can definitely call it Brownie.  Brian has an N in it, so it still works.  There are 62 works tagged with Howie/AJ, so Sweet Bone is slightly more popular than Brownie.  BSB fans must prefer BBQ sauce to chocolate.

That's what I figured, the "n" in Brian made it fine. Savory versus sweet. Just make them a power thruple and BSB fans get it all, lol.

Those "all of them have sex with each other stories" may as well just tag it "Backdoor Boys, alright!" I'm just trying to get all our possible pairing names out of the way to modernize us, lol.


That's not bad if it's something you'll actually use.  I'm glad you were able to get at least some of what you were looking for.  I hate when you spend money on something that you think will be useful, and then it turns out to be not what you thought it would be.

Like I said before, not sure how much of it I'd end up using... whole sentences seem like a lot. But, here and there it's good to distance itself from the loanword way it is now without just banging my head on my keyboard and hoping it looks okay. At least it uses real phonemes and grammar structure.


Tomorrow I am going to visit my grandma (which will not involve day drinking) and then going axe throwing with some friends (which will involve night drinking).  That is my last day of planned social activities, and then I can get my vaccine and retreat back into my cave of solitude for the rest of my break LOL.  The weather has been beautiful here this week, which is not always the case on spring break, so at least I can say I saw the sun and enjoyed some outdoor time.

That sounds like a fun day! Sweet grandma time and then badass ax throwing! Ours was really nice last week too, thank goodness. And it was 81* yesterday, then rained all day today. Oh spring. Make sure to at least see the sun during your retreat into your cave of solitude. Vitamin D is good for us all. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 06, 2021, 10:48:44 PM
Interesting topic! A lot of fan artists do it, I think more so than fan fiction, but I also question the legality of that. What's that other one? "Buy me a kofi?" I've never actually become a patron for anyone, so I'm only vaguely aware of how it works.

Sponsorship ads also annoy me, but I recognize the draw for it if you're doing something time consuming, but fulfilling and popular, yet still need to pay your bills.

I'm on the fence when it comes to fandom specifically, less so for some YouTube content creators that aren't really fandom based. I'm thinking of the Overly Sarcastic Productions channel that I really enjoy where they do retellings of history and mythology (which I wouldn't call fanfic), but then again, I stumbled on the TV Trope fanfic recommendation page for "Classical Mythology" and someone listed the Percy Jackson series on that page and the Illiad, so... lol.

It's less the legality of it for me and more that part of the joy in being part of a fandom is sharing it together and it's all well and good when it's reviews and certain types of stories or certain well-known authors getting more reviews, but then it just seems like an uneven playing field if people monetize, because can you break through that ceiling without actually monetizing yourself? Is it worth it? Would people only start associating in dollar-related circles? Would it dissuade readers who always got it for free? Who knows! (I've actually thought about this and would honestly lean toward just sending OF PBox to anyone around here who wanted to read it if it ever actually got published... but future pipe dreams). But then there's also the argument that if you can make money (without getting sued) and people want to pay you money to write fanfic, then why shouldn't you?

I don't think it would be worth it for me personally, but I say to each their own.


I agree with everything you said.

In general, I have mixed feelings about monetizing something you're doing for fun - as a hobby, not a career.  On one hand, I get the point that artists should be paid for their work, whether we're talking about music or visual art.  Copyright issues aside, creative writing is also a form of art.  All of it takes considerable time and effort.  And when you start buying special equipment or paying for a domain and web hosting to improve the quality of what you're putting out there, it costs you money too.  I get that, but I have never become a patron for anyone either.  When podcasts become too annoying with all their ads, I start listening to a different podcast.

All that said, it just feels tacky to start asking for money for something that has always been free.  Part of the fun of fanfic (and YouTube and podcasts and whatever) is that it's free entertainment.  There's a give and take relationship there - sure, I post my stories for free, but there are also plenty of other people in my fandom posting stories that I can read for free, so it goes both ways.  Like you said, if some people start monetizing, it leads to an uneven playing field.  But it may actually hurt the writers who ask for money more because why on earth would you pay for something when you can have it for free?  I would just read something else.  Maybe in a more popular fandom, people would pay to read fanfics, but I don't see anyone doing that in our fandom.  I'm just happy if anyone reads my story for free LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 11:09:36 PM
In general, I have mixed feelings about monetizing something you're doing for fun - as a hobby, not a career.  On one hand, I get the point that artists should be paid for their work, whether we're talking about music or visual art.  Copyright issues aside, creative writing is also a form of art.  All of it takes considerable time and effort.  And when you start buying special equipment or paying for a domain and web hosting to improve the quality of what you're putting out there, it costs you money too.  I get that, but I have never become a patron for anyone either.  When podcasts become too annoying with all their ads, I start listening to a different podcast.

I wonder at what point people stop thinking "this is a hobby" and start thinking "this is my career." It feels like a slippery slope with original content of whatever. If enough people like it, then why not see if it can make you money and be fun? Fanfic/fanart/fanwhatever feels less like something you could look at one day and say "yes, this will pay my bills" for the legality, but also like you said, it's been free for so long.


All that said, it just feels tacky to start asking for money for something that has always been free.  Part of the fun of fanfic (and YouTube and podcasts and whatever) is that it's free entertainment.  There's a give and take relationship there - sure, I post my stories for free, but there are also plenty of other people in my fandom posting stories that I can read for free, so it goes both ways.  Like you said, if some people start monetizing, it leads to an uneven playing field.  But it may actually hurt the writers who ask for money more because why on earth would you pay for something when you can have it for free?  I would just read something else.  Maybe in a more popular fandom, people would pay to read fanfics, but I don't see anyone doing that in our fandom.  I'm just happy if anyone reads my story for free LOL.

If you really liked that particular author? If you tried other free stories and wanted to go back to the same author? I don't know. I can't see any BSB fans being like "pay to read my fanfic" either, whether that's because we're out of our heyday, it's been free for so long, or we're just here for the community and camaraderie of it all. ("I published this and it is no longer a fanfic," aside.)

Maybe you can research whether BTS fans or One Direction fans have patreons post getting your vaccine, lol!

There's also the author side of it, what happens if you decide to monetize it and then life happens or you get writers block? Are you then obligated to continue writing when inspiration isn't there simply because people are paying you for it? I would hate that. I guess traditionally published authors might have that problem too... I almost feel like feeling obligated to do it for anyone but me would make me want to do it less. Everybody reading it for free though, appreciate y'all!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 11:19:27 PM
Like I said before, not sure how much of it I'd end up using... whole sentences seem like a lot. But, here and there it's good to distance itself from the loanword way it is now without just banging my head on my keyboard and hoping it looks okay. At least it uses real phonemes and grammar structure.

So in the pattern of being utterly useless as I refresh the forum, I was trying to figure out how this conglang would pronounce Nick's name since "ni" doesn't exist in it (all the n sounds at the beginning of words are either "ng" or "ny") and the things around what would be likely pronunciation are cracking me up.

nyi̥khai /ɲi̥χai̯/ n. knight
nyiko /ɲiko/ n. bath
nyiku /ɲikɯ/ adj. rigid, stiff, stubborn, sturdy

I'm dying laughing. He would hate his name sounding like "stubborn" so much, lmfao. But that "knight" is in that list, how fitting, aww.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 06, 2021, 11:43:07 PM
I wonder at what point people stop thinking "this is a hobby" and start thinking "this is my career." It feels like a slippery slope with original content of whatever. If enough people like it, then why not see if it can make you money and be fun? Fanfic/fanart/fanwhatever feels less like something you could look at one day and say "yes, this will pay my bills" for the legality, but also like you said, it's been free for so long.

I guess the point when you can make enough money to fully fund your lifestyle without working another job is when it becomes your career.  And I know there are plenty of YouTubers who earn a living that way.  Good for them, I guess, but then they have to keep creating content to keep earning money.  At one point does that start to FEEL more like work than fun?


There's also the author side of it, what happens if you decide to monetize it and then life happens or you get writers block? Are you then obligated to continue writing when inspiration isn't there simply because people are paying you for it? I would hate that. I guess traditionally published authors might have that problem too... I almost feel like feeling obligated to do it for anyone but me would make me want to do it less. Everybody reading it for free though, appreciate y'all!

I would definitely worry about this.  I guess it's not as big of a deal if you're making your money off ads, but if you have paid subscribers to your channel or website or whatever, then there is an obligation to keep providing quality content for them.

There aren't many creators outside of fanfic that I have followed loyally over many years, but one example I can talk about is Jacksfilms on YouTube.  He did the Wimpy Boybands back in the day.  I've been following his channel since the early days of YouTube, and it used to be one of my favorites.  He put out some funny stuff back in the day.  But ever since he moved out to California and turned YouTubing into his career, I feel like the content has actually gotten stupider and less funny.  He's been successful at it, so good for him, but I wonder if the videos would be better if he hadn't sold out.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 06, 2021, 11:45:22 PM
So in the pattern of being utterly useless as I refresh the forum, I was trying to figure out how this conglang would pronounce Nick's name since "ni" doesn't exist in it (all the n sounds at the beginning of words are either "ng" or "ny") and the things around what would be likely pronunciation are cracking me up.

nyi̥khai /ɲi̥χai̯/ n. knight
nyiko /ɲiko/ n. bath
nyiku /ɲikɯ/ adj. rigid, stiff, stubborn, sturdy

I'm dying laughing. He would hate his name sounding like "stubborn" so much, lmfao. But that "knight" is in that list, how fitting, aww.

LOL.  Now I'm imagining Nick in a bath tub wearing rigid, sturdy, shining armor.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 11:54:09 PM
I guess the point when you can make enough money to fully fund your lifestyle without working another job is when it becomes your career.  And I know there are plenty of YouTubers who earn a living that way.  Good for them, I guess, but then they have to keep creating content to keep earning money.  At one point does that start to FEEL more like work than fun?

Maybe it depends on what your free content was? Like if it was you doing stupid stuff with your friends, maybe it would still be fun? What YouTube has become for monetized content is wild to me.


I would definitely worry about this.  I guess it's not as big of a deal if you're making your money off ads, but if you have paid subscribers to your channel or website or whatever, then there is an obligation to keep providing quality content for them.

Does doing it for free make it feel like less of an obligation? Anyone here ever felt fanfic writing turning into an obligation? I think in my "supreme lack of creative anything" time, it did feel that way a little for me.


There aren't many creators outside of fanfic that I have followed loyally over many years, but one example I can talk about is Jacksfilms on YouTube.  He did the Wimpy Boybands back in the day.  I've been following his channel since the early days of YouTube, and it used to be one of my favorites.  He put out some funny stuff back in the day.  But ever since he moved out to California and turned YouTubing into his career, I feel like the content has actually gotten stupider and less funny.  He's been successful at it, so good for him, but I wonder if the videos would be better if he hadn't sold out.

I also loved Jacksfilms back in the day! I still sometimes pull up Wimpy Boybands because it felt like a loving parody. I have a particular soft spot for "Super Ultra Super Boy Band Force." Fly on the wings of a dream...

He's gotten less funny over the years. Jenna Marbles was another one I really liked back in the day and I also thought she got less funny overall over time. Every now and again they would all come up with something like they used to make, but they're few and far between.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 06, 2021, 11:58:06 PM
LOL.  Now I'm imagining Nick in a bath tub wearing rigid, sturdy, shining armor.

lmao! No! He would drown and his armor would rust and no longer be shining, lol.

Also, I've literally never written anything mundane like anyone taking a bath? Sitting around a table arguing, sure. Baths? Nope.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 07, 2021, 12:10:51 AM
Does doing it for free make it feel like less of an obligation? Anyone here ever felt fanfic writing turning into an obligation? I think in my "supreme lack of creative anything" time, it did feel that way a little for me.

Yes and no.  I think the only time I ever feel obligated to write fanfic is when I'm in the middle of a novel that I've already started posting and that people like, and then I get writer's block or life gets in the way and I feel pressured to keep updating.  Holding off on posting new stories right away and hoarding enough chapters to be able to stay weeks or months ahead of what I'm posting has really helped with that.  I haven't felt that way since Sick as My Secrets, which I loved but only really had time to write consistently in the summer because of my master's classes.  I guess I would still feel that way about Guilty Roads if I were trying to force myself to keep writing it, but I've kind of given up on that... the trying to force it, not the hoping it will just happen someday LOL.  I don't have anyone asking about updates on that one anymore, so the sense of obligation is gone.


I also loved Jacksfilms back in the day! I still sometimes pull up Wimpy Boybands because it felt like a loving parody. I have a particular soft spot for "Super Ultra Super Boy Band Force." Fly on the wings of a dream...

I just pulled up his channel and sorted the videos by most popular.  His most popular video is the first WTF Blanket (Snuggie parody) from 12 years ago, which was also one of my favorites.  Wimpy Boybands was not even among the most popular videos, which surprised me, but I had fun watching a bunch of his old As Seen on TV commercial parodies.  I agree about Wimpy Boybands being a loving parody.  I follow him on Twitter, and he went to BSB's show in LA on the DNA tour.  He is definitely a fan.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 07, 2021, 12:15:55 AM
lmao! No! He would drown and his armor would rust and no longer be shining, lol.

Also, I've literally never written anything mundane like anyone taking a bath? Sitting around a table arguing, sure. Baths? Nope.

LMAO!  How deep is this bath tub?!

Maybe you should write a scene with the boys sitting around the bath tub arguing.  I bet the readers of AO3 would enjoy that.

I write more shower scenes than bath scenes, and they usually serve some purpose.  It's usually either an angsty "I'm going to go cry in the shower so my tears mix with the water" or (in the case of a cancer story) "Oh noes, my hair is falling out!" scene, or it's the start of a sex scene.  I know my foray into slash featured a scene with Nowie fooling around in the shower LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 07, 2021, 12:22:58 AM
Yes and no.  I think the only time I ever feel obligated to write fanfic is when I'm in the middle of a novel that I've already started posting and that people like, and then I get writer's block or life gets in the way and I feel pressured to keep updating.  Holding off on posting new stories right away and hoarding enough chapters to be able to stay weeks or months ahead of what I'm posting has really helped with that.  I haven't felt that way since Sick as My Secrets, which I loved but only really had time to write consistently in the summer because of my master's classes.  I guess I would still feel that way about Guilty Roads if I were trying to force myself to keep writing it, but I've kind of given up on that... the trying to force it, not the hoping it will just happen someday LOL.  I don't have anyone asking about updates on that one anymore, so the sense of obligation is gone.

I do feel less stressed out about in general having my hoard as also helped me feel better about that type of thing. I still feel a little bad if I'm not writing "the next thing," but feel good in general if I'm writing something. Whereas before, I would be like "but you should be writing this!" I guess my only real obligation is my little pre-posting edit I do every week. Last week, it felt like kind of a chore. This week I'm only in the first half of the chapter, but it feels more fun. I don't know if that was because last week's chapter was a "set up" type chapter or what, but... it felt like it dragged... I've always liked the chapter I'm editing this week though, so maybe that's part of it.

Sorry that SAMS felt obligation-esque for you, but it's definitely hard to keep up a pace when there isn't consistent time to write. At least you haven't given up on Guilty Roads! There's hope!


I just pulled up his channel and sorted the videos by most popular.  His most popular video is the first WTF Blanket (Snuggie parody) from 12 years ago, which was also one of my favorites.  Wimpy Boybands was not even among the most popular videos, which surprised me, but I had fun watching a bunch of his old As Seen on TV commercial parodies.  I agree about Wimpy Boybands being a loving parody.  I follow him on Twitter, and he went to BSB's show in LA on the DNA tour.  He is definitely a fan.

Oh, the WTF blanket. Gold. Do they have As Seen on TV stuff anymore? Like the only really ridiculous one I can think of is the Trumpy Bear where you pull a flag blanket out of its back and it has really stupid hair. Glad I'll never see that commercial ever again, lol.

I'm surprised Wimpy Boybands aren't in the most popular. They were all hilarious. If IYWITBGG hadn't just come up on my Spotify shuffle, I was about to go watch them, actually, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 07, 2021, 12:29:57 AM
Oh, the WTF blanket. Gold. Do they have As Seen on TV stuff anymore? Like the only really ridiculous one I can think of is the Trumpy Bear where you pull a flag blanket out of its back and it has really stupid hair. Glad I'll never see that commercial ever again, lol.

I'm surprised Wimpy Boybands aren't in the most popular. They were all hilarious. If IYWITBGG hadn't just come up on my Spotify shuffle, I was about to go watch them, actually, lol.

The Trumpy Bear!  LMAO.  One of my fourth graders actually introduced me to that years ago; he thought it was hilarious too.  I looked up the video and couldn't believe it was real and not an SNL parody.

I don't watch enough commercials anymore to know.  I record every show I watch regularly so I can fast forward through all the commercials.

I thought Wimpy Boybands was what put him on the map, but maybe it was the commercial parodies.  Wimpy Boybands still rules.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 07, 2021, 12:35:51 AM
LMAO!  How deep is this bath tub?!

LMFAO! I feel like PBox doesn't have bath tubs? So I was picturing a lake, lol.

Okay, I googled "a brief history of bathing culture in Japan" because I have never really considered this, because again, I've never written something that mundane. It said that purification bathing was a luxury among the upper class, but more similar to a modern-day steam room, while warrior and commoner classes would use small tubs or pails and spoon water out. So... Now this:


Maybe you should write a scene with the boys sitting around the bath tub arguing.  I bet the readers of AO3 would enjoy that.

would basically be all of them sitting around nude passing around a bucket while shouting at each other. AO3 would love that. LMFAO!


I write more shower scenes than bath scenes, and they usually serve some purpose.  It's usually either an angsty "I'm going to go cry in the shower so my tears mix with the water" or (in the case of a cancer story) "Oh noes, my hair is falling out!" scene, or it's the start of a sex scene.  I know my foray into slash featured a scene with Nowie fooling around in the shower LOL.

I feel like "Oh noes, my hair is falling out!" could easily turn into "I'm going to cry in the shower so my tears mix with the water" as well. Dual purpose! Nowie are brave. Showers are slippery. lol The first one could also probably turn into shower sex (or vice versa), but I can't see the second one starting or ending with sex, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 07, 2021, 12:39:25 AM
The Trumpy Bear!  LMAO.  One of my fourth graders actually introduced me to that years ago; he thought it was hilarious too.  I looked up the video and couldn't believe it was real and not an SNL parody.

I thought it was a parody the first time someone showed it to me, then I saw it on Comedy Central and was hilariously mortified, lol.


I don't watch enough commercials anymore to know.  I record every show I watch regularly so I can fast forward through all the commercials.

I'll sit through a couple live if it works out that way, but I also like fast forwarding through commercials.


I thought Wimpy Boybands was what put him on the map, but maybe it was the commercial parodies.  Wimpy Boybands still rules.

I thought it was the Backstreet Boys piano sonata, that he then made fun of in Wimpy Boybands, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 07, 2021, 12:46:17 AM
would basically be all of them sitting around nude passing around a bucket while shouting at each other. AO3 would love that. LMFAO!

LMAO!  AO3 would totally love that, especially if you come up with some kinky tags for it.


I feel like "Oh noes, my hair is falling out!" could easily turn into "I'm going to cry in the shower so my tears mix with the water" as well. Dual purpose! Nowie are brave. Showers are slippery. lol The first one could also probably turn into shower sex (or vice versa), but I can't see the second one starting or ending with sex, lol.

LOL Absolutely.  I had to go search Broken to see if there was actually a scene like this in it, and sure enough... Chapter 30.

Quote
“Please, no, not yet…” Nick whimpered, gingerly reaching up to his head.  With his thumb and forefinger, he delicately touched a small lock of hair.  Separating a few hairs from the rest, he gave them a friendly tug.  Instead of clinging fast to his scalp, they slid out easily between his fingers.  Flicking the hair away in disgust and watching it wash down the drain with the rest, Nick could feel himself rapidly losing it.  Tears stung his eyes and slid down his cheeks, mixing with the shower water.

I am nothing if not predictable. LOL
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 07, 2021, 12:52:30 AM
LMAO!  AO3 would totally love that, especially if you come up with some kinky tags for it.

"Group bathing and naked arguing" obviously, lol. "Literal spooning" also comes to mind. I'm just not creatively kinky enough, I guess, lol.


LOL Absolutely.  I had to go search Broken to see if there was actually a scene like this in it, and sure enough... Chapter 30.

I am nothing if not predictable. LOL

They just flow together too nicely not to and emo Broken Nick seems predisposed to cry in the shower anyway.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on April 07, 2021, 03:10:31 PM
Hey. I know it's been a while since I posted in here
Just saying hello. I took a break from writing for a little bit but I think I'm getting back into things.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 07, 2021, 09:06:50 PM
They just flow together too nicely not to and emo Broken Nick seems predisposed to cry in the shower anyway.

Absolutely LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 07, 2021, 09:07:03 PM
Hey. I know it's been a while since I posted in here
Just saying hello. I took a break from writing for a little bit but I think I'm getting back into things.

Welcome back!  Glad to see you writing again.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 07, 2021, 09:33:48 PM
I was browsing Reddit, and someone on the Fanfiction subreddit posted the question, "Does anyone else have certain words that make you oddly uncomfortable when reading a fic?"  It's a good question, and feel free to answer it here, but I laughed at the second post in the thread, which is about the word "orbs" LOL.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/mm87vo/does_anyone_else_have_certain_words_that_make_you/
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 07, 2021, 11:38:35 PM
Hey. I know it's been a while since I posted in here
Just saying hello. I took a break from writing for a little bit but I think I'm getting back into things.

Welcome back! I hope work has been going a bit better for you. Glad you're writing again. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 07, 2021, 11:42:57 PM
It's a good question, and feel free to answer it here, but I laughed at the second post in the thread, which is about the word "orbs" LOL.

Okay, but I noticed that no one complained about "face balls," just "orbs" and "pools," so "face balls" it is! lmao


"Does anyone else have certain words that make you oddly uncomfortable when reading a fic?"

I can't think of any that necessarily bother me in anyone else's writing, just mine when I go "oh, I wrote x again," but I need some clarity on this chuckling discussion. Isn't it just a quiet laugh? And not the "goofy laugh" or "cackle" people picture it as? What else are you supposed to say when a character laughs quietly? It's a Brian thing to do in general, but any time I've pictured Nick doing it, nine times out of ten it's more "Heh." than a full-blown laugh. Is it better to just right "heh" at that point and save all the chuckles for Brian? These are the things I wonder?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 08, 2021, 01:48:18 AM
I was browsing Reddit, and someone on the Fanfiction subreddit posted the question, "Does anyone else have certain words that make you oddly uncomfortable when reading a fic?"  It's a good question, and feel free to answer it here, but I laughed at the second post in the thread, which is about the word "orbs" LOL.

https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/mm87vo/does_anyone_else_have_certain_words_that_make_you/

Orbs will always continue to be annoying! For whatever reason, my brain cannot properly absorb the word sidled. I can’t ever hear that word when I am reading it. It’s like my brain refuses to comprehend it. Odd
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 08, 2021, 03:18:59 AM
Sorry I’ve been gone. I know I said I’d answer those questions and then disappeared. lol now I have no idea where they even are.

I didn’t get my vaccine yet. Not happening until end of April. Yes, I did drop my cheesecake and burnt my right hand as a result. Luckily I’m left handed and the cheesecake tasted (tastes) pretty good. I made whipped cream to cover up the huge portion that ended up in the garbage.

I’m on both twitter and Facebook more than I’d like to admit. I’m far more vocal on Facebook as opposed to twitter. I just kind of use twitter as my lifeline to bsb. That’s how I find out what’s going on and any gossip. I have taken a vacation from many of my facebook friends who were Magats but for some reason I can’t bring myself to unfriend anyone on there. I do have an Instagram but I rarely use it. I tend to get lost for long periods of time scrolling through my good reads app.

I never listen to podcasts. They don’t seem to hold my attention. There’s no way I’d pay to listen to one or pay to read a fanfic. I would imagine once people are paid for fanfics, copyright infringement becomes a thing.

I’m sure there’s a lot more I missed but that’s what I got for now
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 08:12:44 PM
Okay, but I noticed that no one complained about "face balls," just "orbs" and "pools," so "face balls" it is! lmao

I can't think of any that necessarily bother me in anyone else's writing, just mine when I go "oh, I wrote x again," but I need some clarity on this chuckling discussion. Isn't it just a quiet laugh? And not the "goofy laugh" or "cackle" people picture it as? What else are you supposed to say when a character laughs quietly? It's a Brian thing to do in general, but any time I've pictured Nick doing it, nine times out of ten it's more "Heh." than a full-blown laugh. Is it better to just right "heh" at that point and save all the chuckles for Brian? These are the things I wonder?

As long as it's face balls and not "black balls of sight," like someone said on Reddit LOL.

I don't get the hate for "chuckle" either.  I think of it as a quiet laugh too, not a full-blown belly laugh, but more of a "heh heh" like you said.  It's more of a masculine word than "giggle," which sounds more feminine to me.  I like the word "snicker" better, but I think "snicker" has a slightly different connotation - I tend to use it more when characters are reacting to a dirty joke or making fun of each other.

There was also a lot of hate for "smirk" on that thread, but that may just be because it's overused in fanfic.  I remember that video we discussed a while back about things fanfic writers do that don't fly in published writing talking about characters who smirk too much.  I'm guilty as charged with that one because my Nick smirks all the time... but that's because real Nick does that smirky half-smile all the time too!

Besides "orbs," the only one I really agreed with on that thread was the various awkward synonyms for "penis."  I know we've already discussed that here.  I don't read a lot of smut, so it probably bothers me more in my own stories when I'm trying to come up with a word that doesn't sound too vulgar or too technical/medical.

Back in the Broken/BMS era, the word "stump" used to make me cringe.  Even when it was completely out of context, like on a sign for "tree stump removal, it would automatically make me think of poor Broken Nick, and I would feel this surge of guilt.  I have gotten over that the further removed I've become from those stories, but it lasted for a few years.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 08:18:21 PM
Orbs will always continue to be annoying! For whatever reason, my brain cannot properly absorb the word sidled. I can’t ever hear that word when I am reading it. It’s like my brain refuses to comprehend it. Odd

That is interesting.  I don't mind the word sidled.

I have maybe a similar thing with the word/color "mauve."  Since I was a kid, I have always pronounced it how it looks, like "mahv."  Then I found out as an adult that it's apparently pronounced with a long O sound, like "mohv"?  But in my head, I continue to pronounce it with a "ah" sound because it just sounds better to me that way. LOL
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 08:22:51 PM
Sorry I’ve been gone. I know I said I’d answer those questions and then disappeared. lol now I have no idea where they even are.

I didn’t get my vaccine yet. Not happening until end of April. Yes, I did drop my cheesecake and burnt my right hand as a result. Luckily I’m left handed and the cheesecake tasted (tastes) pretty good. I made whipped cream to cover up the huge portion that ended up in the garbage.

I’m on both twitter and Facebook more than I’d like to admit. I’m far more vocal on Facebook as opposed to twitter. I just kind of use twitter as my lifeline to bsb. That’s how I find out what’s going on and any gossip. I have taken a vacation from many of my facebook friends who were Magats but for some reason I can’t bring myself to unfriend anyone on there. I do have an Instagram but I rarely use it. I tend to get lost for long periods of time scrolling through my good reads app.

I never listen to podcasts. They don’t seem to hold my attention. There’s no way I’d pay to listen to one or pay to read a fanfic. I would imagine once people are paid for fanfics, copyright infringement becomes a thing.

I’m sure there’s a lot more I missed but that’s what I got for now
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 09:04:22 PM
Orbs will always continue to be annoying!

As long as it's face balls and not "black balls of sight," like someone said on Reddit LOL.

That one made me laugh! lol I notice that Mare didn't specifically mention an issue with "face balls" either, so... Here we are, face balls, lol.

For whatever reason, my brain cannot properly absorb the word sidled. I can’t ever hear that word when I am reading it. It’s like my brain refuses to comprehend it. Odd

That is interesting.  I don't mind the word sidled.

I have maybe a similar thing with the word/color "mauve."  Since I was a kid, I have always pronounced it how it looks, like "mahv."  Then I found out as an adult that it's apparently pronounced with a long O sound, like "mohv"?  But in my head, I continue to pronounce it with a "ah" sound because it just sounds better to me that way. LOL


I think that happens a lot when you only see a word in print and never hear it. There's one that always used to get me until recently, but I can't think of what it is now. Colonel got me a lot as a child because there isn't an "r" in it, but that's how we pronounce it in America, at least... I don't know about England, so I don't want to blanket this with "in English."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 09:12:33 PM
I think that happens a lot when you only see a word in print and never hear it. There's one that always used to get me until recently, but I can't think of what it is now. Colonel got me a lot as a child because there isn't an "r" in it, but that's how we pronounce it in America, at least... I don't know about England, so I don't want to blanket this with "in English."

Absolutely!  "Colonel" is a good one too.  I have seen a quote shared many times that says, "Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word.  It means they learned it by reading."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 09:21:06 PM
I don't get the hate for "chuckle" either.  I think of it as a quiet laugh too, not a full-blown belly laugh, but more of a "heh heh" like you said.  It's more of a masculine word than "giggle," which sounds more feminine to me.  I like the word "snicker" better, but I think "snicker" has a slightly different connotation - I tend to use it more when characters are reacting to a dirty joke or making fun of each other.

All I can guess is that people think that since the word looks weird, the laugh must sound weird? I don't know that I picture it as even just a "heh" or "heh heh," unless it's Nick, a quiet kind of throaty laugh is where it is in my head, like you want to conceal it, but not actively or it's a little funny, but not a lot funny. I don't tend to use giggle for males either, because it feels too high pitched.

I think "snicker" has some nasally aspects to it and mocking? "Half-suppressed, typically scornful" is the definition, so yeah, teasing each other is a good time to use that.

"Chortle," that's another weird synonym for laugh.


There was also a lot of hate for "smirk" on that thread, but that may just be because it's overused in fanfic.  I remember that video we discussed a while back about things fanfic writers do that don't fly in published writing talking about characters who smirk too much.  I'm guilty as charged with that one because my Nick smirks all the time... but that's because real Nick does that smirky half-smile all the time too!

I saw that too. I think there was one comment where someone was describing a character who smirks all the time, and I think that's where the line for these might come into play for me? Like if everybody's wandering around smirking at everything all the time, then that's just weird. If it's one character wandering around smirking at everything all the time, then that's just that character. Replace "smirk" with whatever in this case. But then there's always a worry that it starts to feel like "Is my character Bella Swan biting her lip?" and that's unpleasant too!

Aww, Nick's lopsided smile/grin! That's how I always describe it. :) In my most recently posted chapter, he had a nice flirty lopsided smile and later a lopsided gape. Good times were had by all. :) I figure y'all know what I mean, but that's another thing that I wrote this week and went, "ah, the first time I ever mention this, I have to explain exactly what it looks like in the OF version."

(Also, now "One Phone Call" is stuck in my head.)


Besides "orbs," the only one I really agreed with on that thread was the various awkward synonyms for "penis."  I know we've already discussed that here.  I don't read a lot of smut, so it probably bothers me more in my own stories when I'm trying to come up with a word that doesn't sound too vulgar or too technical/medical.

Agreed. Though no one mentioned "impaled," so... lol.


Back in the Broken/BMS era, the word "stump" used to make me cringe.  Even when it was completely out of context, like on a sign for "tree stump removal, it would automatically make me think of poor Broken Nick, and I would feel this surge of guilt.  I have gotten over that the further removed I've become from those stories, but it lasted for a few years.

LMAO! Sorry about your guilt, but I'm dying that tree stumps made you think of Broken Nick, lol!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 09:26:28 PM
Sorry I’ve been gone. I know I said I’d answer those questions and then disappeared. lol now I have no idea where they even are.

Just glad you're okay and making cheesecakes, lol.


I didn’t get my vaccine yet. Not happening until end of April. Yes, I did drop my cheesecake and burnt my right hand as a result. Luckily I’m left handed and the cheesecake tasted (tastes) pretty good. I made whipped cream to cover up the huge portion that ended up in the garbage.

Sorry you burned your hand, but glad you were able to salvage the burnt part of your cheesecake and can still use your dominant hand. Burnt hands are no joke. End of April is soon! Yay!


I’m on both twitter and Facebook more than I’d like to admit. I’m far more vocal on Facebook as opposed to twitter. I just kind of use twitter as my lifeline to bsb. That’s how I find out what’s going on and any gossip. I have taken a vacation from many of my facebook friends who were Magats but for some reason I can’t bring myself to unfriend anyone on there. I do have an Instagram but I rarely use it. I tend to get lost for long periods of time scrolling through my good reads app.

Y'all are my lifeline to BSB at this point. And sometimes Instagram. I figure they post most of the same stuff on instagram and I get to look at great photos.


I’m sure there’s a lot more I missed but that’s what I got for now
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 09:28:58 PM
Absolutely!  "Colonel" is a good one too.  I have seen a quote shared many times that says, "Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word.  It means they learned it by reading."

Yes! Exactly! It's no one's fault that English is weird and "though" and "through" don't rhyme, but "pony" and "bologna" do. Although now that I think of it, "bologna" is probably one of those odd loan word cases like blond versus blonde.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 09:36:03 PM
All I can guess is that people think that since the word looks weird, the laugh must sound weird? I don't know that I picture it as even just a "heh" or "heh heh," unless it's Nick, a quiet kind of throaty laugh is where it is in my head, like you want to conceal it, but not actively or it's a little funny, but not a lot funny. I don't tend to use giggle for males either, because it feels too high pitched.

I think "snicker" has some nasally aspects to it and mocking? "Half-suppressed, typically scornful" is the definition, so yeah, teasing each other is a good time to use that.

"Chortle," that's another weird synonym for laugh.

Yeah, if you imagine chuckling to sound like a clownish laugh, I could see not wanting to use that word.  I think your definition is spot on.

The word "chortle" makes me think of Harry Potter because that's where I learned it.  I've never heard anyone use it in real life, but I wonder if it's more commonly used in the UK?  It sounds very British.


I saw that too. I think there was one comment where someone was describing a character who smirks all the time, and I think that's where the line for these might come into play for me? Like if everybody's wandering around smirking at everything all the time, then that's just weird. If it's one character wandering around smirking at everything all the time, then that's just that character. Replace "smirk" with whatever in this case. But then there's always a worry that it starts to feel like "Is my character Bella Swan biting her lip?" and that's unpleasant too!

Aww, Nick's lopsided smile/grin! That's how I always describe it. :) In my most recently posted chapter, he had a nice flirty lopsided smile and later a lopsided gape. Good times were had by all. :) I figure y'all know what I mean, but that's another thing that I wrote this week and went, "ah, the first time I ever mention this, I have to explain exactly what it looks like in the OF version."

Good point.  If it's only one character doing it, fine, but it would be weird if all the characters were smirking all the time.  Also, part of it may just have to do with the overuse of the word "smirk."  Sometimes you just need to change it up and use different words - like "lopsided grin."  That's also a good way to describe it and give it a friendlier feel than "smirk."


Agreed. Though no one mentioned "impaled," so... lol.

LOL!  When a character gets impaled in one of my stories, it is definitely not in the context of a sex scene.


LMAO! Sorry about your guilt, but I'm dying that tree stumps made you think of Broken Nick, lol!

LOL I know!  So dumb.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 09:42:57 PM
I just had one of those moments where I was really glad I hang on to chapters before posting as long as I do.  My current story begins in January 2008, and I had written in Chapter 4 that the last time Nick and Kevin saw each other was the previous October when the Boys were in LA doing promo for Unbreakable's release.  I just saw a picture on Twitter of all five guys at Howie's wedding, which was in December 2007, and I thought, "Well, duh... they would have seen each other at Howie's wedding just a few weeks before the story started."  So I went back and fixed that paragraph.  Thankfully I haven't posted that chapter yet.  Yay hoarding!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 09:51:18 PM
Yes! Exactly! It's no one's fault that English is weird and "though" and "through" don't rhyme, but "pony" and "bologna" do. Although now that I think of it, "bologna" is probably one of those odd loan word cases like blond versus blonde.

I found an article about the pronunciation of "bologna."  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-is-baloney-spelled-bologna_n_5bd88319e4b07427610be221  The short version is that it was probably anglicized from the original Italian pronunciation ("balonya" or "balonia") to "baloney."  English is definitely full of oddball words though!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 09:58:34 PM
The word "chortle" makes me think of Harry Potter because that's where I learned it.  I've never heard anyone use it in real life, but I wonder if it's more commonly used in the UK?  It sounds very British.

Ooh, maybe that's it. I can't remember where I first heard it.

I've never really talked about laughing outside of writing because I'm either actually laughing or say something to the effect of "I laughed so hard." But there's stories I tell where I would say that I laughed really hard, but then I start laughing all over again. The "Mister Paul sock puppet day" comes to mind, lol; kids are weird.


Good point.  If it's only one character doing it, fine, but it would be weird if all the characters were smirking all the time.  Also, part of it may just have to do with the overuse of the word "smirk."  Sometimes you just need to change it up and use different words - like "lopsided grin."  That's also a good way to describe it and give it a friendlier feel than "smirk."

I feel like there's some contempt to a smirk? That's normally how I use it. I looked it up and the definition is too broad! "Irritatingly smug, conceited, or silly smile," that's a broad range of emotions for one expression in addition to some bias on the part of the POV character. Maybe that's why it feels so overused?


LOL!  When a character gets impaled in one of my stories, it is definitely not in the context of a sex scene.

I mean, same... That's why that one still sticks out to me, I think, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 10:03:43 PM
I just had one of those moments where I was really glad I hang on to chapters before posting as long as I do.  My current story begins in January 2008, and I had written in Chapter 4 that the last time Nick and Kevin saw each other was the previous October when the Boys were in LA doing promo for Unbreakable's release.  I just saw a picture on Twitter of all five guys at Howie's wedding, which was in December 2007, and I thought, "Well, duh... they would have seen each other at Howie's wedding just a few weeks before the story started."  So I went back and fixed that paragraph.  Thankfully I haven't posted that chapter yet.  Yay hoarding!

It's the Twilight Zone and they didn't actually see each other at Howie's wedding, doo dooo dooo dooo dooo.

Glad you had the hoard and were able to fix it. :)

I had a moment like that where I changed my mind on something this week, but figured "unreliable narrator" and/or knowing specifically about one character and applying that to all others was a good way to excuse the previous term I used. Call it a case of going specific earlier and broad now.

My yay hoarding from today was that I finally wrote some PNecklace, but it was for the very last chapter, lol. So, good thing I have the hoard for now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 10:07:43 PM
I found an article about the pronunciation of "bologna."  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-is-baloney-spelled-bologna_n_5bd88319e4b07427610be221  The short version is that it was probably anglicized from the original Italian pronunciation ("balonya" or "balonia") to "baloney."  English is definitely full of oddball words though!

I figured as much, but I appreciate this insightful article on the topic from an author with a similar name, lol! On a side note, bologna is really gross as far as sandwich meats go.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 10:08:58 PM
Ooh, maybe that's it. I can't remember where I first heard it.

I've never really talked about laughing outside of writing because I'm either actually laughing or say something to the effect of "I laughed so hard." But there's stories I tell where I would say that I laughed really hard, but then I start laughing all over again. The "Mister Paul sock puppet day" comes to mind, lol; kids are weird.

That's true.  I guess it's more that I haven't seen the word "chortle" used as often as other synonyms for laughter.

And yes, kids are weird. LOL


I feel like there's some contempt to a smirk? That's normally how I use it. I looked it up and the definition is too broad! "Irritatingly smug, conceited, or silly smile," that's a broad range of emotions for one expression in addition to some bias on the part of the POV character. Maybe that's why it feels so overused?

Yes, there can be.  When I describe Nick smirking, it's usually meant to be more mischievous or flirtatious, but it works well for villains too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 10:12:03 PM
It's the Twilight Zone and they didn't actually see each other at Howie's wedding, doo dooo dooo dooo dooo.

Glad you had the hoard and were able to fix it. :)

I had a moment like that where I changed my mind on something this week, but figured "unreliable narrator" and/or knowing specifically about one character and applying that to all others was a good way to excuse the previous term I used. Call it a case of going specific earlier and broad now.

My yay hoarding from today was that I finally wrote some PNecklace, but it was for the very last chapter, lol. So, good thing I have the hoard for now.

LOL Kevin literally had his arm around Nick in the picture.

Unreliable narrators are a good way to excuse small errors, if you can even call yours an error.

I'm glad you got something written to hoard!  It's nice to know you have something already drafted for the last chapter because last chapters can be intimidating sometimes.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 10:13:12 PM
I figured as much, but I appreciate this insightful article on the topic from an author with a similar name, lol! On a side note, bologna is really gross as far as sandwich meats go.

Agreed!  I haven't eaten it since I was a kid.  The thought of a bologna sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise makes me want to vomit.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 08, 2021, 10:20:48 PM
Does anyone else reward themselves for writing?

I started MBK in 2017 and took an extended break from it in 2018.  During that break, a movie came out that had a similar premise to my story.  I was like, "OMG, I have to see that!"  But since I was working on AHTIM and not MBK at that time, I told myself I would wait until I went back to MBK to watch it so that I could take full advantage of any inspiration I got from it and not get distracted from AHTIM.  Two years later, I finally rewarded myself for finishing the monster chapter I wrote this week by renting that movie last night.  I didn't really get anything out of it in terms of ideas, but I enjoyed it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 10:52:30 PM
LOL Kevin literally had his arm around Nick in the picture.

I was just trying to make it more dramatic, lol. But I guess they couldn't be dramatic at Howie's wedding, he doesn't deserve that. #TeamHowie


Unreliable narrators are a good way to excuse small errors, if you can even call yours an error.

I'm glad you got something written to hoard!  It's nice to know you have something already drafted for the last chapter because last chapters can be intimidating sometimes.

I'll take your if and run with it. It wasn't an error at all, lol.

Two separate little scenes, including the last one of all with its full last line. Now if only I could write this current chapter, lol. Of the chapters left to write, the very last one is actually the only one where I had clear "this happens and this happens" plans, everything else is a vague list of things that happen over x amount of time.


That's true.  I guess it's more that I haven't seen the word "chortle" used as often as other synonyms for laughter.

It's because it looks like a weird word, way more than chuckle.


Yes, there can be.  When I describe Nick smirking, it's usually meant to be more mischievous or flirtatious, but it works well for villains too.

Same, if Nick smirks it's mischievous or flirtatious. Glad we're all writing him doing the same things, lol.

All my villains though, smirks of villainy, lol.


Agreed!  I haven't eaten it since I was a kid.  The thought of a bologna sandwich on white bread with mayonnaise makes me want to vomit.

Blegh, mayonnaise made that worse.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 08, 2021, 10:56:55 PM
Does anyone else reward themselves for writing?

I started MBK in 2017 and took an extended break from it in 2018.  During that break, a movie came out that had a similar premise to my story.  I was like, "OMG, I have to see that!"  But since I was working on AHTIM and not MBK at that time, I told myself I would wait until I went back to MBK to watch it so that I could take full advantage of any inspiration I got from it and not get distracted from AHTIM.  Two years later, I finally rewarded myself for finishing the monster chapter I wrote this week by renting that movie last night.  I didn't really get anything out of it in terms of ideas, but I enjoyed it.

When the story is done, will you say the movie?

Hmmmm... I'd say I reward myself for writing by not writing or writing more. That, or "I deserve some skittles for this," lol. I usually try to avoid anything that feels too similar while I'm writing, just in case I unload it on the page on accident.

When I finished PBox originally, I bought a CD I think... One of the singles I didn't have at the time... So maybe that's what I'll do when I finish PNecklace too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 09, 2021, 11:50:30 AM
Two separate little scenes, including the last one of all with its full last line. Now if only I could write this current chapter, lol. Of the chapters left to write, the very last one is actually the only one where I had clear "this happens and this happens" plans, everything else is a vague list of things that happen over x amount of time.

That's awesome that you already have the last scene and line done!  That has to be a good feeling.  Sending good vibes your way to get the current chapter done.


Blegh, mayonnaise made that worse.

Ugh, I know!


When the story is done, will you say the movie?

Hmmmm... I'd say I reward myself for writing by not writing or writing more. That, or "I deserve some skittles for this," lol. I usually try to avoid anything that feels too similar while I'm writing, just in case I unload it on the page on accident.

When I finished PBox originally, I bought a CD I think... One of the singles I didn't have at the time... So maybe that's what I'll do when I finish PNecklace too.

Yeah.  Ask me again after you read far enough in MBK to know what it's about, which starts to become clear in Chapter 3 or 4.

I do the opposite; I watch/read anything I can find that's similar to what I'm writing.  I'm not out to copy or steal ideas, but I always think it will help me stay inspired (which doesn't always work), and sometimes it's helpful to see what I've been researching portrayed on screen or described in prose.

Buying yourself something is a good reward!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 09, 2021, 06:43:43 PM
That's awesome that you already have the last scene and line done!  That has to be a good feeling.  Sending good vibes your way to get the current chapter done.

It's a feeling? lol Keep sending them! It might inspire me to be productive in the right places! (And not hitting refresh on my little language until I like the verb conjugation rules that pop up, lol.)


Yeah.  Ask me again after you read far enough in MBK to know what it's about, which starts to become clear in Chapter 3 or 4.

I do the opposite; I watch/read anything I can find that's similar to what I'm writing.  I'm not out to copy or steal ideas, but I always think it will help me stay inspired (which doesn't always work), and sometimes it's helpful to see what I've been researching portrayed on screen or described in prose.

Buying yourself something is a good reward!

I will do my best to remember that.

It is helpful sometimes to see other people's way of writing similar things. I think that's always good advice to read while you're writing and especially in your genres or demographics. I just know I'm very sponge-like; that's how I end up accidentally Backstreeting so often, lol.

I think it's easier to stay inspired if it's a book or maybe a movie? I know a tv show would just suck me into the whole series.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 09, 2021, 07:38:24 PM
I think it's easier to stay inspired if it's a book or maybe a movie? I know a tv show would just suck me into the whole series.

LOL Yes, TV shows tend to do that to me too, but thankfully this time I have kept writing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 09, 2021, 08:00:44 PM
LOL Yes, TV shows tend to do that to me too, but thankfully this time I have kept writing.

Good! You're really on a roll!

Meanwhile, I've hit peak meta and officially called myself out in my narrative. Anyone else do weird things like this to make themselves laugh?

“I love that you’re creative, but maybe it’s time to stop thinking about a weird dream you had in elementary school…” She pushed open the door to the locker room. “It’s not like demons are real or anything…”
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 09, 2021, 08:15:13 PM
LOL!  I love the call-out/self-reference.  I like to put in little things that make me laugh, too.

My writing has been slow the last couple days.  I finished the chapter I had been working on all of spring break up to that point, which I was really happy with, but then I was faced with the task of starting a new and less eventful chapter.  I've finally gotten into a groove with it, but it usually takes me awhile to get going, unless the chapter starts in the middle of the action.  This story is not exactly action-packed though LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 09, 2021, 08:19:56 PM
Here's another rant about the English language.  I hate how there are multiple acceptable ways to spell certain words.  Like "canceled/cancelled" - I never know whether to use one L or two.  I went with one because apparently that's the more acceptable way in American English, but British English uses two Ls.  I must be British because I always want to give it two Ls too, and then I second guess myself and look it up and change it to one L and then do a find/replace to make sure I'm being consistent throughout the story.  I'm the same way with "alright/all right."  Or how about "gray/grey?"
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 09, 2021, 09:04:44 PM
LOL!  I love the call-out/self-reference.  I like to put in little things that make me laugh, too.

My writing has been slow the last couple days.  I finished the chapter I had been working on all of spring break up to that point, which I was really happy with, but then I was faced with the task of starting a new and less eventful chapter.  I've finally gotten into a groove with it, but it usually takes me awhile to get going, unless the chapter starts in the middle of the action.  This story is not exactly action-packed though LOL.

It's how this origin story ended up starting to make sense, since I couldn't use "fell in a magical hole at TRL" anymore, lol.

I feel like the less action-packed chapters are usually slower for me to start writing too, especially if you need it to get from one action-packed chapter to another. Unless I can so perfectly envision those non-action scenes, which happens some times and not others.

I've had that "slow" feeling about my editing lately. "This is painfully slow for me to edit." That either means that pacing is off in PNecklace (likely) or the chapters are out of order for what they should be (also likely) or maybe whatever is extraneous (also likely). But then I had a chapter like this week's where not a lot happened and I switched a bunch of things around before posting it, but I didn't hate it at all. So I feel you on the ups and downs of the writing process. Sometimes you need some less action-packed stuff, especially when the drama is in the interactions.

I feel like I've actually been writing a lot, but nothing for where I currently am in PNecklace, so... Who knows. I think some time this weekend, I'll just have to force myself to sit down and write something on the chapter I've been putting off, no matter what ends up on the page, especially when I'm not against a heavy overhaul before posting.


Here's another rant about the English language.  I hate how there are multiple acceptable ways to spell certain words.  Like "canceled/cancelled" - I never know whether to use one L or two.  I went with one because apparently that's the more acceptable way in American English, but British English uses two Ls.  I must be British because I always want to give it two Ls too, and then I second guess myself and look it up and change it to one L and then do a find/replace to make sure I'm being consistent throughout the story.  I'm the same way with "alright/all right."  Or how about "gray/grey?"

Okay, before we go any further... Not sure why you question alright/all right. As you know, it is "Backstreet's back alright!" and they are clearly paragons of English language accuracy.  :biggrin:

I do this too, all the time, except I am unapologetic about my preferences whichever way they trend. If someone tells me I spelled it incorrectly, my response is akin to "I most certainly did not." My big one is theatre/theater and it's made even more difficult by people trying to explain away that "theatre" is the art and "theater" is the building, but it's not, it's literally British versus American. All that being said, my preference is "theatre." Gray/grey used to get me too. As long as you're consistent throughout the work, I chalk it up to personal style. So give cancelled two Ls! I think it looks fine either way.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 09, 2021, 10:31:27 PM
Sometimes you need some less action-packed stuff, especially when the drama is in the interactions.

I feel like I've actually been writing a lot, but nothing for where I currently am in PNecklace, so... Who knows. I think some time this weekend, I'll just have to force myself to sit down and write something on the chapter I've been putting off, no matter what ends up on the page, especially when I'm not against a heavy overhaul before posting.

Absolutely!  I just finished writing an argument between the boys, which is always fun once it gets going.  I just had to find a way to start it.

Sometimes you do just have to sit down and force yourself to put words on paper.  The first few words/sentences are usually the hardest, but once you get over that hump, it gets easier.


Okay, before we go any further... Not sure why you question alright/all right. As you know, it is "Backstreet's back alright!" and they are clearly paragons of English language accuracy.  :biggrin:

I do this too, all the time, except I am unapologetic about my preferences whichever way they trend. If someone tells me I spelled it incorrectly, my response is akin to "I most certainly did not." My big one is theatre/theater and it's made even more difficult by people trying to explain away that "theatre" is the art and "theater" is the building, but it's not, it's literally British versus American. All that being said, my preference is "theatre." Gray/grey used to get me too. As long as you're consistent throughout the work, I chalk it up to personal style. So give cancelled two Ls! I think it looks fine either way.

Well, obviously!  "Does his gifts come from the heart?"  "A little more better?"  "I resign in Florida?"  "Documen-tary?"  Those boys are good with words.

I agree, consistency is key.  And "theatre" seems more high class, especially if you say it with a British accent.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 09, 2021, 10:58:08 PM
Absolutely!  I just finished writing an argument between the boys, which is always fun once it gets going.  I just had to find a way to start it.

You know, I hear naked passing around a bucket while they group bathed could be popular? (lol) Who instigated the argument? Nick? Nick usually ends up starting all my arguments.


Sometimes you do just have to sit down and force yourself to put words on paper.  The first few words/sentences are usually the hardest, but once you get over that hump, it gets easier.

You're totally right. Good news, I'm up to 115 words on the aforementioned chapter, so it's getting there! We've already made it to day nine of Camp Nano, can you believe it! How's your writing aligning with your goal and any other feel good moments?

I'm at about 50% of what I'd hoped to be writing, and probably about a 1/3 of that has actually been for PNecklace (though a lot of that was editing rather than writing). So I may get to 30,000 words, but I don't know if I'll finish the story this month. There's still three weeks left though, so never know what will happen! :) My feel good moment was convincing you to do it with me and providing sideline encouragement. I was just thinking today while taking a break from staring at the screen that this would have been the days of old where we would all just be writing and chatting in our little IM windows every now again to check in. I miss that.


Well, obviously!  "Does his gifts come from the heart?"  "A little more better?"  "I resign in Florida?"  "Documen-tary?"  Those boys are good with words.

I agree, consistency is key.  And "theatre" seems more high class, especially if you say it with a British accent.

True treasures of the spoken word.  :patpat: I think we've missed an opportunity by not calling the doc "the Documen-tary," lol.

I think it's my high school French creeping in and saying "that looks right," lol. As I said, I am absolutely confident in my choices, it's why I've so emphatically shouted "vert" as my kiddos were learning and practicing Spanish, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 09, 2021, 11:17:14 PM
You know, I hear naked passing around a bucket while they group bathed could be popular? (lol) Who instigated the argument? Nick? Nick usually ends up starting all my arguments.

LMAO!  Actually, it was Brian.  I was proud of Nick; he did not jump up and scream, "Shut the fuck up!" or "Don't be a dick!" at any point in said argument.


You're totally right. Good news, I'm up to 115 words on the aforementioned chapter, so it's getting there! We've already made it to day nine of Camp Nano, can you believe it! How's your writing aligning with your goal and any other feel good moments?

I'm at about 50% of what I'd hoped to be writing, and probably about a 1/3 of that has actually been for PNecklace (though a lot of that was editing rather than writing). So I may get to 30,000 words, but I don't know if I'll finish the story this month. There's still three weeks left though, so never know what will happen! :) My feel good moment was convincing you to do it with me and providing sideline encouragement. I was just thinking today while taking a break from staring at the screen that this would have been the days of old where we would all just be writing and chatting in our little IM windows every now again to check in. I miss that.

Yay!

You're right; you never know what can happen in three weeks.  Even if you get to 30,000 words, that's still good!  I set my goal lower than that (20,000) based on how much I've written the last two months, and that was with me writing every day and being inspired.  I don't know how people start a new story in November and write 50,000 words.  I'm not sure I could do that even in June or July.  But I'm on track with my goal for Camp Nano; I'm over 7,000 words.  I just updated my total, and it jumped by over 2,000 words.  I didn't realize I had written anywhere near that many words today, but I went back and checked, and yes I did!  That's because it was just the boys having a discussion over dinner, so there was a lot of dialogue and not a ton of description or anything that required research.  I write so much faster when I don't stop to look anything up or overthink my word choices.  If nothing else, Camp Nano is helping me stay committed to writing every day, and I'm enjoying updating my daily word count.  I would do it again in June.  It would be nice if others from here would participate too.

I miss the IM days too!  I guess our conversations on here are taking the place of those little nightly check-ins as we were writing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 09, 2021, 11:34:05 PM
This was today's Camp Care Package on Nano.  I thought it could make a good discussion topic.


"Sometimes choosing a story idea is easy, others times it’s like having a rose to give only to one potential suitor. Sometimes you have to give the story a tryout period before finding out it’s the one. Also, never be afraid to put a story aside when you realize it’s not working out the way you like."

Today's Writing Challenge:

Before you begin your writing session for the day, take a minute to jot down the things you absolutely love about the story you're writing right now. What about it makes you feel excited and invested? (If you can't think of anything, or if another story keeps popping into your head, maybe that's a sign to try something different for a little while.)

Do you usually focus on one project, or do you get distracted by lots of new plot bunnies?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 09, 2021, 11:44:04 PM
LMAO!  Actually, it was Brian.  I was proud of Nick; he did not jump up and scream, "Shut the fuck up!" or "Don't be a dick!" at any point in said argument.

Brian, starting arguments. For shame. I'm proud of Hot Mess Nick for for not screaming stfu/dbadlekya too! (It's just a long quote. It's high time we acronymed it, lol.) Maybe he's ready to stop being a hot mess in MBK, lol.


You're right; you never know what can happen in three weeks.  Even if you get to 30,000 words, that's still good!  I set my goal lower than that (20,000) based on how much I've written the last two months, and that was with me writing every day and being inspired.  I don't know how people start a new story in November and write 50,000 words.  I'm not sure I could do that even in June or July.

I just wanted to finish the story and knew it would take about that much; I don't know that I was really prepared to get to 60,000 words in a month. You know, of all the times I did NaNo, this last time was the only time I did it and it wasn't a new story, it was a percolating vaguely dreamed up thing with snippets. I'm always impressed with the people who are like "November 1st, my novel begins" and then finish it. I say July's Camp is your time to challenge yourself! 50,000 words, just to see how close you get in the one month.

I think I'm probably better off if I go back to looking at it the way I did in November, which was "If I get to 50,000 words, great! But I'm really just trying to commit to writing every day." Maybe what's getting me was saying "I'm going to finish this story this month."


But I'm on track with my goal for Camp Nano; I'm over 7,000 words.  I just updated my total, and it jumped by over 2,000 words.  I didn't realize I had written anywhere near that many words today, but I went back and checked, and yes I did!  That's because it was just the boys having a discussion over dinner, so there was a lot of dialogue and not a ton of description or anything that required research.  I write so much faster when I don't stop to look anything up or overthink my word choices.  If nothing else, Camp Nano is helping me stay committed to writing every day, and I'm enjoying updating my daily word count.  I would do it again in June.  It would be nice if others from here would participate too.

Woo! Keep going at this pace and you'll be done halfway through the month! I believe!

I love when they just have a discussion (or a "discussion"/screaming match) for that same reason. No research, little planning, it just flows. On the topic of looking up things, right before I popped back over here, I spent so much longer than necessary looking up a political term that I couldn't remember, just to have the right word. Oh suzerainty (I'll define it in an effort to not have people look up things I can already explain: one state, typically stronger, controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, but allows the tributary state to have internal autonomy), why did I need you? Epic fantasies are so complicated.

I like when it tells me that you earned the little badges in the writing group. It makes me smile. Yay! Team The Absolutely Chaotic Backstreet Project! I hope other people join us, because it is fun updating a daily word count (that's why I kept doing it post-November). :)


I miss the IM days too!  I guess our conversations on here are taking the place of those little nightly check-ins as we were writing.

And possibly keeping us more on track? It takes more effort to come here, sign in, and type than it did to pop the little button, twirl your finger around the metaphorical phone cord, and say "what are you doing now?" lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 12:04:07 AM
Brian, starting arguments. For shame. I'm proud of Hot Mess Nick for for not screaming stfu/dbadlekya too! (It's just a long quote. It's high time we acronymed it, lol.) Maybe he's ready to stop being a hot mess in MBK, lol.

LOL I love that acronym!  It sounds Russian or something when you read it like a real word:  "Bad-lekya!"  (I made the D silent like in "Django.")

He's not quite ready to stop being a hot mess yet, but he's getting there.


I just wanted to finish the story and knew it would take about that much; I don't know that I was really prepared to get to 60,000 words in a month. You know, of all the times I did NaNo, this last time was the only time I did it and it wasn't a new story, it was a percolating vaguely dreamed up thing with snippets. I'm always impressed with the people who are like "November 1st, my novel begins" and then finish it. I say July's Camp is your time to challenge yourself! 50,000 words, just to see how close you get in the one month.

I think I'm probably better off if I go back to looking at it the way I did in November, which was "If I get to 50,000 words, great! But I'm really just trying to commit to writing every day." Maybe what's getting me was saying "I'm going to finish this story this month."

Writing every day is a great goal in itself and will help you on your way to other accomplishment s, like finishing the story.  It usually takes me longer to finish a story than I think it will, too.  Even when I'm on a roll and getting close, I almost always end up taking longer or writing more chapters than I expected.

I could try for 50,000 words in July and see how close I can come.  If there's any month I could write that much, it would be July.


Woo! Keep going at this pace and you'll be done halfway through the month! I believe!

I love when they just have a discussion (or a "discussion"/screaming match) for that same reason. No research, little planning, it just flows. On the topic of looking up things, right before I popped back over here, I spent so much longer than necessary looking up a political term that I couldn't remember, just to have the right word. Oh suzerainty (I'll define it in an effort to not have people look up things I can already explain: one state, typically stronger, controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, but allows the tributary state to have internal autonomy), why did I need you? Epic fantasies are so complicated.

Thanks!

Yeah, dialogue is my favorite thing to write when it flows, especially when it involves either funny banter or fighting.

Suzerainty?  I have literally never heard of that before, but I will take your word for it.  Always impressed with your knowledge and the varied topics you research for your stories!


I like when it tells me that you earned the little badges in the writing group. It makes me smile. Yay! Team The Absolutely Chaotic Backstreet Project! I hope other people join us, because it is fun updating a daily word count (that's why I kept doing it post-November). :)

Yeah, the little badges are fun!  Will Nano let you keep updating your word count for your project past the end of the month, or do you just keep track on your own?


And possibly keeping us more on track? It takes more effort to come here, sign in, and type than it did to pop the little button, twirl your finger around the metaphorical phone cord, and say "what are you doing now?" lol

Yeah, it gives me a reason to get on the computer later in the day and at least open my story while I'm catching up on the forum.  Some days that's half the battle - just making myself open my Chromebook or sit down at my desktop.  I've been pretty good at doing a morning writing session every day of break, even if it's only for an hour, and then hopping back on later in the day or at night.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 12:22:02 AM
This was today's Camp Care Package on Nano.  I thought it could make a good discussion topic.


"Sometimes choosing a story idea is easy, others times it’s like having a rose to give only to one potential suitor. Sometimes you have to give the story a tryout period before finding out it’s the one. Also, never be afraid to put a story aside when you realize it’s not working out the way you like."

Today's Writing Challenge:

Before you begin your writing session for the day, take a minute to jot down the things you absolutely love about the story you're writing right now. What about it makes you feel excited and invested? (If you can't think of anything, or if another story keeps popping into your head, maybe that's a sign to try something different for a little while.)

Do you usually focus on one project, or do you get distracted by lots of new plot bunnies?


That's a good one! I need to catch up on my Camp Care Packages (I've ignored them in favor of writing).

I think my answer is complicated? Because I haven't even looked at anything that isn't PBox, PNecklace, or PDemons since the end of February. And in that time, I've written three chapters and four out of order scenes in addition to the pre-posting edits of four chapters for PNecklace, written 2 scenes from PDemons, and heavily edited or completely re-wrote the first almost six chapters of PBox as OF. And I can write an entire novel about all the things I love about this complete story (in fact, I'm up to 1 and 3/5 novels so far, lol), but in the month of April I've done maybe 3,000 words on PNecklace? And a good chunk of them were definitely edits more than new out of order scenes or current chapter writing. So it's up in the air? Am I focusing on one project? Am I getting distracted? I don't know.

Off the top of my head without actually sitting and reflecting:

Things I love about the entirety of PBox/PNecklace/PDemons:

Things about PNecklace specifically:

I guess my list is mostly the same. It's hard for me to separate it out at this point, since PNecklace can't exist at all if PBox hadn't been written and it's not the full story without PDemons rounding it out. :shrug: So I guess that goes back to my first questions. Am I focusing on one project or am I getting distracted?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 12:30:03 AM
I can see why your answer is complicated, since you have several interrelated projects you've been working on that are all part of the same series.  It makes sense to lump them together as one long story.  It's clear you have a lot of love for PBox and its sequels, or you wouldn't have come back to the series after so long, let alone done so much rewriting.  I'm impressed by that level of dedication.  I'm sure it's satisfying to finally get to share some of those secrets and plans with the world after holding on to them for so long.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 12:50:35 AM
LOL I love that acronym!  It sounds Russian or something when you read it like a real word:  "Bad-lekya!"  (I made the D silent like in "Django.")

He's not quite ready to stop being a hot mess yet, but he's getting there.

Bad-lekya with a silent D, lmao. I love that pronunciation. Now I wish I had more excuses to use this brand new acronym.

I believe in your character development MBK Hot Mess Nick!


Writing every day is a great goal in itself and will help you on your way to other accomplishment s, like finishing the story.  It usually takes me longer to finish a story than I think it will, too.  Even when I'm on a roll and getting close, I almost always end up taking longer or writing more chapters than I expected.

I could try for 50,000 words in July and see how close I can come.  If there's any month I could write that much, it would be July.

That's what I keep telling myself, one day at a time. And if I get that day by writing a little of something else, so be it. Realistically, I'm happy as long as I can be ten chapters ahead of whatever I'm posting, 15 is better, 20 would be amazing. I think there's some dread that comes with finishing a story and I don't know why that is... I think we've already talked about that though?

I challenge you! We'll do it together. :) I'm sure I'll have 50,000 words of something to try to write in July.


Suzerainty?  I have literally never heard of that before, but I will take your word for it.  Always impressed with your knowledge and the varied topics you research for your stories!

Imperial China in regards to the rest of Asia might be the best known example, that idea of "emperor at home, king abroad." More modern examples would be some countries controlled by the Axis Powers during World War 2 or British control of India. It's definitely not useful as a modern term since international law means that sovereignty either exits or doesn't exist without any caveats.

I'm the real definition of a Jack of All Trades. I know enough about just about anything to be dangerous! (Or research what I don't, lol.)


Yeah, the little badges are fun!  Will Nano let you keep updating your word count for your project past the end of the month, or do you just keep track on your own?

I've been doing it on my own since I didn't want to make PBox a project when I was editing it, though it would have been nice to keep track of my monthly progress on PNecklace specifically in hindsight. If you want to keep tracking it on NaNo, you just go to your "projects" section and any project you've added will have a little button that says "create new goal" and then a window pops up where you name the goal, add the number of words in your goal, and then set the timeline. If it has a goal already associated to it (e.g., "Camp NaNo April 2021"), you won't see the button until that goal timeline ends.


Yeah, it gives me a reason to get on the computer later in the day and at least open my story while I'm catching up on the forum.  Some days that's half the battle - just making myself open my Chromebook or sit down at my desktop.  I've been pretty good at doing a morning writing session every day of break, even if it's only for an hour, and then hopping back on later in the day or at night.

Since I've had a computer again, writing has been so much easier. I wonder if I would have gotten more into it in 2015 if I'd had an actual computer at the time and not just a tablet or my phone.

I want to be better about getting morning sessions in. I have gone back to my "I have nothing to do and no students are here yet, I will write until they show up" and it's been pretty productive the two days I did it so far. I think I need to convince myself to do some writing earlier on weekends or set times when I can check the forum (like "write from x time to x time, then check the forum) rather than "type type type type type refresh type type type type type refresh," lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 01:11:04 AM
I can see why your answer is complicated, since you have several interrelated projects you've been working on that are all part of the same series.  It makes sense to lump them together as one long story.  It's clear you have a lot of love for PBox and its sequels, or you wouldn't have come back to the series after so long, let alone done so much rewriting.  I'm impressed by that level of dedication.  I'm sure it's satisfying to finally get to share some of those secrets and plans with the world after holding on to them for so long.

At this point, it might even be more love than I had for it originally in that 2005-2008 time frame, and I loved PBox a great deal back then, lol. Aw thanks, appreciate the compliment.

I read a quote somewhere that was something to the effect of "We all have one story that we're dying to tell and everything we write is our best efforts to get that story out." And on an easy level, I could say, "sure that's PBox and company, apparently." But, realistically, looking at everything I've ever tried to write down, it's probably closer to some form of "you are more than your circumstances." It may just be that I finally decided that PBox&Co was the best way to get that out there.

It is nice finally letting go of some secrets, but in a long-retired/recently unretired with a minimal readership and reviewless world, I have no idea how anyone reading it feels, lol. So at this point, I'm just talking to myself like "That was great, Dee, we finally told everyone." "Good job, Dee, you worked hard on that. I loved it." "I loved it too, Dee." "THANKS FOR FINALLY TELLING MY STORY AGAIN!!!!!" "You're welcome, PBox Nick." And scene.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 01:15:27 AM
This was today's Camp Care Package on Nano.  I thought it could make a good discussion topic.


"Sometimes choosing a story idea is easy, others times it’s like having a rose to give only to one potential suitor. Sometimes you have to give the story a tryout period before finding out it’s the one. Also, never be afraid to put a story aside when you realize it’s not working out the way you like."

Today's Writing Challenge:

Before you begin your writing session for the day, take a minute to jot down the things you absolutely love about the story you're writing right now. What about it makes you feel excited and invested? (If you can't think of anything, or if another story keeps popping into your head, maybe that's a sign to try something different for a little while.)

Do you usually focus on one project, or do you get distracted by lots of new plot bunnies?


I almost always have a period of what I call "WADD" when I'm between novels and trying to figure out which project to tackle next.  I usually end up flitting from story to story, outlining or writing a little bit here and there until I finally settle into one, and that becomes my next project.  Sometimes it only takes me a few days of doing this to decide, and sometimes it takes weeks or months.

It seems to be worst when I've just finished a long story that took years to write.  After I finished BMS, I wrote nothing but short stories and collaborations for over two years before I finally found a solo project that could hold my attention for longer than a few weeks.  I went through a similar period with SAMS, after which I went back and forth between what would become AHTIM, Heroic Measures, and MBK for over a year before I settled into AHTIM.  It's so satisfying to look back on that and realize that I have since finished AHTIM and Heroic Measures and made MBK my main project.  

Usually once I get far enough into a novel to think of it as my main project, I will stick with it until the end.  But it often goes through that tryout period, like the quote said.  I really thought I would want to write that Brian horror story over MBK, but once I got the first scene out of my system, I didn't really feel compelled to keep writing it.  I hope I will someday, but for now I'm just happy that MBK is going well.

So... things I love about MBK:
- It's my first Kevin novel! I'm having more fun torturing writing Kevin than I thought I would.
- Nick is not a victim! He may be a hot mess, but he gets a break in this one. It's nice to write something different.
- It's fun hopping back and forth between two different POVs.
- It's full of drama and angst - my favorite things to write!
- The research I've done for it has been interesting, and I've learned a lot.
- It has given me a greater appreciation for little things in life I used to take for granted.
- It's been fun reminiscing on the Unbreakable era, but I've also been reminded how glad I am that Kevin is back in the group and Nick is no longer a hot mess.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 01:41:54 AM
Bad-lekya with a silent D, lmao. I love that pronunciation. Now I wish I had more excuses to use this brand new acronym.

I believe in your character development MBK Hot Mess Nick!

LOL I know; it's a good one!  I totally had to go watch the clip of their fight.  The first time I ever saw it, I was horrified at how they were both shouting "Shut the fuck up!" at each other, but now I'm like Kevin laughing in between them - I just find it funny.  It shows that brotherly relationship they have, because the only person I could ever see myself screaming at like that in real life is my sister LOL.


That's what I keep telling myself, one day at a time. And if I get that day by writing a little of something else, so be it. Realistically, I'm happy as long as I can be ten chapters ahead of whatever I'm posting, 15 is better, 20 would be amazing. I think there's some dread that comes with finishing a story and I don't know why that is... I think we've already talked about that though?

Yeah, I think we have.  It's true, though.  I think it's because while you're excited to finish, you're already starting to worry about what you're going to write - or not write - next and if it will go as well as the story you've been working on and have gotten comfortable with.  It's fear of the unknown.


I challenge you! We'll do it together. :) I'm sure I'll have 50,000 words of something to try to write in July.

Sounds good!  I will still be writing MBK LOL.  My early estimate is that this is going to be a medium-sized novel for me, not an 100+ chapter epic, but also not a 25-chapter short novel.  I'm guessing it will be around 50 chapters?  Which probably means it will end up being at least 60, although I have been more concise with my last few stories, so maybe not.  In any case, I'm only on Chapter 12, so it has quite a ways to go.


I've been doing it on my own since I didn't want to make PBox a project when I was editing it, though it would have been nice to keep track of my monthly progress on PNecklace specifically in hindsight. If you want to keep tracking it on NaNo, you just go to your "projects" section and any project you've added will have a little button that says "create new goal" and then a window pops up where you name the goal, add the number of words in your goal, and then set the timeline. If it has a goal already associated to it (e.g., "Camp NaNo April 2021"), you won't see the button until that goal timeline ends.

Awesome, thanks!  I may have to create a new goal when this month is over.


Since I've had a computer again, writing has been so much easier. I wonder if I would have gotten more into it in 2015 if I'd had an actual computer at the time and not just a tablet or my phone.

This made a huge difference for me too!  My last laptop died right after I finished the first few chapters of MBK back in 2018, and that was a big part of what derailed my writing for the rest of that year.  I didn't buy a new laptop because I still had an old desktop computer, but I had gotten so spoiled by being able to write wherever I wanted that I didn't like sitting at a desk any more.  It wasn't as comfortable, so I just didn't do it as often.  First world problems.  I finally asked for a Chromebook for Christmas that year, and I was so much more productive after that.  This past year I got a new desk, desk chair, and desktop computer, which is what I'm on right now, but I still prefer my Chromebook for writing.  I know Tracy uses a tablet and has used her phone in the past, but I could never write that way regularly.


I want to be better about getting morning sessions in. I have gone back to my "I have nothing to do and no students are here yet, I will write until they show up" and it's been pretty productive the two days I did it so far. I think I need to convince myself to do some writing earlier on weekends or set times when I can check the forum (like "write from x time to x time, then check the forum) rather than "type type type type type refresh type type type type type refresh," lol.

Good for you, writing before/at work!  I've been on spring break, so it's been much easier to get morning writing sessions in, but I had been writing for a few minutes while drying my hair almost every work day.  I don't really count that as a morning writing session, but it still counts as writing - enough to keep my streak alive on days when I don't come home from work and write in the evening.  But I think doing that actually helps motivate me to come home and get writing again.  There's something about not having the time to write that makes me want to write more... whereas when I have all day to write, I will do it, but I also waste a lot more time.

I have gotten into a good routine on my days off where I wake up, make coffee, bring it back to bed with me, and write in bed for hours.  I usually don't even let myself check the forum or Twitter until I've gotten going on my writing, and then I will give myself a break.  It has worked out well for me, but it also requires that I have no plans until afternoon, which is not always the most practical.  One perk of the pandemic is that it gave me a lot more plan-free days, which I appreciated.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 03:43:37 PM
I had a 10-year-old leave a comment on my site, saying she loved BSB and had gotten into fanfic and loved my story.  The fangirl side of me was excited to see such a young BSB fan (I told her she had great taste), but the adult/aunt/teacher side of me was weirded out by the thought of a 10-year-old reading my stories.  That's the same age as my students and my nephew - definitely not my target age group LOL.  There's a lot worse out there she could be reading, but still.  My stories may not have much smut, but I also don't shy away from adult content, like sex, swearing, violence, gore, and graphic details.  I'm trying to remind myself that I was only a few years older than her when I started reading fanfic, and although I came across plenty of inappropriate stuff, none of it scarred me for life.  But part of me is still cringing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on April 10, 2021, 05:31:24 PM
I have a lot of younger readers on wattpad, I can usually tell by the slang they use. None that young though!!

I have been meaning to read your new story Julie. I just got sidetracked this weekend with work but I'm off the next two days so I'll definitely be reading it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 07:21:43 PM
Yeah, she seemed young by the way she wrote; knowing 10-year-olds, I could believe she was really that age.  Probably the child of a BSB fan, but maybe not.  Some of these youngins with old souls discover them on their own through YouTube or wherever.

Thanks!  I hope you enjoy it if you get around to checking it out.  I just got caught up on your story and left you a comment on AO3.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on April 10, 2021, 08:05:53 PM
Yes I just got out of work and saw the email, it's funny because I was coming here to ask is there really not many examples of Brian being a dick in fanfic lol. I feel like he is always pegged as the nice one but I just was writing that chapter the other day and I was also pissed off at the time so angry Brian hopped out and just kind of went. I thought it was good so I kept it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 09:09:03 PM
Yeah, I can't think of many examples of Brian being a dick in fanfic either.  It's funny because I also just wrote a scene with angry Brian arguing with the others yesterday.  He wasn't being a dick though, just disagreeing with the rest of the group.

I love when those fanfic fights happen spontaneously, whether it's because you're in a bad mood yourself or just because that's where the characters go with it.  AJ has come across as the angry one in my current story.  He has said some pretty mean stuff to Nick, which I take to be tough love, but it's weird for me to write him that way because AJ is usually the one to ease the tension in my stories, not cause it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 09:20:59 PM
I had a 10-year-old leave a comment on my site, saying she loved BSB and had gotten into fanfic and loved my story.  The fangirl side of me was excited to see such a young BSB fan (I told her she had great taste), but the adult/aunt/teacher side of me was weirded out by the thought of a 10-year-old reading my stories.  That's the same age as my students and my nephew - definitely not my target age group LOL.  There's a lot worse out there she could be reading, but still.  My stories may not have much smut, but I also don't shy away from adult content, like sex, swearing, violence, gore, and graphic details.  I'm trying to remind myself that I was only a few years older than her when I started reading fanfic, and although I came across plenty of inappropriate stuff, none of it scarred me for life.  But part of me is still cringing.

I have a lot of younger readers on wattpad, I can usually tell by the slang they use. None that young though!!

Woah! I both love the idea of young BSB fans getting into fanfic and hate the idea of young BSB fans reading our Team Dark stuff, especially anything where any of us might consider adding a trigger warning. But then we were all talking the other day that we were in that 8-10 range when we started writing dark things, so... Maybe you're right, it wouldn't be too scarring.

I love that you both have younger readers. That makes me happy. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 09:27:04 PM
Yes I just got out of work and saw the email, it's funny because I was coming here to ask is there really not many examples of Brian being a dick in fanfic lol. I feel like he is always pegged as the nice one but I just was writing that chapter the other day and I was also pissed off at the time so angry Brian hopped out and just kind of went. I thought it was good so I kept it.

Yeah, I can't think of many examples of Brian being a dick in fanfic either.  It's funny because I also just wrote a scene with angry Brian arguing with the others yesterday.  He wasn't being a dick though, just disagreeing with the rest of the group.

I love when those fanfic fights happen spontaneously, whether it's because you're in a bad mood yourself or just because that's where the characters go with it.  AJ has come across as the angry one in my current story.  He has said some pretty mean stuff to Nick, which I take to be tough love, but it's weird for me to write him that way because AJ is usually the one to ease the tension in my stories, not cause it.

I can't think of Brian being a dick either. Maybe it's happening more now because we feel like he's being kind of dickish in his real life or maybe it's happened less in the past because we want to shy away from Brian being a dick. I think this is another, "keep writing them so we have a variety of stories" moments.

I also love the spontaneous fights. I think they're a great way to get some anger out if needed. So I hope it helped you work through your bad mood, Tracy.

AJ's also been my tough love character this time around for sure, but only once he gets to a certain point. Brian was kind of the tough love character in the original PBox, but they never really had any in-group fighting going on then.

I think it's good that AJ's doing something a little different this time around for you, Julie. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 09:37:45 PM
LOL I know; it's a good one!  I totally had to go watch the clip of their fight.  The first time I ever saw it, I was horrified at how they were both shouting "Shut the fuck up!" at each other, but now I'm like Kevin laughing in between them - I just find it funny.  It shows that brotherly relationship they have, because the only person I could ever see myself screaming at like that in real life is my sister LOL.

Same! So horrified that Frick & Frack would do that to each other, but Kevin laughing showed me that this was a normal thing for them. And now I find it funny because it's almost like Brian is stooping to Nick's "I win when I shout louder" level, except he's much calmer than Nick is. It's an interesting dynamic. I can't picture myself screaming like that at anyone, but I also have no siblings.


Yeah, I think we have.  It's true, though.  I think it's because while you're excited to finish, you're already starting to worry about what you're going to write - or not write - next and if it will go as well as the story you've been working on and have gotten comfortable with.  It's fear of the unknown.

That's probably exactly it, the fear of the unknown. I think I need a sticky note on my desk that says "the unknown is our next adventure" or something, so I stop worrying about it subconciously.


Sounds good!  I will still be writing MBK LOL.  My early estimate is that this is going to be a medium-sized novel for me, not an 100+ chapter epic, but also not a 25-chapter short novel.  I'm guessing it will be around 50 chapters?  Which probably means it will end up being at least 60, although I have been more concise with my last few stories, so maybe not.  In any case, I'm only on Chapter 12, so it has quite a ways to go.

I love how honest you are with yourself about your verboseness, lol. I am equally guilty.


Awesome, thanks!  I may have to create a new goal when this month is over.

Any time!


This made a huge difference for me too!  My last laptop died right after I finished the first few chapters of MBK back in 2018, and that was a big part of what derailed my writing for the rest of that year.  I didn't buy a new laptop because I still had an old desktop computer, but I had gotten so spoiled by being able to write wherever I wanted that I didn't like sitting at a desk any more.  It wasn't as comfortable, so I just didn't do it as often.  First world problems.  I finally asked for a Chromebook for Christmas that year, and I was so much more productive after that.  This past year I got a new desk, desk chair, and desktop computer, which is what I'm on right now, but I still prefer my Chromebook for writing.  I know Tracy uses a tablet and has used her phone in the past, but I could never write that way regularly.

My fingers get more tired and I feel like I hunch more when I'm on my tablet or phone. It's just more comfortable in general with the bigger device. When I really need to focus (or am in extreme focus mode), I sit at my desk, but I also enjoy the freedom to sit anywhere.


Good for you, writing before/at work!  I've been on spring break, so it's been much easier to get morning writing sessions in, but I had been writing for a few minutes while drying my hair almost every work day.  I don't really count that as a morning writing session, but it still counts as writing - enough to keep my streak alive on days when I don't come home from work and write in the evening.  But I think doing that actually helps motivate me to come home and get writing again.  There's something about not having the time to write that makes me want to write more... whereas when I have all day to write, I will do it, but I also waste a lot more time.

I have gotten into a good routine on my days off where I wake up, make coffee, bring it back to bed with me, and write in bed for hours.  I usually don't even let myself check the forum or Twitter until I've gotten going on my writing, and then I will give myself a break.  It has worked out well for me, but it also requires that I have no plans until afternoon, which is not always the most practical.  One perk of the pandemic is that it gave me a lot more plan-free days, which I appreciated.

That was my plan this morning, then I slept in, lol. It's nice to have a quiet time to sit and think "what to do" while I drink my coffee. I feel the same way, writing in the mornings has helped with my motivation to keep writing in the evenings. I found a nano care package, and I'm not sure if it was from this month or one of the other ones since they've had the new website (2019's NaNo), but the challenge was "leave yourself on a cliffhanger. Maybe that's a chapter, a scene, or even a sentence." And if I suddenly get stuck, I've been trying to do that, just leave it where I last wrote without agonizing to finish the sentence or scene. If it was going well and I go back, it usually helps me get back into it quickly.

I think the lesson I took from the pandemic was to give myself more plan-free days. I've enjoyed being able to wake up and think "today I can do anything I want." Probably will work less when "anything" involves seeing other people, but... it's been good for now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 09:41:30 PM
I almost always have a period of what I call "WADD" when I'm between novels and trying to figure out which project to tackle next.  I usually end up flitting from story to story, outlining or writing a little bit here and there until I finally settle into one, and that becomes my next project.  Sometimes it only takes me a few days of doing this to decide, and sometimes it takes weeks or months.

It seems to be worst when I've just finished a long story that took years to write.  After I finished BMS, I wrote nothing but short stories and collaborations for over two years before I finally found a solo project that could hold my attention for longer than a few weeks.  I went through a similar period with SAMS, after which I went back and forth between what would become AHTIM, Heroic Measures, and MBK for over a year before I settled into AHTIM.  It's so satisfying to look back on that and realize that I have since finished AHTIM and Heroic Measures and made MBK my main project.

This is so exciting that you're almost done with all of your SAMS WADD stories! A kudos for you.


Usually once I get far enough into a novel to think of it as my main project, I will stick with it until the end.  But it often goes through that tryout period, like the quote said.  I really thought I would want to write that Brian horror story over MBK, but once I got the first scene out of my system, I didn't really feel compelled to keep writing it.  I hope I will someday, but for now I'm just happy that MBK is going well.

So... things I love about MBK:
- It's my first Kevin novel! I'm having more fun torturing writing Kevin than I thought I would.
- Nick is not a victim! He may be a hot mess, but he gets a break in this one. It's nice to write something different.
- It's fun hopping back and forth between two different POVs.
- It's full of drama and angst - my favorite things to write!
- The research I've done for it has been interesting, and I've learned a lot.
- It has given me a greater appreciation for little things in life I used to take for granted.
- It's been fun reminiscing on the Unbreakable era, but I've also been reminded how glad I am that Kevin is back in the group and Nick is no longer a hot mess.

I'm glad you got the first scene out of your system so that you have something for the next time it strikes you.

LMAO at "torturing." I love this whole list. Appreciation for the little things is a great thing to find. :) Is this a theme in the novel or just something that has stood out to you?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 09:55:42 PM
This has been my twenty minutes of furiously catching up on the forum post-dinner, lol. I wrote until I got so hungry that I couldn't think anymore because it was going so well. It's been a day! I've basically been going non-stop since 12 or 12:30 until about 7. I wasn't sure what I was going to write, so I pulled open my four choices and did some rereading. I ended up getting started on continuing a future scene I'd already started, then was scrolling through that document and found two little notes I wrote myself for possible scenes that didn't have any physical scene attached yet. And for one of them, I went "a-ha!"

I didn't know I'd be adding it to this chapter, but apparently Kevin wanted to get all of his stuff out there in one chapter, lol! And I got to penning that little note to the narrative and stared off into space for a while, like "Oh jeeze, this is dark and really depressing. Why is this so dark and depressing?" On a whole, PNecklace hasn't felt too dark and depressing, maybe because Nick's like "F-it! I'm going to keep going no matter what!" But it's not like it wasn't going to be dark; PBox is hopeful, but still pretty grim after all. And then it got worse because one of the characters is a secret-keeper and writing their reaction to the dark and depressing thing, I thought "Oh no, this is exactly how the readers might feel, isn't it?" And I know it's not going to be that bad, but it sure makes that dark and depressing thing feel even more dark and depressing when I think of it without my wealth of context and plans.

Anyone else ever feel this way?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 10:11:55 PM
I can't think of Brian being a dick either. Maybe it's happening more now because we feel like he's being kind of dickish in his real life or maybe it's happened less in the past because we want to shy away from Brian being a dick. I think this is another, "keep writing them so we have a variety of stories" moments.

I think it's because Brian was always portrayed as the nice, Southern, Christian boy next door, so that's usually how he was written in fanfic - sweet, funny, religious, romantic, a loyal friend and family man, but never a dick.  That dick side - which I'm sure does exist - has come to light more in the last few years because of the documentary and the Trump troll stuff.  I would love to know exactly what Nick was referring to when he called him a dick and said "He knows what I'm talking about!" though.  Oh to be a fly on the wall!  But yes, I agree - it's fun to see all the guys portrayed in different ways.  They're all human, and I'm sure they all have dick moments.  Even Howie "She'll make me breakfast... and my lunch... and my dinner" Dorough can be a dick sometimes.


I also love the spontaneous fights. I think they're a great way to get some anger out if needed. So I hope it helped you work through your bad mood, Tracy.

AJ's also been my tough love character this time around for sure, but only once he gets to a certain point. Brian was kind of the tough love character in the original PBox, but they never really had any in-group fighting going on then.

I think it's good that AJ's doing something a little different this time around for you, Julie. :)

Yeah, I can definitely see Brian and Kevin being capable of tough love too.  They all should be; that's what brothers do.  AJ is my most prominent supporting character in this story, so he gets to be the one to give the tough love this time.  It's been fun writing him a little differently from my usual.


Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 10:31:58 PM
Same! So horrified that Frick & Frack would do that too each other, but Kevin laughing showed me that this was a normal thing for them. And now I find it funny because it's almost like Brian is stooping to Nick's "I win when I shout louder" level, except he's much calmer than Nick is. It's an interesting dynamic. I can't picture myself screaming like that at anyone, but I also have no siblings.

Yes to all of that!  It is an interesting dynamic.  I think the difference between how Nick and Brian handle themselves in that fight is at least partly a reflection of how they were raised.  Nick doesn't seem to know how to disagree without getting heated and shouting and cursing, probably because his parents didn't set a good example of that when he was a kid.  I imagine there was a lot of screaming, fighting, and cursing in his house growing up.  Brian can stay calm in an argument because he grew up in a stable home with loving parents who probably modeled that for him.  I think Brian can be stubborn, but Nick clearly has the bigger temper.

My sister is two years younger than me, and we shared a room until I was 14.  We had lot of screaming fights and did horrible, hurtful things to each other.  I once whipped her with a belt.  She once threw a hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in my face and almost broke my nose.  We still love each other. LOL  Once I thought of it that way, the Frick and Frack fight seemed less of a big deal and more of a normal thing to me.


That's probably exactly it, the fear of the unknown. I think I need a sticky note on my desk that says "the unknown is our next adventure" or something, so I stop worrying about it subconciously.

That's a good idea.  And I don't know what we're so afraid of.  That's the worst thing that could happen if your next project doesn't go well?  You'll stop writing forever?  Doubtful.  If it doesn't go the way we want it to, we'll either change the plan or start a different project.


I love how honest you are with yourself about your verboseness, lol. I am equally guilty.

LOL I don't feel any guilt over it whatsoever.  It is what it is.  However many words or chapters it takes me to tell the story I want to tell is how long it will be.  I don't see myself ever writing another 200-chapter epic, but 50 is realistic.


That was my plan this morning, then I slept in, lol. It's nice to have a quiet time to sit and think "what to do" while I drink my coffee. I feel the same way, writing in the mornings has helped with my motivation to keep writing in the evenings. I found a nano care package, and I'm not sure if it was from this month or one of the other ones since they've had the new website (2019's NaNo), but the challenge was "leave yourself on a cliffhanger. Maybe that's a chapter, a scene, or even a sentence." And if I suddenly get stuck, I've been trying to do that, just leave it where I last wrote without agonizing to finish the sentence or scene. If it was going well and I go back, it usually helps me get back into it quickly.

I think the lesson I took from the pandemic was to give myself more plan-free days. I've enjoyed being able to wake up and think "today I can do anything I want." Probably will work less when "anything" involves seeing other people, but... it's been good for now.

Good for you!  I love sleeping in.  When I say I write in the morning, that could mean I start anywhere between 9 and 11:59 a.m. LOL.  I am not a morning person.  Today I slept in until about 11, and then I wrote until like 1 or 2.  I finished Chapter 12 during my "morning" session, which is great, but I find that finishing a chapter early in the day makes it harder to write again later that same day because I have such a hard time switching gears and starting a new chapter.  It is definitely easier if I leave myself off in the middle of a scene, especially if I know where it's going.  I love the advice of leaving yourself on a cliffhanger.  Rose always used to laugh at me because I would sometimes leave off in mid-sentence, but it's easier to finish a sentence than start a new one.

Plan-free days are my favorite!  Prior to the pandemic, I always thought I sounded so lame when people would ask what I was doing over the weekend and I would say "I dunno" or "Nothing," but those are my favorite kind of weekends.  "Nothing" actually means "writing."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 10:36:54 PM
I think it's because Brian was always portrayed as the nice, Southern, Christian boy next door, so that's usually how he was written in fanfic - sweet, funny, religious, romantic, a loyal friend and family man, but never a dick.  That dick side - which I'm sure does exist - has come to light more in the last few years because of the documentary and the Trump troll stuff.  I would love to know exactly what Nick was referring to when he called him a dick and said "He knows what I'm talking about!" though.  Oh to be a fly on the wall!  But yes, I agree - it's fun to see all the guys portrayed in different ways.  They're all human, and I'm sure they all have dick moments.  Even Howie "She'll make me breakfast... and my lunch... and my dinner" Dorough can be a dick sometimes.

Media marketing is wild, no? You can probably lose so much of yourself when you're portrayed a certain way, especially if it's a certain way in the context of other people, whether that's good things or bad things. I mean, I believe Nick if he says "like everyone knows you are." I'm sure they all have moments where they've been huge dicks to each other. Haven't we all? I would also love to know what he's talking about. Do the other Boys know or just Brian? These are the things we wanted in your autobiography, Nick! lol

Poor Howie. He'll never live that conversation mix down here, lol.


Yeah, I can definitely see Brian and Kevin being capable of tough love too.  They all should be; that's what brothers do.  AJ is my most prominent supporting character in this story, so he gets to be the one to give the tough love this time.  It's been fun writing him a little differently from my usual.

Kevin tries to kick in doors! If that isn't tough love, I don't know what is.

So now the question is, do we ever have Nick being the "tough love" person? Or does he get absolved from that to his frequent status as main character?

Good for AJ being a prominent supporting character. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 10:39:45 PM
This is so exciting that you're almost done with all of your SAMS WADD stories! A kudos for you.

Thanks!  It has been nice to actually use the ideas I've come up with instead of letting them sit around in a folder as a vague outline or beginning with no ending forever.


I'm glad you got the first scene out of your system so that you have something for the next time it strikes you.

LMAO at "torturing." I love this whole list. Appreciation for the little things is a great thing to find. :) Is this a theme in the novel or just something that has stood out to you?

Yeah, it's a start at least - something I can come back to when I feel like it.

That appreciation of the little things is more just my own outsider perspective right now.  I haven't planned it as a major theme of the story, but it may come through in my writing.

The pandemic has also been a good reminder not to take things for granted.  I was mourning the fact that I have to go back to work on Monday, but then I reminded myself that last year, we did not get to go back after spring break, and I felt glad that things are going back to normal.  And of course I am incredibly thankful that I haven't lost any family or friends to COVID, though I know people who have.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 10:49:18 PM
This has been my twenty minutes of furiously catching up on the forum post-dinner, lol. I wrote until I got so hungry that I couldn't think anymore because it was going so well. It's been a day! I've basically been going non-stop since 12 or 12:30 until about 7.

Wow, you go girl!  I love days like that, when I just can't seem to tear myself away from the computer.  Especially on Saturdays because then I know I still have another day before I have to act like a functional adult again. LOL


And I got to penning that little note to the narrative and stared off into space for a while, like "Oh jeeze, this is dark and really depressing. Why is this so dark and depressing?" On a whole, PNecklace hasn't felt too dark and depressing, maybe because Nick's like "F-it! I'm going to keep going no matter what!" But it's not like it wasn't going to be dark; PBox is hopeful, but still pretty grim after all. And then it got worse because one of the characters is a secret-keeper and writing their reaction to the dark and depressing thing, I thought "Oh no, this is exactly how the readers might feel, isn't it?" And I know it's not going to be that bad, but it sure makes that dark and depressing thing feel even more dark and depressing when I think of it without my wealth of context and plans.

Anyone else ever feel this way?

I have definitely felt that way.  Hell, I feel that way about the story I'm writing right now.  But just remember, most of our readers are also Team Dark, or they wouldn't want to read our stuff.  Don't underestimate their tolerance for dark and depressing content.  I don't think I have ever thought, "This is just too depressing; I can't read it" and clicked out of a story.  As long as you have some lighter moments along the way to contrast the darkness, it's fine.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 10:52:26 PM
Yes to all of that!  It is an interesting dynamic.  I think the difference between how Nick and Brian handle themselves in that fight is at least partly a reflection of how they were raised.  Nick doesn't seem to know how to disagree without getting heated and shouting and cursing, probably because his parents didn't set a good example of that when he was a kid.  I imagine there was a lot of screaming, fighting, and cursing in his house growing up.  Brian can stay calm in an argument because he grew up in a stable home with loving parents who probably modeled that for him.  I think Brian can be stubborn, but Nick clearly has the bigger temper.

My sister is two years younger than me, and we shared a room until I was 14.  We had lot of screaming fights and did horrible, hurtful things to each other.  I once whipped her with a belt.  She once threw a hardback copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in my face and almost broke my nose.  We still love each other. LOL  Once I thought of it that way, the Frick and Frack fight seemed less of a big deal and more of a normal thing to me.

It's definitely a difference in how they were raised. I've found that anyone who resorts to screaming to win arguments often had a lot of screaming matches happening in their homes growing up. It's a hard thing to deal with. Plus, you definitely have to reframe the way you're trying to disagree and solve a problem with them or it just never gets solved and feels exhausting.

Some of my friends say things exactly like that, but it wasn't until my husband and his younger sister talked about their death matches casually while laughing that I was really like "Okay... this is totally normal apparently?" Glad they're so well-adjusted now, lol!


That's a good idea.  And I don't know what we're so afraid of.  That's the worst thing that could happen if your next project doesn't go well?  You'll stop writing forever?  Doubtful.  If it doesn't go the way we want it to, we'll either change the plan or start a different project.

I have no idea! It's not like not knowing what will happen next is going to cause mass casualties or anything. I guess you could stop writing forever, that's always in the realm of possibility, but it's unlikely. I think it's just a human thing, to fear what's unknown, whether that's big or small.


LOL I don't feel any guilt over it whatsoever.  It is what it is.  However many words or chapters it takes me to tell the story I want to tell is how long it will be.  I don't see myself ever writing another 200-chapter epic, but 50 is realistic.

Never say never. There's a 200-chapter epic on your horizon somewhere.


Good for you!  I love sleeping in.  When I say I write in the morning, that could mean I start anywhere between 9 and 11:59 a.m. LOL.  I am not a morning person.  Today I slept in until about 11, and then I wrote until like 1 or 2.  I finished Chapter 12 during my "morning" session, which is great, but I find that finishing a chapter early in the day makes it harder to write again later that same day because I have such a hard time switching gears and starting a new chapter.  It is definitely easier if I leave myself off in the middle of a scene, especially if I know where it's going.  I love the advice of leaving yourself on a cliffhanger.  Rose always used to laugh at me because I would sometimes leave off in mid-sentence, but it's easier to finish a sentence than start a new one.

Plan-free days are my favorite!  Prior to the pandemic, I always thought I sounded so lame when people would ask what I was doing over the weekend and I would say "I dunno" or "Nothing," but those are my favorite kind of weekends.  "Nothing" actually means "writing."

Oh, 11:59am means morning now? Cool, lol! Great work finishing your twelfth chapter!

I know, I always wonder if I should just leave the chapter unfinished so that I can come back to it and then maybe keep going afterward. Well, Rose can laugh at me too, because I often leave off mid-sentence.

"Nothing" meaning "writing" is way better than "watching tv until I nap on the couch." I usually say "just some stuff around the house," lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 10:57:49 PM
Thanks!  It has been nice to actually use the ideas I've come up with instead of letting them sit around in a folder as a vague outline or beginning with no ending forever.

It's this reason that I'm glad I don't have an idea folder, lol. Or that I only have two ideas that aren't PBox&Co or Gobosei, lol. I hope you get a chance to use all of your ideas and feel great about them.


Yeah, it's a start at least - something I can come back to when I feel like it.

That appreciation of the little things is more just my own outsider perspective right now.  I haven't planned it as a major theme of the story, but it may come through in my writing.

The pandemic has also been a good reminder not to take things for granted.  I was mourning the fact that I have to go back to work on Monday, but then I reminded myself that last year, we did not get to go back after spring break, and I felt glad that things are going back to normal.  And of course I am incredibly thankful that I haven't lost any family or friends to COVID, though I know people who have.

Every time I feel bummed about work, I also remind myself that I didn't get the last three months of the school year with my class and it helps put things back in perspective.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 11:02:08 PM
Media marketing is wild, no? You can probably lose so much of yourself when you're portrayed a certain way, especially if it's a certain way in the context of other people, whether that's good things or bad things. I mean, I believe Nick if he says "like everyone knows you are." I'm sure they all have moments where they've been huge dicks to each other. Haven't we all? I would also love to know what he's talking about. Do the other Boys know or just Brian? These are the things we wanted in your autobiography, Nick! lol

Very true.  The whole boyband marketing thing really wasn't fair to any of them.  AJ wasn't really a "bad boy" either, but it's easier to embrace a so-called "bad boy" who's actually a huge softie with a heart of gold, even if he's also an addict, than the "boy next door" who sticks a Trump sign in his yard.

Maybe it's better that we not know what Nick was talking about LOL.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss.


Kevin tries to kick in doors! If that isn't tough love, I don't know what is.

So now the question is, do we ever have Nick being the "tough love" person? Or does he get absolved from that to his frequent status as main character?

Good for AJ being a prominent supporting character. :)

While it's not fanfic, I think the Frick & Frack fight was a great example of Nick showing tough love when he confronted Brian about his voice.  No one else wanted to talk about it, but it needed to be addressed, and Nick wasn't afraid to go there, even though he knew it would be hard for Brian to hear.  The love part comes around at the end when he goes into the Michael Jordan analogy, which I adore.

So yes, I think Nick can be the tough love person in the right situation, especially now that he's got his own shit together.  He's on the receiving end of AJ's tough love in my story because AJ is the "sober" one (allegedly), and Nick is not.  (And Kevin is currently not capable of kicking doors down.)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 11:05:34 PM
Wow, you go girl!  I love days like that, when I just can't seem to tear myself away from the computer.  Especially on Saturdays because then I know I still have another day before I have to act like a functional adult again. LOL

Thanks! It's been a whirlwind of a day. I spent entirely too long looking up a couple of cursory things, but on a whole it's been very productive for a chapter I was humming and hawing about.


I have definitely felt that way.  Hell, I feel that way about the story I'm writing right now.  But just remember, most of our readers are also Team Dark, or they wouldn't want to read our stuff.  Don't underestimate their tolerance for dark and depressing content.  I don't think I have ever thought, "This is just too depressing; I can't read it" and clicked out of a story.  As long as you have some lighter moments along the way to contrast the darkness, it's fine.

Glad I'm not alone. You're right, I should embrace the sadist in me and think "Oh boy, if I feel upset and concerned alongside my secret-keeper and I know what's coming next, those readers will feel extra gutted because they do not. Excellent."  ;D

I can't think of a time I stopped reading something entirely because it was too depressing either. Taken a break to stare off into space aimlessly, sure.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 11:11:02 PM
Never say never. There's a 200-chapter epic on your horizon somewhere.

LOL I know not to say "never" because then I will do it someday!  That's usually how it goes.  Maybe I'll write a fantasy epic someday!  As long as it's not another Nick cancer story LOL.


Oh, 11:59am means morning now? Cool, lol! Great work finishing your twelfth chapter!

I know, I always wonder if I should just leave the chapter unfinished so that I can come back to it and then maybe keep going afterward. Well, Rose can laugh at me too, because I often leave off mid-sentence.

"Nothing" meaning "writing" is way better than "watching tv until I nap on the couch." I usually say "just some stuff around the house," lol.

AM means morning, so yes!  LOL I have a sign in my kitchen that says "I am a total morning person after 11:30am," and that is so me.  I've always been a night owl.

If I find myself continuing to write in my head after I close the computer, I usually open it up again and keep going while the words are flowing so I don't forget them, but I like when I can leave myself off in the middle of a scene or sentence with some idea of what comes next, but not knowing the exact words.

LOL You know my writing is going well when I start falling behind on TV shows or make it to afternoon without turning on my TV because I usually spend a lot of time lying on the couch watching TV.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 11:13:24 PM
Very true.  The whole boyband marketing thing really wasn't fair to any of them.  AJ wasn't really a "bad boy" either, but it's easier to embrace a so-called "bad boy" who's actually a huge softie with a heart of gold, even if he's also an addict, than the "boy next door" who sticks a Trump sign in his yard.

Maybe it's better that we not know what Nick was talking about LOL.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss.

He was in his early twenties. All guys in their early twenties think they are "bad boys," lol. I love our bad boy with a heart of gold.

Does this make Brian a "bad boy next door"?  :o lol

You're probably right, but now I just want to know more, lol!


While it's not fanfic, I think the Frick & Frack fight was a great example of Nick showing tough love when he confronted Brian about his voice.  No one else wanted to talk about it, but it needed to be addressed, and Nick wasn't afraid to go there, even though he knew it would be hard for Brian to hear.  The love part comes around at the end when he goes into the Michael Jordan analogy, which I adore.

So yes, I think Nick can be the tough love person in the right situation, especially now that he's got his own shit together.  He's on the receiving end of AJ's tough love in my story because AJ is the "sober" one (allegedly), and Nick is not.  (And Kevin is currently not capable of kicking doors down.)

I did mean in fanfic specifically, but you're absolutely spot on and his Michael Jordan analogy was beautiful. We should all give Nick some more moments to be the tough love person.

That's a perfect situation for AJ to give tough love, allegedly.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 11:17:00 PM
Glad I'm not alone. You're right, I should embrace the sadist in me and think "Oh boy, if I feel upset and concerned alongside my secret-keeper and I know what's coming next, those readers will feel extra gutted because they do not. Excellent."  ;D

I can't think of a time I stopped reading something entirely because it was too depressing either. Taken a break to stare off into space aimlessly, sure.

Oh, absolutely.  I have read plenty of stories that I found depressing, but those usually end up being the ones I love and remember the most because they made me feel something.  I look back at some of the old stuff on my favorites list and think, "This is really not as well-written as I remember it," but I could never remove them when I have such vivid memories of sobbing in front of my computer as I read them for the first time.

So what's the most dark/depressing story everyone has read?  Written?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 11:19:36 PM
LOL I know not to say "never" because then I will do it someday!  That's usually how it goes.  Maybe I'll write a fantasy epic someday!  As long as it's not another Nick cancer story LOL.

"I can't see myself" is the cop out version of leaving the door slightly ajar on the way to "never," lol. Maybe you should! They're pretty fun, albeit all consuming. Maybe you can write an epic fantasy Nick cancer story... somehow, lol.


AM means morning, so yes!  LOL I have a sign in my kitchen that says "I am a total morning person after 11:30am," and that is so me.  I've always been a night owl.

If I find myself continuing to write in my head after I close the computer, I usually open it up again and keep going while the words are flowing so I don't forget them, but I like when I can leave myself off in the middle of a scene or sentence with some idea of what comes next, but not knowing the exact words.

LOL You know my writing is going well when I start falling behind on TV shows or make it to afternoon without turning on my TV because I usually spend a lot of time lying on the couch watching TV.

I love that little sign. That's me, but 10am or so.

Oh definitely, if I have exact words, I will never leave the computer/phone/tablet/whatever. It's when they get vague that I think it's time for a break.

Same. I am only caught up on Masked Singer. Our tv is usually on because of hubs, but today, I ate breakfast and then sat in our office all day until dinner. I didn't even turn on any music, which is atypical for me. I was in the zone! (As I mentioned, we seem to be having the same two conversations across several posts, lol.)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 11:20:20 PM
He was in his early twenties. All guys in their early twenties think they are "bad boys," lol. I love our bad boy with a heart of gold.

Does this make Brian a "bad boy next door"?  :o lol

LOL!

This is why I love A-Rok.  AJ and Brian are such opposites in so many ways, but they have such a great relationship.  They're like yin and yang.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 11:24:12 PM
Oh, absolutely.  I have read plenty of stories that I found depressing, but those usually end up being the ones I love and remember the most because they made me feel something.  I look back at some of the old stuff on my favorites list and think, "This is really not as well-written as I remember it," but I could never remove them when I have such vivid memories of sobbing in front of my computer as I read them for the first time.

So what's the most dark/depressing story everyone has read?  Written?

That's the goal right? To make readers feel something. There's several published novels out there that I would call "not that great" that clearly meant a lot to so many people. I think what you get out of it is probably better than how well or not well it was written.

I can't think of a fanfic off the top of my head at the moment, but Night comes to mind right away.

Written goes without saying.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 11:26:11 PM
LOL!

This is why I love A-Rok.  AJ and Brian are such opposites in so many ways, but they have such a great relationship.  They're like yin and yang.

And with their powers combined, they are Captain Planet! lol

They're the odd couple. It works when there's enough balance to off-set the differences. :) And when they're characters, it's a nice built in juxtaposition.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 11:26:52 PM
"I can't see myself" is the cop out version of leaving the door slightly ajar on the way to "never," lol. Maybe you should! They're pretty fun, albeit all consuming. Maybe you can write an epic fantasy Nick cancer story... somehow, lol.

LOL Absolutely.  Because I have learned that when I say I will "never" do something, I end up doing it down the road.  So maybe I will write a 200-chapter Nick cancer fantasy epic.  It would probably be better as a sci-fi.  Maybe something like "Fantastic Voyage" (or that Rugrats episode where Chuckie eats the watermelon seed) with the other Boys shrinking themselves and going on an adventure inside Nick's brain to destroy the tumor.


Same. I am only caught up on Masked Singer. Our tv is usually on because of hubs, but today, I ate breakfast and then sat in our office all day until dinner. I didn't even turn on any music, which is atypical for me. I was in the zone! (As I mentioned, we seem to be having the same two conversations across several posts, lol.)

I haven't even watched Masked Singer from last week!  I didn't watch any of my shows until days later because I was so off schedule with my days of the week LOL.

Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 11:41:25 PM
That's the goal right? To make readers feel something. There's several published novels out there that I would call "not that great" that clearly meant a lot to so many people. I think what you get out of it is probably better than how well or not well it was written.

Absolutely!


I can't think of a fanfic off the top of my head at the moment, but Night comes to mind right away.

Written goes without saying.

Ooh yeah, anything about the Holocaust is bound to be dark and depressing.

I think the last published novel that destroyed me was actually "The One and Only Ivan" LOL.  I loved it, but it's one I will never be able to read aloud to my class because of a certain part in the middle that made me ugly cry.  I can't handle sad animal stuff.

As far as fanfics go, Swollen Issues III wins for the most depressing one I've read.  That story was like torture porn for medical drama lovers.  In terms of darkest, though, I think I would have to go with a suspense story like Signal to Noise or Mind Games or one of Mare's, maybe It Stays With You.  Something where the boys literally do get tortured, whether physically or emotionally.

From a writing standpoint, the most depressing novel I've written is probably Sick as My Secrets, and the darkest is definitely A Heart That Isn't Mine.  I'm separating "depressing" and "dark" because although they go together, I define them differently.  A depressing story is sad and angsty, but a dark story is also twisted or scary in some way.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 10, 2021, 11:44:24 PM
And with their powers combined, they are Captain Planet! lol

They're the odd couple. It works when there's enough balance to off-set the differences. :) And when they're characters, it's a nice built in juxtaposition.

Yes!  Captain Planet!  Best superhero theme song ever.  I wish they would reboot that for today's youths, but keep the song LOL.  I wrote a little BSB Captain Planet parody into my second pandaskunk story and had so much fun playing that song over and over again LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 11:52:28 PM
LOL Absolutely.  Because I have learned that when I say I will "never" do something, I end up doing it down the road.  So maybe I will write a 200-chapter Nick cancer fantasy epic.  It would probably be better as a sci-fi.  Maybe something like "Fantastic Voyage" (or that Rugrats episode where Chuckie eats the watermelon seed) with the other Boys shrinking themselves and going on an adventure inside Nick's brain to destroy the tumor.

LMFAO! It's like the Magic School Bus human body episode/book, loved that one. Please give them magic science powers to defeat the tumor, lol.

Ms. Frizzle looks weird in the reboot.


I haven't even watched Masked Singer from last week!  I didn't watch any of my shows until days later because I was so off schedule with my days of the week LOL.

Woah! Spring Break has really mucked up your days of the week! You haven't missed much. Not sure if that's a spoiler or not.

Yes!  Captain Planet!  Best superhero theme song ever.  I wish they would reboot that for today's youths, but keep the song LOL.  I wrote a little BSB Captain Planet parody into my second pandaskunk story and had so much fun playing that song over and over again LOL.

Haha, speaking of reboots. That song is great.

I love when they reboot things, but keep the old theme music or do little call backs. An example off the top of my head: Thundercats was one of my favorite things as a child, and I nearly died when they rebooted it and Lion-O's father in the reboot was voiced by the 80's Lion-O and you got to hear him do "Thundercats, Ho!" again.

Aww, BSB Captain Planet! They fit perfectly.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 10, 2021, 11:56:50 PM
I think the last published novel that destroyed me was actually "The One and Only Ivan" LOL.  I loved it, but it's one I will never be able to read aloud to my class because of a certain part in the middle that made me ugly cry.  I can't handle sad animal stuff.

Did you watch the movie on Disney+? Was it close to novel ugly crying? You're right, you definitely can't ugly cry in front of your class, they will judge you forever. I am not speaking from personal experience (yes I am).


As far as fanfics go, Swollen Issues III wins for the most depressing one I've read.  That story was like torture porn for medical drama lovers.  In terms of darkest, though, I think I would have to go with a suspense story like Signal to Noise or Mind Games or one of Mare's, maybe It Stays With You.  Something where the boys literally do get tortured, whether physically or emotionally.

From a writing standpoint, the most depressing novel I've written is probably Sick as My Secrets, and the darkest is definitely A Heart That Isn't Mine.  I'm separating "depressing" and "dark" because although they go together, I define them differently.  A depressing story is sad and angsty, but a dark story is also twisted or scary in some way.

I think you're right, it's gotta be something with torture. Those were good examples.

It's good that you separate them. A sad, angsty, twisted, and scary story would be a rollercoaster of dark and depressing emotions, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 11, 2021, 12:15:07 AM
LMFAO! It's like the Magic School Bus human body episode/book, loved that one. Please give them magic science powers to defeat the tumor, lol.

Ms. Frizzle looks weird in the reboot.

Yes!  Of course that was my favorite Magic School Bus episode LOL.

I haven't watched the reboot, but I've seen pictures, and yes, she does.


Woah! Spring Break has really mucked up your days of the week! You haven't missed much. Not sure if that's a spoiler or not.

I know!  I think I'm caught up on everything but Masked Singer and New Amsterdam now.  I don't really care about Masked Singer this season.  I used to avoid Twitter until after I watched it to avoid being spoiled, but I've been on it and still haven't seen who was unmasked.  Don't tell me, though; I'll fast forward through it at some point LOL.


Did you watch the movie on Disney+? Was it close to novel ugly crying? You're right, you definitely can't ugly cry in front of your class, they will judge you forever. I am not speaking from personal experience (yes I am).

I actually haven't watched the movie yet!  Did you?  Was it anywhere close to as good as the book?

LOL I cried in front of them the one and only year I read Wonder aloud, which I knew was going to happen because that one made me ugly cry when I read it on my own too.  The dog... I knew I wouldn't be able to get through that part.  Now I save Wonder for lit circles so they can read it on their own, and then we can get together after the fact and talk about how much that part made us cry.  Ivan will be the same way.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 11, 2021, 12:29:28 AM
Yes!  Of course that was my favorite Magic School Bus episode LOL.

I haven't watched the reboot, but I've seen pictures, and yes, she does.

I am not surprised at all, lol. I always liked the bee one and the dinosaur one too.


I know!  I think I'm caught up on everything but Masked Singer and New Amsterdam now.  I don't really care about Masked Singer this season.  I used to avoid Twitter until after I watched it to avoid being spoiled, but I've been on it and still haven't seen who was unmasked.  Don't tell me, though; I'll fast forward through it at some point LOL.

lol, of course you would fast forward through it. I got so many spoiler notifications last season because I would creep on twitter to see what people were saying about Nick, lol. But they seem to have gone away finally.


I actually haven't watched the movie yet!  Did you?  Was it anywhere close to as good as the book?

LOL I cried in front of them the one and only year I read Wonder aloud, which I knew was going to happen because that one made me ugly cry when I read it on my own too.  The dog... I knew I wouldn't be able to get through that part.  Now I save Wonder for lit circles so they can read it on their own, and then we can get together after the fact and talk about how much that part made us cry.  Ivan will be the same way.

I haven't! I've been meaning to read the book as well, actually, and just wanted to know if I should save myself some ugly crying and watch the movie instead.

Dogs in books are the worst. Crying every time. It's so much better when they can read things on their own and you can talk about crying later. Haven't had that luxury in a long time.


It's been a day!

This is my writing update to say that I have now finished my tricky Kevin chapter (minus one bridge scene that I skipped to get to writing the interesting part) and have the next chapter ready to go in my head, but I have hit that post-chapter wall and figured 11pm was a good time to stop writing non-stop for the day, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 11, 2021, 05:15:27 AM
Interesting conversation last night ladies. It’s nice to see you both into your zones. When I wrote it was always first thing in the morning and when I say morning, I mean morning. I’m always awake by 5. Most times earlier. I never slept past my alarm in all the years I taught. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I actually woke up to my alarm. I always beat it. I’m not sure why I even set one. How often was it that we’d end up posting on here or LD at the same time as you were all still awake and I had just woken up? lol

Fanfics rarely made me cry but I’m with you with Swollen Issues 3, Julie. It made me cry and then made me mad. Your scene with Nick sitting on the beach trying to decide if he wants his leg chopped off in Broken also choked me up. I can’t think of any others. I agree about the sad versus dark thing. There’s a lot of fanfics that made me uncomfortably squirm, but not cry.

Many books have done it to me. I absolutely refuse to read books about animals. Especially damn dogs because no matter what, they end up dead. Dead kids? Fine. Dead pets? No! The latest book that made me weepy was the end of A Man Called Ove. I also always ugly cry during The Five People You Meet in Heaven and when Beth dies in Little Women.

Masked Singer has been eh this season, although after last season with Nick, I knew it wouldn’t be the same. I always watch it on Fridays. Ever since dvr, I don’t watch any shows in real time anymore lol New Amsterdam has been great this season and I also enjoyed this season of Snow Piercer.

I’ve only watched the BSB doc twice I believe, although I do own it. That fight disturbed me but I hate watching real life confrontations . I do think it was brave of Nick to bring up the vocal issue. I’m not surprised that behind the scenes Brian is a jerk. I’ve always said that and blurry Brian was the proof I needed. I do think at one point or another each one of them has played the one with his shit together and also the one who was a complete mess. That’s how life goes.

I don’t think I ever written Kevin, Nick or Howie too far out of their perceived stereotypes. I was never a huge fan of boy next door Brian and I guess I never really wrote AJ as a bad boy either.

Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 11, 2021, 04:59:07 PM
This is my writing update to say that I have now finished my tricky Kevin chapter (minus one bridge scene that I skipped to get to writing the interesting part) and have the next chapter ready to go in my head, but I have hit that post-chapter wall and figured 11pm was a good time to stop writing non-stop for the day, lol.

Good for you!  I hope your silence so far today means you're having another good writing day.

I had one of those days today.  I never could get started on my next chapter yesterday and finally gave up and went to bed, hoping I would come up with a good first line in the morning.  I'm glad I waited instead of trying to force something out last night because I figured out a much better beginning this morning than I would have last night.  I wrote from 11 to 5 with only a half-hour break to shower at 3:30 LOL.  I also hit page 100, which always feels like a milestone, even if I'm used to writing much longer stories.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 11, 2021, 05:25:55 PM
Interesting conversation last night ladies. It’s nice to see you both into your zones. When I wrote it was always first thing in the morning and when I say morning, I mean morning. I’m always awake by 5. Most times earlier. I never slept past my alarm in all the years I taught. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I actually woke up to my alarm. I always beat it. I’m not sure why I even set one. How often was it that we’d end up posting on here or LD at the same time as you were all still awake and I had just woken up? lol

I am always amazed by morning people like you!  Waking up without an alarm??  What is this sorcery?  I have multiple alarms set on my phone at full volume in case I sleep through the first or shut it off and accidentally fall back asleep, which I have been known to do.  I also have an alarm clock called the Sonic Bomb that buzzes super loud and has flashing lights and a vibrator thing that goes under the mattress to shake it.  It's ridiculous, but being a heavy sleeper and not having anyone around to wake me up I oversleep makes me paranoid.  My parents are like you, though - they never need to set an alarm.  They also go to bed at like 8 o'clock, which I have tried and cannot do.  If I go to bed early, it's usually at like 5, and I take a nap for two hours and then get up again.  I have terrible sleep habits LOL.  I wish I could be a teacher on a second shift schedule because my summer schedule, where I stay up all night and sleep until early afternoon, is my natural circadian rhythm.


Fanfics rarely made me cry but I’m with you with Swollen Issues 3, Julie. It made me cry and then made me mad. Your scene with Nick sitting on the beach trying to decide if he wants his leg chopped off in Broken also choked me up. I can’t think of any others. I agree about the sad versus dark thing. There’s a lot of fanfics that made me uncomfortably squirm, but not cry.

Many books have done it to me. I absolutely refuse to read books about animals. Especially damn dogs because no matter what, they end up dead. Dead kids? Fine. Dead pets? No! The latest book that made me weepy was the end of A Man Called Ove. I also always ugly cry during The Five People You Meet in Heaven and when Beth dies in Little Women.

Yeah, that story was devastating.  Thanks for the Broken mention!  I still remember writing that scene because it was the last thing I wrote before moving out for college, so I was in a pretty emotional headspace myself.

About depressing vs. dark - exactly.  That is a good way to differentiate it.  Does it make you cry and feel sad, or does it make you squirm and feel uncomfortable?

I totally agree about animals too.  I will cry over human characters dying if I care about them enough, but an animal dying always destroys me, even if it's just a small part of the story.  The most heartbreaking death in the whole Harry Potter series for me was Hedwig.  I shed a few tears over other characters' deaths, but I sobbed for that poor owl.  And don't even get me started on dog books.  I still remember reading Where the Red Fern Grows in my 7th grade literature class, where the teacher had us round-robin read it in class, and the day we read the end, she only called on boys to read aloud because all of us girls were crying.  Such a sad book, but a great bonding experience.


Masked Singer has been eh this season, although after last season with Nick, I knew it wouldn’t be the same. I always watch it on Fridays. Ever since dvr, I don’t watch any shows in real time anymore lol New Amsterdam has been great this season and I also enjoyed this season of Snow Piercer.

I'm a few episodes behind on New Amsterdam, but it's been okay.  I'm really glad they didn't kill Dr. Kapoor in the first couple episodes because I like him.

I am mad at myself because after how excited I was about getting caught up with Snowpiercer before this season started, I fell way behind on it!  I watched the first few episodes, and then I think I got distracted with my story and started writing on Monday nights instead and stopped watching it live.  I have all the episodes recorded, so I need to catch up.  I thought I was going to do that over spring break, but I haven't watched very much TV.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 11, 2021, 09:01:41 PM
Interesting conversation last night ladies. It’s nice to see you both into your zones. When I wrote it was always first thing in the morning and when I say morning, I mean morning. I’m always awake by 5. Most times earlier. I never slept past my alarm in all the years I taught. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the amount of times I actually woke up to my alarm. I always beat it. I’m not sure why I even set one. How often was it that we’d end up posting on here or LD at the same time as you were all still awake and I had just woken up? lol

Were you always a morning person, Mare, or did you become one? Teach me your ways if it's the second one, lol. I need a million alarms to wake up or I'm asleep until some time between 8am and 11am and never know which one it will be.

I believe it was all the time and you were always surprised that we were all still up. At least for Rose and I, it was slightly earlier, closer to 2/3am and not Julie's 4am! Except for the few times when we were all up until it his 9am the next morning. Those were wild nights, lol.

I am always amazed by morning people like you!  Waking up without an alarm??  What is this sorcery?  I have multiple alarms set on my phone at full volume in case I sleep through the first or shut it off and accidentally fall back asleep, which I have been known to do.  I also have an alarm clock called the Sonic Bomb that buzzes super loud and has flashing lights and a vibrator thing that goes under the mattress to shake it.  It's ridiculous, but being a heavy sleeper and not having anyone around to wake me up I oversleep makes me paranoid.  My parents are like you, though - they never need to set an alarm.  They also go to bed at like 8 o'clock, which I have tried and cannot do.  If I go to bed early, it's usually at like 5, and I take a nap for two hours and then get up again.  I have terrible sleep habits LOL.  I wish I could be a teacher on a second shift schedule because my summer schedule, where I stay up all night and sleep until early afternoon, is my natural circadian rhythm.

This is all me except for that Sonic Bomb. My last effort alarm clock is my husband saying "your alarm went off again." And that doesn't always work. I can only fall asleep at 8pm if I'm absolutely dying. I don't even know what my natural circadian rhythm is because I inevitably end up thinking I'm tired, then lay awake in bed for hours.


I agree about the sad versus dark thing. There’s a lot of fanfics that made me uncomfortably squirm, but not cry.

Thanks for the Broken mention!  I still remember writing that scene because it was the last thing I wrote before moving out for college, so I was in a pretty emotional headspace myself.

About depressing vs. dark - exactly.  That is a good way to differentiate it.  Does it make you cry and feel sad, or does it make you squirm and feel uncomfortable?

These are all good points.

Also, what does everyone think, is it easier to write in an emotional headspace (sad, angry, whatever) when you're feeling that way yourself or more difficult?


Many books have done it to me. I absolutely refuse to read books about animals. Especially damn dogs because no matter what, they end up dead. Dead kids? Fine. Dead pets? No! The latest book that made me weepy was the end of A Man Called Ove. I also always ugly cry during The Five People You Meet in Heaven and when Beth dies in Little Women.

I totally agree about animals too.  I will cry over human characters dying if I care about them enough, but an animal dying always destroys me, even if it's just a small part of the story.  The most heartbreaking death in the whole Harry Potter series for me was Hedwig.  I shed a few tears over other characters' deaths, but I sobbed for that poor owl.  And don't even get me started on dog books.  I still remember reading Where the Red Fern Grows in my 7th grade literature class, where the teacher had us round-robin read it in class, and the day we read the end, she only called on boys to read aloud because all of us girls were crying.  Such a sad book, but a great bonding experience.

This is why I try to avoid dead animal books, I'm always sobbing. Where the Red Fern Grows destroyed me in fifth grade. I even cry at sad animal commercials, or happy animal commercials. Really, if there's an animal in it, I'm crying. Even if they're cute dogs wearing bow ties. It's ridiculous.

Also, yes, Beth dying gets me every time. Even though I know it's coming!


Masked Singer has been eh this season, although after last season with Nick, I knew it wouldn’t be the same. I always watch it on Fridays. Ever since dvr, I don’t watch any shows in real time anymore lol

But the Russian Doll being multiple people has given me hope that the Boys could all be on it together some day. They have some sort of costume, unmask them, and it's Nick in the crocodile suit, lol.


I’ve only watched the BSB doc twice I believe, although I do own it. That fight disturbed me but I hate watching real life confrontations . I do think it was brave of Nick to bring up the vocal issue. I’m not surprised that behind the scenes Brian is a jerk. I’ve always said that and blurry Brian was the proof I needed. I do think at one point or another each one of them has played the one with his shit together and also the one who was a complete mess. That’s how life goes.

I don’t think I ever written Kevin, Nick or Howie too far out of their perceived stereotypes. I was never a huge fan of boy next door Brian and I guess I never really wrote AJ as a bad boy either.

Being present for confrontations isn't my favorite either. Ugh, blurry Brian. I'd completely forgotten about that until it came up last time.

When was Kevin a complete mess? When he left? He's the only one I can't see being a complete hot mess.

How could you be a fan of boy next door Brian if you think he's a jerk? lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 11, 2021, 09:18:42 PM
Good for you!  I hope your silence so far today means you're having another good writing day.

You know, it's been pretty good. I woke up with this very vivid picture in my mind this morning and was jotting down some notes about it. And then I realized it wasn't Nick doing a thing, it was Nick looking at/reacting to a painting and then this whole group of little scenes sprung out of it and I got to put some of my new research in. It was fun. Then I started my next PNecklace chapter and decided to write a little flashback scene with the secret and it's been making me laugh so hard.

I've also enjoyed watching my little read counters go up. :) The later PNecklace chapters are getting some hits, so that makes me happy. Everyone's probably behind on their reading like I am as I furiously write for hours instead. And from what is my best guess, PBox has been read about 600 times, so it's an enjoyable day over here.


I had one of those days today.  I never could get started on my next chapter yesterday and finally gave up and went to bed, hoping I would come up with a good first line in the morning.  I'm glad I waited instead of trying to force something out last night because I figured out a much better beginning this morning than I would have last night.  I wrote from 11 to 5 with only a half-hour break to shower at 3:30 LOL.  I also hit page 100, which always feels like a milestone, even if I'm used to writing much longer stories.

Woo! Good for you on a hard work writing day! The inspiration around here is infectious! :) When y'all are motivated, it makes me feel motivated too.

Glad you came up with something better and found time to shower, lol. Congrats on hitting page 100! Every time I hit 100, 200, etcetera, it always makes me happy too. It just means the story is coming along. I'm at about 345 pages right now or so... Getting closer to the end bit by bit.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 11, 2021, 09:31:46 PM
Ooh, I was poking around NaNo and found this: https://wordsprints.org/ (https://wordsprints.org/)

Could be fun to schedule a word sprint against each other if we're all having inspired days. :) See what we can do in fifteen to thirty minutes or something.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 11, 2021, 11:16:26 PM
Were you always a morning person, Mare, or did you become one? Teach me your ways if it's the second one, lol. I need a million alarms to wake up or I'm asleep until some time between 8am and 11am and never know which one it will be.

I believe it was all the time and you were always surprised that we were all still up. At least for Rose and I, it was slightly earlier, closer to 2/3am and not Julie's 4am! Except for the few times when we were all up until it his 9am the next morning. Those were wild nights, lol.

This is all me except for that Sonic Bomb. My last effort alarm clock is my husband saying "your alarm went off again." And that doesn't always work. I can only fall asleep at 8pm if I'm absolutely dying. I don't even know what my natural circadian rhythm is because I inevitably end up thinking I'm tired, then lay awake in bed for hours.

Yes, same!  I lost my internal clock in college.  My dorm roommate had a double major, a full course load, a part-time job, and a boyfriend, so she was always really busy and would regularly stay up into the wee hours of the morning studying while I was trying to sleep before my 8 a.m. classes.  So I learned to sleep through just about anything with the light on.  I think that's what made me such a deep sleeper as an adult.


Also, what does everyone think, is it easier to write in an emotional headspace (sad, angry, whatever) when you're feeling that way yourself or more difficult?

It depends.  In general, I would say I write best when I'm in a good mood and not stressing out about something.  But I have been known to channel negative emotions into positive writing experiences.  I started Secrets of the Heart after a shitty week at work, when I desperately just needed to think about something else over the weekend.  And I got on a roll with A Heart That Isn't Mine after my grandpa died, when I was also trying to distract myself.  I think it works best when I'm in that emotional headspace because of something I can't control, like grief.  There's nothing you can really do about grief; you just have to go through it.  But if it's caused by a problem I can and should solve, it's harder to focus on writing before I do something to fix the problem.


But the Russian Doll being multiple people has given me hope that the Boys could all be on it together some day. They have some sort of costume, unmask them, and it's Nick in the crocodile suit, lol.

LOL That would be awesome!

We may have discussed this before, but which BSB do we think is most likely to be on the Masked Singer next?  My money's on AJ, but I think it would be a great moment for Howie or Kevin to shine.  I don't see Brian doing it unless it was something with the whole group, partly because of his voice and partly because he just doesn't like the type to do a reality show.  Right, Blurry Brian?

In hindsight, maybe he should have gone on Celebrity Apprentice back in the day LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 11, 2021, 11:25:21 PM
You know, it's been pretty good. I woke up with this very vivid picture in my mind this morning and was jotting down some notes about it. And then I realized it wasn't Nick doing a thing, it was Nick looking at/reacting to a painting and then this whole group of little scenes sprung out of it and I got to put some of my new research in. It was fun. Then I started my next PNecklace chapter and decided to write a little flashback scene with the secret and it's been making me laugh so hard.

That is fun!  I love when you wake up with words or pictures already in your mind, just ready to write.  Mine was this whole made-up anecdote about Kevin finding a baby bird when he was a kid, and it was exactly the kind of thing I needed to bookend the bird reference I'm planning to use at the end of this chapter, but I couldn't come up with anything that good last night.


I've also enjoyed watching my little read counters go up. :) The later PNecklace chapters are getting some hits, so that makes me happy. Everyone's probably behind on their reading like I am as I furiously write for hours instead. And from what is my best guess, PBox has been read about 600 times, so it's an enjoyable day over here.

That's great!  I wish more of these readers would leave comments, but at least there's people clicking on your stories.


Woo! Good for you on a hard work writing day! The inspiration around here is infectious! :) When y'all are motivated, it makes me feel motivated too.

Glad you came up with something better and found time to shower, lol. Congrats on hitting page 100! Every time I hit 100, 200, etcetera, it always makes me happy too. It just means the story is coming along. I'm at about 345 pages right now or so... Getting closer to the end bit by bit.

Thanks!  Yes, your good writing day yesterday must have rubbed off on me today!  I wrote 3000 words, which is a lot for me in one day.

Good for you for getting to page 345, thereabouts!  How long do you estimate the finished story will be?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 11, 2021, 11:27:42 PM
Ooh, I was poking around NaNo and found this: https://wordsprints.org/ (https://wordsprints.org/)

Could be fun to schedule a word sprint against each other if we're all having inspired days. :) See what we can do in fifteen to thirty minutes or something.

LOL I would probably be terrible at that, but it sounds like a fun thing to try sometime.  Maybe the competition aspect of it would help keep me focused and make me write faster.  As we've discussed, I can type quickly, but I don't write quickly.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 12, 2021, 09:47:44 AM
I am always amazed by morning people like you!  Waking up without an alarm??  What is this sorcery?  I have multiple alarms set on my phone at full volume in case I sleep through the first or shut it off and accidentally fall back asleep, which I have been known to do.  I also have an alarm clock called the Sonic Bomb that buzzes super loud and has flashing lights and a vibrator thing that goes under the mattress to shake it.  It's ridiculous, but being a heavy sleeper and not having anyone around to wake me up I oversleep makes me paranoid.  My parents are like you, though - they never need to set an alarm.  They also go to bed at like 8 o'clock, which I have tried and cannot do.  If I go to bed early, it's usually at like 5, and I take a nap for two hours and then get up again.  I have terrible sleep habits LOL.  I wish I could be a teacher on a second shift schedule because my summer schedule, where I stay up all night and sleep until early afternoon, is my natural circadian rhythm.[\quote]

Wow! We are totally opposite! My sister is more like you. Her alarm goes off about ten times before she usually gets up and the level of loudness and noise varies depending on how late it’s getting. No matter how early or late I go to bed, I’m at early. I always wake up around 3 then it’s a waiting game until I get myself totally up. I sleep about 3 to 4 hours a night if I’m lucky. That’s with taking zzz quill. My sleep patterns also suck!


Quote
Yeah, that story was devastating.  Thanks for the Broken mention!  I still remember writing that scene because it was the last thing I wrote before moving out for college, so I was in a pretty emotional headspace myself.

About depressing vs. dark - exactly.  That is a good way to differentiate it.  Does it make you cry and feel sad, or does it make you squirm and feel uncomfortable?

I totally agree about animals too.  I will cry over human characters dying if I care about them enough, but an animal dying always destroys me, even if it's just a small part of the story.  The most heartbreaking death in the whole Harry Potter series for me was Hedwig.  I shed a few tears over other characters' deaths, but I sobbed for that poor owl.  And don't even get me started on dog books.  I still remember reading Where the Red Fern Grows in my 7th grade literature class, where the teacher had us round-robin read it in class, and the day we read the end, she only called on boys to read aloud because all of us girls were crying.  Such a sad book, but a great bonding experience.[\quote]

I managed to escape all the dead or dying dog novels in elementary school and up. I’ve never read the Red Fern but I was always able to tell when my students were reading it in class lol


Quote
I'm a few episodes behind on New Amsterdam, but it's been okay.  I'm really glad they didn't kill Dr. Kapoor in the first couple episodes because I like him.

I am mad at myself because after how excited I was about getting caught up with Snowpiercer before this season started, I fell way behind on it!  I watched the first few episodes, and then I think I got distracted with my story and started writing on Monday nights instead and stopped watching it live.  I have all the episodes recorded, so I need to catch up.  I thought I was going to do that over spring break, but I haven't watched very much TV.

I’m glad they didn’t kill him off too. I feel like all the medical dramas felt like they needed to kill off characters to make a Covid realistic episode. I’m glad all the main characters were spared on both that one and The Resident. Let me know when you get caught up with Snow Piercer.


sorry this came out looking so weird. I tried to do the quote thing but I do this from my phone so it’s not working properly. [\color]
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 12, 2021, 09:59:11 AM
Were you always a morning person, Mare, or did you become one? Teach me your ways if it's the second one, lol. I need a million alarms to wake up or I'm asleep until some time between 8am and 11am and never know which one it will be.

I believe it was all the time and you were always surprised that we were all still up. At least for Rose and I, it was slightly earlier, closer to 2/3am and not Julie's 4am! Except for the few times when we were all up until it his 9am the next morning. Those were wild nights, lol.

This is all me except for that Sonic Bomb. My last effort alarm clock is my husband saying "your alarm went off again." And that doesn't always work. I can only fall asleep at 8pm if I'm absolutely dying. I don't even know what my natural circadian rhythm is because I inevitably end up thinking I'm tired, then lay awake in bed for hours.


These are all good points.

Also, what does everyone think, is it easier to write in an emotional headspace (sad, angry, whatever) when you're feeling that way yourself or more difficult?


This is why I try to avoid dead animal books, I'm always sobbing. Where the Red Fern Grows destroyed me in fifth grade. I even cry at sad animal commercials, or happy animal commercials. Really, if there's an animal in it, I'm crying. Even if they're cute dogs wearing bow ties. It's ridiculous.

Also, yes, Beth dying gets me every time. Even though I know it's coming!


But the Russian Doll being multiple people has given me hope that the Boys could all be on it together some day. They have some sort of costume, unmask them, and it's Nick in the crocodile suit, lol.


Being present for confrontations isn't my favorite either. Ugh, blurry Brian. I'd completely forgotten about that until it came up last time.

When was Kevin a complete mess? When he left? He's the only one I can't see being a complete hot mess.

How could you be a fan of boy next door Brian if you think he's a jerk? lol

I was always a morning person, even as a kid. I do tend to try to go to bed by 10 but it seldom works.

I think it’s easier to write emotional scenes when you can relate to the scene your writing. I tried to put myself into that situation mentally and it tended to flow pretty easily.

Those Russian Dolls sound like Hanson to me. I don’t hear a female voice at all! And I really can’t see the boys ever doing that together and I hope AJ isn’t the next one to do it. It’ll be like it’s always AJ going for Nick’s sloppy seconds.

I’m sure Kevin has been a complete mess at some point. Just because it doesn’t happen in public, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And I was never a fan of boy next door Brian because I’ve never really been a fan of Brian lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 12, 2021, 04:55:58 PM
Wow! We are totally opposite! My sister is more like you. Her alarm goes off about ten times before she usually gets up and the level of loudness and noise varies depending on how late it’s getting. No matter how early or late I go to bed, I’m at early. I always wake up around 3 then it’s a waiting game until I get myself totally up. I sleep about 3 to 4 hours a night if I’m lucky. That’s with taking zzz quill. My sleep patterns also suck!

LOL Yes we are.  I had a terrible night's sleep last night... probably because I slept in too late yesterday and then stayed up too late writing and talking to you all, then couldn't get to sleep.  I took a melatonin at 9:30, which did nothing, then finally caved and added two Benadryl at 1 a.m. when I was still awake.  I didn't get to sleep until around 2 and then kept waking up every hour.  Then I still managed to oversleep ten minutes past my last alarm.  Ugh!  I am normally not that bad; once I fall asleep, I'm usually good at staying asleep or getting back to sleep quickly if I do wake up in the middle of the night.  Hopefully I will be tired enough to go to bed early tonight.  I don't know how you function on 3-4 hours of sleep a night.  I average about 6 on a school night, but then I am always exhausted by Friday and can easily sleep 9-10 hours on the weekend.


I managed to escape all the dead or dying dog novels in elementary school and up. I’ve never read the Red Fern but I was always able to tell when my students were reading it in class lol

You are lucky!  The worst sad animal book I had to read for school was The Yearling.  I hated that book!!


I’m glad they didn’t kill him off too. I feel like all the medical dramas felt like they needed to kill off characters to make a Covid realistic episode. I’m glad all the main characters were spared on both that one and The Resident. Let me know when you get caught up with Snow Piercer.

Yeah, I noticed that too.  I guess they couldn't do a Covid episode without some casualties, or it would seem like they weren't taking it seriously enough.  I was glad the nurse in The Resident survived too; I thought she was a goner because she wasn't a main character.  I'm hanging by a thread with that show; I have almost quit watching it several times, but then a good episode will come along and it sucks me back in.  I miss ER.

I'll let you know when I catch up with Snowpiercer!  At the rate I'm going, it may not be until summer LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 12, 2021, 05:01:25 PM
If Kevin was ever a complete mess, I'm guessing it would have been right before BSB came along, after his dad died.  I could imagine him feeling a little lost at that time, and he would have been right at that college kid age.  But he has always seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, so I doubt it was much of anything compared to Nick and AJ LOL.

Random fun fact I learned from Kevin's Wikipedia page yesterday:  Did you know he was an extra in "My Girl"??  I had never heard that before, so I looked it up, and yep, here he is: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0f/57/ec/0f57ec28f9eac260ac16fe864d33b393.jpg  He's in the carnival scene.  How did I not know that??
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on April 12, 2021, 06:08:38 PM
Yes, I knew he was an extra in My Girl.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 13, 2021, 09:44:57 PM
Wow! We are totally opposite! My sister is more like you. Her alarm goes off about ten times before she usually gets up and the level of loudness and noise varies depending on how late it’s getting. No matter how early or late I go to bed, I’m at early. I always wake up around 3 then it’s a waiting game until I get myself totally up. I sleep about 3 to 4 hours a night if I’m lucky. That’s with taking zzz quill. My sleep patterns also suck!

I was always a morning person, even as a kid. I do tend to try to go to bed by 10 but it seldom works.

LOL Yes we are.  I had a terrible night's sleep last night... probably because I slept in too late yesterday and then stayed up too late writing and talking to you all, then couldn't get to sleep.  I took a melatonin at 9:30, which did nothing, then finally caved and added two Benadryl at 1 a.m. when I was still awake.  I didn't get to sleep until around 2 and then kept waking up every hour.  Then I still managed to oversleep ten minutes past my last alarm.  Ugh!  I am normally not that bad; once I fall asleep, I'm usually good at staying asleep or getting back to sleep quickly if I do wake up in the middle of the night.  Hopefully I will be tired enough to go to bed early tonight.  I don't know how you function on 3-4 hours of sleep a night.  I average about 6 on a school night, but then I am always exhausted by Friday and can easily sleep 9-10 hours on the weekend.

Yes, same!  I lost my internal clock in college.  My dorm roommate had a double major, a full course load, a part-time job, and a boyfriend, so she was always really busy and would regularly stay up into the wee hours of the morning studying while I was trying to sleep before my 8 a.m. classes.  So I learned to sleep through just about anything with the light on.  I think that's what made me such a deep sleeper as an adult.

I don't know how you function on 3-4 hours habitually, Mare! The days I have Julie's Sunday-Monday sleep are so rough for me. Like two coffees to exist rough. My fitbit says I average 5-7 hours on work nights and 7-9 hours on non-work nights. I was guessing when you were on before and calling "5am" reasonable. If you were up at 3am though, we were all for sure up. That was only midnight for Rose, lol.

I hope everyone got some quality sleeping in since it's been relatively quiet here the past couple of days. Or that everyone is so inspired that they can't tear themselves away from writing or reading a great novel.  ;D

My freshman roommate was like that also, Julie. If I am tired, I will sleep regardless of conditions. I miss being a high schooler. Somehow I was a pretty good 10ish to 6ish sleeper. Now I will call it 11/12ish to 5-7ish. Alas.


I managed to escape all the dead or dying dog novels in elementary school and up.

You are lucky!  The worst sad animal book I had to read for school was The Yearling.  I hated that book!!

Ugh, so jealous.

The Yearling was so sad!

This has nothing to do with dead animals, but my least favorite book from school related-reading was definitely A Separate Peace, lol.


sorry this came out looking so weird. I tried to do the quote thing but I do this from my phone so it’s not working properly. [\color]

The forum is both ridiculous and extremely slow on my phone as well. I couldn't imagine attempting the long quoting conversations on a phone, so I think y'all on your phones deserve some praise.

I see your issue though! You used "\" instead of "/" to close the tags? frames? what are we calling these things? Anyway, a very minor issue. :)

I think it’s easier to write emotional scenes when you can relate to the scene your writing. I tried to put myself into that situation mentally and it tended to flow pretty easily.

It depends.  In general, I would say I write best when I'm in a good mood and not stressing out about something.  But I have been known to channel negative emotions into positive writing experiences.  I started Secrets of the Heart after a shitty week at work, when I desperately just needed to think about something else over the weekend.  And I got on a roll with A Heart That Isn't Mine after my grandpa died, when I was also trying to distract myself.  I think it works best when I'm in that emotional headspace because of something I can't control, like grief.  There's nothing you can really do about grief; you just have to go through it.  But if it's caused by a problem I can and should solve, it's harder to focus on writing before I do something to fix the problem.

I think that's true. Even on the smallest level, you have to be able to envision how it feels.

Those questions I posted a while back, I never responded because I got stuck thinking of a life experience I often use in my writing and never came up with one, lol!

That's true too. I think there's a difference between in the moment thinking "I am feeling x, and I am writing a similar x" than "I recall a time when x happened to me, so character may be feeling similar." I also like writing to avoid (or work through) things I can't control. Avoiding things I can control is no good for my focus, like you said. I do probably write best when I have nothing on my plate except a desire to write.


Those Russian Dolls sound like Hanson to me. I don’t hear a female voice at all! And I really can’t see the boys ever doing that together and I hope AJ isn’t the next one to do it. It’ll be like it’s always AJ going for Nick’s sloppy seconds.

LOL That would be awesome!

We may have discussed this before, but which BSB do we think is most likely to be on the Masked Singer next?  My money's on AJ, but I think it would be a great moment for Howie or Kevin to shine.  I don't see Brian doing it unless it was something with the whole group, partly because of his voice and partly because he just doesn't like the type to do a reality show.  Right, Blurry Brian?

In hindsight, maybe he should have gone on Celebrity Apprentice back in the day LOL.

Same. I also feel like they're Hanson. Thinking the pig might be Nick Lachey and those are my guesses this season. My friend thinks the shell is SJP.

I enjoy seeing AJ on tv too, but I think he's gotta do a show first. I think at this point, Nick's just like "Monetize my life? Monetize my life. Cool." I'd say AJ would be more likely to do it than the others, but that's the perfect reason for Howie or Kevin to do it! It being the Masked Singer and all. :)

Were they not on Celebrity Apprentice? I thought they were. Have I added a tv appearance in my head that didn't actually exist?


I’m sure Kevin has been a complete mess at some point. Just because it doesn’t happen in public, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. And I was never a fan of boy next door Brian because I’ve never really been a fan of Brian lol

If Kevin was ever a complete mess, I'm guessing it would have been right before BSB came along, after his dad died.  I could imagine him feeling a little lost at that time, and he would have been right at that college kid age.  But he has always seemed to have a good head on his shoulders, so I doubt it was much of anything compared to Nick and AJ LOL.

Random fun fact I learned from Kevin's Wikipedia page yesterday:  Did you know he was an extra in "My Girl"??  I had never heard that before, so I looked it up, and yep, here he is: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/0f/57/ec/0f57ec28f9eac260ac16fe864d33b393.jpg  He's in the carnival scene.  How did I not know that??

I guess I meant in BSB-time, but you're both right, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, so he may be (or have been) better about keeping it private. After his dad died is probably a reasonable time to expect. I truthfully have just always assumed that he had his stuff together, but that may just be the 15-year age difference between us. Eleven-year-old me was like "Look at Kevin, he is so mature and well-adjusted." Meanwhile he was actually 26 and having been a 26-year-old, I'm like "Nah, 26 is only a little better than you were at 22, girl." Then at the same time: "I like this 18-year-old mess. He is so cute and charming. Oh? He's going to become even more of a hot mess? That's cool; ride or die, Nick," lol.

Mare always knew Brian had more going on than boy-next-door, lol.

I didn't know Kevin was an extra in My Girl! I'm going to be honest, I had an old age moment where I didn't immediately recognize the movie by title and thought I hadn't seen it at all. Oh Macaulay Culkin in the '90s.

(Okay, now I'm almost caught up. It took me a long time to respond to both of these, lol!)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 13, 2021, 10:09:06 PM
That is fun!  I love when you wake up with words or pictures already in your mind, just ready to write.  Mine was this whole made-up anecdote about Kevin finding a baby bird when he was a kid, and it was exactly the kind of thing I needed to bookend the bird reference I'm planning to use at the end of this chapter, but I couldn't come up with anything that good last night.

Me too! It's a good place to start off from even if they're not immediately in the narrative. I really just wanted to draw it, but the horses would have looked so ugly, lol.

Aww, what a sweet little anecdote to bookend another reference! That's awesome. I'm glad you slept on it and found the exact thing you needed.


That's great!  I wish more of these readers would leave comments, but at least there's people clicking on your stories.

Baby steps. Also, I get that it's harder to read somewhere, then go elsewhere and leave a comment. I figure as long as someone's reading it, then it was worth posting. :) (In addition to the many times I said it was worth writing regardless.)


Thanks!  Yes, your good writing day yesterday must have rubbed off on me today!  I wrote 3000 words, which is a lot for me in one day.

Good for you for getting to page 345, thereabouts!  How long do you estimate the finished story will be?

Ooh, 3,000 is a lot! I've been hoping to write whole chapters in a day, but it's been closer to 1500-2000 words for me, even when I was feeling very inspired. I keep taking research, forum, and/or "stare off into space and contemplate life" breaks, lol. Glad you had a great writing day! (Sorry your sleep suffered.)

PBox is about 442 pages, so I'm guessing at least that. Of "complete chapter chunks" the first 3/5th of PBox were about 251 pages and the first 3/5th of PNecklace are about 323 pages, so... I'm already about 100 pages ahead of myself, lol. PNecklace will probably be on the mid to high end of the 500s. This story is getting lengthy!

The Brian chapter I'm on right now is equally as chatty as his last chapter, so I'm thinking I have to stop giving Brian the POV, lol.


LOL I would probably be terrible at that, but it sounds like a fun thing to try sometime.  Maybe the competition aspect of it would help keep me focused and make me write faster.  As we've discussed, I can type quickly, but I don't write quickly.

Pre-planning one seems like a disaster, so we just have to all pop on when we wake up on Saturday or Sunday and say "I am feeling inspired." And if someone says "Me too," we sprint and see what happens, lol! I just want to try and see how much I actually get done in a sprint, since I wouldn't want to stop and look something up. I definitely gave up on describing those paintings and have some vague sentences that end with "and a Howie," if you were curious how lazy it got, lol. That first one though, that was so vivid that I'd hang up on my mantle. My point there was that a word sprint would likely also end up with many "and a Howie" moments to get something down in the meantime, lol.

(Okay, now I'm caught up.)

General writing updates: I'm about 1/2-3/4 of the way through this current chapter and then deciding if this arc needs one more chapter to round it out or if it's time to move on. I think I'll have a better idea once Brian stops being such a chatty cathy.

How's everyone else's writing/sleeping/life in general?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 14, 2021, 12:56:21 PM
LOL Yes we are.  I had a terrible night's sleep last night... probably because I slept in too late yesterday and then stayed up too late writing and talking to you all, then couldn't get to sleep.  I took a melatonin at 9:30, which did nothing, then finally caved and added two Benadryl at 1 a.m. when I was still awake.  I didn't get to sleep until around 2 and then kept waking up every hour.  Then I still managed to oversleep ten minutes past my last alarm.  Ugh!  I am normally not that bad; once I fall asleep, I'm usually good at staying asleep or getting back to sleep quickly if I do wake up in the middle of the night.  Hopefully I will be tired enough to go to bed early tonight.  I don't know how you function on 3-4 hours of sleep a night.  I average about 6 on a school night, but then I am always exhausted by Friday and can easily sleep 9-10 hours on the weekend.


You are lucky!  The worst sad animal book I had to read for school was The Yearling.  I hated that book!!


Yeah, I noticed that too.  I guess they couldn't do a Covid episode without some casualties, or it would seem like they weren't taking it seriously enough.  I was glad the nurse in The Resident survived too; I thought she was a goner because she wasn't a main character.  I'm hanging by a thread with that show; I have almost quit watching it several times, but then a good episode will come along and it sucks me back in.  I miss ER.

I'll let you know when I catch up with Snowpiercer!  At the rate I'm going, it may not be until summer LOL.

I have tried to take melatonin but it didn’t work for me. Unisom doesn’t work either. Zzz quill helps me sleep for at least 3 hours straight but Tylenol pm and two gummy sleep aids seem to work best. My sister insists I should just start smoking pot lol but... no!

I miss ER too. Did you see there’s going to be a reunion? That’s very exciting. I also love how in those shows, the doctors ask all these questions and they happen to mention the one time when they went to NC and suddenly the doctors look at each other and are like yes! I know exactly what’s wrong with you! You just have come in contact with the green tailed chinchilla! All you have to do is take two of these and you’ll be cured!! I wish real doctors appointments went like that. I saw a different neurologist today and she was completely unhelpful. 
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 14, 2021, 01:05:19 PM
I don't know how you function on 3-4 hours habitually, Mare! The days I have Julie's Sunday-Monday sleep are so rough for me. Like two coffees to exist rough. My fitbit says I average 5-7 hours on work nights and 7-9 hours on non-work nights. I was guessing when you were on before and calling "5am" reasonable. If you were up at 3am though, we were all for sure up. That was only midnight for Rose, lol.

I hope everyone got some quality sleeping in since it's been relatively quiet here the past couple of days. Or that everyone is so inspired that they can't tear themselves away from writing or reading a great novel.  ;D

My freshman roommate was like that also, Julie. If I am tired, I will sleep regardless of conditions. I miss being a high schooler. Somehow I was a pretty good 10ish to 6ish sleeper. Now I will call it 11/12ish to 5-7ish. Alas.


Ugh, so jealous.

The Yearling was so sad!

This has nothing to do with dead animals, but my least favorite book from school related-reading was definitely A Separate Peace, lol.


The forum is both ridiculous and extremely slow on my phone as well. I couldn't imagine attempting the long quoting conversations on a phone, so I think y'all on your phones deserve some praise.

I see your issue though! You used "\" instead of "/" to close the tags? frames? what are we calling these things? Anyway, a very minor issue. :)

I think that's true. Even on the smallest level, you have to be able to envision how it feels.

Those questions I posted a while back, I never responded because I got stuck thinking of a life experience I often use in my writing and never came up with one, lol!

That's true too. I think there's a difference between in the moment thinking "I am feeling x, and I am writing a similar x" than "I recall a time when x happened to me, so character may be feeling similar." I also like writing to avoid (or work through) things I can't control. Avoiding things I can control is no good for my focus, like you said. I do probably write best when I have nothing on my plate except a desire to write.


Same. I also feel like they're Hanson. Thinking the pig might be Nick Lachey and those are my guesses this season. My friend thinks the shell is SJP.

I enjoy seeing AJ on tv too, but I think he's gotta do a show first. I think at this point, Nick's just like "Monetize my life? Monetize my life. Cool." I'd say AJ would be more likely to do it than the others, but that's the perfect reason for Howie or Kevin to do it! It being the Masked Singer and all. :)

Were they not on Celebrity Apprentice? I thought they were. Have I added a tv appearance in my head that didn't actually exist?


I guess I meant in BSB-time, but you're both right, he seems to have a good head on his shoulders, so he may be (or have been) better about keeping it private. After his dad died is probably a reasonable time to expect. I truthfully have just always assumed that he had his stuff together, but that may just be the 15-year age difference between us. Eleven-year-old me was like "Look at Kevin, he is so mature and well-adjusted." Meanwhile he was actually 26 and having been a 26-year-old, I'm like "Nah, 26 is only a little better than you were at 22, girl." Then at the same time: "I like this 18-year-old mess. He is so cute and charming. Oh? He's going to become even more of a hot mess? That's cool; ride or die, Nick," lol.

Mare always knew Brian had more going on than boy-next-door, lol.

I didn't known Kevin was an extra in My Girl! I'm going to be honest, I had an old age moment where I didn't immediately recognize the movie by title and thought I hadn't seen it at all. Oh Macaulay Culkin in the '90s.

(Okay, now I'm almost caught up. It took me a long time to respond to both of these, lol!)
.

I don’t always function that great on little sleep. I’m always feeling exhausted.

I think the pig is Nick Lachey too and I think the crab is Bobby Brown.

The semester before I became an RA, my roommate was a party animal who didn’t go to bed until I got up for the day. She only lasted one semester lol I have to say it was pretty hard being a morning person at rock and roll university.

I loved A Separate Peace. I hated hated HATED The Scarlet Letter
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 14, 2021, 09:12:11 PM
I don’t always function that great on little sleep. I’m always feeling exhausted.
I have tried to take melatonin but it didn’t work for me. Unisom doesn’t work either. Zzz quill helps me sleep for at least 3 hours straight but Tylenol pm and two gummy sleep aids seem to work best. My sister insists I should just start smoking pot lol but... no!

Naps? I think naps are the solution.

Maybe if a doctor insisted it? I don't know if it's worth it just to sleep.


I think the pig is Nick Lachey too and I think the crab is Bobby Brown.

Bobby Brown is a good guess.

The semester before I became an RA, my roommate was a party animal who didn’t go to bed until I got up for the day. She only lasted one semester lol I have to say it was pretty hard being a morning person at rock and roll university.

Crazy! Was she like Julie's roommate or just gone?


I loved A Separate Peace. I hated hated HATED The Scarlet Letter

Boo! I'm kidding, I just really hated it. The Scarlet Letter is... okay? I don't hate it, but I don't love it.

I miss ER too. Did you see there’s going to be a reunion? That’s very exciting. I also love how in those shows, the doctors ask all these questions and they happen to mention the one time when they went to NC and suddenly the doctors look at each other and are like yes! I know exactly what’s wrong with you! You just have come in contact with the green tailed chinchilla! All you have to do is take two of these and you’ll be cured!! I wish real doctors appointments went like that. I saw a different neurologist today and she was completely unhelpful. 

LMAO! Well thank goodness those doctors know there are green-tailed chinchillas in North Carolina, lol. I wish real doctors were like that too. Sorry that neurologist was unhelpful.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 15, 2021, 05:08:46 PM
I hope everyone got some quality sleeping in since it's been relatively quiet here the past couple of days. Or that everyone is so inspired that they can't tear themselves away from writing or reading a great novel.  ;D

How's everyone else's writing/sleeping/life in general?

I haven't gotten more than about 5 hours of sleep any night this week... ugh!  I have managed to keep up my daily writing streak, although the more sleep deprived I get, the less I'm able to write in a day.  I did not even have the mental energy left to reply to any of these posts last night LOL.  But I have maybe one or more paragraphs left to go in Chapter 13, so I'm hoping I can muster enough energy to finish that tonight.


Were they not on Celebrity Apprentice? I thought they were. Have I added a tv appearance in my head that didn't actually exist?

They did make a guest appearance on one episode, but I meant as a contestant.


Aww, what a sweet little anecdote to bookend another reference! That's awesome. I'm glad you slept on it and found the exact thing you needed.

I like how you assume it's a sweet little anecdote and not a horror story about the time Kevin was caught decapitating baby birds so he could collect their skulls like a serial killer in the making.


Pre-planning one seems like a disaster, so we just have to all pop on when we wake up on Saturday or Sunday and say "I am feeling inspired." And if someone says "Me too," we sprint and see what happens, lol! I just want to try and see how much I actually get done in a sprint, since I wouldn't want to stop and look something up. I definitely gave up on describing those paintings and have some vague sentences that end with "and a Howie," if you were curious how lazy it got, lol. That first one though, that was so vivid that I'd hang up on my mantle. My point there was that a word sprint would likely also end up with many "and a Howie" moments to get something down in the meantime, lol.

Good idea.  I'd be curious to see how much I could get done if I didn't stop to look stuff up or contemplate my word choice too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 15, 2021, 05:18:26 PM
I have tried to take melatonin but it didn’t work for me. Unisom doesn’t work either. Zzz quill helps me sleep for at least 3 hours straight but Tylenol pm and two gummy sleep aids seem to work best. My sister insists I should just start smoking pot lol but... no!

I miss ER too. Did you see there’s going to be a reunion? That’s very exciting. I also love how in those shows, the doctors ask all these questions and they happen to mention the one time when they went to NC and suddenly the doctors look at each other and are like yes! I know exactly what’s wrong with you! You just have come in contact with the green tailed chinchilla! All you have to do is take two of these and you’ll be cured!! I wish real doctors appointments went like that. I saw a different neurologist today and she was completely unhelpful. 

I'm glad you found something that works for you.  LOL My sister has also tried to convince me to take up pot now that it's legal in IL.  She's more into edibles than smoking it.  She gave me a pot gummy bear to try, and it did nothing for me.  Plus it tasted gross.  I'll stick to regular, delicious gummy bears, thanks.

I am SO EXCITED about this ER reunion!!!  And yes, I agree about the doctors in medical dramas just mysteriously knowing so much more than real doctors.  They also seem to specialize in everything.  The Resident is terrible about that; I don't even know what kind of doctor Conrad is supposed to be, but he can treat anything!  At least New Amsterdam is better about differentiatin g between the different departments and specialties.

I'm sorry your neurologist wasn't helpful this week. :(
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 15, 2021, 05:38:39 PM
I haven't gotten more than about 5 hours of sleep any night this week... ugh!  I have managed to keep up my daily writing streak, although the more sleep deprived I get, the less I'm able to write in a day.  I did not even have the mental energy left to reply to any of these posts last night LOL.  But I have maybe one or more paragraphs left to go in Chapter 13, so I'm hoping I can muster enough energy to finish that tonight.

According to fitbit, I'm at 3 days around 5 hours and 2 days between 7-8 hours (early start days versus later start days), so we're about in the same boat, I suppose.

Glad you kept your writing streak up! I saw you on and then saw you didn't reply and was like, "Ah, Julie must be drained." I get it. I've been there for sure. Good luck on your last paragraph today!

I have also kept up my streak, but was utterly useless yesterday. I don't know what it is about update days, but I never write much after them, no matter whether I can update earlier in the afternoon if I like or have to update in the evening. Afterward, I tried to hop between two different in progress points and just barely anything came out... I was hoping today would be better, but it's just as useless feeling right now. I think I also wish I could just make this chapter a movie montage, lol.


They did make a guest appearance on one episode, but I meant as a contestant.

It's been so long since I've seen it that I couldn't remember if they were contestants or guests, to be honest, lol. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't a crazy person and had made up their appearance on it.


I like how you assume it's a sweet little anecdote and not a horror story about the time Kevin was caught decapitating baby birds so he could collect their skulls like a serial killer in the making.

I just figured with how much we all said that we hated reading about dead animals in general, that decapitated baby birds was out of the question, lol. If you hadn't specified baby birds, I may have asked if it was sweet or horrific.


Good idea.  I'd be curious to see how much I could get done if I didn't stop to look stuff up or contemplate my word choice too.

I was thinking about doing it now on my own just to see if I could force myself out of this blah feeling for even just fifteen minutes of focus since I have a general idea of what to write, but I'm just feeling meh about writing -- it might be the snow. I'll let you know how it goes!

She gave me a pot gummy bear to try, and it did nothing for me.  Plus it tasted gross.  I'll stick to regular, delicious gummy bears, thanks.

lol I am also team "regular, delicious gummy bears."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 15, 2021, 07:07:32 PM
According to fitbit, I'm at 3 days around 5 hours and 2 days between 7-8 hours (early start days versus later start days), so we're about in the same boat, I suppose.

Glad you kept your writing streak up! I saw you on and then saw you didn't reply and was like, "Ah, Julie must be drained." I get it. I've been there for sure. Good luck on your last paragraph today!

I hope we all can catch up on sleep this weekend!  Sounds like it's much-needed for everyone!

Thanks!  It actually ended up being seven paragraphs LOL, but I just finished the chapter!  Now I will be forced to start a new chapter on a Friday night to keep my streak alive... no pressure LOL.  Hopefully I can come up with a good first line tomorrow morning in case I'm brain dead by tomorrow night.


I have also kept up my streak, but was utterly useless yesterday. I don't know what it is about update days, but I never write much after them, no matter whether I can update earlier in the afternoon if I like or have to update in the evening. Afterward, I tried to hop between two different in progress points and just barely anything came out... I was hoping today would be better, but it's just as useless feeling right now. I think I also wish I could just make this chapter a movie montage, lol.

I know that feeling.  I have to either get my Saturday updates ready to post late on Friday night or wait until Saturday afternoon because if I get up on Saturday morning and do that before I try to write, I probably won't be productive either.  Do you write your author chats in advance, or is that part of your update day routine?  Because that takes time and mental effort too.


It's been so long since I've seen it that I couldn't remember if they were contestants or guests, to be honest, lol. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't a crazy person and had made up their appearance on it.

LOL I would have started watching that show much sooner if any of them had been contestants.  The one episode they were on was the first episode I ever watched.  But then I tuned in to the first episode of a later season that featured one of Illinois's many crooked governors, Rod Blagojevich, just to see what a train wreck it was.  I got sucked in, and I'm ashamed to admit Celebrity Apprentice was one of my guilty pleasure shows for its last few seasons.  I refused to vote for Trump just based on how obnoxious he was on that show, and that was nothing compared to his whole presidency.


I just figured with how much we all said that we hated reading about dead animals in general, that decapitated baby birds was out of the question, lol. If you hadn't specified baby birds, I may have asked if it was sweet or horrific.

LOL Have I mentioned that the story I'm writing is really depressing?


I was thinking about doing it now on my own just to see if I could force myself out of this blah feeling for even just fifteen minutes of focus since I have a general idea of what to write, but I'm just feeling meh about writing -- it might be the snow. I'll let you know how it goes!

Ew, snow!!  Snow in April is just wrong.

Yeah, for me it would definitely have to be on a weekend when my brain is well-rested.  By this point in the week, I'm usually pretty "meh" about writing too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 15, 2021, 07:13:37 PM
Here is today's Camp Nano Care Package:

"'I write every day at the same time! I write ten pages everyday! I set myself deadlines and stick to them! I only ever write in the bathtub!' — said no one ever, and yet, somehow, every writer.

When we read about other writer’s practices, we often forget that they are that writer’s practice, and not universals. There is no one way to write a novel, and for the novel that you are writing now, the way you are doing it is just fine, thank you very much."


I know we've already talked about writing routines and rituals on here, but are you consistent with the practices you follow every day that you write, or do you change it up open?  What are the more rigid requirements you have for a successful writing session, and what can you be flexible with?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 15, 2021, 09:26:09 PM
I hope we all can catch up on sleep this weekend!  Sounds like it's much-needed for everyone!

Thanks!  It actually ended up being seven paragraphs LOL, but I just finished the chapter!  Now I will be forced to start a new chapter on a Friday night to keep my streak alive... no pressure LOL.  Hopefully I can come up with a good first line tomorrow morning in case I'm brain dead by tomorrow night.

Tomorrow's a late start for me, so I'm hoping! That or waking up and feeling immensely inspired to write with my morning.

Glad you're done even though it was six paragraphs longer than you expected! lol Just saying, if the new chapter's not coming, could be a good time to write a scene out of order for the good of the streak. ;) I'm sending you good vibes.


I know that feeling.  I have to either get my Saturday updates ready to post late on Friday night or wait until Saturday afternoon because if I get up on Saturday morning and do that before I try to write, I probably won't be productive either.  Do you write your author chats in advance, or is that part of your update day routine?  Because that takes time and mental effort too.

I think it's the feeling of being "done." I did today's thing, so now I don't have to do things anymore today. Which is a bummer, because sometimes I'm really into the writing earlier in the day. I do write my author chats in advance 95% of the time. The funnier, more eloquent, and elaborate that they are, I wrote them ahead of time. If they're kind of rambly and/or shorter, then I wrote them after (or just prior to) updating.

This week's was funny if anyone missed it and likes listening to me discuss things I've researched with great love at one point or another. Here's an excerpt:

Or the slightly newer [reason] where [Isis] needed the magic to re-create a certain missing body part for her dead husband after Set played a game of “Whoever fits in this sarcophagus wins!” “Oh no, our pharaoh Osiris is dead! And chopped into tiny pieces! And now we need a new pharaoh of all of Egypt?! Who could have possibly seen this coming?! Guess it’s me unless some more legitimate heir miraculously comes along! (Good luck procreating with your dead and dis-membered husband.)”

I was running out of things to talk about that seemed interesting, so I went with my old reliable "mythology," lol.


LOL I would have started watching that show much sooner if any of them had been contestants.  The one episode they were on was the first episode I ever watched.  But then I tuned in to the first episode of a later season that featured one of Illinois's many crooked governors, Rod Blagojevich, just to see what a train wreck it was.  I got sucked in, and I'm ashamed to admit Celebrity Apprentice was one of my guilty pleasure shows for its last few seasons.  I refused to vote for Trump just based on how obnoxious he was on that show, and that was nothing compared to his whole presidency.

Same. A Backstreet Boy as a contestant on some show? I am there. It's why I watched DWTS twice, after all, lol. I think if you relate to or recognize the celebrity, it's easier to get sucked in, whether it's the Boys or a crooked governor. I ebb in and out of watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette just depending on how likeable or horrendous the contestants were the season before.


LOL Have I mentioned that the story I'm writing is really depressing?

I mean, yes. But I just also can't picture Kevin decapitating baby birds on top of sad dead animals, lol.


Ew, snow!!  Snow in April is just wrong.

Yeah, for me it would definitely have to be on a weekend when my brain is well-rested.  By this point in the week, I'm usually pretty "meh" about writing too.

It's fairly common here? You get used to it.

I just finished up this week's training that I'm doing right now and it might be another meh day for me, unfortunately. :(
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 15, 2021, 09:48:47 PM
Here is today's Camp Nano Care Package:

"'I write every day at the same time! I write ten pages everyday! I set myself deadlines and stick to them! I only ever write in the bathtub!' — said no one ever, and yet, somehow, every writer.

When we read about other writer’s practices, we often forget that they are that writer’s practice, and not universals. There is no one way to write a novel, and for the novel that you are writing now, the way you are doing it is just fine, thank you very much."


I know we've already talked about writing routines and rituals on here, but are you consistent with the practices you follow every day that you write, or do you change it up open?  What are the more rigid requirements you have for a successful writing session, and what can you be flexible with?

I laughed at this one. "I only ever write in the bathtub!"

I think more successful days are the ones where I start in the morning. If I can get something good going first thing in the morning, I am more likely to write more during a day. It only works at night these days if I've been thinking about something off and on all day, but can't physically write it down. And that doesn't happen a lot. If I don't write early, I may get up to 500 words for a day, but it's typically closer to 20-100 words.

Things that are always consistent... Well, I open the computer with the intent to write every day. I actually don't close my works-in-progress ever. So right now, my Chrome window for writing is the current PNecklace chapter I'm writing, the current PBox as OF chapter I'm writing, "blep2" (the document with the scenes I've written ahead of where I'm currently at chronologicall y in the story) and "pboxnchx" (the same type of document for OF PBox, but organized slightly differently since it's more of a draft # whatever than a new story even though a lot is changing), plus the untitled document I use to keep track of what I specifically write each day to record it. That one has been the greatest choice I ever made, because before I was just counting and manually adding the words together each time and it was a process. If I'm editing the chapter for my weekly update, I will also have that open until I have posted it and then I close it until I'm ready to edit the next chapter in that chunk.

I tend to be more successful if I'm sitting in a chair at some sort of flat surface, rather than on my lap desk somewhere comfortable. Unless something comes to me first thing in the morning and I worry that getting up will diminish that information, then I stay in bed and write on my phone. Though there's sometimes that I'm like "this is all too much, I must get up and type to fully do it justice." I do keep some of my writing open on my phone though, because I just never know when inspiration will strike.

On a sillier note, any time I'm able to drink my coffee at home and write, I use my little Backstreet Boys mug and every Wednesday, I wear a Backstreet Boys mask and take my crocodile to-go coffee mug to work. These are my little traditions that I am adamant about keeping, though I don't know that they are integral to my writing process, lol.

Otherwise? I usually reread a chapter in progress (at least from the start of the scene) before I write anything new and will often green line it as I go along. That's pretty much it. I promise myself that I won't check here until I've tried to write for at least an hour, though I may or may not quickly refresh it on my phone in the morning to see if anyone posted since I last saw on Saturday/Sunday mornings, lol.

I think that's it. The big thing for me has been just keeping stuff open. It reminds me that it's waiting, but not in an oppressive kind of way. Thankfully, I haven't yet run into a day this go around where I can't find something to write about something and thankfully it's usually in the PBox&Co universe somewhere.

Although, I did move it into its own window today because I needed several tabs open to do administrative paperwork type things today and it's definitely felt more "out of sight, out of mind," so maybe that's why I can't get into the groove today. Hmm...
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 05:30:05 PM
Tomorrow's a late start for me, so I'm hoping! That or waking up and feeling immensely inspired to write with my morning.

Glad you're done even though it was six paragraphs longer than you expected! lol Just saying, if the new chapter's not coming, could be a good time to write a scene out of order for the good of the streak. ;) I'm sending you good vibes.

I hope you took advantage of your late start to either get some extra sleep or some extra writing time in!

I started my chapter as I was getting ready this morning, so the pressure's off.  I at least have a paragraph written already today, and so the streak continues.

I know it works out fine for you, but I just can't bring myself to write scenes out of order.  There are definitely future scenes that I can picture clearly in my head and am looking forward to writing, but for me, having those parts to look forward to is part of my motivation to keep plugging away at the story so I can get to them.


I think it's the feeling of being "done." I did today's thing, so now I don't have to do things anymore today. Which is a bummer, because sometimes I'm really into the writing earlier in the day.

Yes, that's exactly it.  It's the same reason I rarely start a new chapter on the same day I finish a chapter.  Which, as you said, is a bummer if I finish a chapter early in the morning and then don't feel like writing the rest of the day.  That's why I loved that advice of leaving yourself a cliffhanger when you can.


I do write my author chats in advance 95% of the time. The funnier, more eloquent, and elaborate that they are, I wrote them ahead of time. If they're kind of rambly and/or shorter, then I wrote them after (or just prior to) updating.

I figured you must.  That would be a lot to come up with on the spot!  When I was blogging on my site last year, I wrote all those in advance too because some of them took me as long as writing a scene in a story.


Same. A Backstreet Boy as a contestant on some show? I am there. It's why I watched DWTS twice, after all, lol. I think if you relate to or recognize the celebrity, it's easier to get sucked in, whether it's the Boys or a crooked governor. I ebb in and out of watching the Bachelor/Bachelorette just depending on how likeable or horrendous the contestants were the season before.

Absolutely.  The first time I watched DWTS was when Aaron Carter was on, and I found it so cheesy.  It has gotten better over the years, especially since it went from two nights a week with the separate results show to just one night.  I've actually come to enjoy that show and watch it even when there's not a Backstreet Boy (or BSB sibling) on.  Celebrity Apprentice was the same way; I liked it for the celebrities and the challenges.  Never Trump.  He was always obnoxious to me, but the format of the show itself was interesting.

I've never been able to get into The Bachelor/Bachelorette.  I've tried to see what all the fuss was about, and I just can't.  The only guilty pleasure dating show I watch is 90 Day Fiance and its various spinoffs.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 06:09:31 PM
I think more successful days are the ones where I start in the morning. If I can get something good going first thing in the morning, I am more likely to write more during a day. It only works at night these days if I've been thinking about something off and on all day, but can't physically write it down. And that doesn't happen a lot. If I don't write early, I may get up to 500 words for a day, but it's typically closer to 20-100 words.

Same.  If I don't get started first thing in the morning, it will take me forever to get going.  I have learned to make coffee and at least try to write before I turn on the TV.  Sometimes I still have success writing into the wee hours of the morning, but that happens more in the summer when I stay up that late anyway.

Along the same lines, I am more likely to write after school if I get on the computer before I turn on the TV or eat dinner.  Once that damn TV is on, I will waste hours in front of it and lose my motivation to write.


Things that are always consistent... Well, I open the computer with the intent to write every day. I actually don't close my works-in-progress ever.

I think I used to do this, but when I was writing A Heart That Isn't Mine, I started getting paranoid about leaving it open when I left the house or went to bed.  I had this fear that something would happen to me, like I would get into a car accident or die in my sleep, and my parents would find it open on my computer and want to read their daughter's last words and be like, "WTF??" LOL  So now I close my work in progress if I'm going somewhere or going to be away from it for more than a few hours.


I tend to be more successful if I'm sitting in a chair at some sort of flat surface, rather than on my lap desk somewhere comfortable. Unless something comes to me first thing in the morning and I worry that getting up will diminish that information, then I stay in bed and write on my phone. Though there's sometimes that I'm like "this is all too much, I must get up and type to fully do it justice." I do keep some of my writing open on my phone though, because I just never know when inspiration will strike.

This varies for me.  I tend to sit at my desk on my PC when I'm updating my site or doing anything that requires a lot of copying and pasting, which is easier with a mouse than a touchpad.  But for just writing, I move around a lot.  I usually start out in bed on my Chromebook and will stay there until I'm ready to shower.  Then I'll either go upstairs to my writing room, where I alternate between sitting at a desk and reclining on the little chaise/futon thing I have up there.  If I stay downstairs, I'll either write on my Chromebook on the couch or at the kitchen table, or I write at my desk in my den.  Sometimes a change of setting helps.


On a sillier note, any time I'm able to drink my coffee at home and write, I use my little Backstreet Boys mug and every Wednesday, I wear a Backstreet Boys mask and take my crocodile to-go coffee mug to work. These are my little traditions that I am adamant about keeping, though I don't know that they are integral to my writing process, lol.

Aww, I love those little traditions!  I actually don't have a BSB mug, which is weird considering how many mugs I have.  I do have a BSB wine glass and the blue BSB cup from Vegas, which I drink soda out of all the time.  I usually use a Tervis for my weekend coffee so it stays hot or cold longer... I should see if there's a BSB cup like that on Etsy.  I'm sure there is.


Otherwise? I usually reread a chapter in progress (at least from the start of the scene) before I write anything new and will often green line it as I go along. That's pretty much it. I promise myself that I won't check here until I've tried to write for at least an hour, though I may or may not quickly refresh it on my phone in the morning to see if anyone posted since I last saw on Saturday/Sunday mornings, lol.

I usually do that too, especially if I'm having a hard time getting started.  It helps me get back into the story and remember where I left off.  I also try to hold off on checking the forum or Twitter until I've gotten far enough into a scene to leave myself hanging.  Then I can take a little internet browsing break and know I will come back to it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 06:15:30 PM
I know we've already talked about writing routines and rituals on here, but are you consistent with the practices you follow every day that you write, or do you change it up open?  What are the more rigid requirements you have for a successful writing session, and what can you be flexible with?

Wow, you can tell how sleep-deprived I was when I wrote this, LOL.  I have no idea where the random "open" came from.  I was in bed by ten last night, so I got a little more sleep than I did any other night this week.  I haven't reread Chapter 13 yet to see how many typos I made in it yet.  I will probably wait to do that until tomorrow when I have fresh eyes LOL.

The only rigid requirement I have for a successful writing session is privacy.  I can't concentrate in public or around other people.  Otherwise, I'm pretty flexible with where and how I write.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 16, 2021, 07:54:07 PM
I hope you took advantage of your late start to either get some extra sleep or some extra writing time in!

Both! I spent longer than I had planned on laying in bed, but the hubs just got back from a work trip, so I'm always a bit of a cuddle bug when he returns. Then I managed to get 176 words written this morning (even though I only wrote for 20 minutes instead of the hour or so that I'd been planning for) and have some fairly clear ideas for the next few chapters (not to the point of exact words yet, unfortunately), so I feel like it may be a productive night and definitely a decently productive weekend. We'll see. I did stop in the middle of my current scene, so I think I'll be able to pick right back up where I left off.


I started my chapter as I was getting ready this morning, so the pressure's off.  I at least have a paragraph written already today, and so the streak continues.

I know it works out fine for you, but I just can't bring myself to write scenes out of order.  There are definitely future scenes that I can picture clearly in my head and am looking forward to writing, but for me, having those parts to look forward to is part of my motivation to keep plugging away at the story so I can get to them.

Yay! The streak continues! The pressure to keep the streak alive gets me every time. I think it almost makes it worse if I'm not quite sure what to write.

Just trying to encourage you to live dangerously, lol. If having them to look forward to is motivating, then keep them as motivation. :)


Yes, that's exactly it.  It's the same reason I rarely start a new chapter on the same day I finish a chapter.  Which, as you said, is a bummer if I finish a chapter early in the morning and then don't feel like writing the rest of the day.  That's why I loved that advice of leaving yourself a cliffhanger when you can.

I was going to say I didn't, but of the 32 chapters I have written (or mostly written in the case of chapter 32), I've done it five times. To be fair, at least three of those times started out as three ridiculously long chapters that I found good places to cut in half. The other ones I think hit the end of the chapter, but just kind of segued nicely into the next bit, so I just kept going. I think it depends on what time I finish the chapter if it segues. If it's before 9pm, I'm more likely to attempt getting started. If it's after 9pm, it's hit or miss and leans toward miss the later it gets unless I'm like "I have so much inspiration!" There were a few times in October/November where I would sit and write until 1am and then look at the clock and go "oops," lol.


I figured you must.  That would be a lot to come up with on the spot!  When I was blogging on my site last year, I wrote all those in advance too because some of them took me as long as writing a scene in a story.

I'm not that clever without some think time, lol. Definitely! I think the three that took me the longest were "Demon Powers and Plantsing" and "A History of PBox Parts One and Two." I think it really depends on just what you're sharing for the length and amount of time. And you had 20 years and multiple stories to reflect on! I can only imagine!


Absolutely.  The first time I watched DWTS was when Aaron Carter was on, and I found it so cheesy.  It has gotten better over the years, especially since it went from two nights a week with the separate results show to just one night.  I've actually come to enjoy that show and watch it even when there's not a Backstreet Boy (or BSB sibling) on.  Celebrity Apprentice was the same way; I liked it for the celebrities and the challenges.  Never Trump.  He was always obnoxious to me, but the format of the show itself was interesting.

I've never been able to get into The Bachelor/Bachelorette.  I've tried to see what all the fuss was about, and I just can't.  The only guilty pleasure dating show I watch is 90 Day Fiance and its various spinoffs.

I just can't stand the judges! I feel about the DWTS judges how y'all feel about the Masked Singer judges, lol. Bruno's about the only one I can stand of the ones I've seen. And the other British guy who wasn't on Nick or AJ's seasons. He's okay too, but largely absent?

Reality tv or competition shows are hit or miss for me. I'll get really into them sometimes and other times not even care at all. Undercover Boss was one I always really enjoyed and Bar Rescue in the beginning, but I got tired of it eventually.

Bachelor/Bachelorette is really all about the drama, so if the people on it aren't enjoyable, then it just gets annoying. These past couple of seasons, I've missed a week or so and then ultimately decided that I didn't care to catch up, lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 08:19:06 PM
Both! I spent longer than I had planned on laying in bed, but the hubs just got back from a work trip, so I'm always a bit of a cuddle bug when he returns. Then I managed to get 176 words written this morning (even though I only wrote for 20 minutes instead of the hour or so that I'd been planning for) and have some fairly clear ideas for the next few chapters (not to the point of exact words yet, unfortunately), so I feel like it may be a productive night and definitely a decently productive weekend. We'll see. I did stop in the middle of my current scene, so I think I'll be able to pick right back up where I left off.

Woo-hoo!  I hope you do have a productive night and weekend!

I do not foresee myself getting much more written tonight, but I am planning to do some research before I go to bed.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 16, 2021, 08:40:22 PM
Same.  If I don't get started first thing in the morning, it will take me forever to get going.  I have learned to make coffee and at least try to write before I turn on the TV.  Sometimes I still have success writing into the wee hours of the morning, but that happens more in the summer when I stay up that late anyway.

Along the same lines, I am more likely to write after school if I get on the computer before I turn on the TV or eat dinner.  Once that damn TV is on, I will waste hours in front of it and lose my motivation to write.

The TV gets me every time! I popped on really quick since I was waiting to eat dinner, but hubs is slow... I should have just started writing instead, lol.


I think I used to do this, but when I was writing A Heart That Isn't Mine, I started getting paranoid about leaving it open when I left the house or went to bed.  I had this fear that something would happen to me, like I would get into a car accident or die in my sleep, and my parents would find it open on my computer and want to read their daughter's last words and be like, "WTF??" LOL  So now I close my work in progress if I'm going somewhere or going to be away from it for more than a few hours.

lmao! I think my husband would think, "Yeah, seems right?" or "That kinky wife of mine," lol. But I also don't think he'd read it even if I died, so I'm less worried. I figure if I die in the car accident, the computer is damaged beyond repair as well. I might close them the next time I go on a trip... whenever that is or maybe not, maybe I'll just take it with me, lol.


This varies for me.  I tend to sit at my desk on my PC when I'm updating my site or doing anything that requires a lot of copying and pasting, which is easier with a mouse than a touchpad.  But for just writing, I move around a lot.  I usually start out in bed on my Chromebook and will stay there until I'm ready to shower.  Then I'll either go upstairs to my writing room, where I alternate between sitting at a desk and reclining on the little chaise/futon thing I have up there.  If I stay downstairs, I'll either write on my Chromebook on the couch or at the kitchen table, or I write at my desk in my den.  Sometimes a change of setting helps.

I have a little mouse with my laptop all the time, but we don't have a lot of places to go in the house, lol. Kitchen, living room, office, bedroom. I try to keep my computer and tablet out of the bedroom just because of all the years when my bedroom was all the things, so it's nice to de-tech my bedroom a little bit... can't keep my phone out, lol. I think you're right though, sometimes it's good to have a change of scenery.


Aww, I love those little traditions!  I actually don't have a BSB mug, which is weird considering how many mugs I have.  I do have a BSB wine glass and the blue BSB cup from Vegas, which I drink soda out of all the time.  I usually use a Tervis for my weekend coffee so it stays hot or cold longer... I should see if there's a BSB cup like that on Etsy.  I'm sure there is.

Ooh, a BSB wine glass. I should get one of those, lol. I chug my coffee, so I don't really have the hot/cold problem, lol.

I quickly perused and found some tumblers, but they looked too tall to be tervis tumblers, so I didn't look into their insulation too much. I did see some kitchen towels with their picture that said "don't go baking my heart," and you better believe that those might be my next weird purchase, lol.


I usually do that too, especially if I'm having a hard time getting started.  It helps me get back into the story and remember where I left off.  I also try to hold off on checking the forum or Twitter until I've gotten far enough into a scene to leave myself hanging.  Then I can take a little internet browsing break and know I will come back to it.

I think leaving ourselves a cliff hanger is key. It's also easier for me to get back into if I left myself hanging for a little bit.

Wow, you can tell how sleep-deprived I was when I wrote this, LOL.  I have no idea where the random "open" came from.  I was in bed by ten last night, so I got a little more sleep than I did any other night this week.  I haven't reread Chapter 13 yet to see how many typos I made in it yet.  I will probably wait to do that until tomorrow when I have fresh eyes LOL.

The only rigid requirement I have for a successful writing session is privacy.  I can't concentrate in public or around other people.  Otherwise, I'm pretty flexible with where and how I write.

Apparently I was equally tired, because I thought it said "often" until you pointed it out, lol. Glad you got a little more sleep and sometimes typos happen. I caught a couple this week from last week's edit and felt so ashamed. I wonder if anyone else noticed.

Good thing people typing on the other side of the screen don't count as privacy, lol!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 16, 2021, 08:45:29 PM
Woo-hoo!  I hope you do have a productive night and weekend!

I do not foresee myself getting much more written tonight, but I am planning to do some research before I go to bed.

I'm all caught up now and our food is still not here. I should have just started writing, lol.

I hope you are productive as well!  ;D I believe! Sleep in and then write write write write write!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 16, 2021, 10:00:14 PM
Speaking of sitting down and making yourself write, here's today's Camp NaNo Care Package:

"What gets your butt in the chair (aside from Camp NaNoWriMo!)? What makes for your best writing? These are not always the same.

For me: Pomodoros get my butt in the seat and words on the page (twenty-five minute writing sprints, tomato-shaped kitchen timer optional). But my best writing happens when I let myself stare out the window and not worry about the timer and how many words are spilling and squirting onto the page. I do my best writing when I remember that thinking and daydreaming are writing, too, no matter how long they take."


Today's Writing Challenge:

If you need to get some words down on the page, take Jen's suggestion and try to Pomodoro technique! Set a timer to write for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. After 4 writing sessions, take a longer (15-20 minute) break. Repeat as many times as you like or are able to!

So today's question: what gets your butt in the chair? What makes for your best writing? We talked about environment/rituals yesterday, so take this as you will.

Also, see, she said thinking and daydreaming are writing too. I think we're all on the write track when we say "you thought about the story today" being writing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 10:36:58 PM
Ooh, a BSB wine glass. I should get one of those, lol. I chug my coffee, so I don't really have the hot/cold problem, lol.

I quickly perused and found some tumblers, but they looked too tall to be tervis tumblers, so I didn't look into their insulation too much. I did see some kitchen towels with their picture that said "don't go baking my heart," and you better believe that those might be my next weird purchase, lol.

Yes, it's one of the wine glasses from their site that says "I wine it that way." LOL

I'm more of a leisurely sipper when it comes to coffee, so it always gets cold if I put it in a mug.  It's fine for before school, when I have to drink it fairly quickly while I'm getting ready, but not so great for a morning marathon writing session.

I also looked on Etsy and was disappointed by the lack of BSB tumblers I liked!  I am also somewhat picky about tumblers; they have to have a lid that is easy to drink out of, but not easy to spill.

I had to look up the kitchen towels.  Here they are for anyone else who's interested: https://www.etsy.com/listing/764265630/dont-go-baking-my-heart-backstreet-boys?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_quer y=backstreet+boys+kitchen+towel&ref=sr_gallery-1-2&organic_search _click=1  I have a problem with buying way too many cute kitchen towels, but the fact that it's BSB and has a clever pun... yeah, I may need one.

Also, kudos to the creator of this NSYNC towel that also came up in my search: https://www.etsy.com/listing/941407446/a-nsync-hand-towel-design?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_quer y=backstreet+boys+kitchen+towel&ref=sr_gallery-1-11&organic_search _click=1  "Don't leave dishes *NSync." LMAO
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 10:48:32 PM
Speaking of sitting down and making yourself write, here's today's Camp NaNo Care Package:

"What gets your butt in the chair (aside from Camp NaNoWriMo!)? What makes for your best writing? These are not always the same.

For me: Pomodoros get my butt in the seat and words on the page (twenty-five minute writing sprints, tomato-shaped kitchen timer optional). But my best writing happens when I let myself stare out the window and not worry about the timer and how many words are spilling and squirting onto the page. I do my best writing when I remember that thinking and daydreaming are writing, too, no matter how long they take."


Today's Writing Challenge:

If you need to get some words down on the page, take Jen's suggestion and try to Pomodoro technique! Set a timer to write for 25 minutes, then take a 5 minute break. After 4 writing sessions, take a longer (15-20 minute) break. Repeat as many times as you like or are able to!

So today's question: what gets your butt in the chair? What makes for your best writing? We talked about environment/rituals yesterday, so take this as you will.

Also, see, she said thinking and daydreaming are writing too. I think we're all on the write track when we say "you thought about the story today" being writing.


I have never tried the timer method.  I'm not sure if it would make me more productive or just make me feel stressed and under pressure.  I guess it's worth a shot next time I find myself focus failing.

What gets my butt in the chair is knowing what a good mood it puts me in when I have a productive writing day.  I love writing [fanfic] and the feeling I get from it.  I look forward to that, but the only way to get that feeling is to sit down and put words on the screen.  It helps when I am emotionally connected to the story and excited about what's coming up in it.

Thinking and daydreaming are definitely important parts of the process.  That's how you get that emotional connection and how you keep the excitement alive, even when you can't write.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 16, 2021, 10:57:23 PM
Yes, it's one of the wine glasses from their site that says "I wine it that way." LOL

lol! I think I missed that when it was for sale, alas.


I'm more of a leisurely sipper when it comes to coffee, so it always gets cold if I put it in a mug.  It's fine for before school, when I have to drink it fairly quickly while I'm getting ready, but not so great for a morning marathon writing session.

I get that. I'm definitely done with my coffee within 30-40 minutes every day, an hour at most. I wish I could get more into tea because I like the idea of sipping hot drinks all day on principle, but coffee is just easier to make, tastes better, and has more caffeine.

One of my roommates was a more leisure sipper, so for Christmas I got her one of those coffee mug warmers, she absolutely adored it. Could be the solution to your mug problem.


I also looked on Etsy and was disappointed by the lack of BSB tumblers I liked!  I am also somewhat picky about tumblers; they have to have a lid that is easy to drink out of, but not easy to spill.

I had to look up the kitchen towels.  Here they are for anyone else who's interested. I have a problem with buying way too many cute kitchen towels, but the fact that it's BSB and has a clever pun... yeah, I may need one.

Also, kudos to the creator of this NSYNC towel that also came up in my search: "Don't leave dishes *NSync." LMAO

I loved those cute straw ones, but they're just so impractical compared to a water bottle. Travel coffee mugs, same. Easy to drink out of, difficult to spill.

I was perusing on my phone and not computer, so I did not grab the link, my bad everyone who also likes adorable things for their houses with great puns.

lmao that is clever for the NSYNC one.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 16, 2021, 11:05:34 PM

I have never tried the timer method.  I'm not sure if it would make me more productive or just make me feel stressed and under pressure.  I guess it's worth a shot next time I find myself focus failing.

What gets my butt in the chair is knowing what a good mood it puts me in when I have a productive writing day.  I love writing [fanfic] and the feeling I get from it.  I look forward to that, but the only way to get that feeling is to sit down and put words on the screen.  It helps when I am emotionally connected to the story and excited about what's coming up in it.

Thinking and daydreaming are definitely important parts of the process.  That's how you get that emotional connection and how you keep the excitement alive, even when you can't write.

I've tried it for cleaning, but not for writing. Or, not the pomodoro version. I guess I timed how long it took me to edit a chapter of PBox once to compare actual writing time with dicking around. I have not tried that for brand new writing on a PNecklace chapter yet, so perhaps it's something to explore.

I agree with you, it feels great to have a productive writing day and it's motivating to keep the productivity going. Wanting to write the story and interact with the characters always gets me excited about continuing to write. I don't know that I would do two NaNos for anything but a PBox&Co story. I think back when their rules were stricter and fanfic was a bit taboo, let alone working on a partially started project, PBox was the only other one where I had an even remotely higher word count. So, I guess I'm here for my little demon buddies, lol.

I love the days where I have enough of something to write myself a little note about it for later, even if it's not a full scene. Then sometimes it does turn into a full scene with fresh eyes. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 11:29:10 PM
lol! I think I missed that when it was for sale, alas.

They have a new stemless one on their site now: https://store.backstreetboys.com/collections/accessories/products/pink-i-wine-it-that-way-wine-glass  The one I have is from last year; it has a stem and white writing, but is the same design otherwise.


I get that. I'm definitely done with my coffee within 30-40 minutes every day, an hour at most. I wish I could get more into tea because I like the idea of sipping hot drinks all day on principle, but coffee is just easier to make, tastes better, and has more caffeine.

One of my roommates was a more leisure sipper, so for Christmas I got her one of those coffee mug warmers, she absolutely adored it. Could be the solution to your mug problem.

I'm not a tea drinker either.  Only once in awhile when I'm sick will I drink tea.

I have a mug warmer, but I don't use it very often - just one more thing I have to find a place to plug in.  I should get a USB or battery-powered one.  But on the weekend, I just make a bigger cup of coffee and put it in an insulated tumbler so it stays warm for hours.  I like the ones with straws for iced coffee.


I love the days where I have enough of something to write myself a little note about it for later, even if it's not a full scene. Then sometimes it does turn into a full scene with fresh eyes. :)

Absolutely!  Days like this where I'm too tired to write much, I can still think about it as I'm lying in bed, and sometimes that helps me wake up with new ideas and inspiration.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 16, 2021, 11:31:33 PM
Wow, the Kevin & Nick story trend is going strong!  Three out of the four stories on the Most Recent page have Kevin and Nick on the banner.  (One of the banners is also ginormous - not sure if that's something you still care to moderate or not, Mare.)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 16, 2021, 11:48:55 PM
They have a new stemless one on their site now: https://store.backstreetboys.com/collections/accessories/products/pink-i-wine-it-that-way-wine-glass  The one I have is from last year; it has a stem and white writing, but is the same design otherwise.

I'm usually team stemless wine glass anyway, so this is perfect! In a few weeks, a bunch of BSB kitchen stuff will appear on our doorstep and hubs will be concerned, lol.


I'm not a tea drinker either.  Only once in awhile when I'm sick will I drink tea.

I have a mug warmer, but I don't use it very often - just one more thing I have to find a place to plug in.  I should get a USB or battery-powered one.  But on the weekend, I just make a bigger cup of coffee and put it in an insulated tumbler so it stays warm for hours.  I like the ones with straws for iced coffee.

Same. Tea is for sick.

That's what I was thinking, the plug would be a deterrent if you wanted to move around the house. I wish I could be a coffee sipper if it stayed warm the whole time, but I usually end up gulping it down because my brain says, "Ooh, this is delicious! Must drink as much of this as possible at one time!" lol I'm not a big iced coffee drinker, the warmth is one of coffee's key characteristic s for me.


Absolutely!  Days like this where I'm too tired to write much, I can still think about it as I'm lying in bed, and sometimes that helps me wake up with new ideas and inspiration.

That's about where I'm at. Ready to sit in bed and ponder tomorrow's last scene for this chapter or start channeling AJ and Howie for the start of the next chapter.

Wow, the Kevin & Nick story trend is going strong!  Three out of the four stories on the Most Recent page have Kevin and Nick on the banner.  (One of the banners is also ginormous - not sure if that's something you still care to moderate or not, Mare.)

I wonder what that fourth story is that decided not to be trendy... lol. I'm kidding, I know it's me. PNecklace probably needs its own banner at some point instead of just keeping PBox's banner...

lmao. I told Mare that when it first got posted, plus the very long summary. I think of all the rules to go slightly lax on in slow times, the banner/summaries length one is it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 17, 2021, 10:50:08 PM
Good news y'all, I've actually caught up on my daily word count a bit and have almost written an entire chapter today. I'm just finishing it up! It's not the one I thought I would write, but at least it's something.

How'd everyone else's writing day go?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 17, 2021, 11:21:21 PM
Yay, good for you!!

I have not had a good writing day.  I only wrote about a paragraph this morning, and then I went to my parents' house this evening, so I'm just now trying to get back at it.  I've written a couple more paragraphs, but I don't see it being a productive evening.  Hopefully tomorrow will be better.  I just started a new chapter, so I think once I get into the scene I'm writing, it will go faster.  I'm just not quite to that point where the words are flowing yet.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 17, 2021, 11:32:45 PM
Thanks! I'm probably a scene from being done with the chapter and I've hit a sleepy wall. So, something to start up tomorrow I guess.

I'm glad you've gotten a few paragraphs in though, the streak is alive! Starting a new chapter is always hard, it either comes really easily to me or I stall on the same chapter many times before finally finishing it.

I say, take a break and look at it with fresh eyes. Catch up on sleep instead. ;D That's what I'm telling myself, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 19, 2021, 05:47:39 PM
Hope everyone had a productive Sunday! Mine was not quite as productive as I was hoping, but I finished the chapter I had been working on and went back to finish the little bridge part of two chapters ago, plus started the last little scene of the previous chapter (then hit a wall) and started my editing for this week's update. I still got about 2,300 words in, but it wasn't the monster weekend I was hoping for to catch up on my daily word count.

All in all, I have almost 27,000 words for the month so far though. I don't think I'll finish PNecklace this month like I was hoping, but I do have three chapters mostly finished so far and still two weeks/one weekend left. Maybe I'll get halfway done. :) Or maybe I will be majorly inspired and finish it all up. :) There's a myriad of possibilities.

I did have a question for Julie or anyone else who has written something similar, I just know she had it for Bethlehem off the top of my head. Anyone who has had a portion of the story where certain characters are doing one thing and other characters are doing some other thing for an extended amount of time, how did you write that? Did you plan ahead of time the order the chapters would switch up POV? Did you write one whole arc, then the next arc, and so on and splice them together after the fact? Something different? Just looking for opinions and methods here.

I'd use my previous PBox method from when I wrote in order, but that was really "I want y'all to think Nick/Brian/Minako died when they fell in the hole, so I'm ignoring them for several chapters. This flows nicely into still focusing on AJ/Kevin/Howie, so I will give them each a POV chapter. Look, they fell in another hole. We haven't checked in on Renee/NSYNC in a while. I guess it's time to let you know that Nick/Brian/Minako didn't die, but I want them to disappear for a little while after that still... And I guess Renee/NSYNC have to physically get through some of the castle so we'll focus on them for a bit. And now we can worry about Nick again. And then everybody's together until the end." lol "Fell into a hole" seems to be a recurring inciting incident for me for some reason...

I'm not really sure yet what the more interesting cliff hangers will be. Do I just treat this like post-story WADD and write a little of part A and a little of part B, then decide which one is flowing better and finish up that bit before moving on? Or see if I miss the other one a little while writing and start splicing them that way?

Tell me your methods, basically, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 19, 2021, 10:34:12 PM
Hey, 2,300 words in a day and 27,000 words for the month so far sounds good to me!  Congrats!
Even if you don't finish PNecklace this month, it sounds like you've made a lot of progress.  No pressure!

My Sunday was more productive than Saturday, but not as productive as last weekend.  I'm about to the point in my story that I wanted to skip through with a nice montage, though, so I guess I knew that would probably happen. LOL

To answer your question, I wrote the scenes in order for Bethlehem, so I jumped around between characters.  I didn't have a set order for alternating perspectives; I just tried to keep it somewhat balanced between the five boys, but also focused on whichever character made the most sense to focus on in each scene.  I planned that out a few chapters at a time, and that helped me decide the best order and perspective for each scene.

Since you are used to writing scenes out of order, I'm sure it would also work to write one arc at a time and then splice them together.  Or write part of one arc and then switch to the other when you get bored.  I know you'll figure it out!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 19, 2021, 11:33:56 PM
If only they were all actually for PNecklace, lol. But you're right. I've got three chapters written (almost), some solid plans (but no actual words) for two more, four other scenes in various places, and the start of a sixth chapter. If I could finish those two with solid plans and maybe catch my stride in one of the two little arcs, I'd be pretty happy. I think I'm just a little too excited to slap "the end" on it before I actually get there, lol.

It's now up to 28,000 words and I don't have to worry about editing anymore this week. I do have to worry about what I'm going to talk about on Wednesday though, lol.

You're on a 19-day streak too though and almost to your goal! That's awesome! Congrats to you! I feel you on the slow bits, but don't let your montage make you drag your feet. Maybe next weekend, we'll both have words flying on the paper. :)

It sounds like this may be one of those times where planning is better than plantsing, lol. I thought it was really well balanced, that's why I asked. I have the vaguest timeline... let's call it major objectives, events, and outcomes for each arc, but no definite order for the whole thing. You're right though, it's probably best to WADD this and see what happens. It's not like writing out of order when I feel like it has steered me wrong yet, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 21, 2021, 07:46:07 PM
This was the camp care package either yesterday or Monday, can't remember. Thought it was something good to remind ourselves.

"In addition to your main goal, try to set a goal during each writing session (i.e. a word count or scene goal). That way, you'll stay motivated and you'll know what you're working toward each time you sit down to write."

Today's Writing Challenge:

Follow Kristina's advice and set a specific goal for your writing session today. Do you want to finish a particular scene, or get to a certain word count or page number? You can do it! Breaking big goals into bite-sized chunks can help them seem more manageable.


I haven't written anything yet today and I need to keep the streak alive! Wish me luck! I think my goal is to finish the scene I've been working on off and on since last week. For some reason, the conversation isn't coming to me as well as I'd hoped.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 21, 2021, 09:10:58 PM
That's a good idea, to set a small goal for each writing session.  This week, my goal is just to write something every day.  I've been averaging about a sentence per day LOL.  I've actually written a few sentences today, so hopefully that's a good sign.  Just trying to keep my streak alive until the weekend.

I hope you can keep your streak alive too!  Good luck!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 21, 2021, 09:31:56 PM
Woo! You beat your average with a few sentences! Hope you write more!

I've written thirty words, so the streak lives! This two-hour Masked Singer is great, but not for my writing, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 21, 2021, 11:37:37 PM
The streak lives and I finished the scene I was working on! And boy does it tug at the heart strings (in an "aww" way, not a sad way). I'm calling this a win for me and Brian even though it was only about 600 more words, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 22, 2021, 09:25:54 PM
Woo! You beat your average with a few sentences! Hope you write more!

I've written thirty words, so the streak lives! This two-hour Masked Singer is great, but not for my writing, lol.

LOL When I realized Masked Singer was two hours long, I brought my Chromebook out to the living room and wrote in between performances instead of fast forwarding.

I'm glad the streak stayed alive!  Mine has too.  I've been writing at least one sentence every morning while I dry my hair in case I don't get anything done in the evening.  While last week I was just in a state of chronic sleep deprivation fueled by caffeine, this week I have been getting more sleep by taking a 2-3 hour nap at 5 or 6 p.m. every evening, which has really cut into my writing productivity.  Tonight is the only night I didn't nap because I wanted to stay up and watch the ER reunion LOL.  I guess I need to go back to drinking soda in the afternoon next week so I can stay awake and write.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 22, 2021, 09:31:25 PM
Today's Camp Nano Care Package:

"Read what's being published in the genre you're writing. Read old books and new. Get a good feel for what your genre is. This will help with your writing and it also might help you when pitching your book to agents/publishers."

Today's Writing Challenge:

If you're feeling stuck, jot down a list of a few of the tropes, characters, or situations that usually show up in the genre you're currently writing. Which ones do you love, and which ones do you find annoying? Use these as a jumping off point to write a scene featuring one of those things!

What genre is your current work in progress? Is it the genre you usually write in?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 22, 2021, 09:37:37 PM
LOL When I realized Masked Singer was two hours long, I brought my Chromebook out to the living room and wrote in between performances instead of fast forwarding.

Same. I did get sidetracked listening to a friend tell a dramatic story about someone we both know being a dick and giving her advice, but after that, I went back to the grind.


I'm glad the streak stayed alive!  Mine has too.  I've been writing at least one sentence every morning while I dry my hair in case I don't get anything done in the evening.  While last week I was just in a state of chronic sleep deprivation fueled by caffeine, this week I have been getting more sleep by taking a 2-3 hour nap at 5 or 6 p.m. every evening, which has really cut into my writing productivity.  Tonight is the only night I didn't nap because I wanted to stay up and watch the ER reunion LOL.  I guess I need to go back to drinking soda in the afternoon next week so I can stay awake and write.

I'm glad yours has too! Today I wrote two different little bits so far, the start of my next chapter this afternoon and the start of the next book this morning. As usual, I continue to be all over the place, lol. I think you passed your tiredness on to me because I have been exhausted this whole week. I don't know if it's the off and on snow or what, but so tired.

I thought about taking a nap today! But I had that Thursday training again, so I decided to write a little before it started. I'm hoping I can jump back in where I left off. :)

I hope the ER reunion was worth skipping the nap for.  ;D Just make sure that you don't sleep deprive yourself next week.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 22, 2021, 09:47:39 PM
Today's Camp Nano Care Package:

"Read what's being published in the genre you're writing. Read old books and new. Get a good feel for what your genre is. This will help with your writing and it also might help you when pitching your book to agents/publishers."

Today's Writing Challenge:

If you're feeling stuck, jot down a list of a few of the tropes, characters, or situations that usually show up in the genre you're currently writing. Which ones do you love, and which ones do you find annoying? Use these as a jumping off point to write a scene featuring one of those things!

I was looking through to see if I had something like this yet and I do have a couple of them planned, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I guess I did have a little of one in yesterday's scene, but I'm not here for spoilers, lol.


What genre is your current work in progress? Is it the genre you usually write in?

Fantasy, my old reliable. I was thinking the other day about how much I wanted nothing to do with fantasy after finishing PBox and I have no idea why that was... Like I couldn't even bring myself to write Gobosei back then. I think the time away was probably a good thing for PBox&Co (like whatever PNecklace or PDemons were going to be back then are not nearly as awesome as what they are now... I think only two or three things stuck all these years?), but it's still weird.

Anyone else ever feel that way? You write and write in one genre and then think "if I even look at x genre, I'm going to hurl"? Anyone know why? Psychology school me, basically, lol!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 22, 2021, 10:04:37 PM
Today's Camp Nano Care Package:

"Read what's being published in the genre you're writing. Read old books and new. Get a good feel for what your genre is. This will help with your writing and it also might help you when pitching your book to agents/publishers."

Does anyone else struggle to find quality fiction (fanfic or original) in their favorite genre?  I have read some great BSB medical dramas over the years, but most of them are really old at this point - I haven't come across many recent examples.  In the world of published fiction, I haven't found many good books written for adults in this genre either.  I've read a handful over the years, but even some of those were more YA books, like The Fault in Our Stars.  I guess the "crying and dying" books are more of a YA trend.

I have turned to true stories - memoirs - for inspiration for MBK because there aren't a lot of novels about the topic I'm writing about.  The most well-known one is universally hated by people in the situation I've put Kevin in, so while I enjoyed reading that particular book years ago, I have not used it as a source for research or inspiration.  Not having a lot of fictional examples to emulate forces me to be more original and figure things out for myself, but it would be nice to be able to read more of the stuff I like to write.  It's a good thing I'm not trying to pitch a novel to a publisher because medical drama storylines must not be popular outside of fanfic and YA fiction.


If you're feeling stuck, jot down a list of a few of the tropes, characters, or situations that usually show up in the genre you're currently writing. Which ones do you love, and which ones do you find annoying? Use these as a jumping off point to write a scene featuring one of those things!

We've talked a lot about tropes, but I had to laugh at this because I was watching this week's episode of The Resident earlier and rolled my eyes at the use of the Incurable Cough of Death/Blood from the Mouth trope.  A character had just been discharged from the ER with a clean bill of health after her labs came back normal, only to start coughing up blood just outside the door, which of course meant that she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in the next scene.  So predictable.  I miss ER.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 22, 2021, 10:11:24 PM
I'm glad yours has too! Today I wrote two different little bits so far, the start of my next chapter this afternoon and the start of the next book this morning. As usual, I continue to be all over the place, lol. I think you passed your tiredness on to me because I have been exhausted this whole week. I don't know if it's the off and on snow or what, but so tired.

I thought about taking a nap today! But I had that Thursday training again, so I decided to write a little before it started. I'm hoping I can jump back in where I left off. :)

I hope the ER reunion was worth skipping the nap for.  ;D Just make sure that you don't sleep deprive yourself next week.

Hey, at least you're writing multiple times a day, even if it is all over the place.  I hope you can settle into one part of the story so you feel like you're making progress, even though every little bit counts.

Ugh, we had spring snow earlier this week too, but thankfully it didn't stick.  I saw Mare got a decent amount too!  I do think the weather being all over the place makes us all out of sorts.  Hopefully we can all catch up on sleep again this weekend!

The ER reunion was totally worth staying up for!  Two hours of pure joy.  I started crying the moment Anthony Edwards appeared on the screen.  What a dork.  But they were all getting each other teary-eyed with nostalgia, too!  It's on YouTube if anyone else wants to watch: https://youtu.be/q32KZI_3ohI
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 22, 2021, 10:17:19 PM
Anyone else ever feel that way? You write and write in one genre and then think "if I even look at x genre, I'm going to hurl"? Anyone know why? Psychology school me, basically, lol!

I always think I'm going to feel that way after finishing a particularly intense medical drama, but I inevitably end up coming back for more.  I feel that way more about writing than reading, though.  I've never gotten burnt out on reading well-written medical drama by other authors - like I said earlier, I wish there was more of it out there.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 22, 2021, 10:40:45 PM
Does anyone else struggle to find quality fiction (fanfic or original) in their favorite genre?  I have read some great BSB medical dramas over the years, but most of them are really old at this point - I haven't come across many recent examples.  In the world of published fiction, I haven't found many good books written for adults in this genre either.  I've read a handful over the years, but even some of those were more YA books, like The Fault in Our Stars.  I guess the "crying and dying" books are more of a YA trend.

I probably need to be better about reading fantasy novels again; I've gotten out of reading for a little while here. There was never much BSB fanfic in fantasy, but it's definitely out there in traditional publishing. Though I've been avoiding it right now as I write just because I'm too spongey. I did have an "oh no" moment about a month ago where I was looking over a list of newly published YA fantasy books. (My aside got too long, so I had to edit how I was writing this.)

I think that's what PBox is demographic-wise since I don't know that I'd call it a "coming of age" novel necessarily, but it's definitely in there fairly prevalently -- especially with Nick and Minako sharing a lot of the POV role and being utterly clueless about their place in the world (at least they have each other). Awkwardly enough, it's a bit of a continuity snarl since it was very much written to be a Never Gone-era fanfic, but reading back over it, I've always felt like Nick read 18 more than 25, lol. And now as I keep going on the story, I'm just leaning into that? Definitely in the OF version (deciding between 16 and 17 at this point), but even in PNecklace. In the edit, I made the timeline in the fantasy part to be a lot more vague intentionally to reflect that feeling. Really all of the Boys except for maybe Kevin read more early twenties than late twenties/early thirties. I don't know if that was due to my age at the time or what. (See, I told you that this aside got long).

Anyway... so I was looking over a list of newly published YA Books and was like, alright fairies, vampires, werewolves, yup, ooh a couple with demons. But then one of them had a main character named Nick and I went "oh no!" I googled into it and the premises are really different and the character seems really different, but I had a heart attack for a long time as I googled. It also made me think on my novel's DEI with a cast full of mostly white pretty boys since they were all based on actual boy bands originally.

I wonder why "crying and dying" is more YA. Is it too real of an adult fear for adult fiction? Just like we say in our fanfic circles, if it's not out there then that's all the more reason to put it out there.


I have turned to true stories - memoirs - for inspiration for MBK because there aren't a lot of novels about the topic I'm writing about.  The most well-known one is universally hated by people in the situation I've put Kevin in, so while I enjoyed reading that particular book years ago, I have not used it as a source for research or inspiration.  Not having a lot of fictional examples to emulate forces me to be more original and figure things out for myself, but it would be nice to be able to read more of the stuff I like to write.  It's a good thing I'm not trying to pitch a novel to a publisher because medical drama storylines must not be popular outside of fanfic and YA fiction.

I tried to think of universally hated books and my mind went to A Million Little Pieces, lol. Is that it? I think it's good to balance fiction and non-fiction as much as you can for inspiration. It's different angles on the same subject. Are you reading thick memoirs or are they more excerpts?

My next aside, pitching seems like a difficult thing to do for a verbose person who sucks at summaries, lol. The only real intel I've gathered is that "standalone with series potential" may be my bread and butter in this department.


We've talked a lot about tropes, but I had to laugh at this because I was watching this week's episode of The Resident earlier and rolled my eyes at the use of the Incurable Cough of Death/Blood from the Mouth trope.  A character had just been discharged from the ER with a clean bill of health after her labs came back normal, only to start coughing up blood just outside the door, which of course meant that she was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer in the next scene.  So predictable.  I miss ER.

Not the Incurable Cough of Death! Not after all the labs came back normal! I feel like that doesn't happen! lol.

Aw man, the last fantasy thing I watched was the Dark Crystal miniseries on Netflix. And it definitely had many of the standard fantasy tropes, but I can't remember one where I thought "oh no, not this again." It's been a while, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 22, 2021, 10:47:20 PM
Hey, at least you're writing multiple times a day, even if it is all over the place.  I hope you can settle into one part of the story so you feel like you're making progress, even though every little bit counts.

Ugh, we had spring snow earlier this week too, but thankfully it didn't stick.  I saw Mare got a decent amount too!  I do think the weather being all over the place makes us all out of sorts.  Hopefully we can all catch up on sleep again this weekend!

The ER reunion was totally worth staying up for!  Two hours of pure joy.  I started crying the moment Anthony Edwards appeared on the screen.  What a dork.  But they were all getting each other teary-eyed with nostalgia, too!  It's on YouTube if anyone else wants to watch: https://youtu.be/q32KZI_3ohI

I have convinced myself to take advantage of the available little spurts instead of avoiding them. I'm embracing the self-cliff hanger, lol. I'm making progress somewhere. I'll get to the end of this one and go, well, since this next one is fairly written, I may as well just finish it, lol. NaNo says at my current pace, I will finish PNecklace in May, so 3/4 of a year is not bad for finishing a novel. At least according to my track record on finishing novels, lol. I think I'll feel better once I get these last two chapters finished before the divergent bit. I always get a little nervous as I get down to only ten chapters ahead of my updates.

I was hoping ours would stick so I could have a snow day. It's been basically every other day: snow, nice, snow, nice, snow, nice. It's exhausting! Catch up on sleep and feel inspired to write pages upon pages of prose!

Aw! Glad you had a great two-hours, cried, and lived the nostalgia. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 22, 2021, 10:50:35 PM
I always think I'm going to feel that way after finishing a particularly intense medical drama, but I inevitably end up coming back for more.  I feel that way more about writing than reading, though.  I've never gotten burnt out on reading well-written medical drama by other authors - like I said earlier, I wish there was more of it out there.

I don't think I've ever gotten tired of reading fantasy. It's nice to be able to just get lost in someone else's world for a little while.

It probably had less to do with fantasy epics and more to do with where I was as a person during that time. Finishing PBox was pretty emotionally draining afterward, but in a "I did it" kind of way. But also, "I did it, but I still have to keep doing this whole college thing," lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 23, 2021, 06:16:22 PM
Today's Writing Challenge:

If you're feeling stuck, jot down a list of a few of the tropes, characters, or situations that usually show up in the genre you're currently writing. Which ones do you love, and which ones do you find annoying? Use these as a jumping off point to write a scene featuring one of those things!

We've talked a lot about tropes, but I had to laugh at this because I was watching this week's episode of The Resident earlier and rolled my eyes at the use of the Incurable Cough of Death/Blood from the Mouth trope.

I thought of a YA trope I hate: love triangles. Why can't characters find a person and go "I like this one." Oh no, there are two boys that are into me and they're only slightly different from each other, how will I choose?!? Dating two people at the same time is exhausting! Not only do you have to deal with one dude's drama, you have to deal with two dudes' drama all while you've got your own things going on! It is not worth it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 23, 2021, 06:54:57 PM
Ugh! I know what you mean about The Resident. I mean, I get why they did that for plot purposes but even still. In real life, she’d go back to the hospital and the doctor would be like “Well.. are tests showed she was fine so it must be something she ate.”
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 11:59:23 AM
I think that's what PBox is demographic-wise since I don't know that I'd call it a "coming of age" novel necessarily, but it's definitely in there fairly prevalently -- especially with Nick and Minako sharing a lot of the POV role and being utterly clueless about their place in the world (at least they have each other). Awkwardly enough, it's a bit of a continuity snarl since it was very much written to be a Never Gone-era fanfic, but reading back over it, I've always felt like Nick read 18 more than 25, lol. And now as I keep going on the story, I'm just leaning into that? Definitely in the OF version (deciding between 16 and 17 at this point), but even in PNecklace. In the edit, I made the timeline in the fantasy part to be a lot more vague intentionally to reflect that feeling. Really all of the Boys except for maybe Kevin read more early twenties than late twenties/early thirties. I don't know if that was due to my age at the time or what. (See, I told you that this aside got long).

It's probably good to keep it intentionally vague about the time period; that gives the story a more timeless feel.  That's interesting that the guys all read younger than they were meant to be.  It could be because you were also younger when you originally wrote them.  I used to worry about that when I was a teenager writing about them in their twenties.  I would wonder if their way of thinking seemed too immature.  There's a big difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-six-year-old.  Now that we're adults too, the age difference doesn't seem to matter as much.  I don't feel like I'm that different at thirty-six than I was at twenty-six, not compared to sixteen.


Anyway... so I was looking over a list of newly published YA Books and was like, alright fairies, vampires, werewolves, yup, ooh a couple with demons. But then one of them had a main character named Nick and I went "oh no!" I googled into it and the premises are really different and the character seems really different, but I had a heart attack for a long time as I googled. It also made me think on my novel's DEI with a cast full of mostly white pretty boys since they were all based on actual boy bands originally.

LOL I remember having a similar moment when I was wanting to rewrite Broken as an OF YA novel.  Lurlene McDaniel published a new novel about a male high school swimming star who loses his leg to bone cancer, which sounded so similar to my plot of Nick as a high school basketball player.  I was like, "Are you serious??"  Her books never featured male protagonists before, so I thought at least the fact that my main character was a boy made it somewhat unique in that genre.  I bought the book and read it; it wasn't really that similar to Broken or very good.  (I realized I had grown out of her books by then.)   I guess the lesson there is there's always going to be something similar out there, even in the world of fantasy, but don't let it derail you because no one else writes like you.  As long as you're not outright copying someone else, you're fine.  I get the point you made earlier about being a sponge, too, and worrying you're going to inadvertently copy if you read too many books in the same genre.  That's another reason I'm liking memoirs lately, because drawing on real life experiences isn't the same as copying someone else's made-up ideas.


I wonder why "crying and dying" is more YA. Is it too real of an adult fear for adult fiction? Just like we say in our fanfic circles, if it's not out there then that's all the more reason to put it out there.

Yeah, maybe.  Although reading them as a kid is what created that fear LOL.  At least as an adult, I can talk myself down from hypochondriac thoughts better than I could as a kid, when I would read a book about a girl who got leukemia and then cry myself to sleep, convinced that I also had leukemia.  Now I'm just like, "Eh, I haven't died yet, so it's probably no big deal."


I tried to think of universally hated books and my mind went to A Million Little Pieces, lol. Is that it? I think it's good to balance fiction and non-fiction as much as you can for inspiration. It's different angles on the same subject. Are you reading thick memoirs or are they more excerpts?

No.

Absolutely.  Memoirs are super helpful because you can never really know what something is like unless you've gone through it yourself.  Reading the experience of someone who has gone through it in their own words is a good way to understand that perspective.  Both of the memoirs I've read or am reading are fairly short, I think, probably under 300 pages, although I have the Kindle versions so it's hard to tell.


My next aside, pitching seems like a difficult thing to do for a verbose person who sucks at summaries, lol. The only real intel I've gathered is that "standalone with series potential" may be my bread and butter in this department.

Yes, I think writing a pitch sounds like an intimidating part of the publishing process.  You have to summarize and pitch your book just right so that it sounds like something that will sell, but also something different enough from what's already out there on the shelves.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 12:08:49 PM
I have convinced myself to take advantage of the available little spurts instead of avoiding them. I'm embracing the self-cliff hanger, lol. I'm making progress somewhere. I'll get to the end of this one and go, well, since this next one is fairly written, I may as well just finish it, lol. NaNo says at my current pace, I will finish PNecklace in May, so 3/4 of a year is not bad for finishing a novel. At least according to my track record on finishing novels, lol. I think I'll feel better once I get these last two chapters finished before the divergent bit. I always get a little nervous as I get down to only ten chapters ahead of my updates.

That's not bad at all!!  I think trying to write an entire novel in a month - even a first draft - is overly ambitious.  Looking at you, NaNoWriMo.  If I locked myself in a room for a month with nowhere else to be and nothing else to do, I could maybe churn out 50,000 words, which would be a short novel, but that is not realistic.

Ten chapters is still a lot when you're posting one a week; that's still a solid two months of updates you have hoarded.  But I know what you mean.  I start to feel that way when I haven't finished a chapter in a while.


I thought of a YA trope I hate: love triangles. Why can't characters find a person and go "I like this one." Oh no, there are two boys that are into me and they're only slightly different from each other, how will I choose?!? Dating two people at the same time is exhausting! Not only do you have to deal with one dude's drama, you have to deal with two dudes' drama all while you've got your own things going on! It is not worth it.

Yes!!  And why do they always involve two guys lusting after the same girl?  It's usually not two girls and a guy.  And the girls at the center are infuriating.  Stop playing with these boys' emotions and just choose!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 12:13:26 PM
Ugh! I know what you mean about The Resident. I mean, I get why they did that for plot purposes but even still. In real life, she’d go back to the hospital and the doctor would be like “Well.. are tests showed she was fine so it must be something she ate.”
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 01:53:27 PM
It's probably good to keep it intentionally vague about the time period; that gives the story a more timeless feel.  That's interesting that the guys all read younger than they were meant to be.  It could be because you were also younger when you originally wrote them.  I used to worry about that when I was a teenager writing about them in their twenties.  I would wonder if their way of thinking seemed too immature.  There's a big difference between a sixteen-year-old and a twenty-six-year-old.  Now that we're adults too, the age difference doesn't seem to matter as much.  I don't feel like I'm that different at thirty-six than I was at twenty-six, not compared to sixteen.

PNecklace as a whole is more vague. I'm trying to be more concrete to my fantasy timeline than to Backstreet time. The beginning and end of PBox is solidly "it's spring of 2005," but the rest of it, I took out hard references to "it's been x years" or "this happened x years ago" just because the timeline doesn't make sense. Mainly a twenty-five year old dating an eighteen-year-old. Maybe that's the real fantasy in the story, lol.

It's easier to be more concrete and less vague in the OF version, which I do like. And it's easier to adjust "reads eighteen Nick" a year or two down. Plus it makes everything slightly less horrible, lol. Like poor twenty-five year old Nick was stuck in that cave for ten to twelve years going slowly insane if the timeline remains accurate. A sixteen-year-old Nick would be like three years. Still horrible, but not as extreme. Realistically fanfic PBox Nick should not be as well adjusted as he is. Who fed him? Was there water? If it was that terrible, why didn't he just leave even if he was scared and thought he deserved it? I have so many questions for seventeen-year-old me, lol. Also, why did seventeen-year-old me want to psychologicall y torture her beloved Nick in such a gruesome way?

I know when I was younger, "do the Boys read believably older than me?" and "do the Boys read believably as... well boys?" were questions I often asked myself. But I didn't really stress about it. Now when I look back, it's pretty noticeable. At least "don't read older," the jury is still out on "believably as boys," so I guess they read believably as male?

Twenty-six year old me and thirty-three year old me are pretty much the same, though thirty-three year old me has her life together a little better. She's not trying to be involved in love triangles anymore, lol. On the contrary, twenty-three year old me is still pretty different from thirty-three year old me. Not at the core or anything, but definitely confidence in who I am as a person. Twenty-three year old me cared way too much about comparing her life to everyone else and worrying that she was "behind her friends getting married" or "too mature for her friends still acting like college sophomores." On a whole, present me is a lot better about keeping feelings about life centered on myself, and possibly the hubs, lol.


LOL I remember having a similar moment when I was wanting to rewrite Broken as an OF YA novel.  Lurlene McDaniel published a new novel about a male high school swimming star who loses his leg to bone cancer, which sounded so similar to my plot of Nick as a high school basketball player.  I was like, "Are you serious??"  Her books never featured male protagonists before, so I thought at least the fact that my main character was a boy made it somewhat unique in that genre.  I bought the book and read it; it wasn't really that similar to Broken or very good.  (I realized I had grown out of her books by then.)   I guess the lesson there is there's always going to be something similar out there, even in the world of fantasy, but don't let it derail you because no one else writes like you.  As long as you're not outright copying someone else, you're fine.  I get the point you made earlier about being a sponge, too, and worrying you're going to inadvertently copy if you read too many books in the same genre.  That's another reason I'm liking memoirs lately, because drawing on real life experiences isn't the same as copying someone else's made-up ideas.

No, Lurlene! It's like she sensed someone was coming into her niche market on "crying and dying" besides Nicholas Sparks, lol. Do any of his books feature male protagonists being sick either? I can't think of one. I'm bummed you read it and have a more mature view of Lurlene instead of looking back with nostalgia and joy, but it's good you read it just to see how similar they were.

It definitely ruined my joy at seeing books about demons for half a day, lol. I was too focused on whether I would have to change Nick's name. My one non-negotiable outside of, you know, the non-fanfic elements I made up myself, lol.

I think memoirs are great for that, especially because you can take different accounts and weave them together with your own ideas to create a unique experience, like "this seems pretty standard, but these things vary."


Yeah, maybe.  Although reading them as a kid is what created that fear LOL.  At least as an adult, I can talk myself down from hypochondriac thoughts better than I could as a kid, when I would read a book about a girl who got leukemia and then cry myself to sleep, convinced that I also had leukemia.  Now I'm just like, "Eh, I haven't died yet, so it's probably no big deal."

Bridge to Terabitha was my big adult fear book, lol. I think my melt down about it also turned into a meltdown about The Last Unicorn. Such a melodramatic special snowflake as a child, lol. I'm a bit of a hypochondirac myself, but I blame my mother for that. It's more like "leaping to the worst possible conclusion first" for everything, it's just easy to do that with medical things because of Web MD always saying "and I guess it could be cancer."


No.

Hard no, lol. I was joking. It didn't fit what your story sounds like, but I just wanted to ask for fun.


Absolutely.  Memoirs are super helpful because you can never really know what something is like unless you've gone through it yourself.  Reading the experience of someone who has gone through it in their own words is a good way to understand that perspective.  Both of the memoirs I've read or am reading are fairly short, I think, probably under 300 pages, although I have the Kindle versions so it's hard to tell.

It's good that they're short so that the research doesn't detract from writing too much. I'm glad there's resources out there to help get perspective. I wouldn't want anything we all write in our stories to befall any of us in our day-to-day lives just to provide perspective.


Yes, I think writing a pitch sounds like an intimidating part of the publishing process.  You have to summarize and pitch your book just right so that it sounds like something that will sell, but also something different enough from what's already out there on the shelves.

Yes! And summarize it to its bare bones instead of getting caught up in the tiny details that are important to you, but not necessary in a summary. I would probably have to rewrite that more than the actual novel, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 02:16:44 PM
That's not bad at all!!  I think trying to write an entire novel in a month - even a first draft - is overly ambitious.  Looking at you, NaNoWriMo.  If I locked myself in a room for a month with nowhere else to be and nothing else to do, I could maybe churn out 50,000 words, which would be a short novel, but that is not realistic.

Yeah, my 60,000 words is not working out and that's only a third of this novel, lol. I think it was easier in the beginning because everything was fresh and new and even if I wrote ahead, it was still coming up soon. Now there's nothing I want to write ahead in it. And there's more to do outside of novel writing than I had in November. Maybe I need to rewatch last season's Masked Singer and/or DWTS. Get some of the early magic back.


Ten chapters is still a lot when you're posting one a week; that's still a solid two months of updates you have hoarded.  But I know what you mean.  I start to feel that way when I haven't finished a chapter in a while.

I keep telling myself that too! Every time I freak out a little, I say "You have until June/July to figure this out. It's going to be fine." But it still makes me a little anxious, lol. I think it's because I enjoying knowing the chapters are there whereas when I wasn't hoarding, they just weren't available to lean on so I had to force myself through things a lot more.


Yes!!  And why do they always involve two guys lusting after the same girl?  It's usually not two girls and a guy.  And the girls at the center are infuriating.  Stop playing with these boys' emotions and just choose!

I wonder if stories with more LGBTQ representation vary it a little more. I was also thinking that two girls and a guy is rare, but I can't even think of one that's a girl and a guy lusting over the same girl/guy or even three folks of the same gender. Maybe I'd mind it less if the dynamics switched up a bit.

Yes!! It's crazy that everyone involved knows it's going on and no one ever goes, "You know what, I'm out. This is too much drama for me." Like they all just go along with it until the girl at the center chooses! Outside of fictionland, I feel like it's more common with casual dating to see multiple  people at once, but that's too exhausting to get to the point where you'd be equally stringing two people along. I get exhausted just reading it in fiction knowing that it's exhausting. And why does the girl at the center never end up deciding "I guess it was neither of you. I pick myself, I've got stuff to do." instead?

I get the inherent appeal of "so many people like me at once, I'm so lucky," but I just hate it so much.

As far as trying to find things to watch that is in your favored genre, I’ve been pretty lucky finding stuff, but I do find myself always comparing things to either Supernatural, Alias or Battlestar Gallactica and nothing has ever surpassed any of them.

I think I'm lucky that tv-wise, the shows I like best are ensemble sitcoms or dramedies, so it's lot easier to enjoy them without comparing them to each other. If I don't like the ensemble, I won't watch it.


Reading wise, I’m really not picky. The book just isn’t allowed to suck. lol

lmao! This is so quintessential ly Mare. How often do you decide a book sucks? If you decide it sucks, do you stop reading and never look at it again or do you still finish the book?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 02:22:45 PM
I was exhausted yesterday, I even took a nap, so I woke up around 8am feeling so refreshed and thinking it would be a productive day. Then I went to make my coffee...

I suspected my coffee maker was on its last legs because it was doing about half the coffee I had prepared it for yesterday and sure enough, there was still water that hadn't drained, but the drip tray was full of water that wasn't there yesterday. Sigh... Thankfully, I had another keurig coffee maker in the garage that was brand new because it was a gift to use in my classroom, but I never took it to work because coffee maker and pre-Ks sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. But then it took half an hour to set up after digging it out of the garage. And this was on top of the half hour I'd already spent washing dishes because I'd wanted coffee and my Backstreet Boys mug was dirty.

I'm now on my second cup of coffee and still haven't written a thing, but I for sure earned my coffee today. The streak still lives from yesterday and I think I'm finally ready to get started. Hope everyone else's writing is going more smoothly!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 24, 2021, 02:23:38 PM
Yeah, it's all for the drama.  By the way, Mina better not really be leaving that show because she's the best and most unique character on it.

I hope do get a chance to watch the ER reunion!  It was so good!

That's me with medical drama shows; I compare everything to ER, and no show has ever even come close.

She did leave the show
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 06:03:00 PM
It also made me think on my novel's DEI with a cast full of mostly white pretty boys since they were all based on actual boy bands originally.

I meant to comment on this and then forgot to.  Would you ever consider changing one of the guys' races in the original version for the sake of diversity?  

If you don't want to change any of their races, but don't want to be criticized for writing about a cast full of white pretty boys, you could just be vague enough with your descriptions to leave it up to readers' interpretation s as to what race the characters are.  Obviously if you describe Nick as having blond hair and blue eyes, they will assume he's a white guy, but if you just describe AJ and Howie as having dark hair and eyes, they could be any race.  That wouldn't necessarily make your story more diverse or inclusive, but at least no one could say with certainty that they are all white.  And if it helps, I've always pictured Minako as being Japanese-American when you talk about her because of her name, even though I think you said once that she wasn't.

All that being said, while I think diversity and inclusion are important, I also think it's fine to write a novel about five white pretty boys, whether they were inspired by a boyband or not.  I definitely don't think writers should feel pressured to include "token" characters of other races, sexual identities, abilities, etc. just for the sake of diversity.  Write according to your vision and what makes the most sense for your story.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 06:34:01 PM
Also, why did seventeen-year-old me want to psychologicall y torture her beloved Nick in such a gruesome way?

LOL Why do any of us torture our beloved Nick (or any of the boys) in such ways?  We could discuss this question forever.


I know when I was younger, "do the Boys read believably older than me?" and "do the Boys read believably as... well boys?" were questions I often asked myself. But I didn't really stress about it. Now when I look back, it's pretty noticeable. At least "don't read older," the jury is still out on "believably as boys," so I guess they read believably as male?

I'm sure these are questions many of us asked ourselves too, especially those of us who grew up without brothers LOL.  The good news is that since most of our readers are also female, it probably doesn't matter much.


No, Lurlene! It's like she sensed someone was coming into her niche market on "crying and dying" besides Nicholas Sparks, lol. Do any of his books feature male protagonists being sick either? I can't think of one. I'm bummed you read it and have a more mature view of Lurlene instead of looking back with nostalgia and joy, but it's good you read it just to see how similar they were.

To answer your Nicholas Sparks question, not that I know of.  I went through a phase where I read several of his books in a row in my late teens/early twenties, but after so many, I realized they were all basically the same and haven't read one since LOL.

Lurlene and I must have been on the same wavelength for a while there because she also wrote a book about a heart transplant and cellular memory after I had started Secrets of the Heart, which is about the same thing.  Must be payback for all the times I borrowed ideas from her books in my teenybopper days LOL.  I read that book too and was relieved (and proud) that I liked mine better.  I will always look back on her older books with nostalgia and joy, but they were definitely written for sentimental tweens, not cynical adults. 


It definitely ruined my joy at seeing books about demons for half a day, lol. I was too focused on whether I would have to change Nick's name. My one non-negotiable outside of, you know, the non-fanfic elements I made up myself, lol.

I think Nick is a common enough name that no one could accuse you of copying the other book just for using the same name.  It would be different if you called your main character Katniss or something LOL.


I think memoirs are great for that, especially because you can take different accounts and weave them together with your own ideas to create a unique experience, like "this seems pretty standard, but these things vary."

Absolutely!  The first one I read was written by a woman, and now I'm reading one written by a guy, so it's been nice to get a male perspective.  I spent the morning revising to add in a couple of small ideas I got from reading that this week, so it's already been helpful.


Bridge to Terabitha was my big adult fear book, lol. I think my melt down about it also turned into a meltdown about The Last Unicorn. Such a melodramatic special snowflake as a child, lol. I'm a bit of a hypochondirac myself, but I blame my mother for that. It's more like "leaping to the worst possible conclusion first" for everything, it's just easy to do that with medical things because of Web MD always saying "and I guess it could be cancer."

Aww, Bridge to Terabithia!  I actually didn't read that book until my children's lit class in college.  The professor was this sweet old lady who reminded me of my grandma, and most of the class was her reading books aloud to us and discussing them.  She read that entire book to us and made us cry.  I use it with my high readers in fourth grade for literature discussion groups some years, and they usually love it too.

Yep, I am the same way, and yes, never Google symptoms - it could always be cancer LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 06:45:45 PM
Yeah, my 60,000 words is not working out and that's only a third of this novel, lol. I think it was easier in the beginning because everything was fresh and new and even if I wrote ahead, it was still coming up soon. Now there's nothing I want to write ahead in it. And there's more to do outside of novel writing than I had in November. Maybe I need to rewatch last season's Masked Singer and/or DWTS. Get some of the early magic back.

All that makes sense.  Starting a story is easy; sticking with it is the hard part.  But I know you will; you're too dedicated to this idea not to.  It's okay to slow down; that's only natural.  It's also harder to keep up the kind of pace you had in the beginning as you get busier.  Aside from summer for us teachers, winter is my favorite season to write because it's easier to just stay home and be cozy when it's dark and cold all the time.  Now I feel guilty that I'm not outside doing yard work or going on a walk or enjoying the spring weather on nice days because that's what normal people do LOL.  Meanwhile, I'm a reclusive, nocturnal creature who's allergic to pollen and sunlight and loves rain and thunderstorms.


I wonder if stories with more LGBTQ representation vary it a little more. I was also thinking that two girls and a guy is rare, but I can't even think of one that's a girl and a guy lusting over the same girl/guy or even three folks of the same gender. Maybe I'd mind it less if the dynamics switched up a bit.

That would be one way to change it up - have someone who was bisexual in the center, trying to choose between a guy and a girl.  I'm sure that's been done, but I can't think of an example offhand.  Three people of the same gender would work too.  Definitely not as common as two guys lusting after a girl.


I was exhausted yesterday, I even took a nap, so I woke up around 8am feeling so refreshed and thinking it would be a productive day. Then I went to make my coffee...

I suspected my coffee maker was on its last legs because it was doing about half the coffee I had prepared it for yesterday and sure enough, there was still water that hadn't drained, but the drip tray was full of water that wasn't there yesterday. Sigh... Thankfully, I had another keurig coffee maker in the garage that was brand new because it was a gift to use in my classroom, but I never took it to work because coffee maker and pre-Ks sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. But then it took half an hour to set up after digging it out of the garage. And this was on top of the half hour I'd already spent washing dishes because I'd wanted coffee and my Backstreet Boys mug was dirty.

I'm now on my second cup of coffee and still haven't written a thing, but I for sure earned my coffee today. The streak still lives from yesterday and I think I'm finally ready to get started. Hope everyone else's writing is going more smoothly!

Sorry about your Keurig, but glad you had a backup handy!  You definitely earned your two cups of coffee.

I wrote about 500 words this morning, but it was all revisions to previous chapters.  Hoping to add more to my current chapter this evening.  I hope you have better luck writing tonight!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 06:47:17 PM
I meant to comment on this and then forgot to.  Would you ever consider changing one of the guys' races in the original version for the sake of diversity?

If you don't want to change any of their races, but don't want to be criticized for writing about a cast full of white pretty boys, you could just be vague enough with your descriptions to leave it up to readers' interpretation s as to what race the characters are.  Obviously if you describe Nick as having blond hair and blue eyes, they will assume he's a white guy, but if you just describe AJ and Howie as having dark hair and eyes, they could be any race.  That wouldn't necessarily make your story more diverse or inclusive, but at least no one could say with certainty that they are all white.  And if it helps, I've always pictured Minako as being Japanese-American when you talk about her because of her name, even though I think you said once that she wasn't.

Things get lost in the walls of text, lol.

You know, I've thought about it, but then it also leads me back to your last comment that you always pictured Minako being Japanese-American just based on her name. The fear of misrepresentin g a culture at best or cultural appropriation at worst, so much to the point that I've also thought about changing her name to something more "generically American" sounding to avoid that since I have no authority on what it's like to be Japanese-American. The fear is especially prevalent with everything going on these days. I could go the complete opposite direction and actively give her attributes of my own mixed heritage, but I also know next to nothing about my own cultural traditions and associate much more with my "whiteness" than my "Native Americanness," to the point that it's something I only vaguely consider a part of my identity, despite only being a couple of generations (and several states) removed. Although I'm sure things like that are often struggles for other people with mixed heritage, but overall race isn't really a focus in the story outside of the whole "in general, humans are anti-demon" thing (though in the end, that has less to do with anything race-related and more to do with something I won't spoil here quite yet).

There's something to be said for the vague vagueness of "brown hair and brown eyes" (AJ and Howie were a lot of why I said "mostly white" originally rather than just "white") but then I also worry if people will care that diversity is or isn't there. Less for the diversity aspect necessarily and more that there's something really powerful in meaningful representation that I do think is important to include, especially with our frequent POV character Nick just being as is (though I wouldn't call him a poster kid for the white cis-gender heteronormativ e patriarchy or anything). I've also been actively trying to give the ladies in the book more badass things to do to combat fantasy stereotypes that "girls don't get cool big swords," but I feel like this had less to do with them originally and more to do with giving the Boys several cool things to do in a Backstreet Boys fanfic that were much cooler than any original characters, or NSYNC because everybody hates them anyway. That's the real bias in this story, lol.


All that being said, while I think diversity and inclusion are important, I also think it's fine to write a novel about five white pretty boys, whether they were inspired by a boyband or not.  I definitely don't think writers should feel pressured to include "token" characters of other races, sexual identities, abilities, etc. just for the sake of diversity.  Write according to your vision and what makes the most sense for your story.

I wouldn't want any of the characters to be a "token" anything because the idea of including diversity just to tick a diversity box also bothers me, but like I said, I also want to be inclusive for meaningful representation . I guess it's something I worry about more as I near the rest of the cast being introduced and having to solidify who they are as original characters and not "and then a Howie appeared and everyone was surprised because he had a meaningful role so early in the story." (Which I think is less prevalent these days than it was in 2005, lol.) Realistically, I could give them all blue skin and stop worrying about it, but I like to agonize over the details, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 06:47:41 PM
She did leave the show
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:05:10 PM
You know, I've thought about it, but then it also leads me back to your last comment that you always pictured Minako being Japanese-American just based on her name. The fear of misrepresentin g a culture at best or cultural appropriation at worst, so much to the point that I've also thought about changing her name to something more "generically American" sounding to avoid that since I have no authority on what it's like to be Japanese-American. The fear is especially prevalent with everything going on these days. I could go the complete opposite direction and actively give her attributes of my own mixed heritage, but I also know next to nothing about my own cultural traditions and associate much more with my "whiteness" than my "Native Americanness," to the point that it's something I only vaguely consider a part of my identity, despite only being a couple of generations (and several states) removed. Although I'm sure things like that are often struggles for other people with mixed heritage, but overall race isn't really a focus in the story outside of the whole "in general, humans are anti-demon" thing (though in the end, that has less to do with anything race-related and more to do with something I won't spoil here quite yet).

I hear you.  It's a complex issue because, on one hand, you want to be inclusive and have meaningful representation, but on the other hand, as a heterosexual cis white female, you can't fully understand what it's like to be, say, a gay or trans black person.  That's not to say you can't try, because we all write things we don't know by doing researching, but then there's the risk of being accused of stereotyping or appropriation.  But then if you only write straight white characters, you're not being diverse enough.  It's damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I don't think there's anything wrong with you keeping Minako's name, even if she doesn't have Japanese ancestry.  Names come from all different cultures.  You could always include an anecdote in the story that explains how she got her name, if you haven't already.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 07:08:56 PM
LOL Why do any of us torture our beloved Nick (or any of the boys) in such ways?  We could discuss this question forever.

We have discussed it forever, lol. I think it's up there with "Why are some genres more popular than others?" and "Why don't people review as much as they read?" for discussions had many times over several years. Haven't we settled on the answer that "we like exploring dark things and like writing about the Backstreet Boys"? lol


I'm sure these are questions many of us asked ourselves too, especially those of us who grew up without brothers LOL.  The good news is that since most of our readers are also female, it probably doesn't matter much.

You're right, I didn't think about it too much unless the Boys very blatantly sounded like thirteen-year-old girls, which I was guilty of at least once. Thank goodness we all start from somewhere, lol.


To answer your Nicholas Sparks question, not that I know of.  I went through a phase where I read several of his books in a row in my late teens/early twenties, but after so many, I realized they were all basically the same and haven't read one since LOL.

Lurlene and I must have been on the same wavelength for a while there because she also wrote a book about a heart transplant and cellular memory after I had started Secrets of the Heart, which is about the same thing.  Must be payback for all the times I borrowed ideas from her books in my teenybopper days LOL.  I read that book too and was relieved (and proud) that I liked mine better.  I will always look back on her older books with nostalgia and joy, but they were definitely written for sentimental tweens, not cynical adults.

After the next one I read was just like A Walk to Remember, I decided I couldn't read another novel of his. I couldn't even tell you which other one I read now.

Maybe Lurlene read your fanfics and wanted revenge for borrowing her ideas, lol. I'm glad it didn't destroy your joy despite liking your writing better. Now write a "crying and dying" for cynical adults. ;)


I think Nick is a common enough name that no one could accuse you of copying the other book just for using the same name.  It would be different if you called your main character Katniss or something LOL.

You're right, I should probably just change Nick's name to Katniss and stop worrying about this. ;D


Absolutely!  The first one I read was written by a woman, and now I'm reading one written by a guy, so it's been nice to get a male perspective.  I spent the morning revising to add in a couple of small ideas I got from reading that this week, so it's already been helpful.

That's great! I'm glad you're getting a lot of diverse perspectives and that it's helping with your revisions.


Aww, Bridge to Terabithia!  I actually didn't read that book until my children's lit class in college.  The professor was this sweet old lady who reminded me of my grandma, and most of the class was her reading books aloud to us and discussing them.  She read that entire book to us and made us cry.  I use it with my high readers in fourth grade for literature discussion groups some years, and they usually love it too.

Yep, I am the same way, and yes, never Google symptoms - it could always be cancer LOL.

Aw, I love that she did read alouds to you all. My professor for my literacy course read tons of books aloud to us, but they were usually picture books, not chapter books. She also called us "boys and girls" all the time, which... irked me, but would be fine for teaching children. There's something really joyful about being read aloud to that I miss as an adult. Glad the kiddos enjoy it, it's a great one, albeit sad.

I know this and I still google them anyway and think "well gosh, it could be cancer, guess I'll agonize over that now." lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 07:19:03 PM
All that makes sense.  Starting a story is easy; sticking with it is the hard part.  But I know you will; you're too dedicated to this idea not to.  It's okay to slow down; that's only natural.  It's also harder to keep up the kind of pace you had in the beginning as you get busier.  Aside from summer for us teachers, winter is my favorite season to write because it's easier to just stay home and be cozy when it's dark and cold all the time.  Now I feel guilty that I'm not outside doing yard work or going on a walk or enjoying the spring weather on nice days because that's what normal people do LOL.  Meanwhile, I'm a reclusive, nocturnal creature who's allergic to pollen and sunlight and loves rain and thunderstorms.

You're right, the "sticking to it" is where I often feel tested, and I'm sure lots of other writers do too. I will get there slowly but surely! I also feel guilty not being outside and just sitting and writing. I don't think sitting outside and writing would make that guilt go away though. I think what's getting me now is that with restrictions lightening up, I could go back to doing something every weekend, or I could sit and write inside the house. I was very nocturnal in November, now I'm back to being Team Afternoon, lol.


That would be one way to change it up - have someone who was bisexual in the center, trying to choose between a guy and a girl.  I'm sure that's been done, but I can't think of an example offhand.  Three people of the same gender would work too.  Definitely not as common as two guys lusting after a girl.

I can't either. Then I think that it could still be just as annoying as all other love triangles.


Sorry about your Keurig, but glad you had a backup handy!  You definitely earned your two cups of coffee.

It was a stroke of good fortune and my two coffees were delicious.

I've written about 1,000 words so far today (and post-noon), so I'm feeling a bit more productive. I even got a Howie "etcetera, etcetera, ecetera" in, so jokes are going great, lol. Even though it's been a little bit on two different chapters, I'm hoping that inspiration sticks longer into the evening, though I've been here posting long notes for the past hour or so, lol.


I wrote about 500 words this morning, but it was all revisions to previous chapters.  Hoping to add more to my current chapter this evening.  I hope you have better luck writing tonight!

Revisions are good, some of my words were revisions too. I hope that you do get some more added to your current chapter as well! :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:19:26 PM
We have discussed it forever, lol. I think it's up there with "Why are some genres more popular than others?" and "Why don't people review as much as they read?" for discussions had many times over several years. Haven't we settled on the answer that "we like exploring dark things and like writing about the Backstreet Boys"? lol

Pretty much!


After the next one I read was just like A Walk to Remember, I decided I couldn't read another novel of his. I couldn't even tell you which other one I read now.

Maybe Lurlene read your fanfics and wanted revenge for borrowing her ideas, lol. I'm glad it didn't destroy your joy despite liking your writing better. Now write a "crying and dying" for cynical adults. ;)

My favorite one I read by him was called "The Guardian," and I can't believe they've never made it into a movie.  It was a romance set in North Carolina like all his other books, but there was also a suspense storyline and a bit of a supernatural element that made it different from the others.

LOL I would argue that many of my fanfics are "crying and dying books" for cynical adults that just happen to star the Backstreet Boys.  Although I guess most of them are pretty sentimental too.


Aw, I love that she did read alouds to you all. My professor for my literacy course read tons of books aloud to us, but they were usually picture books, not chapter books. She also called us "boys and girls" all the time, which... irked me, but would be fine for teaching children. There's something really joyful about being read aloud to that I miss as an adult. Glad the kiddos enjoy it, it's a great one, albeit sad.

Yes!  I'm glad you got to enjoy some read alouds in college too.  "Boys and girls" - that's funny that she called you that in college!  Kind of cute, but I could always see it being annoying.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 07:30:00 PM
I hear you.  It's a complex issue because, on one hand, you want to be inclusive and have meaningful representation, but on the other hand, as a heterosexual cis white female, you can't fully understand what it's like to be, say, a gay or trans black person.  That's not to say you can't try, because we all write things we don't know by doing researching, but then there's the risk of being accused of stereotyping or appropriation.  But then if you only write straight white characters, you're not being diverse enough.  It's damned if you do, damned if you don't.

You're exactly right as well. It's the complexity of it that nags at me. I've even thought about seeking out people read it with a request to look at DEI stuff, but I have also started my non-BSB circle with two friends who are female. So then I think, do I need a guy to read this? Is that where I start? And then I ultimately come back to maybe I should just focus on re-writing this thing first and then worry about these complex issues more once it's been stripped of its fanficness.


I don't think there's anything wrong with you keeping Minako's name, even if she doesn't have Japanese ancestry.  Names come from all different cultures.  You could always include an anecdote in the story that explains how she got her name, if you haven't already.

I thought about that too or doing the appropriate research/interviewing/etcetera. I also pondered that maybe she is mixed heritage, but her parent who is present isn't the one who is Japanese/Japanese-American because I do understand a disconnect from heritage to a degree.

But then there's a bunch of other things I have to make a lot less "blatantly Asian-influenced in origin" during the rewrite too, so this brings me back to "write it, then worry about complex issues."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 07:35:08 PM
My favorite one I read by him was called "The Guardian," and I can't believe they've never made it into a movie.  It was a romance set in North Carolina like all his other books, but there was also a suspense storyline and a bit of a supernatural element that made it different from the others.

Oh that does sound interesting! I don't peg him for suspense or supernatural elements. "Set in North Carolina" though, that's a hallmark of a Sparks novel, lol. Perhaps I'll look into that one the next time I go on a reading binge.


LOL I would argue that many of my fanfics are "crying and dying books" for cynical adults that just happen to star the Backstreet Boys.  Although I guess most of them are pretty sentimental too.

It's that kind of niche market that we need; more books should appeal to adults and star the Backstreet Boys, lol. You can be cynical and sentimental. I would argue that a bit of sentimentality is required to cut through the cynicism.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:51:03 PM
You're exactly right as well. It's the complexity of it that nags at me. I've even thought about seeking out people read it with a request to look at DEI stuff, but I have also started my non-BSB circle with two friends who are female. So then I think, do I need a guy to read this? Is that where I start? And then I ultimately come back to maybe I should just focus on re-writing this thing first and then worry about these complex issues more once it's been stripped of its fanficness.

I thought about that too or doing the appropriate research/interviewing/etcetera. I also pondered that maybe she is mixed heritage, but her parent who is present isn't the one who is Japanese/Japanese-American because I do understand a disconnect from heritage to a degree.

But then there's a bunch of other things I have to make a lot less "blatantly Asian-influenced in origin" during the rewrite too, so this brings me back to "write it, then worry about complex issues."

It's a lot to think about!  But I agree - get a draft written first, and you can always go back and edit later.  If you were to move forward with the publication process, a professional editor could give their opinion on issues of representation and help you with any parts that are problematic.

The nice part about writing fanfic is that our readers expect the stories to be mostly about five white guys, so diversity is not so much of an issue.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 07:57:55 PM
Oh that does sound interesting! I don't peg him for suspense or supernatural elements. "Set in North Carolina" though, that's a hallmark of a Sparks novel, lol. Perhaps I'll look into that one the next time I go on a reading binge.

It's that kind of niche market that we need; more books should appeal to adults and star the Backstreet Boys, lol. You can be cynical and sentimental. I would argue that a bit of sentimentality is required to cut through the cynicism.

Yeah, that's the only one of his books I enjoyed enough to read twice.  It's been years, but I remember really liking it.

I agree about sentimentality and cynicism.  My stories have gotten darker and less cheesy as I've matured, but even the darkest ones still have those lighthearted scenes that are meant to be touching and make you go "Aww."  It can't all be brutal and depressing when you're reading a story about BSB LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 08:19:00 PM
It's a lot to think about!  But I agree - get a draft written first, and you can always go back and edit later.  If you were to move forward with the publication process, a professional editor could give their opinion on issues of representation and help you with any parts that are problematic.

The nice part about writing fanfic is that our readers expect the stories to be mostly about five white guys, so diversity is not so much of an issue.

You're definitely right, they do pay people to put the best possible product out there once it's picked up (and will tell you exactly what is problematic). Gotta love that kind of criticism for money, lol.

lol, I can't imagine anyone is out there going "Oh no, another Backstreet Boys fanfic where they're all mostly white guys! Just once I want one of them to be a different gender or race. At least the slash fanfics have some diversity!" I say this jokingly, but I'm sure there's a non-porn version of rule #34 and these stories do exist.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 08:33:15 PM
Yeah, that's the only one of his books I enjoyed enough to read twice.  It's been years, but I remember really liking it.

High praise for a book to be read more than once. I will make note of this the next time I'm in a Sparks-type novel mood.


I agree about sentimentality and cynicism.  My stories have gotten darker and less cheesy as I've matured, but even the darkest ones still have those lighthearted scenes that are meant to be touching and make you go "Aww."  It can't all be brutal and depressing when you're reading a story about BSB LOL.

I live for the cheesy and sweet moments in the dark times. You've got to have them, especially because the Boys have a certain degree of cheesiness inherent in them. And beg to have "aww" said about them.

On that note of degree of cheesiness, I actually did take the challenge to feature a scene with my dreaded love triangle trope today. Please enjoy:

Quote
[Brian] smiled, but clutched his heart as he gaped at her. “How could you betray me like this! You’d let me forget Nick? We don’t have to be rivals for his affections, Minako! We can share him!” He started laughing.

“Does he want to be shared?” Minako giggled.

“Think of all of our rituals, worthless without me! Who else would tell you and Nick goodnight before you go to bed or that they love you in the afternoon? What about when the sun is up in the morning?”

“Sure that first one, but you just decided that second one is a ritual after it happened a few days ago.”

“Length of time doesn’t matter!”

“And is that last one even a ritual, Brian? You poke me with your staff and say ‘the sun is up,’ then I hide under the blankets and groan. So you poke Nick and he either says ‘Bri-an…’” Despite laughing, Minako attempted making her voice deeper as she spoke for Nick. “...or does nothing because he’s still sleeping.

“That’s a terrible impression of Nick’s voice! It’s obviously ‘Bri-an.’” Contrary to Minako, Brian made his voice higher pitched. “And of course it’s a ritual. We do it every day.”

lol. I've gotten an approximated "and stuff like that" plus a "Hi, I'm Nick" impression in today. I'm on a roll with BSB jokes, clearly. (Also, please excuse my underline, it's italics in the document, but italics don't translate to quotes here.)

Now that we've talked about PBox&Co broadly today, let's discuss MBK broadly (or someone else's story) from the jumping off point of genre and tropes. Express your concerns or ideas about whatever!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on April 24, 2021, 08:57:46 PM
Just popped in to say I watched the ER reunion and loved it!! So good. You can tell they legitimately really love each other and it showed in their acting and chemistry on the show.

I haven’t caught up in this thread yet. Lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 09:23:07 PM
lol, I can't imagine anyone is out there going "Oh no, another Backstreet Boys fanfic where they're all mostly white guys! Just once I want one of them to be a different gender or race. At least the slash fanfics have some diversity!" I say this jokingly, but I'm sure there's a non-porn version of rule #34 and these stories do exist.

LOL Probably!  I mean, I did read that one where they were rabbits.  If they can be different species, they could be different genders or races.


lol. I've gotten an approximated "and stuff like that" plus a "Hi, I'm Nick" impression in today. I'm on a roll with BSB jokes, clearly. (Also, please excuse my underline, it's italics in the document, but italics don't translate to quotes here.)

LOL You are on a roll!  I'm glad you worked in Howie saying "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera" instead of "and stuff like that," and I liked Brian doing a high-pitched voice for his baby Nick impression.  Aww!  As you said, you need sweet/funny/cute/cheesy moments as flashes of light in the darkness.


Now that we've talked about PBox&Co broadly today, let's discuss MBK broadly (or someone else's story) from the jumping off point of genre and tropes. Express your concerns or ideas about whatever!

All I've got right now is that I am finally writing new content in my current in-progress chapter!  I feel like I was really focused and productive because I was away from this forum for about two hours since my last post, but I just looked at my word count, and it's only... 337 words.  Ugh. LOL  But I did spend part of that time adding a small exchange to another chapter, part of that time researching Muhammad Ali, and part of that time skimming Nick's book.  This is why I will never win in a writing spring competition LOL.

On another, somewhat related note, I'm confused about the timeline of Nick's version of events in his book.  I was reading the Cool Springs Rehab chapter where he talks about moving to Tennessee after hitting rock bottom in 2006 and finally reading that self-book Kevin gave him there.  But according to more than one celebrity home site I used to research, Nick did not buy his house in Tennessee until December 2007.  So I think maybe he was a year off in how he remembered things.  Blame it on the ecstasy.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 09:31:31 PM
Just popped in to say I watched the ER reunion and loved it!! So good. You can tell they legitimately really love each other and it showed in their acting and chemistry on the show.

I haven’t caught up in this thread yet. Lol

Yes!!  What an awesome cast.  They reacted the same way to seeing each other that I reacted to seeing them!  I would love to see more reunions with them and other cast members too.  I'm glad they got so many of the original cast members to join, especially George Clooney, but I would have loved to see Eriq LaSalle, Sherry Stringfield, and other cast members from the later seasons too.

They were right with what they said about it being lightning in a bottle when asked about rebooting ER.  There has never been another medical drama like it, and I think I've tried watching every one that has come on since ER ended.  Even the decent ones, like New Amsterdam and The Resident, don't compare.  They just had the perfect cast, the perfect writers, everything.  They didn't try too hard to be current or political, and yet they did have diverse characters and some groundbreaking storylines, like Jeanie's HIV and Weaver coming out as a lesbian.  And for the most part, they got their medical info right.

I could talk about ER forever LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 09:46:16 PM
I haven’t caught up in this thread yet. Lol

I think we're harder to catch up with on the weekends, lol. Glad you caught up on the ER reunion like you intended.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 10:06:34 PM
LOL Probably!  I mean, I did read that one where they were rabbits.  If they can be different species, they could be different genders or races.

But were they rabbits with facial hair? Because I always picture Kevin with facial hair. And did rabbit!Kevin have expressive eyebrows? These are the things I care most about, obviously.


LOL You are on a roll!  I'm glad you worked in Howie saying "et cetera, et cetera, et cetera" instead of "and stuff like that," and I liked Brian doing a high-pitched voice for his baby Nick impression.  Aww!  As you said, you need sweet/funny/cute/cheesy moments as flashes of light in the darkness.

I think I needed some jokes in my life this week, and what better way to do it than nostalgic BSB stuff. And comic relief (yet inwardly serious) PBox Brian, he gets me every time. I hope everyone else laughs at his antics as much as I do.


All I've got right now is that I am finally writing new content in my current in-progress chapter!  I feel like I was really focused and productive because I was away from this forum for about two hours since my last post, but I just looked at my word count, and it's only... 337 words.  Ugh. LOL  But I did spend part of that time adding a small exchange to another chapter, part of that time researching Muhammad Ali, and part of that time skimming Nick's book.  This is why I will never win in a writing spring competition LOL.

Yay, you got to your new chapter! If you needed to research to write good things, then you needed to research. I was also feeling really productive in the past hour and only wrote about 200 words, so I feel you. We're just not as fast as we used to be. I wonder if the lack of pressure to have a new chapter to post right now contributes to that or if it is just because we are more thorough in our while writing research. I think we're about tied. Let's do it! Writing sprint for fifteen minutes right now! Go!


On another, somewhat related note, I'm confused about the timeline of Nick's version of events in his book.  I was reading the Cool Springs Rehab chapter where he talks about moving to Tennessee after hitting rock bottom in 2006 and finally reading that self-book Kevin gave him there.  But according to more than one celebrity home site I used to research, Nick did not buy his house in Tennessee until December 2007.  So I think maybe he was a year off in how he remembered things.  Blame it on the ecstasy.

I repurchased Nick's book with the intent to reread it back in October when I went looking for my I'm Taking Off cd and couldn't find it. I think maybe I had them both digitally and that computer died? Anyway, I haven't yet, purely because I'm trying not to let hot mess Nick interrupt my plucky PBox Nick groove.

Back on topic, I feel like he was in Tennessee when this forum was in its infancy? Maybe check back on old threads and see if we talked about it? That could have been either late 2006 or late 2007, but would surely confirm one way or the other. I agree, I blame the ecstasy. I never trust him or AJ for timeline things anymore except for hard facts (like all five of them meeting each other on April 20, 1993 or when a CD came out). But then, I also did not do ecstasy and have a hard time remembering exact timelines myself, so maybe it's a combination of age and a hard party lifestyle. (I'm slightly exaggerating for my own "hard party lifestyle" here, obviously.)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:18:00 PM
But were they rabbits with facial hair? Because I always picture Kevin with facial hair. And did rabbit!Kevin have expressive eyebrows? These are the things I care most about, obviously.

It mostly just described their ears and tails.  Kevin had ears that stuck up straight, but Brian had lop ears... or vice versa.  I don't remember.  I just know it was about the two of them fucking like rabbits... as actual rabbits...


Yay, you got to your new chapter! If you needed to research to write good things, then you needed to research. I was also feeling really productive in the past hour and only wrote about 200 words, so I feel you. We're just not as fast as we used to be. I wonder if the lack of pressure to have a new chapter to post right now contributes to that or if it is just because we are more thorough in our while writing research. I think we're about tied. Let's do it! Writing sprint for fifteen minutes right now! Go!

Glad I'm not alone!  I do think it's a combination of doing more research, thinking more about my word choice, and getting distracted more by social media LOL.  But okay!  I will set a timer for 15 minutes when I'm done with this post and report back.


I repurchased Nick's book with the intent to reread it back in October when I went looking for my I'm Taking Off cd and couldn't find it. I think maybe I had them both digitally and that computer died? Anyway, I haven't yet, purely because I'm trying not to let hot mess Nick interrupt my plucky PBox Nick groove.

Back on topic, I feel like he was in Tennessee when this forum was in its infancy? Maybe check back on old threads and see if we talked about it? That could have been either late 2006 or late 2007, but would surely confirm one way or the other. I agree, I blame the ecstasy. I never trust him or AJ for timeline things anymore except for hard facts (like all five of them meeting each other on April 20, 1993 or when a CD came out). But then, I also did not do ecstasy and have a hard time remembering exact timelines myself, so maybe it's a combination of age and a hard party lifestyle. (I'm slightly exaggerating for my own "hard party lifestyle" here, obviously.)

Aww, you should reread Nick's book someday when hot mess Nick won't derail you.  I'm writing about Nick at the tail end of his hot mess phase, so I have referred back to his book often.  I will have to search here and see if we mentioned Nick moving to Tennessee because I don't remember for sure either.  I just feel like he should know when he bought a house and moved to a new state because that seems like a big deal, even if he's done it at a lot?  I know exactly what month and year I moved in to every place I have lived.  But I also have not done ecstasy, and I am generally good with remembering dates or at least years.

I agree, the Boys are pretty bad at that LOL.  They always get dates of albums and stuff wrong.  We fans have a way better memory for that kind of stuff.

Okay, 15-minute writing spring... ready, set, go!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 10:20:31 PM
Okay, 15-minute writing spring... ready, set, go!

Are we just writing for fifteen minutes or using the website with the timer? lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:36:16 PM
I just set my phone timer for 15 minutes and wrote, but I can try it again with the site.  I have to go back and find it.  Is it something we have to sign up for to keep track?

I wrote 232 words, and I only stopped to Google something once.  Next time I will try to not Google anything at all LOL.  Even as I was doing it, I was like, "You could have just made something up and gone back and fixed it later."  It's like a compulsion LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:39:58 PM
Okay, I found it: https://wordsprints.org/  Should we start a group sprint?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 10:42:41 PM
I just set my phone timer for 15 minutes and wrote, but I can try it again with the site.  I have to go back and find it.  Is it something we have to sign up for to keep track?

I wrote 232 words, and I only stopped to Google something once.  Next time I will try to not Google anything at all LOL.  Even as I was doing it, I was like, "You could have just made something up and gone back and fixed it later."  It's like a compulsion LOL.

I also couldn't remember the site and just set a timer on my phone, lol. I don't think you had to sign up, but I know it does something different if we're all doing it at once. I don't know if we can see each other's progress or what. Let me re-look into it.

I wrote 356 words and also stopped to google something once, so again, fairly even in our habits, lol! Mine was "can horses walk across deserts?" lol I also thought about just writing it and googling it later, but I did make a conscious effort to glance at the answer (yes, but they need more water than a camel) then move on to writing instead of getting sucked into the anatomy of a camel that makes them better for traversing deserts, lmao.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 10:44:27 PM
Okay, I found it: https://wordsprints.org/  Should we start a group sprint?

I was typing "nanosprints.or g," that's why I couldn't find it, lol.

I'm down to sprint again. I was getting into the groove despite my horse-related google inquiry.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:45:47 PM
I also couldn't remember the site and just set a timer on my phone, lol. I don't think you had to sign up, but I know it does something different if we're all doing it at once. I don't know if we can see each other's progress or what. Let me re-look into it.

I wrote 356 words and also stopped to google something once, so again, fairly even in our habits, lol! Mine was "can horses walk across deserts?" lol I also thought about just writing it and googling it later, but I did make a conscious effort to glance at the answer (yes, but they need more water than a camel) then move on to writing instead of getting sucked into the anatomy of a camel that makes them better for traversing deserts, lmao.

Yeah, it looks like you can schedule a group sprint at a specific time and share the link.  I'm not sure what it looks like after that, but it would be fun to try sometime.

LOL I'm glad you did not get sucked in to learning more about camel anatomy.  I google image searched for a picture of a George Foreman grill box LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:46:59 PM
I was typing "nanosprints.or g," that's why I couldn't find it, lol.

I'm down to sprint again. I was getting into the groove despite my horse-related google inquiry.

Okay, let's do it.  I'll make one to start in five minutes and put the link here in my next post.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 10:48:41 PM
Here's the link:  https://wordsprints.org/sprints/XqzKC92bkTIp
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 10:55:07 PM
It mostly just described their ears and tails.  Kevin had ears that stuck up straight, but Brian had lop ears... or vice versa.  I don't remember.  I just know it was about the two of them fucking like rabbits... as actual rabbits...

I'm glad to know that they had different ears. More genetic diversity in their rabbit lineage than their actual lineage, lol.


Glad I'm not alone!  I do think it's a combination of doing more research, thinking more about my word choice, and getting distracted more by social media LOL.  But okay!  I will set a timer for 15 minutes when I'm done with this post and report back.

Yes. In addition to googling my horse question, I also typed something and hit backspace several times. Sometimes it takes a day for me to notice something is off, sometimes it happens in the moment. This time it was many in the moment times.


Aww, you should reread Nick's book someday when hot mess Nick won't derail you.  I'm writing about Nick at the tail end of his hot mess phase, so I have referred back to his book often.  I will have to search here and see if we mentioned Nick moving to Tennessee because I don't remember for sure either.  I just feel like he should know when he bought a house and moved to a new state because that seems like a big deal, even if he's done it at a lot?  I know exactly what month and year I moved in to every place I have lived.  But I also have not done ecstasy, and I am generally good with remembering dates or at least years.

Some day. The sooner I finish writing, the sooner I can get back to reading, lol.

I think it's a great use of memoir to write hot mess Nick. First person account of something you have a second person account of, research!

He might just lump all of that into "what I did right before I read the book Kevin got me." I have some vague memories of places we lived when I was a kid and the apartment between my downtown apartment and where hubs and I live is vaguely fuzzy on dates and address for me. The two that bookend it, I've got down though, lol.


I agree, the Boys are pretty bad at that LOL.  They always get dates of albums and stuff wrong.  We fans have a way better memory for that kind of stuff.

We made it our life's mission to memorize all sorts of things about them! As long as Nick remembers that his favorite color is green, his shoe size is 11, and so on, then I'll forgive him for forgetting exact dates. If history class taught me anything, it's that it's hard to memorize dates, lol.


Okay, 15-minute writing spring... ready, set, go!

I came back right then originally because I had a related thought about Nick's timeline as I was trying to write (lol), and opted to follow your sprint instead of posting it.

Here it is: It's also possible his timeline is right and he rented at first while looking for the right place to buy? But that seems like a planner decision for hot mess Nick's pantser lifestyle.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 24, 2021, 11:33:53 PM
Yes. In addition to googling my horse question, I also typed something and hit backspace several times. Sometimes it takes a day for me to notice something is off, sometimes it happens in the moment. This time it was many in the moment times.

Yes, same.  I can't not fix typos.  I changed a few words too, then thought, "Stop it!  You can edit later!"  When we did the real one on the site, I was able to go faster by focusing on the dialogue and not worrying as much about the action and description in between unless it popped into my head right away.  That's what I spend the most time thinking about when I write, but dialogue usually comes to me quickly.  So when in doubt, write the dialogue first and then go back and fill in the stuff in between.  I also did not stop look anything up the second time around!

I liked the WordSprints site; I think the competition aspect made me a little faster and more focused.  It also helped that I was in the middle of a scene; if I'd had to start a brand new chapter, I may have just sat there and stared at the screen for 15 minutes like I do normally LOL.

On a funny note, I've been listening to the Titanic soundtrack all night as my writing music.  I own the two original Titanic soundtracks, but there's a collector's anniversary edition on Amazon Prime Music that's four hours and ten minutes long and has all the music from the two original soundtracks, plus all this music from 1912 that is featured or referenced in the movie.  I was listening to "Orpheus" for most of the writing sprint, which may have made me faster.  It's the music that plays at one point when Jack, Rose, Fabrizio, and Tommy are running around on the deck as the ship is sinking, and Tommy goes, "Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in first class."  So it has that frenetic, hurry up feel to it, at least in parts:  https://youtu.be/JEEjYA_ydrY?t=415


Here it is: It's also possible his timeline is right and he rented at first while looking for the right place to buy? But that seems like a planner decision for hot mess Nick's pantser lifestyle.

I had that thought too, but the house he describes in the book is definitely the house he bought there in 2007.  I've seen pictures of it from when he had it up for sale, and it's pretty distinct.  I think he was just a confused hot mess pantser LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 24, 2021, 11:57:03 PM
Yeah, it looks like you can schedule a group sprint at a specific time and share the link.  I'm not sure what it looks like after that, but it would be fun to try sometime.

That was fun! Let's do it again some time! :) Maybe I'll beat you and not get distracted by the group word count, lol.


LOL I'm glad you did not get sucked in to learning more about camel anatomy.  I google image searched for a picture of a George Foreman grill box LOL.

I looked into it more and horse feet evolved from multiple "toes" into the one middle "toe" specifically to suit the open grassland terrain they typically live in to help them get away from predators faster. But it's harder for them to walk in the desert because of this decreased surface area. Meanwhile, camels have soft, large webbed feet that provide them the surface area to avoid sinking in the sand (as much, a little sink is unavoidable due to it being sand). I found a picture of horse hooves in sand compared to people feet and dog feet as well; the horse's feet sank the most and people the least.

This tells me that everyone who wears shoes would be relatively fine walking in a desert, but Nick who walks barefoot, and typically on the balls of his feet, would have a heck of a time doing so with any amount of speed, lol. This is not what I intended to learn from this research!

It's been a long time since I've seen one of those! Was he on the box or just the grill? Yours is less educational than mine, but it makes me laugh more as far as random google searches go.

Yes, same.  I can't not fix typos.  I changed a few words too, then thought, "Stop it!  You can edit later!"  When we did the real one on the site, I was able to go faster by focusing on the dialogue and not worrying as much about the action and description in between unless it popped into my head right away.  That's what I spend the most time thinking about when I write, but dialogue usually comes to me quickly.  So when in doubt, write the dialogue first and then go back and fill in the stuff in between.  I also did not stop look anything up the second time around!

I'd say that I can't either, but a few inevitably seep in every now and again. I just caught a "he" instead of "the" from what I copied, for instance. I definitely changed words and tried to write the scene as is, but it was still going well from our first independent one, so it wasn't too bad. It probably helped that the beginning of the scene was more dialogue focused anyway.

I also looked up nothing! Good for us!


I liked the WordSprints site; I think the competition aspect made me a little faster and more focused.  It also helped that I was in the middle of a scene; if I'd had to start a brand new chapter, I may have just sat there and stared at the screen for 15 minutes like I do normally LOL.

I liked it, every time you wrote a little more than me, I tried to speed type to catch up, but then I would inevitably typo or write something weird and backspace, lol. I did not like the loud beeping at the end, it derailed my focus in the last crucial seconds I needed to speed type and catch up. Alas.  ;) I'd started my scene in our last independent sprint, so I don't know how it would have gone if I started from scratch while watching you add words. I did write more this time than the first time, so I say the competition is helpful in a way. But probably only as long as everybody participating is like "yes, I feel motivated enough to sprint." If any of us were in a "stare at the screen for 15 minutes" place, we'd probably feel differently about the whole thing, lol.


On a funny note, I've been listening to the Titanic soundtrack all night as my writing music.  I own the two original Titanic soundtracks, but there's a collector's anniversary edition on Amazon Prime Music that's four hours and ten minutes long and has all the music from the two original soundtracks, plus all this music from 1912 that is featured or referenced in the movie.  I was listening to "Orpheus" for most of the writing sprint, which may have made me faster.  It's the music that plays at one point when Jack, Rose, Fabrizio, and Tommy are running around on the deck as the ship is sinking, and Tommy goes, "Music to drown by. Now I know I'm in first class."  So it has that frenetic, hurry up feel to it, at least in parts:  https://youtu.be/JEEjYA_ydrY?t=415

I've been listening to nothing, which is unusual. Just sitting in silence click clacking away, lol. But when I want to have "focus days," I do try to see what I can do without anything distracting me. If it goes well in silence, I keep writing in silence.

But how many CDs would that be if it wasn't digital? lol! At least two like the old VHS, right? I think there's some truth to fast music making people do things faster. I once took a suggestion to play a clean up song that changed tempo and went with Spoonful of Sugar. The students really did start cleaning up quicker at the end, so I believe that a frenetic song would encourage you to write quicker. I do know which song you're talking about, because you mentioned that line; I always love Tommy's little quips, they make me laugh every time.


I had that thought too, but the house he describes in the book is definitely the house he bought there in 2007.  I've seen pictures of it from when he had it up for sale, and it's pretty distinct.  I think he was just a confused hot mess pantser LOL.

At least he remembered he lived there at all? Even though he was trying to get it together then, Hot Mess pantser Nick remembering timelines is probably like the extreme version of getting drunk and having Amazon packages showing up at your house three days later that you have no memory of purchasing, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 10:58:06 AM
That was fun! Let's do it again some time! :) Maybe I'll beat you and not get distracted by the group word count, lol.

I would definitely do it again!  It was helpful.  I did not write any more last night though; I ate dinner at like 11:30 p.m., watched some TV, and went to bed.  But I wrote like 1700 words altogether yesterday, which is the first time I've hit four digits all week.  So yay!  Hoping maybe I can finish my chapter today.


I looked into it more and horse feet evolved from multiple "toes" into the one middle "toe" specifically to suit the open grassland terrain they typically live in to help them get away from predators faster. But it's harder for them to walk in the desert because of this decreased surface area. Meanwhile, camels have soft, large webbed feet that provide them the surface area to avoid sinking in the sand (as much, a little sink is unavoidable due to it being sand). I found a picture of horse hooves in sand compared to people feet and dog feet as well; the horse's feet sank the most and people the least.

This tells me that everyone who wears shoes would be relatively fine walking in a desert, but Nick who walks barefoot, and typically on the balls of his feet, would have a heck of a time doing so with any amount of speed, lol. This is not what I intended to learn from this research!

Interesting!  The more you know LOL.  That makes sense though.  Walking in sand, especially deep sand, is hard!  Poor Nick would wear out quickly walking barefoot like that.  But you could always play that up for the drama if you want to, by making the journey seem especially arduous.


It's been a long time since I've seen one of those! Was he on the box or just the grill? Yours is less educational than mine, but it makes me laugh more as far as random google searches go.

LOL I know.  Yes, he is on the box, wearing an apron and grinning behind a picture of the grill.  I have one, but I've had it so long, I couldn't remember what the box it came in looked like.


I'd say that I can't either, but a few inevitably seep in every now and again. I just caught a "he" instead of "the" from what I copied, for instance. I definitely changed words and tried to write the scene as is, but it was still going well from our first independent one, so it wasn't too bad. It probably helped that the beginning of the scene was more dialogue focused anyway.

I also looked up nothing! Good for us!

I have to fix them when I see them, but I definitely miss some.  Most of my typos are from my fingers going too fast and typing letters in the wrong order or hitting the wrong key.  Those I notice right away and have to go back and fix.  It's the missing words that I don't catch because my brain automatically fills them in.  I turned on the grammar check on Google Docs, and that has been helpful in catching those kinds of mistakes.  I never liked it on Word because it would always give me suggestions that were totally wrong, but Google's seems to be better.  It's right most of the time.

Yay us for winging it without research!


But how many CDs would that be if it wasn't digital? lol! At least two like the old VHS, right? I think there's some truth to fast music making people do things faster. I once took a suggestion to play a clean up song that changed tempo and went with Spoonful of Sugar. The students really did start cleaning up quicker at the end, so I believe that a frenetic song would encourage you to write quicker. I do know which song you're talking about, because you mentioned that line; I always love Tommy's little quips, they make me laugh every time.

With the added 1912 songs, probably 3!

I think so too.  I use transition music in my classroom to encourage the kids to clear off their desks or get supplies out quickly for the next activity, and it really does seem to motivate them to hurry instead of digging around in their desks forever.  I use the Jeopardy theme or Yackety Sax for quick, 30 second transitions and Mission Impossible or the original Mario theme (including the part where it speeds up when you're almost out of time in a level) for longer, one-minute transitions.  Most of my normal writing music is slower, but I didn't want to waste any precious seconds changing the song, so I just let the old-timey music play.

LOL A true Titanic fan like me - I know that whole movie by heart.


At least he remembered he lived there at all? Even though he was trying to get it together then, Hot Mess pantser Nick remembering timelines is probably like the extreme version of getting drunk and having Amazon packages showing up at your house three days later that you have no memory of purchasing, lol.

LOL Yes!  Only instead of Amazon packages, he buys houses.  I did a bunch of research on where each of the guys lived or had homes at the beginning of 2008 while I was planning for this story a few years ago, and Nick's real estate history was all over the place.  He had a house in California that he sold after only like 9 months (when he moved to Tennessee), and he also had a house in Florida, and then there was the house in Tennessee, and then eventually he got a condo in California...  I know he has money and people to do this, but the thought of buying and selling all those places and moving around that much within the same decade stresses me out!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 04:02:55 PM
I would definitely do it again!  It was helpful.  I did not write any more last night though; I ate dinner at like 11:30 p.m., watched some TV, and went to bed.  But I wrote like 1700 words altogether yesterday, which is the first time I've hit four digits all week.  So yay!  Hoping maybe I can finish my chapter today.

I went to bed pretty much right after we finished. I guess those two coffees did not help me stay up until the wee hours of the morning with massive inspiration, lol. I wrote almost 3,000 altogether. I was pretty excited to put a dent into my goal and I got at least halfway to reaching it. I would be delighted if I could finish this chapter or the other one in this section today. It would be very exciting to be back up to fifteen chapters ahead of myself.  ;D I'm just happy that I've been focused on PNecklace only. And if I get bored, I have four different places to work instead of just one. I think that's deterred me from opening up other things, to be honest. Though I do need to edit this week's chapter at some point.


Interesting!  The more you know LOL.  That makes sense though.  Walking in sand, especially deep sand, is hard!  Poor Nick would wear out quickly walking barefoot like that.  But you could always play that up for the drama if you want to, by making the journey seem especially arduous.

If these threads were busier with tons of people posting, I would we say we need a different to post interesting things we learned from research in, lol. I'm just happy to share fun facts.

You know, except he's a determinant and a bit of a martyr and would be like "Tired? Me? No way! Let's keep going!" lol You read my mind, I for sure added a desert just so it's dramatic for all of them. That, and every good mountain range needs a rain shield on one side.


LOL I know.  Yes, he is on the box, wearing an apron and grinning behind a picture of the grill.  I have one, but I've had it so long, I couldn't remember what the box it came in looked like.

We had one growing up and my mom saved the box (as is typical), but I haven't lived with her or used it in a long time, so I couldn't remember, but George in a red apron sounds right.


I have to fix them when I see them, but I definitely miss some.  Most of my typos are from my fingers going too fast and typing letters in the wrong order or hitting the wrong key.  Those I notice right away and have to go back and fix.  It's the missing words that I don't catch because my brain automatically fills them in.  I turned on the grammar check on Google Docs, and that has been helpful in catching those kinds of mistakes.  I never liked it on Word because it would always give me suggestions that were totally wrong, but Google's seems to be better.  It's right most of the time.

Yay us for winging it without research!

Yes! I hate when my fingers do that too! Because clearly I know how to spell and know what I intended to right, but it's our brain not working correctly with our muscles. It's very common. I was reading an article about typing the other day and it was saying how typos would be less common if we just dictated what we wanted to write instead of typing it.

I have a love/hate relationship with grammar check in google docs. Sometimes it's helpful and sometimes the suggestions are wrong. I'm just glad I turned off predictive typing because it was never what I actually wanted to type.

I think I lucked out since the part I was typing didn't really need research except for that small line about horses in the desert, lol. There were a couple of times where I wanted to look back at something I had written before to double check continuity, but I stopped myself and decided to fix it later if I messed up.


With the added 1912 songs, probably 3!

I think so too.  I use transition music in my classroom to encourage the kids to clear off their desks or get supplies out quickly for the next activity, and it really does seem to motivate them to hurry instead of digging around in their desks forever.  I use the Jeopardy theme or Yackety Sax for quick, 30 second transitions and Mission Impossible or the original Mario theme (including the part where it speeds up when you're almost out of time in a level) for longer, one-minute transitions.  Most of my normal writing music is slower, but I didn't want to waste any precious seconds changing the song, so I just let the old-timey music play.

LOL A true Titanic fan like me - I know that whole movie by heart.

That's a lot of CDs for one soundtrack! Glad it's digital and a million songs long instead.

I like that you have different ones for short transitions, and then even shorter transitions. Those precious second could have been a 20 word difference in your word count, so it's a good thing you just let it play.

I know most of it by heart, but could definitely describe it scene-by-scene to anyone who cared to listen.


LOL Yes!  Only instead of Amazon packages, he buys houses.  I did a bunch of research on where each of the guys lived or had homes at the beginning of 2008 while I was planning for this story a few years ago, and Nick's real estate history was all over the place.  He had a house in California that he sold after only like 9 months (when he moved to Tennessee), and he also had a house in Florida, and then there was the house in Tennessee, and then eventually he got a condo in California...  I know he has money and people to do this, but the thought of buying and selling all those places and moving around that much within the same decade stresses me out!

Nick glanced at his phone and noticed his realtor's number. "Where did I buy a house this time? Okay, cool, I needed a change of scenery anyway. Thanks for not talking me out of it! I'll move and you can sell this one next week Okay, bye." lol

I hate moving. I moved four times in the 2010s and it was just awful, and none of them were bought and sold, but renting is just as bad. I've lived in the same place with the hubs for almost six years now and I am dreading when we eventually decide to move into something bigger and have to move again. That was a lot of the inspiration for my Konmari organizing last year, less stuff to worry about moving.

I figure if you need a change of pace and have to get away from somewhere, it's probably easier to move and be done with it. Does he still have a place in Florida? I feel like getting out of Florida was his best decision resident-wise, followed by getting out of LA. Vegas can be crazy, but the further away you get from the Strip, it tones down a lot and is still close to entertainment industry stuff. Plus he could be physically present when Odin was very little, which is great.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 04:24:18 PM
I went to bed pretty much right after we finished. I guess those two coffees did not help me stay up until the wee hours of the morning with massive inspiration, lol. I wrote almost 3,000 altogether. I was pretty excited to put a dent into my goal and I got at least halfway to reaching it. I would be delighted if I could finish this chapter or the other one in this section today. It would be very exciting to be back up to fifteen chapters ahead of myself.  ;D I'm just happy that I've been focused on PNecklace only. And if I get bored, I have four different places to work instead of just one. I think that's deterred me from opening up other things, to be honest. Though I do need to edit this week's chapter at some point.

Yay, I'm glad you've been able to focus just on PNecklace!  It's nice to have options for different places to write within that story so you can still jump around if you want to.  If you can stay focused and resist the temptation to open up other things, do!


If these threads were busier with tons of people posting, I would we say we need a different to post interesting things we learned from research in, lol. I'm just happy to share fun facts.

That's a good idea.  All I have researched today is cuts of steak LOL.  I guess that means I have been pretty focused on actually writing and not just googling.


We had one growing up and my mom saved the box (as is typical), but I haven't lived with her or used it in a long time, so I couldn't remember, but George in a red apron sounds right.

That is totally right, red apron and all!


Yes! I hate when my fingers do that too! Because clearly I know how to spell and know what I intended to right, but it's our brain not working correctly with our muscles. It's very common. I was reading an article about typing the other day and it was saying how typos would be less common if we just dictated what we wanted to write instead of typing it.

I have a love/hate relationship with grammar check in google docs. Sometimes it's helpful and sometimes the suggestions are wrong. I'm just glad I turned off predictive typing because it was never what I actually wanted to type.

Google's voice typing feature is actually pretty decent!  I use it from time to time when I'm multitasking, trying to write while doing hair or makeup usually.  I once tried to use it while I was in the shower; I had my Chromebook sitting on the toilet seat next to the tub with the voice typing feature on, and I was dictating this whole dramatic speech Brian gives in the last chapter of AHTIM, practically shouting so my voice could be heard over the sound of the water.  It worked okay at first, but I must have been quiet for too long thinking of what to say next because the thing turned off in the middle.  I got out of the shower to find it only captured part of my glorious speech.  Then I had to hurriedly type as much as I could remember before I forgot the rest LOL.

I don't use predictive typing either.  That would drive me nuts!


Nick glanced at his phone and noticed his realtor's number. "Where did I buy a house this time? Okay, cool, I needed a change of scenery anyway. Thanks for not talking me out of it! I'll move and you can sell this one next week Okay, bye." lol

I hate moving. I moved four times in the 2010s and it was just awful, and none of them were bought and sold, but renting is just as bad. I've lived in the same place with the hubs for almost six years now and I am dreading when we eventually decide to move into something bigger and have to move again. That was a lot of the inspiration for my Konmari organizing last year, less stuff to worry about moving.

I figure if you need a change of pace and have to get away from somewhere, it's probably easier to move and be done with it. Does he still have a place in Florida? I feel like getting out of Florida was his best decision resident-wise, followed by getting out of LA. Vegas can be crazy, but the further away you get from the Strip, it tones down a lot and is still close to entertainment industry stuff. Plus he could be physically present when Odin was very little, which is great.

I hate moving too!  I bought a house in 2014, and I may just live here until I die so I never have to worry about selling it and moving again LOL.

I don't think Nick has a place in Florida anymore.  I think he's down to just the house in Vegas, which he seems to love.  I'm glad he's finally settled and happy.  It does seem like a better place to raise his family than LA.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 04:51:26 PM
Yay, I'm glad you've been able to focus just on PNecklace!  It's nice to have options for different places to write within that story so you can still jump around if you want to.  If you can stay focused and resist the temptation to open up other things, do!

I do like my options. My current routine is starting from the one where I think I'll have some inspiration to keep writing, then if that doesn't work, I move on to the next one and so on until one sticks. I usually reread a little of the last stuff I wrote in the scene before I commit to continuing on it or not. I did edit up what I wrote during our word sprints yesterday to flow a little better and am back into it, but had to eat something, haha.

I even closed all my OF PBox tabs for the time being, so I think this will all stick for a bit. I still have five PNecklace tabs open, but five is better than however many I had open before and I'm almost to the point where nothing in my "scenes written ahead" document is a PNecklace scene! I already moved the later ones into the two little divergent path documents I created since I still haven't decided what order to put them in yet. I'm very excited to close that one soon as well! Maybe not having it will curb some temptation to write that far ahead, lol.

How's your chapter finishing plan going?


That's a good idea.  All I have researched today is cuts of steak LOL.  I guess that means I have been pretty focused on actually writing and not just googling.

I haven't researched anything at all! At least not yet. I don't think these parts I'm at will require any research that I don't already have, but I also didn't think I'd be researching camels on accident due to a quick horse question yesterday, so... :shrug:


Google's voice typing feature is actually pretty decent!  I use it from time to time when I'm multitasking, trying to write while doing hair or makeup usually.  I once tried to use it while I was in the shower; I had my Chromebook sitting on the toilet seat next to the tub with the voice typing feature on, and I was dictating this whole dramatic speech Brian gives in the last chapter of AHTIM, practically shouting so my voice could be heard over the sound of the water.  It worked okay at first, but I must have been quiet for too long thinking of what to say next because the thing turned off in the middle.  I got out of the shower to find it only captured part of my glorious speech.  Then I had to hurriedly type as much as I could remember before I forgot the rest LOL.

I don't use predictive typing either.  That would drive me nuts!

Oh no!!!! That's dedication to your craft, but that really sucks that it cut off because you were quiet! I wonder if that's a setting you could change so it doesn't happen the next time. I always hate when I have those moments of "I know exactly what to type" and then can't type right then or have something come up in the middle, only to hurriedly type as much as I can later and it's never quite the same.

But I do love that you were shout dictating while showering, lol.


I hate moving too!  I bought a house in 2014, and I may just live here until I die so I never have to worry about selling it and moving again LOL.

I don't think Nick has a place in Florida anymore.  I think he's down to just the house in Vegas, which he seems to love.  I'm glad he's finally settled and happy.  It does seem like a better place to raise his family than LA.

We've discussed that for the same reason, but it's just a little too small for the hoards of children hubs is planning on (::)) and lacks the true yard he is adamant about having. We've talked about just renting it out, though, so that we could quickly downsize if we wanted to down the road. Or buying a boat and living in Florida half the year. Whatever seems more reasonable, lol.

I'm glad he's settled and happy too! I don't think LA is all bad, but the suburbs would be better places to raise kids than the actual city, like Orange Country somewhere.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 05:12:11 PM
I do like my options. My current routine is starting from the one where I think I'll have some inspiration to keep writing, then if that doesn't work, I move on to the next one and so on until one sticks. I usually reread a little of the last stuff I wrote in the scene before I commit to continuing on it or not. I did edit up what I wrote during our word sprints yesterday to flow a little better and am back into it, but had to eat something, haha.

I even closed all my OF PBox tabs for the time being, so I think this will all stick for a bit. I still have five PNecklace tabs open, but five is better than however many I had open before and I'm almost to the point where nothing in my "scenes written ahead" document is a PNecklace scene! I already moved the later ones into the two little divergent path documents I created since I still haven't decided what order to put them in yet. I'm very excited to close that one soon as well! Maybe not having it will curb some temptation to write that far ahead, lol.

How's your chapter finishing plan going?

That sounds like a good plan, although the thought of having that many tabs open at the same time makes me twitch LOL.  I'm kidding; I have been there before too, though mine is usually because of researching and not having different parts of the same story open.

I've made pretty good progress on my chapter today.  I started by revising what I wrote during the sprint last night and then went from there.  It's long enough to be a whole chapter, but I'm not done with the scene yet, so on I go.  I probably won't finish tonight unless I'm super focused and productive in the next two hours or write during the Oscars.  We'll see!  I always want to finish chapters over the weekend, but it usually works out better for weeknight writing if I have an in-progress chapter to finish instead of a new chapter to start.  So if I don't finish it tonight, it's fine.


Oh no!!!! That's dedication to your craft, but that really sucks that it cut off because you were quiet! I wonder if that's a setting you could change so it doesn't happen the next time. I always hate when I have those moments of "I know exactly what to type" and then can't type right then or have something come up in the middle, only to hurriedly type as much as I can later and it's never quite the same.

That was during my end-of-story streak for AHTIM when I was super inspired all the time and started writing before school, after school, whenever I could, just trying to finish that story.  It was a fun experiment, but I will not try shout-dictating during a shower again unless I figure out how to change that setting so it won't shut off on me in the middle.  Next time I'll just use my shower crayons instead LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 06:01:33 PM
That sounds like a good plan, although the thought of having that many tabs open at the same time makes me twitch LOL.  I'm kidding; I have been there before too, though mine is usually because of researching and not having different parts of the same story open.

It's not that bad. Just five little tabs, lol. I usually research on my phone and not the computer. I don't know why.

I thought I was making awesome progress, then I reached a little stopping point in my scene and checked my word count out of curiosity. I only wrote 400 words! I thought it was so much more than that! When you thought that about MBK the other day, was yours also a really dramatic and awe-inspiring moment? If so, I wonder if the gravity of whatever we're writing makes us think we've written more than we actually have.

I'm still happy with it and it's still really cool and dramatic, but I really thought I'd written more, lol.


I've made pretty good progress on my chapter today.  I started by revising what I wrote during the sprint last night and then went from there.  It's long enough to be a whole chapter, but I'm not done with the scene yet, so on I go.  I probably won't finish tonight unless I'm super focused and productive in the next two hours or write during the Oscars.  We'll see!  I always want to finish chapters over the weekend, but it usually works out better for weeknight writing if I have an in-progress chapter to finish instead of a new chapter to start.  So if I don't finish it tonight, it's fine.

I like that we both decided revising our sprint was a good first step today, lol. I think a sprint is really good for forcing ourselves to get the words on paper without worrying about what exactly the words are. Glad you're close to finishing the chapter when the ending is right, even if that's later this week! We only have five more days after today to keep the streak alive! You've got this!

I have not paid attention to any movies this year, so I am totally fine skipping the Oscars. Maybe you'll have a writing during commercials desire like on Wednesday. :)


That was during my end-of-story streak for AHTIM when I was super inspired all the time and started writing before school, after school, whenever I could, just trying to finish that story.  It was a fun experiment, but I will not try shout-dictating during a shower again unless I figure out how to change that setting so it won't shut off on me in the middle.  Next time I'll just use my shower crayons instead LOL.

About how far into the story did that end-of-story-streak of inspiration hit? Does that happen for all your stories or was AHTIM a special case?

I feel like your hand would cramp up if you were handwriting a dramatic Brian speech with shower crayons, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 25, 2021, 11:19:01 PM
It's not that bad. Just five little tabs, lol. I usually research on my phone and not the computer. I don't know why.

I thought I was making awesome progress, then I reached a little stopping point in my scene and checked my word count out of curiosity. I only wrote 400 words! I thought it was so much more than that! When you thought that about MBK the other day, was yours also a really dramatic and awe-inspiring moment? If so, I wonder if the gravity of whatever we're writing makes us think we've written more than we actually have.

I'm still happy with it and it's still really cool and dramatic, but I really thought I'd written more, lol.

I very rarely research on my phone... only if I need to look up something quickly when I'm not on my computer and have my phone handy.  I don't want it showing up in my search history on my phone or influencing my Facebook ads.

I hate when that happens with the word count!  I felt like I had a decent writing day again today, but I was under 1000 words.  The chapter I'm writing is not dramatic or awe-inspiring, but I finally got to a point this weekend where I at least felt like it was flowing well.  But I could see that happening with big, important moments, where the gravity makes them feel longer than they actually are.  Just remember, quality over quantity.  If we're happy with the writing, it means the quality is there, even if the quantity is not.


I like that we both decided revising our sprint was a good first step today, lol. I think a sprint is really good for forcing ourselves to get the words on paper without worrying about what exactly the words are. Glad you're close to finishing the chapter when the ending is right, even if that's later this week! We only have five more days after today to keep the streak alive! You've got this!

I have not paid attention to any movies this year, so I am totally fine skipping the Oscars. Maybe you'll have a writing during commercials desire like on Wednesday. :)

Definitely!  I knew mine needed revising because it was pretty bare bones, mostly dialogue without as much description as I usually include.  I went back and added all that in between the dialogue I wrote last night.  But I agree - the sprint forces you to do a true first draft, where you're not focusing on much except getting words on the page.  I typically edit as I go, so I never really follow the process of writing a first draft, then a second draft.  The changes I make when I go back and reread my first draft are usually pretty minimal, but that's because I put so much time and thought into the first draft.

I think the longer a streak goes, the easier it is to keep it going.  I was already at 20 days on April 1, so I'm at 44 days now.  I should get to 50 days on May 1.  It's become a routine now; I write at least a sentence every morning while I'm getting ready for work and then at least open the story and look at it at some point when I get home from work.  Even if I don't write much more in the evening, at least I can say I wrote something that day.  But I need to write like 3000 more words between now and Friday to make my Camp Nano goal, which seems unlikely.  If only I had the week off LOL.

I did not write during the Oscars and should have because they were extra boring and weird this year.  I haven't seen any of the movies either, but I usually still enjoy watching the awards shows.  This year there was no sense of humor or fun whatsoever; it was very serious.  I probably could have finished my chapter instead LOL.


About how far into the story did that end-of-story-streak of inspiration hit? Does that happen for all your stories or was AHTIM a special case?

I feel like your hand would cramp up if you were handwriting a dramatic Brian speech with shower crayons, lol.

I think the end-of-story streak started extra early for AHTIM.  I was originally planning for it to be 40 chapters, and what I thought was my end-of-story streak started around Chapter 30.  Then it ended up being 50 chapters long.  So I was on an "end-of-story streak" for the last 20 chapters and probably like four months LOL.  I always have a streak like that on the final stretch of a story, but it doesn't always start that early or last that long.  AHTIM was the kind of story that, once I got going on it, I was inspired the whole way through.  I love when that happens.

Yes, my hand would have cramped up, and the words would have started to run so much, I wouldn't have been able to decipher them all by the end of my shower anyway LOL.  But sometimes just writing it down helps me remember it better later, and I think saying it out loud worked the same way.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 25, 2021, 11:54:34 PM
I very rarely research on my phone... only if I need to look up something quickly when I'm not on my computer and have my phone handy.  I don't want it showing up in my search history on my phone or influencing my Facebook ads.

I honestly don't know if I get weird social media ads because I don't check mine often enough to notice, but you're right, looking up medical stuff would probably give you some pretty weird facebook ads, lol. I hope I have facebook ads about camels. I would actually love that, lol.


I hate when that happens with the word count!  I felt like I had a decent writing day again today, but I was under 1000 words.  The chapter I'm writing is not dramatic or awe-inspiring, but I finally got to a point this weekend where I at least felt like it was flowing well.  But I could see that happening with big, important moments, where the gravity makes them feel longer than they actually are.  Just remember, quality over quantity.  If we're happy with the writing, it means the quality is there, even if the quantity is not.

I agree with you, quality over quantity for sure. I was still super happy with it all and ended up eventually finishing the chapter (and getting more of the word count I was expecting for the work, lol) and starting the next one. I'm glad you've gotten into a good flowing place. Have you hit the montage yet or is this all still pre-montage stuff?


Definitely!  I knew mine needed revising because it was pretty bare bones, mostly dialogue without as much description as I usually include.  I went back and added all that in between the dialogue I wrote last night.  But I agree - the sprint forces you to do a true first draft, where you're not focusing on much except getting words on the page.  I typically edit as I go, so I never really follow the process of writing a first draft, then a second draft.  The changes I make when I go back and reread my first draft are usually pretty minimal, but that's because I put so much time and thought into the first draft.

I knew mine needed revising because one of the lines I wrote in the sprint was "what about x?" and I went huh... what about x? And it didn't make sense that x would be an after the fact thing that needed to be mentioned, so I went back and put it into description where it made more sense and didn't need to be asked about.

It's definitely easier to sprint dialogue than description, so I can see why you would want to go back and fix that.

I'm kind of a mixed bag. Sometimes I edit as I go. Sometimes I finish a scene and then reread over it and edit it. Sometimes I call it good and let it sit until I'm getting ready to post and then edit it. Sometimes when it takes me several days to write one chapter, I'll reread it several times and edit it each time. Regardless, I always let them percolate and edit before I post. I don't know if this is having a first draft or not, lol.


I think the longer a streak goes, the easier it is to keep it going.  I was already at 20 days on April 1, so I'm at 44 days now.  I should get to 50 days on May 1.  It's become a routine now; I write at least a sentence every morning while I'm getting ready for work and then at least open the story and look at it at some point when I get home from work.  Even if I don't write much more in the evening, at least I can say I wrote something that day.  But I need to write like 3000 more words between now and Friday to make my Camp Nano goal, which seems unlikely.  If only I had the week off LOL.

That's so true! Congrats on day 44! I apparently skipped two days in March and wrote two words on one day to not skip a third, so I was at 19 days on April 1st and 43 today. I might add a May goal to my Nano project to encourage me to add words each day and finish this story up.

I've given up on reaching 60,000, especially because not all of my words are new PNecklace chapter words anyway (and there's no way I could finish 16 chapters in five days unless I had a week off, and probably not even then, lol). I decided my new goal for the next five days is to finish the last two chapters I have before the divergent bit, which is about 4500 words (give or take) and would put me around 40,000 words for the month. I think I can do that, though I think it will be easier in this chapter I started today since I want to give each Boy a scene and it's pretty easy to have a quick goal of "once I write about 500 words for you, your scene can be finished if it's ready to be finished." The other chapter I'm a little stuck on, so we'll see what happens, lol.

If only the last day of April was a Saturday or Sunday. Then I think we'd be able to get in one last really solid writing day. But, I believe in you!


I did not write during the Oscars and should have because they were extra boring and weird this year.  I haven't seen any of the movies either, but I usually still enjoy watching the awards shows.  This year there was no sense of humor or fun whatsoever; it was very serious.  I probably could have finished my chapter instead LOL.

They all just seemed like they would be weird this year, so I didn't bother with any of them. Sorry it was boring and serious, but at least you don't have to start an entire new chapter tomorrow to keep the streak alive!


I think the end-of-story streak started extra early for AHTIM.  I was originally planning for it to be 40 chapters, and what I thought was my end-of-story streak started around Chapter 30.  Then it ended up being 50 chapters long.  So I was on an "end-of-story streak" for the last 20 chapters and probably like four months LOL.  I always have a streak like that on the final stretch of a story, but it doesn't always start that early or last that long.  AHTIM was the kind of story that, once I got going on it, I was inspired the whole way through.  I love when that happens.

I feel you. Remember last month when I was like "I feel like this is the end!"? This is when that record scratch sound effect happens and a voice over says "But it wasn't the end. Oh no, it wasn't the end at all." lol

At least you were super inspired for four months though and didn't get derailed when your ten chapters to go turned into twenty chapters to go. I say that's a good run of inspiration! Hopefully MBK ends up that way too. :)


Yes, my hand would have cramped up, and the words would have started to run so much, I wouldn't have been able to decipher them all by the end of my shower anyway LOL.  But sometimes just writing it down helps me remember it better later, and I think saying it out loud worked the same way.

Apparently Brian's dramatic speech was "Nivekllik" running dramatically down the shower wall, lol. Remember that? I agree, if I need to remember something that I feel like I can be inspired on later I may write myself a tiny note on a sticky note. It makes it feel important.

I originally came on to see what time I started writing to update my NaNo for the day, then saw you were quoting and waited, lol. I think I will go to bed now. Happy last week of Camp NaNo! We've got our 3,000-5,000 words! I believe!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 26, 2021, 06:23:44 PM
I honestly don't know if I get weird social media ads because I don't check mine often enough to notice, but you're right, looking up medical stuff would probably give you some pretty weird facebook ads, lol. I hope I have facebook ads about camels. I would actually love that, lol.

LOL I would love ads about camels, too!  I looked something up on my phone once a couple years ago and started getting Facebook ads for nurse t-shirts, and I was like, "Nope."  I'm pretty sure Google assumes I'm either a healthcare worker, a hypochondriac, or the unhealthiest/unluckiest person ever LOL.


I agree with you, quality over quantity for sure. I was still super happy with it all and ended up eventually finishing the chapter (and getting more of the word count I was expecting for the work, lol) and starting the next one. I'm glad you've gotten into a good flowing place. Have you hit the montage yet or is this all still pre-montage stuff?

Yay for finishing your chapter and starting the next one!  You're on a roll!

I'm at the start of the montage section.  I don't really have specific scenes planned for the next few chapters, more just, "I should mention this and that and find a way to skip through the next two months in story time..." LOL.


I'm kind of a mixed bag. Sometimes I edit as I go. Sometimes I finish a scene and then reread over it and edit it. Sometimes I call it good and let it sit until I'm getting ready to post and then edit it. Sometimes when it takes me several days to write one chapter, I'll reread it several times and edit it each time. Regardless, I always let them percolate and edit before I post. I don't know if this is having a first draft or not, lol.

I am the same way as far as letting it sit and then coming back to it for a final read-through and edit before I post.  Since I've started hoarding chapters, I tend to read each one through more times in between drafting and posting than I used to.  I change little things here and there almost every time, but I'm not sure if that counts as writing a second draft, or if that's just editing.


That's so true! Congrats on day 44! I apparently skipped two days in March and wrote two words on one day to not skip a third, so I was at 19 days on April 1st and 43 today. I might add a May goal to my Nano project to encourage me to add words each day and finish this story up.

I've given up on reaching 60,000, especially because not all of my words are new PNecklace chapter words anyway (and there's no way I could finish 16 chapters in five days unless I had a week off, and probably not even then, lol). I decided my new goal for the next five days is to finish the last two chapters I have before the divergent bit, which is about 4500 words (give or take) and would put me around 40,000 words for the month. I think I can do that, though I think it will be easier in this chapter I started today since I want to give each Boy a scene and it's pretty easy to have a quick goal of "once I write about 500 words for you, your scene can be finished if it's ready to be finished." The other chapter I'm a little stuck on, so we'll see what happens, lol.

If only the last day of April was a Saturday or Sunday. Then I think we'd be able to get in one last really solid writing day. But, I believe in you!

Wow, we are within a day of each other!  Go us!

That's a good idea about adding another goal for May.  I may do the same.  I've come to look forward to updating my word count every day; it's motivating and fun to keep track of my progress that way.

Ugh, I know - if I had one more weekend, I could definitely make it.  We'll see how productive I can be after school this week.  I wrote 150 words this morning, so that was a good start!  Have not opened the story yet this evening, but I also haven't taken a nap yet, so I'm already doing better than last week LOL.

Good luck finishing your last two chapters!  I hope the next five days are productive for us both!


I feel you. Remember last month when I was like "I feel like this is the end!"? This is when that record scratch sound effect happens and a voice over says "But it wasn't the end. Oh no, it wasn't the end at all." lol

At least you were super inspired for four months though and didn't get derailed when your ten chapters to go turned into twenty chapters to go. I say that's a good run of inspiration! Hopefully MBK ends up that way too. :)

LOL That is so true.  That's exactly what happened to me too.  I didn't mind it going an extra ten chapters because I was so inspired, and 50 is a better number than 40 anyway.  Now that I've gotten into a groove with MBK, it definitely has those AHTIM/Curtain Call/Broken inspiration vibes.  I'm enjoying it.


Apparently Brian's dramatic speech was "Nivekllik" running dramatically down the shower wall, lol. Remember that? I agree, if I need to remember something that I feel like I can be inspired on later I may write myself a tiny note on a sticky note. It makes it feel important.

I originally came on to see what time I started writing to update my NaNo for the day, then saw you were quoting and waited, lol. I think I will go to bed now. Happy last week of Camp NaNo! We've got our 3,000-5,000 words! I believe!

LMAO!  REDRUM!

Yeah, I stayed up too late writing that last post as usual and then made myself go to bed.  At least I have been sleeping better the last week or so.

Happy last week to you as well!  We've got this!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 26, 2021, 07:00:13 PM
LOL I would love ads about camels, too!  I looked something up on my phone once a couple years ago and started getting Facebook ads for nurse t-shirts, and I was like, "Nope."  I'm pretty sure Google assumes I'm either a healthcare worker, a hypochondriac, or the unhealthiest/unluckiest person ever LOL.

I skimmed because curiosity got the better of me and Nick and I are facebook friends? Or his official fan page or something, not sure when I did that, but that was a fun surprise seeing his tweets on my facebook feed as facebook news. Otherwise, my ads are for fancy cups and soda streams. Nothing too weird. It might be that facebook sees my weird googling and goes "I don't know how to turn this into an ad and you're never here anyway," lol.

lol! At least it was sending you ads for nurse shirts and not black market organs or something. That's what I thought you were getting when you said the ads were weird, lol. Google probably makes a lot of weird assumptions about us, and also keeps track of us writing, so it might not think it's that weird. Or it has us on a list of "potential future serial killers," lol.


Yay for finishing your chapter and starting the next one!  You're on a roll!

I'm at the start of the montage section.  I don't really have specific scenes planned for the next few chapters, more just, "I should mention this and that and find a way to skip through the next two months in story time..." LOL.

And another 800 words so far! I might finish this one today! :) My first scene went longer than expected, so now I'm down to ~300 word check-ins with all the Boys. If only the other one I want to finish goes this well.

I hear that "September. October. November." is still a possibility, lol. What about a to-do list chapter?


I don't know what your things to mention are, so I just made up things that made me laugh.


I am the same way as far as letting it sit and then coming back to it for a final read-through and edit before I post.  Since I've started hoarding chapters, I tend to read each one through more times in between drafting and posting than I used to.  I change little things here and there almost every time, but I'm not sure if that counts as writing a second draft, or if that's just editing.

I think it's semantics? If it's different from the first version, then it's a second version. So up to you if you consider it a second draft or just editing. If it's a one word change, I don't know that I would call that an entire new draft, but if a few lines change, you could reasonably call that a new draft.


Wow, we are within a day of each other!  Go us!

That's a good idea about adding another goal for May.  I may do the same.  I've come to look forward to updating my word count every day; it's motivating and fun to keep track of my progress that way.

Ugh, I know - if I had one more weekend, I could definitely make it.  We'll see how productive I can be after school this week.  I wrote 150 words this morning, so that was a good start!  Have not opened the story yet this evening, but I also haven't taken a nap yet, so I'm already doing better than last week LOL.

Good luck finishing your last two chapters!  I hope the next five days are productive for us both!

It's fun keeping track of the word count; I like have a written documentation of my words day-to-day instead of just a vague idea of chunks of work.

I believe in you! Open MBK! Write write write write write! These replies are basically just us cheering each other on from different sections, lol.


LOL That is so true.  That's exactly what happened to me too.  I didn't mind it going an extra ten chapters because I was so inspired, and 50 is a better number than 40 anyway.  Now that I've gotten into a groove with MBK, it definitely has those AHTIM/Curtain Call/Broken inspiration vibes.  I'm enjoying it.

I agree. Fifty has a nice ring to it. :) I'm glad it's got inspiration vibes going already.


LMAO!  REDRUM!

Yeah, I stayed up too late writing that last post as usual and then made myself go to bed.  At least I have been sleeping better the last week or so.

Happy last week to you as well!  We've got this!

We gotta start going to bed at a reasonable time. I've been sleeping better as well, I think it's the weather being less weird.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 26, 2021, 07:31:39 PM
I skimmed because curiosity got the better of me and Nick and I are facebook friends? Or his official fan page or something, not sure when I did that, but that was a fun surprise seeing his tweets on my facebook feed as facebook news. Otherwise, my ads are for fancy cups and soda streams. Nothing too weird. It might be that facebook sees my weird googling and goes "I don't know how to turn this into an ad and you're never here anyway," lol.

lol! At least it was sending you ads for nurse shirts and not black market organs or something. That's what I thought you were getting when you said the ads were weird, lol. Google probably makes a lot of weird assumptions about us, and also keeps track of us writing, so it might not think it's that weird. Or it has us on a list of "potential future serial killers," lol.

LOL I probably would get ads for black market organs or medical equipment if I did the bulk of my research on my phone.  Nurse shirts aren't bad.  If Google can connect our writing content to our searches, it would all make so much more sense.  As long as the cops have no reason to confiscate my computer, I'm good.


And another 800 words so far! I might finish this one today! :) My first scene went longer than expected, so now I'm down to ~300 word check-ins with all the Boys. If only the other one I want to finish goes this well.

I hear that "September. October. November." is still a possibility, lol. What about a to-do list chapter?

  • read Kevin's book
  • Don't go to LA Don't go to LA Stay in Tennessee DAMNIT
  • Buy pants
  • Take up knitting
  • call Kevin
  • call Kevin
  • Stop avoiding this, call Kevin

I don't know what your things to mention are, so I just made up things that made me laugh.

Yay for your 800 words!!

LOL I wish I could just make Kevin's chapter say "February" and Nick's chapter say "March" and call it good, but I will not be Stephenie Meyer.   I do need to show some of what happened during those months, which is basically a tour and rehab.  But I don't like writing concert scenes and don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to writing therapy scenes, so I'm not looking forward to the next few chapters.  I love your to-do list! LOL  Maybe I should just have Nick take up knitting instead.  But I also don't know how to knit LOL.


I think it's semantics? If it's different from the first version, then it's a second version. So up to you if you consider it a second draft or just editing. If it's a one word change, I don't know that I would call that an entire new draft, but if a few lines change, you could reasonably call that a new draft.

I think you're right.  I guess I just compare my process to the serious writers I see talking about writing second and third drafts as if they throw the first draft in the trash and start over from scratch every time, and that is definitely not what I do.  But I'm also just writing fanfic and not trying to get a manuscript published, so there's a difference.


I believe in you! Open MBK! Write write write write write! These replies are basically just us cheering each other on from different sections, lol.

It's open!  I wrote a paragraph!  Hopefully more will follow.  Thanks for the encouragement!


We gotta start going to bed at a reasonable time. I've been sleeping better as well, I think it's the weather being less weird.

Ugh, I know.  But I'm only tired between the hours of 5 am and 6 pm, and even if I try to go to bed in that time frame, I will inevitably wake up at 8 pm with my second wind.  I wish I could teach vampire children at night.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 26, 2021, 09:09:50 PM
LOL I probably would get ads for black market organs or medical equipment if I did the bulk of my research on my phone.  Nurse shirts aren't bad.  If Google can connect our writing content to our searches, it would all make so much more sense.  As long as the cops have no reason to confiscate my computer, I'm good.

Well what kinds of ads do you get on your computer? Unless computer ad-tracking is slightly less intuitive than phone ad-tracking, I imagine it would reflect your google searches in some manner. Maybe do your black market organ shopping in incognito mode just to be safe, lol.


LOL I wish I could just make Kevin's chapter say "February" and Nick's chapter say "March" and call it good, but I will not be Stephenie Meyer.   I do need to show some of what happened during those months, which is basically a tour and rehab.  But I don't like writing concert scenes and don't really know what I'm doing when it comes to writing therapy scenes, so I'm not looking forward to the next few chapters.  I love your to-do list! LOL  Maybe I should just have Nick take up knitting instead.  But I also don't know how to knit LOL.

Obviously it's "February-Kevin is not on tour," lol.

I tried to do a "quick" search on the NaNo forums (hence why I've been writing this for half an hour), but wasn't quite sure what perspective you wanted in your therapy session or how specific. Most of the stuff I found was more about how characters would behave with certain mental health issues rather than the nitty gritty of how therapy goes, but could be helpful to peruse with an more exact query? I do have a friend with experience with therapy as a patient (not for substance abuse though) that I could reach out to with specific questions if you'd like, though I'd give them the "you can say no" caveat right off the bar, since it can be a pretty personal thing.

https://forums.nanowrimo.org/ (https://forums.nanowrimo.org/)

I hear Mare was crocheting, so... similar idea and a person to ask? lol


I think you're right.  I guess I just compare my process to the serious writers I see talking about writing second and third drafts as if they throw the first draft in the trash and start over from scratch every time, and that is definitely not what I do.  But I'm also just writing fanfic and not trying to get a manuscript published, so there's a difference.

I think there's a certain level of hack and slash necessary sometimes, but I've never thrown away a whole chapter either, even if I ended up hacking and slashing a lot. Your process is what works for you the way you want to publish your work. :) If it's being read and people enjoy it, then you clearly don't need to throw your first draft away. Unless you hate it. Then feel free to throw it away immediately.


It's open!  I wrote a paragraph!  Hopefully more will follow.  Thanks for the encouragement!

Woooo!!!! Now write another paragraph!


Ugh, I know.  But I'm only tired between the hours of 5 am and 6 pm, and even if I try to go to bed in that time frame, I will inevitably wake up at 8 pm with my second wind.  I wish I could teach vampire children at night.

What sort of job board do you think you could find open positions for the education of vampire children on? Would you need different specialization s that you have already? Do the same children stay in your class based on "age" or do they have vampire college? I have so many questions, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 26, 2021, 10:52:10 PM
Well what kinds of ads do you get on your computer? Unless computer ad-tracking is slightly less intuitive than phone ad-tracking, I imagine it would reflect your google searches in some manner. Maybe do your black market organ shopping in incognito mode just to be safe, lol.

I have an ad blocker on my computer, so none usually LOL.  I also don't use Facebook often on my computer anymore, and I use different Google accounts on my phone vs. computer.  I notice it more on the computer with the recommended videos that pop up on YouTube after I've been using it to research LOL.


Obviously it's "February-Kevin is not on tour," lol.

I tried to do a "quick" search on the NaNo forums (hence why I've been writing this for half an hour), but wasn't quite sure what perspective you wanted in your therapy session or how specific. Most of the stuff I found was more about how characters would behave with certain mental health issues rather than the nitty gritty of how therapy goes, but could be helpful to peruse with an more exact query? I do have a friend with experience with therapy as a patient (not for substance abuse though) that I could reach out to with specific questions if you'd like, though I'd give them the "you can say no" caveat right off the bar, since it can be a pretty personal thing.

https://forums.nanowrimo.org/ (https://forums.nanowrimo.org/)

I hear Mare was crocheting, so... similar idea and a person to ask? lol

Thanks!  I haven't checked out the Nano forums before, but that sounds like a great resource.


I think there's a certain level of hack and slash necessary sometimes, but I've never thrown away a whole chapter either, even if I ended up hacking and slashing a lot. Your process is what works for you the way you want to publish your work. :) If it's being read and people enjoy it, then you clearly don't need to throw your first draft away. Unless you hate it. Then feel free to throw it away immediately.

Very true!  And yes, I have hacked and slashed and even deleted first drafts on occasion, but that's not how I normally operate.  The beauty of publishing it for free on the internet is that as long as I like it, it's fine... and hopefully someone else out there will like it, too.


Woooo!!!! Now write another paragraph!

I did!  Still didn't finish my chapter, but I wrote like 500 words today, which is not bad for a weeknight and is close to what I'm supposed to be writing each day to make my goal.


What sort of job board do you think you could find open positions for the education of vampire children on? Would you need different specialization s that you have already? Do the same children stay in your class based on "age" or do they have vampire college? I have so many questions, lol.

Hm... maybe somewhere in Transylvania or Forks, WA?  But yes, I could see that being problematic if the vampire children never age.  Would they just keep repeating the same classes for eternity, like Edward Cullen?  That would get boring.  Why even go to school?  This was not a very well thought out career change.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 27, 2021, 08:25:16 PM
I have an ad blocker on my computer, so none usually LOL.  I also don't use Facebook often on my computer anymore, and I use different Google accounts on my phone vs. computer.  I notice it more on the computer with the recommended videos that pop up on YouTube after I've been using it to research LOL.

Ooh, ad blocker. The best way to avoid ads for black market organs, lol. I'm guessing your computer is your RokofAges75 stuff and your phone is not, lol, but that makes sense. Ooh, yeah, recommended videos is probably weird for sure. I mostly get ads for stores, so I guess my weird writing-related googling hasn't caught on yet, lol.


Thanks!  I haven't checked out the Nano forums before, but that sounds like a great resource.

It's good sometimes! There's a wealth of personal experience/expertise on various things since it's a worldwide community.


Very true!  And yes, I have hacked and slashed and even deleted first drafts on occasion, but that's not how I normally operate.  The beauty of publishing it for free on the internet is that as long as I like it, it's fine... and hopefully someone else out there will like it, too.

Exactly! I agree, as long as you like what you're writing, then write away! :) And if you don't like it, well... that's what those hack and slash times are for, lol.


I did!  Still didn't finish my chapter, but I wrote like 500 words today, which is not bad for a weeknight and is close to what I'm supposed to be writing each day to make my goal.

Yay! You're so close! I believe in you! I continued on my chapter I was stuck on and finished my edit for this week's update today so far, so I'm pretty excited about that. We've got this!


Hm... maybe somewhere in Transylvania or Forks, WA?  But yes, I could see that being problematic if the vampire children never age.  Would they just keep repeating the same classes for eternity, like Edward Cullen?  That would get boring.  Why even go to school?  This was not a very well thought out career change.

Maybe get training in something vocational? There's always new things to learn there, lol. I mean, you could realistically pass as a high schooler/college student for eight years or so even if you never age. Elementary, I think the line is smaller. Maybe teach werewolf children at night? They age at least.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 27, 2021, 10:17:21 PM
Yay! You're so close! I believe in you! I continued on my chapter I was stuck on and finished my edit for this week's update today so far, so I'm pretty excited about that. We've got this!

Thanks!  I'm glad you were able to continue your chapter and finish your edit!  Go you!

I am feeling better about my goal after tonight's writing.  I wrote almost 1000 words and finished Chapter 14!  It was a long, hot day at school today, and when I got home, I was like, "I need a drink."  So I had a drink.  And damn, it put me in such a better mood, and I was productive!  Usually I prefer caffeine to alcohol, but apparently beer did the trick tonight LOL.  Except I accidentally posted my total word count as my word count for this session, which tricked Nano into thinking I made my goal and gave me a badge I didn't deserve.  I deleted and fixed it, but the badge is still showing up... so damn, I really better make that goal, or I will be living a lie LOL.  1,588 words to go!  But now I have to start a new chapter tomorrow, and of course I have no idea how, so... wish me luck!


Edited to add:  In tonight's edition of "random things I found while researching," here is an article from CNN's website in 1996 about Keiko, the whale from Free Willy, being moved to a new home. http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9601/keiko_willy_moves/index.html  Aww, RIP Keiko.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 28, 2021, 08:59:58 PM
Thanks!  I'm glad you were able to continue your chapter and finish your edit!  Go you!

Now I'm stuck on the chapter again, lol. But the other one is going well, so at least the streak continues! I've enjoyed the past couple of days heading in to school later since it's given me time to write in the morning. We'll see how the rest of today, tomorrow, and Friday go! We've got this, two-ish days left!


I am feeling better about my goal after tonight's writing.  I wrote almost 1000 words and finished Chapter 14!  It was a long, hot day at school today, and when I got home, I was like, "I need a drink."  So I had a drink.  And damn, it put me in such a better mood, and I was productive!  Usually I prefer caffeine to alcohol, but apparently beer did the trick tonight LOL.  Except I accidentally posted my total word count as my word count for this session, which tricked Nano into thinking I made my goal and gave me a badge I didn't deserve.  I deleted and fixed it, but the badge is still showing up... so damn, I really better make that goal, or I will be living a lie LOL.  1,588 words to go!  But now I have to start a new chapter tomorrow, and of course I have no idea how, so... wish me luck!

Go you! That's awesome! I feel you on those days, sometimes you get to the end and go "ugh, I need a beverage." Glad it was productive for you! Oh no! Technology strikes again! I believe in you though and think you can get through without living a lie. Only 500ish words each day! You've got this! Hope your new chapter is going great!


Edited to add:  In tonight's edition of "random things I found while researching," here is an article from CNN's website in 1996 about Keiko, the whale from Free Willy, being moved to a new home. http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9601/keiko_willy_moves/index.html  Aww, RIP Keiko.

Aww, Keiko. I remember that move to Oregon. Now I want to know what Keiko the whale has to do with Nick and Kevin drama, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 28, 2021, 09:21:49 PM
Now I'm stuck on the chapter again, lol. But the other one is going well, so at least the streak continues! I've enjoyed the past couple of days heading in to school later since it's given me time to write in the morning. We'll see how the rest of today, tomorrow, and Friday go! We've got this, two-ish days left!

Oh noes, sorry you're stuck on one chapter, but glad the other one is going well.  Perks of writing two things at a time!  I had a hard time getting Chapter 15 started, but I did finally come up with a beginning tonight, so at least I made it over that hurdle.


Go you! That's awesome! I feel you on those days, sometimes you get to the end and go "ugh, I need a beverage." Glad it was productive for you! Oh no! Technology strikes again! I believe in you though and think you can get through without living a lie. Only 500ish words each day! You've got this! Hope your new chapter is going great!

Thanks!  It's not going great, but at least it's going.  I probably will not hit my 500 words tonight, but now that the chapter is started, hoping I'll get more into it tomorrow and finish strong on Friday.  I hope you finish strong too!


Aww, Keiko. I remember that move to Oregon. Now I want to know what Keiko the whale has to do with Nick and Kevin drama, lol.

LOL It's like six degrees of separation... can you make the connection between the plot of my story and the seemingly random things I google while writing it?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 28, 2021, 09:45:34 PM
Oh noes, sorry you're stuck on one chapter, but glad the other one is going well.  Perks of writing two things at a time!  I had a hard time getting Chapter 15 started, but I did finally come up with a beginning tonight, so at least I made it over that hurdle.

It's my fault. I finished a scene and realized I didn't know quite what else I wanted to write for the rest of the chapter... I'm trying to give Nick a break from being the POV character by letting him out of a few chapters, but he's around and I think he has to at least participate in the plot for the chapter to continue for the other characters in the direction it needs to go, lol. The chapter that is going well feels like the finale at the end of the first act of a musical, lol. I say it's going well now. Two scenes of it are going well so far.


Thanks!  It's not going great, but at least it's going.  I probably will not hit my 500 words tonight, but now that the chapter is started, hoping I'll get more into it tomorrow and finish strong on Friday.  I hope you finish strong too!

I'm glad you found a beginning! The start is what you need to get inspired! So now the hard part is all done; now you just have to get words to the page. I believe!


LOL It's like six degrees of separation... can you make the connection between the plot of my story and the seemingly random things I google while writing it?

LOL! We need a new six degrees of separation, the youths don't know who Kevin Bacon is anyway.

Kevin bought Nick a therapy whale! No, the line "You're my free willy" is in there somewhere! They're parodying the Michael Jackson song from the movie!

I've run out of ideas, but those are the funniest ones I can think of, lol.

Edited to add: I popped back in originally because google docs corrected my Brian to Brain again, so I backspaced to fix it... and it turned it right back to Brain. I do not use "brain" google docs. If I did, it would be harder to find Brian typos!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 29, 2021, 05:13:38 PM
I love how unrealisticall y NaNo believes in me reaching my goal. In the little stats center, it's like "if you only write 11,000 words today and tomorrow, you'll reach 60,000 words! You can do it!" You know, NaNo... I have never written 11,000 words in one day that I can recall. Not even in the earliest days of PBox. That would be like me sitting down and thinking I could write three to four chapters in a day. In a weekend? Maybe... depends on the four chapters. In a day? There's no way. In a day when I have nothing else to do? There's still no way. I would need you all to do like 7 hours worth of 15-minute word sprints with me. I don't think I've got that in me even on my best day, lol.

Today's NaNo Care package made me curious about everybody else's fantastic elements in their stories. Not me, obviously, because "It was magic" is a fairly simple explanation for 98% of the things I write. The other 2% is probably "It was a dream (and/or 'dream,' depending on the story... and if it was a 'dream,' well then it was probably magic, so... here we are at that 98% again)." Put those two things together in some form and you get... well PBox among other things, lol. Anyway, today's NaNo Care Package:

"As speculative fiction becomes more mainstream, fantastic elements are infiltrating every genre—even nonfiction and memoir. The trick is to find what feels (almost) possible to you. Whether it’s as subtle as the smoke alarm going off every time the MC fights with their husband or as wild as a slumber party ritual that conjures a pair of ancient beings, finding places to use even slightly fantastical elements can add depth and complexity, allowing you to express deeper themes and tell a more nuanced story."

Today's Writing Challenge:

Take Michelle's advice and write a scene where something fantastical or unexplained happens—whether it's as small as a surprising coincidence, or overtly magical.

Do you tend to write stories with magic in them? Or, back to the prompt, what's a small way you include the fantastic in your works if magic is not your "bread and butter"?

Well, on that note, I have an hour and a half to get cracking on this 11,000 words... wish me luck! ;)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 29, 2021, 08:54:12 PM
It's my fault. I finished a scene and realized I didn't know quite what else I wanted to write for the rest of the chapter... I'm trying to give Nick a break from being the POV character by letting him out of a few chapters, but he's around and I think he has to at least participate in the plot for the chapter to continue for the other characters in the direction it needs to go, lol. The chapter that is going well feels like the finale at the end of the first act of a musical, lol. I say it's going well now. Two scenes of it are going well so far.

If Nick is demanding to be written, then keep writing him.  He must not need a break LOL.  He doesn't like to be out of the spotlight.  I'm glad the other chapter is still going well so far.  Finale at the end of the first act sounds exciting!


I'm glad you found a beginning! The start is what you need to get inspired! So now the hard part is all done; now you just have to get words to the page. I believe!

Hopefully!  I did have a decent little writing session this morning while I was getting ready for work and wrote a couple solid paragraphs, so I'm hoping to be able to continue tonight.


LOL! We need a new six degrees of separation, the youths don't know who Kevin Bacon is anyway.

Kevin bought Nick a therapy whale! No, the line "You're my free willy" is in there somewhere! They're parodying the Michael Jackson song from the movie!

I've run out of ideas, but those are the funniest ones I can think of, lol.

Edited to add: I popped back in originally because google docs corrected my Brian to Brain again, so I backspaced to fix it... and it turned it right back to Brain. I do not use "brain" google docs. If I did, it would be harder to find Brian typos!

I love all those ideas! LOL  And now that song is stuck in my head.  "Hold me... like the river Jordan..."   I love that song!

Damn you, Google Docs!  That is so weird.  I don't think it has ever autocorrected Brian into brain for me... unless it has and I have stories full of "Brains" I've never noticed?? LOL
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 29, 2021, 09:13:01 PM
I love how unrealisticall y NaNo believes in me reaching my goal. In the little stats center, it's like "if you only write 11,000 words today and tomorrow, you'll reach 60,000 words! You can do it!" You know, NaNo... I have never written 11,000 words in one day that I can recall. Not even in the earliest days of PBox. That would be like me sitting down and thinking I could write three to four chapters in a day. In a weekend? Maybe... depends on the four chapters. In a day? There's no way. In a day when I have nothing else to do? There's still no way. I would need you all to do like 7 hours worth of 15-minute word sprints with me. I don't think I've got that in me even on my best day, lol.

LOL Oh Nano... at some point, it's okay to lower your expectations and just say, "Well, at least you tried.  Set a new goal and try again next month!"  There's no way I could ever write 11,000 words in a day either.  I think the most I've ever written in a day was like 7000-8000 words, but that would have been one of those times where I stayed up all night feverishly typing in a caffeine-fueled frenzy of inspiration.  I don't think I could do that now, but back in the Broken/BMS era, maybe.


Today's NaNo Care package made me curious about everybody else's fantastic elements in their stories. Not me, obviously, because "It was magic" is a fairly simple explanation for 98% of the things I write. The other 2% is probably "It was a dream (and/or 'dream,' depending on the story... and if it was a 'dream,' well then it was probably magic, so... here we are at that 98% again)." Put those two things together in some form and you get... well PBox among other things, lol. Anyway, today's NaNo Care Package:

"As speculative fiction becomes more mainstream, fantastic elements are infiltrating every genre—even nonfiction and memoir. The trick is to find what feels (almost) possible to you. Whether it’s as subtle as the smoke alarm going off every time the MC fights with their husband or as wild as a slumber party ritual that conjures a pair of ancient beings, finding places to use even slightly fantastical elements can add depth and complexity, allowing you to express deeper themes and tell a more nuanced story."

Today's Writing Challenge:

Take Michelle's advice and write a scene where something fantastical or unexplained happens—whether it's as small as a surprising coincidence, or overtly magical.

Do you tend to write stories with magic in them? Or, back to the prompt, what's a small way you include the fantastic in your works if magic is not your "bread and butter"?

Well, on that note, I have an hour and a half to get cracking on this 11,000 words... wish me luck! ;)

This was an interesting prompt, something I've never really thought about before.  I write mostly realistic fiction, so magic is not an element I use often.  But now that I think about it, I have incorporated some of those small fantastical elements into otherwise realistic stories through dreams and/or hallucinations that have some kind of symbolic purpose.  I've used both in MBK, and AHTIM had a whole subplot that played out in a series of near-death experience "dreams."  Those work for me because, while fantastical, they can still be explained as figments of the sleeping/unconscious/drug-addled brain.

LOL Good luck with that!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 29, 2021, 09:15:31 PM
So here's what I get for succumbing to the temptation to take a nap at 6 p.m.  I woke up at 7:20 in a total panic, thinking it was 7:20 in the morning and I'd overslept.  That is literally the latest I can leave my house and still make it to work on time.  Thankfully, I only made it as far as the bathroom before I realized it was still evening and I'd only slept for an hour LOL.

Here's hoping my nap will help me get some writing done in the next hour or so.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 29, 2021, 09:32:28 PM
If Nick is demanding to be written, then keep writing him.  He must not need a break LOL.  He doesn't like to be out of the spotlight.  I'm glad the other chapter is still going well so far.  Finale at the end of the first act sounds exciting!

I don't know that he's demanding to be written necessarily, but I guess he was just bored because he popped into the chapter and then took it a completely different direction from what I'd brought him in for even though he's still not the POV character. AJ and Howie got their directives back on track somewhat, but spotlight stealing squad Nick does it again, lol! And now I think this scene that I didn't know he wanted to happen has to be from his POV because he's probably the one that needs the lesson the most out of him, Howie, and AJ. Maybe I'm just lying to myself and Nick really did want to be the POV character again. ::) I'm sorry AJ and Howie, I really tried to give you some POV chapters where things were focused on you two!

That was actually my original intent in leaving Nick out for a bit: half giving him a break from his drama and half giving Howie, AJ, Brian, and Kevin some love and space to talk out what they have going on. But you're right, he has never let me forget that most of this magnum opus is his story, so I think he was just reminding me (and Brian -- this is really Brian's fault for telling Nick to go away from his stuff in the first place) that he's not going anywhere, but he's happy to give his friends some time in the spotlight if they need it and that he'll hang out in their narratives in the meantime.

Maybe it is a little exciting, but in a mundane way, not a "One Day More" kind of way even though that's what I've been humming to myself as I keep typing the phrase "starting tomorrow."


Hopefully!  I did have a decent little writing session this morning while I was getting ready for work and wrote a couple solid paragraphs, so I'm hoping to be able to continue tonight.

Good for your morning session! I think you've got this! I wrote about 375 words this morning and 275 words this afternoon before my last Thursday night training (finally), and the chapter still seems ready to write so I'm hoping that I can continue my mojo and maybe finish it out, or at least get a good chunk out of it (I was just bored at the end of the training and saw that you had posted, lol).


I love all those ideas! LOL  And now that song is stuck in my head.  "Hold me... like the river Jordan..."   I love that song!

You know I'm always good for ridiculous jokes. ;) I love that song too. I want to listen to it, but it has nothing to do with what I'm writing, lol.

Only sort of on topic, but... I was once at a young professional's event at our museum where they do a science talk (with a panel or an expert) about a temporary/traveling exhibit. Then they open the museum up afterward and you can wander around with drinks and such, see the new exhibit and some old favorites. It was really fun! Anyway, at the end of the night there's a big dance party in the atrium and near the end of it, they played that song and seeing an entire room of Millennials (mostly) all doing the arms wide open while singing was one of the greatest things I've ever seen. I laughed so hard after realizing it wasn't just me and my friends doing it.


Damn you, Google Docs!  That is so weird.  I don't think it has ever autocorrected Brian into brain for me... unless it has and I have stories full of "Brains" I've never noticed?? LOL

I told you, I literally watch it do it and hate it every time. I always wonder if google reads back the sentence and goes "Oh, my bad, 'Brain' doesn't make sense, you must have actually meant 'Brian.' Carry on." Run a quick "find and replace" for "Brain" and see what pops up, maybe you do. :-*
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 29, 2021, 09:50:49 PM
LOL Oh Nano... at some point, it's okay to lower your expectations and just say, "Well, at least you tried.  Set a new goal and try again next month!"  There's no way I could ever write 11,000 words in a day either.  I think the most I've ever written in a day was like 7000-8000 words, but that would have been one of those times where I stayed up all night feverishly typing in a caffeine-fueled frenzy of inspiration.  I don't think I could do that now, but back in the Broken/BMS era, maybe.

It does after the NaNo events end, or it used to message you and say, "want to add a new goal?" at least. I can't recall what the new servers do. But that's what I've been telling myself. "If I can finish these two chapters I wanted to finish, then I will feel great about Camp NaNo even if I didn't finish PNecklace."

I think in my PBox "feverish typing" days, I would go a long time without updating and then end up writing two chapters in a night near the end, so those would have been around 6,000-8,000 words. Now that I'm a little more consistent, those multi-chapter from start to finish days don't really happen anymore. I'm much more likely to finish a chapter and start a new one, but end up finishing that second one on a different day. I think I had one weekend back in the November NaNo where I wrote most of the chapters I just finished posting. I finished chapter fourteen on Saturday and then chunked through to chapter eighteen by the end of Sunday and may have even started chapter nineteen that Sunday too. And they all ended up being some of my favorites in PNecklace overall and still are, except for chapter sixteen -- it's not bad or anything, just less fun than the awesome chapters surrounding it.


This was an interesting prompt, something I've never really thought about before.  I write mostly realistic fiction, so magic is not an element I use often.  But now that I think about it, I have incorporated some of those small fantastical elements into otherwise realistic stories through dreams and/or hallucinations that have some kind of symbolic purpose.  I've used both in MBK, and AHTIM had a whole subplot that played out in a series of near-death experience "dreams."  Those work for me because, while fantastical, they can still be explained as figments of the sleeping/unconscious/drug-addled brain.

I thought it was interesting too! Fantastic elements and speculative fiction are obviously things I think about a lot, but I thought it was true: sometimes there's magic in the mundane even if it doesn't seem like magic at first glance. So I was curious on everyone else's thoughts.

I think it's fitting that dreams and/or hallucinations would be your fantastic element, because you're right, it's this crazy part of the brain that we don't really have a lot of research on the "why" of it, so it's in this gray area. And how much we really remember about our dreams is fuzzy at best. It's usually a picture or a word or two, but not prolonged details. I think dreams are really interesting.


LOL Good luck with that!

10,186 words to go today! lol

So here's what I get for succumbing to the temptation to take a nap at 6 p.m.  I woke up at 7:20 in a total panic, thinking it was 7:20 in the morning and I'd overslept.  That is literally the latest I can leave my house and still make it to work on time.  Thankfully, I only made it as far as the bathroom before I realized it was still evening and I'd only slept for an hour LOL.

Here's hoping my nap will help me get some writing done in the next hour or so.

Oh no!!!! That was my greatest fear when I worked at a bakery and it happened to me a lot, lol. So I made the switch the 24-hour clock and never looked back. Then there's no question of whether you slept for an hour (18 to 19:20) or did in fact sleep straight through to the morning. I once got in the shower and found new clothes while frantically brushing my teeth before I looked outside and saw that it was night time, lol.

I believe in you! You'll make your goal!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 29, 2021, 11:02:53 PM
It does after the NaNo events end, or it used to message you and say, "want to add a new goal?" at least. I can't recall what the new servers do. But that's what I've been telling myself. "If I can finish these two chapters I wanted to finish, then I will feel great about Camp NaNo even if I didn't finish PNecklace."

Good for you!  You should feel great!  You've written almost double what I have, and your goal was three times mine LOL.

I was ready to give up for the night an hour ago, but I kept pushing myself to write another sentence, and I ended up with 449 words instead of the 67 I was on when I wanted to stop LOL.  I'm now within 1,000 words of my goal, so wish me luck that tomorrow night's writing session goes well!  Even if I don't make it, I've written more this month than I probably would have without Nano, especially the past two weeks.  On nights like this, I would have quit much sooner if I didn't have a goal beyond writing at least one word a day LOL.


I think in my PBox "feverish typing" days, I would go a long time without updating and then end up writing two chapters in a night near the end, so those would have been around 6,000-8,000 words. Now that I'm a little more consistent, those multi-chapter from start to finish days don't really happen anymore. I'm much more likely to finish a chapter and start a new one, but end up finishing that second one on a different day. I think I had one weekend back in the November NaNo where I wrote most of the chapters I just finished posting. I finished chapter fourteen on Saturday and then chunked through to chapter eighteen by the end of Sunday and may have even started chapter nineteen that Sunday too. And they all ended up being some of my favorites in PNecklace overall and still are, except for chapter sixteen -- it's not bad or anything, just less fun than the awesome chapters surrounding it.

Wow, 4-5 chapters in a weekend!  That's impressive!  I haven't had a two-chapter day in a long, long time.  These days if I can finish one whole chapter in a day, that is a rare feat.  But as long as I'm writing consistently, it doesn't matter.  Like you said, we're still more productive that way than when we would have bursts of inspiration followed by weeks without writing anything.

Sometimes those chapters I write all at once do end up being my favorites because they're usually emotional and exciting, or I wouldn't be as inspired to keep writing and writing.  But usually the day after one of those late night marathon writing sessions, I wake up and am like, "WTF did I even write last night?"  Then I'm afraid to read it, in case it's nothing but a series of delirious ramblings LOL.


I think it's fitting that dreams and/or hallucinations would be your fantastic element, because you're right, it's this crazy part of the brain that we don't really have a lot of research on the "why" of it, so it's in this gray area. And how much we really remember about our dreams is fuzzy at best. It's usually a picture or a word or two, but not prolonged details. I think dreams are really interesting.

Absolutely!  It is interesting, and even if we don't usually remember our dreams in great detail when we wake up, they can still be described in great detail in a story.  And then sometimes we do have those really vivid dreams that linger even after we wake up.


Oh no!!!! That was my greatest fear when I worked at a bakery and it happened to me a lot, lol. So I made the switch the 24-hour clock and never looked back. Then there's no question of whether you slept for an hour (18 to 19:20) or did in fact sleep straight through to the morning. I once got in the shower and found new clothes while frantically brushing my teeth before I looked outside and saw that it was night time, lol.

I used to do that a lot, wake up in the middle of the night thinking it was morning and start getting ready, only to realize it was like 2 a.m.  Sometimes I didn't realize it until after I'd already showered and had to go back to bed with wet hair LOL.  It was probably stress-related.

Once of my Facebook friends, a girl I went to college with who's also a teacher, posted about doing the same thing, except she went as far as packing her lunch and driving halfway to work before she realized it was only one in the morning LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 29, 2021, 11:29:37 PM
Good for you!  You should feel great!  You've written almost double what I have, and your goal was three times mine LOL.

I just really wanted to finish, haha. I wish all of those words were for new chapters and not whatever I felt like writing or editing. I did finish up four chapters so far though, plus one and a half OF PBox chapters. I probably also have about 1,000 words left to write (I read everything and then respond, lol), so let's cheer each other on tomorrow! :)


I was ready to give up for the night an hour ago, but I kept pushing myself to write another sentence, and I ended up with 449 words instead of the 67 I was on when I wanted to stop LOL.  I'm now within 1,000 words of my goal, so wish me luck that tomorrow night's writing session goes well!  Even if I don't make it, I've written more this month than I probably would have without Nano, especially the past two weeks.  On nights like this, I would have quit much sooner if I didn't have a goal beyond writing at least one word a day LOL.

I'm glad the push was worth it! Sometimes I do that too and sometimes, I just let myself stop. That's a lot of my 100 or less word days in the middle of the week. I'm glad you found it productive and sustainable. That's what I like about the camp months, setting my own goal. It makes it a little more writer focused and less "first draft of a novel feeling." Don't get me wrong, I was super happy about my almost 52,000 words in November, but this is nice too, though I probably should have been more realistic and picked 40,000, lol. Next month's goal is a little less than 42,000 words. I will finish this novel. The end is near, lol.


Wow, 4-5 chapters in a weekend!  That's impressive!  I haven't had a two-chapter day in a long, long time.  These days if I can finish one whole chapter in a day, that is a rare feat.  But as long as I'm writing consistently, it doesn't matter.  Like you said, we're still more productive that way than when we would have bursts of inspiration followed by weeks without writing anything.

Sometimes those chapters I write all at once do end up being my favorites because they're usually emotional and exciting, or I wouldn't be as inspired to keep writing and writing.  But usually the day after one of those late night marathon writing sessions, I wake up and am like, "WTF did I even write last night?"  Then I'm afraid to read it, in case it's nothing but a series of delirious ramblings LOL.

I'm a little bummed it hasn't happened again, but it was an accomplishment! I'm the same as you, finishing one chapter in a day start to finish would be awesome. I think I average four to seven days per chapter?  During NaNo I was doing two or three days per chapter depending on how much of it was already written from random bursts of inspiration, but it was very tiring. I'm not sure how I thought I could do it again, lol. I agree, the consistency is what's key now. We're consistent and ahead of ourselves, that makes the product we put out much more reliable.

Yes! They're the author excitement ones for sure! I usually fear the same and end up rereading everything I wrote in the last writing session for that reason, but I didn't let myself do it that weekend or any of the other times I've written chapters back-to-back because I worry it would destroy my groove. But, then after the groove is gone, I typically go back and hack and slash a lot of it.


Absolutely!  It is interesting, and even if we don't usually remember our dreams in great detail when we wake up, they can still be described in great detail in a story.  And then sometimes we do have those really vivid dreams that linger even after we wake up.

Those are my favorites when they happen. Though most of them these days are the anxiety fueled ones, unfortunately.


I used to do that a lot, wake up in the middle of the night thinking it was morning and start getting ready, only to realize it was like 2 a.m.  Sometimes I didn't realize it until after I'd already showered and had to go back to bed with wet hair LOL.  It was probably stress-related.

Once of my Facebook friends, a girl I went to college with who's also a teacher, posted about doing the same thing, except she went as far as packing her lunch and driving halfway to work before she realized it was only one in the morning LOL.

Oh I'm sure. After my bakery stint, I always look at my phone and nine times out of ten, I do not have to panic. When it's time to panic though, I definitely panic.

Oh no!!!!! That poor friend! That's even worse than getting in the shower! Thankfully, I have never gotten as far as my car, let alone my coffee when that has happened.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 30, 2021, 06:08:03 PM
Alright, today NaNo says I need 20,238 words to make my goal from the beginning of the month. Wish me luck. ;)

In reality, I'm calling it a win if I finish two scenes I have in progress and write four more short ones to finish the two chapters I wanted to complete. I'm around and writing if anyone feels a word sprint calling them, so just holler.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 30, 2021, 08:32:08 PM
Alright, 1,400 words down and one chapter finished! I think I may be able to finish my other in progress chapter as well. ;D Back to the grind. Hope everyone's having a great writing night on this last day of Camp NaNo.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 30, 2021, 09:04:19 PM
Yay, good for you!  I am about 500 words away from my goal and have three hours left.  I made coffee when I came home from happy hour and have now moved on to soda.  Hoping the caffeine will help me write faster.  I am definitely into that "We're gonna need a montage!" (http://https://youtu.be/pFrMLRQIT_k) section of the story, which is not a great place to be right now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 30, 2021, 09:48:56 PM
lmao, I love that song.

I ate dinner, but now I am ready to get back to the grind. I'm here for you if you need a fifteen minute word sprint to punch out your 500 words.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 30, 2021, 10:27:40 PM
LMAO After I posted that, I made myself a little playlist of a bunch of cheesy 80s movie montage songs and have been listening to that for the last couple hours and making myself laugh as I write.   I'm up to 19,782 words!  Just over 200 to go.  I've got this!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 30, 2021, 10:38:09 PM
Popped back in to check on you and I'm excited for your montage playlist. Glad it's making it entertaining.

You're so close! You've got this! I have one more scene finished and one more scene almost finished. Then it's just the one I already started and two little short ones left!

We'll be champions!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 30, 2021, 11:22:26 PM
I did it!  With like 45 minutes to spare!  Checked my word count after finishing a paragraph, and I was already at 20,130 words.  Yay!  Thanks for all your encouragement and suggesting Camp Nano in the first place.  It was fun and definitely motivated me to write more than I would have otherwise this month.

Good luck finishing your last few scenes!  You've got this!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 30, 2021, 11:28:52 PM
You made it! I knew you could!! Now you won't be living a badge lie, lol. (which I knew you wouldn't.) Are you stopping for the night or does the inspiration continue on your end?

I have hit a sleepy wall, but you finishing is encouraging me! I will keep going instead of going to bed! One scene almost complete and one more to go!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 30, 2021, 11:31:16 PM
LOL Yes, now I can claim my winner's certificate for reals!  I probably will end up stopping for the night, but we'll see.

Keep going!  You can do it!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on April 30, 2021, 11:35:29 PM
Here is my little montage playlist if you need some inspiration! Haha!

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLlRmzYzr_N-T8rkKoCyXhQYz7DnWZOfqe
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on April 30, 2021, 11:49:43 PM
lmao! I love all of those, but they just don't fit the serious tone of everyone's drama, lol. One scene left!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 01, 2021, 12:02:54 AM
LOL They fit the tone of my story about as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack fit Broken back in the day.  That's what I was thinking about as I was writing to it.  But hey, whatever works!

One scene left!!  You've got this!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 01, 2021, 12:18:39 AM
lmao! Now I understand why you were laughing so hard, the dissonance and also Broken memories.

Done! 45 minutes to spare, lol. I ended up writing 3,200 words today, which is more than I expected to write. So much for my quick chapters, lol. That second one I was finishing was close to 5,000 words and the first one ended up being close to 4,000 words.

Now we follow today's Camp Care Package:

1. Celebrate! Take a deep breath! Toast yourself! Eat cake! You did it!!!!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 01, 2021, 12:33:31 AM
YAY, you finished!  3,200 words, wow!  Good for you!

Yes, I think we both deserve some wine or cake or both!  Sadly, I have neither wine nor cake, but I will at least go eat a snack before I go to bed.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 01, 2021, 01:48:49 PM
It was like an entire chapter, lol! I didn't expect to write that much either. I really thought it would be closer to 1,000 words between the two chapters. As usual, I just had a vague plan for the scenes and wrote until they made sense to end.

I like how we both finished with 45 minutes to spare, we really are just about even in our mannerisms these days. I did not enjoy wine or cake, but I should have; I went straight to bed, I was exhausted! But I enjoyed my coffee this morning while rereading through it.

I enjoyed Camp NaNo even though I overestimated my goal and I think I may have enjoyed it more than regular NaNo, other than the "fresh excitement of a new novel" aspect. I loved having someone cheering me on from a writing aspect, rather than just hubs being like, "You've got this, wife. At least you're doing something productive with your time instead of watching sitcoms you've already seen for the hundredth time." Even though I had a lot more "low count" days than in November, I think I would have given up more back then when I was writing alone if it had gone less well. It was good to be able to come here and chat writing, even if writing itself was kind of lack luster. So thanks for that, Julie and everyone else who popped in along the way. :)

I think I'm going to add a personal goal for this month and try to finish out this novel. But I think I would do Camp NaNo in July again if anyone else wanted to participate with us (assuming you'd do it again, Julie), just not sure if I'll still be writing PNecklace then or something else.

I looked over what I wrote last night and was pretty happy with it overall, so no great urges to hack and slash it yet. And I think you were right, Nick really didn't want to disappear from the narrative for four chapters. Clearly, because once I let him come back, I wrote a bajillion words without meaning to and three chapters in a week, plus the previous week with a whole other chapter and finishing the two I spent the first two weeks meandering in the week before. He must feel bad about being a spotlight hog because he wasn't loudly shouting that he was bored, lol. But this isn't news to me; I know he's the one breathing life and energy into this story. I hope the group that doesn't have him in it during this next arc goes well.

I did make me think on my character dynamics. AJ, Howie, and Nick isn't something I usually add in. ARok and AJ and Kevin is kind of lacking, and Howie and Kevin is virtually nonexistent. Part of me feels like I should add more of these and part of me feels like, eh. Anyone else feel this way? That they ignore certain groupings of the Boys?

Anyway, this has been my post-Camp NaNo introspection. I'm now back to fifteen chapters ahead of myself and have things to post through the middle of August!  :party: Time to finish out these last fourteen chapters! Think I can do it in a month or should I go through June just to be safe? lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 01, 2021, 09:16:52 PM
We really have been on the same wavelength lately!  Thank you for your encouragement as well!  I'd like to think I would have at least continued my daily writing streak through the month of April, but without a word count goal, I wouldn't have pushed myself to write more than a sentence on days when the words weren't flowing or I didn't really feel like it.

I liked tracking my word count and seeing that line slowly climb, so I just went in and set a new goal to write 50,000 words between now and the end of June.  I wanted to set a little higher goal, but May is a busy month, so I figure if I'm under 20,000 words this month, I'll be able to make up for it in June when I have more time to write.  I'm planning to participate in the next camp in July too.  I assume I will still be writing MBK then, but hopefully it will have doubled in length!  It's currently sitting at 49,868 words.

I wish I had been able to start a new chapter this morning because that would have made it so much easier to track my total word count on this goal.  With the last one, I started Chapter 11 on April 1, so I usually updated my word count by checking the word count from Chapter 11 on.  That way if I added anything while editing, it would still count.  But today I started in the middle of a paragraph in Chapter 15 LOL.  I did put a little red asterisk at my starting point so I can still track it that way if I want to, but I'm gonna try to track my word count per session this time so I can get a more accurate picture of the stats it shows on the site.  I only got 124 words written so far today, so it currently says I'm averaging one word per minute.  At this rate, I will reach my goal on June 7, 2022 LMAO.  So... starting strong!  Ha!


I'm now back to fifteen chapters ahead of myself and have things to post through the middle of August!  :party: Time to finish out these last fourteen chapters! Think I can do it in a month or should I go through June just to be safe? lol

Wow, so you're good through most of the summer!  That's awesome!

You wrote way more than me in one month, so go with your gut, but 14 chapters sounds like a lot for one month.  If it were me, I would make it a two-month goal.  Even if you go through June, that's still averaging more than one chapter a week.


I did make me think on my character dynamics. AJ, Howie, and Nick isn't something I usually add in. ARok and AJ and Kevin is kind of lacking, and Howie and Kevin is virtually nonexistent. Part of me feels like I should add more of these and part of me feels like, eh. Anyone else feel this way? That they ignore certain groupings of the Boys?

I definitely feel this way sometimes.  I am used to focusing mostly on Nick and/or Brian, and the other three just kinda appear as needed.  Do you consider PNecklace to be a group story or a Nick story with the others in supporting roles?  Because I think that makes a difference.  If I'm writing a true group story, I make more of an effort to give them all moments to shine, but most of my storylines are only meant to focus on one or two of them as main characters.  When that's the case, I don't worry about it.

It's weird for me to be writing a story where almost all the focus is on Kevin.  That's a first for me.  Even though Nick is also a main character, the storyline really revolves around Kevin.  AJ and Brian have both gotten some good moments, but Howie is the one who's just kind of... there.  Poor Howie LOL.  But I have written a Howie novel before, so I don't feel as bad about that anymore.  Howie had plenty of time to suffer shine in SAMS.  It's Kevin's turn now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 01, 2021, 09:52:40 PM
We really have been on the same wavelength lately!  Thank you for your encouragement as well!  I'd like to think I would have at least continued my daily writing streak through the month of April, but without a word count goal, I wouldn't have pushed myself to write more than a sentence on days when the words weren't flowing or I didn't really feel like it.

I liked tracking my word count and seeing that line slowly climb, so I just went in and set a new goal to write 50,000 words between now and the end of June.  I wanted to set a little higher goal, but May is a busy month, so I figure if I'm under 20,000 words this month, I'll be able to make up for it in June when I have more time to write.  I'm planning to participate in the next camp in July too.  I assume I will still be writing MBK then, but hopefully it will have doubled in length!  It's currently sitting at 49,868 words.

Same. Having a goal and not just "keeping track to keep track" did push me to try a little better, though not quite to the extent of the beginning of the novel. I'm here to keep encouraging you! Hopefully we continue the streak.

The line is definitely what I missed when I was just keeping track on my own. There's something really satisfying about watching it ebb close to the par and then pass it. I missed it this past month; I think I aimed way to high, lol.

I have an idea of what I might write, but we'll see when the time comes. I think Snail is at the top of my list post-PNecklace since I kind of pushed it aside for a bit. I hope you double MBK by that time too! I'd be excited for you if you were able to finish it by the end of summer!  :biggrin:


I wish I had been able to start a new chapter this morning because that would have made it so much easier to track my total word count on this goal.  With the last one, I started Chapter 11 on April 1, so I usually updated my word count by checking the word count from Chapter 11 on.  That way if I added anything while editing, it would still count.  But today I started in the middle of a paragraph in Chapter 15 LOL.  I did put a little red asterisk at my starting point so I can still track it that way if I want to, but I'm gonna try to track my word count per session this time so I can get a more accurate picture of the stats it shows on the site.  I only got 124 words written so far today, so it currently says I'm averaging one word per minute.  At this rate, I will reach my goal on June 7, 2022 LMAO.  So... starting strong!  Ha!

That's why I have my little document where I copy and paste it over every day. I hand counted in November when I started and it was excruciating. Copy/pasting and then hitting the word count button was much easier.

I was also thinking of tracking my word count per session to see just how much I really get done rather than guessing the number of hours I wrote. I updated my writing for today and I'm at 576 so far and it says I'll be done in July. Not too bad, but a little later than anticipated, lol. You're starting very strong! I believe in you getting to 50,000, which is only 25,000 per month/a little more than you wrote this month and, like you said, you can make up in June if you need to. You've got this!


Wow, so you're good through most of the summer!  That's awesome!

You wrote way more than me in one month, so go with your gut, but 14 chapters sounds like a lot for one month.  If it were me, I would make it a two-month goal.  Even if you go through June, that's still averaging more than one chapter a week.

I'm very excited about that. Now I can dilly dally for a couple months if I need to, lol. I don't want to, but it's good knowing the option is there.

I did set it for this month, but then I remembered that I have some stuff to do tomorrow and only wrote for an hour so far today, so... Unless I churn out the rest of this chapter and another one today, I don't see it happening. I did some math and I would have to spend two days on each chapter and that just seems like too short of a turn around time, to be honest (especially knowing how long I usually let a non-Nick focused chapter sit and sit). I probably will switch it to June and then if I finish early, I finish early. There's no harm in that.


I definitely feel this way sometimes.  I am used to focusing mostly on Nick and/or Brian, and the other three just kinda appear as needed.  Do you consider PNecklace to be a group story or a Nick story with the others in supporting roles?  Because I think that makes a difference.  If I'm writing a true group story, I make more of an effort to give them all moments to shine, but most of my storylines are only meant to focus on one or two of them as main characters.  When that's the case, I don't worry about it.

It's weird for me to be writing a story where almost all the focus is on Kevin.  That's a first for me.  Even though Nick is also a main character, the storyline really revolves around Kevin.  AJ and Brian have both gotten some good moments, but Howie is the one who's just kind of... there.  Poor Howie LOL.  But I have written a Howie novel before, so I don't feel as bad about that anymore.  Howie had plenty of time to suffer shine in SAMS.  It's Kevin's turn now.

I think PBox Nick considers it a Nick story, lol. I'd call it a "group story with Nick as the most frequent POV character." Or Minako, they switch off most of the time. But PNecklace has definitely shifted more to Nick because he's got more going on to react to or angst about. Couple that with the fact that he's a spotlight hog and a clear author favorite and... well, let's call it a toss up. I do try to switch it up, but Nick has the most to say and do all the time being the doer without regard for consequences that he is, lol.

lol Poor Howie. I still feel for Howie, but like you said, he does end up being "just kind of there" more often than not. I am glad that you're giving Kevin time to suf... (ahem) shine in this new novel. It's good to test that out at some point in your fanfic career. ;) And, as always, I'm delighted it's going well when Kevin's usually not the focus of your storylines.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 01, 2021, 10:35:30 PM
Same. Having a goal and not just "keeping track to keep track" did push me to try a little better, though not quite to the extent of the beginning of the novel. I'm here to keep encouraging you! Hopefully we continue the streak.

The line is definitely what I missed when I was just keeping track on my own. There's something really satisfying about watching it ebb close to the par and then pass it. I missed it this past month; I think I aimed way to high, lol.

I have an idea of what I might write, but we'll see when the time comes. I think Snail is at the top of my list post-PNecklace since I kind of pushed it aside for a bit. I hope you double MBK by that time too! I'd be excited for you if you were able to finish it by the end of summer!  :biggrin:

I mean, 50,000 words in a month sounds unachievable to me, and yours was 60,000!  But I understand wanting to finish the story.  I hope you'll be able to do it with this next goal!

Aww, I almost forgot about Snail, but you definitely need to write that when time and inspiration allows.

I don't think I will finish MBK by the end of summer unless it ends up being shorter than anticipated.  I don't feel like I'm at the halfway point in the story yet, although you never know.  Maybe I will surprise myself by being concise!  But if I keep going at this pace, I could probably finish it this year, which would be nice.

It did occur to me the other day that this story has definite sequel potential, which is a scary thought.  I vowed I would never write another sequel because BMS was the exception to my otherwise bad track record with sequels.  I probably won't write one because of that, but I'm just putting it out there that the thought did cross my mind.


That's why I have my little document where I copy and paste it over every day. I hand counted in November when I started and it was excruciating. Copy/pasting and then hitting the word count button was much easier.

I was also thinking of tracking my word count per session to see just how much I really get done rather than guessing the number of hours I wrote. I updated my writing for today and I'm at 576 so far and it says I'll be done in July. Not too bad, but a little later than anticipated, lol. You're starting very strong! I believe in you getting to 50,000, which is only 25,000 per month/a little more than you wrote this month and, like you said, you can make up in June if you need to. You've got this!

Copying and pasting every change sounds like a lot, but it would definitely make it easier to keep track of the exact word count per day.  I don't count my hand, but highlight and use the word count button.

I think tracking the hours and how much I actually get written in those hours will be interesting.  Thank you Google Docs version history for tracking the exact times I make edits.

You're off to a great start!  I'm hoping to get a few more hundred words in before I head to bed for the night.  I've been off my routine today because I mowed my lawn this morning instead of staying in bed writing for hours like I have been doing on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and then I took a nap this afternoon, so it hasn't been a productive writing day.  But I'm back at it now and plan to stay in bed and write tomorrow morning.  I do think having the extra month will take the pressure off me in May, but hopefully I can stay on track and be in a good place by the beginning of June.


I'm very excited about that. Now I can dilly dally for a couple months if I need to, lol. I don't want to, but it's good knowing the option is there.

I did set it for this month, but then I remembered that I have some stuff to do tomorrow and only wrote for an hour so far today, so... Unless I churn out the rest of this chapter and another one today, I don't see it happening. I did some math and I would have to spend two days on each chapter and that just seems like too short of a turn around time, to be honest (especially knowing how long I usually let a non-Nick focused chapter sit and sit). I probably will switch it to June and then if I finish early, I finish early. There's no harm in that.

Absolutely!  Two days per chapter sounds doable if all you were doing was writing, but when you're still working and getting out and doing other things, that does seem like a stretch.  On a productive weekend, I could write a chapter in two days, but definitely not during the work week.  No shame in making it a two-month goal.  It's more achievable that way.


I think PBox Nick considers it a Nick story, lol. I'd call it a "group story with Nick as the most frequent POV character." Or Minako, they switch off most of the time. But PNecklace has definitely shifted more to Nick because he's got more going on to react to or angst about. Couple that with the fact that he's a spotlight hog and a clear author favorite and... well, let's call it a toss up. I do try to switch it up, but Nick has the most to say and do all the time being the doer without regard for consequences that he is, lol.

LOL From the way you talk, Nick definitely seems to consider it his story.  That's okay though.  It even makes sense because Nick tends to steal the spotlight in real life too LOL.  I'm a Brian girl, and even I have a hard time taking my eyes off Nick at concerts.  And when he notices people in the audience not watching him, he tries even harder to get them to look at him LOL.  He's an attention whore.  Not that it matters, but he's also good for ratings LOL.  You're more likely to get readers when the most of the focus is on Nick.


lol Poor Howie. I still feel for Howie, but like you said, he does end up being "just kind of there" more often than not. I am glad that you're giving Kevin time to suf... (ahem) shine in this new novel. It's good to test that out at some point in your fanfic career. ;) And, as always, I'm delighted it's going well when Kevin's usually not the focus of your storylines.

I have learned I can write about any of them with the right storyline.  I enjoyed writing Howie in SAMS because his storyline was so dramatic and compelling, but unless I can come up with another great storyline for him, I'm not sure I have another Howie novel in me.  It's the same way with Kevin.  I'm having an easier time writing him than I thought I would, but a lot of that has to do with the situation I've put him in.  This is me being more plot-driven than character-driven LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 01, 2021, 11:26:36 PM
I mean, 50,000 words in a month sounds unachievable to me, and yours was 60,000!  But I understand wanting to finish the story.  I hope you'll be able to do it with this next goal!

Aww, I almost forgot about Snail, but you definitely need to write that when time and inspiration allows.

I don't think I will finish MBK by the end of summer unless it ends up being shorter than anticipated.  I don't feel like I'm at the halfway point in the story yet, although you never know.  Maybe I will surprise myself by being concise!  But if I keep going at this pace, I could probably finish it this year, which would be nice.

I just really thought I was so excited to get to the end, but then I realized that the little middle arc was not done and there were a couple of things I had to get to before the end drew near. I probably aimed too high with 60,000 especially with none of my other months being close to that except for maybe PBox editing January. But, I figured, if it can't be dreamed, it can't be done, so I dreamed. And since it was a personal deadline/goal and not a "if I don't finish this, I have nothing to post," it was all good.

You may have forgotten Snail, but as you know, the snails never forget. ;)

I'll rephrase then, because if you don't feel at the halfway point, then no need to rush it. But, I do hope it's a very productive summer! Whatever that means.


It did occur to me the other day that this story has definite sequel potential, which is a scary thought.  I vowed I would never write another sequel because BMS was the exception to my otherwise bad track record with sequels.  I probably won't write one because of that, but I'm just putting it out there that the thought did cross my mind.

I see your use of "probably" and not "never." I say, consider it if it has sequel potential. If you feel yourself nearing the end of whatever arc this story is meant to tell and you know there's so much more to say, then it deserves a sequel. That or you realize that there's this end that the characters won't be ready to reach without a whole separate arc added that is connected, but not so connected that it's the same novel.

But you know me, I'm a big believer in a sequel or a series if the story and the characters warrant it. That's a lot of why I'm back here a decade later after all. (Thanks PBox Nick.)


Copying and pasting every change sounds like a lot, but it would definitely make it easier to keep track of the exact word count per day.  I don't count my hand, but highlight and use the word count button.

I think tracking the hours and how much I actually get written in those hours will be interesting.  Thank you Google Docs version history for tracking the exact times I make edits.

It's not too bad when they're large or at least decent sized chunks, though you're right, the one word changes are a little tedious. I counted by hand when it was ten words or less and highlighted and hit word count if it was more, then added it up on a calculator. It was a lot. Copying/pasting is much faster and now it's just part of my routine, so if I change one word, I just pop over and type it in the document then.

I do like the version history for that. Keeps me on my toes. I feel like this next session will be a lot less productive than that first hour today, lol.


You're off to a great start!  I'm hoping to get a few more hundred words in before I head to bed for the night.  I've been off my routine today because I mowed my lawn this morning instead of staying in bed writing for hours like I have been doing on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and then I took a nap this afternoon, so it hasn't been a productive writing day.  But I'm back at it now and plan to stay in bed and write tomorrow morning.  I do think having the extra month will take the pressure off me in May, but hopefully I can stay on track and be in a good place by the beginning of June.

I've gotten 329 more since I sat back down, so it's going.

Good for you! Mowing the lawn is tough and deserves a post-mowing nap! I was also not as productive as I wanted to be today. I slept in after last night, then we went and picked out a new washer and dryer at Home Depot, then I wrote for an hour, then it was the Derby, and then I got back home at 8ish and here we are. Not sure how tomorrow will go either, so maybe having May to be nice to ourselves will be good for us.

I think you've got tomorrow! You know your lawn is nice and mowed, so you can just relax and write dramatic montage scenes, lol.


Absolutely!  Two days per chapter sounds doable if all you were doing was writing, but when you're still working and getting out and doing other things, that does seem like a stretch.  On a productive weekend, I could write a chapter in two days, but definitely not during the work week.  No shame in making it a two-month goal.  It's more achievable that way.

Especially when it's May. May's always kind of a hard month work-wise. I changed it and now it says I have four days to finish each chapter. I think that will be easier.


LOL From the way you talk, Nick definitely seems to consider it his story.  That's okay though.  It even makes sense because Nick tends to steal the spotlight in real life too LOL.  I'm a Brian girl, and even I have a hard time taking my eyes off Nick at concerts.  And when he notices people in the audience not watching him, he tries even harder to get them to look at him LOL.  He's an attention whore.  Not that it matters, but he's also good for ratings LOL.  You're more likely to get readers when the most of the focus is on Nick.

He sure does! And he's stoked since he gets his way all the time. Though at the moment, he is sad and saying, "I changed my mind, I did not want this at all." It's his own fault. But we get a nice Nick and Kevin moment out of it.

He does do that, the greedy spotlight hog, lol! Clearly he is not paying attention to me always watching him no matter what extravagant antics he gets up to. I admit, I watch the others too, but you can bet I will pay attention to Nick, lol. I do wonder if my read count is people going "A story with Nick on the banner that updates every week?" Then they see it's fantasy and weigh their options on if that matters to them. :shrug: I base my reader reaction off Tracy and my one kudos, lol. I miss reviews and a lack of spam bots.


I have learned I can write about any of them with the right storyline.  I enjoyed writing Howie in SAMS because his storyline was so dramatic and compelling, but unless I can come up with another great storyline for him, I'm not sure I have another Howie novel in me.  It's the same way with Kevin.  I'm having an easier time writing him than I thought I would, but a lot of that has to do with the situation I've put him in.  This is me being more plot-driven than character-driven LOL.

I bet there's another Howie story in you! I think we've talked about it before though, Nick is definitely more adaptable to more stories, then AJ or Brian, and I'd say Howie and Kevin least. Or maybe that's just us. People who wrote Howie and Kevin focused stories need to come back and weigh in, lol. I think when the right stories come along for the right Boys, you'll have an easy time writing them again. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 02, 2021, 12:51:25 AM
I just really thought I was so excited to get to the end, but then I realized that the little middle arc was not done and there were a couple of things I had to get to before the end drew near. I probably aimed too high with 60,000 especially with none of my other months being close to that except for maybe PBox editing January. But, I figured, if it can't be dreamed, it can't be done, so I dreamed. And since it was a personal deadline/goal and not a "if I don't finish this, I have nothing to post," it was all good.

You may have forgotten Snail, but as you know, the snails never forget. ;)

I'll rephrase then, because if you don't feel at the halfway point, then no need to rush it. But, I do hope it's a very productive summer! Whatever that means.

I get that feeling.  That was me with AHTIM, thinking it was going to be 40 chapters until I got to about Chapter 38 and thought, "Yeah, there's no way I'm going to wrap this up in two more chapters."  It ended up being 50 chapters and taking like two months longer than I thought it would, but better that than rushing the ending.

As good as it feels to finish a story, it's also nice to savor one that you're enjoying writing.  Once it's done, you're back to that uncertain feeling of "What now??"  So take your time and enjoy the next couple of months with this part of the PBox saga.  And then write the snail story!


I see your use of "probably" and not "never." I say, consider it if it has sequel potential. If you feel yourself nearing the end of whatever arc this story is meant to tell and you know there's so much more to say, then it deserves a sequel. That or you realize that there's this end that the characters won't be ready to reach without a whole separate arc added that is connected, but not so connected that it's the same novel.

But you know me, I'm a big believer in a sequel or a series if the story and the characters warrant it. That's a lot of why I'm back here a decade later after all. (Thanks PBox Nick.)

LOL I know better than to say never because then I'll have to eat my words later when I inevitably end up starting a sequel!  I'm not ruling out the possibility.  I know exactly where the story arc of MBK will end, but I can see the potential for another story arc set a few years in the future.  I guess it will just depend on whether or not it's something I'll feel like writing after finishing this one.  Right now I'm leaning towards "probably not," but we'll see.


I've gotten 329 more since I sat back down, so it's going.

Good for you! Mowing the lawn is tough and deserves a post-mowing nap! I was also not as productive as I wanted to be today. I slept in after last night, then we went and picked out a new washer and dryer at Home Depot, then I wrote for an hour, then it was the Derby, and then I got back home at 8ish and here we are. Not sure how tomorrow will go either, so maybe having May to be nice to ourselves will be good for us.

I think you've got tomorrow! You know your lawn is nice and mowed, so you can just relax and write dramatic montage scenes, lol.

Good for you!  And ooh, a new washer and dryer - exciting!

Yes, that's what I'm hoping, that tomorrow will be more productive.  I probably need to get groceries at some point, but otherwise there's nothing I absolutely have to do.  And knowing me, if I am productive, I will end up putting off grocery shopping until Monday so I don't have to leave the house tomorrow LOL.

I did get almost 500 more words written tonight, and now Nano says my writing speed is 3 words per minute and I will finish my goal on July 22, 2021.  At least I'm in the right year now!  Progress! LOL


I do wonder if my read count is people going "A story with Nick on the banner that updates every week?" Then they see it's fantasy and weigh their options on if that matters to them. :shrug: I base my reader reaction off Tracy and my one kudos, lol. I miss reviews and a lack of spam bots.

LOL I could see that happening.  I honestly don't think there are many people who still read on AC.  I don't; I read on AO3 so I can leave a comment at the bottom without having to go to a different site.  I miss reviews too.  I could be wrong, but I bet most of the read count on AC is from bots.

I'm still trying to figure out the reader culture on AO3, but it seems like people there prefer short stories to novels and are less likely to read a long story that's updated daily than a shorter novel that's updated weekly.  I got way more kudos and comments on Heroic Measures and The Road to Bethlehem, both shorter novels/novellas that I posted there as I was writing them, than Curtain Call or Song for the Undead, long novels that I posted a chapter per day.  But that also could be because most of the comments I do get on there are from the few people who were already reading my stories here or on my site and followed me over there.  Why would they comment on an old story they've already read?  I like the kudo feature there because at least I can see who else clicked on my story and liked it enough to leave a kudo, even if they never leave a comment - and most of them don't.

A search of the fantasy tag within the BSB fandom on AO3 shows that unless the story is also a slash, it's not likely to get many kudos or comments.  Have you ever thought about including a romantic Frick/Frack storyline in the PBox series? LOL  It seems like that's the key to success over there.  And it has to be Frick/Frack - Nowie slash is not so popular, as I found out.


I bet there's another Howie story in you! I think we've talked about it before though, Nick is definitely more adaptable to more stories, then AJ or Brian, and I'd say Howie and Kevin least. Or maybe that's just us. People who wrote Howie and Kevin focused stories need to come back and weigh in, lol. I think when the right stories come along for the right Boys, you'll have an easy time writing them again. :)

I think personal preference also comes into play to some extent, but not always, or I would have written more Brian stories than I have as an adult.  I definitely have a harder time thinking of good ideas for him than for Nick.  I don't try as hard to think of ideas for the other three, but when one comes to me that is perfect for AJ, Howie, or Kevin, I'm willing to write it.  If I got another great idea for a Howie story down the road, I would absolutely write it.  But like you said, it has to be the right idea.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 02, 2021, 04:11:30 PM
I get that feeling.  That was me with AHTIM, thinking it was going to be 40 chapters until I got to about Chapter 38 and thought, "Yeah, there's no way I'm going to wrap this up in two more chapters."  It ended up being 50 chapters and taking like two months longer than I thought it would, but better that than rushing the ending.

That's the silly part. I knew I had still had twenty chapters to go at that point, lol. Back when I was writing what I'm posting now is when I figured out that I couldn't wrap this whole story up in this book though, so I get you on the realizing it needs a little more.


As good as it feels to finish a story, it's also nice to savor one that you're enjoying writing.  Once it's done, you're back to that uncertain feeling of "What now??"  So take your time and enjoy the next couple of months with this part of the PBox saga.  And then write the snail story!

I need this advice to remember to live in the moment in my writing since I love to jump around, lol. Closing my writing ahead document has curbed this desire a bit. I just checked and 145 words of Snail exist on paper and not in my head, lol.


LOL I know better than to say never because then I'll have to eat my words later when I inevitably end up starting a sequel!  I'm not ruling out the possibility.  I know exactly where the story arc of MBK will end, but I can see the potential for another story arc set a few years in the future.  I guess it will just depend on whether or not it's something I'll feel like writing after finishing this one.  Right now I'm leaning towards "probably not," but we'll see.

I'm just trying it get you to say it one time. Just to see how it feels. ;) But that's probably about as likely as convincing you to write anything out of order, lol.

It sounds like you have some time until you need to think about your WADD, so I say focus on MBK now and worry about potential sequels or Brian horror stories when the time comes. :)


Good for you!  And ooh, a new washer and dryer - exciting!

Yes, that's what I'm hoping, that tomorrow will be more productive.  I probably need to get groceries at some point, but otherwise there's nothing I absolutely have to do.  And knowing me, if I am productive, I will end up putting off grocery shopping until Monday so I don't have to leave the house tomorrow LOL.

I did get almost 500 more words written tonight, and now Nano says my writing speed is 3 words per minute and I will finish my goal on July 22, 2021.  At least I'm in the right year now!  Progress! LOL

I ended up with 1,064 yesterday and 450 this morning. We finished our meal prep for the week and I'm about to pop back to the grind after a quick shower and see what happens. Right now, NaNo says I write about six words per minute with an average of 757 per day. At this rate, I will finish on June 22nd. But I'm also about 900 words away from finishing this chapter, so I think I can do that today. Wish me luck!

And yes, the new appliances were both exciting and slightly better than our washer catching on fire. It comes next week, but the dryer is back ordered.

Grocery shopping on Monday is the worst though. It's Monday and it requires a trip to the grocery store? Yuck. Hope that either the writing is going well or that you acquired food. I would call both a productive day!

I knew you'd get in the correct year! Now get that writing speed up with a productive day! You've got this!


LOL I could see that happening.  I honestly don't think there are many people who still read on AC.  I don't; I read on AO3 so I can leave a comment at the bottom without having to go to a different site.  I miss reviews too.  I could be wrong, but I bet most of the read count on AC is from bots.

I read on here and then go over. Give y'alls stories all the little read counts they deserve. :) I'm choosing to believe that it's actual people because it makes me feel less sad about our dwindling fanfic fandom.


I'm still trying to figure out the reader culture on AO3, but it seems like people there prefer short stories to novels and are less likely to read a long story that's updated daily than a shorter novel that's updated weekly.  I got way more kudos and comments on Heroic Measures and The Road to Bethlehem, both shorter novels/novellas that I posted there as I was writing them, than Curtain Call or Song for the Undead, long novels that I posted a chapter per day.  But that also could be because most of the comments I do get on there are from the few people who were already reading my stories here or on my site and followed me over there.  Why would they comment on an old story they've already read?  I like the kudo feature there because at least I can see who else clicked on my story and liked it enough to leave a kudo, even if they never leave a comment - and most of them don't.

A search of the fantasy tag within the BSB fandom on AO3 shows that unless the story is also a slash, it's not likely to get many kudos or comments.  Have you ever thought about including a romantic Frick/Frack storyline in the PBox series? LOL  It seems like that's the key to success over there.  And it has to be Frick/Frack - Nowie slash is not so popular, as I found out.

That makes sense because most of what's there are one shots rather than even novellas. I think I looked into that once? When the stories started being more than one chapter. I think if it's been a while since you've read a story and decided to reread it, you might review again. I know I would. But I think you're right, it does take commitment to get through a novel that you're reading on both the author's pace and yours. Like with an entire novel that's there, you can read it on your own time as much as you want. But if an author is only posting once a week (or less or more), then you may not be available on their schedule. I do like the kudos feature as well. It's less commitment than a review, but you can still let the author know that you're looking at their stuff.

Only in the sense of Brian's jokes about sharing Nick without his express consent, lol. I'd call them Frick&Frack heterosexual life partners more than Frick/Frack power couple. I've also never catered to what's popular anyway, but I did care more about not getting as much feedback when I was younger. But now that most of us aren't getting any sort of substantial amount of feedback, it feels like the right scale for writing fantasy and leaving for a decade, lol. Like I said, it makes me less sad to think my read count here is people and not spam bots. Because then I can feel like people are reading at least.


I think personal preference also comes into play to some extent, but not always, or I would have written more Brian stories than I have as an adult.  I definitely have a harder time thinking of good ideas for him than for Nick.  I don't try as hard to think of ideas for the other three, but when one comes to me that is perfect for AJ, Howie, or Kevin, I'm willing to write it.  If I got another great idea for a Howie story down the road, I would absolutely write it.  But like you said, it has to be the right idea.

All good points. It's either that or you've written several good ideas for Brian and don't want to repeat them too much. Is there a story that you wrote way back when that you ever thought "If only I just got the idea for that now?"

I feel like spotlight hog Nick comprises most of my ideas, so I don't know if that's personal preference or what, lol. I think most of my better ideas start out as group ideas and then Nick slowly comes in and monopolizes it. Picture it. I'm just writing away and hear the Jaws theme in the distance, it gets slowly closer/louder, then as it gets loudest, Nick taps on my brain and says "Hello, it's me again. This group story, it is now my story. Carry on." lol!

Maybe someday I'll have a Howie idea. That would be something.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 02, 2021, 05:00:58 PM
In this week's edition of Dee's novel goes meta, spotlight hog Nick breaks the fourth wall:

Nick groaned and held his head in his hand. “This is frustrating. It feels like the more things we learn, the more problems we have. And things that don’t seem important at all end up being really important. I wish there was a way to know what was important and what wasn’t.”

Everything is important in your hero's journey, Nick. Hope you enjoy your new problems. ;)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 02, 2021, 06:49:07 PM
I need this advice to remember to live in the moment in my writing since I love to jump around, lol. Closing my writing ahead document has curbed this desire a bit. I just checked and 145 words of Snail exist on paper and not in my head, lol.

I need that reminder sometimes too.  Since I don't write ahead, so much of my motivation to write stems from my desire to get to a certain point or scene in a story... but I have to remember to just enjoy the process of writing all the scenes that lead up to that too.

Hey, 145 words, that's a start!


I ended up with 1,064 yesterday and 450 this morning. We finished our meal prep for the week and I'm about to pop back to the grind after a quick shower and see what happens. Right now, NaNo says I write about six words per minute with an average of 757 per day. At this rate, I will finish on June 22nd. But I'm also about 900 words away from finishing this chapter, so I think I can do that today. Wish me luck!

Yay!  Good luck finishing your chapter today!

I had a better writing day too.  I wrote 1,397 words, and now Nano says I'm up to 4 words per minute and will finish on June 19!  I'm at the point where my chapter is long enough to finish, but as usual, I'm not to the end of my scene, so it will go longer.  At least I'm out of montage/summary mode for the time being and in the middle of an actual scene now.


And yes, the new appliances were both exciting and slightly better than our washer catching on fire. It comes next week, but the dryer is back ordered.

Grocery shopping on Monday is the worst though. It's Monday and it requires a trip to the grocery store? Yuck. Hope that either the writing is going well or that you acquired food. I would call both a productive day!

Your washer caught on fire?!  Oh noes!!  That is scary.

Yes, I agree about grocery shopping on a Monday, but sometimes I'd rather just go quickly after work than waste time on my weekend going.  I wrote in bed until 3, so I did not make it to the store LOL.  But hey, now I don't have to put on a bra or real pants today.  I have enough food for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow and hopefully enough creamer for my coffee tomorrow morning.  It's the need for creamer that will motivate me to go tomorrow.


I've also never catered to what's popular anyway, but I did care more about not getting as much feedback when I was younger. But now that most of us aren't getting any sort of substantial amount of feedback, it feels like the right scale for writing fantasy and leaving for a decade, lol. Like I said, it makes me less sad to think my read count here is people and not spam bots. Because then I can feel like people are reading at least.

Great points.  It's nice when you learn to enjoy writing just for the fun of it and not for the feedback.  I appreciate feedback, but it's just an added bonus and not something I absolutely have to have to be happy with my work.  I don't get as much as I used to in the early to mid-2000s when BSB fanfic was in its prime, but I still have a few loyal readers whom I appreciate.  And it's nice to see the BSB section on AO3 steadily being updated, even though other sites have died down.


All good points. It's either that or you've written several good ideas for Brian and don't want to repeat them too much. Is there a story that you wrote way back when that you ever thought "If only I just got the idea for that now?"

Yeah, I think that's part of it too.  I wrote almost nothing but Brian stories in my first couple years of writing fanfic and used up most of my ideas LOL.  I actually have recycled the basic premises of some of those really old stories more recently.  The first story I finished writing was a Brian heart transplant story, and I started another one of those with a different storyline in 2008.  I also have an old story about AJ contracting HIV from a one-night stand, and I reused that idea too.

I think the idea I wrote back in the day that I wish I had gotten at least a few years later is "Beside the Ocean."  I've always loved the premise of that story.  Nick tries to commit suicide at the beginning of the story and is saved by the girl next door.  They get to know each other and eventually fall in love, and she helps him learn to appreciate life again.  Then he finds out she's secretly been dying of a brain tumor the entire time.  It's cliched and too simplistically written, but I like the contrast of him wanting to throw his life away while she desperately wants to live and knows she's dying.


I feel like spotlight hog Nick comprises most of my ideas, so I don't know if that's personal preference or what, lol. I think most of my better ideas start out as group ideas and then Nick slowly comes in and monopolizes it. Picture it. I'm just writing away and hear the Jaws theme in the distance, it gets slowly closer/louder, then as it gets loudest, Nick taps on my brain and says "Hello, it's me again. This group story, it is now my story. Carry on." lol!

Maybe someday I'll have a Howie idea. That would be something.

LOL at the Jaws metaphor!  Oh Nick.

Hey, you never know!  Sometimes it happens.  Of course, mine was a Howie/Nick story, and my Kevin one is a Kevin & Nick story, so maybe you still need Nick in there to make it happen LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 02, 2021, 06:54:06 PM
I had to dedicate a separate post to replying to this part because it got too long LOL.

I'm just trying it get you to say it one time. Just to see how it feels. ;) But that's probably about as likely as convincing you to write anything out of order, lol.

I have said it before!  I just spent way too long looking up times when I have said I'll never do something LOL...

like write another sequel:

I've written a few sequels and sworn I will never write another.


or rewrite a story:

I've done the whole rewriting thing once, with Code Blue, and I will NEVER DO IT AGAIN!

I tried to rewrite a story once - Code Blue - and it was such a huge hassle that I will never do it again!!

Going back to what I posted earlier about rewriting, the only fanfic I've rewritten is Code Blue, and I will never do that again!

I've thought of rewriting too, but I've never succeeded at rewriting anything, so I don't think that will ever happen.


or read/write slash:

6)A genre you would never consider writing and why
Slash... I can't take it seriously enough to even read it, so I'd never be able to write it, except to make fun of it.  I just think it's silly, in the Bsb fandom at least.  I don't read any other fandoms, but I can see how it might make more sense in others.  But the Bsb slashes that I've looked at have just made me laugh, when they weren't really meant to be funny LOL.

I am never going to be a slash convert, but writing it (sort of) has been an interesting experience.


or write a Howie or Kevin story:

I like to write about the guys I like best.  And although I like Kevin and Howie a lot, I've just never been moved to write a story just about one of them.


or participate in a writing challenge:

7)Have you ever participated in a writer's challenge before?
Umm... *thinking*... I actually don't think I have.  If I have, it's been awhile.  I've tried to do those before, but I don't like being forced to write something and have my writing limited in certain ways... then it feels more like homework to me.  That's why I could never make writing my career.  I enjoy writing solely for fun and being able to write exactly what I want, when I want.  I know that challenges are a good writing exercise, but I've just never been able to get into them.  I let my writing develop through my stories.


or post a story and then leave it unfinished:

I never post a new story until I'm to the point where I feel like it's going well, I'm into it, I know where it's headed, and I'll be able to see it through.


or write about Nick's heart condition:

I wouldn't touch that idea with a ten-foot pole


or write fanfic in adulthood:

To be honest, I never saw myself still writing Bsb fanfics as an almost-24-year-old LOL

(God, I'm 36 now and still writing it LOL.)


or buy a laptop:

I will never buy another laptop.

(I eventually did, and it lasted less than 3 years, so I stand by my original statement.  Chromebooks for life!)


I don't have a Kindle and will never buy one for myself; I love actual books.

(I have since owned two Kindles and loved reading on them.)


Now to the things I said I will never do (or never do again) and still haven't:

I will never paste song lyrics (especially Nickelback lyrics) into the middle of a scene ever again.

I will never do that again.  Lesson learned.  If it's not my idea or one that I'm really invested in, forget it.

Hey, I'm anti-torturing Baylee in fanfics.  I will never go there.  I save it all for Nick and Brian LOL.

I've killed off Leighanne before, but I would never touch Baylee in one of my fics.  That does seem wrong.  Like you said, it's hard to explain why that feels wrong, but not writing about - in my case, torturing - the real guys, but it's where I draw the line.

Pedophilia is one disease I will never give a Backstreet Boy LOL.

I guess I will inevitably write a story based on someone else's idea about one of the Boys being a pedophile who rapes and murders underage Baylee while Nickelback plays in the background.  Sigh...


I also came across my first post about My Brother's Keeper, or the idea that would become MBK.  That was this idea!

Well, it happened; I got my Take Care idea!  For now it's just going in my idea pile, but here's a sign of the impact Kevin had on me this weekend - it's a Kevin idea!  I never get Kevin ideas!  Probably more Kevin/Nick, but still... crazy!  Never thought I'd be choosing between a Howie story and a Kevin story to get my angst on.

The Howie story was SAMS, which I wrote first, and now here I am writing the Kevin one.  Crazy indeed.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 02, 2021, 07:28:50 PM
I need that reminder sometimes too.  Since I don't write ahead, so much of my motivation to write stems from my desire to get to a certain point or scene in a story... but I have to remember to just enjoy the process of writing all the scenes that lead up to that too.

That's why I like writing out of order. It gets it out of my head and lets me focus on what's currently happening. And keeps me writing on days where I have nothing to say about where I'm at. I think maybe it's a good thing to have a clear idea of what's coming, whether you're looking forward to it or writing ahead. Then it's easier to properly prepare for it down the line. :) I think that's when I always enjoy what I'm currently writing the most, when I know it's going to lead to a big blow later. I like to watch everyone suffer, basically, lol.


Yay!  Good luck finishing your chapter today!

I had a better writing day too.  I wrote 1,397 words, and now Nano says I'm up to 4 words per minute and will finish on June 19!  I'm at the point where my chapter is long enough to finish, but as usual, I'm not to the end of my scene, so it will go longer.  At least I'm out of montage/summary mode for the time being and in the middle of an actual scene now.

I'm almost done! Just trying to figure out when this Nick and Kevin conversation ends. It feels like it's almost done, especially because I popped over here instead of finishing it. So that tells me I have nothing important to add in this conversation, Kevin's busy thinking about something else he doesn't feel like sharing, and Nick's realistically too involved in his own head to care to continue poking Kevin, but at least he's trying anyway. If only Brian weren't busy sleeping; he'd have a lot of things to say, ha.

Awesome! 1,397 words! That is productive and ahead of schedule! That's great! I hate when that happens, whenever I get to a point where a chapter could end length-wise, but isn't done yet and then I hem and haw over whether it's long enough to split into two chapters or if I should just leave it as one really long chapter. It's about 50/50 for which one happens depending on what the scene was.

I've glad you've made it out of the montage and back to things you find exciting again!


Your washer caught on fire?!  Oh noes!!  That is scary.

Yes, I agree about grocery shopping on a Monday, but sometimes I'd rather just go quickly after work than waste time on my weekend going.  I wrote in bed until 3, so I did not make it to the store LOL.  But hey, now I don't have to put on a bra or real pants today.  I have enough food for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow and hopefully enough creamer for my coffee tomorrow morning.  It's the need for creamer that will motivate me to go tomorrow.

Not fully on fire, that would have been scary! But it began smoking and then shook a lot with heavy loads, which is the precursor to fire, I think. So we decided it was just better to buy a new one and since the dryer was just as old, may as well buy that too.

That's true. I also don't like going on the weekend when it's the only thing I would have left the house for. At least you have food and possibly enough coffee creamer! I agree, coffee is an essential part of the day worth going to the grocery store for.

That's awesome that you were able to keep yourself motivated in pajama writing until 3pm! Another fact that points to it being a productive day!


Great points.  It's nice when you learn to enjoy writing just for the fun of it and not for the feedback.  I appreciate feedback, but it's just an added bonus and not something I absolutely have to have to be happy with my work.  I don't get as much as I used to in the early to mid-2000s when BSB fanfic was in its prime, but I still have a few loyal readers whom I appreciate.  And it's nice to see the BSB section on AO3 steadily being updated, even though other sites have died down.

Yes, an added bonus. It has been a nice lesson that I think I needed to step away to learn. As you know, I always used to be busy comparing and it was like comparing chicken to vegetables -- the only thing they have in common is they're food and you can buy them in a grocery store, lol. I do enjoy seeing that there are new stories on AO3 every week (and here, even if it's mostly just you, Tracy, and me). I feel like it would be a pretty sad feeling wanting to still write for a fandom, but being the only one doing it. I wonder if that ever happens. Did we research NKOTB fanfics on AO3 for a comparison? Or NSYNC fanfics?


Yeah, I think that's part of it too.  I wrote almost nothing but Brian stories in my first couple years of writing fanfic and used up most of my ideas LOL.  I actually have recycled the basic premises of some of those really old stories more recently.  The first story I finished writing was a Brian heart transplant story, and I started another one of those with a different storyline in 2008.  I also have an old story about AJ contracting HIV from a one-night stand, and I reused that idea too.

I think the idea I wrote back in the day that I wish I had gotten at least a few years later is "Beside the Ocean."  I've always loved the premise of that story.  Nick tries to commit suicide at the beginning of the story and is saved by the girl next door.  They get to know each other and eventually fall in love, and she helps him learn to appreciate life again.  Then he finds out she's secretly been dying of a brain tumor the entire time.  It's cliched and too simplistically written, but I like the contrast of him wanting to throw his life away while she desperately wants to live and knows she's dying.

I figure, if it's been long enough and you have a slightly different premise (or not), may as well reuse old ideas. Why not?

Ooh, that dichotomy is heavy, but really interesting, and dare I say beautiful. I can see why that's one you wish you'd written post-Broken.


LOL at the Jaws metaphor!  Oh Nick.

Hey, you never know!  Sometimes it happens.  Of course, mine was a Howie/Nick story, and my Kevin one is a Kevin & Nick story, so maybe you still need Nick in there to make it happen LOL.

Did I mention that he was dressed in a left shark costume and carrying a boom box playing the Jaws theme? I probably should have mentioned that, lol. Oh Nick, indeed.

Well, I have one of those percolating, except it's Brian & Nick, lol. I don't think I could ever forget Nick too much and you're probably right, it would just feel a little off without his spotlight hogging glory.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 02, 2021, 07:34:02 PM
I had to dedicate a separate post to replying to this part because it got too long LOL.

I have said it before!  I just spent way too long looking up times when I have said I'll never do something LOL...

LMFAO!!! That's a lot of nevers. Makes sense why you don't say it anymore.


or write fanfic in adulthood:

(God, I'm 36 now and still writing it LOL.)

Special shout out to this one. The heart wants what the heart wants. Follow your muse where it leads.


Now to the things I said I will never do (or never do again) and still haven't:

I guess I will inevitably write a story based on someone else's idea about one of the Boys being a pedophile who rapes and murders underage Baylee while Nickelback plays in the background.  Sigh...

It's good to draw lines for yourself. I can't see you writing this either and this may be a thing where I would say it's okay to say never. Except for maybe the Nickleback lyrics. Maybe it's time for that so it doesn't end up in this hypothetical "never" story.


I also came across my first post about My Brother's Keeper, or the idea that would become MBK.  That was this idea!

The Howie story was SAMS, which I wrote first, and now here I am writing the Kevin one.  Crazy indeed.

Aww! I love little blasts from the pasts like this where you can look back and see ideas forming. It's why I always liked that thread we hijacked and planned 00Carter in. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 02, 2021, 08:06:57 PM
I think maybe it's a good thing to have a clear idea of what's coming, whether you're looking forward to it or writing ahead. Then it's easier to properly prepare for it down the line. :) I think that's when I always enjoy what I'm currently writing the most, when I know it's going to lead to a big blow later. I like to watch everyone suffer, basically, lol.

Yes, yes, and yes!  All this!  I don't write ahead, but I always have a clear idea of what's coming (maybe not in the next chapter, but over the course of the story).  It does help.  I actually got some outlining done this morning for the next few chapters of this section that I would like to be a montage, just based on what thinking about what I needed to happen for the next section of the story that I'm looking forward to to make sense.  And yes, I think we all like watching our characters suffer LOL.  We are sadists!


Yes, an added bonus. It has been a nice lesson that I think I needed to step away to learn. As you know, I always used to be busy comparing and it was like comparing chicken to vegetables -- the only thing they have in common is they're food and you can buy them in a grocery store, lol. I do enjoy seeing that there are new stories on AO3 every week (and here, even if it's mostly just you, Tracy, and me). I feel like it would be a pretty sad feeling wanting to still write for a fandom, but being the only one doing it. I wonder if that ever happens. Did we research NKOTB fanfics on AO3 for a comparison? Or NSYNC fanfics?

Wise words!  I do think that would be depressing to be the only one writing for a fandom, especially if there wasn't anyone reading in that fandom.  I don't think we did research NKOTB or NSYNC, but I bet there are still people writing for those fandoms... especially NKOTB, since they've actually gotten back together and done stuff more recently.  But that's when you know it's truly a labor of love, when you write for a fandom no one's reading.


I figure, if it's been long enough and you have a slightly different premise (or not), may as well reuse old ideas. Why not?

Ooh, that dichotomy is heavy, but really interesting, and dare I say beautiful. I can see why that's one you wish you'd written post-Broken.

That's my thought as well.  I've always put a different spin on the same or similar premise and made it darker and more mature, which is no different than being inspired by someone else's idea and making it your own.

Thanks!  That was part of a string of stories with a suicide theme I wrote during my emo phase in 2000-2001 LOL.  If I were ever going to straight out rewrite an old story, I think that would be the one worth rewriting because I could do those characters more justice now.


Did I mention that he was dressed in a left shark costume and carrying a boom box playing the Jaws theme? I probably should have mentioned that, lol. Oh Nick, indeed.

Well, I have one of those percolating, except it's Brian & Nick, lol. I don't think I could ever forget Nick too much and you're probably right, it would just feel a little off without his spotlight hogging glory.

LMAO I love the mental image of that!  Only I just see him singing, "Nicky shark, doo doo doo-doo-doo-doo..."

Brian & Nick is the best combo!  Do it!!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 02, 2021, 08:19:46 PM
LMFAO!!! That's a lot of nevers. Makes sense why you don't say it anymore.

LOL I have learned!  Once I say I'm NEVER doing something, I will inevitably do it at some point down the road.


Special shout out to this one. The heart wants what the heart wants. Follow your muse where it leads.

LOL I have just embraced that this is my hobby, and it's what I enjoy, so I will continue to do it as long as I'm still enjoying it.  It helps to know I'm not the only one in my thirties who's still writing fanfic.


It's good to draw lines for yourself. I can't see you writing this either and this may be a thing where I would say it's okay to say never. Except for maybe the Nickleback lyrics. Maybe it's time for that so it doesn't end up in this hypothetical "never" story.

The killing real BSB children is the only line I've ever drawn for myself that I haven't crossed.  Well, that and apparently pedophilia LOL.  I can't see myself writing that either.

The Nickelback thing is something I have done and vowed never to do again.  One of my favorite chapters I've ever written, BMS 196, was almost ruined by Nickelback lyrics.  I removed them on my site, but the original Nickelback version is still on AC LOL.  It's so cringey.


Aww! I love little blasts from the pasts like this where you can look back and see ideas forming. It's why I always liked that thread we hijacked and planned 00Carter in. :)

Yes!  The 00Carter thread is one of my favorites for many reasons.  Our original Refresh/Tanja/Dougie conversation is fun to read, too!


I also came across this random post that I completely forgot about:

Once I almost got T-boned by a Butternut Bread truck (well, I would have, if I had gone when my light turned green, but thankfully I looked and saw that the Butternut Bread truck was going to fly on through the blatantly red light), and then a few months later, there was a Butternut Bread truck sticking out in the middle of the road that I could have hit if I wasn't paying much attention.  So now whenever I see a Butternut Bread truck, I freak out a little.  It's kind of like a little inside joke I have with myself, but my stomach seriously does clench up when I see one LOL.

I hope Death isn't stalking you, Mare! :P

I had forgotten all about my fear of Butternut Bread trucks, but now I remember!  I guess I eventually got over that when I never did die getting hit by one.  I hope resurrecting that post will not reset some sort of Final Destination scenario in which I am stalked by Death behind the wheel of a Butternut Bread truck.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 02, 2021, 08:48:19 PM
Yes, yes, and yes!  All this!  I don't write ahead, but I always have a clear idea of what's coming (maybe not in the next chapter, but over the course of the story).  It does help.  I actually got some outlining done this morning for the next few chapters of this section that I would like to be a montage, just based on what thinking about what I needed to happen for the next section of the story that I'm looking forward to to make sense.  And yes, I think we all like watching our characters suffer LOL.  We are sadists!

I do about halfway usually and then I get another clear idea about halfway through. I've learned that for PBox Nick especially, it's better to just start writing and see what happens with my early plans because he'll inevitably have something else to say down the line and whatever that happens to be is usually much better than whatever I planned on originally. Like I have a vague idea of what I'd originally had planned in PNecklace way back when and I can guarantee it's not what I ended up writing now and this is better.

I'm glad looking forward is helping you through the montage too! That's great!

Okay, but how long would we realistically allow them to just carry on happily? They react better when they have suffering and drama. lol I want that for a coffee mug: secretly a sadist.


Wise words!  I do think that would be depressing to be the only one writing for a fandom, especially if there wasn't anyone reading in that fandom.  I don't think we did research NKOTB or NSYNC, but I bet there are still people writing for those fandoms... especially NKOTB, since they've actually gotten back together and done stuff more recently.  But that's when you know it's truly a labor of love, when you write for a fandom no one's reading.

Curiosity got the better of me. There are 212 NKOTB fanfics and 1491 NSYNC fanfics -- they have more than we do, that's a little surprising to me (by 4 stories, so we all need to get 5 more BSB stories on AO3, basically, lol). But most of the NSYNC ones on the front page are crossovers with other musicians whereas most of ours are BSB only. Also we update more frequently. Everything on our front page is from the past three weeks, but the NSYNC one goes from yesterday back to February (NKOTB goes from March back to July 2019 if anyone was curious and they mostly use NKOTB as characters, though the slashiness of the works tag for NKOTBSB Tour is worth a mention).

I wonder if ARok is doing well. Haven't seen their Kevin and Nick story on the most recent page here in a while. I was happy to see Tracy posting again too.


That's my thought as well.  I've always put a different spin on the same or similar premise and made it darker and more mature, which is no different than being inspired by someone else's idea and making it your own.

Thanks!  That was part of a string of stories with a suicide theme I wrote during my emo phase in 2000-2001 LOL.  If I were ever going to straight out rewrite an old story, I think that would be the one worth rewriting because I could do those characters more justice now.

I think if they're your ideas, you're always allowed to rewrite them if you want. It's your idea after all.

Oh your emo phase, so dark, so edgy. I think you could too. You've learned and grown since then! :) And could write it even darker and edgier, lol.


LMAO I love the mental image of that!  Only I just see him singing, "Nicky shark, doo doo doo-doo-doo-doo..."

Brian & Nick is the best combo!  Do it!!

That's exactly what he was singing quieter than the Jaws them, lol. What are the hand motions for a Nick shark? That song needs a new verse since that version is much less dark than the camp version I learned.

As I said, percolating.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 02, 2021, 09:01:13 PM
LOL I have learned!  Once I say I'm NEVER doing something, I will inevitably do it at some point down the road.

Let's check back on this in a few years and see how many of your "I probably wonts" you ended up doing, lol.


LOL I have just embraced that this is my hobby, and it's what I enjoy, so I will continue to do it as long as I'm still enjoying it.  It helps to know I'm not the only one in my thirties who's still writing fanfic.

Yes, I was happy to come back and see some of y'all still here. I guess I would have been more surprised if AC was still popping, but it was all people I didn't recognize rather than what it is. Whereas my less realistic hope was "still popping with literally all the same people."


The killing real BSB children is the only line I've ever drawn for myself that I haven't crossed.  Well, that and apparently pedophilia LOL.  I can't see myself writing that either.

The Nickelback thing is something I have done and vowed never to do again.  One of my favorite chapters I've ever written, BMS 196, was almost ruined by Nickelback lyrics.  I removed them on my site, but the original Nickelback version is still on AC LOL.  It's so cringey.

I'd say it's "involves children," but I know you'll kill off fake BSB children, so I'm not sure there's a blanket term for this line.

Aw, poor Nickleback. I think they get a bad rap and probably don't deserve it. I think a good rule of thumb in a fanfic is "avoid lyrics unless it's a character speaking."


Yes!  The 00Carter thread is one of my favorites for many reasons.  Our original Refresh/Tanja/Dougie conversation is fun to read, too!

"I like horses." "Dougie!!!" lmao


I also came across this random post that I completely forgot about:

I had forgotten all about my fear of Butternut Bread trucks, but now I remember!  I guess I eventually got over that when I never did die getting hit by one.  I hope resurrecting that post will not reset some sort of Final Destination scenario in which I am stalked by Death behind the wheel of a Butternut Bread truck.

Not the Butternut Bread trucks!!! Didn't that thread start because of Mare's near death experiences? I've avoided so many car accidents just by not going when the light turned green because something off to the side was fishy, and thank goodness every time. Like there was one time some pedestrians were hoping on and off the edge of the sidewalk, so I paused for at least 30 seconds to a minute watching them to see if they were going to cross the street against the light and a car blew through the opposite red light at probably 40-50 mph. Thank goodness I hadn't moved yet; thanks crazy pedestrians! lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 02, 2021, 09:45:13 PM
I will reply to the last couple posts later (or tomorrow), but I just popped back on to share my Google Docs voice typing fail.  As per the usual on Sunday nights, I am suffering from a burst of inspiration and a lack of time before I need to go to bed, so I thought I'd try to keep writing while I cleaned up the kitchen via voice typing.  It usually works out pretty well, but maybe my washing dishes at the same time made it harder for it to hear me and understand what I was trying to say.  This is the paragraph it typed for me:

But you also want to make the most progress you can write  said how we. I'm sure your mom won't mind  dating out here longer if it mean go make more progress what the f*** are you doing Jerry when I got to come next

"How we" is how it insists on typing "Howie," which it doesn't think is a real name LMAO.  The mom is definitely not doing any dating out there, and I have no idea who Jerry is.  The "what the f*** are you doing" was me reacting to seeing what Google was typing LOL.  So much for that.  Not included is the repeated typing of "backspace backspace backspace" as I kept trying to correct it while cracking up.  Sometimes it will take out a word when I say "backspace," and sometimes it just puts the word "backspace. "  Oh Google Docs.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 02, 2021, 10:01:42 PM
I will reply to the last couple posts later (or tomorrow), but I just popped back on to share my Google Docs voice typing fail.  As per the usual on Sunday nights, I am suffering from a burst of inspiration and a lack of time before I need to go to bed, so I thought I'd try to keep writing while I cleaned up the kitchen via voice typing.  It usually works out pretty well, but maybe my washing dishes at the same time made it harder for it to hear me and understand what I was trying to say.  This is the paragraph it typed for me:

But you also want to make the most progress you can write  said how we. I'm sure your mom won't mind  dating out here longer if it mean go make more progress what the f*** are you doing Jerry when I got to come next

"How we" is how it insists on typing "Howie," which it doesn't think is a real name LMAO.  The mom is definitely not doing any dating out there, and I have no idea who Jerry is.  The "what the f*** are you doing" was me reacting to seeing what Google was typing LOL.  So much for that.  Not included is the repeated typing of "backspace backspace backspace" as I kept trying to correct it while cracking up.  Sometimes it will take out a word when I say "backspace," and sometimes it just puts the word "backspace. "  Oh Google Docs.

LMFAO!!!! I love everything about this, but this is why I don't use voice to text. However, it's good that you're using cleaning time to make the most progress you can, write? ;) It recording your reaction is the best part.

If I was suffering a burst of inspiration, I would probably just write and accept the coffee-fueled consequences tomorrow.

On my end, my chapter is now long enough to finish, I just need to add a little bit more to the second little bit of it post-Nick & Kevin conversation. NaNo already says I'll finish by June 6th, so I'm trying to get it to say the end of May while I have a chance to finish a chapter over two days, lol. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Edited to add: I misspoke, I guess the little Nick and Brian scene I started earlier is not the end of this chapter, but the beginning of the next chapter. So, onward! One chapter down, thirteen left to go!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on May 03, 2021, 06:30:26 AM
Hi hi. Sorry I haven't been on the forum in a while other than when I update lol. I wanted to chime in on the other fandom thing really quick. So I've done crossover stuff before, most recently when I wrote If I Knew Then. Surprisingly a lot of my readers reacted positively to the inclusion of NSYNC. Many of them especially wanted Nick to dump Brian and date Lance. They all loved Lance lol. But I've included members from nkotb in my stuff too. So yeah the audience isn't there but it's fun for me to have a couple different characters to play with.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 03, 2021, 04:59:06 PM
Hi hi. Sorry I haven't been on the forum in a while other than when I update lol. I wanted to chime in on the other fandom thing really quick. So I've done crossover stuff before, most recently when I wrote If I Knew Then. Surprisingly a lot of my readers reacted positively to the inclusion of NSYNC. Many of them especially wanted Nick to dump Brian and date Lance. They all loved Lance lol. But I've included members from nkotb in my stuff too. So yeah the audience isn't there but it's fun for me to have a couple different characters to play with.

Just happy to see that you're still out there writing. :) I could totally see them wanting Nick to dump Brian if Brian was wishy-washy on Nick versus Leighanne and Lance was well-written, lol. Lance was always my favorite NSYNCer (an aside, the Progressive commercial with "Now's not a good time 3/5 of NSYNC" makes me die laughing every time); he seems the most chill out of all of them. And from my understanding, many BSB fans feel the same way with Lance being the "most tolerable" NSYNC member, lol. I kid mostly! I feel about them the same way I feel about most boybands, which is... #TeamBoybands and KTBSPA, obviously!

I'm not judging the crossover. As y'all know, the PBox universe is basically one giant crossover (as a fanfic), however, I would call the other boybanders... OOC at best, if not downright sadistic aholes at worst... to the point where I would not call it a crossover where their fans could find it and read it because they would not be pleased and might throw things at me, lol (unless you like Lance or Joey, they're pretty decent by PBox standards; if you like Justin... oof, yeah, he's something else). Here at AC... I mind less, though I suppose I did not tag O-Town this time around out of laziness more than anything else, lol.

Overall, there was no judgement in my research, other than the fact that we are four stories behind NSYNC and that needs to change asap! lol Does everyone here have a quick one chapter story in them to correct this injustice? ;)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 03, 2021, 06:55:03 PM
Okay, but how long would we realistically allow them to just carry on happily? They react better when they have suffering and drama. lol I want that for a coffee mug: secretly a sadist.

Very true!  Every story needs a problem.  Some problems are just bigger than others, and some stories have lots of them LOL.

Secretly a sadist... yes!  Same.


Curiosity got the better of me. There are 212 NKOTB fanfics and 1491 NSYNC fanfics -- they have more than we do, that's a little surprising to me (by 4 stories, so we all need to get 5 more BSB stories on AO3, basically, lol). But most of the NSYNC ones on the front page are crossovers with other musicians whereas most of ours are BSB only. Also we update more frequently. Everything on our front page is from the past three weeks, but the NSYNC one goes from yesterday back to February (NKOTB goes from March back to July 2019 if anyone was curious and they mostly use NKOTB as characters, though the slashiness of the works tag for NKOTBSB Tour is worth a mention).

Wow, that is surprising there are more NSYNC fics than BSB fics on AO3!  I guess when your favorite boyband is broken up in real life, you retreat even further into the fantasy world of fanfic LOL.  The crossover thing doesn't surprise me as much, nor does the slashiness of NKOTBSB.


That's exactly what he was singing quieter than the Jaws them, lol. What are the hand motions for a Nick shark? That song needs a new verse since that version is much less dark than the camp version I learned.

As I said, percolating.

Did you learn the one with the shark attack and losing limbs? LOL


Let's check back on this in a few years and see how many of your "I probably wonts" you ended up doing, lol.

LOL Yes, we'll see!  The fact that I brought up a sequel means there's definitely a chance I will end up doing it.


Whereas my less realistic hope was "still popping with literally all the same people."

Aww, I know.  I wish that were the case!


I'd say it's "involves children," but I know you'll kill off fake BSB children, so I'm not sure there's a blanket term for this line.

Aw, poor Nickleback. I think they get a bad rap and probably don't deserve it. I think a good rule of thumb in a fanfic is "avoid lyrics unless it's a character speaking."

Yeah, my line is rather specific to killing real life BSB kids.  I am not opposed to hurting them if the plot calls for it, but I won't kill them.  I will totally kill fictional kids LOL.

I don't actually hate Nickelback; I obviously liked some of their songs in the early 2000s.  But yeah... sticking lyrics in the middle of a chapter, even between scenes, is cheesy unless it's a songfic, and the fact that they were Nickelback lyrics makes it even more cringey LOL.  That is a good rule of thumb to follow.


Not the Butternut Bread trucks!!! Didn't that thread start because of Mare's near death experiences? I've avoided so many car accidents just by not going when the light turned green because something off to the side was fishy, and thank goodness every time. Like there was one time some pedestrians were hoping on and off the edge of the sidewalk, so I paused for at least 30 seconds to a minute watching them to see if they were going to cross the street against the light and a car blew through the opposite red light at probably 40-50 mph. Thank goodness I hadn't moved yet; thanks crazy pedestrians! lol

Yes!  Same - I never venture out into an intersection without checking both ways to make sure traffic is stopped, regardless of what color the light is.  I don't trust other people!


LMFAO!!!! I love everything about this, but this is why I don't use voice to text. However, it's good that you're using cleaning time to make the most progress you can, write? ;) It recording your reaction is the best part.

Well, I tried LOL.  It usually is not that bad, but I think there was too much background noise, between me doing dishes and the episode of "Very Scary People" about the Golden State Killer I had on TV in the other room.


Edited to add: I misspoke, I guess the little Nick and Brian scene I started earlier is not the end of this chapter, but the beginning of the next chapter. So, onward! One chapter down, thirteen left to go!

Yay!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 03, 2021, 07:20:53 PM
Hi hi. Sorry I haven't been on the forum in a while other than when I update lol. I wanted to chime in on the other fandom thing really quick. So I've done crossover stuff before, most recently when I wrote If I Knew Then. Surprisingly a lot of my readers reacted positively to the inclusion of NSYNC. Many of them especially wanted Nick to dump Brian and date Lance. They all loved Lance lol. But I've included members from nkotb in my stuff too. So yeah the audience isn't there but it's fun for me to have a couple different characters to play with.

Glad to see you writing again and popping in here, Tracy!


Just happy to see that you're still out there writing. :) I could totally see them wanting Nick to dump Brian if Brian was wishy-washy on Nick versus Leighanne and Lance was well-written, lol. Lance was always my favorite NSYNCer (an aside, the Progressive commercial with "Now's not a good time 3/5 of NSYNC" makes me die laughing every time); he seems the most chill out of all of them. And from my understanding, many BSB fans feel the same way with Lance being the "most tolerable" NSYNC member, lol. I kid mostly! I feel about them the same way I feel about most boybands, which is... #TeamBoybands and KTBSPA, obviously!

I'm not judging the crossover. As y'all know, the PBox universe is basically one giant crossover (as a fanfic), however, I would call the other boybanders... OOC at best, if not downright sadistic aholes at worst... to the point where I would not call it a crossover where their fans could find it and read it because they would not be pleased and might throw things at me, lol (unless you like Lance or Joey, they're pretty decent by PBox standards; if you like Justin... oof, yeah, he's something else). Here at AC... I mind less, though I suppose I did not tag O-Town this time around out of laziness more than anything else, lol.

Overall, there was no judgement in my research, other than the fact that we are four stories behind NSYNC and that needs to change asap! lol Does everyone here have a quick one chapter story in them to correct this injustice? ;)

LOL That's how I write NSYNC as characters in my stories too.  I don't think NSYNC fans would enjoy the portrayal.  I actually don't hate NSYNC anymore, except for Justin.  I find Joey to be the most tolerable.

I just posted a one-shot companion to Curtain Call that I hadn't posted on AO3 yet.  It's backdated, so it won't show up on the most recent page, but at least we'll have one more in our fandom.  I also still need to post SAMS and AHTIM there at some point.  That sounds like a summer project.  If I get REALLY bored this summer, maybe I'll post Broken and BMS LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 03, 2021, 08:08:34 PM
Very true!  Every story needs a problem.  Some problems are just bigger than others, and some stories have lots of them LOL.

Secretly a sadist... yes!  Same.

Especially when you're Team Dark, but then you gotta let some things carry on happily, I suppose.


Wow, that is surprising there are more NSYNC fics than BSB fics on AO3!  I guess when your favorite boyband is broken up in real life, you retreat even further into the fantasy world of fanfic LOL.  The crossover thing doesn't surprise me as much, nor does the slashiness of NKOTBSB.

Maybe that's it, the fantasy world of fanfic. I looked and there is not a separate category for Justin Timberlake, so I guess I'm a little surprised there's not more NSYNC fanfics, just for Justin stuff.

I guess I pointed it out more as a "huh, why don't we crossover as much as they do" type thing.


Did you learn the one with the shark attack and losing limbs? LOL

I sure did and was relieved that was not the song my Pre-Ks were into! Though part of me was like, "Well, sure, start them young on the path to darkness," lol.


LOL Yes, we'll see!  The fact that I brought up a sequel means there's definitely a chance I will end up doing it.

It's fun over here. You know you want to come back, lol.


Aww, I know.  I wish that were the case!

Maybe there's someone else out there like me who got back into it over 2020, but it's not far enough along yet that they think they're ready to post again. I keep hoping to see additional familiar faces who will join our shenanigans.


Yeah, my line is rather specific to killing real life BSB kids.  I am not opposed to hurting them if the plot calls for it, but I won't kill them.  I will totally kill fictional kids LOL.

I don't actually hate Nickelback; I obviously liked some of their songs in the early 2000s.  But yeah... sticking lyrics in the middle of a chapter, even between scenes, is cheesy unless it's a songfic, and the fact that they were Nickelback lyrics makes it even more cringey LOL.  That is a good rule of thumb to follow.

I'm kind of anti-bad stuff happening to kids in general, but definitely BSB kids and most of that is because I'd rather not write about them at all. I guess, unless it was Nick in his backstory. He can continue to be the owner of so much baggage.

I say, let it live in the early 2000s. Sometimes these things happen back then, lol. Accidentally or purposefully Backstreeting is the exception to this rule, of course.


Yes!  Same - I never venture out into an intersection without checking both ways to make sure traffic is stopped, regardless of what color the light is.  I don't trust other people!

Driving is a dangerous sport indeed, lol.


Well, I tried LOL.  It usually is not that bad, but I think there was too much background noise, between me doing dishes and the episode of "Very Scary People" about the Golden State Killer I had on TV in the other room.

And I commend you for trying and giving me a good laugh. That's a lot of background noise for trying to voice to text. I wonder how much of it was you actually speaking, how much was the show, and how much was sink noise.

Was a mother even part of it at all, even if she wasn't dating out there? lol

LOL That's how I write NSYNC as characters in my stories too.  I don't think NSYNC fans would enjoy the portrayal.  I actually don't hate NSYNC anymore, except for Justin.  I find Joey to be the most tolerable.

To be fair, I'm sure there were plenty of NSYNC fanfics where the Boys were the villains. I would just never read them, lol. I always like to think there's a NSYNC version of PBox out there where the roles are reversed and Nick is sadistic and licking blood off his sword or something.

I never really hated them, but Justin is his own kind of special. I find Joey pretty tolerable as well (like I said, PBox gives Lance and Joey the best treatment). I would, however, point out all the ways the Backstreet Boys were better and not back down. Support your team over putting down the other one (unless it's your husband's fantasy football team, then he deserves so much trash talkin').


I just posted a one-shot companion to Curtain Call that I hadn't posted on AO3 yet.  It's backdated, so it won't show up on the most recent page, but at least we'll have one more in our fandom.  I also still need to post SAMS and AHTIM there at some point.  That sounds like a summer project.  If I get REALLY bored this summer, maybe I'll post Broken and BMS LOL.

You are so fast at fulfilling my call to action, lol!

I'm trying to not think about it too hard, but it feels like my immediate plans post-PNecklace will be Snail, which I don't know how 1,000 Ways works over there if it's a separate story or just a chapter (it's just a chapter here yeah?)... And then I may lean toward a short comedy/dramady of some sort. Or just go for broke and start writing PDemons. One of the two. Nick is Brian's guardian angel feels a little too serious to tackle right this second and my gut says to finish off PBox&Co before going back to Gobosei, but who knows, maybe I'll want a bigger PBox&Co break than I'm thinking. But as I said, I'm trying not to think about it too hard because I still have 12.5 chapters to go!

Speaking of, I'm up to 1,344 words today so far! I may finish another chapter today! :o
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 03, 2021, 09:19:03 PM
Maybe that's it, the fantasy world of fanfic. I looked and there is not a separate category for Justin Timberlake, so I guess I'm a little surprised there's not more NSYNC fanfics, just for Justin stuff.

I guess I pointed it out more as a "huh, why don't we crossover as much as they do" type thing.

I'm surprised there's not a separate JT category, since he's been a solo artist for way longer than he was in NSYNC.

There used to be a lot more BSB/NSYNC crossovers back in the day, but I guess we as a fandom have moved on from that.  Random BSB crossovers with other things still pop up now and then, but I guess it's never really been a big thing for us.


I sure did and was relieved that was not the song my Pre-Ks were into! Though part of me was like, "Well, sure, start them young on the path to darkness," lol.

Hehe, that's why I like teaching older kids.  They love the dark stuff!


Maybe there's someone else out there like me who got back into it over 2020, but it's not far enough along yet that they think they're ready to post again. I keep hoping to see additional familiar faces who will join our shenanigans.

A few people came to check in when quarantine started last year, but they didn't stay.  Why do they always leave us?! *sobs*


I'm kind of anti-bad stuff happening to kids in general, but definitely BSB kids and most of that is because I'd rather not write about them at all. I guess, unless it was Nick in his backstory. He can continue to be the owner of so much baggage.

I tend to use kids, real or fake, as plot devices more than anything.  Need to break up a Backstreet Boy's marriage or make him lose his faith in God?  Kill a kid!  I don't enjoy doing it, but sometimes it's a necessary evil.


Was a mother even part of it at all, even if she wasn't dating out there? lol

Yeah, the mother part was legit, just not the dating part LOL.


I'm trying to not think about it too hard, but it feels like my immediate plans post-PNecklace will be Snail, which I don't know how 1,000 Ways works over there if it's a separate story or just a chapter (it's just a chapter here yeah?)... And then I may lean toward a short comedy/dramady of some sort. Or just go for broke and start writing PDemons. One of the two. Nick is Brian's guardian angel feels a little too serious to tackle right this second and my gut says to finish off PBox&Co before going back to Gobosei, but who knows, maybe I'll want a bigger PBox&Co break than I'm thinking. But as I said, I'm trying not to think about it too hard because I still have 12.5 chapters to go!

Speaking of, I'm up to 1,344 words today so far! I may finish another chapter today! :o

1000 Ways is a collection over there, which means everyone who wants to can post their deaths as individual stories and then add them to the collection to tie them all together.  Only a small percentage of the AC deaths are cross-posted there.  https://archiveofourown.org/users/RokofAges75/collections  Here each one is a chapter in the round robin story.

It's nice you have so many options to choose from!  Wait and see how you feel when you're done  (or almost done) with PNecklace.

Wow, over 1000 words on a weeknight!  Good for you!  I've written a few hundred so far today.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 03, 2021, 09:44:07 PM
I'm surprised there's not a separate JT category, since he's been a solo artist for way longer than he was in NSYNC.

There used to be a lot more BSB/NSYNC crossovers back in the day, but I guess we as a fandom have moved on from that.  Random BSB crossovers with other things still pop up now and then, but I guess it's never really been a big thing for us.

I was too. I even went to look into the "real people and celebrities" section to see if he was listed there. He was not.

I think there comes a point when you have to stop writing about the other band that's been broken up for decades if yours is not broken up. (I'll let you know when that is for me. Meanwhile, I will continue to write my villains as NSYNC and other boybands in name only, lol)


Hehe, that's why I like teaching older kids.  They love the dark stuff!

I guess this year I have some second and third graders I could convert, lol. I have a month left to teach them my ways.


A few people came to check in when quarantine started last year, but they didn't stay.  Why do they always leave us?! *sobs*

So you're saying I've made a mistake and should have just popped in and left? Oh well, I'm still writing and I've carved out a nice cushy place on Wednesdays, I think I'll stay, lol.


I tend to use kids, real or fake, as plot devices more than anything.  Need to break up a Backstreet Boy's marriage or make him lose his faith in God?  Kill a kid!  I don't enjoy doing it, but sometimes it's a necessary evil.

Part of me finds it funny and part of me finds it horrifying that the easiest way to break up a marriage is to kill a kid... lol. I see you writing "a Backtreet Boy" and I'm just reading "Brian."


Yeah, the mother part was legit, just not the dating part LOL.

You should let that mother date! Mothers deserve a good time too! Especially if she's out there dating Hot Mess Nick.  :D


1000 Ways is a collection over there, which means everyone who wants to can post their deaths as individual stories and then add them to the collection to tie them all together.  Only a small percentage of the AC deaths are cross-posted there.  https://archiveofourown.org/users/RokofAges75/collections  Here each one is a chapter in the round robin story.

Helpful! I will probably request help again when the time comes to actually post the thing, lol. Some of those titles... too funny.


It's nice you have so many options to choose from!  Wait and see how you feel when you're done  (or almost done) with PNecklace.

Wow, over 1000 words on a weeknight!  Good for you!  I've written a few hundred so far today.

I have a decade of fanfic writing to catch up on, lol. As I said, I'm trying not to think about it too much, just putting it out there in the universe, though.

I know! At this rate, I'll be done in a week and half! That seems like some severe wishful thinking though. I think it's because it's been raining all day. I never want to do much of anything productive when it rains... except write a ridiculous amount, apparently.

A few hundred is great! I hope this chapter where Howie gets some time to shine goes great! (I am only basing this off of the "Howie said" from yesterday.)

Here's a fun question for the day:

Anyone have any non-writing goals this month?

And have we talked about external factors that make for a good writing day? (Not including inspiration or time.)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 03, 2021, 10:05:14 PM
I think there comes a point when you have to stop writing about the other band that's been broken up for decades if yours is not broken up. (I'll let you know when that is for me. Meanwhile, I will continue to write my villains as NSYNC and other boybands in name only, lol)

LOL!  I will keep writing them in 00Carter if we ever continue that.  Otherwise, I think my days of writing NSYNC as villains are mostly over.  (I added the "mostly" when I remembered I killed Lance off in a story just last year.  But he was actually being helpful, not a villain.  I still made fun of him.)


So you're saying I've made a mistake and should have just popped in and left? Oh well, I'm still writing and I've carved out a nice cushy place on Wednesdays, I think I'll stay, lol.

Not at all!  I'm glad you stayed!  But then, you've never been one to follow the trend.


Part of me finds it funny and part of me finds it horrifying that the easiest way to break up a marriage is to kill a kid... lol. I see you writing "a Backtreet Boy" and I'm just reading "Brian."

LOL Not just Brian!  I've done it to Nick and Howie too.  (Technically, Howie's kid didn't die, just contracted an incurable illness.)


You should let that mother date! Mothers deserve a good time too! Especially if she's out there dating Hot Mess Nick.  :D

It's Kevin's mom, so maybe she should date!  But not Hot Mess Nick. LOL


I know! At this rate, I'll be done in a week and half! That seems like some severe wishful thinking though. I think it's because it's been raining all day. I never want to do much of anything productive when it rains... except write a ridiculous amount, apparently.

A few hundred is great! I hope this chapter where Howie gets some time to shine goes great! (I am only basing this off of the "Howie said" from yesterday.)

Wow, you're on a roll!  Rainy days really are perfect for writing.

LOL If Howie having a few lines of dialogue equates him shining, then yes!  It's going great!  Actually, I'm probably a few paragraphs away from finishing this chapter, which is almost 5000 words long now... so I guess that means it is going well!


Here's a fun question for the day:

Anyone have any non-writing goals this month?

And have we talked about external factors that make for a good writing day? (Not including inspiration or time.)

My only non-writing goal is to make it to the end of the school year!  I actually can't complain; for as crazy as this year could have been, it hasn't been bad at all.  I was blessed with an amazing class to teach through the pandemic.

As for external factors that make for a good writing day...
- no work or planned social activities (but I guess that would also fall under the category of "time")
- bad weather (rainy days are the best!)
- caffeine (plenty of coffee and diet soda)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 03, 2021, 10:31:09 PM
LOL!  I will keep writing them in 00Carter if we ever continue that.  Otherwise, I think my days of writing NSYNC as villains are mostly over.  (I added the "mostly" when I remembered I killed Lance off in a story just last year.  But he was actually being helpful, not a villain.  I still made fun of him.)

I'm still down. I need some comedy to offset the constant dark drama that is PBox&Co and secret agent Nick really writes itself. Y'all should add me back in the collaborator list on that at some point, especially if we do continue it.

Aw, poor helpful Lance. He probably didn't deserve to die, lol.


Not at all!  I'm glad you stayed!  But then, you've never been one to follow the trend.

Hooray! I am too, I was joking, lol. And apparently I'm AJ? I have never been AJ before... I can't think of any dirty jokes right now; I'm not a very good AJ, lol.


LOL Not just Brian!  I've done it to Nick and Howie too.  (Technically, Howie's kid didn't die, just contracted an incurable illness.)

"Died some time in the future off screen" is still dying, Julie.


It's Kevin's mom, so maybe she should date!  But not Hot Mess Nick. LOL

Kevin would put up with that for about two seconds. I can't imagine any of them dating each others' family, although didn't Nick date one of Howie's sisters for a while? Or cousin or something?


Wow, you're on a roll!  Rainy days really are perfect for writing.

I think it's because it feels like there's no reason to be anywhere besides home?

Tomorrow is a later day for me, so if the writing keeps going well, I might stay up and see what happens. It's always easy when Nick and Brian get to joke at each other. Some day I should be really mean to Nick and split them up. Meanwhile, they make me laugh:

Brian put his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Several things are different, but several things are the same, huh?”

“They sure are, overly friendly stranger who likes to follow others for days.” Nick glanced up at Brian, then a smirk crossed his face.

Brian wiped a fake tear from his eye. “I just knew we were destined to become wonderful friends, troubled and loud quick-tempered boy!”


LOL If Howie having a few lines of dialogue equates him shining, then yes!  It's going great!  Actually, I'm probably a few paragraphs away from finishing this chapter, which is almost 5000 words long now... so I guess that means it is going well!

You said he was "just kind of there," so if he has a speaking role, that's shining, lol. You're so close! And wow, 5,000 words! Great work! That is a decent chapter for montage land. I don't know if I want to encourage you to finish it or tell you to leave it for tomorrow so you can get back into the groove sooner.


My only non-writing goal is to make it to the end of the school year!  I actually can't complain; for as crazy as this year could have been, it hasn't been bad at all.  I was blessed with an amazing class to teach through the pandemic.

As for external factors that make for a good writing day...
- no work or planned social activities (but I guess that would also fall under the category of "time")
- bad weather (rainy days are the best!)
- caffeine (plenty of coffee and diet soda)

Aw, glad your kiddos have been great. I think that's mine too. Make it through this crazy school year and get these kids into summer.

I agree with bad weather and caffeine. I'm also usually pretty productive when the hubs is on a work trip, like now. Rain and hubs being gone means I have lots of time to myself and no where to be, lol. Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up early, drink some coffee, and write another chapter! (That would be insane.) Apparently all I needed was to get through that last little arc I was writing to hit the home stretch, although barely anything at the end was begging to be written ahead of time (except the end end, lol).

A clean house helps too, I think. Then there's really nothing else to do.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 04, 2021, 09:32:15 PM
I'm still down. I need some comedy to offset the constant dark drama that is PBox&Co and secret agent Nick really writes itself. Y'all should add me back in the collaborator list on that at some point, especially if we do continue it.

Aw, poor helpful Lance. He probably didn't deserve to die, lol.

I am too!  Maybe we can get Rose back on board this summer.  I just added you back to the co-author list.

No, he didn't, but it was worth it for the joke I got out of it LOL.


"Died some time in the future off screen" is still dying, Julie.

Every man dies.  Not every man really lives.

No, in my mind, Lil Plot Device Dorough went on to live a long and full life with the help of medication.  Yeah science!


Kevin would put up with that for about two seconds. I can't imagine any of them dating each others' family, although didn't Nick date one of Howie's sisters for a while? Or cousin or something?

LOL There's a new pairing for AO3... Nick/Kevin's mom.  I bet that's never been done!  Howie's sisters are older than him, so I doubt any of them ever dated Nick, but maybe a cousin or niece or something?  I don't know.


I think it's because it feels like there's no reason to be anywhere besides home?

Yep, that's exactly it.  If it's raining, I can't do yard work, can't go out for a walk, can't go hang out at my friend's pool, etc.  Perfect excuse to stay home, stay in, and write!


Tomorrow is a later day for me, so if the writing keeps going well, I might stay up and see what happens. It's always easy when Nick and Brian get to joke at each other. Some day I should be really mean to Nick and split them up. Meanwhile, they make me laugh:

Brian put his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Several things are different, but several things are the same, huh?”

“They sure are, overly friendly stranger who likes to follow others for days.” Nick glanced up at Brian, then a smirk crossed his face.

Brian wiped a fake tear from his eye. “I just knew we were destined to become wonderful friends, troubled and loud quick-tempered boy!”

Aww, Frick and Frack cuteness!  I hope your writing went well so you could stay up late last night!


You said he was "just kind of there," so if he has a speaking role, that's shining, lol. You're so close! And wow, 5,000 words! Great work! That is a decent chapter for montage land. I don't know if I want to encourage you to finish it or tell you to leave it for tomorrow so you can get back into the groove sooner.

I ended up with a decent word count for a weeknight (600 something) last night and then wrote 256 words while getting ready this morning!  The more that becomes a part of my daily routine, the better I do with it.  I haven't written much more tonight, but I did finish my chapter!  It ended up being 5,496 words!  I think that's my longest chapter so far in this story.


I agree with bad weather and caffeine. I'm also usually pretty productive when the hubs is on a work trip, like now. Rain and hubs being gone means I have lots of time to myself and no where to be, lol. Maybe tomorrow I'll wake up early, drink some coffee, and write another chapter! (That would be insane.) Apparently all I needed was to get through that last little arc I was writing to hit the home stretch, although barely anything at the end was begging to be written ahead of time (except the end end, lol).

A clean house helps too, I think. Then there's really nothing else to do.

Yes!  I agree about the clean house, and if I didn't live alone, I would definitely agree about the husband or roommates being gone.  I would have a hard time with anyone else in the house.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 04, 2021, 10:09:16 PM
I am too!  Maybe we can get Rose back on board this summer.  I just added you back to the co-author list.

No, he didn't, but it was worth it for the joke I got out of it LOL.

Summer's probably a good time to attempt it. I'll have finished another project by then, so I'll be ready for something else. Sweet; now I look slightly more recently prolific, lol.

Killing people off for jokes, tsk tsk.


Every man dies.  Not every man really lives.

No, in my mind, Lil Plot Device Dorough went on to live a long and full life with the help of medication.  Yeah science!

Aw, I hope science did help out Lil Plot Device Dorough! With a name like that, you're clearly meant to go places. ;)


LOL There's a new pairing for AO3... Nick/Kevin's mom.  I bet that's never been done!  Howie's sisters are older than him, so I doubt any of them ever dated Nick, but maybe a cousin or niece or something?  I don't know.

Now that you mention niece, I think it was a niece. I feel like I've heard Howie talk about Nick being at his house all the time for the ladies and not Howie, lol. Poor Howie. I like to think it was for loving family time and cute girls being a bonus. Was this in the doc? I swear I'm not making it up! lol

I said yesterday that Kevin wouldn't put up with that... I can't imagine Kevin's mom putting up with Hot Mess Nick, to be honest, lol.


Yep, that's exactly it.  If it's raining, I can't do yard work, can't go out for a walk, can't go hang out at my friend's pool, etc.  Perfect excuse to stay home, stay in, and write!

Let's think of the things we can do. Write. Make coffee. Watch tv. Clean the house. Nap. May as well write, lol.


Aww, Frick and Frack cuteness!  I hope your writing went well so you could stay up late last night!

As you know, I am a sucker for Frick and Frack. I went to bed at the regular time, lol. But I've written about 500 words today so far, so I will stay on my two days per chapter streak. I also wrote 100 words of dialogue for something that is not at all PNecklace related and immediately closed it because I didn't want to think about it, but it was stuck in my head and I decided it needed to get out so I could go back to not thinking about it, lol.


I ended up with a decent word count for a weeknight (600 something) last night and then wrote 256 words while getting ready this morning!  The more that becomes a part of my daily routine, the better I do with it.  I haven't written much more tonight, but I did finish my chapter!  It ended up being 5,496 words!  I think that's my longest chapter so far in this story.

That is a decent weeknight word count! I think that's about where I'll end up today unless I get motivated on the chapter after this one, which is possible. I'm happy you're making morning writing part of your routine and that it's going well! 256 words is a lot while getting ready.

Wow, almost 5,500 words! That's a lot! Glad Kevin in montage land is getting some good stuff written about him! I'm happy you finished the chapter! I hope you get a little more writing in so you have a good cliff hanger to start with tomorrow morning. :)

Yes!  I agree about the clean house, and if I didn't live alone, I would definitely agree about the husband or roommates being gone.  I would have a hard time with anyone else in the house.

I know, you like your solitude while writing. I don't know if listening to hubs' background baseball noise makes writing go better or worse, but I'm happy he's back for the next 24 hours. Then back to me alone again. Maybe I'll write a million words on Thursday, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 05, 2021, 12:26:37 AM
So I was going to go to bed an hour ago, but checked my chapter word count and thought "Ugh, I can write 100 more words in the next twenty minutes or so to finish this chapter." So I set myself up a little fifteen minute word sprint and wrote about 400 words, but hadn't reached the end of the chapter yet (since I knew the cliffhanger I wanted to leave it on), so I kept writing and wrote 300 more words, then went back in and filled in my lazy word sprint notes to myself (describe x).

Apparently these little word sprints really get the job done. Where have these been my whole life?

So, I ended up writing about 1,600 words total today and finished another chapter. I apparently am doing two days per chapter right now, lol. Two down, twelve to go. Tomorrow is update day and Masked Singer, so I can't really see myself keeping up this pace, but who knows! Tomorrow's my real test, I suppose. My word count is on par with May 10th, so at least I'm a few days ahead of myself if the rest of the week is a little less wordy. Still writing six words a minute though; clearly not very fast!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 05, 2021, 08:33:52 PM
Guys, update day takes so long, lol. I haven't even written anything yet today.  :o I have to get on that.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 05, 2021, 08:40:57 PM
Now that you mention niece, I think it was a niece. I feel like I've heard Howie talk about Nick being at his house all the time for the ladies and not Howie, lol. Poor Howie. I like to think it was for loving family time and cute girls being a bonus. Was this in the doc? I swear I'm not making it up! lol

You're probably right.  I don't remember for sure.


As you know, I am a sucker for Frick and Frack. I went to bed at the regular time, lol. But I've written about 500 words today so far, so I will stay on my two days per chapter streak. I also wrote 100 words of dialogue for something that is not at all PNecklace related and immediately closed it because I didn't want to think about it, but it was stuck in my head and I decided it needed to get out so I could go back to not thinking about it, lol.

Ooh, I'm intrigued.  It's good to get it down on paper so it will leave you alone - and so you won't forget it later.


That is a decent weeknight word count! I think that's about where I'll end up today unless I get motivated on the chapter after this one, which is possible. I'm happy you're making morning writing part of your routine and that it's going well! 256 words is a lot while getting ready.

Wow, almost 5,500 words! That's a lot! Glad Kevin in montage land is getting some good stuff written about him! I'm happy you finished the chapter! I hope you get a little more writing in so you have a good cliff hanger to start with tomorrow morning. :)

I know, you like your solitude while writing. I don't know if listening to hubs' background baseball noise makes writing go better or worse, but I'm happy he's back for the next 24 hours. Then back to me alone again. Maybe I'll write a million words on Thursday, lol.

Yeah, that's probably the most I've ever written while getting ready.  Now that I am documenting my start and stop times on Nano, I realized I had it open for about 45 minutes as I was getting ready.  Usually it's more like 15 minutes while I dry my hair, and I get less than 100 words written.  This morning I wrote 72, which was the start of the next chapter, so at least that's out of the way.

Glad you get your hubby back for a day... and then more time to yourself tomorrow.  That sounds like a good balance.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 05, 2021, 08:42:59 PM
So I was going to go to bed an hour ago, but checked my chapter word count and thought "Ugh, I can write 100 more words in the next twenty minutes or so to finish this chapter." So I set myself up a little fifteen minute word sprint and wrote about 400 words, but hadn't reached the end of the chapter yet (since I knew the cliffhanger I wanted to leave it on), so I kept writing and wrote 300 more words, then went back in and filled in my lazy word sprint notes to myself (describe x).

Apparently these little word sprints really get the job done. Where have these been my whole life?

So, I ended up writing about 1,600 words total today and finished another chapter. I apparently am doing two days per chapter right now, lol. Two down, twelve to go. Tomorrow is update day and Masked Singer, so I can't really see myself keeping up this pace, but who knows! Tomorrow's my real test, I suppose. My word count is on par with May 10th, so at least I'm a few days ahead of myself if the rest of the week is a little less wordy. Still writing six words a minute though; clearly not very fast!

That's awesome!  I love those nights when I just can't stop writing, even if it means I'm extra tired the next day.  The word sprints really do seem to help!

My word count is back down to 2 words a minute LOL, so at least you're faster than me.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 05, 2021, 09:10:52 PM
Ooh, I'm intrigued.  It's good to get it down on paper so it will leave you alone - and so you won't forget it later.

Mum's the word. But it's going to be entertaining (or at least I think it's going to be entertaining).


Yeah, that's probably the most I've ever written while getting ready.  Now that I am documenting my start and stop times on Nano, I realized I had it open for about 45 minutes as I was getting ready.  Usually it's more like 15 minutes while I dry my hair, and I get less than 100 words written.  This morning I wrote 72, which was the start of the next chapter, so at least that's out of the way.

Forty-five minutes is a lot! I should start doing that when I get ready, but then I'm abysmally useless before my coffee. So most of the time my morning thoughts are literal narrations of what I'm doing. And I can't picture anyone in the PBox universe saying thing like "Must brush teeth. Mascara. Why are my contacts so hard to put in? I need a coffee..." lol

At least you got a start to the next chapter though! That's half the battle! How's writing going this evening?

And same, keeping track of start and stop times has been enlightening. Sometimes I'm typing furiously and sometimes I am slower than dirt.

Yesterday, I stopped to look up when knapsacks were in use and ended up in this weird spiral on the history of backpacks, lol. And then at the end of all of that, I decided I just needed a bag of some sort and didn't care, lol.

That's awesome!  I love those nights when I just can't stop writing, even if it means I'm extra tired the next day.  The word sprints really do seem to help!

My word count is back down to 2 words a minute LOL, so at least you're faster than me.

Same! They're awesome and I always feel really accomplished. I'm seeing a lot more word sprints in my future when I start losing focus, haha.

We'll see where it lands today, lol. Still haven't written anything yet.

Glad you get your hubby back for a day... and then more time to yourself tomorrow.  That sounds like a good balance.

He came back into town to take some clients to the baseball game and... I don't know that he'll wake up before I leave for work tomorrow, lol. So... It's basically me updating and preparing to write. Wish me luck!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 05, 2021, 09:46:35 PM
Forty-five minutes is a lot! I should start doing that when I get ready, but then I'm abysmally useless before my coffee. So most of the time my morning thoughts are literal narrations of what I'm doing. And I can't picture anyone in the PBox universe saying thing like "Must brush teeth. Mascara. Why are my contacts so hard to put in? I need a coffee..." lol

At least you got a start to the next chapter though! That's half the battle! How's writing going this evening?

LOL!  That is me before my shower and coffee, but those two things wake me up to the point where I can think coherently.  I usually waste too much time playing on my phone in the morning, so I decided if I'm going to be on a device anyway, let's make it the Chromebook and see if I can get some writing done during that time.  It puts me in a better mood when I do.

My writing has been nonexistent so far tonight.  I have been sitting here with the story open for the last hour, but instead of writing, I have:  posted here, nosily listened to my scanner app to see if I could find out why I was hearing so many sirens, watched some YouTube videos, and played my Harry Potter puzzle game.  Now I'm in Nick's montage chapter, which is just as hard to get into as Kevin's was.


Yesterday, I stopped to look up when knapsacks were in use and ended up in this weird spiral on the history of backpacks, lol. And then at the end of all of that, I decided I just needed a bag of some sort and didn't care, lol.

LOL!  Did you learn anything worth sharing about the history of backpacks?

I haven't researched anything too random in a few days, but I looked up jet lag this morning and discovered that for every time zone you fly across, it takes an average of one day to recover from jet lag.  I have the Boys flying from Los Angeles to Tokyo, which is a 16-hour time difference.  I guess they would be flying the other way, west instead of east, but they'd still have to cross quite a few time zones.  It made me appreciate how hard it must be for them to travel all over the world on a tour and always be performance ready.  I've only been overseas once, but I remember the jet lag - that is a whole different level of tired.


He came back into town to take some clients to the baseball game and... I don't know that he'll wake up before I leave for work tomorrow, lol. So... It's basically me updating and preparing to write. Wish me luck!


Aww... well, good luck!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 05, 2021, 10:35:45 PM
LOL!  That is me before my shower and coffee, but those two things wake me up to the point where I can think coherently.  I usually waste too much time playing on my phone in the morning, so I decided if I'm going to be on a device anyway, let's make it the Chromebook and see if I can get some writing done during that time.  It puts me in a better mood when I do.

That's why I've tried to write more in the mornings too. It's basically me reading news and getting lost in whatever curated articles google has decided I'd like or I could write. I'm also in a good mood when I write in the mornings. It puts a little pep in my step.


My writing has been nonexistent so far tonight.  I have been sitting here with the story open for the last hour, but instead of writing, I have:  posted here, nosily listened to my scanner app to see if I could find out why I was hearing so many sirens, watched some YouTube videos, and played my Harry Potter puzzle game.  Now I'm in Nick's montage chapter, which is just as hard to get into as Kevin's was.

Haha! I opened mine forty minutes ago and have a decent start going on where I left off the last chapter. I'm actually trying to write in what I think the order might be once I splice the arcs together, but if I get bored on this one, I'll probably go back to my Frick & Frack goodness/external drama, lol. I figure I have until the end of June to really figure it all out if I get stuck (to align with my goal) or at the very latest August if I really end up on the struggle bus (it took me way too long to figure out how far I had stuff to post until and it's the first week of September here on AC, but I'll make it to October on AO3).

Hope everything is okay with the sirens! And aww, puzzles. I have to do that diamond painting at some point... I feel like you're gonna need a montage. Do you feel ready to pull out your montage playlist again yet or is that a weekend thing? lol If you need a word sprint, you just let me know. I know that tour scenes aren't very fun to write, because getting into a Backstreet mindset for a tour is hard.


LOL!  Did you learn anything worth sharing about the history of backpacks?

I sure did and I'm glad you asked! So something akin to the precursor of modern backpack was initially used by Scandinavian and indigenous arctic peoples who often had to carry their belongings, and as we know, on your back is a handy place to carry things. However, a rucksack didn't appear until closer to 1900 in Europe and 1920ish in the States. JanSport first made their backpack in 1970 (crazy). So I learned that it took people a ridiculously long time to take a well-established concept and actually make it mainstream. Meanwhile, none of this had anything to do with my actual question, which was "how can Brian carry a bunch of stuff that he's not wearing without pulling it out of thin air?" And I do try to make my fantastical novel at least true to its era in terms of inventions and I found nothing that answered my question. I guess warrior classes didn't need to carry things. Ever. Except for their swords and the clothes on their backs. [/sarcasm]


I haven't researched anything too random in a few days, but I looked up jet lag this morning and discovered that for every time zone you fly across, it takes an average of one day to recover from jet lag.  I have the Boys flying from Los Angeles to Tokyo, which is a 16-hour time difference.  I guess they would be flying the other way, west instead of east, but they'd still have to cross quite a few time zones.  It made me appreciate how hard it must be for them to travel all over the world on a tour and always be performance ready.  I've only been overseas once, but I remember the jet lag - that is a whole different level of tired.

Really an entire day for every hour? That's crazy! When we went to Italy/Greece, it wasn't too bad for me. But I also had a headache on the flight there and we were in those sleep pods in first class, so I basically fell asleep at 6:30pm Colorado time and slept until we landed in Germany for our layover. It was awesome and I felt totally fine the next day. When we went to Hawaii for two friends' wedding, I was a mess for days. Waking up at 3am, being exhausted at 5pm. A complete wreck. I got it together in time for their wedding and then the day we got back, I went straight to bed when we got home at like 9am, then slept until 2 or 3, then went to bed at 9pm, lol.

That's definitely got to put a strain on their bodies. I'm specifically thinking of Around the World in 100 hours and they put on concerts every place. That's crazy. Then they released Black & Blue, so it's not like they got a week vacation or anything. This is why the picture of them all sleeping in the one bed exists, lol. I appreciate their hard work.

 
Aww... well, good luck!

Thanks. it's going... I have now posted here instead of writing for the past twenty minutes, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 06, 2021, 07:06:23 PM
Haha! I opened mine forty minutes ago and have a decent start going on where I left off the last chapter. I'm actually trying to write in what I think the order might be once I splice the arcs together, but if I get bored on this one, I'll probably go back to my Frick & Frack goodness/external drama, lol. I figure I have until the end of June to really figure it all out if I get stuck (to align with my goal) or at the very latest August if I really end up on the struggle bus (it took me way too long to figure out how far I had stuff to post until and it's the first week of September here on AC, but I'll make it to October on AO3).

Wow, that's awesome to know you're good to go for the summer!  And if you're like me, summer is the most productive time of year.


Hope everything is okay with the sirens! And aww, puzzles. I have to do that diamond painting at some point... I feel like you're gonna need a montage. Do you feel ready to pull out your montage playlist again yet or is that a weekend thing? lol If you need a word sprint, you just let me know. I know that tour scenes aren't very fun to write, because getting into a Backstreet mindset for a tour is hard.

Yeah, all I could get out of the scanner app was that it was a woman in a home who was unconscious, but breathing.  I thought there was a fire or horrible car accident or something from all the sirens I heard, but apparently not.  I live in a fairly small town, so maybe they were just bored and thought they'd all go to the scene and help LOL.

It's an app, Harry Potter Puzzles and Spells.  It's like Candy Crush and those kind of games, which I never played before, but since it's Harry Potter... I'm now addicted LOL.  It's a very well done game.  But speaking of puzzles, I bought one of those damn BSB jigsaw puzzles they offered on the site last year, thinking it would be a fun quarantine project to put it together and turn it into a piece of wall art for my BSB room.  Then it took freaking FOREVER to ship and didn't come until the end of summer, after quarantine, so it's still sitting in my game cabinet untouched.  Whoops.  Maybe this summer.  I'm not a jigsaw puzzle kind of person.  I guess it's also a sign of how well writing has been going for the past year that I haven't gotten bored enough to do a puzzle LOL.

I don't think my montage playlist will help as much with this chapter, although I do enjoy it.  I need to make time to watch the Unbreakable tour this weekend and hope that helps get me into the right mindset.  Maybe we can sprint again this weekend!


I sure did and I'm glad you asked! So something akin to the precursor of modern backpack was initially used by Scandinavian and indigenous arctic peoples who often had to carry their belongings, and as we know, on your back is a handy place to carry things. However, a rucksack didn't appear until closer to 1900 in Europe and 1920ish in the States. JanSport first made their backpack in 1970 (crazy). So I learned that it took people a ridiculously long time to take a well-established concept and actually make it mainstream. Meanwhile, none of this had anything to do with my actual question, which was "how can Brian carry a bunch of stuff that he's not wearing without pulling it out of thin air?" And I do try to make my fantastical novel at least true to its era in terms of inventions and I found nothing that answered my question. I guess warrior classes didn't need to carry things. Ever. Except for their swords and the clothes on their backs. [/sarcasm]

Wow, that's crazy that modern backpacks weren't around until 1970!  I thought of sporrans, which are the little pouches Scottish highlanders wear in front of their kilts, but I dunno if that would be big enough.  Where's Leighanne with a Wylee bag when you need her? LOL


Really an entire day for every hour? That's crazy! When we went to Italy/Greece, it wasn't too bad for me. But I also had a headache on the flight there and we were in those sleep pods in first class, so I basically fell asleep at 6:30pm Colorado time and slept until we landed in Germany for our layover. It was awesome and I felt totally fine the next day. When we went to Hawaii for two friends' wedding, I was a mess for days. Waking up at 3am, being exhausted at 5pm. A complete wreck. I got it together in time for their wedding and then the day we got back, I went straight to bed when we got home at like 9am, then slept until 2 or 3, then went to bed at 9pm, lol.

That's definitely got to put a strain on their bodies. I'm specifically thinking of Around the World in 100 hours and they put on concerts every place. That's crazy. Then they released Black & Blue, so it's not like they got a week vacation or anything. This is why the picture of them all sleeping in the one bed exists, lol. I appreciate their hard work.

Yeah, that sounded longer than I would have expected, too.  When I went to Scotland, I landed there around 8 a.m., which was actually 2 a.m. my time, so that was rough.  I remember taking a nap that day once I got to my room and still going to bed early that night, but I think I was okay by the next day.  Same with coming home.  I think the most tired I have ever been in my life was going back to work the day after coming home from the BSB cruise, especially the first one I went on in 2011.  That was ROUGH!  Not jet lag so much as days of very little sleep LOL.

Kudos to the Boys for their stamina!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 06, 2021, 08:46:21 PM
Wow, that's awesome to know you're good to go for the summer!  And if you're like me, summer is the most productive time of year.

I have nothing going on besides work still, but I think my new position will be things I can leave at school at the end of the day, so that's good. Who knows what will happen with summer writing. I feel like I used to be more productive in the winter?


Yeah, all I could get out of the scanner app was that it was a woman in a home who was unconscious, but breathing.  I thought there was a fire or horrible car accident or something from all the sirens I heard, but apparently not.  I live in a fairly small town, so maybe they were just bored and thought they'd all go to the scene and help LOL.

I hope that woman is okay and appreciated the slew of emergency services.


It's an app, Harry Potter Puzzles and Spells.  It's like Candy Crush and those kind of games, which I never played before, but since it's Harry Potter... I'm now addicted LOL.  It's a very well done game.  But speaking of puzzles, I bought one of those damn BSB jigsaw puzzles they offered on the site last year, thinking it would be a fun quarantine project to put it together and turn it into a piece of wall art for my BSB room.  Then it took freaking FOREVER to ship and didn't come until the end of summer, after quarantine, so it's still sitting in my game cabinet untouched.  Whoops.  Maybe this summer.  I'm not a jigsaw puzzle kind of person.  I guess it's also a sign of how well writing has been going for the past year that I haven't gotten bored enough to do a puzzle LOL.

I've been really good about staying off apps here recently, but there was a stupid one where you just collected cats and I loved it. Then they changed the game play and I'm over it.

I'm glad your writing has gone well and you have not resorted to puzzles, lol. Although I love puzzles, but haven't done one in a while. Hopefully you can do your BSB puzzle some day!


I don't think my montage playlist will help as much with this chapter, although I do enjoy it.  I need to make time to watch the Unbreakable tour this weekend and hope that helps get me into the right mindset.  Maybe we can sprint again this weekend!

Live stream the Unbreakable Tour, then word sprint. I've got zero plans because I do nothing. (I lied, I'm planning on writing, but have zero plans to leave the house, lol.)


Wow, that's crazy that modern backpacks weren't around until 1970!  I thought of sporrans, which are the little pouches Scottish highlanders wear in front of their kilts, but I dunno if that would be big enough.  Where's Leighanne with a Wylee bag when you need her? LOL

I know, right?! I thought of those too, but yes, it's too small. It didn't need to hold a lot, but more than a little if that makes any sense. Well, she's not in PBox because I don't like writing about the wives; Brian would carry and treasure one of those ugly bags though, lol!


Yeah, that sounded longer than I would have expected, too.  When I went to Scotland, I landed there around 8 a.m., which was actually 2 a.m. my time, so that was rough.  I remember taking a nap that day once I got to my room and still going to bed early that night, but I think I was okay by the next day.  Same with coming home.  I think the most tired I have ever been in my life was going back to work the day after coming home from the BSB cruise, especially the first one I went on in 2011.  That was ROUGH!  Not jet lag so much as days of very little sleep LOL.

Kudos to the Boys for their stamina!

I think whether you're able to sleep comfortably on the plane makes a huge difference. I guess coming back from Italy was super rough. We had a layover in Chicago that felt like it would never end, lol. So by the time we got home at like 8pm, I just crashed and then I was fine the next day. I think the worst one for me wasn't even international. We took a red eye on Spirit Airlines to Fort Lauderdale and ended up checking into the hotel early and napping for half the morning, lol. After that, I vowed against taking overnight flights unless they're 7+ hours

You gotta sleep, even when things are exciting, lol. Your body hates you if you don't! Especially if you have to go to work. I would have just called in sick/extended my vacation.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 06, 2021, 09:18:52 PM
Ugh, I'm stuck. Someone help me come up with a funny thing for Nick to do. Just shout out random ideas without thinking too hard about if it works for PBox or not; if I like it, I can make it work. I'm drawing a complete blank right now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on May 06, 2021, 09:46:31 PM
Start randomly juggling
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 07, 2021, 04:57:17 PM
Start randomly juggling
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on May 07, 2021, 05:54:17 PM
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 08, 2021, 12:24:59 PM
I have nothing going on besides work still, but I think my new position will be things I can leave at school at the end of the day, so that's good. Who knows what will happen with summer writing. I feel like I used to be more productive in the winter?

Do you have to work in the summer with your new position?  That sucks.  Summer is my most productive writing season only because of the time I have off, plus the lack of stress that comes with not working.  Winter is second most productive because there's just not as much to do when the weather sucks - plus, winter break.


Live stream the Unbreakable Tour, then word sprint. I've got zero plans because I do nothing. (I lied, I'm planning on writing, but have zero plans to leave the house, lol.)

I was hoping to watch it last night, but I had to run a bunch of errands after school to get stuff ready for Mother's Day, and by the time I got home, I was so tired, all I did was eat dinner, watch some TV, and go to bed.  Luckily I did a little writing in the morning because I did not even get on the computer last night.

So hopefully tonight!  I have to watch it when it's dark so I can turn off all the lights and sit close to the TV and pretend I'm there LOL.


I think whether you're able to sleep comfortably on the plane makes a huge difference. I guess coming back from Italy was super rough. We had a layover in Chicago that felt like it would never end, lol. So by the time we got home at like 8pm, I just crashed and then I was fine the next day. I think the worst one for me wasn't even international. We took a red eye on Spirit Airlines to Fort Lauderdale and ended up checking into the hotel early and napping for half the morning, lol. After that, I vowed against taking overnight flights unless they're 7+ hours

You gotta sleep, even when things are exciting, lol. Your body hates you if you don't! Especially if you have to go to work. I would have just called in sick/extended my vacation.

Ugh, that does sound terrible!  I have a hard time sleeping on planes.  I will doze, but I never really fall asleep long enough to make a difference.

The trade-off for teachers having summers off and holiday breaks is that it's so hard to take off other time during the school year.  I only got two personal days per year at that time, so I had to take a dock day just to be able to go on those cruises, and the thought of calling in sick after taking three days off just filled me with so much guilt, I couldn't do it.  Not to mention I hate writing sub plans, especially when I already haven't been there in three days and have no idea how much of what I planned the class actually got through or what kind of mess I'm coming back to.  So I just sucked it up and dragged myself to school.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 08, 2021, 02:29:13 PM
Do you have to work in the summer with your new position?  That sucks.  Summer is my most productive writing season only because of the time I have off, plus the lack of stress that comes with not working.  Winter is second most productive because there's just not as much to do when the weather sucks - plus, winter break.

Our school is year-round, so I always have to work during the summer, unfortunately. But I've almost experienced a whole year of writing now, so that's fun.


I was hoping to watch it last night, but I had to run a bunch of errands after school to get stuff ready for Mother's Day, and by the time I got home, I was so tired, all I did was eat dinner, watch some TV, and go to bed.  Luckily I did a little writing in the morning because I did not even get on the computer last night.

So hopefully tonight!  I have to watch it when it's dark so I can turn off all the lights and sit close to the TV and pretend I'm there LOL.

Glad you got your word count in for the day and feel prepared for Mother's Day! That was me on Thursday. I tried so hard, got like 100 words in and gave up for the evening.

I believe in you! And yes, get your surround sound on and immerse yourself!


Ugh, that does sound terrible!  I have a hard time sleeping on planes.  I will doze, but I never really fall asleep long enough to make a difference.

I'm not much of a plane sleeper, but the hubs will sleep the whole time if he can fall asleep before take off. If not, then he's tired and grumpy.


The trade-off for teachers having summers off and holiday breaks is that it's so hard to take off other time during the school year.  I only got two personal days per year at that time, so I had to take a dock day just to be able to go on those cruises, and the thought of calling in sick after taking three days off just filled me with so much guilt, I couldn't do it.  Not to mention I hate writing sub plans, especially when I already haven't been there in three days and have no idea how much of what I planned the class actually got through or what kind of mess I'm coming back to.  So I just sucked it up and dragged myself to school.

I feel you. I also don't like taking a bunch of time off at the same time for that reason, the guilt and the sub plans. It's lessened over time, but it's still there a bit. I say I would have called in sick, but I probably wouldn't have unless I physically couldn't move my body from the bed, lol. Possibly planned ahead of time for that recovery day though, even if I didn't get paid.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 08, 2021, 02:44:09 PM
How's everyone's writing going today?

Yesterday, I wrote a little more than Thursday (thank goodness), though I'm still stuck at that "give me something mundanely funny for Nick to do" part, so I am still taking ideas. Though hilarious, juggling was not quite what I had in mind. So if anyone still has ideas for that, I will take them.

A group of my friends started having movie watch nights virtually and the movie chooser for last night picked Thor: Ragnarok. At one point he said that "Hela doesn't do much, just shouts and shoots spears." And they were not at all interested in the many things I could have said about why polearms are both extremely useful and common weapons in warfare. Alas. My chance to impart my knowledge from research in a place it made sense and no engaged audience to share it with, lol. They did however want more information on why I claimed the movie was "sure fast and loose with its Norse mythology" and at the time, I couldn't remember enough details about the exact myth to back up my opinion other than that it was "not correct." I'm the no fun police apparently. This morning I wrote a dissertation about it and got told I "just need to watch [the movie] again," but I'll think the same thing every time.

Then this morning, I got sucked into watching Forrest Gump, lol. I'm utterly useless so far this weekend. But, it looks like it's about to rain and I'm waiting on our washer, so I may have this yet! Hope everyone else is getting less distracted by old movies. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 08, 2021, 09:35:01 PM
Our school is year-round, so I always have to work during the summer, unfortunately. But I've almost experienced a whole year of writing now, so that's fun.

Gotcha!  I would actually be okay with the year-round school schedule where you still get July off and two-week breaks every quarter.  That's awesome that you've been writing consistently for almost a whole year.  I was just thinking this time last year is also when I got going on my burst of pandemic productivity with Heroic Measures and Road to Bethlehem.  It's been a prolific writing year!


Glad you got your word count in for the day and feel prepared for Mother's Day! That was me on Thursday. I tried so hard, got like 100 words in and gave up for the evening.

Well, I ended up watching Titanic instead LOL.  I've been wanting to watch Titanic for weeks (probably from all that listening to the soundtrack as my writing music), and this evening felt like a good time to do it.  I may still go put on Unbreakable before the night is over, especially if I can't get any more written, but we'll see.  I wrote like half a paragraph this morning, so I'm hoping to at least finish that before I get off the computer.


Yesterday, I wrote a little more than Thursday (thank goodness), though I'm still stuck at that "give me something mundanely funny for Nick to do" part, so I am still taking ideas. Though hilarious, juggling was not quite what I had in mind. So if anyone still has ideas for that, I will take them.

Hm... pick his nose?  Make pancakes?  Pick his nose and then make pancakes without washing his hands?  I'm not sure what you're going for... just trying to think of Nickish things to do LOL.


Alas. My chance to impart my knowledge from research in a place it made sense and no engaged audience to share it with, lol. They did however want more information on why I claimed the movie was "sure fast and loose with its Norse mythology" and at the time, I couldn't remember enough details about the exact myth to back up my opinion other than that it was "not correct." I'm the no fun police apparently. This morning I wrote a dissertation about it and got told " just need to watch [the movie] again," but I'll think the same thing every time.

LOL!  I love how fanfic research gives us so much knowledge to share.  That kind of thing bugs me, too.


Hope everyone else is getting less distracted by old movies. :)

Hahaha, I replied to your first post before I saw this one... but yeah... definitely did get distracted by an old movie as well.  Forrest Gump is another great one!  Long live the 90s!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 08, 2021, 10:38:28 PM
Gotcha!  I would actually be okay with the year-round school schedule where you still get July off and two-week breaks every quarter.  That's awesome that you've been writing consistently for almost a whole year.  I was just thinking this time last year is also when I got going on my burst of pandemic productivity with Heroic Measures and Road to Bethlehem.  It's been a prolific writing year!

I wish we got all of July off. I keep suggesting it, lol. It's about a week or so. I haven't taken a vacation since last March and I was only gone a day. I may use some of that in July. Live a little... And by that, I mean absolutely hang out at home an extra week, relax, write, and do chores/run errands, lol.

Yup! November would be the start of my almost every day writing, but October is really when I started writing again, so I'm looking forward to it. The fact that I'll have most likely finished a novel by then is exciting too. :) That's the fastest I've ever written something except back in my middle school/early high school days.

I'm excited that you finished up two stories in the past year and are now writing a third! That's great consistency!


Well, I ended up watching Titanic instead LOL.  I've been wanting to watch Titanic for weeks (probably from all that listening to the soundtrack as my writing music), and this evening felt like a good time to do it.  I may still go put on Unbreakable before the night is over, especially if I can't get any more written, but we'll see.  I wrote like half a paragraph this morning, so I'm hoping to at least finish that before I get off the computer.

I think a Titanic night is well deserved! I'm glad you finally got to watch it; I know you wanted to when Tracy was finishing up If I Knew Then. As long as the streak's even a little bit alive, I'd say do what you want with your evening. :) Whether that's writing or Unbreakable or Titanic again.


Hm... pick his nose?  Make pancakes?  Pick his nose and then make pancakes without washing his hands?  I'm not sure what you're going for... just trying to think of Nickish things to do LOL.

LOL! Those are more along the lines of what I was trying to come up with, yes. He needs to wash his hands. This is why he's always sick. It just needs to be something that's enough for a little scene that would be funny to AJ and the audience... And I've drawn a blank. I finished the rest of that chapter, but yeah, I give up on that.


LOL!  I love how fanfic research gives us so much knowledge to share.  That kind of thing bugs me, too.

Don't even get me started on how much I hated Gods of Egypt, lol. Here are my thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok versus Radnarok the myth, in case anyone was curious:

Quote
Okay, now that I've slept, I'm ready to discuss Norse mythology with y'all. Admittedly, I don't know a lot on the details of Norse mythology; you wanna talk Ancient Egyptian mythology (or Greek), we could be here for days! So I did have to refresh myself on the details, but it did immediately strike me as "fast and loose," as I said. Of course I know that mythologies change over time, they're basically continuity stew, but there's one major reason for this that I will discuss in this essay, lol.

So we can obviously ignore that all our main characters would be dead, because if Marvel's Thor dies, well... then there's no more Marvel's Thor (or at least, Chris Hemsworth as Marvel's Thor...). And I am willing to accept suspension of disbelief for this aspect. The fight on the rainbow bridge is right, Loki getting/"teaming with" the fire devourer is right (though there should be several of them, not one, and we can call it a technical loophole on whether he's allied with them here), the giant wolf is right (though again, there's at least two of them).

Now my big issue here is the same one with most mythologies' portrayals in modern (or at least, non-contemporary to their time) media: Hela. Hel as a place is more ancient than Hel (not Hela) as a goddess -- similar to most mythologies' portrayals of death/the afterlife, though I'm not sure where Scandinavia falls on the scale of "creeped out by death" (like the Greeks were very creeped out by it; Egypt less so, but then again, most of the surviving artifacts we have are funerary in nature, so... who can say for sure).

Death is a natural part of life (albeit unknown and scary), but none of the ancient underworlds were all bad. They definitely had their horrifying parts (ask me to tell you some time about "he who dances in blood" from Ancient Egypt), but on a whole, they were pretty neutral. Everybody dies, they need a place to go, enter the underworld and someone to manage its day-to-day operations. But to a modern audience, "Lord of the Dead" automatically sounds horrifying because we mostly moved on from polytheistic religions, so it's very easy to make the leap from "Lord of the Dead" to "fire and brimstone Satan" (it's the same reason Hades gets a bad rap, when he's arguably the least problematic of the Greek gods; though again, death freaked the Greeks out, so he's also the least talked about in surviving texts).

And these "Satan analogues" make an easy, but cheap, villain for a modern audience. Realistically, all these Lords/Ladies of the Dead and psychopomps were neutral beings who happened to be underworld gods and goddesses that were just doing their job. Some of them have scarier aspects (and definitely don't make them mad because you're in for endless torment; luckily their hot buttons are often few), but on a whole, I'd call them pretty decent. And as I said, demonizing them for an easy analogue is cheap. Especially when there are plenty more problematic beings in mythology and even among the pantheons themselves.

Realistically, Thor's good versus evil thing is snakes (which is fairly common among mythologies, actually), ergo, the villain should have been a giant snake (and it was in the actual myth, for Thor specifically at least). This has been my diatribe on Ragnarok (the myth), I will now take questions if there are any. I am still also happy to discuss why a polearm (such as Hela's spears) is actually a great and accurate weapon for combat. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

But then again, y'all knew this type of thing was something I could discuss for a very long time, lol (though, as I mentioned, my off-hand knowledge of Norse mythology is much weaker).


Hahaha, I replied to your first post before I saw this one... but yeah... definitely did get distracted by an old movie as well.  Forrest Gump is another great one!  Long live the 90s!

Long live the 90's! I am not much better this evening; our dinner came and while we were eating, I ended up getting sucked into the 30 for 30 on the 1983 Draft, which is fine... except I've already seen it at least twice, lol.

I did get almost 700 words down this afternoon after spending an hour making myself an outline! :o I kept thinking how you would be so proud. :-* (Although, this is around the same point in the novel where I ended up making a chapter-by-chapter outline for PBox too, and we all know how well that went as far as amount of detail, lol. Oh "Kevin's power to heal is awesome, also there's plants" you remain infamous.) I ultimately decided I probably do need to take the time to write one of the arcs fully before going back and forth to the other one because it has more clear events that need to happen. I want to make sure I give them all adequate chapter time based on what the story needs, rather than having to rush through them for the other arc, which has less events, so it feels more flexible in the number of chapters it could take up (even though they're ideally both about equal length arcs). My only real goal this weekend is to write bout 1,000 more words, because then I'll be a week ahead on my word count goal. :)

All this said, I have eleven chapters to go, plus that mundanely funny Nick scene I can't come up with, but that chapter is done otherwise, so I'm calling it done. That one was on the four days per chapter schedule, so I guess we'll see how quickly it goes sticking with one arc versus going between them. I wonder if I'll feel like writing the other one when I get to the parts I marked as cliffhangers. Not quite sure how I feel having an outline yet, lol.


Edited to Add (because I didn't want to make a new post):

Oh! I also found this compilation of twitter/tumblr jokes for writers today: https://www.buzzfeed.com/alliehayes/writer-jokes-for-writers-who-write-sometimes?origin=web-hf (https://www.buzzfeed.com/alliehayes/writer-jokes-for-writers-who-write-sometimes?origin=web-hf)

I laughed so hard at the first one with Charlie and the string board because that's totally me. Also reacting to my own writing and the ones about character reactions to things I write and describing settings.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 08, 2021, 11:52:28 PM
I wish we got all of July off. I keep suggesting it, lol. It's about a week or so. I haven't taken a vacation since last March and I was only gone a day. I may use some of that in July. Live a little... And by that, I mean absolutely hang out at home an extra week, relax, write, and do chores/run errands, lol.

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.


Yup! November would be the start of my almost every day writing, but October is really when I started writing again, so I'm looking forward to it. The fact that I'll have most likely finished a novel by then is exciting too. :) That's the fastest I've ever written something except back in my middle school/early high school days.

I'm excited that you finished up two stories in the past year and are now writing a third! That's great consistency!

That's awesome!  What a good feeling that will be when you finish it.


I think a Titanic night is well deserved! I'm glad you finally got to watch it; I know you wanted to when Tracy was finishing up If I Knew Then. As long as the streak's even a little bit alive, I'd say do what you want with your evening. :) Whether that's writing or Unbreakable or Titanic again.

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.


LOL! Those are more along the lines of what I was trying to come up with, yes. He needs to wash his hands. This is why he's always sick. It just needs to be something that's enough for a little scene that would be funny to AJ and the audience... And I've drawn a blank. I finished the rest of that chapter, but yeah, I give up on that.

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.


I did get almost 700 words down this afternoon after spending an hour making myself an outline! :o I kept thinking how you would be so proud. :-* (Although, this is around the same point in the novel where I ended up making a chapter-by-chapter outline for PBox too, and we all know how well that went as far as amount of detail, lol. Oh "Kevin's power to heal is awesome, also there's plants" you remain infamous.) I ultimately decided I probably do need to take the time to write one of the arcs fully before going back and forth to the other one because it has more clear events that need to happen. I want to make sure I give them all adequate chapter time based on what the story needs, rather than having to rush through them for the other arc, which has less events, so it feels more flexible in the number of chapters it could take up (even though they're ideally both about equal length arcs). My only real goal this weekend is to write bout 1,000 more words, because then I'll be a week ahead on my word count goal. :)

All this said, I have eleven chapters to go, plus that mundanely funny Nick scene I can't come up with, but that chapter is done otherwise, so I'm calling it done. That one was on the four days per chapter schedule, so I guess we'll see how quickly it goes sticking with one arc versus going between them. I wonder if I'll feel like writing the other one when I get to the parts I marked as cliffhangers. Not quite sure how I feel having an outline yet, lol.

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.


Oh! I also found this compilation of twitter/tumblr jokes for writers today: https://www.buzzfeed.com/alliehayes/writer-jokes-for-writers-who-write-sometimes?origin=web-hf (https://www.buzzfeed.com/alliehayes/writer-jokes-for-writers-who-write-sometimes?origin=web-hf)

I laughed so hard at the first one with Charlie and the string board because that's totally me. Also reacting to my own writing and the ones about character reactions to things I write and describing settings.

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

#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!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 09, 2021, 12:11:42 AM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 09, 2021, 12:26:04 AM
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. ;D

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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 09, 2021, 01:02:09 AM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 09, 2021, 10:31:59 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 09, 2021, 11:10:34 PM
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" (https://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=44) 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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 11, 2021, 09:11:18 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 11, 2021, 09:39:44 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 11, 2021, 09:50:32 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 11, 2021, 10:00:59 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 11, 2021, 10:10:34 PM
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" (https://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=6894&chapter=44) 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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 11, 2021, 10:28:37 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 11, 2021, 10:29:35 PM
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!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 11, 2021, 10:51:40 PM
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. :shrug: 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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 11, 2021, 11:17:41 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on May 11, 2021, 11:51:29 PM
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.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 12, 2021, 06:38:27 PM
Love a good Titanic love triangle! And then there's dark horse Lance! lol

I know we've talked about how movies are really inspiring for you before, Tracy; is there one that's inspiring History?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on May 12, 2021, 09:56:45 PM
No lol. I have been just reading timelines and coming up with it and that's why I was so stuck for a little bit.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 12, 2021, 10:18:36 PM
I hear you on that! I think every time I've actually bothered to make a timeline, I get myself stuck, lol. So I feel like it could be hard to strictly follow BSB timelines to craft a tale. Maybe that's my next challenge to myself.

How's writing going now in general? I know you posted again this week. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on May 12, 2021, 10:27:11 PM
I have a little started for the next chapter so if all goes well I'll be updating again by next Monday.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 12, 2021, 10:30:51 PM
Yay! That's exciting! Is work a little less hectic now?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 12, 2021, 11:21:25 PM
So we were talking yesterday about our line for dark and twisted things... And this isn't a major dark and twisted thing, but it's apparently what I wanted to write today:

Nick poked the stick in his hand into the ground, brushing the remnants of the fish bones skewered on it into the dirt with a sickening crunch before absentmindedly poking the fire with the end. When the stick ignited, he pulled it back, twirling it as he blew out the flame before thrusting it into the dirt again.

Yum, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 13, 2021, 09:06:08 PM
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...

Eh, it's not the same as just watching the whole thing in one sitting, but it's what I would have done when actually writing anyway - just watch the songs I'm writing about.  I think I'm done with the actual concert part for now and have moved on to after the concert, so... yay?

Yeah, you can never capture the magic of a concert with words alone.  I think that's the main reason I don't like writing concert scenes.  It's a lot of writing lyrics and trying to describe what they're doing while they're singing.


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.

I love that scale!  I can't speak for Mare, but I will say that even as a teenybopper when I wasn't a fan of Nick, I still liked Frick & Frack.  I just leaned more heavily toward the Frick side.  Now I appreciate them both equally.

Yeah, makes sense.  Titanic is mostly fine for a ten-year-old, but the nudity... the drawing scene and the car scene make it questionable.  I was 12 going on 13, and one of the seven times I saw it was with my grandpa LOL.  Those scenes were super awkward then.

I also saw all the movies my parents wouldn't approve of at friends' houses during sleepovers LOL.  Actually, in the midst of our Titanic/Leonardo DiCaprio obsession, my friends and I made it our mission to watch every movie Leo had made up until that point.  I had a Leo biography that talked about them all, so every time we had a sleepover, we would try to rent one.  We planned ahead which one we were going to try to rent based on whose house we were at and how lenient their parents were, because some of his movies were completely inappropriate for kids our age.  Basketball Diaries and Total Eclipse were the worst... pretty sure that's how I first learned about blow jobs and anal sex LOL.  I laugh at the thought of us as 13-year-olds watching all these serious, adult dramas and period pieces at our sleepovers.  We liked most of them, and we just made fun of the ones we didn't like or understand.


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.

Well, she was "new money" LOL.  I love that your students recognized her badassery instead of calling her a Karen!  If it comes up again in class, I should find a clip from the movie to show them.  I love Kathy Bates!  That movie was so well cast.


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

LOL Exactly.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 13, 2021, 09:10:27 PM
No lol. I have been just reading timelines and coming up with it and that's why I was so stuck for a little bit.

I'm glad you got yourself unstuck!  Are you trying to come up with more ideas for the 2011-2012 part of the timeline or past events?  I'm assuming you will write about the NKOTBSB concert where they announced Kevin was coming back at some point.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 13, 2021, 09:11:09 PM
So we were talking yesterday about our line for dark and twisted things... And this isn't a major dark and twisted thing, but it's apparently what I wanted to write today:

Nick poked the stick in his hand into the ground, brushing the remnants of the fish bones skewered on it into the dirt with a sickening crunch before absentmindedly poking the fire with the end. When the stick ignited, he pulled it back, twirling it as he blew out the flame before thrusting it into the dirt again.

Yum, lol.

I love that description!  It's something I would do LOL.  I like to light marshmallows on fire and blow them out instead of gently toasting them.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 13, 2021, 09:22:19 PM
Eh, it's not the same as just watching the whole thing in one sitting, but it's what I would have done when actually writing anyway - just watch the songs I'm writing about.  I think I'm done with the actual concert part for now and have moved on to after the concert, so... yay?

Yeah, you can never capture the magic of a concert with words alone.  I think that's the main reason I don't like writing concert scenes.  It's a lot of writing lyrics and trying to describe what they're doing while they're singing.

Yay! Glad you're getting to after the concert debauchery instead. Hopefully everything flows well from this point on.

Same. Now that we've decided that linking to videos is acceptable, that's what I'd plan on doing from now on, lol. Or just skipping them entirely.


I love that scale!  I can't speak for Mare, but I will say that even as a teenybopper when I wasn't a fan of Nick, I still liked Frick & Frack.  I just leaned more heavily toward the Frick side.  Now I appreciate them both equally.

It's because Frick & Frack brought out this silly and joyful dynamic between them and individually. And they were just all smiles. I like to pretend it's still exactly like that in my writing, even though I know it's not. You know, they were my favorites, so Frick & Frack was just the pinnacle of brotherly Backstreet love for me.


Yeah, makes sense.  Titanic is mostly fine for a ten-year-old, but the nudity... the drawing scene and the car scene make it questionable.  I was 12 going on 13, and one of the seven times I saw it was with my grandpa LOL.  Those scenes were super awkward then.

I'm sure she would have been fine fast-forwarding through the violence/nudity/dead bodies at our house, lol. Titanic stops before they hit the iceberg, don't even have to change the tape, lol!


I also saw all the movies my parents wouldn't approve of at friends' houses during sleepovers LOL.  Actually, in the midst of our Titanic/Leonardo DiCaprio obsession, my friends and I made it our mission to watch every movie Leo had made up until that point.  I had a Leo biography that talked about them all, so every time we had a sleepover, we would try to rent one.  We planned ahead which one we were going to try to rent based on whose house we were at and how lenient their parents were, because some of his movies were completely inappropriate for kids our age.  Basketball Diaries and Total Eclipse were the worst... pretty sure that's how I first learned about blow jobs and anal sex LOL.  I laugh at the thought of us as 13-year-olds watching all these serious, adult dramas and period pieces at our sleepovers.  We liked most of them, and we just made fun of the ones we didn't like or understand.

I like your strategic planning to watch Leo movies and glad you got to watch most of them because of it. And better to learn about blow jobs and anal sex from Leo than on the streets! ;) I think Titanic (obviously) and Romeo + Juliet are still my two favorites. You?


Well, she was "new money" LOL.  I love that your students recognized her badassery instead of calling her a Karen!  If it comes up again in class, I should find a clip from the movie to show them.  I love Kathy Bates!  That movie was so well cast.

Stop putting your logic into why her house was small, lol. Money is money. (That's not true at all, there's definitely cases where there's money and cases where there's money. Generational wealth is insane.) As they should; she's a badass. Also I don't think they know what a Karen is yet? I've never heard them talk about Karens, so...  :shrug: Or make a clip. The lifeboat scene is the clear one that comes to mind on the badass scale. It was so well cast!


I love that description!  It's something I would do LOL.  I like to light marshmallows on fire and blow them out instead of gently toasting them.

Thanks! I also enjoyed writing it. The POV character watching him do it is hating it, lol. I don't know that I would do it with a fish carcass, but I also like to light my marshmallows on fire. They're better burnt than toasted for sure.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 13, 2021, 09:37:01 PM
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?

I never really answered these questions myself, so here goes.

The Scene in my stories tends to be a big reveal or shocking moment.  In Broken, I guess there were really two - the cancer diagnosis and the choppage bombshell.  But since the cancer diagnosis came early in the story, the choppage is really that part I was looking forward to getting to for a long time.  In BMS, it was the car accident.  In AHTIM, it was when Nick makes his "discovery."  In Bethlehem, it was the accident and the gunshot.  I also have novels where it's hard to narrow it down to "that scene" because the story is full of big moments, or the drama starts in the beginning and never really stops.

As far as signature scenes in other people's stories go, definitely MINE in "It Stays With You."  The bot fly scene in Steph's "Save a Prayer."  The DWLYN coma scene in Whitney's "Where Can We Go From Here."  The "tentacle rape" scene in Bobbi's "Signal to Noise."  They tend to be scenes we've either talked about a lot here, or scenes that stand out in stories I've read multiple times.  I have a harder time remembering specific scenes from stories I only read once, even if I really liked them.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 13, 2021, 09:52:17 PM
I never really answered these questions myself, so here goes.

The Scene in my stories tends to be a big reveal or shocking moment.  In Broken, I guess there were really two - the cancer diagnosis and the choppage bombshell.  But since the cancer diagnosis came early in the story, the choppage is really that part I was looking forward to getting to for a long time.  In BMS, it was the car accident.  In AHTIM, it was when Nick makes his "discovery."  In Bethlehem, it was the accident and the gunshot.  I also have novels where it's hard to narrow it down to "that scene" because the story is full of big moments, or the drama starts in the beginning and never really stops.

Those all make sense and they were really big moments in the stories! I haven't read AHTIM, but I can confirm that the gunshot destroyed me (as I mentioned when I read it).

I wonder if The Scenes become Signature Scenes if the readers are as excited about them as the authors or if it's something that gives a memorable reaction and authors tend to painstakingly craft our "The Scenes"? Because I would definitely call the choppage bombshell a signature scene for Broken.


As far as signature scenes in other people's stories go, definitely MINE in "It Stays With You."  The bot fly scene in Steph's "Save a Prayer."  The DWLYN coma scene in Whitney's "Where Can We Go From Here."  The "tentacle rape" scene in Bobbi's "Signal to Noise."  They tend to be scenes we've either talked about a lot here, or scenes that stand out in stories I've read multiple times.  I have a harder time remembering specific scenes from stories I only read once, even if I really liked them.

Oh yeah, the tentacles in Signal to Noise! Alright, I clearly need to go back and do some reading at some point, lol. I feel like it's easier to cement a signature scene for a story when a bunch of people all react to it at the same time and/or continue to bring it up.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 13, 2021, 09:53:56 PM
I'm sure she would have been fine fast-forwarding through the violence/nudity/dead bodies at our house, lol. Titanic stops before they hit the iceberg, don't even have to change the tape, lol!

Ahh, changing the tape!  And hoping you remembered to rewind it last time you watched it!  Kids today will never know the struggle LOL.

I still have my original VHS of Titanic, even though the VCR tried to eat it once and damaged the car scene so that it messed up in the middle.  I have never been able to bring myself to throw it away, even though I have two copies of the DVD - the regular one and the Collector's Edition.  The Collector's Edition is beautiful, but stupid because it also splits the movie between two discs.  Maybe that's meant to capture the nostalgia of switching the tapes for our generation who watched it that way originally, but it's annoying!  So unless I want to watch the special features, I only actually watch the regular DVD.  I hope they release a special 25th anniversary edition next year with the whole movie on ONE disc and even more special features!  I wish Leo would do a commentary.


I like your strategic planning to watch Leo movies and glad you got to watch most of them because of it. And better to learn about blow jobs and anal sex from Leo than on the streets! ;) I think Titanic (obviously) and Romeo + Juliet are still my two favorites. You?

I like most of his 90s movies; I think the only one I really did not like was Total Eclipse.  Titanic is obviously my favorite, but after that, probably The Man in the Iron Mask.  Double the Leo, double the fun!  I love the whole movie though, not just the Leo parts.  My favorite of his more recent movies is probably Django Unchained - apparently I like Leo as a villain LOL.  I can't wait till his Netflix movie comes out!


Stop putting your logic into why her house was small, lol. Money is money. (That's not true at all, there's definitely cases where there's money and cases where there's money. Generational wealth is insane.) As they should; she's a badass. Also I don't think they know what a Karen is yet? I've never heard them talk about Karens, so...  :shrug: Or make a clip. The lifeboat scene is the clear one that comes to mind on the badass scale. It was so well cast!

Yeah, it would definitely be the lifeboat scene.  That is the part of the book I was reading where they called her a Karen, but if they could actually see it play out, they might see it differently.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 13, 2021, 10:21:31 PM
Ahh, changing the tape!  And hoping you remembered to rewind it last time you watched it!  Kids today will never know the struggle LOL.

I still have my original VHS of Titanic, even though the VCR tried to eat it once and damaged the car scene so that it messed up in the middle.  I have never been able to bring myself to throw it away, even though I have two copies of the DVD - the regular one and the Collector's Edition.  The Collector's Edition is beautiful, but stupid because it also splits the movie between two discs.  Maybe that's meant to capture the nostalgia of switching the tapes for our generation who watched it that way originally, but it's annoying!  So unless I want to watch the special features, I only actually watch the regular DVD.  I hope they release a special 25th anniversary edition next year with the whole movie on ONE disc and even more special features!  I wish Leo would do a commentary.

They will never know the struggle! I don't own the Collector's Edition because I didn't want to relive switching the discs (lol), but I would buy a 25th anniversary edition. I feel like Leo never does commentary, but he and Kate should just do commentary for a whole track. It would be beautiful.


I like most of his 90s movies; I think the only one I really did not like was Total Eclipse.  Titanic is obviously my favorite, but after that, probably The Man in the Iron Mask.  Double the Leo, double the fun!  I love the whole movie though, not just the Leo parts.  My favorite of his more recent movies is probably Django Unchained - apparently I like Leo as a villain LOL.  I can't wait till his Netflix movie comes out!

Apparently Man in the Iron Mask slipped my mind, because I also love that one (what is wrong with my brain? lol). I thought it was also really well cast. Django is good. I enjoy Wolf of Wall Street as well. Wait, what, a netflix movie?! I have been so consumed in Backstreet nostalgia that I am not up-to-date on my Leo news, apparently!


Yeah, it would definitely be the lifeboat scene.  That is the part of the book I was reading where they called her a Karen, but if they could actually see it play out, they might see it differently.

Ugh, the youths! If telling two lifeboats full of fussy rich ladies that they need to get cozy and go back and save some other people is being a Karen, then... I would happily be a Karen. But Molly doesn't deserve that. I strive to be a Molly all the time. Though she's much better at it than I am, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on May 14, 2021, 01:54:48 AM
I'm glad you got yourself unstuck!  Are you trying to come up with more ideas for the 2011-2012 part of the timeline or past events?  I'm assuming you will write about the NKOTBSB concert where they announced Kevin was coming back at some point.

Well right now I'm at the point in 2011 where AJ gets married, and then it's going to be in 2012 because not much else happens in 2011.  In the beginning of 2012 there's not a whole lot of things going on... Other than Nick's sister passing away, Nick's solo tour and then in March or April it's announced that Kevin is coming back. So there's not a whole lot left of the story to go. I'm doing my best to fill in with the memories for one chapter and keeping the "current" events for another but it's been challenging for sure.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: mare on May 14, 2021, 01:30:09 PM
I think Dee asked if I am or was a frick and frack girl and the answer is no lol maybe because I wasn’t a teenager when I started loving them. If I was, I probably would’ve been totally team frick and frack. Unfortunately though, even though the two of them together did produce a number of warm fuzzy moments. I used to find Nick at his most annoying when he was with Brian. Truthfully, I’ve always been a Kevin and Nick girl, which should be no big shock to anyone who has read my stuff. I also do enjoy Nick and Howie too.

I also saw an It Stays question somewhere? I think it was about scenes that you were excited to write. By far my favorite chapter to write was the one where Brian remembers carving MINE into Nick’s arm. I couldn’t wait for people’s reactions to that. It wasn’t my all time favorite anticipation scene though. That one was when the code is cracked in To Protect and Serve. I was really looking forward to people’s reactions to that too.

Hope everyone is doing well and your writing is thriving.

Happy weekend!

I’m getting my second Pfizer shot on Sunday.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 15, 2021, 06:21:16 PM
Those all make sense and they were really big moments in the stories! I haven't read AHTIM, but I can confirm that the gunshot destroyed me (as I mentioned when I read it).

I wonder if The Scenes become Signature Scenes if the readers are as excited about them as the authors or if it's something that gives a memorable reaction and authors tend to painstakingly craft our "The Scenes"? Because I would definitely call the choppage bombshell a signature scene for Broken.

Thanks!  Yeah, I think that's exactly why there is overlap between The Scenes and Signature Scenes, because they both tend to be big, memorable moments in the story.


Oh yeah, the tentacles in Signal to Noise! Alright, I clearly need to go back and do some reading at some point, lol. I feel like it's easier to cement a signature scene for a story when a bunch of people all react to it at the same time and/or continue to bring it up.

I reread Signal to Noise in its entirety a few years ago, and it still held up!  Great suspense story.   Yeah, the discussion of specific scenes in stories a lot of us have read definitely make them more memorable.  Otherwise I tend to remember stories I've only read once more generally in terms of the overall plot and how I felt reading the story, rather than specific scenes that stuck with me.


They will never know the struggle! I don't own the Collector's Edition because I didn't want to relive switching the discs (lol), but I would buy a 25th anniversary edition. I feel like Leo never does commentary, but he and Kate should just do commentary for a whole track. It would be beautiful.

Yes!  The Collector's Edition has three different commentary tracks - I think Kate is on one, James Cameron does one, and I can't remember the third... maybe James Horner, the composer?  I have watched them all once, but it's been a long time.  I would thoroughly enjoy a Kate and Leo commentary.


Apparently Man in the Iron Mask slipped my mind, because I also love that one (what is wrong with my brain? lol). I thought it was also really well cast. Django is good. I enjoy Wolf of Wall Street as well. Wait, what, a netflix movie?! I have been so consumed in Backstreet nostalgia that I am not up-to-date on my Leo news, apparently!

LOL I had to go to his IMDB page and look at the list before I answered because he has so many great movies!  More good ones than bad ones.  I liked Wolf of Wall Street too.  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was great as well.  It's always nice to see Leo in roles that aren't so serious.  I enjoyed The Revenant too, but damn, that movie is depressing and hard to watch - and I say that as someone who generally enjoys depressing dramas LOL.

Yeah, he made a movie with Jennifer Lawrence for Netflix called "Don't Look Up."  They play astronomers who have to warn people about a comet that's coming to destroy the world.  Sounds like my kind of movie!  It's supposed to be released sometime this year, but they haven't announced a specific date yet.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 15, 2021, 06:24:14 PM
Well right now I'm at the point in 2011 where AJ gets married, and then it's going to be in 2012 because not much else happens in 2011.  In the beginning of 2012 there's not a whole lot of things going on... Other than Nick's sister passing away, Nick's solo tour and then in March or April it's announced that Kevin is coming back. So there's not a whole lot left of the story to go. I'm doing my best to fill in with the memories for one chapter and keeping the "current" events for another but it's been challenging for sure.

That's exciting that you're getting close to the end!  It is definitely challenging to stick to a specific format or pattern like that, where you alternate between two types of scenes or POVs.  Sometimes you have too much content for one and not enough for the other.  But you're doing a great job keeping it balanced so far!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 15, 2021, 06:29:13 PM
I think Dee asked if I am or was a frick and frack girl and the answer is no lol maybe because I wasn’t a teenager when I started loving them. If I was, I probably would’ve been totally team frick and frack. Unfortunately though, even though the two of them together did produce a number of warm fuzzy moments. I used to find Nick at his most annoying when he was with Brian. Truthfully, I’ve always been a Kevin and Nick girl, which should be no big shock to anyone who has read my stuff. I also do enjoy Nick and Howie too.

You know, I actually agree with you about Nick being his most annoying when he was with Brian back in the day LOL.  That is one reason I wasn't a big fan of Nick back in the day.  He always sounded so dumb in interviews, and he tried too hard to be as funny as Brian and AJ.  Obviously my opinion of him changed as he got older and found himself.  I still love the friendship they had, but I enjoy Nowie and whatever we call Nick and Kevin too.


I also saw an It Stays question somewhere? I think it was about scenes that you were excited to write. By far my favorite chapter to write was the one where Brian remembers carving MINE into Nick’s arm. I couldn’t wait for people’s reactions to that. It wasn’t my all time favorite anticipation scene though. That one was when the code is cracked in To Protect and Serve. I was really looking forward to people’s reactions to that too.

Hope everyone is doing well and your writing is thriving.

Happy weekend!

I’m getting my second Pfizer shot on Sunday.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 15, 2021, 08:32:22 PM
Well right now I'm at the point in 2011 where AJ gets married, and then it's going to be in 2012 because not much else happens in 2011.  In the beginning of 2012 there's not a whole lot of things going on... Other than Nick's sister passing away, Nick's solo tour and then in March or April it's announced that Kevin is coming back. So there's not a whole lot left of the story to go. I'm doing my best to fill in with the memories for one chapter and keeping the "current" events for another but it's been challenging for sure.

Yay, you're almost done! You've been working so hard! It's hard keeping two timelines straight. But I think you've got this. The flashback parts were adorable. I still need to catch up.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 15, 2021, 08:44:21 PM
I think Dee asked if I am or was a frick and frack girl and the answer is no lol maybe because I wasn’t a teenager when I started loving them. If I was, I probably would’ve been totally team frick and frack. Unfortunately though, even though the two of them together did produce a number of warm fuzzy moments. I used to find Nick at his most annoying when he was with Brian. Truthfully, I’ve always been a Kevin and Nick girl, which should be no big shock to anyone who has read my stuff. I also do enjoy Nick and Howie too.

I assumed you weren't, I know you're team Kevin and Nick. I guess I can see why you would have found him annoying then, despite warm and fuzzy moments. I'm sure my Frick & Frack love is heavily tinted by nostalgia and being so young at the time. I found "annoying" Nick endearing, maybe I'm the only one! lol

You know, I actually agree with you about Nick being his most annoying when he was with Brian back in the day LOL.  That is one reason I wasn't a big fan of Nick back in the day.  He always sounded so dumb in interviews, and he tried too hard to be as funny as Brian and AJ.  Obviously my opinion of him changed as he got older and found himself.  I still love the friendship they had, but I enjoy Nowie and whatever we call Nick and Kevin too.

I am the only one, lol. Alas, I was so young and naive. Team Nick & Everyone!


I also saw an It Stays question somewhere? I think it was about scenes that you were excited to write. By far my favorite chapter to write was the one where Brian remembers carving MINE into Nick’s arm. I couldn’t wait for people’s reactions to that. It wasn’t my all time favorite anticipation scene though. That one was when the code is cracked in To Protect and Serve. I was really looking forward to people’s reactions to that too.

So MINE was one of your The Scenes. I hope you've enjoyed all the reaction to it in the past and that it's extremely memorable still. Do you find that your "The Scenes" are about imagining reader reaction more than your own enjoyment of the big moment?

I guess, does everyone else feel that way too? That the big moments feel big because they feel like they'll get a big audience reaction or is it more personal?


I’m getting my second Pfizer shot on Sunday.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 15, 2021, 08:51:33 PM
I reread Signal to Noise in its entirety a few years ago, and it still held up!  Great suspense story.   Yeah, the discussion of specific scenes in stories a lot of us have read definitely make them more memorable.  Otherwise I tend to remember stories I've only read once more generally in terms of the overall plot and how I felt reading the story, rather than specific scenes that stuck with me.

Good to know! Do you often read old favorites? How well do they tend to hold up over the years? Have we already talked about this, lol. Same, general is usually what I remember too. I don't know if that's compounded by the fact that I didn't really think about fanfic at all for a decade or what.


Yes!  The Collector's Edition has three different commentary tracks - I think Kate is on one, James Cameron does one, and I can't remember the third... maybe James Horner, the composer?  I have watched them all once, but it's been a long time.  I would thoroughly enjoy a Kate and Leo commentary.

James Horner would make sense, since the music was such a big part of the story and getting the modern tracks to match the feel of the historical music would be an undertaking.


LOL I had to go to his IMDB page and look at the list before I answered because he has so many great movies!  More good ones than bad ones.  I liked Wolf of Wall Street too.  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was great as well.  It's always nice to see Leo in roles that aren't so serious.  I enjoyed The Revenant too, but damn, that movie is depressing and hard to watch - and I say that as someone who generally enjoys depressing dramas LOL.

Yeah, he made a movie with Jennifer Lawrence for Netflix called "Don't Look Up."  They play astronomers who have to warn people about a comet that's coming to destroy the world.  Sounds like my kind of movie!  It's supposed to be released sometime this year, but they haven't announced a specific date yet.

For shame. Kidding! I should have; my memory is clearly unreliable at best. I still haven't seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; we meant to watch it and then never did, but I keep meaning to. I enjoy him in less serious roles, it highlights his range. And yes! The Revenant was so depressing, but I'm glad it finally got him the Oscar he's deserved.

Ooh, Leo and Jennifer Lawrence in a melodramatic disaster movie?! Cool! I'm in.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 15, 2021, 09:06:49 PM
Hope everyone is doing well and your writing is thriving.

Happy weekend!

Happy weekend! Overall, well. I had a sneak peak of my new job at work on Friday to fill in for one of the other Admins who was out and I was so exhausted by the end of the day (it probably didn't help that I was up at 4:30am panicking about getting to work on time to open the school, haha). I ended up in bed by 9pm and asleep maybe half an hour later after trying to fall asleep on my keyboard. But, I woke up fairly early this morning ready to write, so...

Writing has been going well! I finally came up with a funny Nick scene to finish out that chapter (it's Nick and a frog in case anyone was wondering), so that felt like it lightened my "stuck feeling" sitting in the back of my mind. And then I finished the other chapter I'd been working on today. So now I officially have four chapters written! Ten to go! I started the next chapter today and I did take the afternoon off to meal prep, then wrote for an hour, then ate dinner, then checked in here, but the chapter's been on my mind since I finished the first one, so it feels like I might chunk it out today or at least get a good portion of it on paper. Wish me luck!

Oh, I guess on a less exciting note, our washer made a leak in our ceiling, so that's been fun. We've still been using the old one that tried to catch fire since they wouldn't install the new one without installing the dryer too (which is backordered for two more weeks). :( Time for a laundry mat.


My writing has not been thriving for the last couple weeks, but otherwise I'm doing well.

You've got the end of the school year! That probably feels like a lot of more pressing things on your plate. But you've been writing consistently, even though it's just a little each day, so I believe in you! I bet school will end, you'll take a couple days to nap and prep for summer vacation and then write a million words.  :biggrin:
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 15, 2021, 11:11:05 PM
Ten to go! I started the next chapter today and I did take the afternoon off to meal prep, then wrote for an hour, then ate dinner, then checked in here, but the chapter's been on my mind since I finished the first one, so it feels like I might chunk it out today or at least get a good portion of it on paper. Wish me luck!

I was a little overzealous in thinking I would be super productive this evening and finish a whole chapter. But I did write 1,136 words of it today, which is about a third of the way finished, so that's a pretty decent chunk; plus over half of it was after my dinner break, so I'm pretty proud of that. Hopefully I get another wave of "feels like a good writing day" tomorrow too. :) I won't have to research rice paddy farming as much tomorrow (hopefully, having done it tonight), so it should go much quicker.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 16, 2021, 02:34:07 PM
I am the only one, lol. Alas, I was so young and naive. Team Nick & Everyone!

Aww, no, Mare and I are definitely in the minority.  Almost every other fan I know has always adored Nick.  I was just a late bloomer LOL.


I guess, does everyone else feel that way too? That the big moments feel big because they feel like they'll get a big audience reaction or is it more personal?

Absolutely!  Those scenes are usually big moments for the character(s) too, which make them exciting to look forward to and write, but a lot of that anticipation does come from imagining and hoping for the reader reaction, especially when they're meant to be shocking moments.


Good to know! Do you often read old favorites? How well do they tend to hold up over the years? Have we already talked about this, lol. Same, general is usually what I remember too. I don't know if that's compounded by the fact that I didn't really think about fanfic at all for a decade or what.

Less often than I used to.  I've always been someone who rereads and rewatches books, movies, and shows I enjoy, and so I used to reread favorite fanfics often.  Now I only do if I'm feeling nostalgic or bored or looking for inspiration.  I started reading several of my old favorite suspense stories when I was working on AHTIM, but Signal to Noise is the only one I actually read all the way through.  I guess that means it held up the best, but that's not to say the others didn't.  I just don't have the attention span I used to for reading fanfic.

That said, there are definitely old fanfics that I loved back in the day, but look at now and go, "Wow, this is hot mess of grammar mistakes" or "This is so cheesy and unrealistic."  I still love them in the same way I love "Saved by the Bell" - I know they're not good, but they're still fun and entertaining.  But if I came across them for the first time now, I would probably not get sucked in the same way I did as a teenybopper.


For shame. Kidding! I should have; my memory is clearly unreliable at best. I still haven't seen Once Upon a Time in Hollywood; we meant to watch it and then never did, but I keep meaning to. I enjoy him in less serious roles, it highlights his range. And yes! The Revenant was so depressing, but I'm glad it finally got him the Oscar he's deserved.

Ooh, Leo and Jennifer Lawrence in a melodramatic disaster movie?! Cool! I'm in.

Definitely watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood when you get a chance!  And yes... he had to get attacked by a bear, but he finally got his Oscar!  Well-deserved!

Yeah, it sounds awesome!  I love Jennifer Lawrence too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 16, 2021, 02:43:32 PM
Happy weekend! Overall, well. I had a sneak peak of my new job at work on Friday to fill in for one of the other Admins who was out and I was so exhausted by the end of the day (it probably didn't help that I was up at 4:30am panicking about getting to work on time to open the school, haha). I ended up in bed by 9pm and asleep maybe half an hour later after trying to fall asleep on my keyboard. But, I woke up fairly early this morning ready to write, so...

Writing has been going well! I finally came up with a funny Nick scene to finish out that chapter (it's Nick and a frog in case anyone was wondering), so that felt like it lightened my "stuck feeling" sitting in the back of my mind. And then I finished the other chapter I'd been working on today. So now I officially have four chapters written! Ten to go! I started the next chapter today and I did take the afternoon off to meal prep, then wrote for an hour, then ate dinner, then checked in here, but the chapter's been on my mind since I finished the first one, so it feels like I might chunk it out today or at least get a good portion of it on paper. Wish me luck!

I'm glad writing went well for you this weekend!  You were productive!  Was that the mundane thing you were trying to come up with?  I hope it doesn't also involve a chimp... LOL.  How's today's writing going?


Oh, I guess on a less exciting note, our washer made a leak in our ceiling, so that's been fun. We've still been using the old one that tried to catch fire since they wouldn't install the new one without installing the dryer too (which is backordered for two more weeks). :( Time for a laundry mat.

Oh noes!  That damn washer is trying to ruin your house!  Time for the laundry mat indeed.  Hopefully you can get away with only going once or twice until your new washer and dryer come. 


You've got the end of the school year! That probably feels like a lot of more pressing things on your plate. But you've been writing consistently, even though it's just a little each day, so I believe in you! I bet school will end, you'll take a couple days to nap and prep for summer vacation and then write a million words.  :biggrin:

I hope so!  The streak is still alive.  Yesterday was not a great writing day, but I also did not follow my usual weekend morning routine.  This morning I did, and I ended up writing 800 some words and finishing my chapter!  So I'm feeling better about it now.  I think the next chapter will be easier to write once I get it started.

I also wanted to share that I tried the Comic Sans trick last night.  I only wrote 199 words, so I don't think it made a difference.  I did keep the story in Comic Sans until I finished my chapter today, but I think my success today had more to do with coffee and getting back into my morning routine than writing in a different font.  I promptly switched back to my usual Georgia when I finished the chapter.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 16, 2021, 06:56:10 PM
Aww, no, Mare and I are definitely in the minority.  Almost every other fan I know has always adored Nick.  I was just a late bloomer LOL.

Young and naive me had a great time, lol. It's always been fun over here in the pro Nick camp, although his current cryptocurrency phase is not what I wanted to see when I decided to follow him on twitter and my phone says "Ah yes, you like Nick Carter, let's show you every single tweet he makes" and I think, oh dear... I've made a mistake. But I said that in the "all things BSB thread."


Absolutely!  Those scenes are usually big moments for the character(s) too, which make them exciting to look forward to and write, but a lot of that anticipation does come from imagining and hoping for the reader reaction, especially when they're meant to be shocking moments.

I think I enjoy it more for the big moment for the characters aspect, that's what makes them big for me. I feel like I thought more about audience reaction in the moments I was more worried to write than in the ones I enjoyed and anticipated.


Less often than I used to.  I've always been someone who rereads and rewatches books, movies, and shows I enjoy, and so I used to reread favorite fanfics often.  Now I only do if I'm feeling nostalgic or bored or looking for inspiration.  I started reading several of my old favorite suspense stories when I was working on AHTIM, but Signal to Noise is the only one I actually read all the way through.  I guess that means it held up the best, but that's not to say the others didn't.  I just don't have the attention span I used to for reading fanfic.

That said, there are definitely old fanfics that I loved back in the day, but look at now and go, "Wow, this is hot mess of grammar mistakes" or "This is so cheesy and unrealistic."  I still love them in the same way I love "Saved by the Bell" - I know they're not good, but they're still fun and entertaining.  But if I came across them for the first time now, I would probably not get sucked in the same way I did as a teenybopper.

I am also a "re____er." 9 times out of 10, I would rather revisit something I know I'll love than try something new, but every now and again, I'll find something new and adore it. The Good Place comes to mind immediately as one of those, but here I am giving into HBO Max and rewatching the Big Bang Theory, lol. I think I've said it before, but nostalgia is a powerful emotion... though it either gets underplayed or overplayed and there's no happy medium for it.

Did you try to read all of them in one sitting? Like one after the other? I think that would make it hard to stick with them all.

Aww, Saved by the Bell. I loved that show. I own it on DVD, but yes, it definitely makes me think about how ridiculous some... (most?) of the plotlines are, which was made painfully obvious by the reboot, which, unfortunately, does not quite capture the good feelings of the original.


Definitely watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood when you get a chance!  And yes... he had to get attacked by a bear, but he finally got his Oscar!  Well-deserved!

Yeah, it sounds awesome!  I love Jennifer Lawrence too.

Will do! I'll start dropping subtle hints to the hubs that an at-home movie night would be fun, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 16, 2021, 07:23:12 PM
I'm glad writing went well for you this weekend!  You were productive!  Was that the mundane thing you were trying to come up with?  I hope it doesn't also involve a chimp... LOL.  How's today's writing going?

It was the mundane type thing. I'll be honest, I was thinking about when Mare had Nick fall out a window and borrowed inspiration from it. So, Mare, thanks? Hope you don't mind. If you mind, I can change it; I have until the beginning of September for edits. And no chimps, just a frog. (I just looked up what I think you're referring to and I am horrified, also confused that I'm just finding out about this.)

Today's writing is going great, but I feel like it could have been better? I woke up and was like "Yes, this is what happens next in the chapter, then this, and here are two amusing parts and a line that sticks out." But, we were getting lunch with a friend for their birthday, so I hurriedly wrote down these ideas in note form and hoped that post-lunch I would still feel the inspiration. And I did and finished up the chapter, but I feel like I could have kept chugging along into the next one if I'd just been able to sit down and write this morning. Oh well! Finishing a chapter is still great progress!

Five down, nine left to go! I'm also almost halfway to my word count goal, so I'm feeling fairly productive. (Although, I think I need to up again, since my leftovers are only about 8 chapters worth.) I'm following my little outline pretty faithfully (I guess I was correct on how much space the events in this arc would take up), so I only have two or three more chapters until it's finished, then pop back to the other one. Though I think I may be ready to pop back after this next chapter's cliffhanger so I can get them both to the same spot in time.


Oh noes!  That damn washer is trying to ruin your house!  Time for the laundry mat indeed.  Hopefully you can get away with only going once or twice until your new washer and dryer come.

It really is. So frustrating. I'm thinking of just buying new clothes to circumvent the issue, lol.


I hope so!  The streak is still alive.  Yesterday was not a great writing day, but I also did not follow my usual weekend morning routine.  This morning I did, and I ended up writing 800 some words and finishing my chapter!  So I'm feeling better about it now.  I think the next chapter will be easier to write once I get it started.

I also wanted to share that I tried the Comic Sans trick last night.  I only wrote 199 words, so I don't think it made a difference.  I did keep the story in Comic Sans until I finished my chapter today, but I think my success today had more to do with coffee and getting back into my morning routine than writing in a different font.  I promptly switched back to my usual Georgia when I finished the chapter.

Glad the streak is still alive and you finished your chapter! Now you can get past this montage section, I hope, and back into more dramatic good times. I feel you on the routine. I think it helps a lot. Hopefully you can get back into your routine groove this next week.

I wonder how much you would have written without comic sans. We need more information to test the theory! lol I think coffee and routine are bigger indicators of productivity too. Stick with georgia.

Alright, time to dinner and then see if I can at least start one of the scenes from the next chapter! I beleive.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 17, 2021, 08:34:56 PM
Julie, how do you get productive post nap? I was exhausted and took a nap this evening, then tried to get back into writing and made myself a hot chocolate and it's going, but it's going so slowly. Like I sit and contemplate each line, then I type it, then I think about it, then repeat. But then I feel like if I hadn't taken a nap, I wouldn't be typing at all, I would just be a zombie. Are you really productive post nap usually or also kind of ruminating?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 17, 2021, 08:52:22 PM
I think I enjoy it more for the big moment for the characters aspect, that's what makes them big for me. I feel like I thought more about audience reaction in the moments I was more worried to write than in the ones I enjoyed and anticipated.

I can definitely see that too.  A lot of my Scenes involve bad things happening to the Boys, so there's always that fear of, "What are the readers going to think about this?"  I have learned by now that readers generally enjoy bad things happening to the Boys, just as we enjoy making them happen, so I really shouldn't worry about their reaction, but I still get that nervous feeling when I post a big part like the choppage or the gunshot.  When it's a happy moment, like Nick and Claire finally getting back together, then I look forward to the reaction, but I'm also happy for the characters.


I am also a "re____er." 9 times out of 10, I would rather revisit something I know I'll love than try something new, but every now and again, I'll find something new and adore it. The Good Place comes to mind immediately as one of those, but here I am giving into HBO Max and rewatching the Big Bang Theory, lol. I think I've said it before, but nostalgia is a powerful emotion... though it either gets underplayed or overplayed and there's no happy medium for it.

LOL This is like me renewing my Hulu last year as a pandemic gift to myself, only to use it to watch old episodes of ER instead of catching up on The Handmaid's Tale like I intended to.  And I own all 15 seasons of ER on DVD... but damn, it's so much easier to just click through Hulu then get off the couch to change the DVD LOL.


Did you try to read all of them in one sitting? Like one after the other? I think that would make it hard to stick with them all.

Oh no, definitely not.  I didn't even read Signal to Noise in one sitting.  But I guess I got what I wanted out of them because my writing went well.  I tend to read less when the writing's going well and more when it isn't.  I guess that's why I haven't read very much in the last year.


Aww, Saved by the Bell. I loved that show. I own it on DVD, but yes, it definitely makes me think about how ridiculous some... (most?) of the plotlines are, which was made painfully obvious by the reboot, which, unfortunately, does not quite capture the good feelings of the original.

I watched the first episode of the reboot, and yeah... I didn't think it was terrible, but it wasn't good enough to make me want to watch more.


And no chimps, just a frog. (I just looked up what I think you're referring to and I am horrified, also confused that I'm just finding out about this.)

Yeah, it is horrifying!  And after Nick tweeted that video out, there were fans going, "I wanna be the frog to your chimp!"  Effed up.  I think that was during your hiatus, 2011 or so.


Today's writing is going great, but I feel like it could have been better? I woke up and was like "Yes, this is what happens next in the chapter, then this, and here are two amusing parts and a line that sticks out." But, we were getting lunch with a friend for their birthday, so I hurriedly wrote down these ideas in note form and hoped that post-lunch I would still feel the inspiration. And I did and finished up the chapter, but I feel like I could have kept chugging along into the next one if I'd just been able to sit down and write this morning. Oh well! Finishing a chapter is still great progress!

Plans with friends are fun, but do interfere with writing.  As an introvert, I sometimes have to force myself to break out of the writing bubble and be social because I would rather just stay home and write.  But I usually end up having fun when I do go out with friends.  I hope you enjoyed the birthday lunch!  And even if you didn't write as much as you thought you should, at least you finished a chapter!  That is definitely an accomplishment .
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 17, 2021, 08:54:13 PM
Julie, how do you get productive post nap? I was exhausted and took a nap this evening, then tried to get back into writing and made myself a hot chocolate and it's going, but it's going so slowly. Like I sit and contemplate each line, then I type it, then I think about it, then repeat. But then I feel like if I hadn't taken a nap, I wouldn't be typing at all, I would just be a zombie. Are you really productive post nap usually or also kind of ruminating?

On a weeknight, I'm exactly like you - not tired anymore, but also not really productive.  My writing is going the same way as yours tonight.  On a weekend, I can drink caffeine after a nap, and then it usually goes better.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 17, 2021, 09:12:09 PM
I can definitely see that too.  A lot of my Scenes involve bad things happening to the Boys, so there's always that fear of, "What are the readers going to think about this?"  I have learned by now that readers generally enjoy bad things happening to the Boys, just as we enjoy making them happen, so I really shouldn't worry about their reaction, but I still get that nervous feeling when I post a big part like the choppage or the gunshot.  When it's a happy moment, like Nick and Claire finally getting back together, then I look forward to the reaction, but I'm also happy for the characters.

There's just something cathartic about experiencing something bad through fiction. I'm not really sure what it is... the emotional roller coaster, seeing what-ifs, I don't know. Like you hate it, but it's still enjoyable in that way... As I've mentioned, my brain is not braining tonight, lol.


LOL This is like me renewing my Hulu last year as a pandemic gift to myself, only to use it to watch old episodes of ER instead of catching up on The Handmaid's Tale like I intended to.  And I own all 15 seasons of ER on DVD... but damn, it's so much easier to just click through Hulu then get off the couch to change the DVD LOL.

I watch Gilmore Girls on Netflix all the time and also own it on DVD. I have also watched it on that UP TV channel with commercials. It's so much easier to click through Hulu. Or let it do its thing until it asks if you're still watching, lol. Meanwhile, I'm only halfway through Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, lol.


Oh no, definitely not.  I didn't even read Signal to Noise in one sitting.  But I guess I got what I wanted out of them because my writing went well.  I tend to read less when the writing's going well and more when it isn't.  I guess that's why I haven't read very much in the last year.

That's how I'm feeling. I feel like I should spend some more time reading anything... but I've been a writing machine.


Yeah, it is horrifying!  And after Nick tweeted that video out, there were fans going, "I wanna be the frog to your chimp!"  Effed up.  I think that was during your hiatus, 2011 or so.

OMG! Y'all! Why?! My google search said it was from 2007... why was Nick posting it in 2011? Unless there was more than one. Why was Nick sharing that? 2011 Nick, were you okay? lol

Ugh, now I feel so sad about my cute little scene of PBox Nick seeing a frog for the first time and being fascinated. And he doesn't say anything, so now will people be like, "Nick wants to have sex with that frog." Sigh... I unintentionall y included something weird.


Plans with friends are fun, but do interfere with writing.  As an introvert, I sometimes have to force myself to break out of the writing bubble and be social because I would rather just stay home and write.  But I usually end up having fun when I do go out with friends.  I hope you enjoyed the birthday lunch!  And even if you didn't write as much as you thought you should, at least you finished a chapter!  That is definitely an accomplishment .

It was really fun! It was just a steakhouse lunch instead of the brunch we'd discussed and there was a lack of eggs in my life, lol. It was good to see all of them, just less productive on the writing front.

And now I'm dragging through my next chapter, as I mentioned.

On a weeknight, I'm exactly like you - not tired anymore, but also not really productive.  My writing is going the same way as yours tonight.  On a weekend, I can drink caffeine after a nap, and then it usually goes better.

You know, I thought about making a coffee, but then I would never sleep tonight and have the same problem tomorrow, lol. At least our streaks are alive and well. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 17, 2021, 09:32:40 PM
There's just something cathartic about experiencing something bad through fiction. I'm not really sure what it is... the emotional roller coaster, seeing what-ifs, I don't know. Like you hate it, but it's still enjoyable in that way... As I've mentioned, my brain is not braining tonight, lol.

Absolutely!  The catharsis is why we enjoy a good tearjerker.  It's not like we're wishing for anything bad to happen to the Boys; they just happen to be the characters in a piece of fiction.


OMG! Y'all! Why?! My google search said it was from 2007... why was Nick posting it in 2011? Unless there was more than one. Why was Nick sharing that? 2011 Nick, were you okay? lol

Ugh, now I feel so sad about my cute little scene of PBox Nick seeing a frog for the first time and being fascinated. And he doesn't say anything, so now will people be like, "Nick wants to have sex with that frog." Sigh... I unintentionall y included something weird.

It probably was from 2007 and Nick was late to the party LOL.  I almost forgot about that until I saw Melissa Schuman had brought it up of an example of how Nick thought rape was "funny."  ::)

Aww, no, I'm sure your scene isn't weird.  My brain is just weird for making that connection from like ten years ago LOL.  Although what you just wrote about Nick wanting to have sex with that frog reminds me of The Book of Mormon LOL (the musical, not the actual book).  Magical AIDS frog, anyone?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 17, 2021, 09:43:37 PM
Absolutely!  The catharsis is why we enjoy a good tearjerker.  It's not like we're wishing for anything bad to happen to the Boys; they just happen to be the characters in a piece of fiction.

And then how they band together and overcome it. That's the best part of that.

I mean we've all done some pretty terrible stuff to them... in fiction, lol. But we've discussed this ad naseum.


It probably was from 2007 and Nick was late to the party LOL.  I almost forgot about that until I saw Melissa Schuman had brought it up of an example of how Nick thought rape was "funny."  ::)

Aww, no, I'm sure your scene isn't weird.  My brain is just weird for making that connection from like ten years ago LOL.  Although what you just wrote about Nick wanting to have sex with that frog reminds me of The Book of Mormon LOL (the musical, not the actual book).  Magical AIDS frog, anyone?

2007 Nick had better things to do than hang out on fledgling YouTube, clearly, lol. I feel like it was less that and more "animals doing weird stuff," but can't say for certain.

LOL! Magical AIDS frogs. That musical is great. I'm thinking you must keep this thought about Nick and frogs in the same box in your brain as Book of Mormon, which I imagine you access with some regularity. Although, I'm sure any of us mention anything and we try to think of time when we've experienced that before. So I guess... I'm more surprised that "Nick and a frog" is something that has a connection.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 18, 2021, 04:42:07 PM
2007 Nick had better things to do than hang out on fledgling YouTube, clearly, lol. I feel like it was less that and more "animals doing weird stuff," but can't say for certain.

LOL! Magical AIDS frogs. That musical is great. I'm thinking you must keep this thought about Nick and frogs in the same box in your brain as Book of Mormon, which I imagine you access with some regularity. Although, I'm sure any of us mention anything and we try to think of time when we've experienced that before. So I guess... I'm more surprised that "Nick and a frog" is something that has a connection.

I'm sure that was it - animals doing weird stuff.  It's less funny and more... interesting?  Morbidly fascinating?  WTF-worthy?  He probably came across it and thought, "I'm gonna share this and make everyone else feel awkward too."

I definitely have a part in my brain that can make a South Park reference for just about anything - and I consider The Book of Mormon (and Team America and everything else Matt and Trey have made) an extension of that part.  They're both random and prolific enough that you can connect almost anything to their work - it's like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 18, 2021, 08:01:54 PM
I'm sure that was it - animals doing weird stuff.  It's less funny and more... interesting?  Morbidly fascinating?  WTF-worthy?  He probably came across it and thought, "I'm gonna share this and make everyone else feel awkward too."

"I have stumbled on a weird thing and need to share it with other people. Fans: look at this weird thing." I'm not positive, but I feel like a bunch of offers for blow jobs was not why he shared it. Maybe he just wanted someone to say, "Animals can make you say 'WTF' sometimes, huh, Nick? Here's a video of a dog trying to get a stick through a door, but the stick's too big. Not WTF-worthy, but funny in a different way."


I definitely have a part in my brain that can make a South Park reference for just about anything - and I consider The Book of Mormon (and Team America and everything else Matt and Trey have made) an extension of that part.  They're both random and prolific enough that you can connect almost anything to their work - it's like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon.

I love that. Six Degrees of South Park! I'll bite. Orange.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 18, 2021, 08:26:57 PM
I love that. Six Degrees of South Park! I'll bite. Orange.

Kenny's coat?  The color of Snookie's skin in the Jersey Shore episode?  Cartman putting together fruit baskets to "make, make it right" with people he's wronged?  https://youtu.be/xT_zt5tMv4g
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 18, 2021, 09:23:30 PM
Kenny's coat?  The color of Snookie's skin in the Jersey Shore episode?  Cartman putting together fruit baskets to "make, make it right" with people he's wronged?  https://youtu.be/xT_zt5tMv4g

I've failed you. Orange was easy, lol.

Kevin Bacon.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 18, 2021, 09:45:00 PM
I feel like we need new writing questions, but I can't think of any...
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 19, 2021, 05:16:31 PM
I've failed you. Orange was easy, lol.

Kevin Bacon.

Hm, this one was harder because I don't think South Park has ever referenced him directly.  But in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon fashion, I will say that Kevin Bacon was in the original Friday the 13th, and Jason was in the Imaginationlan d trilogy.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 19, 2021, 05:24:00 PM
I have started browsing the writing and fanfic boards on Reddit for ideas for new questions/topics.  Here's one, inspired by this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/ng4q3k/am_i_supposed_to_overwrite_in_my_first_drafts/  Do you tend to overwrite or underwrite in a first draft?  In other words, when you go back and revise, do you find yourself adding more detail or taking out unnecessary details?

It's hard for me to say I underwrite because I tend to be wordy in the first place, but I am more likely to add more during revision than take out entire sentences/paragraphs... which definitely does not help with my wordiness LOL.  Like I've said before though, I don't usually make major revisions, more minor changes involving word choice, fixing typos, and so on.  In scenes with a lot of dialogue, I tend to focus on the dialogue itself first, and if the conversation is flowing well, I won't spend as much time on getting the dialogue tags, body language, and description just right the first time around.  I'll go back and beef up that stuff later.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 19, 2021, 05:50:11 PM
In other news, I thought I was going to make it through the entire pandemic school year with perfect attendance, but alas, I finally came down with a cold - my first cold in over a year!  Since it's not a good year to drag myself to work sick like I normally would (and did not relish the idea of wearing a mask over a runny nose all day), I made myself take a sick day yesterday and today.  And it was glorious!  I basically stayed in bed all day both days and caught up on sleep and wrote for hours!  I hit over 1500 words yesterday and over 1200 so far today.  So my writing slump seems to be over.  Hooray!  Apparently this little sickation was just what I needed.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 19, 2021, 06:52:29 PM
Hm, this one was harder because I don't think South Park has ever referenced him directly.  But in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon fashion, I will say that Kevin Bacon was in the original Friday the 13th, and Jason was in the Imaginationlan d trilogy.

Perfect! And excellent Six Degrees of South Park.

I will ponder on another one.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 19, 2021, 07:01:04 PM
I have started browsing the writing and fanfic boards on Reddit for ideas for new questions/topics.  Here's one, inspired by this thread: https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/ng4q3k/am_i_supposed_to_overwrite_in_my_first_drafts/  Do you tend to overwrite or underwrite in a first draft?  In other words, when you go back and revise, do you find yourself adding more detail or taking out unnecessary details?

It's hard for me to say I underwrite because I tend to be wordy in the first place, but I am more likely to add more during revision than take out entire sentences/paragraphs... which definitely does not help with my wordiness LOL.  Like I've said before though, I don't usually make major revisions, more minor changes involving word choice, fixing typos, and so on.  In scenes with a lot of dialogue, I tend to focus on the dialogue itself first, and if the conversation is flowing well, I won't spend as much time on getting the dialogue tags, body language, and description just right the first time around.  I'll go back and beef up that stuff later.

I was doing the same, but most of the ones I've seen pop up anywhere are all things we've discussed.

Team wordiness! Like you, I feel like I am wordy already. I don't think I make it through a whole chapter before I start editing it. If I stop writing in the middle of a chapter, I always go back and reread anything I'd written before continuing. As far as major revisions... It's a little bit of both. Sometimes I add and sometimes I hack. I think which one I do varies based on how I'm feeling about the chapter when I go to edit it. Being able to let the chapters sit for... what... five months for this week's update? I feel like it helps take away some of the freshness and gives me a different feeling for it. The earlier ones I posted were a lot less removed, but the removal has only grown over time.

This doesn't mean that my hacks don't turn into hacking and replacing, because they do that also. I'd say in general, my chapters do get slightly longer after an edit, but usually in the 50-200 word range more than major additions after the fact.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 19, 2021, 07:06:57 PM
In other news, I thought I was going to make it through the entire pandemic school year with perfect attendance, but alas, I finally came down with a cold - my first cold in over a year!  Since it's not a good year to drag myself to work sick like I normally would (and did not relish the idea of wearing a mask over a runny nose all day), I made myself take a sick day yesterday and today.  And it was glorious!  I basically stayed in bed all day both days and caught up on sleep and wrote for hours!  I hit over 1500 words yesterday and over 1200 so far today.  So my writing slump seems to be over.  Hooray!  Apparently this little sickation was just what I needed.

Sorry you got sick! But I'm glad it wasn't majorly sick that you could still write and catch up on sleep! That's awesome that you're inching toward 3000 words for the two days! I always consider that a productive weekend. And now you get a whole other potentially productive weekend ahead of you. Congrats!

But... did you pass your slump on to me? haha I wrote about 400 words on Monday, which isn't too bad, but lower than the average Monday. And then only three words yesterday. I wrote a little this morning (about 62 words), so the streak lives, but I'm hoping to be semi-productive either now or after the Masked Singer tonight. However, as you all know, I'm pretty useless on update day. On the plus side, my writing speed is now eight words per minute, lol. And I'm just shy of two weeks ahead of myself, so... baby steps. Nano says I'll be done on June 8th, but I doubt that's true. I see this chapter taking a little longer, so at best, I'll be finished around June 20th or so. Which is still good.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 19, 2021, 10:52:29 PM
I was doing the same, but most of the ones I've seen pop up anywhere are all things we've discussed.

Yep, and most of the fanfiction subreddit just seems to be threads about ships, kudos, and comments.  Not as much actual writing talk there, whereas the writing subreddit focuses more on writing craft and habits, but leans toward original fiction and publishing. 


Team wordiness! Like you, I feel like I am wordy already. I don't think I make it through a whole chapter before I start editing it. If I stop writing in the middle of a chapter, I always go back and reread anything I'd written before continuing. As far as major revisions... It's a little bit of both. Sometimes I add and sometimes I hack. I think which one I do varies based on how I'm feeling about the chapter when I go to edit it. Being able to let the chapters sit for... what... five months for this week's update? I feel like it helps take away some of the freshness and gives me a different feeling for it. The earlier ones I posted were a lot less removed, but the removal has only grown over time.

This doesn't mean that my hacks don't turn into hacking and replacing, because they do that also. I'd say in general, my chapters do get slightly longer after an edit, but usually in the 50-200 word range more than major additions after the fact.

I do think that feeling of removal is important for really being able to revise.  It allows you to look at your writing with fresh eyes and see more of the big picture.  Part of the reason I don't hack as much as I add or replace is that it's hard to just delete something I spent time writing, unless I absolutely hate it.  But when it's not newly written, it's easier to take a step back, look at it more objectively, and make changes where they're needed.


Sorry you got sick! But I'm glad it wasn't majorly sick that you could still write and catch up on sleep! That's awesome that you're inching toward 3000 words for the two days! I always consider that a productive weekend. And now you get a whole other potentially productive weekend ahead of you. Congrats!

But... did you pass your slump on to me? haha I wrote about 400 words on Monday, which isn't too bad, but lower than the average Monday. And then only three words yesterday. I wrote a little this morning (about 62 words), so the streak lives, but I'm hoping to be semi-productive either now or after the Masked Singer tonight. However, as you all know, I'm pretty useless on update day. On the plus side, my writing speed is now eight words per minute, lol. And I'm just shy of two weeks ahead of myself, so... baby steps. Nano says I'll be done on June 8th, but I doubt that's true. I see this chapter taking a little longer, so at best, I'll be finished around June 20th or so. Which is still good.

Thanks!  Now if I could just stop violently sneezing and needing to blow my nose, that would be great.  Other than that, I feel fine.

I hope I didn't pass my slump on to you!  400 words on a weeknight really isn't bad.  In a normal week, I tend to write less each day until I hit the weekend and catch up on sleep.  Your writing speed is still more than double mine - I got mine up from 2 words a minute to 3 LOL.  Are you at a tough part of the story like I was last week, or are you just feeling uninspired?  It's so frustrating when the latter happens and you don't know why, but it was bound to happen to both of us at some point.  I hope you'll have a productive weekend!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 20, 2021, 06:13:23 PM
Yep, and most of the fanfiction subreddit just seems to be threads about ships, kudos, and comments.  Not as much actual writing talk there, whereas the writing subreddit focuses more on writing craft and habits, but leans toward original fiction and publishing.

I feel like the focus on ships is so weird, but I don't know if that's because ships didn't used to be as big, or probably more realistically because we write in a fandom that doesn't really have ships... as much anyway.

Imagine if you had to find an agent to post fanfic on the internet, haha. I guess Ash is our publishing house?


I do think that feeling of removal is important for really being able to revise.  It allows you to look at your writing with fresh eyes and see more of the big picture.  Part of the reason I don't hack as much as I add or replace is that it's hard to just delete something I spent time writing, unless I absolutely hate it.  But when it's not newly written, it's easier to take a step back, look at it more objectively, and make changes where they're needed.

Exactly! Part of me wishes that I had been a little more removed from writing the beginning chapters as there's a couple of things I would change now that I didn't back then and couldn't at this point.

I think hacking doesn't bother me as much because if I truly want to hack, then I feel like it's unnecessary. I probably do more hack and replace than true hacking, but I'll let you all know after I edit next week's chapter. I'll keep track of what I got rid of too, just to experiment.

I love my update schedule, but I've been thinking of trying to catch AO3's posting up to where AC is, but I'm not sure how to do that... Post twice a week for a hot second? Post two chapters a week when it makes sense? I don't know. Anyone have thoughts?


Thanks!  Now if I could just stop violently sneezing and needing to blow my nose, that would be great.  Other than that, I feel fine.

I hope I didn't pass my slump on to you!  400 words on a weeknight really isn't bad.  In a normal week, I tend to write less each day until I hit the weekend and catch up on sleep.  Your writing speed is still more than double mine - I got mine up from 2 words a minute to 3 LOL.  Are you at a tough part of the story like I was last week, or are you just feeling uninspired?  It's so frustrating when the latter happens and you don't know why, but it was bound to happen to both of us at some point.  I hope you'll have a productive weekend!

Have you stopped violently sneezing and needing to to blow your nose as of today? Did you end up going back to work today? How was it? Did you get lot more written yesterday and feel inspired today still?

I think it's okay. I ended up leaving myself a note last night to the effect of "Brian in the Everybody video" and then wrote about 450 words this morning, so I'm feeling a bit better about it! I think I was just really exhausted and needed to give my brain a break so it could continue to brain. But the streak is still alive and I've made it halfway to my goal (in word count anyway)! Yay!

I'm not sure how my writing speed is eight words per minute. It definitely does not feel like it! lol Oooh, up a whole word per minute. Celebration!

It's not really a tough part necessarily, I just had inspiration on Sunday, then lost it over the last three days.  :shrug: That was kind of a bummer. I hope we both have productive weekends! I'm glad you got through your slump and hopefully mine is over too!  ;D

Edited to add: In the most unexciting fashion, my 23,000th word was "can't," lol! However, I think we should all take a moment and be proud of me that it wasn't "Nick."  ;)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 20, 2021, 06:46:18 PM
I feel like the focus on ships is so weird, but I don't know if that's because ships didn't used to be as big, or probably more realistically because we write in a fandom that doesn't really have ships... as much anyway.

Imagine if you had to find an agent to post fanfic on the internet, haha. I guess Ash is our publishing house?

Yeah, it's hard to relate to a lot of the threads on the Fanfic subreddit because our real person fandom is different in so many ways.  Although I did come across a thread wondering if fanfic awards were still a thing, and that was relatable - apparently awards cause drama across all fandoms LOL.  I do miss the Felix Awards though.  Mare and Julilly always did a great job running them.

LOL I guess he is!  I do remember the days when you had to find someone to host your fanfic.  I don't know when ff.net was created, but it wasn't on my radar yet when I started reading and writing fanfic.  Everything I read was on smaller, personal websites.  I remember how nerve-racking it was to submit my first story to be hosted on one.  I guess that's the fanfic equivalent of finding an agent or publisher LOL.  It's nice we can just self-publish everything on these archives now, although I do still enjoy maintaining my own site.


I love my update schedule, but I've been thinking of trying to catch AO3's posting up to where AC is, but I'm not sure how to do that... Post twice a week for a hot second? Post two chapters a week when it makes sense? I don't know. Anyone have thoughts?

I think it would be better post twice a week for a while, one chapter at a time, then post two chapters at once.  It would be easy for someone who was reading your weekly updates to click to the last chapter and miss the one before it.


Have you stopped violently sneezing and needing to to blow your nose as of today? Did you end up going back to work today? How was it? Did you get lot more written yesterday and feel inspired today still?

I feel so much better today!  I busted out the big guns to go back to work today:  meth-making generic Sudafed.  That stuff always does the trick.  I had a good day.  My kids were excited to see me back, which was nice.  I did not write any more yesterday after posting here, but I did write a little bit before school this morning.  I am exhausted, but hopefully will get a bit more written tonight.  I'm in the middle of a conversation, which is usually a good place to leave off because it's easy to pick it back up.


I think it's okay. I ended up leaving myself a note last night to the effect of "Brian in the Everybody video" and then wrote about 450 words this morning, so I'm feeling a bit better about it! I think I was just really exhausted and needed to give my brain a break so it could continue to brain. But the streak is still alive and I've made it halfway to my goal (in word count anyway)! Yay!

I'm not sure how my writing speed is eight words per minute. It definitely does not feel like it! lol Oooh, up a whole word per minute. Celebration!

It's not really a tough part necessarily, I just had inspiration on Sunday, then lost it over the last three days.  :shrug: That was kind of a bummer. I hope we both have productive weekends! I'm glad you got through your slump and hopefully mine is over too!  ;D

Edited to add: In the most unexciting fashion, my 23,000th word was "can't," lol! However, I think we should all take a moment and be proud of me that it wasn't "Nick."  ;)

450 words this morning!  What a great start!

The post-Sunday slump happens to me almost every week.  I'm usually still pretty inspired on Monday, but then the work week wears me down and the inspiration dies until I can fire it back up again the following weekend.  I think it's just a part of adulting and having a day job that isn't writing, unfortunately.  But I hope yours is over too.  It's almost the weekend again!

Aww... "can't."  Sad trombone.  "Nick" is a much better word.  But congrats on hitting 23,000 words!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 20, 2021, 08:41:45 PM
Yeah, it's hard to relate to a lot of the threads on the Fanfic subreddit because our real person fandom is different in so many ways.  Although I did come across a thread wondering if fanfic awards were still a thing, and that was relatable - apparently awards cause drama across all fandoms LOL.  I do miss the Felix Awards though.  Mare and Julilly always did a great job running them.

I even find the kudos posts hard to relate to, haha. I miss when the most complicated thing here was the star rating system, lol. After that, it was just easy. Aw, the Felix Awards. I always wish I'd won one, but I was happy just to be nominated. :) Mare and Julilly are great mods; they've done a great job taking care of this place, especially when they're not writing anymore. :-*


LOL I guess he is!  I do remember the days when you had to find someone to host your fanfic.  I don't know when ff.net was created, but it wasn't on my radar yet when I started reading and writing fanfic.  Everything I read was on smaller, personal websites.  I remember how nerve-racking it was to submit my first story to be hosted on one.  I guess that's the fanfic equivalent of finding an agent or publisher LOL.  It's nice we can just self-publish everything on these archives now, although I do still enjoy maintaining my own site.

Yes! It was so nerve-wracking! I feel like ff.net was early, but I never ended up over there either. It was just asking to be hosted, then stumbling onto AC and going, "Oh, I can manage my own stuff? Okay great." Then I never looked back! ;D

I do enjoy your little update blogs you've shared over here. What's your favorite part of still maintaining your site?


I think it would be better post twice a week for a while, one chapter at a time, then post two chapters at once.  It would be easy for someone who was reading your weekly updates to click to the last chapter and miss the one before it.

Good point! Maybe I'll make it like a "sizzling seven weeks of summer" type thing, lol. Here's my other one. So on AO3, you can say the story is "___ of ____ chapters" pretty much from the beginning. If you're all updating weekly, but you finish writing it, do you change the second number to the total chapters or leave it as the question mark until you post the last chapter?


I feel so much better today!  I busted out the big guns to go back to work today:  meth-making generic Sudafed.  That stuff always does the trick.  I had a good day.  My kids were excited to see me back, which was nice.  I did not write any more yesterday after posting here, but I did write a little bit before school this morning.  I am exhausted, but hopefully will get a bit more written tonight.  I'm in the middle of a conversation, which is usually a good place to leave off because it's easy to pick it back up.

Glad you're feeling better! Hubs swears by sudafed too when he's feeling under the weather and will just preemptively take it the first day and just continue carrying on. Glad the kids were excited to see you. Sending you good writing vibes! Hopefully you can write a little more this evening! :)


450 words this morning!  What a great start!

The post-Sunday slump happens to me almost every week.  I'm usually still pretty inspired on Monday, but then the work week wears me down and the inspiration dies until I can fire it back up again the following weekend.  I think it's just a part of adulting and having a day job that isn't writing, unfortunately.  But I hope yours is over too.  It's almost the weekend again!

Aww... "can't."  Sad trombone.  "Nick" is a much better word.  But congrats on hitting 23,000 words!

I was pretty excited.  I had like half an hour to myself this morning and a good flow going.

Yeah, that's probably exactly it. If only we could get paid to write. I feel like I usually don't hit the slump until post-updating on Wednesday, but I had a really long day on Tuesday. We can make it to Saturday! Drink our coffee! Go nowhere! lol

Don't worry, "Nick" was my 23,109th word, so I continue to be predictable as always, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 20, 2021, 10:23:30 PM
I even find the kudos posts hard to relate to, haha. I miss when the most complicated thing here was the star rating system, lol. After that, it was just easy. Aw, the Felix Awards. I always wish I'd won one, but I was happy just to be nominated. :) Mare and Julilly are great mods; they've done a great job taking care of this place, especially when they're not writing anymore. :-*

LOL Same.  I clicked on one yesterday with a poll about how many subscriptions your longfic had.  The choices ranged from under 10 to over 200.  I looked up my stats, and the most subscriptions any of my stories had was 6.  And that was my ER crossover, so it was across two fandoms LOL.  I felt better when I saw that the most popular choice on the poll results was under 10, but the third most popular choice was over 200.  What a range!  I'm sure that has a lot to do with what fandom you write for and what "ships" you're writing.

Technically you did win a Felix Award for 00Carter.  But I know what you mean... it's nice to win one for a solo story too!


Yes! It was so nerve-wracking! I feel like ff.net was early, but I never ended up over there either. It was just asking to be hosted, then stumbling onto AC and going, "Oh, I can manage my own stuff? Okay great." Then I never looked back! ;D

I don't remember visiting ff.net until 2001.  I think I had just started posting my stories there when the real person fanfic purge happened.  I read more Harry Potter fanfic there than BSB... which was not much, but that was at the beginning of my HP obsession, so I did give it a try.  I even have the beginning of a Harry Potter fic posted there under a different account I created for the HP fic I thought I was going to write.  But that only lasted a few days before I lost interest.  I just looked up my HP account, and OMG... I sound just as weird and obnoxious as the teenagers on Reddit LOL.  https://www.fanfiction.net/u/202471/Luscious-Lucius  I was also still in the "I just got a story idea and sat down and wrote a chapter without any sort of outline or plan, and now I'm going to post it!" phase, which is probably why said story only has two chapters LOL.

I also looked my BSB account there, and it says I joined in March 2001.  So yep.  I have exactly two stories favorited, both of which are Voldemort humor stories.  That was about as far as I got into HP fanfic - Voldemort humor stories and Marauder MSTs.  I'm cracking up at one of them, "Voldemort Goes to Zimbabwe."  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/601906/1/Voldemort-Goes-to-Zimbabwe  Take a look at this... is this not Dr. Rough or what?!  This was written in 2002, so well before 00Carter's conception, but I've always said my Dr. Rough is inspired by Voldemort, and there it is LOL.


I do enjoy your little update blogs you've shared over here. What's your favorite part of still maintaining your site?

Thanks!  I like having my own little corner of the web to post my stuff and make it look the way I want it.  I like being able to share more about my stories through the little update blurbs and author's notes I post there, which I don't usually post other places.


Good point! Maybe I'll make it like a "sizzling seven weeks of summer" type thing, lol. Here's my other one. So on AO3, you can say the story is "___ of ____ chapters" pretty much from the beginning. If you're all updating weekly, but you finish writing it, do you change the second number to the total chapters or leave it as the question mark until you post the last chapter?

Perfect!

Hm... I know when I started posting old novels that were finished years ago, I did set the number of chapters from the beginning, hoping it would help people realize the story was already finished and would be posted in its entirety.  I can't remember if I changed it once I finished Bethlehem and Heroic Measures, or if I left it as a question mark until the last chapter.  I wanna say I did change it, but I'm not positive.


Glad you're feeling better! Hubs swears by sudafed too when he's feeling under the weather and will just preemptively take it the first day and just continue carrying on. Glad the kids were excited to see you. Sending you good writing vibes! Hopefully you can write a little more this evening! :)

It really does work the best!  And it has to be the real kind you can only get from the pharmacy counter, not the PE crap.  I've learned it is worth signing my life away and risking being put on some kind of watch list to have a box on hand when I need it.  I'm about out of my stash, so I need to get some more.

I have not written anything this evening.  I meant to, but then I sat down at the computer and came here instead LOL.  Good thing I wrote some this morning.


Yeah, that's probably exactly it. If only we could get paid to write. I feel like I usually don't hit the slump until post-updating on Wednesday, but I had a really long day on Tuesday. We can make it to Saturday! Drink our coffee! Go nowhere! lol

Don't worry, "Nick" was my 23,109th word, so I continue to be predictable as always, lol.

I wish!  But would that make it feel like work?  I don't ever want writing fanfic to feel like work.

One more day!  We've got this!

LOL I'm relieved Nick's name came up soon.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 20, 2021, 11:03:50 PM
LOL Same.  I clicked on one yesterday with a poll about how many subscriptions your longfic had.  The choices ranged from under 10 to over 200.  I looked up my stats, and the most subscriptions any of my stories had was 6.  And that was my ER crossover, so it was across two fandoms LOL.  I felt better when I saw that the most popular choice on the poll results was under 10, but the third most popular choice was over 200.  What a range!  I'm sure that has a lot to do with what fandom you write for and what "ships" you're writing.

Technically you did win a Felix Award for 00Carter.  But I know what you mean... it's nice to win one for a solo story too!

I saw that one too, and I was like 200 subscribers? So many! I don't think any of my stories have subscribers on AO3, but I have 2 user subscriptions, I think? (Confirmed, two user subscriptions.) I dug back into my AC stats and 19 people list me as a favorite author, PBox has 18 people who favorited it, and PNecklace has 1. Very grateful for you always, Tracy, because I think you're one of each of those numbers I just listed. :-*

I think it probably does have a lot to do with what (and who?) you write, just like we always talked about certain genres being more popular than other ones. I also wonder if the people with higher subscriber numbers are writing in very busy fandoms or quieter ones? I feel like it's a lot easier to keep up with our front page over the course of a week than a fandom where hoards of people are updating every day.

Sweet! You know I love a technical loophole. I will take it. I'm a winner! ;D :D Thanks readers of AC back in the late '00s/early new 10s! :biggrin:


I don't remember visiting ff.net until 2001.  I think I had just started posting my stories there when the real person fanfic purge happened.  I read more Harry Potter fanfic there than BSB... which was not much, but that was at the beginning of my HP obsession, so I did give it a try.  I even have the beginning of a Harry Potter fic posted there under a different account I created for the HP fic I thought I was going to write.  But that only lasted a few days before I lost interest.  I just looked up my HP account, and OMG... I sound just as weird and obnoxious as the teenagers on Reddit LOL.  https://www.fanfiction.net/u/202471/Luscious-Lucius  I was also still in the "I just got a story idea and sat down and wrote a chapter without any sort of outline or plan, and now I'm going to post it!" phase, which is probably why said story only has two chapters LOL.

I also looked my BSB account there, and it says I joined in March 2001.  So yep.  I have exactly two stories favorited, both of which are Voldemort humor stories.  That was about as far as I got into HP fanfic - Voldemort humor stories and Marauder MSTs.  I'm cracking up at one of them, "Voldemort Goes to Zimbabwe."  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/601906/1/Voldemort-Goes-to-Zimbabwe  Take a look at this... is this not Dr. Rough or what?!  This was written in 2002, so well before 00Carter's conception, but I've always said my Dr. Rough is inspired by Voldemort, and there it is LOL.

LMAO! I want to say the RPF purge was in 2001? 2002? I wasn't quite ready to post on ff.net, but I remember it happening. I think Rose is the ff.net expert? I couldn't even tell you what my account was if I had one.

I mean, I came back here and cringed at things I'd written... in my late teens/early twenties. So I think you're allowed to sound obnoxious at fifteen. And omg, yes, that does remind me of Dr. Rough! Parodies are the best.

Also, I just can't picture you sitting down to write an idea without a plan, lol. That's dangerous Dee territory you're walking into (and Rose, I think?). I say all of this in the most loving way possible, of course.


Thanks!  I like having my own little corner of the web to post my stuff and make it look the way I want it.  I like being able to share more about my stories through the little update blurbs and author's notes I post there, which I don't usually post other places.

I think that's awesome! I'm sure readers other places would like your little update blurbs and author's notes too. I always wonder if I should do more author notes at the end of the text, rather than just here.


Hm... I know when I started posting old novels that were finished years ago, I did set the number of chapters from the beginning, hoping it would help people realize the story was already finished and would be posted in its entirety.  I can't remember if I changed it once I finished Bethlehem and Heroic Measures, or if I left it as a question mark until the last chapter.  I wanna say I did change it, but I'm not positive.

I did that with PBox for the same reason. I think it makes sense when it's an old story and you do already know for sure. I guess we're in a weird spot now because we write so far ahead of what we're posting that we know it's done much sooner than we did in the past when we may have decided it would be x chapters, but could never technically be sure until we physically wrote "the end" and then maybe held on to it for a week or two.


It really does work the best!  And it has to be the real kind you can only get from the pharmacy counter, not the PE crap.  I've learned it is worth signing my life away and risking being put on some kind of watch list to have a box on hand when I need it.  I'm about out of my stash, so I need to get some more.

I have not written anything this evening.  I meant to, but then I sat down at the computer and came here instead LOL.  Good thing I wrote some this morning.

If I learned anything from Breaking Bad, it's that teachers have the power to make drugs. Or Chemistry teachers, at least, lol. If you go through the effort of going to the pharmacy counter and being on a watch list to heal, then I feel like you're less likely to go Walter White. So you have a stash, is it on refillable prescription or something? haha

Here is equally fun! I feel like once a week, we end up here rather than writing. But the streak lives!


I wish!  But would that make it feel like work?  I don't ever want writing fanfic to feel like work.

One more day!  We've got this!

LOL I'm relieved Nick's name came up soon.

It might. It's better that we keep doing it for free.

I ended up writing a little more this evening, but pushed it back for a walk and some ice cream since it's getting hot. I stopped in the middle of an argument and know the next little bit of the scene, so I think I'll be able to get it finished tomorrow and then I can go back to my Brian scene.

That's why Nick's name only appeared the one time, lol. Contrast today's scene that is a Nick scene and I wrote "Nick" ten times in an hour, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 21, 2021, 08:04:52 PM
I saw that one too, and I was like 200 subscribers? So many! I don't think any of my stories have subscribers on AO3, but I have 2 user subscriptions, I think? (Confirmed, two user subscriptions.) I dug back into my AC stats and 19 people list me as a favorite author, PBox has 18 people who favorited it, and PNecklace has 1. Very grateful for you always, Tracy, because I think you're one of each of those numbers I just listed. :-*

I think it probably does have a lot to do with what (and who?) you write, just like we always talked about certain genres being more popular than other ones. I also wonder if the people with higher subscriber numbers are writing in very busy fandoms or quieter ones? I feel like it's a lot easier to keep up with our front page over the course of a week than a fandom where hoards of people are updating every day.

I'm your other subscriber on AO3. ;)  I wish it would tell you who subscribes to you or your stories, just because I'm always curious about that kind of stuff.  

I think who you write is definitely part of it.  The "ships" and, in our fandom, just which Boy(s) you write.  In general, I tend to get more feedback on Nick stories than stories that focus on the other guys.  And while the readers of AO3 love slash, they do not seem to love Nowie slash.  So if I wanted to cater to them and see how many more subscribers/kudos/comments I could get, I would write a kinky but angsty Frick/Frack slash with lots of tags.

I wondered the same thing about if the people with lots of subscribers write for popular or less popular fandoms.  In popular fandoms, there's obviously a larger base of readers, but there's also more competition/less chance of your story standing out in the crowd.  Whereas in quieter fandoms, there may be fewer people reading, but a decent writer who updates consistently would have a pretty good chance of building a loyal following.  Without actually checking stats, it seems like BSB is somewhere in the middle.  We're not a popular fandom anymore compared to some, but there are plenty of smaller, quieter fandoms.


LMAO! I want to say the RPF purge was in 2001? 2002? I wasn't quite ready to post on ff.net, but I remember it happening. I think Rose is the ff.net expert? I couldn't even tell you what my account was if I had one.

I mean, I came back here and cringed at things I'd written... in my late teens/early twenties. So I think you're allowed to sound obnoxious at fifteen. And omg, yes, that does remind me of Dr. Rough! Parodies are the best.

Also, I just can't picture you sitting down to write an idea without a plan, lol. That's dangerous Dee territory you're walking into (and Rose, I think?). I say all of this in the most loving way possible, of course.

I thought it had to be one of those years too, but Wikipedia says it was 2003.  Apparently they've also banned NC-17 stories, CYOAs, songfics, and lists.

LOL That just goes to show how much I've changed since then, at least in some ways.  I always had some kind of plan in my head, but I never wrote it down.  The first story I remember making a partial outline for was You'll Never Walk Alone in 2002.  I didn't start it with an outline, but because it was a mystery, it got hard to keep track of when and how I wanted to reveal certain plot points, so I made an outline partway through.  That was the last solo novel I wrote before Broken, which I started with an outline.  That's part of the reason Broken is where I divide the phases of my fanfic career, because my whole writing process changed with that story.

I think Rose has become more of a planner/outliner, at least partly because of me LOL.  We've always used outlines when we write together.  I wish she'd come weigh in on this!


I think that's awesome! I'm sure readers other places would like your little update blurbs and author's notes too. I always wonder if I should do more author notes at the end of the text, rather than just here.

Yeah, I dunno... I guess I could post them in my update thread here instead of just saying I updated, but I try not to overdo it on author's notes in the actual story.  I sometimes do one at the end of a novel or after a big moment, but not before or after every chapter.


If I learned anything from Breaking Bad, it's that teachers have the power to make drugs. Or Chemistry teachers, at least, lol. If you go through the effort of going to the pharmacy counter and being on a watch list to heal, then I feel like you're less likely to go Walter White. So you have a stash, is it on refillable prescription or something? haha

I love Breaking Bad!  And yes... teachers can do anything! LOL  I'm exaggerating; my "stash" is just one box (the largest size box I could find), so now I need to go buy a new box.  I buy it less than once a year, so I'm not likely to be flagged for anything.  But I teach in a town with a meth problem, and that is one way the cops make their drug busts.


Here is equally fun! I feel like once a week, we end up here rather than writing. But the streak lives!

It might. It's better that we keep doing it for free.

I ended up writing a little more this evening, but pushed it back for a walk and some ice cream since it's getting hot. I stopped in the middle of an argument and know the next little bit of the scene, so I think I'll be able to get it finished tomorrow and then I can go back to my Brian scene.

That's why Nick's name only appeared the one time, lol. Contrast today's scene that is a Nick scene and I wrote "Nick" ten times in an hour, lol.

LOL It's probably Thursday nights, when we're too tired to focus on writing.  I actually did add a little bit more late last night, and then I wrote a little this morning.  I left off midsentence so I will hopefully be able to pick it back up tonight.  I'm close to finishing this chapter already - thanks, cold!  I'm glad you were able to write more last night too!

I wonder what the record is for most "Nicks" in a story...

Edited to add: I was curious, so I looked this up for BMS, which has to feature the most occurrences of Nick's name in one of my stories due to its length and the fact that Nick is the main character.  I wrote "Nick" 7,517 times.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 21, 2021, 09:42:36 PM
I'm your other subscriber on AO3. ;)  I wish it would tell you who subscribes to you or your stories, just because I'm always curious about that kind of stuff.

Well thanks to you both for supporting my comeback! Same, because then you could say thank you specifically.


I think who you write is definitely part of it.  The "ships" and, in our fandom, just which Boy(s) you write.  In general, I tend to get more feedback on Nick stories than stories that focus on the other guys.  And while the readers of AO3 love slash, they do not seem to love Nowie slash.  So if I wanted to cater to them and see how many more subscribers/kudos/comments I could get, I would write a kinky but angsty Frick/Frack slash with lots of tags.

I think it's always felt that way? Though didn't AJ feature in the most stories for a while on AC? I wonder if that's still true. I feel like in the same way that we all feel like Nick is easier to write about because he feels versatile and authentic, maybe readers feel like he's easier to read about because he feels versatile and authentic.

I saw another Nowie on the feed the last time i looked. There's some Nowie support! Even though you know I love experiments, I don't think I have a kinky, but angsty Frick/Frack in me, lol.


I wondered the same thing about if the people with lots of subscribers write for popular or less popular fandoms.  In popular fandoms, there's obviously a larger base of readers, but there's also more competition/less chance of your story standing out in the crowd.  Whereas in quieter fandoms, there may be fewer people reading, but a decent writer who updates consistently would have a pretty good chance of building a loyal following.  Without actually checking stats, it seems like BSB is somewhere in the middle.  We're not a popular fandom anymore compared to some, but there are plenty of smaller, quieter fandoms.

I could see reasons for both leading to higher stats, just like you said. I think the sweet spot is probably a newer, but growing fandom or an established fandom that sees a lot of "new blood" cycle in. So in order to have higher stats, we need some new BSB fans (or a time machine to go back to 1996, but that seems less likely). If Mariah Carey has taught me anything, it's that lots of people like catchy and well sung Christmas music, lol. Now we wait.


I thought it had to be one of those years too, but Wikipedia says it was 2003.  Apparently they've also banned NC-17 stories, CYOAs, songfics, and lists.

I'm surprised it's that late! I thought for sure it was when I was in middle school. I could see banning lists, but I wonder why the other three? I never understood why they banned RPF either. Like I know their reasons, but plenty of other places didn't and nothing's happened.


LOL That just goes to show how much I've changed since then, at least in some ways.  I always had some kind of plan in my head, but I never wrote it down.  The first story I remember making a partial outline for was You'll Never Walk Alone in 2002.  I didn't start it with an outline, but because it was a mystery, it got hard to keep track of when and how I wanted to reveal certain plot points, so I made an outline partway through.  That was the last solo novel I wrote before Broken, which I started with an outline.  That's part of the reason Broken is where I divide the phases of my fanfic career, because my whole writing process changed with that story.

I think Rose has become more of a planner/outliner, at least partly because of me LOL.  We've always used outlines when we write together.  I wish she'd come weigh in on this!

That's me, lol. It's easier now that I'll just write whatever when the mood strikes. I think a mystery is a good story to craft an outline with, because you do need to follow exact threads to a T. Do you think you would have had an outline for Broken if you hadn't made one at the end of You'll Never Walk Alone?


Yeah, I dunno... I guess I could post them in my update thread here instead of just saying I updated, but I try not to overdo it on author's notes in the actual story.  I sometimes do one at the end of a novel or after a big moment, but not before or after every chapter.

I always wonder if people love or hate author's notes, lol. Like, do they actually want to have a conversation with me about the story? My update thread says no, haha. But that might have been different if that was how I structured my update thread in 2006-2008 during PBox's initial run. I've been doing them mostly for "here's a fun callback to PBox in this chapter, you can reread the original moment in x chapter." I've always done one at the beginning and the end of a whole story. Though having a "story notes" section now helps with the beginning one.


I love Breaking Bad!  And yes... teachers can do anything! LOL  I'm exaggerating; my "stash" is just one box (the largest size box I could find), so now I need to go buy a new box.  I buy it less than once a year, so I'm not likely to be flagged for anything.  But I teach in a town with a meth problem, and that is one way the cops make their drug busts.

I enjoyed it too. Hubs was rewatching it this time last year and it was fun to revisit. Of course we can! We're jacks of all trades, really. I appreciate and enjoy your use of hyperbole here. ;) Interesting! I didn't think they actually flagged people's purchases, but that would make it easier to identify people if need be.


LOL It's probably Thursday nights, when we're too tired to focus on writing.  I actually did add a little bit more late last night, and then I wrote a little this morning.  I left off midsentence so I will hopefully be able to pick it back up tonight.  I'm close to finishing this chapter already - thanks, cold!  I'm glad you were able to write more last night too!

You're right, it probably is Thursdays, lol. Great work! I did write a little this morning, then got hungry this evening and couldn't focus. Now I'm hoping to get back into it, but it's already 8:30. We'll see what happens.

Was your picking up midsentence productive?


I wonder what the record is for most "Nicks" in a story...

Edited to add: I was curious, so I looked this up for BMS, which has to feature the most occurrences of Nick's name in one of my stories due to its length and the fact that Nick is the main character.  I wrote "Nick" 7,517 times.

I know! We need more data!

That's a lot of Nicks! I decided to check through PNecklace and I'm already up to 2,247 times with about 8 1/3 chapters to go still. That's only slightly more than PBox? (About 250 more times.) I guess Nick's name will forever be 1% of PBox & Co, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 22, 2021, 12:00:14 AM
I think it's always felt that way? Though didn't AJ feature in the most stories for a while on AC? I wonder if that's still true. I feel like in the same way that we all feel like Nick is easier to write about because he feels versatile and authentic, maybe readers feel like he's easier to read about because he feels versatile and authentic.

I saw another Nowie on the feed the last time i looked. There's some Nowie support! Even though you know I love experiments, I don't think I have a kinky, but angsty Frick/Frack in me, lol.

Yeah, there used to be a lot of AJ fans around here.  I think it boils down to Nick being the favorite, but I'm sure there's something to him being more versatile as a character too.

Well hey, maybe I should start posting SAMS!  I meant to post SAMS last summer or fall, but after I posted its one-shot predecessor, Unsuspecting Sunday, and it got zero response, I held off, thinking if no one wanted to read a Nowie one-shot, they're definitely not going to want to read an 80-chapter Nowie novel.  Maybe I'll get around to it this summer.

I wouldn't be opposed to writing an angsty Frick/Frack slash - if I ever wrote another slash, it probably would be Frick/Frack - but I don't do kinky.  But hey... I used to think I didn't do slash either LOL.


I could see reasons for both leading to higher stats, just like you said. I think the sweet spot is probably a newer, but growing fandom or an established fandom that sees a lot of "new blood" cycle in. So in order to have higher stats, we need some new BSB fans (or a time machine to go back to 1996, but that seems less likely). If Mariah Carey has taught me anything, it's that lots of people like catchy and well sung Christmas music, lol. Now we wait.

I have noticed younger (like late teens/early twenties) fans popping up lately!  Actually, the only one who is consistently commenting on my MBK is a younger fan, and this is the first story of mine she has followed (or at least left feedback on as I was writing it).  So there is hope!  I'm not sure if the new music of the DNA era has attracted new fans, or if it's the 90s nostalgia trend making them cool in a vintage way to the Gen Z kids.  Either way, good for them!


I'm surprised it's that late! I thought for sure it was when I was in middle school. I could see banning lists, but I wonder why the other three? I never understood why they banned RPF either. Like I know their reasons, but plenty of other places didn't and nothing's happened.

Yeah, I agree.  If certain celebrities had that big a problem with people writing fanfic about them, they could request that category be removed, but I doubt most of them know or care that much about it.


That's me, lol. It's easier now that I'll just write whatever when the mood strikes. I think a mystery is a good story to craft an outline with, because you do need to follow exact threads to a T. Do you think you would have had an outline for Broken if you hadn't made one at the end of You'll Never Walk Alone?

Maybe, because I had also started collaborating on Code Blue in between YNWA and Broken, which also had an outline, but then, would we have done an outline for CB if I hadn't done one for YNWA?  I had written two other stories with the same author, and we never used an outline before.  But I remember thinking that if I was going to write another cancer story, I better step up my game and make it good... so I tried to act more like a "serious writer" with my outlining and research, and it really did help raise the quality of my writing.


I always wonder if people love or hate author's notes, lol. Like, do they actually want to have a conversation with me about the story? My update thread says no, haha. But that might have been different if that was how I structured my update thread in 2006-2008 during PBox's initial run. I've been doing them mostly for "here's a fun callback to PBox in this chapter, you can reread the original moment in x chapter." I've always done one at the beginning and the end of a whole story. Though having a "story notes" section now helps with the beginning one.

I like learning behind-the-scenes stuff about stories.  I love author's notes in published fiction.  Besides yours, I don't see too many of those in fanfic, but I'm fine with them.  I don't usually do lengthy author's notes mid-story, but I'm actually am planning to post one tomorrow with my MBK update that tells where the idea for it came from.  I'm not sure how many people actually read them, but sometimes I feel the need to explain myself.  They are fun to write!


I enjoyed it too. Hubs was rewatching it this time last year and it was fun to revisit. Of course we can! We're jacks of all trades, really. I appreciate and enjoy your use of hyperbole here. ;) Interesting! I didn't think they actually flagged people's purchases, but that would make it easier to identify people if need be.

It's a great show to binge watch and definitely holds up on rewatches.  Yeah, they have some kind of database where they can track who's buying way more Sudafed than one person should need.  That's why you have to show your license now to get it from behind the pharmacy counter.  It's a pain in the ass, but worth it when you actually need it.


You're right, it probably is Thursdays, lol. Great work! I did write a little this morning, then got hungry this evening and couldn't focus. Now I'm hoping to get back into it, but it's already 8:30. We'll see what happens.

Was your picking up midsentence productive?

LOL No.  I'm in the same boat as you.  I opened the story (it's still open, actually), but then I got distracted by Nick getting on Twitch, then getting off again five minutes later to go help Lauren with the baby and promising to be back in 15 minutes... then 30... and then I got hungry and wandered away from the computer, and now I'm too tired and have a headache.  But I'll finish that sentence tomorrow morning for sure! LOL  Good luck writing more tonight!  I'm probably going to bed soon.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 22, 2021, 03:36:16 PM
Yeah, there used to be a lot of AJ fans around here.  I think it boils down to Nick being the favorite, but I'm sure there's something to him being more versatile as a character too.

Well hey, maybe I should start posting SAMS!  I meant to post SAMS last summer or fall, but after I posted its one-shot predecessor, Unsuspecting Sunday, and it got zero response, I held off, thinking if no one wanted to read a Nowie one-shot, they're definitely not going to want to read an 80-chapter Nowie novel.  Maybe I'll get around to it this summer.

I wouldn't be opposed to writing an angsty Frick/Frack slash - if I ever wrote another slash, it probably would be Frick/Frack - but I don't do kinky.  But hey... I used to think I didn't do slash either LOL.

And they were all really active here on the forums too. It was nice talking about some things that didn't involve Nick every now and again, lol. You're right, it probably has nothing to do with him being a great character and more to do with his regular following, lol.

There's always someone who will read it! :) That's part of the beauty of fanfic. I wonder if the longer one would be more popular than the shorter one? More Nowie to enjoy? When you re-post your older fanfics, what do you do? Chapter every day? Chunks on a certain day?

Just make one of them have a medical fetish of some sort. Boom! In your wheelhouse and kinky, lol.


I have noticed younger (like late teens/early twenties) fans popping up lately!  Actually, the only one who is consistently commenting on my MBK is a younger fan, and this is the first story of mine she has followed (or at least left feedback on as I was writing it).  So there is hope!  I'm not sure if the new music of the DNA era has attracted new fans, or if it's the 90s nostalgia trend making them cool in a vintage way to the Gen Z kids.  Either way, good for them!

That's awesome! Now we just have to convince them to write fanfics, lol. I'm glad you have a brand new follower (or a less shy follower). Maybe it's a bit of both? Happy our Boys were able to bridge the age gap. I wonder if younger fans have favorites or if they just like the group collectively?


Yeah, I agree.  If certain celebrities had that big a problem with people writing fanfic about them, they could request that category be removed, but I doubt most of them know or care that much about it.

I feel like if they know, they try to avoid thinking about it too much, lol.


Maybe, because I had also started collaborating on Code Blue in between YNWA and Broken, which also had an outline, but then, would we have done an outline for CB if I hadn't done one for YNWA?  I had written two other stories with the same author, and we never used an outline before.  But I remember thinking that if I was going to write another cancer story, I better step up my game and make it good... so I tried to act more like a "serious writer" with my outlining and research, and it really did help raise the quality of my writing.

So you were very much into outlining by the time Broken came around! I think having some sort of plan, whether that's an outline or something else, is important when writing with other people, that way everyone is on the same page. I get wanting to make sure that your "another x story" needs to stand out in quality from the ones before it, so it makes sense that research would be the key there. As a non-outliner (for the most part), I can see it helping in quality too, but I don't want to say it definitely makes a story better (because then what am I doing with my writing 90% of the time? lol) If anything, I'd say I'm a post-outliner, then I can go back and easily remember where I last referenced something or the last time a character dealt with whatever. That's not to say that I have no plan, but... I'd rather just write and see what happens. Nick always changes my plans anyway, lol.


I like learning behind-the-scenes stuff about stories.  I love author's notes in published fiction.  Besides yours, I don't see too many of those in fanfic, but I'm fine with them.  I don't usually do lengthy author's notes mid-story, but I'm actually am planning to post one tomorrow with my MBK update that tells where the idea for it came from.  I'm not sure how many people actually read them, but sometimes I feel the need to explain myself.  They are fun to write!

Me too! That's why I wish more writers shared things like that. It's interesting getting in someone's head. I don't typically add them to the story itself either, but maybe I should start adding truncated ones... Like you said, though, I don't know how many people actually read them either, lol. And ooh, fun! Those ones are great.


It's a great show to binge watch and definitely holds up on rewatches.  Yeah, they have some kind of database where they can track who's buying way more Sudafed than one person should need.  That's why you have to show your license now to get it from behind the pharmacy counter.  It's a pain in the ass, but worth it when you actually need it.

Crazy!


LOL No.  I'm in the same boat as you.  I opened the story (it's still open, actually), but then I got distracted by Nick getting on Twitch, then getting off again five minutes later to go help Lauren with the baby and promising to be back in 15 minutes... then 30... and then I got hungry and wandered away from the computer, and now I'm too tired and have a headache.  But I'll finish that sentence tomorrow morning for sure! LOL  Good luck writing more tonight!  I'm probably going to bed soon.

I wrote 140 words, then was tired, then laid on the couch and started falling asleep, then realized I could just go to bed, lol.

I love how Nick's trying to schedule his job when he has a one month old and two other children. You should know better, Nick, lol.

I hope you finished your sentence this morning! ;D

I think Rose has become more of a planner/outliner, at least partly because of me LOL.  We've always used outlines when we write together.  I wish she'd come weigh in on this!

I meant to comment on this part yesterday and forgot. I think the tired was setting in... But I wish she'd weigh in too! I think our efforts to summon her like Beetlejuice are not working, lol.

And now for Saturday...

How's writing going today? (I'm guessing well since you haven't updated yet.)

I finished my Nick and Brian scenes for this chapter and started the Kevin one, then really wanted to take a shower, then sort of thought about the chapter and switched to my ideas for my next author talk, then came back to write, then wanted lunch, and now I'm here, lol.

Why do I always procrastinate on Kevin scenes? I'm sorry, Kevin! It would be a much shorter novel if I only focused on Nick, lol. I might just go set myself a timer and make myself word sprint and focus on Kevin...
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 22, 2021, 04:28:20 PM
And they were all really active here on the forums too. It was nice talking about some things that didn't involve Nick every now and again, lol. You're right, it probably has nothing to do with him being a great character and more to do with his regular following, lol.

Yeah, while I don't mind talking mostly about Nick, the variety was nice!


There's always someone who will read it! :) That's part of the beauty of fanfic. I wonder if the longer one would be more popular than the shorter one? More Nowie to enjoy? When you re-post your older fanfics, what do you do? Chapter every day? Chunks on a certain day?

Yeah maybe.  It would at least get noticed more by being among the recently updated stories for longer.  I try to post a chapter a day of the older ones because they're so long that if I only did a chapter a week, they would take over a year to post.  I don't see the point of drawing them out that long when anyone who wants to read them for the first time could just browse on over to my site or AC and read the rest at any time.


Just make one of them have a medical fetish of some sort. Boom! In your wheelhouse and kinky, lol.

LOL Now there's an idea.  Which one do you think is more likely to have a medical fetish?  Nick seems to have an interest in medical science and technology lately (before he switched to cryptocurrency, anyway), but I feel like Brian could have some secret kinks we don't know about.


That's awesome! Now we just have to convince them to write fanfics, lol. I'm glad you have a brand new follower (or a less shy follower). Maybe it's a bit of both? Happy our Boys were able to bridge the age gap. I wonder if younger fans have favorites or if they just like the group collectively?

I dunno... all I know is the younger fan giving me feedback seems to be a Nick girl and does not like Brian.  So maybe they do still have favorites.


I feel like if they know, they try to avoid thinking about it too much, lol.

LOL Yes, exactly.  Much like "Don't Google yourself."


So you were very much into outlining by the time Broken came around! I think having some sort of plan, whether that's an outline or something else, is important when writing with other people, that way everyone is on the same page. I get wanting to make sure that your "another x story" needs to stand out in quality from the ones before it, so it makes sense that research would be the key there. As a non-outliner (for the most part), I can see it helping in quality too, but I don't want to say it definitely makes a story better (because then what am I doing with my writing 90% of the time? lol) If anything, I'd say I'm a post-outliner, then I can go back and easily remember where I last referenced something or the last time a character dealt with whatever. That's not to say that I have no plan, but... I'd rather just write and see what happens. Nick always changes my plans anyway, lol.

Yeah, I guess so.  I had done it for part of two stories, anyway LOL.  I do think outlines of some kind are even more important for a collab.  I don't think it definitely makes a story better; that all depends on the writer and what kind of story it is.  With some stories, I need an outline to keep track of the timeline and how different pieces of the plot are going to fit together.  With others, I could probably just write with a plan in my head like I used to and be fine.  I don't think outlining is the only thing that helped my writing mature; I think reading and researching and life experience and age all helped with that too.

I get what you mean about post-outlining too.  Many of my outlines, especially for my medical dramas and stories that take place in a specific BSB time period, take on the form of a timeline so I can keep track of when things happened... how long it's been since a certain event or when an upcoming event needs to happen.  That is super helpful so I'm not constantly searching back through the story to piece together the timeline.


I love how Nick's trying to schedule his job when he has a one month old and two other children. You should know better, Nick, lol.

LOL I know.  It's nice of him to come on at all.  He eventually did get back on Twitch for about half an hour.


I hope you finished your sentence this morning! ;D

I meant to comment on this part yesterday and forgot. I think the tired was setting in... But I wish she'd weigh in too! I think our efforts to summon her like Beetlejuice are not working, lol.

And now for Saturday...

How's writing going today? (I'm guessing well since you haven't updated yet.)

I finished my Nick and Brian scenes for this chapter and started the Kevin one, then really wanted to take a shower, then sort of thought about the chapter and switched to my ideas for my next author talk, then came back to write, then wanted lunch, and now I'm here, lol.

Why do I always procrastinate on Kevin scenes? I'm sorry, Kevin! It would be a much shorter novel if I only focused on Nick, lol. I might just go set myself a timer and make myself word sprint and focus on Kevin...

I did!  I finished my chapter! ;D  So yes, it was going well, and that's why I didn't update until afternoon.

I'm glad you finished your Nick and Brian scenes!  I would probably procrastinate on Kevin too unless his part was more interesting than theirs.  In my current story, I've been enjoying the Kevin chapters more because his storyline is more interesting to me than Nick's.

Good luck with your word sprint!  I would sprint with you, but I have to get ready.  My mom just retired, so my family's going out to dinner to celebrate tonight!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 22, 2021, 09:55:04 PM
Yeah maybe.  It would at least get noticed more by being among the recently updated stories for longer.  I try to post a chapter a day of the older ones because they're so long that if I only did a chapter a week, they would take over a year to post.  I don't see the point of drawing them out that long when anyone who wants to read them for the first time could just browse on over to my site or AC and read the rest at any time.

I think to really get shorter stories noticed, especially on AO3 where it's part of the culture, you really have to utilize the tags. Which is harder for us that are in the "tags are for genres" camp. I think the more searchable you make it, the easier it is for people to find it. Though I'm thinking now what tags I would use for PBox and all the ones that come to mind are not useful to the story and just me making jokes, like "I once thought it was out of the norm for me to write fluffy romance, has anyone read this?" Or "Nick overreacts to everything in the most animated way!" Or "I chose not to use warnings because I hate spoilers, but y'all are in for a treat." Or "#TeamDark." Or "I will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about this fanfic, just ask!" Or "Nick's name is lovingly 1% of the words painstakingly written in this story," obviously. When realistically, I could probably just tag it "demons," "crazy worldbuilding," "portal fiction," "wordy," and "character development" and all those things are probably more accurate descriptors of the story and my writing style, lol.

Edited to Add: Speaking of tags, I just a story tagged "non-consensual stabbing" and now I'm wondering... isn't most stabbing non-consensual? I think I'd rather know if it was consensual stabbing, lol.

If it's a long one, just updating it regularly would give people time to see it. I think all of our current stories have been on the first page since we started posting them. I did the same thing for PBox, but just posted chunks of 5-10 chapters for seven weeks (plus my holiday story week), which is ironically the exact same amount of time as if I had just posted one chapter per day, which would've given me longer to edit the later chapters, lol. Should have done that. Oh well. Yeah, I don't think something old should take a year or longer to post either. I'm sure people could find our old stuff elsewhere if they really tried to look.


LOL Now there's an idea.  Which one do you think is more likely to have a medical fetish?  Nick seems to have an interest in medical science and technology lately (before he switched to cryptocurrency, anyway), but I feel like Brian could have some secret kinks we don't know about.

Here's my crazy take: Brian has the fetish (as he has some secret kinks for sure), but Nick is fascinated by his fetish due to his interest in medical science, lol. Obviously Nick's fetish is cryptocurrency . If only there was a way to combine the two. Brian buys specialized medical equipment with cryptocurrency? lmao


I dunno... all I know is the younger fan giving me feedback seems to be a Nick girl and does not like Brian.  So maybe they do still have favorites.

Interesting! It's easy to enjoy Nick and he's the most accessible, so I get it. However, this younger fan needs to read some 90's fanfic Brian, because he is a gem! Not that I feel like you write even present day Brian as a total dick, just slightly more flawed.  :angel:: DBADLEKYA! Oh, there's guardian angel Nick popping by! lol


LOL Yes, exactly.  Much like "Don't Google yourself."

Sound advice! You know, I haven't googled myself since getting married, but in the past, I was very lucky to share a name with someone much more famous than I, so I never came up unless you deep scrolled, lol.


Yeah, I guess so.  I had done it for part of two stories, anyway LOL.  I do think outlines of some kind are even more important for a collab.  I don't think it definitely makes a story better; that all depends on the writer and what kind of story it is.  With some stories, I need an outline to keep track of the timeline and how different pieces of the plot are going to fit together.  With others, I could probably just write with a plan in my head like I used to and be fine.  I don't think outlining is the only thing that helped my writing mature; I think reading and researching and life experience and age all helped with that too.

An outline is probably hugely important with a timeline and it would definitely make keeping track of what to plan for event-wise in the pacing. I think it's probably a combination of a lot of things, but I'd say all of those are helpful for better writing, especially personal life experience, then there's more background knowledge to draw from and specific feelings or reactions.


I get what you mean about post-outlining too.  Many of my outlines, especially for my medical dramas and stories that take place in a specific BSB time period, take on the form of a timeline so I can keep track of when things happened... how long it's been since a certain event or when an upcoming event needs to happen.  That is super helpful so I'm not constantly searching back through the story to piece together the timeline.

Exactly! I use it for plot elements or character development things for the most part, but I have a general chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene outline that I refer to fairly often since I like making callbacks or having someone remember a direct quote.

I can see where a timeline would be helpful for a medical drama, especially if you need something like "recovery from surgery" or "lots of doctor visits." And I've already mentioned how in awe I am of y'all keeping track of BSB time.


LOL I know.  It's nice of him to come on at all.  He eventually did get back on Twitch for about half an hour.

It is. I would totally understand if he took a break from social media for a while.


I did!  I finished my chapter! ;D  So yes, it was going well, and that's why I didn't update until afternoon.

One more chapter done! That's so exciting! Isn't that two this past week? Or is that three now? You're on a roll just in time for summer to hit! One more week! (Unless y'all go past memorial day this year.)


I'm glad you finished your Nick and Brian scenes!  I would probably procrastinate on Kevin too unless his part was more interesting than theirs.  In my current story, I've been enjoying the Kevin chapters more because his storyline is more interesting to me than Nick's.

Good luck with your word sprint!  I would sprint with you, but I have to get ready.  My mom just retired, so my family's going out to dinner to celebrate tonight!

You know, they were all equally interesting, I just wasn't as sure on exact details for Kevin's (having not started writing it at that moment), but I ended up finishing it without the word sprint once I really sat down to write and starting the next chapter! So now I only have eight chapters left to write and so far this chapter is writing itself. I'm still laughing at Nick so much.

Congratulation s to your mom! That's so exciting!  :party:
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 22, 2021, 11:20:16 PM
I think to really get shorter stories noticed, especially on AO3 where it's part of the culture, you really have to utilize the tags. Which is harder for us that are in the "tags are for genres" camp. I think the more searchable you make it, the easier it is for people to find it. Though I'm thinking now what tags I would use for PBox and all the ones that come to mind are not useful to the story and just me making jokes, like "I once thought it was out of the norm for me to write fluffy romance, has anyone read this?" Or "Nick overreacts to everything in the most animated way!" Or "I chose not to use warnings because I hate spoilers, but y'all are in for a treat." Or "#TeamDark." Or "I will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about this fanfic, just ask!" Or "Nick's name is lovingly 1% of the words painstakingly written in this story," obviously. When realistically, I could probably just tag it "demons," "crazy worldbuilding," "portal fiction," "wordy," and "character development" and all those things are probably more accurate descriptors of the story and my writing style, lol.

Edited to Add: Speaking of tags, I just a story tagged "non-consensual stabbing" and now I'm wondering... isn't most stabbing non-consensual? I think I'd rather know if it was consensual stabbing, lol.

Yeah, I think you're right about the tags.  I wondered if I included more tags that revealed more about the subject matter of my stories (like "Cancer" for Curtain Call), would it attract more readers?  But then I tried searching by said topics, and there are literally no other BSB stories (or very few, in some cases) with that tag.  The best I found was "hospitals" or "medical" - there are 23 and 13 BSB stories for those tags, respectively.  I just don't think my kind of drama - or fantasy - or longfics in general - are popular there.  And that's okay.  At least it allows the few people who do read to leave reviews.

It would be interesting to do an experiment with the same story posted twice, once with everything tagged and once with nothing but the bare minimum, and see if there's a drastic difference in the response it gets.  But I'm not sure how one would do that without spamming by posting the same story twice.

I did look under Additional Tags in the Sort By box to see what came up, and it looks like the most popular tags among BSB stories are:

Romance (130)
Drama (127)
Alternate Universe (124)
Anal Sex (122)
Angst (112)
Oral Sex (72)
Sex (68)
Hurt/Comfort (66)
Fluff (63)
Slash (52)

That about says it all right there... genres and sex.  Lots of sex LOL.


Edited to Add: Speaking of tags, I just a story tagged "non-consensual stabbing" and now I'm wondering... isn't most stabbing non-consensual? I think I'd rather know if it was consensual stabbing, lol.

There's a fetish for everything, so maybe some people like being stabbed?  When I was researching choppage for Broken back in the day, I learned that there are not only amputee fetishists, but there are also people that want to BE an amputee and will go so far as to beg doctors to cut off limbs or hurt themselves to make it happen.  So I guess there could be such a thing as consensual stabbing, crazy as it sounds LOL.


Here's my crazy take: Brian has the fetish (as he has some secret kinks for sure), but Nick is fascinated by his fetish due to his interest in medical science, lol. Obviously Nick's fetish is cryptocurrency . If only there was a way to combine the two. Brian buys specialized medical equipment with cryptocurrency? lmao

LOL!  Having written a story about medical fetishes somewhat recently, I'm going to stay far away from that one for now.  Also, there are zero BSB fics with the "Medical Kink" tag, so I don't know that that would even help.  Maybe I'll just start tagging all my stories with "Anal Sex" instead.


Interesting! It's easy to enjoy Nick and he's the most accessible, so I get it. However, this younger fan needs to read some 90's fanfic Brian, because he is a gem! Not that I feel like you write even present day Brian as a total dick, just slightly more flawed.  :angel:: DBADLEKYA! Oh, there's guardian angel Nick popping by! lol

I know, it's sad that these young ones didn't get to enjoy Brian at his peak.  I could never write Brian as a total dick because I don't see him that way.  I just don't see him as a perfect angel anymore either.  But that has probably actually been good for my writing because it gives Brian more character flaws and a different perspective from the other boys.  In my current story, his belief in God and miracles and the power of prayer has kept him in denial about something that the other guys have accepted, which has caused some tension.  But he would probably listen to whatever Guardian Angel Nick says.  :angel: "INAOYA!"


Exactly! I use it for plot elements or character development things for the most part, but I have a general chapter-by-chapter, scene-by-scene outline that I refer to fairly often since I like making callbacks or having someone remember a direct quote.

I can see where a timeline would be helpful for a medical drama, especially if you need something like "recovery from surgery" or "lots of doctor visits." And I've already mentioned how in awe I am of y'all keeping track of BSB time.

Yep, I have started doing more of the chapter-by-chapter outline as I go, too.  For MBK, I try to plan chapter by chapter a few chapters ahead, and then I just have a list of general ideas and events I want to include later in the story that I add to the chapter-by-chapter outline as they come up.

The most elaborate timeline I ever had was for Curtain Call, in terms of keeping track of a treatment schedule and an entire leg of the This is Us tour.

I was just looking back at some of my old outlines as I was writing this.  I keep them all even after I finish the story.  I have all of them from BMS on; I lost Broken's outline when my laptop died in college.  Anyway, looking back at some of the old ones, I realize they have gotten much more organized over time.  My MBK outline is nicely organized with bolded headings and bullet points and even a couple of tables.  My BMS outline is a hot mess.  It starts with a 19-page list of ideas, which include things like:
Jacuzzi -> sex
Gamecube fun
Nick goes to Cali, meets up with guys – cute parts here
Nick and Aaron part

Then I started keeping track of what happened in each chapter at Chapter 89, and that continues until the end.  Then there's a timeline that spans almost five years.  Then some random notes about the characters.  The whole outline is 30 pages long LOL.  My outlining skills have definitely gotten better over the years.


One more chapter done! That's so exciting! Isn't that two this past week? Or is that three now? You're on a roll just in time for summer to hit! One more week! (Unless y'all go past memorial day this year.)

I guess technically this was my second chapter finished this week, since I finished the Nick one I was having a hard time with on Sunday or Monday... I don't even remember now.  This latest one went a lot better!

Nope, Friday's my last day, so I'm definitely heading into summer with some momentum.  I love that because I usually spend the first week or two of June battling WADD as I try to get back into the writing groove.  That shouldn't be a problem for me this year.


You know, they were all equally interesting, I just wasn't as sure on exact details for Kevin's (having not started writing it at that moment), but I ended up finishing it without the word sprint once I really sat down to write and starting the next chapter! So now I only have eight chapters left to write and so far this chapter is writing itself. I'm still laughing at Nick so much.

Congratulation s to your mom! That's so exciting!  :party:

Good!  You're so close to the end!!  I'm glad you're having fun with it tonight.

Thanks!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 23, 2021, 12:20:31 AM
Yeah, I think you're right about the tags.  I wondered if I included more tags that revealed more about the subject matter of my stories (like "Cancer" for Curtain Call), would it attract more readers?  But then I tried searching by said topics, and there are literally no other BSB stories (or very few, in some cases) with that tag.  The best I found was "hospitals" or "medical" - there are 23 and 13 BSB stories for those tags, respectively.  I just don't think my kind of drama - or fantasy - or longfics in general - are popular there.  And that's okay.  At least it allows the few people who do read to leave reviews.

I don't know. We've talked about the spoilery nature of it, so the part of me that doesn't like spoilers says you should not tag it "cancer," but yes, if people were looking for BSB cancer stories, it would be easier to find if it were tagged. Pros and cons.

It seems like these days novel-length fanfics just aren't the norm in general, especially on AO3. And the ones that are there aren't updated regularly. Now I cannot judge people who write novel-length fanfics and don't update regularly as... well, I took a six month hiatus once four chapters from the end, so... that would be the pot calling the kettle black, lol. And I think the last year of updating was spent on twenty chapters where I probably updated twice in once week and then not at all for a month and half, so... Can't judge them at all. Really writing ahead has saved me from my own bad habits, lol. On your "or fantasy" note, I don't know that fantasy is popular in BSB fanfic land anywhere, lol. It's cool. Unlike in the past where I hated being lumped in with Sci-Fi, I'll cozy up to it and we'll have a rad party that you're all invited to with swords, dragons, and mythical tech! lol


It would be interesting to do an experiment with the same story posted twice, once with everything tagged and once with nothing but the bare minimum, and see if there's a drastic difference in the response it gets.  But I'm not sure how one would do that without spamming by posting the same story twice.

I think you'd have to make the summary different so people don't notice it's two versions of the same story? That or post a few chapters of SAMS as you would normally tag and track the engagement over a couple weeks or so, then add all the other tags and see if there's a spike in engagement after the tags are added. Happy to make you a spreadsheet, lol.


I did look under Additional Tags in the Sort By box to see what came up, and it looks like the most popular tags among BSB stories are:

Romance (130)
Drama (127)
Alternate Universe (124)
Anal Sex (122)
Angst (112)
Oral Sex (72)
Sex (68)
Hurt/Comfort (66)
Fluff (63)
Slash (52)

That about says it all right there... genres and sex.  Lots of sex LOL.

The top three are genres! It's not all sex, lol. There's probably crossover in some of those too and the numbers for "slash" are probably not accurate given the number of "anal sex" tags, lol.


There's a fetish for everything, so maybe some people like being stabbed?  When I was researching choppage for Broken back in the day, I learned that there are not only amputee fetishists, but there are also people that want to BE an amputee and will go so far as to beg doctors to cut off limbs or hurt themselves to make it happen.  So I guess there could be such a thing as consensual stabbing, crazy as it sounds LOL.

Oh, I know. I did actually start writing that as "I'm wondering if there's consensual stabbing," but then I thought, well sure, there's probably consensual stabbing? And then my bigger question was if the majority of stabbing was non-consensual, like I assumed, or not, lol. I did know that there were amputee fetishists, actually; I've heard some horror stories from a friend. I did not know that people would beg doctors to cut off their limbs though, but I'm hoping that the doctors did not follow through on that request unless it was medically necessary.


LOL!  Having written a story about medical fetishes somewhat recently, I'm going to stay far away from that one for now.  Also, there are zero BSB fics with the "Medical Kink" tag, so I don't know that that would even help.  Maybe I'll just start tagging all my stories with "Anal Sex" instead.

Nothing says you can't have a medical kink and enjoy anal sex! Really, you'd be doing readers a service if you included and tagged both in this hypothetical Frick/Frack medical kink story, then it would be easier to find.  :biggrin:


I know, it's sad that these young ones didn't get to enjoy Brian at his peak.  I could never write Brian as a total dick because I don't see him that way.  I just don't see him as a perfect angel anymore either.  But that has probably actually been good for my writing because it gives Brian more character flaws and a different perspective from the other boys.  In my current story, his belief in God and miracles and the power of prayer has kept him in denial about something that the other guys have accepted, which has caused some tension.  But he would probably listen to whatever Guardian Angel Nick says.  :angel: "INAOYA!"

I don't see him as a total dick either, just someone with some very different political views from me. And character flaws and different perspectives lead to character growth opportunities for everyone in fictionland (and in real life, I guess), so I think it's better with have a new perspective on Brian's full character. Unless we're Mare. Mare always knew. Ooh, fascinating! I really need to catch up on my fanfic reading, I've just been very focused on finishing PNecklace and not wanting to fall too far astray from it.

I'm having a moment where I can't remember what "INAOYA" is... Help! lol I'd listen to Guardian Angel Nick too, he's got good points and neat tricks!


Yep, I have started doing more of the chapter-by-chapter outline as I go, too.  For MBK, I try to plan chapter by chapter a few chapters ahead, and then I just have a list of general ideas and events I want to include later in the story that I add to the chapter-by-chapter outline as they come up.

I usually do at the end, especially now with the divergent plotlines. I saw another picture of Charlie and the strings today with the caption "how I outline" versus "how other people outline" with a picture of an organized document and it hit a little too close to home, lol. I had been following my outline accurately, but I added a scene today and it was 100% worth it.


The most elaborate timeline I ever had was for Curtain Call, in terms of keeping track of a treatment schedule and an entire leg of the This is Us tour.

I'm imaging how difficult that would be for real Nick while on tour! Did he fly back to his regular doctor every time? I can't imagine he'd have one in every city, that would make even less sense. Those frequent flier miles he would rack up!


I was just looking back at some of my old outlines as I was writing this.  I keep them all even after I finish the story.  I have all of them from BMS on; I lost Broken's outline when my laptop died in college.  Anyway, looking back at some of the old ones, I realize they have gotten much more organized over time.  My MBK outline is nicely organized with bolded headings and bullet points and even a couple of tables.  My BMS outline is a hot mess.  It starts with a 19-page list of ideas, which include things like:
Jacuzzi -> sex
Gamecube fun
Nick goes to Cali, meets up with guys – cute parts here
Nick and Aaron part

Then I started keeping track of what happened in each chapter at Chapter 89, and that continues until the end.  Then there's a timeline that spans almost five years.  Then some random notes about the characters.  The whole outline is 30 pages long LOL.  My outlining skills have definitely gotten better over the years.

LMAO! I love all of your notes, especially "jacuzzi --> sex" and "cute parts here." This sounds more like how I outline, except I don't think any of it has ever gotten to 30 pages... Though I do keep them in Google Keep with each note labeled about the subject. So it's more like "Character Arcs" then a list of each major character and the overall theme of their arc. And nothing else. I think there's a few times I wrote unrelated ramblings, but they're a couple of sentences at most.

Bolded headings and tables are much more organized than random musings, but I think there's value to random musings too. I say, whatever works for the story. Also BMS was 200 chapters long, so it makes sense that it would have 30 pages of outlining and ideas.


I guess technically this was my second chapter finished this week, since I finished the Nick one I was having a hard time with on Sunday or Monday... I don't even remember now.  This latest one went a lot better!

Nope, Friday's my last day, so I'm definitely heading into summer with some momentum.  I love that because I usually spend the first week or two of June battling WADD as I try to get back into the writing groove.  That shouldn't be a problem for me this year.

One chapter in five or six days! Awesome! Glad it went better than the Nick one! Your sick days really helped out. I love those ones where you're just sick enough where you would be unproductive at work, but you can still do little things around the house. Obviously I'd rather not be sick, but in the scale of being sick, those ones are good.

I wonder how much you'll crank out without WADD. I hope that means you'll be really productive! :)


Good!  You're so close to the end!!  I'm glad you're having fun with it tonight.

I know, it's crazy! It was fun, but my dinner getting delivered derailed me; it's my fault for watching tv while eating.

My Saturdays have been less productive this month and my Sundays have been really productive, so I'm hoping that maybe that means tomorrow will be crazy productive if I already had a good Saturday.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 23, 2021, 03:53:12 PM
I don't know. We've talked about the spoilery nature of it, so the part of me that doesn't like spoilers says you should not tag it "cancer," but yes, if people were looking for BSB cancer stories, it would be easier to find if it were tagged. Pros and cons.

It seems like these days novel-length fanfics just aren't the norm in general, especially on AO3. And the ones that are there aren't updated regularly. Now I cannot judge people who write novel-length fanfics and don't update regularly as... well, I took a six month hiatus once four chapters from the end, so... that would be the pot calling the kettle black, lol. And I think the last year of updating was spent on twenty chapters where I probably updated twice in once week and then not at all for a month and half, so... Can't judge them at all. Really writing ahead has saved me from my own bad habits, lol. On your "or fantasy" note, I don't know that fantasy is popular in BSB fanfic land anywhere, lol. It's cool. Unlike in the past where I hated being lumped in with Sci-Fi, I'll cozy up to it and we'll have a rad party that you're all invited to with swords, dragons, and mythical tech! lol

Yeah, that's my issue with those kinds of tags too.  I hate spoilers.  This is why we just need to enjoy writing for ourselves, and if anyone else wants to read our stuff, bonus!

I've been there with the regular updates in the beginning, followed by months of no updates when life gets too busy.  Writing ahead and hoarding chapters has really helped me too.


I think you'd have to make the summary different so people don't notice it's two versions of the same story? That or post a few chapters of SAMS as you would normally tag and track the engagement over a couple weeks or so, then add all the other tags and see if there's a spike in engagement after the tags are added. Happy to make you a spreadsheet, lol.

That's probably the way to go if I want to try it - start with normal tags and then add on later and see if it makes a difference.


The top three are genres! It's not all sex, lol. There's probably crossover in some of those too and the numbers for "slash" are probably not accurate given the number of "anal sex" tags, lol.

Yeah, I'm guessing most of the slash writers don't feel the need to actually include the slash tag because they already have the character tag that implies it's a slash, like Nick Carter/Brian Littrell.  The anal sex tag is also a giveaway LOL.


Nothing says you can't have a medical kink and enjoy anal sex! Really, you'd be doing readers a service if you included and tagged both in this hypothetical Frick/Frack medical kink story, then it would be easier to find.  :biggrin:

LOL Very true.


I don't see him as a total dick either, just someone with some very different political views from me. And character flaws and different perspectives lead to character growth opportunities for everyone in fictionland (and in real life, I guess), so I think it's better with have a new perspective on Brian's full character. Unless we're Mare. Mare always knew. Ooh, fascinating! I really need to catch up on my fanfic reading, I've just been very focused on finishing PNecklace and not wanting to fall too far astray from it.

I'm having a moment where I can't remember what "INAOYA" is... Help! lol I'd listen to Guardian Angel Nick too, he's got good points and neat tricks!

Yes, same.  We may not agree politically, but I still love him as a person.  I just don't love everything about him.

INAOYA = "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"  I was just trying to think of what else Nick says in that scene LOL.


I usually do at the end, especially now with the divergent plotlines. I saw another picture of Charlie and the strings today with the caption "how I outline" versus "how other people outline" with a picture of an organized document and it hit a little too close to home, lol. I had been following my outline accurately, but I added a scene today and it was 100% worth it.

Outlines should be flexible!  I change and add stuff in mine too.


I'm imaging how difficult that would be for real Nick while on tour! Did he fly back to his regular doctor every time? I can't imagine he'd have one in every city, that would make even less sense. Those frequent flier miles he would rack up!

Yeah... you'd have to read the story to see how he did it, because that was a big part of the story.


LMAO! I love all of your notes, especially "jacuzzi --> sex" and "cute parts here." This sounds more like how I outline, except I don't think any of it has ever gotten to 30 pages... Though I do keep them in Google Keep with each note labeled about the subject. So it's more like "Character Arcs" then a list of each major character and the overall theme of their arc. And nothing else. I think there's a few times I wrote unrelated ramblings, but they're a couple of sentences at most.

Bolded headings and tables are much more organized than random musings, but I think there's value to random musings too. I say, whatever works for the story. Also BMS was 200 chapters long, so it makes sense that it would have 30 pages of outlining and ideas.

Yeah, absolutely.  I have evolved to writing more in complete sentences, but when I look back at that BMS outline, I can still make sense of most of that stuff and remember what part of the story it refers to, so it definitely still worked for me.  It's fine for an outline to be a rambling mess because no one sees it except you.


One chapter in five or six days! Awesome! Glad it went better than the Nick one! Your sick days really helped out. I love those ones where you're just sick enough where you would be unproductive at work, but you can still do little things around the house. Obviously I'd rather not be sick, but in the scale of being sick, those ones are good.

I wonder how much you'll crank out without WADD. I hope that means you'll be really productive! :)

Agreed, those are the best kind of sick days!  Sometimes it is nice to be a little bit sick because it gives you an excuse to stay home and do nothing except what you feel like.  I'm usually not super productive when I'm sick, but every once in a while it seems to help.  I wrote my first pandaskunk story in 2012 over the course of a couple sick days and a weekend when I had the flu and was in some sort of delirious fever- or drug-induced state of heightened creativity.


I know, it's crazy! It was fun, but my dinner getting delivered derailed me; it's my fault for watching tv while eating.

My Saturdays have been less productive this month and my Sundays have been really productive, so I'm hoping that maybe that means tomorrow will be crazy productive if I already had a good Saturday.

Ugh, I do the same thing, and it usually derails me too.  Last night I was going to try to get started on my next chapter, but I watched SNL and went to bed instead.

I'm with you on Saturdays vs. Sundays too.  Of course I like Saturdays better, but Sundays have been more productive for me.  Not so much today, but finishing a chapter is usually easier than starting a new one.  I did start my Nick chapter and wrote 700 some words before I took a break... hoping to add some more this afternoon.  I hope you're having a productive day!

Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 23, 2021, 04:56:48 PM
Yeah, that's my issue with those kinds of tags too.  I hate spoilers.  This is why we just need to enjoy writing for ourselves, and if anyone else wants to read our stuff, bonus!

I've been there with the regular updates in the beginning, followed by months of no updates when life gets too busy.  Writing ahead and hoarding chapters has really helped me too.

That's probably the way to go if I want to try it - start with normal tags and then add on later and see if it makes a difference.

I think the BSB fandom for the most part is used to there not being tags other than maybe genres and characters, so maybe it's not as big of a deal for us as opposed to fandoms where AO3 already existed when it began. Or maybe I'm wrong and people really love the tags. Does Wattpad do the tags too? What about ff.net now? Or fiction press? I suppose I could google these things, but if any of y'all know, lol.

I think I'm going to get to November with just a regular weekly update. Totally crazy. It's weird looking at how I used to write and post and then look at now. I wonder if I would have been better off if when I switched PBox to AC I didn't just throw up every chapter I had at the time and did a weekly update instead. A quick calendar search says I would have had updates through the end of June with just what I had at the time and then through September with what I'd written by June. I probably still would have had those long writers' blocks at the end, but lesson learned. The weekly update and hoard really does make everything go much smoother. And to think I only did it this time because I looked back at those long writers' blocks and was worried about coming back and getting so burned out again, lol.


Yeah, I'm guessing most of the slash writers don't feel the need to actually include the slash tag because they already have the character tag that implies it's a slash, like Nick Carter/Brian Littrell.  The anal sex tag is also a giveaway LOL.

One way shipping culture has prevailed! lol It's nice to see slash as a genre or just a relationship designation now and not a warning though. I think that's definitely an improvement. I always thought slash as a warning was kind of alienating to the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, I'm sure there's lots of non-homosexual couples and/or people who enjoy anal sex, but yes, "Nick/Brian" and "anal sex" would imply it's slash, lol.


Yes, same.  We may not agree politically, but I still love him as a person.  I just don't love everything about him.

INAOYA = "I'm not afraid of you anymore!"  I was just trying to think of what else Nick says in that scene LOL.

I think that's true of everyone anyone knows. Some of my closest friends do have flaws or traits that I'm not a fan of, and I'm sure the same is true for me to them. However, doesn't mean I like them any less. Maybe if they were a serial killer, lol.

Thank you! Tired me just could not remember that yesterday, lol! Now we just need an acronym for the MJ analogy and we're golden.


Outlines should be flexible!  I change and add stuff in mine too.

How much would you say your outline changes from start to finish once you have the "bones" in?


Yeah... you'd have to read the story to see how he did it, because that was a big part of the story.

Some day. Curiosity will probably get the better of me eventually, lol. Ten years of fanfic culture is a lot to catch up on, though.


Yeah, absolutely.  I have evolved to writing more in complete sentences, but when I look back at that BMS outline, I can still make sense of most of that stuff and remember what part of the story it refers to, so it definitely still worked for me.  It's fine for an outline to be a rambling mess because no one sees it except you.

Most of my weird rambles are usually complete sentences for the most part. That's the nice part of story notes, you can share them or keep them to yourself. Could be fun, could be your secret.


Agreed, those are the best kind of sick days!  Sometimes it is nice to be a little bit sick because it gives you an excuse to stay home and do nothing except what you feel like.  I'm usually not super productive when I'm sick, but every once in a while it seems to help.  I wrote my first pandaskunk story in 2012 over the course of a couple sick days and a weekend when I had the flu and was in some sort of delirious fever- or drug-induced state of heightened creativity.

I'm useless when I have the flu, lol. I'm glad it gave you fever- or drug-induced creativity. Would you say Pandaskunk is better for it?


Ugh, I do the same thing, and it usually derails me too.  Last night I was going to try to get started on my next chapter, but I watched SNL and went to bed instead.

I'm with you on Saturdays vs. Sundays too.  Of course I like Saturdays better, but Sundays have been more productive for me.  Not so much today, but finishing a chapter is usually easier than starting a new one.  I did start my Nick chapter and wrote 700 some words before I took a break... hoping to add some more this afternoon.  I hope you're having a productive day!

If I watch one half hour episode of whatever, I can usually get back to writing, but if I watch more than episode or something longer than a half hour, it's a lost cause. I took so long eating dinner last night that I knew I'd be doomed, but I was really hoping.

Saturdays used to be my more productive days in the winter, but yeah, now it's Sundays for the past month or so. Not sure why! I find that when I'm inspired and motivated, continuing a started chapter is easiest, then finishing, then starting from scratch. The forty five minutes I wrote this morning before cooking went pretty well because I picked up from where I left off and, like you, got about 700 words in. I think I've got at least the end of this scene in me, but not sure about the rest of the chapter. And then it might be about time to switch arcs and line up the timing. We'll see!

Hope your afternoon has been productive! Wish me luck!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 23, 2021, 06:31:53 PM
I think the BSB fandom for the most part is used to there not being tags other than maybe genres and characters, so maybe it's not as big of a deal for us as opposed to fandoms where AO3 already existed when it began. Or maybe I'm wrong and people really love the tags. Does Wattpad do the tags too? What about ff.net now? Or fiction press? I suppose I could google these things, but if any of y'all know, lol.

I think I'm going to get to November with just a regular weekly update. Totally crazy. It's weird looking at how I used to write and post and then look at now. I wonder if I would have been better off if when I switched PBox to AC I didn't just throw up every chapter I had at the time and did a weekly update instead. A quick calendar search says I would have had updates through the end of June with just what I had at the time and then through September with what I'd written by June. I probably still would have had those long writers' blocks at the end, but lesson learned. The weekly update and hoard really does make everything go much smoother. And to think I only did it this time because I looked back at those long writers' blocks and was worried about coming back and getting so burned out again, lol.

Yeah, tags are a newer thing for us.  I don't think ff.net uses tags.  I'm not sure about Wattpad.  I find the format of Wattpad confusing.

Sometimes you have to learn a lesson the hard way.  That's what happened to me, too.  Once you hit the wall of writer's block followed by a hiatus, you realize the importance of banking enough chapters in advance to get you through those rough patches so you're not leaving readers hanging forever.


One way shipping culture has prevailed! lol It's nice to see slash as a genre or just a relationship designation now and not a warning though. I think that's definitely an improvement. I always thought slash as a warning was kind of alienating to the LGBTQ+ community. I mean, I'm sure there's lots of non-homosexual couples and/or people who enjoy anal sex, but yes, "Nick/Brian" and "anal sex" would imply it's slash, lol.

Good points!  I agree about slash being its own genre or a subgenre of romance instead of a warning.  And yes, that's true about anal sex being something het couples do too; I didn't think about that.


How much would you say your outline changes from start to finish once you have the "bones" in?

It depends on the story.  It changes a lot for longer stories.  For MBK, I've added a lot since I originally outlined the idea like four years ago, and I'll continue to add to the chapter by chapter part of the outline as I progress through it.  Whereas with a shorter novel or novella like Bethlehem and Heroic Measures, the outline didn't change a lot once I got to the point of being ready to start posting the story.  Heroic Measures is one of the few stories where I went in with a clear, chapter-by-chapter plan and actually stuck to it, ending with the number of chapters I had planned:  10 chapters plus an epilogue.


Some day. Curiosity will probably get the better of me eventually, lol. Ten years of fanfic culture is a lot to catch up on, though.

No doubt!  Let us know if you find yourself with more free time to read and want some recommendation s.


I'm useless when I have the flu, lol. I'm glad it gave you fever- or drug-induced creativity. Would you say Pandaskunk is better for it?

I usually am too!  It was a weird experience.  I'm not sure I would have even come up with the idea for Pandaskunk, let alone actually written it, if I hadn't been home sick and doped up on drugs.  But I'm glad I was because that story and its sequels were a lot of fun to write, a nice departure from my usual angsty realistic fiction.


Saturdays used to be my more productive days in the winter, but yeah, now it's Sundays for the past month or so. Not sure why! I find that when I'm inspired and motivated, continuing a started chapter is easiest, then finishing, then starting from scratch. The forty five minutes I wrote this morning before cooking went pretty well because I picked up from where I left off and, like you, got about 700 words in. I think I've got at least the end of this scene in me, but not sure about the rest of the chapter. And then it might be about time to switch arcs and line up the timing. We'll see!

Hope your afternoon has been productive! Wish me luck!

For me, it usually takes me some time to get back into my story world after a week of work, unless I've been able to maintain my inspiration all week.  Saturday morning is my time to do that, and by Sunday, I'm usually back in the bubble and ready to keep writing.  That's why three day weekends are the best, because then I have Sunday AND Monday to be productive.

I came back and wrote a bit more this afternoon and still have the story open, so maybe I'll write some more before I spend the rest of my evening watching 90 Day Fiance LOL.

Good luck finishing the rest of your scene!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 23, 2021, 07:03:06 PM
Yeah, tags are a newer thing for us.  I don't think ff.net uses tags.  I'm not sure about Wattpad.  I find the format of Wattpad confusing.

Same, but I think I've said that already.


Sometimes you have to learn a lesson the hard way.  That's what happened to me, too.  Once you hit the wall of writer's block followed by a hiatus, you realize the importance of banking enough chapters in advance to get you through those rough patches so you're not leaving readers hanging forever.

I think that's true of most "real world" lessons, but hopefully not school-based lessons, lol. I'm looking forward to having an entire rest of a story banked when I move on to my next project. That's never happened to me before. I could WADD until Thanksgiving and be completely fine if I wanted to! I don't feel like it will take that long though. I wonder how everyone reading along is feeling about my regular updating schedule? Do most of them even know how bad I used to be at this point? lol


It depends on the story.  It changes a lot for longer stories.  For MBK, I've added a lot since I originally outlined the idea like four years ago, and I'll continue to add to the chapter by chapter part of the outline as I progress through it.  Whereas with a shorter novel or novella like Bethlehem and Heroic Measures, the outline didn't change a lot once I got to the point of being ready to start posting the story.  Heroic Measures is one of the few stories where I went in with a clear, chapter-by-chapter plan and actually stuck to it, ending with the number of chapters I had planned:  10 chapters plus an epilogue.

I can see why that would happen less for shorter stories, because you like to be about ten chapters ahead of where you're writing, right? So Bethlehem was half done and Heroic Measures would have been basically done by then. Do you think you stuck more with Heroic Measure's outline because it was that short or because it had a lot of medical stuff or because it was a crossover and you had to keep two fandoms straight?


No doubt!  Let us know if you find yourself with more free time to read and want some recommendation s.

Yes, I will resurrect The Reading Thread at that point, haha. I think my near future of fanfic reading is to catch up on History, read If I Knew Then (see I thought reading an in-progress one would help me stay on top of the updates and it did not because I am a failure at multi-tasking, lol), start MBK, and then reread Why I'd Do It All Again. Then go back to the initial suggestions y'all made.


I usually am too!  It was a weird experience.  I'm not sure I would have even come up with the idea for Pandaskunk, let alone actually written it, if I hadn't been home sick and doped up on drugs.  But I'm glad I was because that story and its sequels were a lot of fun to write, a nice departure from my usual angsty realistic fiction.

LOL! I'm glad the drugs worked out for you. Don't tell them that when you refill your stash. ;) I think we all need a break from Team Dark every now and again. It's why I was so gungho to churn out my holiday story as quick as I did, I needed something heartwarming about halfway through PNecklace.


For me, it usually takes me some time to get back into my story world after a week of work, unless I've been able to maintain my inspiration all week.  Saturday morning is my time to do that, and by Sunday, I'm usually back in the bubble and ready to keep writing.  That's why three day weekends are the best, because then I have Sunday AND Monday to be productive.

I came back and wrote a bit more this afternoon and still have the story open, so maybe I'll write some more before I spend the rest of my evening watching 90 Day Fiance LOL.

Good luck finishing the rest of your scene!

I feel that. That's part of why I've been trying to stay in my inspiration bubble as much as possible this past month or so. I know, I love three day weekends! Three more days to be really productive. Fingers crossed for next week! Although, you'll be in Summer break then, so you have months to remain in your inspiration bubble. ;D

Yay! More writing! I say write until you're hungry, then watch 90 Day Fiance!

I did finish it, or kind of. This scene that I started that I apparently didn't know I wanted was one that flowed into the next part and into the next part and so on... And now I'm about 400 words away from being able to call it a chapter. So... I'm taking a little break here, then hoping to finish it before I get hungry and potentially derail myself! lol I guess the nice thing is that it's about time to edit this week's update chapter, and I can usually get back into the groove of editing after derailing myself from writing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 23, 2021, 09:45:43 PM
I could WADD until Thanksgiving and be completely fine if I wanted to! I don't feel like it will take that long though. I wonder how everyone reading along is feeling about my regular updating schedule? Do most of them even know how bad I used to be at this point? lol

That's awesome!  What an accomplishment and a good feeling to know you can take it easy for the next few months if you want to.  Hopefully you'll finish PNecklace and have plenty of time to get your next project going so you'll have something new to post after November.

Yeah, I wonder how many people reading now were original readers back when you first posted PBox and know you back then.  I don't know.  People come and go.


I can see why that would happen less for shorter stories, because you like to be about ten chapters ahead of where you're writing, right? So Bethlehem was half done and Heroic Measures would have been basically done by then. Do you think you stuck more with Heroic Measure's outline because it was that short or because it had a lot of medical stuff or because it was a crossover and you had to keep two fandoms straight?

Yep, exactly.  I think the way I structured Heroic Measures forced me to stick with my outline.  Each of the ten chapters was written in third person limited from a different character's POV - each of the five Boys and five of the main characters from ER.  So I just let each chapter go as long as it took to write the scene I had planned for that person's POV.


Yes, I will resurrect The Reading Thread at that point, haha. I think my near future of fanfic reading is to catch up on History, read If I Knew Then (see I thought reading an in-progress one would help me stay on top of the updates and it did not because I am a failure at multi-tasking, lol), start MBK, and then reread Why I'd Do It All Again. Then go back to the initial suggestions y'all made.

Sounds like a good plan!


LOL! I'm glad the drugs worked out for you. Don't tell them that when you refill your stash. ;) I think we all need a break from Team Dark every now and again. It's why I was so gungho to churn out my holiday story as quick as I did, I needed something heartwarming about halfway through PNecklace.

Holiday stories are a great palate cleanser!  Mine still involve death and destruction, but it's definitely more tongue-in-cheek and not serious.


I feel that. That's part of why I've been trying to stay in my inspiration bubble as much as possible this past month or so. I know, I love three day weekends! Three more days to be really productive. Fingers crossed for next week! Although, you'll be in Summer break then, so you have months to remain in your inspiration bubble. ;D

Yay! More writing! I say write until you're hungry, then watch 90 Day Fiance!

I did finish it, or kind of. This scene that I started that I apparently didn't know I wanted was one that flowed into the next part and into the next part and so on... And now I'm about 400 words away from being able to call it a chapter. So... I'm taking a little break here, then hoping to finish it before I get hungry and potentially derail myself! lol I guess the nice thing is that it's about time to edit this week's update chapter, and I can usually get back into the groove of editing after derailing myself from writing.

I totally get that.  One of the most frustrating things is to get derailed right at the end of a story. 

Good for you!  It's nice when one scene flows into the next so seamlessly.

I wrote another 600 words or so and then went to eat dinner and watch some of 90 Day Fiance.  Now I'm back.  I dunno if I'll get any more written tonight, but altogether I had a decent writing day.  Now I just have to keep the streak alive five more days, and then it will be summer!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 23, 2021, 10:27:21 PM
Here is a Reddit thread on author's notes in fanfic, since we were just discussing them: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/njm5n8/do_you_prefer_authors_notes_at_the_beginning_or/  General consensus seems to be that most people like or at least don't mind author's notes, as long as they're not too long or distracting.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 23, 2021, 11:12:29 PM
That's awesome!  What an accomplishment and a good feeling to know you can take it easy for the next few months if you want to.  Hopefully you'll finish PNecklace and have plenty of time to get your next project going so you'll have something new to post after November.

Yeah, I wonder how many people reading now were original readers back when you first posted PBox and know you back then.  I don't know.  People come and go.

It is nice! Especially since I'm just trucking along. At the moment, it feels like I'll be ready to keep going with a new project, but I guess I can't say for certain until I finish this thing. I probably won't invoke the bubble quite as much as I have here recently though, lol.

I'll be honest, right now it doesn't feel like I need a total break from the PBox universe, so my next long project will probably be PDemons, plus I already know exactly what happens in the first two chapters or so. I was going to reread Gobosei again though and mull around in some research for Nick is Brian's Guardian Angel, just to enjoy the idea of being able to WADD without pressure to do anything right away. However, as I've mentioned, Snail is the top of my priority list post-PNecklace, then I think I'm itching for a shorter comedy to break up the dark and that "Nick becomes genre saavy" one where the other Boys take on his typical roles keeps popping up in my head, lol. That feels more like a novella than a whole novel, though.

Not sure either! I thought about adding a new chapter to the AC one that said something to the effect of "I'm giving PBox a major overhaul and started writing the sequel finally" because in theory, it would have pinged anyone who tracked and possibly favorited (unclear) PBox, but I saw that was against the posting rules and ultimately decided against it. I think a few of you have me marked as a favorite author here, did it tell you when I posted something new like it does on AO3?


Yep, exactly.  I think the way I structured Heroic Measures forced me to stick with my outline.  Each of the ten chapters was written in third person limited from a different character's POV - each of the five Boys and five of the main characters from ER.  So I just let each chapter go as long as it took to write the scene I had planned for that person's POV.

I do remember you mentioning that, I think. You're right, it would be weird if a character got more than one POV chapter, but no one else did. It would make it really imbalanced. Were all the chapters still around the same length or were any of them much longer or much shorter than the others? I guess I could just go look, lol, but if you know offhand...


Holiday stories are a great palate cleanser!  Mine still involve death and destruction, but it's definitely more tongue-in-cheek and not serious.

LMAO! I love that even your holiday stories are dark.


I totally get that.  One of the most frustrating things is to get derailed right at the end of a story. 

Good for you!  It's nice when one scene flows into the next so seamlessly.

*eyes six month hiatus from writing PBox* Yup. Luckily, everything is going fairly smoothly this time around. I was able to finish that chapter, it just needed a few hundred more words and a good cliffhanger because I am a sadist. Then I went back through my little outline and shuffled the chapters I had planned together in the most sadistic way possible with lots of cliffhangers after dramatic moments for the two arcs. Now I only have to decide if I leave any of the last four chapters on longer cliffhangers or if I let their last scenes play straight through. However, I think I have to switch arcs for a minute and finish the chapters leading up to that portion before I make a decision, then I think I'll know for sure one way or the other.

So on that note, seven chapters down! I am officially halfway through the last fourteen chapters I had to write! And I'm glad I just focused on one arc to begin with, because this last chapter wasn't originally in my loose outline, but it definitely needed to be in the story. I'm now two weeks ahead of my word count goal (though I did need to add another 3,000 words, since it tracks word count and not chapter count... darn me for being wordy) and up to 9 words per minute typing, whoo boy! I'm fast as lightening! lol Nano says I'll be done on June 7th, but I know better and June 20th or so is probably more accurate. Who knows though! Three day weekend next week could be an unexpected boon. I did finish two chapters this weekend. I think it's bedtime though, lol.


I wrote another 600 words or so and then went to eat dinner and watch some of 90 Day Fiance.  Now I'm back.  I dunno if I'll get any more written tonight, but altogether I had a decent writing day.  Now I just have to keep the streak alive five more days, and then it will be summer!

Woo! 600 more words! Whether you write more or not, you were able to start a new chapter and keep writing after breaks today, so that's awesome. You've got these next five days! I believe in the streak!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 23, 2021, 11:17:28 PM
Here is a Reddit thread on author's notes in fanfic, since we were just discussing them: https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/njm5n8/do_you_prefer_authors_notes_at_the_beginning_or/  General consensus seems to be that most people like or at least don't mind author's notes, as long as they're not too long or distracting.

Hmmm... We'll, y'all know I always have a lot to say about my magnum opus, lol. Maybe the people of AO3 would enjoy it too. Not to the length here though. Can you imagine reading "The History of PBox parts one and two" at the bottom of a 3,000 word chapter? Yikes!

This person was my favorite: "Wait, you don't put your author's note in the middle of the 2nd quarter of your chapter? Never gonna make it." I laughed so hard; it reminded me of Mare sarcasm.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 24, 2021, 04:48:11 PM
It is nice! Especially since I'm just trucking along. At the moment, it feels like I'll be ready to keep going with a new project, but I guess I can't say for certain until I finish this thing. I probably won't invoke the bubble quite as much as I have here recently though, lol.

I'll be honest, right now it doesn't feel like I need a total break from the PBox universe, so my next long project will probably be PDemons, plus I already know exactly what happens in the first two chapters or so. I was going to reread Gobosei again though and mull around in some research for Nick is Brian's Guardian Angel, just to enjoy the idea of being able to WADD without pressure to do anything right away. However, as I've mentioned, Snail is the top of my priority list post-PNecklace, then I think I'm itching for a shorter comedy to break up the dark and that "Nick becomes genre saavy" one where the other Boys take on his typical roles keeps popping up in my head, lol. That feels more like a novella than a whole novel, though.

Not sure either! I thought about adding a new chapter to the AC one that said something to the effect of "I'm giving PBox a major overhaul and started writing the sequel finally" because in theory, it would have pinged anyone who tracked and possibly favorited (unclear) PBox, but I saw that was against the posting rules and ultimately decided against it. I think a few of you have me marked as a favorite author here, did it tell you when I posted something new like it does on AO3?

Hey, if you don't feel like you need a break from PBox, definitely keep going and tackle PDemons!  It's probably easier to just keep writing within the same universe than to take a long break and come back to it.  But I also like the idea of WADDing for a bit and/or writing something short and light in between if you want to.  That's the perfect time to write those short stories you don't want to step away from your novel long enough to write.

I have you favorited here, and I think I did get an email when you posted new stories.  It's supposed to send one anyway.  It's been a few months, so I don't remember for sure.


I do remember you mentioning that, I think. You're right, it would be weird if a character got more than one POV chapter, but no one else did. It would make it really imbalanced. Were all the chapters still around the same length or were any of them much longer or much shorter than the others? I guess I could just go look, lol, but if you know offhand...

Most of them were in my 2,000-5,000 word range.  The only outlier was Chapter 5, which was an 8,000-word monster, but that was The Scene, so I knew it would probably be a big one and let it go on as long as it needed to.


So on that note, seven chapters down! I am officially halfway through the last fourteen chapters I had to write! And I'm glad I just focused on one arc to begin with, because this last chapter wasn't originally in my loose outline, but it definitely needed to be in the story. I'm now two weeks ahead of my word count goal (though I did need to add another 3,000 words, since it tracks word count and not chapter count... darn me for being wordy) and up to 9 words per minute typing, whoo boy! I'm fast as lightening! lol Nano says I'll be done on June 7th, but I know better and June 20th or so is probably more accurate. Who knows though! Three day weekend next week could be an unexpected boon. I did finish two chapters this weekend. I think it's bedtime though, lol.

Woo-hoo!  You're definitely on the final stretch!  I love that feeling.  And a three-day weekend coming up!  You're got this!

I am still behind where I should be with my goal, but that's why I made it a two-month goal.  June is going to be my catch-up month!  I'm a few chapters away from the part of the story I've most been looking forward to, so that should help too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 24, 2021, 04:50:00 PM
Hmmm... We'll, y'all know I always have a lot to say about my magnum opus, lol. Maybe the people of AO3 would enjoy it too. Not to the length here though. Can you imagine reading "The History of PBox parts one and two" at the bottom of a 3,000 word chapter? Yikes!

This person was my favorite: "Wait, you don't put your author's note in the middle of the 2nd quarter of your chapter? Never gonna make it." I laughed so hard; it reminded me of Mare sarcasm.

LMAO I know; I laughed at that post too!  You could always put a link to your behind the scenes posts here, and then people who are interested could come here to read!  Though I guess they would probably need to register an account to see it, so maybe that's not the best idea.  But it would be nice to attract some new people to the forum!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 24, 2021, 05:55:27 PM
Hey, if you don't feel like you need a break from PBox, definitely keep going and tackle PDemons!  It's probably easier to just keep writing within the same universe than to take a long break and come back to it.  But I also like the idea of WADDing for a bit and/or writing something short and light in between if you want to.  That's the perfect time to write those short stories you don't want to step away from your novel long enough to write.

I have you favorited here, and I think I did get an email when you posted new stories.  It's supposed to send one anyway.  It's been a few months, so I don't remember for sure.

That was my thought. If it still feels motivating, then it's probably easier to tackle now then to wander off and come back. But I'm saying this now as I'm excited to be finishing. I might change my mind after actually finishing, lol. My plan was to make a decision one way or another by July. Unless these next seven chapters take me the entire month to write; we'll see.

Your WADD was pretty short this time too, wasn't it?

So really, it all depends on if people still use the emails they have linked to here and were excited to see me posting again, haha.


Most of them were in my 2,000-5,000 word range.  The only outlier was Chapter 5, which was an 8,000-word monster, but that was The Scene, so I knew it would probably be a big one and let it go on as long as it needed to.

I feel like of all chapters, "The Scenes" are much more likely to get unruly (in terms of word count) than any others. I don't know if it's because they're feverish fits of inspirational buildup or what, but I feel like they're always enjoyable.


Woo-hoo!  You're definitely on the final stretch!  I love that feeling.  And a three-day weekend coming up!  You're got this!

I am still behind where I should be with my goal, but that's why I made it a two-month goal.  June is going to be my catch-up month!  I'm a few chapters away from the part of the story I've most been looking forward to, so that should help too.

It's pretty exciting. I thought these next couple of chapters were going to go a little slower inspiration-wise, but I already have almost 900 words written on the next one. I may just spend all of my free time this next week glued to my keyboard, lol. I did spend half an hour researching deserts again today though. Who knew that deserts would take up so much of my time, ha.

I am glad I listened to you and made mine a two month goal. I'm impressed with my progress, but there's no way I would have finished 14 chapters in a month.

You knew that May could be more up and down anyway, you planned for it, and you still wrote a lot and more than you typically write during the school year, it sounds like. I call all of those things pluses. :) I think you're right, once you get school out of your brain and get to the part you've been looking forward to, it'll all be smooth sailing and productive.

LMAO I know; I laughed at that post too!  You could always put a link to your behind the scenes posts here, and then people who are interested could come here to read!  Though I guess they would probably need to register an account to see it, so maybe that's not the best idea.  But it would be nice to attract some new people to the forum!

An interesting thought! I wonder what AO3's policy is on linking off-site. Something to look into...

Edited to Add: I see no policies on linking to elsewhere, but I ended up in a rabbit hole of "fannish next-of-kin" policies... I didn't know that was a thing, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 24, 2021, 09:03:50 PM
That was my thought. If it still feels motivating, then it's probably easier to tackle now then to wander off and come back. But I'm saying this now as I'm excited to be finishing. I might change my mind after actually finishing, lol. My plan was to make a decision one way or another by July. Unless these next seven chapters take me the entire month to write; we'll see.

Your WADD was pretty short this time too, wasn't it?

So really, it all depends on if people still use the emails they have linked to here and were excited to see me posting again, haha.

Yeah, you never really know until you're finished.  I thought I would be more in the mood to write that Brian horror story than MBK after Bethlehem, but here I am.  But yes, my WADD only lasted a week.  I started Fallen Angel one weekend, then went back to MBK the next and have only been working on that one since.  It would have been worse if neither one of them had gone well.

And if they actually got the update email, or if it went to their spam folder.  We had such a problem with spam reviews before they were turned off, a lot of AC email ended up in spam.


It's pretty exciting. I thought these next couple of chapters were going to go a little slower inspiration-wise, but I already have almost 900 words written on the next one. I may just spend all of my free time this next week glued to my keyboard, lol. I did spend half an hour researching deserts again today though. Who knew that deserts would take up so much of my time, ha.

I am glad I listened to you and made mine a two month goal. I'm impressed with my progress, but there's no way I would have finished 14 chapters in a month.

You knew that May could be more up and down anyway, you planned for it, and you still wrote a lot and more than you typically write during the school year, it sounds like. I call all of those things pluses. :) I think you're right, once you get school out of your brain and get to the part you've been looking forward to, it'll all be smooth sailing and productive.

I love weekends spent glued to the keyboard!  I don't think I could write 14 chapters in a month either, even in the summer.  Giving yourself more time takes off some of the pressure.

I'm just looking forward to having more time and more energy.  I have the most energy in the morning, but no time.  I have time in the evening, but no energy.  I'm sitting here yawning so much, my eyes are watering, which is not conducive to writing.  Can't wait to be able to write on my own schedule!


An interesting thought! I wonder what AO3's policy is on linking off-site. Something to look into...

Edited to Add: I see no policies on linking to elsewhere, but I ended up in a rabbit hole of "fannish next-of-kin" policies... I didn't know that was a thing, lol.

I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure I have linked to stuff on my site on there and never had an issue.

What are fannish next-of-kin policies?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 24, 2021, 10:11:37 PM
I think hacking doesn't bother me as much because if I truly want to hack, then I feel like it's unnecessary. I probably do more hack and replace than true hacking, but I'll let you all know after I edit next week's chapter. I'll keep track of what I got rid of too, just to experiment.

So I did this. I wrote 146 new words, I cut 64 words and replaced them with something, I cut 20 words and replaced them with nothing, and I kept 55 words, but moved them elsewhere in the paragraph. The net difference is 62 new words.

I didn't change a lot in this chapter, so it's not a very exciting example, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 24, 2021, 10:31:28 PM
Yeah, you never really know until you're finished.  I thought I would be more in the mood to write that Brian horror story than MBK after Bethlehem, but here I am.  But yes, my WADD only lasted a week.  I started Fallen Angel one weekend, then went back to MBK the next and have only been working on that one since.  It would have been worse if neither one of them had gone well.

And if they actually got the update email, or if it went to their spam folder.  We had such a problem with spam reviews before they were turned off, a lot of AC email ended up in spam.

You were pretty gungho about that Brian horror story until you WADDed, but I'm glad it all worked out for the best. :) It was the right time to pick MBK back up again. And I'm glad it was a short WADD with a satisfying ending. It's good to see so many of us keeping the most recent page going. I think I'd be sad if there was no one on it at all.

So many factors! But, aw, poor spammy AC. I still enjoy you.


I love weekends spent glued to the keyboard!  I don't think I could write 14 chapters in a month either, even in the summer.  Giving yourself more time takes off some of the pressure.

I'm just looking forward to having more time and more energy.  I have the most energy in the morning, but no time.  I have time in the evening, but no energy.  I'm sitting here yawning so much, my eyes are watering, which is not conducive to writing.  Can't wait to be able to write on my own schedule!

That was me this past weekend. I seem to have lost my motivation on the chapter I started today, but that's to be expected as it nears bed time, lol. I don't even think I fully wrote 21 chapters during NaNo, there were definitely pre-written chunks from all over the place. I think I wrote maybe... five or six full chapters and filled in pieces of the other 15 or 16, lol. That's what I spend my time WADDing over, writing elsewhere in the story I'm currently working on.

You really do need to teach vampire kids at night, lol. Then you can have time to write when you have energy. Although, if you spent all night teaching vampire kids, then would you have the opposite problem? Four days until you're the master of your schedule!


I was gonna say, I'm pretty sure I have linked to stuff on my site on there and never had an issue.

What are fannish next-of-kin policies?

I wasn't sure if it was considered spam was what made me question it. But I guess as long as it's every now and again like "hey, more things here" in your own work after you've already posted a legitimate story, it's probably not spam. If chapters were only links to other places, that probably is spam.

So, you can designate someone in your fandom to decide what to do with your stories if you die and AO3 will give them full access to your account. If you don't designate anyone and die, then they're just left as is even if someone tries to gain access (like an estate executor). There were several FAQs about it, but that's essentially the gist.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 25, 2021, 09:28:23 PM
You were pretty gungho about that Brian horror story until you WADDed, but I'm glad it all worked out for the best. :) It was the right time to pick MBK back up again. And I'm glad it was a short WADD with a satisfying ending. It's good to see so many of us keeping the most recent page going. I think I'd be sad if there was no one on it at all.

I know!  I really thought the time was right for Fallen Angel and wrong for MBK, but apparently I was wrong.  I don't really care, as long as I'm writing and making progress on something.  That's the worst part of true WADD, when I hop around from story to story, writing a little bit here and there but never actually finishing anything worth posting.

It is nice to see a few of us on the Most Recent page at the same time.  I miss the days when it was multiple pages and we had to worry about people spamming by updating a ton of stories at once though.


That was me this past weekend. I seem to have lost my motivation on the chapter I started today, but that's to be expected as it nears bed time, lol. I don't even think I fully wrote 21 chapters during NaNo, there were definitely pre-written chunks from all over the place. I think I wrote maybe... five or six full chapters and filled in pieces of the other 15 or 16, lol. That's what I spend my time WADDing over, writing elsewhere in the story I'm currently working on.

You really do need to teach vampire kids at night, lol. Then you can have time to write when you have energy. Although, if you spent all night teaching vampire kids, then would you have the opposite problem? Four days until you're the master of your schedule!

At least it's productive WADDing when you're working in a different place on the same story.

Ugh, I really do.  Here I sit again, after taking a two hour evening nap, yawning with my eyes watering.  I'm feeling that "There's no tired like end-of-year teacher tired" meme this week.


I wasn't sure if it was considered spam was what made me question it. But I guess as long as it's every now and again like "hey, more things here" in your own work after you've already posted a legitimate story, it's probably not spam. If chapters were only links to other places, that probably is spam.

So, you can designate someone in your fandom to decide what to do with your stories if you die and AO3 will give them full access to your account. If you don't designate anyone and die, then they're just left as is even if someone tries to gain access (like an estate executor). There were several FAQs about it, but that's essentially the gist.

Yeah, that's a good point.  I think as long as you post actual stories, links to extra content are fine.  But yeah, just links would be spam.

I love the next of kin idea!  Is that something you can actually set on AO3 like you can Facebook, or would someone have to contact AO3 after your death?  Being morbid, I have thought about that before.  I would want my stories to stay online after my death, so they'd be fine on AO3, but my site would be the problem.  Eventually my webhost wouldn't be able to charge my credit card anymore, and it would go down.  I would want someone to at least be able to post an update and let people know before that happened.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 25, 2021, 09:30:14 PM
So I did this. I wrote 146 new words, I cut 64 words and replaced them with something, I cut 20 words and replaced them with nothing, and I kept 55 words, but moved them elsewhere in the paragraph. The net difference is 62 new words.

I didn't change a lot in this chapter, so it's not a very exciting example, lol.

You were right about replacing more than completely cutting and adding more than you take out!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 07:45:37 PM
I think I figured out what is making me so slow with these Nick-on-tour chapters I've been struggling with lately.  It's the transitional stuff that becomes the bridge from one part of the chapter to the next.  My current chapter starts with Nick going out drinking and waking up the next day hungover, which I show a little of... then he heads to the concert venue for soundcheck, which I don't want to show because it's not important, so I sort of gloss over that... and then he and AJ need to have a conversation which is important to the plot, so I'm trying to transition into that... and then later I want to show a snippet of the concert.  Once I'm in the middle of an actual scene where I'm showing not telling, I'm fine, but it's getting from scene to scene that is the hard part.  I feel like I'm summarizing too much, and the words aren't flowing the way I want them to, so I allow myself to stall and get distracted by other things.  This is why I can't skip around, because I would hate going back to write the filler parts between all the big scenes.  It's bad enough writing them in order, but at least I know I have better scenes to look forward to if I can just get through this stuff.

Anyway, that's my rant/revelation for tonight.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:13:34 PM
I know!  I really thought the time was right for Fallen Angel and wrong for MBK, but apparently I was wrong.  I don't really care, as long as I'm writing and making progress on something.  That's the worst part of true WADD, when I hop around from story to story, writing a little bit here and there but never actually finishing anything worth posting.

It is nice to see a few of us on the Most Recent page at the same time.  I miss the days when it was multiple pages and we had to worry about people spamming by updating a ton of stories at once though.

I'm glad you're making productive progress as well! I get that. I didn't necessarily WADD before, but I definitely just started writing any old thing that came to mind and made very little progress on most of them. So that's my version of WADD, I guess, lol.

I do miss the multiple pages and worries about people posting too much. I wish more people were updating too.


At least it's productive WADDing when you're working in a different place on the same story.

Ugh, I really do.  Here I sit again, after taking a two hour evening nap, yawning with my eyes watering.  I'm feeling that "There's no tired like end-of-year teacher tired" meme this week.

You're right. I think I need to stop trying to avoid it, haha.

That was me last night (minus the nap). I was so glad that I woke up early enough to write before work yesterday to keep the streak going. Today... I gotta find the inspiration to write something and keep the streak alive. I'm very tired again today. The end of this week can't come soon enough.


Yeah, that's a good point.  I think as long as you post actual stories, links to extra content are fine.  But yeah, just links would be spam.

I love the next of kin idea!  Is that something you can actually set on AO3 like you can Facebook, or would someone have to contact AO3 after your death?  Being morbid, I have thought about that before.  I would want my stories to stay online after my death, so they'd be fine on AO3, but my site would be the problem.  Eventually my webhost wouldn't be able to charge my credit card anymore, and it would go down.  I would want someone to at least be able to post an update and let people know before that happened.

I had a long one today announcing my new update schedule, so I'll do it next week possibly.

You contact the abuse team and provide both your usernames before your death. It's in this section: https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq?language_id=en#specialized_faq

I think it's nice to have it as someone in the fandom rather than family since I feel like so many people are very private about their fanfic careers.


You were right about replacing more than completely cutting and adding more than you take out!

I know how I edit, lol! I'll have to share again if I ever have a chapter I hack and slash more of.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 09:39:36 PM
I think I figured out what is making me so slow with these Nick-on-tour chapters I've been struggling with lately.  It's the transitional stuff that becomes the bridge from one part of the chapter to the next.  My current chapter starts with Nick going out drinking and waking up the next day hungover, which I show a little of... then he heads to the concert venue for soundcheck, which I don't want to show because it's not important, so I sort of gloss over that... and then he and AJ need to have a conversation which is important to the plot, so I'm trying to transition into that... and then later I want to show a snippet of the concert.  Once I'm in the middle of an actual scene where I'm showing not telling, I'm fine, but it's getting from scene to scene that is the hard part.  I feel like I'm summarizing too much, and the words aren't flowing the way I want them to, so I allow myself to stall and get distracted by other things.  This is why I can't skip around, because I would hate going back to write the filler parts between all the big scenes.  It's bad enough writing them in order, but at least I know I have better scenes to look forward to if I can just get through this stuff.

Anyway, that's my rant/revelation for tonight.

That makes sense! I feel like chapters with more transitions are always my least favorite ones too. And that's probably only compounded by the fact that you don't really like writing "on tour" sections, or at least concert chapters. If you're writing "real time canon BSB," it's hard to avoid the concerts. But I also feel like, we all know what a BSB concert is like and unless something is happening at the concert (that makes a difference in the story), it's unnecessary to show the entire thing, just the important bits, like you said.

That's how I'm feeling about where I'm at now. The other arc of the story jumps into immediate action and event after event building up to the climax. And this one has events... but it also has a lot of walking in the desert. I now know way more about desert landscapes and the science behind different natural formations, but... They're still walking in the desert. (That and no desert fact is as funny as why horses, and PBox Nick, can't travel across a desert well, lol.) Maybe it's just this chapter. The next one feels more "event" and "building" than this one does. That's part of why I got bored editing chapter sixteen too. It's not that it was a bad chapter, it just felt really transition-heavy.

I wonder if there's something you can do to make the transitions less "telly" and more "showy." I don't have a good answer either (like literally at all), so maybe this is our next discussion! What makes transition scenes or chapters feel both necessary, but also like a slog-fest? Are they necessary? What are strategies we could use to either make them feel meatier or cut them entirely?

I loved your rant/revelation, basically.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 09:41:16 PM
I'm glad you're making productive progress as well! I get that. I didn't necessarily WADD before, but I definitely just started writing any old thing that came to mind and made very little progress on most of them. So that's my version of WADD, I guess, lol.

It's okay to start any old thing that comes to mind as long as you don't then post and abandon all those story starts.  But sometimes you have to start writing several ideas before you find one that sticks.  I've been there before too, but I hate it because it doesn't feel productive, even though I know it's part of the process.


That was me last night (minus the nap). I was so glad that I woke up early enough to write before work yesterday to keep the streak going. Today... I gotta find the inspiration to write something and keep the streak alive. I'm very tired again today. The end of this week can't come soon enough.

I was better tonight in terms of staying awake and not napping.  My problem is that my lunch is super early, 10:45, so I'm usually starving by the time I get home.  I've learned it's better to just eat dinner at 4:00 like an old person than snack because otherwise I'll just fill up on crap and not feel like eating an actual meal.  So I eat early, and then I usually sit on the couch watching TV or playing on my phone, and that's when I get sleepy.  Today I still ate dinner early, but then I made myself get on my desktop computer and drink a soda so I could stay awake.  It worked!  I still haven't written a ton, but I've added another 268 words to the 100 some I wrote this morning, so at least it's something.

At least we're over the hump!  Two more days this week... we've got this!


You contact the abuse team and provide both your usernames before your death. It's in this section: https://archiveofourown.org/tos_faq?language_id=en#specialized_faq

I think it's nice to have it as someone in the fandom rather than family since I feel like so many people are very private about their fanfic careers.

Thanks!  Yeah, that is nice because I would definitely feel weird putting someone in my family in charge of that.  I would want it to be someone from the fandom who knows me as a writer and knows and cares about my stories.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 26, 2021, 10:06:39 PM
It's okay to start any old thing that comes to mind as long as you don't then post and abandon all those story starts.  But sometimes you have to start writing several ideas before you find one that sticks.  I've been there before too, but I hate it because it doesn't feel productive, even though I know it's part of the process.

Guilty! I know better now, but... yup. Been there, done that circa 2006. I think I just wanted to write about college, but wasn't sure what that looked like then. Beta Sigma Beta was the better choice, had I not retired prior to finishing it, lol. I think any writing is productive, but I get it, with nothing to post, it doesn't feel productive. Or, you abandon several false starts, which isn't great either.


I was better tonight in terms of staying awake and not napping.  My problem is that my lunch is super early, 10:45, so I'm usually starving by the time I get home.  I've learned it's better to just eat dinner at 4:00 like an old person than snack because otherwise I'll just fill up on crap and not feel like eating an actual meal.  So I eat early, and then I usually sit on the couch watching TV or playing on my phone, and that's when I get sleepy.  Today I still ate dinner early, but then I made myself get on my desktop computer and drink a soda so I could stay awake.  It worked!  I still haven't written a ton, but I've added another 268 words to the 100 some I wrote this morning, so at least it's something.

At least we're over the hump!  Two more days this week... we've got this!

10:45 is so early for lunch! Sorry you've got that, but you're right, snacking and eating a super late dinner (if you feel like it) isn't a great idea either. Sometimes I get hungry at 4pm too and always snack instead of just eating dinner. It always feels like a poor life choice. I'm glad the soda and desktop helped spike your mojo! That's great for the Wednesday hump of the last week of school!

Yes! I've been writing a countdown on our board every day. And I don't think the kids have caught on yet that I might be counting down for me and not them, lol.


Thanks!  Yeah, that is nice because I would definitely feel weird putting someone in my family in charge of that.  I would want it to be someone from the fandom who knows me as a writer and knows and cares about my stories.

Exactly! I also had a thought about your website. You could start a will and say that a portion of your estate is earmarked to maintain the site.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 10:07:43 PM
That makes sense! I feel like chapters with more transitions are always my least favorite ones too. And that's probably only compounded by the fact that you don't really like writing "on tour" sections, or at least concert chapters. If you're writing "real time canon BSB," it's hard to avoid the concerts. But I also feel like, we all know what a BSB concert is like and unless something is happening at the concert (that makes a difference in the story), it's unnecessary to show the entire thing, just the important bits, like you said.

Yeah, absolutely.  The tour is not really important, but because it happened and I'm following a real life timeline, I had to include it.  I'm trying to focus on the important scenes and cut out fluff that doesn't have anything to do with the plot, but I feel like I'm skipping ahead a lot.  I cannot imagine writing an entire concert - OMG, that would kill me.  It's just never the same trying to describe something with words that is meant to be seen and heard.


That's how I'm feeling about where I'm at now. The other arc of the story jumps into immediate action and event after event building up to the climax. And this one has events... but it also has a lot of walking in the desert. I now know way more about desert landscapes and the science behind different natural formations, but... They're still walking in the desert. (That and no desert fact is as funny as why horses, and PBox Nick, can't travel across a desert well, lol.) Maybe it's just this chapter. The next one feels more "event" and "building" than this one does. That's part of why I got bored editing chapter sixteen too. It's not that it was a bad chapter, it just felt really transition-heavy.

I can see how the chapters of them walking in the desert would get boring to write.  There's only so many ways to describe the desert, and if you run out of conversation for them to have, then what?  It's definitely more fun to write parts of the story with more action and events happening.


I wonder if there's something you can do to make the transitions less "telly" and more "showy." I don't have a good answer either (like literally at all), so maybe this is our next discussion! What makes transition scenes or chapters feel both necessary, but also like a slog-fest? Are they necessary? What are strategies we could use to either make them feel meatier or cut them entirely?

I loved your rant/revelation, basically.

I think some transition scenes are necessary, especially when you're skipping a significant chunk of time.  I just skipped about a month from the end of the last chapter to the beginning of the next one, so my first paragraph addressed that and oriented readers to where in time we are now.

I like my transition/summary parts best when I can add in a line of dialogue or two to help bridge the gap between telling and showing, so it's not just all telling.  And if I'm going to mainly tell, I at least try to make the transitions seamless, so that one paragraph flows naturally into the next until I get into the next actual scene.

Another strategy would be to start in the middle of a scene and weave in the parts you would have summarized as the transition before said scene.  I feel like this works better in third person POV than first.  I'm writing this story in first person, which is meant to sound like the main character is telling the story - and most people don't start in the middle of the action when they tell a story.  They give background information to set the scene first.  Third person gives you more flexibility with writing style.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 10:17:17 PM
I think any writing is productive, but I get it, with nothing to post, it doesn't feel productive. Or, you abandon several false starts, which isn't great either.

Yep, exactly.  It feels productive if it turns into something worthy of posting, but when it doesn't, then it just feels like wasted time.  I know it's really not a waste, or I wouldn't bother saving all my little story starts, but it's definitely better when I can keep them going and get far enough on a story to start posting it.  Once I hit that point, any writing I do on that project feels productive.


10:45 is so early for lunch! Sorry you've got that, but you're right, snacking and eating a super late dinner (if you feel like it) isn't a great idea either. Sometimes I get hungry at 4pm too and always snack instead of just eating dinner. It always feels like a poor life choice. I'm glad the soda and desktop helped spike your mojo! That's great for the Wednesday hump of the last week of school!

Yes! I've been writing a countdown on our board every day. And I don't think the kids have caught on yet that I might be counting down for me and not them, lol.

I'm addicted to caffeine LOL.  Just as I write best in the morning when I make coffee, I write best in the evening when I drink soda.  So I guess I just have to choose between two bad habits - drinking soda or taking a nap in the evening.  I only drink diet soda and usually only one a day, so I guess it's not that bad of a habit, especially if it helps me write.

LOL I don't think kids realize we teachers look forward to our summers and breaks just as much, if not more so, than them.  Some of my sweet students are like, "I don't want school to end!  I'll miss you!"  And I saw, "Aww, I'll miss you too!" but inside I'm thinking, "I love you, but I can't wait to tell you 'Have a great summer!' on the last day!"


Exactly! I also had a thought about your website. You could start a will and say that a portion of your estate is earmarked to maintain the site.

That's a good idea.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 26, 2021, 10:23:09 PM
So I made it through the transition part I was on when I posted earlier and got to the start of my Nick and AJ conversation, but instead of getting into that scene, I decided to spend an hour backdating all 90 chapters of Curtain Call to their original post date in 2010-2011 so it wouldn't say it was finished in 2020 on AO3 anymore.  Is that OCD or ADHD? LOL.  Oh well... that had been bugging me since last summer, so I'm glad I finally fixed it.  And it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.

I need to figure out a plan for backdating before I start posting another novel.  I like to backdate so my stories show up in the right order, but I also want them to show up among the recently updated stories when I'm actually posting them so they get seen.  So I think what I'll do with the next one is not backdate the chapter I'm posting, but backdate the previously posted chapter each time I update so that at the end, I can just backdate the last chapter after a while.  That will save me from having to do 90 chapters in a row.  Thankfully, none of my stories since CC have been quite that long... and I'm still undecided about posting Broken and BMS on AO3 because of how long they are.

Edited to add:  As I was looking back through my updates archive to see when I actually started posting Curtain Call, I realized I wrote the first 16 chapters of that story in July.  So when I said I could never write 14 chapters in a month, that was a lie.  Apparently I can if it's summer and I'm writing a Nick cancer story LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 28, 2021, 06:56:44 PM
I officially made it to summer vacation!  It's cold and rainy here; I came home from celebrating and turned my furnace back on LOL.

Happy Friday to everyone!  It's been quiet here the last couple days.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Update us when you can!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 04:02:04 PM
Yep, exactly.  It feels productive if it turns into something worthy of posting, but when it doesn't, then it just feels like wasted time.  I know it's really not a waste, or I wouldn't bother saving all my little story starts, but it's definitely better when I can keep them going and get far enough on a story to start posting it.  Once I hit that point, any writing I do on that project feels productive.

I think that's the way I feel now, since, like I said before, I definitely had a period where I would start posting any old thing that came to mind. But after so much time away, that's probably why the couple times I thought "Maybe I'll try out Gobosei and PNecklace," I ended up giving up since it never felt like it got far enough to be something. I'm glad something finally stuck though. Not really sure what the difference was!

I think it definitely important to save those things too though, since you never really know when they'll come back around and stick enough to be something.


I'm addicted to caffeine LOL.  Just as I write best in the morning when I make coffee, I write best in the evening when I drink soda.  So I guess I just have to choose between two bad habits - drinking soda or taking a nap in the evening.  I only drink diet soda and usually only one a day, so I guess it's not that bad of a habit, especially if it helps me write.

Same. I'm having a two coffee day today to try and get myself into the writing groove (it seems to be working, lol). I used to drink sooooo much soda as a kid, like a regular coke a day so much soda. Then I thought about it and was like, this is a terrible habit, switched to caffeine-free coke, then decided it wasn't worth it for all the sugar and none of the happy caffeine, lol. I rarely drink soda anymore, like once in a blue moon, but I'm definitely team bubbly water. Then college hit and I was like "ooh, caffeine!" again and now I'm a coffee-addict, lol! A friend's sister does one of those wellness MLM brands (but on the scale of shady MLMs, it's on the better end, since you just order everything from the representative via "catalog" or their website, then it gets delivered to you later and she doesn't have to pre-buy her stock for samples or orders... off topic). Anyway, she was talking about their health cleanse program and mentioned how terrible coffee is for you and said something to the effect of "Whatever it is you like about coffee, I can help you find a more natural alternative to satisfy that craving." And I was like... everything at once. You can pry my terrible for me coffee out of my cold, dead hands, lol.


LOL I don't think kids realize we teachers look forward to our summers and breaks just as much, if not more so, than them.  Some of my sweet students are like, "I don't want school to end!  I'll miss you!"  And I saw, "Aww, I'll miss you too!" but inside I'm thinking, "I love you, but I can't wait to tell you 'Have a great summer!' on the last day!"

They really don't. They were saying the same thing to me and internally I was thinking about how much I was looking forward to not seeing their faces for a hot moment in my new role. Come to find out that the other teacher coming in for our summer camp can't come until Wednesday next week... so guess who gets to see them again on Tuesday! At least there's no tutoring involved in this one, haha.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 04:35:03 PM
Yeah, absolutely.  The tour is not really important, but because it happened and I'm following a real life timeline, I had to include it.  I'm trying to focus on the important scenes and cut out fluff that doesn't have anything to do with the plot, but I feel like I'm skipping ahead a lot.  I cannot imagine writing an entire concert - OMG, that would kill me.  It's just never the same trying to describe something with words that is meant to be seen and heard.

I think it would be an equal disservice to MBK if you just wrote song lyrics across three pages and skipped ahead to "after the tour..." lol. I'm trying to think of how to describe it either and I just don't think it works in a narrative. Even though it feels like you're skipping ahead, you're definitely right, a novel is not the correct medium to describe a complete concert, much like (as we've discussed), cinematic shorthand does not work in a novel.

I also hate when it feels like you have to include something to be accurate, no matter how much it feels unimportant. Because then "They were on tour" feels equally lazy and unnecessary unless it's to include that one of them fell off their LTL surfboards into the crowd or something. That feels like a reason to include a concert scene. Breaking MTV News: That fall likely killed the unlucky Backstreet Boy and the world mourned via candlelight vigil.


I can see how the chapters of them walking in the desert would get boring to write.  There's only so many ways to describe the desert, and if you run out of conversation for them to have, then what?  It's definitely more fun to write parts of the story with more action and events happening.

Then what? Well... unfortunately then they still have to walk across the desert until they get where they're going, lol. :( I've struggled this week with the scene I thought came next, to the point of writing myself a note at the bottom of it on Thursday afternoon that said "[stuff?]" before deciding to skip to the next scene. I reread over both today and realized that there were a couple things worth pulling from it for elsewhere, but it probably felt like it dragged because it felt both like an unnecessary transition and really repetitive. I decided to cut it (and save it for now until I decide on the right places for the things I want to keep); now the chapter feels a little punchier. Thank goodness! Because if I was getting bored and unfocused, I can only imagine how anyone reading it would feel.


I think some transition scenes are necessary, especially when you're skipping a significant chunk of time.  I just skipped about a month from the end of the last chapter to the beginning of the next one, so my first paragraph addressed that and oriented readers to where in time we are now.

I think that's what I dislike about transition parts the most. They feel necessary for orientation purposes, but we obviously chose to skip that part of the story for a reason, so then they feel unnecessary. That makes them a necessary evil then, I suppose. Although, I'd believe it if Hot Mess Nick woke up hungover one morning and thought "October? F-- what have I been doing the past month?" haha.


I like my transition/summary parts best when I can add in a line of dialogue or two to help bridge the gap between telling and showing, so it's not just all telling.  And if I'm going to mainly tell, I at least try to make the transitions seamless, so that one paragraph flows naturally into the next until I get into the next actual scene.

Another strategy would be to start in the middle of a scene and weave in the parts you would have summarized as the transition before said scene.  I feel like this works better in third person POV than first.  I'm writing this story in first person, which is meant to sound like the main character is telling the story - and most people don't start in the middle of the action when they tell a story.  They give background information to set the scene first.  Third person gives you more flexibility with writing style.

I like using dialogue too for the transitions as tiny cut scenes. Like "this happened, here's some of it, but on a whole it's not entirely necessary."

Although, I feel like my best transitions across skipped time have been when I could just sum it up as "After blah blah blah, and now we're back in the moment." It just feels quick and painless that way. And there's definitely some times where part of me feels like an important part got skipped, but then I try to weave it in later as a "flashback" when it feels like another character needs to know about it. I guess I'm lucky in that most of my time skips are "and they were walking from place to place and this is unnecessary to your understanding of the story other than knowing they walked" as opposed to "this is real time BSB (or at least accurate to its time BSB) and important stuff does happen during the tour and the concerts, but as a whole the blow-by-blow of these actual events is not that important to your understanding of the story. That makes right now frustrating because they walk, but important things happen along the way that just wouldn't work with a flashback later since they're part of the climax of the story.

I agree, starting in the middle of a scene is bizarre in first person because I know if I'm telling someone a story, I always start at "Here's background information that may be important or may be extraneous. You decide, I'm telling you anyway!" You're right that it works better in third person, probably because as the narrator, you get to decide that the transition was unnecessary and only focus on the important bits. That's really the power of the removed narrator: pin-pointing what needs to be seen and what readers can fill in the gaps for. I think you can do this in first person, it just feels less natural if done exactly the same way and takes a little more nuance. There's definitely a scale of what works and what doesn't depending on how close the narration is to one character. Not transitions, but head hopping comes to mind as another one. More acceptable with an omniscient narrator, problematic at best in third limited, makes you question the mind reading ability of your protagonist in first, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 29, 2021, 05:03:28 PM
I think that's the way I feel now, since, like I said before, I definitely had a period where I would start posting any old thing that came to mind. But after so much time away, that's probably why the couple times I thought "Maybe I'll try out Gobosei and PNecklace," I ended up giving up since it never felt like it got far enough to be something. I'm glad something finally stuck though. Not really sure what the difference was!

Yep, I have been there too.  If only we were one-shot writers; then it wouldn't matter if we posted whatever we wrote on a whim.

I wonder what the difference was that finally got you to stick with PNecklace this time around.  Do you think it was the pandemic and having more time at home to write?  Or did the time off make it seem fresh and fun again?  Or did you just hit the right part in the story?  Or maybe it was a combination of all of the above.  I wish there was some magic formula that I could apply to Guilty Roads, which is my equivalent of Gobosei.


Same. I'm having a two coffee day today to try and get myself into the writing groove (it seems to be working, lol). I used to drink sooooo much soda as a kid, like a regular coke a day so much soda. Then I thought about it and was like, this is a terrible habit, switched to caffeine-free coke, then decided it wasn't worth it for all the sugar and none of the happy caffeine, lol. I rarely drink soda anymore, like once in a blue moon, but I'm definitely team bubbly water. Then college hit and I was like "ooh, caffeine!" again and now I'm a coffee-addict, lol! A friend's sister does one of those wellness MLM brands (but on the scale of shady MLMs, it's on the better end, since you just order everything from the representative via "catalog" or their website, then it gets delivered to you later and she doesn't have to pre-buy her stock for samples or orders... off topic). Anyway, she was talking about their health cleanse program and mentioned how terrible coffee is for you and said something to the effect of "Whatever it is you like about coffee, I can help you find a more natural alternative to satisfy that craving." And I was like... everything at once. You can pry my terrible for me coffee out of my cold, dead hands, lol.

I don't think coffee's so bad.  Even most diets allow you to drink black coffee and tea.  Of course, I only drink beige coffee with a ton of creamer in it, so never mind that LOL.  Coffee itself is more natural than the various cleanses and shakes offered by those wellness MLMs.

I have tried switching from diet soda to bubbly water, and it's just not the same.  I have yet to find a bubbly water that has enough flavor without tasting like flat soda.  What's your favorite brand and flavor?  And do they make a bubbly water with caffeine? LOL


They really don't. They were saying the same thing to me and internally I was thinking about how much I was looking forward to not seeing their faces for a hot moment in my new role. Come to find out that the other teacher coming in for our summer camp can't come until Wednesday next week... so guess who gets to see them again on Tuesday! At least there's no tutoring involved in this one, haha.

LOL Oh no!  Well, at least you get a three-day weekend first.

I had two girls in tears yesterday!  So dramatic LOL.  It's nice to feel loved though.




Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 05:14:26 PM
So I made it through the transition part I was on when I posted earlier and got to the start of my Nick and AJ conversation, but instead of getting into that scene, I decided to spend an hour backdating all 90 chapters of Curtain Call to their original post date in 2010-2011 so it wouldn't say it was finished in 2020 on AO3 anymore.  Is that OCD or ADHD? LOL.  Oh well... that had been bugging me since last summer, so I'm glad I finally fixed it.  And it didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would.

Hopefully the Nick and AJ scene went well once you got back into it! Glad you were able to finish the transition scene! I keep meaning to do that with PBox and haven't because I don't remember exact dates except for a few of the chapters, lol. I think it's "I want to focus on my writing, but need a break after sloughing through this transition scene." I do stuff like that too; lately it's been editing my end of book outline. I'm impressed it only took you an hour. That's like a minute and a half per chapter. Probably easier if you do have a running record of exact dates.


I need to figure out a plan for backdating before I start posting another novel.  I like to backdate so my stories show up in the right order, but I also want them to show up among the recently updated stories when I'm actually posting them so they get seen.  So I think what I'll do with the next one is not backdate the chapter I'm posting, but backdate the previously posted chapter each time I update so that at the end, I can just backdate the last chapter after a while.  That will save me from having to do 90 chapters in a row.  Thankfully, none of my stories since CC have been quite that long... and I'm still undecided about posting Broken and BMS on AO3 because of how long they are.

That was going to be my suggestion since you'd post daily chapters until it was finished. That or backdate 7 chapters each week or something. It probably ends up being about the same in the end.

That would be a whole year for both if you posted them one after the other, yeah? That does seem like a long time when they're available on your site and here just fine. Maybe there's a space for an Author's Note at the end of Curtain Call that's something to the effect of "If you enjoy my writing and Nick cancer stories, here's another one I'm known for [link for Broken]. It also has a sequel [link for BMS]." But, then again... spoilers.


Edited to add:  As I was looking back through my updates archive to see when I actually started posting Curtain Call, I realized I wrote the first 16 chapters of that story in July.  So when I said I could never write 14 chapters in a month, that was a lie.  Apparently I can if it's summer and I'm writing a Nick cancer story LOL.

You're right, I see what happens when you explicitly say you never do something, lol. Meanwhile, I have never underestimated your ability to write a lot quickly for a Nick cancer story. Especially in the summer, lol. Were you still updating as soon as you finished writing when you were writing Curtain Call or had you started the hoard by then?


I officially made it to summer vacation!  It's cold and rainy here; I came home from celebrating and turned my furnace back on LOL.

Happy Friday to everyone!  It's been quiet here the last couple days.  Hope everyone is doing well.  Update us when you can!

YAY!!!! We made it! It's supposed to rain a lot this weekend here, but so far just cloudy. I've been running the slippery slope of messing with the thermostat since the hubs is on work trip. I realized that I made a mistake when woke up sweating on Wednesday because I turned off the AC for an entire day, lol.

Happiest of three day weekends! I got tired on Wednesday, as is often the case post-update, and went to bed after doing some dishes. I've apparently been more tired than I thought this past week because I took a two hour nap Thursday afternoon/evening after writing "[stuff?]" on my dragging scene, then couldn't find the motivation to write and deep cleaned my kitchen and bathrooms instead, sweatily... as once again, I made the mistake of turning off the AC prior to my nap, lol. Now the first floor of our house (and upstairs bathrooms) are beautiful and I did manage to write about 118 words afterward. Yesterday I had some friends over and hurriedly wrote six words at 11:56pm to keep the streak alive, lol. Then I slept until about 10am this morning, so I must have really needed the rest (especially after staying up way too late on accident).

The first thing I did this morning was rearrange Thursday's writing and delete yesterday's hurriedly typed six words. At least I tried yesterday, lol. Then drank two coffees and got into the scene I'd started. I've gotten about 1400 words today, so it's going much better than the past couple of days. I think I just needed the school year to end and then do something different to recharge. Back in action and ready to finish this novel! I'm about 600 words from finishing this chapter and I think I'll be able to jump right into the next chapter afterward. :) I'll be a sadist once I post them with a million cliffhangers, but the next chunk of chapters really all happen one after the other, so it feels like it could be a really productive weekend if I get into the right groove with the end of this chapter.

How's everyone else doing after our quiet couple of days?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 29, 2021, 05:23:33 PM
I think it would be an equal disservice to MBK if you just wrote song lyrics across three pages and skipped ahead to "after the tour..." lol. I'm trying to think of how to describe it either and I just don't think it works in a narrative. Even though it feels like you're skipping ahead, you're definitely right, a novel is not the correct medium to describe a complete concert, much like (as we've discussed), cinematic shorthand does not work in a novel.

I also hate when it feels like you have to include something to be accurate, no matter how much it feels unimportant. Because then "They were on tour" feels equally lazy and unnecessary unless it's to include that one of them fell off their LTL surfboards into the crowd or something. That feels like a reason to include a concert scene. Breaking MTV News: That fall likely killed the unlucky Backstreet Boy and the world mourned via candlelight vigil.

Yep, I agree with all of this.  Part of the problem is that I've locked myself into this format of alternating POVs every chapter, so while I have a lot of Kevin content to write during this period, I'm stuck trying to come up with enough Nick content to give him a chapter for every one of Kevin's.  That is the downside to following a strict format like this; there's not as much flexibility as I would have if I had opted to just write in one character's POV or third person.  

LOL I have actually written a couple of scenes similar to that which took place during the Millennium Tour, but alas, I don't have anything dramatic planned for this part of the tour.  There was a time when I probably would have tried to come up with something just to make it more dramatic and interesting, but I guess I have grown up just a little bit.


Then what? Well... unfortunately then they still have to walk across the desert until they get where they're going, lol. :( I've struggled this week with the scene I thought came next, to the point of writing myself a note at the bottom of it on Thursday afternoon that said "[stuff?]" before deciding to skip to the next scene. I reread over both today and realized that there were a couple things worth pulling from it for elsewhere, but it probably felt like it dragged because it felt both like an unnecessary transition and really repetitive. I decided to cut it (and save it for now until I decide on the right places for the things I want to keep); now the chapter feels a little punchier. Thank goodness! Because if I was getting bored and unfocused, I can only imagine how anyone reading it would feel.

Good for you!  It's so hard to cut a scene, but it sounds like you made the right choice.  This is another case where it would be better if you were making a movie - then you could just include a few shots of them trudging across the desert set to some dramatic music and move on to the next scene.


I think that's what I dislike about transition parts the most. They feel necessary for orientation purposes, but we obviously chose to skip that part of the story for a reason, so then they feel unnecessary. That makes them a necessary evil then, I suppose. Although, I'd believe it if Hot Mess Nick woke up hungover one morning and thought "October? F-- what have I been doing the past month?" haha.


LOL!  That could be the equivalent of Bella Swan's dramatic "October.  November.  December" across three pages.


Although, I feel like my best transitions across skipped time have been when I could just sum it up as "After blah blah blah, and now we're back in the moment." It just feels quick and painless that way. And there's definitely some times where part of me feels like an important part got skipped, but then I try to weave it in later as a "flashback" when it feels like another character needs to know about it. I guess I'm lucky in that most of my time skips are "and they were walking from place to place and this is unnecessary to your understanding of the story other than knowing they walked" as opposed to "this is real time BSB (or at least accurate to its time BSB) and important stuff does happen during the tour and the concerts, but as a whole the blow-by-blow of these actual events is not that important to your understanding of the story. That makes right now frustrating because they walk, but important things happen along the way that just wouldn't work with a flashback later since they're part of the climax of the story.

I agree, those short transitions are the best!

There are a couple of things that are important to Nick's character and plot development that I'm trying to show on this tour, so I'm trying to just focus my scenes on those and summarize the rest.  And yeah, they wouldn't work well as flashbacks, although that can be a good technique for some scenes/stories.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 05:56:10 PM
Yep, I have been there too.  If only we were one-shot writers; then it wouldn't matter if we posted whatever we wrote on a whim.

I wonder what the difference was that finally got you to stick with PNecklace this time around.  Do you think it was the pandemic and having more time at home to write?  Or did the time off make it seem fresh and fun again?  Or did you just hit the right part in the story?  Or maybe it was a combination of all of the above.  I wish there was some magic formula that I could apply to Guilty Roads, which is my equivalent of Gobosei.

Right?! It felt so nice to write my little holiday story and then think, "Oh, I wrote this and now it's done forever. Hooray!" lol Meanwhile in novel land six months later... still trucking along, lol.

I have some guesses just based on the timing, even though I'm not totally sure. It probably started with the omnipresent feeling of both Nick and AJ on tv weekly (at the time) and my brain probably thought "This year is complicated. Remember how we used to write when things were complicated? Here's an old friend that might resonate with you in this time of 90's nostalgia as you try to process things." *enter PBox Nick* "HEL~LO! I've returned to bother-- *ahem* inspire you until you do something about it!" lol

I've definitely spent most of my free time in the past decade out doing things, like volunteering for various organizations, so it probably felt (though I never really thought about it much) that there just wasn't time to write. That and the last two times I had any sort of inspiration were both around the time I was back in school for my licensure program, so it just felt busier doing all those things. This time? There was busy, but also a lot of not busy since many things were virtual or closed.

I also think it helped that I decided to reread PBox before I started writing and it had enough seeds for the rest of the complete story to get invested in and remember where I was headed. And again, that PBox Nick is a loud and picky spotlight hog, lol. I always did really love the characters in PBox; it always felt like they were what breathed life into the story, rather than the idea itself. And it felt like reconnecting with an old friend after a long time.

That's a lesson I've taken from all of this. I've always thought characters were a strength in my writing, but I've definitely thought more about just how important a compelling and breathing character is to the story. Coupled with an idea with investment and I think it was easy enough to pick PBox&Co back up. And then I look at my two more "recent" old ideas, besides PBox and think... Okay, Gobosei, I always found to be an idea with investment, it's one I always said I go back to (even back then), but as it stands (and probably the reason PBox stayed pushy), the characters were less compelling and didn't breathe quite the same way. Beta Sigma Beta is the opposite; I no longer feel invested in the idea, but think back on the characters being more compelling. One of those things feels easier to tweak in a rewrite, mainly because the Boys had compelling moments in Gobosei, but now that I've written over half of grimdark and epic PBox, it feels as though the original plan for Gobosei feels too much like PBox and what was compelling about it when I looked back over it briefly were actually the more light-hearted aspects. And it still feels like I can adjust the narrative to give more of those things the focus.

Didn't you say that where you left off Guilty Roads was a part where it felt like Nick wouldn't do whatever it is he was doing? If Guilty Roads still seems compelling enough, maybe that's the thing you should look at. Either going back and adjusting Nick from the beginning to be someone who would get to that point and do what you wanted him to do or letting him pick up and do what he wanted to do and figure out how to adjust the timeline of the plan or change the plan completely to fit with that. I also think that going back and changing the beginning wouldn't be the worst thing after this much time if that's what you felt like needed to be done for the story to work. I'll be honest, I will probably change some things for what's posted of Gobosei when the time comes and feel zero guilt about it since it only got a little ways in (whereas despite feeling that the rewrite of PBox was necessary, I was more meticulous about what I allowed myself to change). I don't know if any of this is the road map to a "magic formula," but maybe it's a start for us both to pick back up our long hiatus projects. :)


I don't think coffee's so bad.  Even most diets allow you to drink black coffee and tea.  Of course, I only drink beige coffee with a ton of creamer in it, so never mind that LOL.  Coffee itself is more natural than the various cleanses and shakes offered by those wellness MLMs.

I have tried switching from diet soda to bubbly water, and it's just not the same.  I have yet to find a bubbly water that has enough flavor without tasting like flat soda.  What's your favorite brand and flavor?  And do they make a bubbly water with caffeine? LOL

If I remember correctly, it was mushroom "coffee." Blech! Another great use of the barfing emoji we don't have, lmao! I didn't used to be a black coffee drinker, but it's definitely grown on me in the past year. I do enjoy a latte every now and again still though, so you drink your beige coffee with pride.

Team Pamplemousse! (LaCroix) But I do enjoy their lemon and lime from time to time as well. I think it's about finding flavors you enjoy in their natural state. If you're not a huge grapefruit fan, pamplemousse might not be your jam. I like LaCroix better than the other brands, but in my first ventures into bubbly water there was a more colorful brand that I drank first, I think it was "Sparkling Ice"? It eventually felt too sugary and it was an easy transition to LaCroix. LaCorix is usually on sale though and enough other people like it that if it's not your thing, you can share it. I think Aha has caffeinated flavors? And Hi-Ball sounds familiar?


LOL Oh no!  Well, at least you get a three-day weekend first.

I had two girls in tears yesterday!  So dramatic LOL.  It's nice to feel loved though.

Thank goodness, lol.

Aww. You're so loved! That is sweet. I had no tears, just pizza for our half day, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 29, 2021, 05:57:39 PM
Hopefully the Nick and AJ scene went well once you got back into it! Glad you were able to finish the transition scene! I keep meaning to do that with PBox and haven't because I don't remember exact dates except for a few of the chapters, lol. I think it's "I want to focus on my writing, but need a break after sloughing through this transition scene." I do stuff like that too; lately it's been editing my end of book outline. I'm impressed it only took you an hour. That's like a minute and a half per chapter. Probably easier if you do have a running record of exact dates.

That's exactly it.  It's something that feels "productive" and writing-related, but requires no thought, just repetitive clicking.  I'm glad it didn't take as long as I thought it would.  I started doing the same thing with Undead on Thursday and got halfway through it, so I might finish the rest of that later today.  Thanks to my site, I have an archive of all of my updates dating back to the summer of 2000 when I started writing update blurbs, so those have been super helpful and kinda fun to scroll back through.


That would be a whole year for both if you posted them one after the other, yeah? That does seem like a long time when they're available on your site and here just fine. Maybe there's a space for an Author's Note at the end of Curtain Call that's something to the effect of "If you enjoy my writing and Nick cancer stories, here's another one I'm known for [link for Broken]. It also has a sequel [link for BMS]." But, then again... spoilers.

I may eventually post them if I get bored enough after posting SAMS and AHTIM, but I would want to edit them first.  I found SO MANY TYPOS when I reread them last year for my retrospective blogs.

An author's note isn't a bad idea.  In some ways, I'm more okay spoiling the cancer aspect of Broken than Curtain Call because it takes so freaking long to get to it, it might be the incentive a reader needs to make it through the beginning, which reads like a bad romance.  Whereas in Curtain Call, I think putting a cancer tag on it would take away from the experience of reading it and finding out the same way the main characters do.


You're right, I see what happens when you explicitly say you never do something, lol. Meanwhile, I have never underestimated your ability to write a lot quickly for a Nick cancer story. Especially in the summer, lol. Were you still updating as soon as you finished writing when you were writing Curtain Call or had you started the hoard by then?

I hoarded with Curtain Call at first, but not as much as I do now.  I know I had written the first 5 or 6 chapters before I started posting it, but that only took me about a week.  From there, I pretty much posted chapters as I wrote them.


YAY!!!! We made it! It's supposed to rain a lot this weekend here, but so far just cloudy. I've been running the slippery slope of messing with the thermostat since the hubs is on work trip. I realized that I made a mistake when woke up sweating on Wednesday because I turned off the AC for an entire day, lol.

Happiest of three day weekends! I got tired on Wednesday, as is often the case post-update, and went to bed after doing some dishes. I've apparently been more tired than I thought this past week because I took a two hour nap Thursday afternoon/evening after writing "[stuff?]" on my dragging scene, then couldn't find the motivation to write and deep cleaned my kitchen and bathrooms instead, sweatily... as once again, I made the mistake of turning off the AC prior to my nap, lol. Now the first floor of our house (and upstairs bathrooms) are beautiful and I did manage to write about 118 words afterward. Yesterday I had some friends over and hurriedly wrote six words at 11:56pm to keep the streak alive, lol. Then I slept until about 10am this morning, so I must have really needed the rest (especially after staying up way too late on accident).

The first thing I did this morning was rearrange Thursday's writing and delete yesterday's hurriedly typed six words. At least I tried yesterday, lol. Then drank two coffees and got into the scene I'd started. I've gotten about 1400 words today, so it's going much better than the past couple of days. I think I just needed the school year to end and then do something different to recharge. Back in action and ready to finish this novel! I'm about 600 words from finishing this chapter and I think I'll be able to jump right into the next chapter afterward. :) I'll be a sadist once I post them with a million cliffhangers, but the next chunk of chapters really all happen one after the other, so it feels like it could be a really productive weekend if I get into the right groove with the end of this chapter.

How's everyone else doing after our quiet couple of days?

I went from having the AC on to turning the furnace back on for a couple days to nothing.  It was like 50 degrees and rainy yesterday for the last day of school... brr!  Today is sunny and 60s though.

Yay for a clean house and fun with your friends!  I was a little worried about you when I hadn't seen you on for a couple days, but I'm glad it was for good reasons.  Sometimes you definitely need to take a break and do something different!

I cleaned up my upstairs writing room that I haven't used in months because there have been holiday decorations and boxes all over the place.  Got all that stuff packed back up and put away so I can actually use that room this summer.  Next up is organizing my bedroom closet, but that can wait for another day.

I wrote a little bit this morning and am close to finishing my current Nick chapter.  Hopefully I'll be able to finish that tonight.  It should be the last tour chapter for a while.

I'm glad your writing is going better today!  Way to push through the problem spot!  I hope you do have a productive weekend.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 06:12:39 PM
Yep, I agree with all of this.  Part of the problem is that I've locked myself into this format of alternating POVs every chapter, so while I have a lot of Kevin content to write during this period, I'm stuck trying to come up with enough Nick content to give him a chapter for every one of Kevin's.  That is the downside to following a strict format like this; there's not as much flexibility as I would have if I had opted to just write in one character's POV or third person.  

LOL I have actually written a couple of scenes similar to that which took place during the Millennium Tour, but alas, I don't have anything dramatic planned for this part of the tour.  There was a time when I probably would have tried to come up with something just to make it more dramatic and interesting, but I guess I have grown up just a little bit.

I think it's a trade off. Didn't you feel like you had more for Nick in the beginning? And now it's the opposite. Maybe once you get through this part, it will feel more even. I usually limit my 1st person to one POV for that reason, but I think if you can effectively get intimately into two characters heads to tell the story right, then it's more interesting. You're almost through this portion!

I believe that, because what a perfect dramatic event for the Millennium Tour! I'm glad you're not deviating from your plan to give Nick a traumatic injury that seems more interesting, but ultimately doesn't fit.


Good for you!  It's so hard to cut a scene, but it sounds like you made the right choice.  This is another case where it would be better if you were making a movie - then you could just include a few shots of them trudging across the desert set to some dramatic music and move on to the next scene.

It is hard! But I think that sometimes it's better if we cut the things that feel unnecessary either after the fact or preemptively like I did in the beginning. Sometimes I feel like every little thing is important if I felt bothered to write it down, but it just isn't and it's a good skill to hone and recognize to tighten up the narrative.

Yes, that cinematic shorthand would help a lot in this case, lol!

 
LOL!  That could be the equivalent of Bella Swan's dramatic "October.  November.  December" across three pages.

One chapter just has the "f" word in all caps followed by the month, lmao!


I agree, those short transitions are the best!

There are a couple of things that are important to Nick's character and plot development that I'm trying to show on this tour, so I'm trying to just focus my scenes on those and summarize the rest.  And yeah, they wouldn't work well as flashbacks, although that can be a good technique for some scenes/stories.

That makes it hard, especially when you want to give him equal time, but those things don't feel like they take up equal time. In a movie, you could just frame it as a narrative "brown out." There's probably a way to do that in prose that involves less transitions, but it would probably feel really disorienting as a reader. Unless that feeling was the goal, but I'm guessing it's not.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 06:32:37 PM
That's exactly it.  It's something that feels "productive" and writing-related, but requires no thought, just repetitive clicking.  I'm glad it didn't take as long as I thought it would.  I started doing the same thing with Undead on Thursday and got halfway through it, so I might finish the rest of that later today.  Thanks to my site, I have an archive of all of my updates dating back to the summer of 2000 when I started writing update blurbs, so those have been super helpful and kinda fun to scroll back through.

You're almost ready to start posting your next backdated novel if you're getting through both of these! It's good sometimes to have something that feels productive, but requires less brain power. It must be nice to have those update blurbs with dates. I think I have four from the original posting of PBox where I know one chapter was specifically updated on 06/06/06 because I mentioned it vaguely and others that cement themselves as "this month," but who knows when in that month until the update thread board got added here. I don't have my old laptop either to have any vague idea of when I wrote those chapters either; not even sure 2005-2008 word would tell me that.


I may eventually post them if I get bored enough after posting SAMS and AHTIM, but I would want to edit them first.  I found SO MANY TYPOS when I reread them last year for my retrospective blogs.

An author's note isn't a bad idea.  In some ways, I'm more okay spoiling the cancer aspect of Broken than Curtain Call because it takes so freaking long to get to it, it might be the incentive a reader needs to make it through the beginning, which reads like a bad romance.  Whereas in Curtain Call, I think putting a cancer tag on it would take away from the experience of reading it and finding out the same way the main characters do.

I wonder why we're more prone to typos in our old works. Were we typing too fast and not looking back over it enough? Was grammar and spell check worse at catching mistakes back then? And I agree, on a repost, typos are sure something to fix.

It feels weird to call the cancer in Broken a spoiler, because it just feels like so much a part of our community and fandom narrative, but it's probably not everywhere. Especially since you said you have newer fans (or fan) reading along with MBK. It feels like it would be nice to be able to go back, read, and connect with something with the same feelings from the first time.

If you came up with the Broken idea now, what do you think you would change about the beginning? Hypothetically .


I hoarded with Curtain Call at first, but not as much as I do now.  I know I had written the first 5 or 6 chapters before I started posting it, but that only took me about a week.  From there, I pretty much posted chapters as I wrote them.

Five or six is still a lot to hold on to for the way we used to write! I specifically remember saying I was going to keep the last chapter of PBox for a while and then decided I couldn't do it anymore. I think I got four days, lol.


I went from having the AC on to turning the furnace back on for a couple days to nothing.  It was like 50 degrees and rainy yesterday for the last day of school... brr!  Today is sunny and 60s though.

Yay for a clean house and fun with your friends!  I was a little worried about you when I hadn't seen you on for a couple days, but I'm glad it was for good reasons.  Sometimes you definitely need to take a break and do something different!

I cleaned up my upstairs writing room that I haven't used in months because there have been holiday decorations and boxes all over the place.  Got all that stuff packed back up and put away so I can actually use that room this summer.  Next up is organizing my bedroom closet, but that can wait for another day.

I wrote a little bit this morning and am close to finishing my current Nick chapter.  Hopefully I'll be able to finish that tonight.  It should be the last tour chapter for a while.

I'm glad your writing is going better today!  Way to push through the problem spot!  I hope you do have a productive weekend.

This weather, I swear, lol! Glad it's sunny again. Although, rainy days are great for writing.

I did see your post from yesterday this morning and I told myself that no matter how writing went today, I should check in. And continue our conversation on transitions, because I still had thoughts, I just couldn't form them in brain, lol.

Glad you prepped your writing room! Sometimes I think clutter can affect how my brain works, so every now and again, I have moments of "I just need to take care of this thing no matter how long it takes." I have a little more of that I need to do this weekend, but I woke up (eventually) and felt like I had a solid point to start writing from. I have a bunch of things in our closet that I've been meaning to donate, but haven't. I need to do that this summer at some point.

Glad you're almost done! Is the exciting part next then if you've reached the end of the tour?

I should be productive again, but I also feel like I should take a shower, even though it's late, haha. I got distracted this afternoon by Nick's instagram live and his reassurance that he's investing his own money killed me. Like, sure, Nick, you invest $1,000 but if I invested $1,000 back when I was living paycheck to paycheck, it would not have gone well for me. Hypothetical $1,000 here, he did not name a specific amount. I swear, I end up on his instagram lives when I feel ho-hum about the content and his good ones are when I'm not available. Shower and then back to writing! That's my plan.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 29, 2021, 06:41:03 PM
Right?! It felt so nice to write my little holiday story and then think, "Oh, I wrote this and now it's done forever. Hooray!" lol Meanwhile in novel land six months later... still trucking along, lol.

I have some guesses just based on the timing, even though I'm not totally sure. It probably started with the omnipresent feeling of both Nick and AJ on tv weekly (at the time) and my brain probably thought "This year is complicated. Remember how we used to write when things were complicated? Here's an old friend that might resonate with you in this time of 90's nostalgia as you try to process things." *enter PBox Nick* "HEL~LO! I've returned to bother-- *ahem* inspire you until you do something about it!" lol

I've definitely spent most of my free time in the past decade out doing things, like volunteering for various organizations, so it probably felt (though I never really thought about it much) that there just wasn't time to write. That and the last two times I had any sort of inspiration were both around the time I was back in school for my licensure program, so it just felt busier doing all those things. This time? There was busy, but also a lot of not busy since many things were virtual or closed.

I also think it helped that I decided to reread PBox before I started writing and it had enough seeds for the rest of the complete story to get invested in and remember where I was headed. And again, that PBox Nick is a loud and picky spotlight hog, lol. I always did really love the characters in PBox; it always felt like they were what breathed life into the story, rather than the idea itself. And it felt like reconnecting with an old friend after a long time.

That's a lesson I've taken from all of this. I've always thought characters were a strength in my writing, but I've definitely thought more about just how important a compelling and breathing character is to the story. Coupled with an idea with investment and I think it was easy enough to pick PBox&Co back up. And then I look at my two more "recent" old ideas, besides PBox and think... Okay, Gobosei, I always found to be an idea with investment, it's one I always said I go back to (even back then), but as it stands (and probably the reason PBox stayed pushy), the characters were less compelling and didn't breathe quite the same way. Beta Sigma Beta is the opposite; I no longer feel invested in the idea, but think back on the characters being more compelling. One of those things feels easier to tweak in a rewrite, mainly because the Boys had compelling moments in Gobosei, but now that I've written over half of grimdark and epic PBox, it feels as though the original plan for Gobosei feels too much like PBox and what was compelling about it when I looked back over it briefly were actually the more light-hearted aspects. And it still feels like I can adjust the narrative to give more of those things the focus.

All that makes sense.  Sounds like it was the perfect blend of time plus inspiration with a bit of nostalgia thrown in.  All the elements you need to go back to writing fanfic!

That's interesting that Gobosei and Beta Sigma Beta feel like opposites when it comes to compelling characters vs. a compelling storyline.  I wish there was a way you could marry the two ideas by using Beta's characters with ideas from Gobosei, but they may be too different from each other.  They were also fully enough formed ideas for you to start posting them.  I think combining ideas works better when you have ideas that may not be compelling enough on their own that could work with other ideas.  But hopefully you can revise Gobosei to give it a different feel from PBox while keeping the things you find compelling about it.  (Although, if it helps, no one has ever complained about me writing stories with similar plots.)


Didn't you say that where you left off Guilty Roads was a part where it felt like Nick wouldn't do whatever it is he was doing? If Guilty Roads still seems compelling enough, maybe that's the thing you should look at. Either going back and adjusting Nick from the beginning to be someone who would get to that point and do what you wanted him to do or letting him pick up and do what he wanted to do and figure out how to adjust the timeline of the plan or change the plan completely to fit with that. I also think that going back and changing the beginning wouldn't be the worst thing after this much time if that's what you felt like needed to be done for the story to work. I'll be honest, I will probably change some things for what's posted of Gobosei when the time comes and feel zero guilt about it since it only got a little ways in (whereas despite feeling that the rewrite of PBox was necessary, I was more meticulous about what I allowed myself to change). I don't know if any of this is the road map to a "magic formula," but maybe it's a start for us both to pick back up our long hiatus projects. :)

Yeah.  Here's [one of] the problem(s) with Guilty Roads.  It was a manufactured idea based on The Lion King.  I'm basically stuck in the part of the story where Simba (Nick) is chilling with Timon and Pumbaa (the Amish), while everyone else thinks he's dead.  I want to keep Nick in Amish country because that was supposed to be a major part of the story, but I've always struggled to come up with reasons for him to stay instead of going back to the rest of the Boys.  Turns out I also dislike writing about the Amish, so I should just have him go back... but then my plan for the rest of the story falls apart, and the introduction of the Amish characters seems pointless.  It's definitely a situation where I, as a plot-driven writer, have come up with a plot that doesn't make the most sense with my main character, and I'm trying to force him to do what I want, and he's fighting me on it.  Maybe I should let him do what makes sense and see where else he can take the story, but I don't even want to open that can of worms right now and risk derailing MBK.  So we'll see... maybe I'll explore that more when I'm between novels again.  I should probably just have him go back and promptly get diagnosed with cancer because then I would have no problem finishing the story LOL.


If I remember correctly, it was mushroom "coffee." Blech! Another great use of the barfing emoji we don't have, lmao! I didn't used to be a black coffee drinker, but it's definitely grown on me in the past year. I do enjoy a latte every now and again still though, so you drink your beige coffee with pride.

Team Pamplemousse! (LaCroix) But I do enjoy their lemon and lime from time to time as well. I think it's about finding flavors you enjoy in their natural state. If you're not a huge grapefruit fan, pamplemousse might not be your jam. I like LaCroix better than the other brands, but in my first ventures into bubbly water there was a more colorful brand that I drank first, I think it was "Sparkling Ice"? It eventually felt too sugary and it was an easy transition to LaCroix. LaCorix is usually on sale though and enough other people like it that if it's not your thing, you can share it. I think Aha has caffeinated flavors? And Hi-Ball sounds familiar?

Ew!  I hate mushrooms, so that sounds disgusting.  Not sure why mushrooms are better for you than coffee beans.  They're both natural!  And to my knowledge, mushrooms don't contain caffeine, which is the whole point of coffee.

Thanks for the recommendation s!  I don't think I've tried the LaCroix brand, so I will have to give that a try.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 29, 2021, 06:56:32 PM
I think it's a trade off. Didn't you feel like you had more for Nick in the beginning? And now it's the opposite. Maybe once you get through this part, it will feel more even. I usually limit my 1st person to one POV for that reason, but I think if you can effectively get intimately into two characters heads to tell the story right, then it's more interesting. You're almost through this portion!

I believe that, because what a perfect dramatic event for the Millennium Tour! I'm glad you're not deviating from your plan to give Nick a traumatic injury that seems more interesting, but ultimately doesn't fit.

Yep.  It should even out when I get past this section and get both main characters together again.

LOL The other boys would kill me if I gave Nick a TBI on top of what Kevin's been dealing with.  Nick is supposed to be the uninjured one in this story!


It is hard! But I think that sometimes it's better if we cut the things that feel unnecessary either after the fact or preemptively like I did in the beginning. Sometimes I feel like every little thing is important if I felt bothered to write it down, but it just isn't and it's a good skill to hone and recognize to tighten up the narrative.

Absolutely!  I have gotten better at that, as well as just not writing pointless stuff in the first place, but it's still hard to cut whole scenes you spent time writing.


One chapter just has the "f" word in all caps followed by the month, lmao!

That makes it hard, especially when you want to give him equal time, but those things don't feel like they take up equal time. In a movie, you could just frame it as a narrative "brown out." There's probably a way to do that in prose that involves less transitions, but it would probably feel really disorienting as a reader. Unless that feeling was the goal, but I'm guessing it's not.

LOL!  Yes!

Yeah, I'm not trying to disorient the readers.  If anything, I'm trying to reorient them to the world as it was in early 2008.  I made myself laugh in my last chapter when I was writing some chitchat between AJ and Kevin to lead into the more serious conversation they needed to have, and AJ was talking about missing new episodes of "Big Brother" while he was out of the country.

Quote
“I wish there was a way you could watch Big Brother online or something,” I said.

“No shit.  That would be amazing!  Maybe someday...”  AJ sighed.

2008 does not seem like that long ago, but it was before streaming TV shows was a thing, and smartphones were brand new.  The first iPhone came out in the summer of 2007.  So I'm having to factcheck myself a lot on anything related to technology.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 07:24:41 PM
All that makes sense.  Sounds like it was the perfect blend of time plus inspiration with a bit of nostalgia thrown in.  All the elements you need to go back to writing fanfic!

That's interesting that Gobosei and Beta Sigma Beta feel like opposites when it comes to compelling characters vs. a compelling storyline.  I wish there was a way you could marry the two ideas by using Beta's characters with ideas from Gobosei, but they may be too different from each other.  They were also fully enough formed ideas for you to start posting them.  I think combining ideas works better when you have ideas that may not be compelling enough on their own that could work with other ideas.  But hopefully you can revise Gobosei to give it a different feel from PBox while keeping the things you find compelling about it.  (Although, if it helps, no one has ever complained about me writing stories with similar plots.)

Definitely nostalgia was a requirement to pick up fanfic again for sure! I think it also helped that I had at least attempted NaNo in 2019 so I just didn't go from writing nothing to suddenly thinking I could write 50,000 words in a month, lol.

Wouldn't that be nice? But yeah, they're probably just too different. You're right, it's probably easier to combine ideas when they're less formed like how you put your "I want to do an ARok something" going into your "disaster survival" to get Bethlehem. Although in a rewrite, maybe it's worth it to try writing in first person for a hot minute and see if I can find what makes Gobosei Nick breathe like PBox Nick breathe. Then again, I did start writing Beta Sigma Beta after PBox and Gobosei before, so maybe going into a rewrite of Gobosei without PBox's strict editing rules would just solve the problem on its own having gotten better at compelling characters since starting Gobosei. LOL! It may turn out to still need to be grimdark too. I'll see when I actually look at it to get back into it.


Yeah.  Here's [one of] the problem(s) with Guilty Roads.  It was a manufactured idea based on The Lion King.  I'm basically stuck in the part of the story where Simba (Nick) is chilling with Timon and Pumbaa (the Amish), while everyone else thinks he's dead.  I want to keep Nick in Amish country because that was supposed to be a major part of the story, but I've always struggled to come up with reasons for him to stay instead of going back to the rest of the Boys.  Turns out I also dislike writing about the Amish, so I should just have him go back... but then my plan for the rest of the story falls apart, and the introduction of the Amish characters seems pointless.  It's definitely a situation where I, as a plot-driven writer, have come up with a plot that doesn't make the most sense with my main character, and I'm trying to force him to do what I want, and he's fighting me on it.  Maybe I should let him do what makes sense and see where else he can take the story, but I don't even want to open that can of worms right now and risk derailing MBK.  So we'll see... maybe I'll explore that more when I'm between novels again.  I should probably just have him go back and promptly get diagnosed with cancer because then I would have no problem finishing the story LOL.

Hmmm... Here's my first thought, when and if the time feels right to go back into it, have you thought about rereading Hamlet? The Lion King is almost Hamlet with lions, so it might give you some new ideas. There's also the thought about whether he could do something instead of hanging out with the Amish. Accidentally get sucked into a cult? Take up hippie lifestyle? All three? Something totally different that seems more like a Nick thing to get distracted by? Playing World of Warcraft for six months? lol Unless it's the Amish specifically that need to be in the plot for a reason other than that they're already there. I guess my question is what would drive Nick (who has apparently taken up coding now as well) who loves technology into an environment defined by it's lack of technology (among other things). I'm guessing it's not a robot uprising that murdered his loved ones, but I'm sure there's something more realistic that would do that, I'm just not really sure what it is.

My other thought would be... well is it that bad if he does decide to go back? I know Simba is gone for a long time in the Lion King, but does Nick need to be? But, yeah, you're on a roll, definitely think about these things later! Get any of this that seems worth thinking about into your outline and then ignore it.

LMAO! "No! The technology that I love has once again diagnosed me with cancer! I should have stayed with the Amish! Why does this keep happening to me?!"


Ew!  I hate mushrooms, so that sounds disgusting.  Not sure why mushrooms are better for you than coffee beans.  They're both natural!  And to my knowledge, mushrooms don't contain caffeine, which is the whole point of coffee.

Thanks for the recommendation s!  I don't think I've tried the LaCroix brand, so I will have to give that a try.

I love mushrooms, but they don't make sense as a beverage! Caffeine, being warm, being delicious, and smelling great. I don't know if mushrooms contain caffeine either, but it was not very good.

Any time! Here to chat writing, life, and bubbly water, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 29, 2021, 07:29:18 PM
You're almost ready to start posting your next backdated novel if you're getting through both of these! It's good sometimes to have something that feels productive, but requires less brain power. It must be nice to have those update blurbs with dates. I think I have four from the original posting of PBox where I know one chapter was specifically updated on 06/06/06 because I mentioned it vaguely and others that cement themselves as "this month," but who knows when in that month until the update thread board got added here. I don't have my old laptop either to have any vague idea of when I wrote those chapters either; not even sure 2005-2008 word would tell me that.

Yep!  I probably will start posting SAMS soon.  I do like having little projects that take time but not a lot of mental or physical effort.  That's why I started posting my stuff on AO3 last year in the first place - it gave me something to do while I had to be on the computer anyway monitoring my Google Classroom while school was shut down.  I couldn't focus enough to write during the "school day," but I could copy and paste chapters.

I love that you can go back into the version history on Google Docs to find out exactly what you wrote when.  Word didn't do that, and even the dates for when my files were supposedly created are wrong from me moving them from computer to computer over the years or recreating them after losing everything in hard drive crashes.  I don't even have Word anymore since getting my new computer for Christmas.  I downloaded Open Office so I can open the .doc files I have saved on my computer if I need to, but I have moved to doing everything on Google.


I wonder why we're more prone to typos in our old works. Were we typing too fast and not looking back over it enough? Was grammar and spell check worse at catching mistakes back then? And I agree, on a repost, typos are sure something to fix.

In my case, I still make plenty of typos, but I'm more likely to catch them because I hang on to chapters longer and read them more times before posting than I used to.  I posted Broken and BMS chapters as I finished them, sometimes with only one quick read-through right after finishing, so I missed a lot.  I also never had the grammar check on Word turned on because it was usually wrong, and the blue squiggles annoyed me, but that may have helped me catch missing words and stuff like that.  It's been helpful since I turned it back on on Docs, except I've noticed it will miss things and then catch them weeks later in old chapters I've already posted, and then I have to go fix them three more times.


It feels weird to call the cancer in Broken a spoiler, because it just feels like so much a part of our community and fandom narrative, but it's probably not everywhere. Especially since you said you have newer fans (or fan) reading along with MBK. It feels like it would be nice to be able to go back, read, and connect with something with the same feelings from the first time.

If you came up with the Broken idea now, what do you think you would change about the beginning? Hypothetically .

I know, but it's so old at this point, I bet most of the writers on AO3 haven't read it.  It also doesn't have any anal sex in it, so I'm not sure they'd want to read it anyway LOL.

I would ditch the Leah the Gold-digging Stripper storyline from the beginning of Broken and get to the point within the first 5-10 chapters instead of taking 18 to get there.  I originally wanted to disguise it as a Nick romance, thinking I would attract more readers that way, but Leah was completely unlikable as Nick's early romantic interest, so that didn't really work.  I actually got more readers through word of mouth once the cancer storyline came into play.  I should know better because, as a reader, I wouldn't have stuck with Broken unless I knew what it was really about.  The beginning sucks, but it gets better as it goes along.


Five or six is still a lot to hold on to for the way we used to write! I specifically remember saying I was going to keep the last chapter of PBox for a while and then decided I couldn't do it anymore. I think I got four days, lol.

It is!  I made myself wait because I had literally just started posting Guilty Roads like three weeks before I got the idea for Curtain Call and didn't want to post a new novel unless I knew it was going well.  The end of Chapter 5 is where you find out Nick is sick (see, I learned from Broken LOL), so I told myself if I got that far and felt it was going well, I would start posting it.

I think it's a lot harder to hold on to last chapters.  I waited at least a week after finishing to post the end of BMS so I could put it up on Nick's birthday, which was when I had posted the beginning of Broken five years earlier, and it was hard to sit on those chapters too.  The only reason I hang on to chapters once a story is finished now is to give myself more time to get started on a new story so I can keep up with weekly updates as long as possible.


I did see your post from yesterday this morning and I told myself that no matter how writing went today, I should check in. And continue our conversation on transitions, because I still had thoughts, I just couldn't form them in brain, lol.

Glad you prepped your writing room! Sometimes I think clutter can affect how my brain works, so every now and again, I have moments of "I just need to take care of this thing no matter how long it takes." I have a little more of that I need to do this weekend, but I woke up (eventually) and felt like I had a solid point to start writing from. I have a bunch of things in our closet that I've been meaning to donate, but haven't. I need to do that this summer at some point.

I'm glad you checked in!  I was starting to worry something had happened just because you've been on every day, but I looked at your Nano goal and saw that you had added to it yesterday, so I knew you were still around.

That's so true about the clutter.  I'm the same way.  I could have never written in that room with stuff lying around everywhere.  I've written in every room downstairs instead LOL.  I did get a new desk, chair, and computer last year for my downstairs office/den, so it has been more pleasant to write there than it used to be, but my upstairs room feels more like an escape.


Glad you're almost done! Is the exciting part next then if you've reached the end of the tour?

I should be productive again, but I also feel like I should take a shower, even though it's late, haha. I got distracted this afternoon by Nick's instagram live and his reassurance that he's investing his own money killed me. Like, sure, Nick, you invest $1,000 but if I invested $1,000 back when I was living paycheck to paycheck, it would not have gone well for me. Hypothetical $1,000 here, he did not name a specific amount. I swear, I end up on his instagram lives when I feel ho-hum about the content and his good ones are when I'm not available. Shower and then back to writing! That's my plan.

Yeah, I'm almost to the heart of the story, or at least the heart of my original idea.  I'm looking forward to that section.

I did not watch Nick's live.  I don't care to watch him talk about cryptocurrency .  Did he talk about anything else worth watching?  I haven't watched his Twitch yet either.  Sometimes I enjoy just watching him mess around, but other times I get bored watching him play video games or his own songs and feel like there are better things I could be doing.  (You know, like discussing fanfic on this forum, obviously LOL.)  I wish he would sing his songs live when he's streaming instead of just playing the album versions.  We can listen to those any old time, Nick.

Go shower!  And then go write!  I need to get back to writing and finish this chapter at some point too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 07:35:14 PM
Yep.  It should even out when I get past this section and get both main characters together again.

LOL The other boys would kill me if I gave Nick a TBI on top of what Kevin's been dealing with.  Nick is supposed to be the uninjured one in this story!

That'll feel exciting! Soon!

They'd be like "Gosh darnit, Nick! can't you let someone else be the dramatic injured one just one time?!" I'm sure Nick wants that too. Don't listen to my ideas on how to spice up concert scenes, lol!


Absolutely!  I have gotten better at that, as well as just not writing pointless stuff in the first place, but it's still hard to cut whole scenes you spent time writing.

I have also enjoyed getting to a point where I feel like I haven't spent too much time on something that felt pointless later. Almost. I'll be honest, getting to the end of this story, I look back at the beginning and feel like chapter four did not need to be posted, but I still needed to write it for me. It's a very confusing feeling, haha.


LOL!  Yes!

Yeah, I'm not trying to disorient the readers.  If anything, I'm trying to reorient them to the world as it was in early 2008.  I made myself laugh in my last chapter when I was writing some chitchat between AJ and Kevin to lead into the more serious conversation they needed to have, and AJ was talking about missing new episodes of "Big Brother" while he was out of the country.

2008 does not seem like that long ago, but it was before streaming TV shows was a thing, and smartphones were brand new.  The first iPhone came out in the summer of 2007.  So I'm having to factcheck myself a lot on anything related to technology.

Always here to make good jokes.  ;D

OMG, that's hilarious! You're right, it's crazy to think that being worried about missing new episodes of a show was an issue! Technology has really flown in the past decade. 1999 doesn't even feel that long ago to me either, but it'll be thirty years ago before we know it. It's crazy we lived through it and still have to fact check things like that.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 29, 2021, 09:12:04 PM
Definitely nostalgia was a requirement to pick up fanfic again for sure! I think it also helped that I had at least attempted NaNo in 2019 so I just didn't go from writing nothing to suddenly thinking I could write 50,000 words in a month, lol.

Wouldn't that be nice? But yeah, they're probably just too different. You're right, it's probably easier to combine ideas when they're less formed like how you put your "I want to do an ARok something" going into your "disaster survival" to get Bethlehem. Although in a rewrite, maybe it's worth it to try writing in first person for a hot minute and see if I can find what makes Gobosei Nick breathe like PBox Nick breathe. Then again, I did start writing Beta Sigma Beta after PBox and Gobosei before, so maybe going into a rewrite of Gobosei without PBox's strict editing rules would just solve the problem on its own having gotten better at compelling characters since starting Gobosei. LOL! It may turn out to still need to be grimdark too. I'll see when I actually look at it to get back into it.

It wouldn't hurt to try rewriting Gobosei either in first person POV or in third person and see what happens.  Maybe that will help you get back into it and beef up your characters.  It's definitely okay if it still needs to be grimdark.  We here on Team Dark like darkness!


Hmmm... Here's my first thought, when and if the time feels right to go back into it, have you thought about rereading Hamlet? The Lion King is almost Hamlet with lions, so it might give you some new ideas. There's also the thought about whether he could do something instead of hanging out with the Amish. Accidentally get sucked into a cult? Take up hippie lifestyle? All three? Something totally different that seems more like a Nick thing to get distracted by? Playing World of Warcraft for six months? lol Unless it's the Amish specifically that need to be in the plot for a reason other than that they're already there. I guess my question is what would drive Nick (who has apparently taken up coding now as well) who loves technology into an environment defined by it's lack of technology (among other things). I'm guessing it's not a robot uprising that murdered his loved ones, but I'm sure there's something more realistic that would do that, I'm just not really sure what it is.

My other thought would be... well is it that bad if he does decide to go back? I know Simba is gone for a long time in the Lion King, but does Nick need to be? But, yeah, you're on a roll, definitely think about these things later! Get any of this that seems worth thinking about into your outline and then ignore it.

LMAO! "No! The technology that I love has once again diagnosed me with cancer! I should have stayed with the Amish! Why does this keep happening to me?!"

I've had that thought too.  I've never actually read Hamlet (I only read Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth in high school), but I know Lion King is based on it.  It may help to see how a human character acts, although the circumstances are different.  How Nick came to be living among the Amish is fairly cliched and convoluted as well, but there is a suspense storyline that got him in that situation, and I'm using fear to keep him there.  I don't think it would make sense for him to do something totally different, so it's either stay or go back... but if he goes back now, the story is basically over.  And while that would solve my problem of leaving it unfinished, I don't think I would feel satisfied.  I have hurried stories along to finish them because I was tired of writing them before, and it shows.  I would almost rather leave it unfinished and be happy with what I have written (which I am for the most part) than slap a half-assed, rushed ending on it and call it done.  Technically I already did slap a half-assed, rushed ending on it for my April Fool's joke one year, but that doesn't count LOL.  Although maybe it does count because it's still posted as Chapter 17 of the story on my actual site, so anyone who goes to read it now will read that chapter.  It has an author's note at the end saying it's not a real ending, but may be the only ending I ever write for it.  Nick doesn't get cancer, but he does die in that version LOL.


That'll feel exciting! Soon!

They'd be like "Gosh darnit, Nick! can't you let someone else be the dramatic injured one just one time?!" I'm sure Nick wants that too. Don't listen to my ideas on how to spice up concert scenes, lol!

LOL Poor Nick.  It's just a good thing this is the Unbreakable tour and not the Millennium tour, or I may be tempted.  But I just finished my last concert scene (for now) with no injuries, so Nick is safe for now.


I have also enjoyed getting to a point where I feel like I haven't spent too much time on something that felt pointless later. Almost. I'll be honest, getting to the end of this story, I look back at the beginning and feel like chapter four did not need to be posted, but I still needed to write it for me. It's a very confusing feeling, haha.

Eh, you're allowed to be self-indulgent.  That's the fun of fanfic - you can write whatever you want!


OMG, that's hilarious! You're right, it's crazy to think that being worried about missing new episodes of a show was an issue! Technology has really flown in the past decade. 1999 doesn't even feel that long ago to me either, but it'll be thirty years ago before we know it. It's crazy we lived through it and still have to fact check things like that.

It's almost easier to write stories set in 1999 because I feel like I remember what we did and didn't have back then better, as weird as that sounds.  Both my long-unfinished stories (Guilty Roads and my Harry Potter crossover) are set in 1999, and I don't think I had to do as much fact-checking for technology things for those.  (The fact that neither the Amish, nor the Wizarding world really uses technology helps LOL.)  But the mid-2000s are more of a blur.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 29, 2021, 10:18:10 PM
Yep!  I probably will start posting SAMS soon.  I do like having little projects that take time but not a lot of mental or physical effort.  That's why I started posting my stuff on AO3 last year in the first place - it gave me something to do while I had to be on the computer anyway monitoring my Google Classroom while school was shut down.  I couldn't focus enough to write during the "school day," but I could copy and paste chapters.

I love that you can go back into the version history on Google Docs to find out exactly what you wrote when.  Word didn't do that, and even the dates for when my files were supposedly created are wrong from me moving them from computer to computer over the years or recreating them after losing everything in hard drive crashes.  I don't even have Word anymore since getting my new computer for Christmas.  I downloaded Open Office so I can open the .doc files I have saved on my computer if I need to, but I have moved to doing everything on Google.

Same! Backdating PBox will probably be my next one as nothing else is complete enough to cross post for fun, or it is, but it's so old that I just can't bring myself to do it, lol. It's easy enough to copy and paste when you're multi-tasking. Actually writing would make you less available for your students... or your boss.

Same! The version history has saved me. Equally great is that you can name the versions in case you want to track specific things too. It helps me quickly find when I wrote specific chapters. Yeah same. The oldest version of PBox I have definitely says it's from 2012 or something like that. Clearly not. Open office is a savior for that. I'm glad it exists.


In my case, I still make plenty of typos, but I'm more likely to catch them because I hang on to chapters longer and read them more times before posting than I used to.  I posted Broken and BMS chapters as I finished them, sometimes with only one quick read-through right after finishing, so I missed a lot.  I also never had the grammar check on Word turned on because it was usually wrong, and the blue squiggles annoyed me, but that may have helped me catch missing words and stuff like that.  It's been helpful since I turned it back on on Docs, except I've noticed it will miss things and then catch them weeks later in old chapters I've already posted, and then I have to go fix them three more times.

You're probably right. I think I'm the same. I know I have an upcoming chapter in it with a couple typos, but just haven't bothered to fix them yet since I'm so close to editing it anyway. I just leave it turned on because of that, though I've noticed with longer documents, it does sometimes take it longer to catch them. Word was hit or miss on how well it caught grammar mistakes. That's the one thing that's been nice about being on a different schedule here and on AO3, I'll usually catch a mistake before posting the next chapter there and only have to go back and edit it here. Oh well, seven more weeks to enjoy that! lol


I know, but it's so old at this point, I bet most of the writers on AO3 haven't read it.  It also doesn't have any anal sex in it, so I'm not sure they'd want to read it anyway LOL.

I would ditch the Leah the Gold-digging Stripper storyline from the beginning of Broken and get to the point within the first 5-10 chapters instead of taking 18 to get there.  I originally wanted to disguise it as a Nick romance, thinking I would attract more readers that way, but Leah was completely unlikable as Nick's early romantic interest, so that didn't really work.  I actually got more readers through word of mouth once the cancer storyline came into play.  I should know better because, as a reader, I wouldn't have stuck with Broken unless I knew what it was really about.  The beginning sucks, but it gets better as it goes along.

You're probably right on the age, but stop selling yourself short. Choppage is just as interesting as anal sex, lol.

See, I see you calling her Leah, but I'm pretty sure you mean Willaford, lol. While accurate, I feel like none of us read a Backstreet Boy romance to see them with an unlikable love interest. I think that's a good thing to want to change, especially since the cancer was the important part and the romance was not... yet.


It is!  I made myself wait because I had literally just started posting Guilty Roads like three weeks before I got the idea for Curtain Call and didn't want to post a new novel unless I knew it was going well.  The end of Chapter 5 is where you find out Nick is sick (see, I learned from Broken LOL), so I told myself if I got that far and felt it was going well, I would start posting it.

I think it's a lot harder to hold on to last chapters.  I waited at least a week after finishing to post the end of BMS so I could put it up on Nick's birthday, which was when I had posted the beginning of Broken five years earlier, and it was hard to sit on those chapters too.  The only reason I hang on to chapters once a story is finished now is to give myself more time to get started on a new story so I can keep up with weekly updates as long as possible.

That makes sense why you would hoard then if you were trying to work on Guilty Roads. No fake love interest and getting to the point, good. That's a clear testament to you learning and growing as an author. In the beginning, did it feel like you started it too close to finishing BMS?

Aw, what a cute full-circle thing. I always wanted to finish PBox in fall too, since that's when I had started writing it originally, I think. So I guess, how fitting that I hit my stride for PNecklace in November as well. Think I can finish the third one by November? lol

If you get started on a new story quicker, do you stop hanging on to them or do you keep your weekly update schedule through the end of the novel?


I'm glad you checked in!  I was starting to worry something had happened just because you've been on every day, but I looked at your Nano goal and saw that you had added to it yesterday, so I knew you were still around.

I appreciate that! Sorry for worrying you and missing our weekly "we want to be involved in our writing, but not in the actual writing it part" chat on Thursdays. I'm still here and still writing! Although, now that it's summer for you, does that tend to happen as much where you get burnt out by the end of the week?


That's so true about the clutter.  I'm the same way.  I could have never written in that room with stuff lying around everywhere.  I've written in every room downstairs instead LOL.  I did get a new desk, chair, and computer last year for my downstairs office/den, so it has been more pleasant to write there than it used to be, but my upstairs room feels more like an escape.

Maybe that's my "blah" feeling up here in the office... Hubs would be happy if I started meticulously going through it again. I'm choosing to ignore it by keeping it behind me and focusing on my happy desk, lol. It's good that you have multiple places that are more conducive to writing with desks, chairs, and computers. Do you have a desktop downstairs and upstairs, or just in the den?


Yeah, I'm almost to the heart of the story, or at least the heart of my original idea.  I'm looking forward to that section.

I did not watch Nick's live.  I don't care to watch him talk about cryptocurrency .  Did he talk about anything else worth watching?  I haven't watched his Twitch yet either.  Sometimes I enjoy just watching him mess around, but other times I get bored watching him play video games or his own songs and feel like there are better things I could be doing.  (You know, like discussing fanfic on this forum, obviously LOL.)  I wish he would sing his songs live when he's streaming instead of just playing the album versions.  We can listen to those any old time, Nick.

Go shower!  And then go write!  I need to get back to writing and finish this chapter at some point too.

You've got this! Keep writing!

Nope. The people watching halved after his initial hellos to people commenting in the chat, but you'll be glad to know he's figured out how to add people to his instagram lives, lol. He said once he figured out his coding, he'd play video games on twitch again. He should sing live; I can't imagine everyone watching him actually wants to watch him play video games. Do more fan interactive things, Nick! And yes, clearly discussing fanfic here is a better thing to do than listen to a pitch for cryptocurrency or watch someone play video games, lol.

I showered! I wrote! I finished a new chapter! Six left to go!

It wouldn't hurt to try rewriting Gobosei either in first person POV or in third person and see what happens.  Maybe that will help you get back into it and beef up your characters.  It's definitely okay if it still needs to be grimdark.  We here on Team Dark like darkness!

Definitely agree, I think it would be fun to try a couple of things. They need some beef, lol; I'll figure it out. I know, I feel like I'm betraying Team Dark by saying it doesn't need to be grimdark, lol. Although, I call PBox&Co "grimdark" and by definition it's not, it's the opposite. Grimdark really means there's no hope now nor any chance of hope ever, whereas one of the major themes of PBox is that there's always hope. I don't think I could write a true grimdark story, to be honest.


I've had that thought too.  I've never actually read Hamlet (I only read Romeo & Juliet and Macbeth in high school), but I know Lion King is based on it.  It may help to see how a human character acts, although the circumstances are different.  How Nick came to be living among the Amish is fairly cliched and convoluted as well, but there is a suspense storyline that got him in that situation, and I'm using fear to keep him there.  I don't think it would make sense for him to do something totally different, so it's either stay or go back... but if he goes back now, the story is basically over.  And while that would solve my problem of leaving it unfinished, I don't think I would feel satisfied.  I have hurried stories along to finish them because I was tired of writing them before, and it shows.  I would almost rather leave it unfinished and be happy with what I have written (which I am for the most part) than slap a half-assed, rushed ending on it and call it done.  Technically I already did slap a half-assed, rushed ending on it for my April Fool's joke one year, but that doesn't count LOL.  Although maybe it does count because it's still posted as Chapter 17 of the story on my actual site, so anyone who goes to read it now will read that chapter.  It has an author's note at the end saying it's not a real ending, but may be the only ending I ever write for it.  Nick doesn't get cancer, but he does die in that version LOL.

You should definitely read it at some point. Hamlet's my favorite Shakespeare tragedy (Twelfth Night is the best one overall). I feel like Hamlet's probably a lot more introspective and over-analyzing than Nick or Simba though, lol.

Fear is a powerful emotion. Is there a way to amp up the feeling of fear a little more prior to that and still keep the parts you like? I could see Nick staying somewhere longer than he would want to because of fear as a driving force. Maybe he tries to leave and something happens that stops him. I get not wanting to find an ending just finish it when you don't feel like it's ready to end. You're right, sometimes it's better to appreciate what's there and what it felt like writing it the first time.

Haha, how did it feel to turn it into an April Fool's joke? And he can't always die of cancer. Sometimes other things have to kill him, lol.


LOL Poor Nick.  It's just a good thing this is the Unbreakable tour and not the Millennium tour, or I may be tempted.  But I just finished my last concert scene (for now) with no injuries, so Nick is safe for now.

"Nick, where did you get that hoverboard? This is the wrong tour... Just... just don't do anything drastic to show off... Oh no..." lol Glad Nick can continue remaining uninjured with the concert scenes over.


Eh, you're allowed to be self-indulgent.  That's the fun of fanfic - you can write whatever you want!

So true! What's the most self-indulgent thing you've written recently?


It's almost easier to write stories set in 1999 because I feel like I remember what we did and didn't have back then better, as weird as that sounds.  Both my long-unfinished stories (Guilty Roads and my Harry Potter crossover) are set in 1999, and I don't think I had to do as much fact-checking for technology things for those.  (The fact that neither the Amish, nor the Wizarding world really uses technology helps LOL.)  But the mid-2000s are more of a blur.

It's because technology felt like it moved a little slower unless video game counsels were your thing. The Nokia brick didn't even exist back then, crazy enough! Like when did wifi become a thing? Kids today are so lucky that they don't have to listen to the dial-up sound.

You know I love a good loophole, lol. "Doesn't use technology, so I don't have to bother" is a great one.

Glad we finally condensed these into one long chat, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 30, 2021, 12:02:16 AM
Same! Backdating PBox will probably be my next one as nothing else is complete enough to cross post for fun, or it is, but it's so old that I just can't bring myself to do it, lol. It's easy enough to copy and paste when you're multi-tasking. Actually writing would make you less available for your students... or your boss.

Same! The version history has saved me. Equally great is that you can name the versions in case you want to track specific things too. It helps me quickly find when I wrote specific chapters. Yeah same. The oldest version of PBox I have definitely says it's from 2012 or something like that. Clearly not. Open office is a savior for that. I'm glad it exists.

Yeah, same.  There's no point in me posting anything older than Broken because it's not representative of my writing style anymore.  I would hate for someone to click on one of those old stories, having never read anything else I've written, and judge me based on that LOL.

Yeah, Open Office is a godsend.  The one problem I have with Google is that some of my longer stories won't upload as one file, so I had to split them up into multiple files.  Open Office will still open the original documents with the whole story.


You're probably right on the age, but stop selling yourself short. Choppage is just as interesting as anal sex, lol.

See, I see you calling her Leah, but I'm pretty sure you mean Willaford, lol. While accurate, I feel like none of us read a Backstreet Boy romance to see them with an unlikable love interest. I think that's a good thing to want to change, especially since the cancer was the important part and the romance was not... yet.

LMAO!  I would argue that choppage is way more interesting than anal sex, but that's just me.  I would rather read about fic Nick being tortured than taking it up the ass.

Haha, good one!  There's a name I haven't heard in a long time.  I think part of the reason I gave him such an unlikable love interest was to make Claire feel more like a breath of fresh air when she came along later in the story.  Another example of us using fanfic to compensate for Nick's poor taste in women in real life.


That makes sense why you would hoard then if you were trying to work on Guilty Roads. No fake love interest and getting to the point, good. That's a clear testament to you learning and growing as an author. In the beginning, did it feel like you started it too close to finishing BMS?

Yeah, I guess that's the fun of writing a similar storyline twice - Curtain Call gave me the opportunity to learn from and improve upon Broken.  I love Broken in all its cheesy, angsty, melodramatic glory, but Curtain Call is clearly better-written and more mature.

It had been about two and a half years since I finished BMS, but since I hadn't actually finished a solo novel since then, yeah, I felt weird starting another Nick cancer story.  But it was one of those ideas that just wouldn't leave me alone, so I went for it.  It was the right decision.


Aw, what a cute full-circle thing. I always wanted to finish PBox in fall too, since that's when I had started writing it originally, I think. So I guess, how fitting that I hit my stride for PNecklace in November as well. Think I can finish the third one by November? lol

Yeah, it worked out perfectly!

Assuming you finish PNecklace in the next month or so, will you post the end in the fall?  Didn't you say you had updates ready through November?  I don't know that you'll finish the third story by this November, but maybe next November.  I guess it depends on how long it is and how fast you write!  You've been so prolific this year, anything is possible!


If you get started on a new story quicker, do you stop hanging on to them or do you keep your weekly update schedule through the end of the novel?

It hasn't happened yet where I've gotten started on a new story quicker; I'm incredibly slow LOL.  I stuck with my weekly update schedule for the last two (Bethlehem and Heroic Measures).
 I started posting a chapter every few days once I finished AHTIM, but I didn't have anything ready to post right after it.


I appreciate that! Sorry for worrying you and missing our weekly "we want to be involved in our writing, but not in the actual writing it part" chat on Thursdays. I'm still here and still writing! Although, now that it's summer for you, does that tend to happen as much where you get burnt out by the end of the week?

No problem!  Glad you were just having fun with your real life friends!

No, give me a few days to get into my summer schedule, and I won't even know what day it is anymore LOL.


Maybe that's my "blah" feeling up here in the office... Hubs would be happy if I started meticulously going through it again. I'm choosing to ignore it by keeping it behind me and focusing on my happy desk, lol. It's good that you have multiple places that are more conducive to writing with desks, chairs, and computers. Do you have a desktop downstairs and upstairs, or just in the den?

It does feel good to organize, but it's such a chore.  I didn't want to waste one of my precious weekend days doing it until summer.  So just keep your back turned and focus on that happy desk LOL.

I just have a desktop computer downstairs in my den.  Otherwise I write on my Chromebook.  I do have a little desk to sit at in my writing room upstairs, along with a futon/chaise thing.  Once in a while I'll write in my living room or sit at the kitchen table with my Chromebook.  My best weekend morning writing usually happens when I make coffee and bring it back to bed.  I've found I write best when I'm comfortable, and my bed is the most comfortable place.


Nope. The people watching halved after his initial hellos to people commenting in the chat, but you'll be glad to know he's figured out how to add people to his instagram lives, lol. He said once he figured out his coding, he'd play video games on twitch again. He should sing live; I can't imagine everyone watching him actually wants to watch him play video games. Do more fan interactive things, Nick! And yes, clearly discussing fanfic here is a better thing to do than listen to a pitch for cryptocurrency or watch someone play video games, lol.

I appreciate him going live because it's more than the other guys give us, and sometimes it's fun to just watch him do whatever, but other times I'm just not in the mood.  Especially when he's pitching something I don't understand LOL.


I showered! I wrote! I finished a new chapter! Six left to go!

Yay!!

I'm almost done with my chapter too.  I would be done by now, but I decided to take a break from writing and finish backdating Undead first.


Definitely agree, I think it would be fun to try a couple of things. They need some beef, lol; I'll figure it out. I know, I feel like I'm betraying Team Dark by saying it doesn't need to be grimdark, lol. Although, I call PBox&Co "grimdark" and by definition it's not, it's the opposite. Grimdark really means there's no hope now nor any chance of hope ever, whereas one of the major themes of PBox is that there's always hope. I don't think I could write a true grimdark story, to be honest.

I like darkness, but yes, I agree about grimdark.  I don't think I could ever write a true grimdark story either, nor would I necessarily want to read one - at least not a whole novel.  I'm okay with sad endings if they make sense, but there needs to be some light or hope or humor somewhere in the story; it can't all be dark and depressing.  My darkest stories tend to be the ones with happy endings; I'm a big fan of the "Earn your happy ending" trope.


You should definitely read it at some point. Hamlet's my favorite Shakespeare tragedy (Twelfth Night is the best one overall). I feel like Hamlet's probably a lot more introspective and over-analyzing than Nick or Simba though, lol.

Fear is a powerful emotion. Is there a way to amp up the feeling of fear a little more prior to that and still keep the parts you like? I could see Nick staying somewhere longer than he would want to because of fear as a driving force. Maybe he tries to leave and something happens that stops him. I get not wanting to find an ending just finish it when you don't feel like it's ready to end. You're right, sometimes it's better to appreciate what's there and what it felt like writing it the first time.

Haha, how did it feel to turn it into an April Fool's joke? And he can't always die of cancer. Sometimes other things have to kill him, lol.

Yeah, I do have a scene where he tries to leave and something happens that scares him into staying longer.  So maybe it is believable enough.  I dunno.  Part of the reason I set it in 1999 was so Nick was still a teenager, which I thought would help explain the poor decisions he makes LOL.  I do have a pretty solid plan for the rest of the story with some wiggle room to make adjustments, but just no inspiration.  I literally left off in the middle of a chapter that should have been fun to write (Halloween!), and every time I've opened the story in the last few years, I'm just like, "Meh," and close it again.  But if I actually go back and reread it from the beginning, I think it's a good story that's worth continuing.  I just keep hoping that one of these days, something will spark a fresh burst of inspiration.  Maybe I should try rereading the fanfic that inspired it, as well as Hamlet.  But not until I'm done with MBK because the last thing I want is to derail myself on that one again.

To be honest, it was not my favorite April Fool's joke.  I think that was the year I didn't come up with anything in advance and then had an "Oh shit!" moment on March 31 when I realized the next day was April Fool's Day and had to scramble to write something at the last minute.  Thankfully April 1 was a Saturday that year.  But I guess the fact that I was able to write a fake chapter for a story I hadn't updated in so long in less than 24 hours is impressive.

That's what 1000 Ways to Kill Nick Carter is for!  I don't think he's died of cancer once in that one yet LOL.


"Nick, where did you get that hoverboard? This is the wrong tour... Just... just don't do anything drastic to show off... Oh no..." lol Glad Nick can continue remaining uninjured with the concert scenes over.

LMAO!  This conversation reminds me of an unfinished story by one of my old favorite authors where Nick fell off the stage and got impaled on some kind of post in the first chapter, and that's how the others found out he was HIV-positive and had been hiding it from them.  The girl who wrote it, Jen, also wrote the very first fanfic I ever stumbled onto, which was about Brian falling in love with a blind girl (and then getting into a car accident and dying at the end, after impregnating her with twins).  Her stories were all full of diseases and injuries, and she was a Brian and Nick girl too.  The fact that her site was the first fanfic site I ever found, back when I didn't even know what fanfic was, had to be some sort of fate at work.  I found someone who wrote the exact kind of stories I was already reading in the form of Lurlene McDaniel books, except hers were about the Backstreet Boys.  It was meant to be.


So true! What's the most self-indulgent thing you've written recently?

Probably "The Year Without a Pandaskunk," which I wrote last year.  I don't know if anyone even read it all the way through, but I thought it was hilarious.

What's the most self-indulgent thing you've ever written?


It's because technology felt like it moved a little slower unless video game counsels were your thing. The Nokia brick didn't even exist back then, crazy enough! Like when did wifi become a thing? Kids today are so lucky that they don't have to listen to the dial-up sound.

You know I love a good loophole, lol. "Doesn't use technology, so I don't have to bother" is a great one.

Glad we finally condensed these into one long chat, lol.

Yeah, it was so much easier to keep up back then!  Apparently Wi-fi was first released in 1997, but I don't think I had it until the 2010s.  I had a laptop in college in the early 2000s, but I think it still needed to be connected to the internet with a cord.  Then I didn't have a laptop for a long time because I lost everything when that one crashed and vowed never to buy another one.  By the time I eventually did get another laptop (and a Kindle Fire and a smartphone), Wi-fi was a thing.  I was still astonished to discover that the new desktop computer I got for Christmas could be connected to the internet via Wi-fi and didn't need an ethernet cord because my last desktop, which was 9 years old, definitely did LOL.

Aww, the nostalgia of listening to the dial-up internet sound!  I have played that sound for my students before while trying to explain what we had to go through to access the internet back in "the 1900s," as they call it.

LOL This took me over an hour to reply to!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 30, 2021, 01:09:09 AM
Yeah, same.  There's no point in me posting anything older than Broken because it's not representative of my writing style anymore.  I would hate for someone to click on one of those old stories, having never read anything else I've written, and judge me based on that LOL.

Yeah, Open Office is a godsend.  The one problem I have with Google is that some of my longer stories won't upload as one file, so I had to split them up into multiple files.  Open Office will still open the original documents with the whole story.

I would die if someone read "The Orlando Story" now without knowing that I was like, why not, here's a really old story, we all started from somewhere. In 2006, it was one thing to post a story from 1999. It's totally different to post a story from 1999 in 2021, especially when people can read an equally old, and much better, PBox (although I did update it, so I guess that's not technically true). I was worried about being judged for it back then too, lol.

Yes! That is the only thing that annoys me about Google docs. It gets so laggy around 100 pages, I did have to split all of PBox into 5 parts and did the same with PNecklace.


LMAO!  I would argue that choppage is way more interesting than anal sex, but that's just me.  I would rather read about fic Nick being tortured than taking it up the ass.

Haha, good one!  There's a name I haven't heard in a long time.  I think part of the reason I gave him such an unlikable love interest was to make Claire feel more like a breath of fresh air when she came along later in the story.  Another example of us using fanfic to compensate for Nick's poor taste in women in real life.

Same, but I didn't want to alienate the people who might enjoy both! Is it torture if it was medically necessary? I'm sure he thought so, but... I'm pretty sure doctors won't amputate unless they need to.

I was reading an article about one hit wonders from the late '90s/early '00s a few days ago and she was on there saying something to the effect of "My second single came out on September 11th and there's just no way to recover from that. No one would ever listen to it." And my first thought was, "Dang... People died and that's what you're worried about?!" Followed shortly by "Not sure it would have done any better if it came out on August 11th, but okay. You just weren't that great." But until that article, she was also someone I hadn't thought about in a long time.

Oh for sure, I get wanting to make a foil to Claire. I love doing that with characters. It's fun when they foil each other. I've said it before! We did our best!


Yeah, I guess that's the fun of writing a similar storyline twice - Curtain Call gave me the opportunity to learn from and improve upon Broken.  I love Broken in all its cheesy, angsty, melodramatic glory, but Curtain Call is clearly better-written and more mature.

It had been about two and a half years since I finished BMS, but since I hadn't actually finished a solo novel since then, yeah, I felt weird starting another Nick cancer story.  But it was one of those ideas that just wouldn't leave me alone, so I went for it.  It was the right decision.

You got a chance to learn what worked and what didn't after honing your craft for 300 or so chapters. I know you don't want to be known as the "Nick cancer author" necessarily, but I think you do it well. I say all this having not read Curtain Call, but if you say it's better, I fully trust your opinion and am glad you went for it. I think when an idea won't leave you alone, you just have to do it. Lightening inspiration must always be seized!


Yeah, it worked out perfectly!

Assuming you finish PNecklace in the next month or so, will you post the end in the fall?  Didn't you say you had updates ready through November?  I don't know that you'll finish the third story by this November, but maybe next November.  I guess it depends on how long it is and how fast you write!  You've been so prolific this year, anything is possible!

It would be around November when I finished posting it if I kept going at one chapter a week. I think whether I keep going one chapter per week or not depends on what I write next. If it's totally different from PBox&Co in that it's not as dark or tragic, I might post two stories concurrently and keep posting PNecklace until November when I'd be potentially far enough along on something else equally dark, lol. "Nick is genre saavy" feels like a quicker novel to write if that's next. PDemons or "Nick is Brian's guardian angel" or Gobosei does not. The point could come when I stop being prolific, so who knows! They weren't consecutive, but it's only taken me six months to write PNecklace so far. Could end up being seven, could end up being six and a half depending on how these last few chapters go.


It hasn't happened yet where I've gotten started on a new story quicker; I'm incredibly slow LOL.  I stuck with my weekly update schedule for the last two (Bethlehem and Heroic Measures).

I started posting a chapter every few days once I finished AHTIM, but I didn't have anything ready to post right after it.

Slow, but dedicated and meticulous. Creates good stories. What made you decide to change AHTIM's update schedule to quicker?


No problem!  Glad you were just having fun with your real life friends!

No, give me a few days to get into my summer schedule, and I won't even know what day it is anymore LOL.

And not having fun, but doing the necessary task of house cleaning, lol. One is more fun. Here is fun too.

Just look at the little clock on your chromebook, it tells you! lol However, I hear Flurbsday is a great day of the week, lol.


It does feel good to organize, but it's such a chore.  I didn't want to waste one of my precious weekend days doing it until summer.  So just keep your back turned and focus on that happy desk LOL.

I just have a desktop computer downstairs in my den.  Otherwise I write on my Chromebook.  I do have a little desk to sit at in my writing room upstairs, along with a futon/chaise thing.  Once in a while I'll write in my living room or sit at the kitchen table with my Chromebook.  My best weekend morning writing usually happens when I make coffee and bring it back to bed.  I've found I write best when I'm comfortable, and my bed is the most comfortable place.

Don't have to convince me! Out of sight, out of mind! lol I'm waiting for a random day off too, maybe post-PNecklace. Maybe Monday. We'll see what writing feels like.

I've never been able to write in bed on a computer very well. I always write better at a desk or a table. Couch is hit or miss. I'm not sure why this is! I used to do school work on my bed when I didn't have a table in my first apartment, but in my second apartment, I did most of my work at coffee shops instead. Though I can't imagine writing a novel at a coffee shop, lol.


I appreciate him going live because it's more than the other guys give us, and sometimes it's fun to just watch him do whatever, but other times I'm just not in the mood.  Especially when he's pitching something I don't understand LOL.

Same, and since I'm not on twitch, I decided to give him a little love on Instagram so he keeps doing it. The pitch part was meh, but it was fun seeing him be really excited about it, so that's why I kept watching even though I don't care. That, and I've missed his voice since he's not in this arc. (What a weird thing to say, lol.)


Yay!!

I'm almost done with my chapter too.  I would be done by now, but I decided to take a break from writing and finish backdating Undead first.

And I got a start on the next chapter too! Though I accidentally started it in the wrong POV, but I'm since fixed that.

Yay! You're so close! And now you've backdated another story! Is that all of them?


I like darkness, but yes, I agree about grimdark.  I don't think I could ever write a true grimdark story either, nor would I necessarily want to read one - at least not a whole novel.  I'm okay with sad endings if they make sense, but there needs to be some light or hope or humor somewhere in the story; it can't all be dark and depressing.  My darkest stories tend to be the ones with happy endings; I'm a big fan of the "Earn your happy ending" trope.

I also like when the happy ending feels earned and I'm okay with sad endings. It has to fit the story. I don't know that I've ever written a longer story that was just happy with a happy ending. Did Team Fluffy ever say that they needed some dark or depressing or angsty things in their stories ever? I feel like we always say "dark, but with light moments" and I don't feel like Team Fluffy ever said the opposite.

How many of your stories would you say have happy endings versus sad endings?


Yeah, I do have a scene where he tries to leave and something happens that scares him into staying longer.  So maybe it is believable enough.  I dunno.  Part of the reason I set it in 1999 was so Nick was still a teenager, which I thought would help explain the poor decisions he makes LOL.  I do have a pretty solid plan for the rest of the story with some wiggle room to make adjustments, but just no inspiration.  I literally left off in the middle of a chapter that should have been fun to write (Halloween!), and every time I've opened the story in the last few years, I'm just like, "Meh," and close it again.  But if I actually go back and reread it from the beginning, I think it's a good story that's worth continuing.  I just keep hoping that one of these days, something will spark a fresh burst of inspiration.  Maybe I should try rereading the fanfic that inspired it, as well as Hamlet.  But not until I'm done with MBK because the last thing I want is to derail myself on that one again.

To be honest, it was not my favorite April Fool's joke.  I think that was the year I didn't come up with anything in advance and then had an "Oh shit!" moment on March 31 when I realized the next day was April Fool's Day and had to scramble to write something at the last minute.  Thankfully April 1 was a Saturday that year.  But I guess the fact that I was able to write a fake chapter for a story I hadn't updated in so long in less than 24 hours is impressive.

That's what 1000 Ways to Kill Nick Carter is for!  I don't think he's died of cancer once in that one yet LOL.

I'm pretty sure Nick continued to make dumb decisions well into his twenties, lol. But you're right, a teenager is more likely to make dumb decisions than an adult. When was that, 2010ish? He started getting it together by thirty. Aw... Nick loves Halloween. How do the Amish celebrate Halloween? Do they celebrate Halloween? I think that's a good idea. Reread the fanfic that inspired it, then reread it again or read Hamlet. See what happens. But yes, definitely finish MBK first!

That sounds stressful. I know how much you like to plan your April Fool's jokes. But a scrambled ending in 24 hours? That is impressive!

Pretty sure now that you've mentioned it, cancer has to be 1,000th way. Some day, lol.


LMAO!  This conversation reminds me of an unfinished story by one of my old favorite authors where Nick fell off the stage and got impaled on some kind of post in the first chapter, and that's how the others found out he was HIV-positive and had been hiding it from them.  The girl who wrote it, Jen, also wrote the very first fanfic I ever stumbled onto, which was about Brian falling in love with a blind girl (and then getting into a car accident and dying at the end, after impregnating her with twins).  Her stories were all full of diseases and injuries, and she was a Brian and Nick girl too.  The fact that her site was the first fanfic site I ever found, back when I didn't even know what fanfic was, had to be some sort of fate at work.  I found someone who wrote the exact kind of stories I was already reading in the form of Lurlene McDaniel books, except hers were about the Backstreet Boys.  It was meant to be.

This is the one thing PBox&Co misses, my ability to make ridiculous jokes at the right times. It gets a few, but they're much fewer and far between.

Poor Nick, falling off the stage, getting impaled, dramatically revealing to the others that he has a contagious and incurable disease. That's your kind of story for sure. It was meant to be! Do you think you would have started writing fanfics had it not been for finding Jen's site first?


Probably "The Year Without a Pandaskunk," which I wrote last year.  I don't know if anyone even read it all the way through, but I thought it was hilarious.

What's the most self-indulgent thing you've ever written?

I've been meaning to ask... What is a pandaskunk? Also, you should also write more humorous stories more often too. I feel like the world needs to hear more of our ridiculous jokes.

Hmmm... Probably Beta Sigma Beta. Really it was my plan to corner the BSB College AU market, lol. That or that silly "Welcome to Fan Fiction Avenue" story where you went to a store to buy Backstreet Boy robots for your fanfic characters, lol. I'm pretty sure "Fully functional Howies are on sale" was terrible joke in it, lol.


Yeah, it was so much easier to keep up back then!  Apparently Wi-fi was first released in 1997, but I don't think I had it until the 2010s.  I had a laptop in college in the early 2000s, but I think it still needed to be connected to the internet with a cord.  Then I didn't have a laptop for a long time because I lost everything when that one crashed and vowed never to buy another one.  By the time I eventually did get another laptop (and a Kindle Fire and a smartphone), Wi-fi was a thing.  I was still astonished to discover that the new desktop computer I got for Christmas could be connected to the internet via Wi-fi and didn't need an ethernet cord because my last desktop, which was 9 years old, definitely did LOL.

Aww, the nostalgia of listening to the dial-up internet sound!  I have played that sound for my students before while trying to explain what we had to go through to access the internet back in "the 1900s," as they call it.

LOL This took me over an hour to reply to!

Oh ethernet cords! We had wifi at my sorority house and the dorms, so it was definitely a full-fledged thing by 2006. I was grateful to not have to deal with cords anymore except to charge. I remember getting a touch screen phone in 2009 when they were newer and it always shut down when it was too cool. I'm glad that's not a problem anymore! But when I first got it, it was still a million dollars to accidentally press the internet button. Something I don't even think about these days. I think our house has ethernet outlets and it was built around the time I was graduating college. But I feel like houses now wouldn't? I don't know, does anyone use cords anymore?

I hate that they call it the 1900's. That makes me feel so old! lol

Same. I made an overzealous mistake. I apologize, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 30, 2021, 02:46:57 AM
I would die if someone read "The Orlando Story" now without knowing that I was like, why not, here's a really old story, we all started from somewhere. In 2006, it was one thing to post a story from 1999. It's totally different to post a story from 1999 in 2021, especially when people can read an equally old, and much better, PBox (although I did update it, so I guess that's not technically true). I was worried about being judged for it back then too, lol.

LOL So true.

I noticed when I was backdating that you can date a story all the way back to 1950!  Can you imagine some old person typing up a fanfic they wrote back in 1950? LOL.  I sorted the BSB stories by date to see how old they go, and the oldest one is from 2000.  I didn't recognize any of the really old stories or authors, but they are mostly Nick romance and BSB/NSync slash.


Same, but I didn't want to alienate the people who might enjoy both! Is it torture if it was medically necessary? I'm sure he thought so, but... I'm pretty sure doctors won't amputate unless they need to.

I was reading an article about one hit wonders from the late '90s/early '00s a few days ago and she was on there saying something to the effect of "My second single came out on September 11th and there's just no way to recover from that. No one would ever listen to it." And my first thought was, "Dang... People died and that's what you're worried about?!" Followed shortly by "Not sure it would have done any better if it came out on August 11th, but okay. You just weren't that great." But until that article, she was also someone I hadn't thought about in a long time.

Oh for sure, I get wanting to make a foil to Claire. I love doing that with characters. It's fun when they foil each other. I've said it before! We did our best!

No, it wasn't literally torture, but that's just the generic term I use for harming Nick in stories.  I guess the trope name would be "whump."  The amputation was justified though.

Ugh, Willa Ford is still awful.  What a weird thing to say.  Who would associate her song with 9/11, even if it did come out that day?  It's not like everyone would have heard it that day.  I don't even know what her second single was; I only remember "I Wanna Be Bad."

Yes, exactly!


You got a chance to learn what worked and what didn't after honing your craft for 300 or so chapters. I know you don't want to be known as the "Nick cancer author" necessarily, but I think you do it well. I say all this having not read Curtain Call, but if you say it's better, I fully trust your opinion and am glad you went for it. I think when an idea won't leave you alone, you just have to do it. Lightening inspiration must always be seized!

Thanks!  I don't mind being known for it, as long as people realize I write other stuff too.  But Broken and Curtain Call are the stories I'm best known for, at least on AC, and I'm fine with that.


It would be around November when I finished posting it if I kept going at one chapter a week. I think whether I keep going one chapter per week or not depends on what I write next. If it's totally different from PBox&Co in that it's not as dark or tragic, I might post two stories concurrently and keep posting PNecklace until November when I'd be potentially far enough along on something else equally dark, lol. "Nick is genre saavy" feels like a quicker novel to write if that's next. PDemons or "Nick is Brian's guardian angel" or Gobosei does not. The point could come when I stop being prolific, so who knows! They weren't consecutive, but it's only taken me six months to write PNecklace so far. Could end up being seven, could end up being six and a half depending on how these last few chapters go.

That makes sense and sounds like a good plan.  I guess you'll figure out what your next project is in a few chapters!  I'm curious to find out if you choose something totally different or stick with dark and tragic.


Slow, but dedicated and meticulous. Creates good stories. What made you decide to change AHTIM's update schedule to quicker?

Thanks!  I think I was just excited to post the ending and didn't see the point in leaving my readers hanging or keeping poor Nick in peril any longer than necessary.  That one was pretty intense, even for me.


And I got a start on the next chapter too! Though I accidentally started it in the wrong POV, but I'm since fixed that.

Yay! You're so close! And now you've backdated another story! Is that all of them?

Wow, you really did have a productive day!  Oops to the wrong POV, but glad you were able to fix it.

I finished my chapter with Nick and the boys flying home from the tour - yay!!  I'll figure out how to start Kevin's next chapter tomorrow.

I did finish backdating, and yep, that's the last one.  So if I feel like it tomorrow, maybe I'll start posting SAMS.


I also like when the happy ending feels earned and I'm okay with sad endings. It has to fit the story. I don't know that I've ever written a longer story that was just happy with a happy ending. Did Team Fluffy ever say that they needed some dark or depressing or angsty things in their stories ever? I feel like we always say "dark, but with light moments" and I don't feel like Team Fluffy ever said the opposite.

How many of your stories would you say have happy endings versus sad endings?

I definitely have never written a purely fluffy, 100% happy novel either.  Yuck LOL.  Even a fluffy story needs some kind of conflict.  It doesn't have to be dark, but the character should struggle in some way.

Despite my love of darkness (or maybe because of it), I lean towards earned happy ending.  I have probably twice as many happy endings as sad or bittersweet endings.  I am a big fan of the bittersweet ending, where maybe a major character dies, but you know the surviving characters are going to be okay.  I've only written a few endings that are total downers.  How about you?


I'm pretty sure Nick continued to make dumb decisions well into his twenties, lol. But you're right, a teenager is more likely to make dumb decisions than an adult. When was that, 2010ish? He started getting it together by thirty. Aw... Nick loves Halloween. How do the Amish celebrate Halloween? Do they celebrate Halloween? I think that's a good idea. Reread the fanfic that inspired it, then reread it again or read Hamlet. See what happens. But yes, definitely finish MBK first!

That sounds stressful. I know how much you like to plan your April Fool's jokes. But a scrambled ending in 24 hours? That is impressive!

Pretty sure now that you've mentioned it, cancer has to be 1,000th way. Some day, lol.

LOL Nick definitely continued to make bad decisions into his twenties - probably worse decisions than he made at 19.  He had pretty much gotten himself together by the end of 2008.  Yeah, I started Guilty Roads in 2010, so I needed to make him more immature.  It wouldn't have worked with him being 30 LOL.  Plus, Kevin is also a major part of the plot, and he wasn't in the group at the time. *kicks Kevin*

It's been a long time since I've done any Amish research, but I don't think they traditionally celebrate Halloween.  But another benefit to making Nick a teenager is that I could make some of the Amish characters he meets teenagers too, so "rumspringa" comes into play and they can celebrate Halloween English-style.

LOL If we make it to 1000 deaths, the last one should definitely be cancer.  That, or he dies peacefully in his sleep as an old man - something completely mundane, after all the crazy deaths he has endured.


Poor Nick, falling off the stage, getting impaled, dramatically revealing to the others that he has a contagious and incurable disease. That's your kind of story for sure. It was meant to be! Do you think you would have started writing fanfics had it not been for finding Jen's site first?

I don't know.  I think if the first fanfic I'd ever found had been something like the one on AO3 where Brian and Kevin were fucking like rabbits as literal bunnies with long ears and fluffy tails, I would have been like, "WTF?!" and stayed far, far away from it.  Instead, I found one that was right up my alley and sought out more, which eventually led me to trying it myself.

Do you remember how you found out about fanfic or the first fanfic you read?


I've been meaning to ask... What is a pandaskunk? Also, you should also write more humorous stories more often too. I feel like the world needs to hear more of our ridiculous jokes.

In the words of Kevin, "Ah, the mystical pandaskunk!"  Pandaskunks are the strange, flying pandas with long, fluffy, skunk-like tails in the video for It's Christmas Time Again.  https://youtu.be/8Llx2shF_Eg?t=27  We made so much fun of that video around here and on Twitter when it came out.  I was home sick with the flu either the day it was released or later that week and decided to write a short Christmas story that would attempt to explain that video.  It started as a simple Rudolph parody and then went off the rails and turned into a whole trilogy.  It's very 00Carter-like in its humor, and I credit 00Carter for helping me hone my comedy writing skills.


Hmmm... Probably Beta Sigma Beta. Really it was my plan to corner the BSB College AU market, lol. That or that silly "Welcome to Fan Fiction Avenue" story where you went to a store to buy Backstreet Boy robots for your fanfic characters, lol. I'm pretty sure "Fully functional Howies are on sale" was terrible joke in it, lol.

I still think Beta Sigma Beta was a great idea for a story - and a perfect one for you to write, especially at that time.  I just love the cleverness of Beta Sigma Beta as the name of the frat.  There really aren't too many BSB in college stories that I'm aware of.  Tracy wrote one, Finding Carter, but other than that, I can't think of any offhand.  I had an idea a long time ago about BSB Nick going to college, but it never even made it to outline stage.

LMAO at "fully functional Howies are on sale!"  Poor Howie.


Oh ethernet cords! We had wifi at my sorority house and the dorms, so it was definitely a full-fledged thing by 2006. I was grateful to not have to deal with cords anymore except to charge. I remember getting a touch screen phone in 2009 when they were newer and it always shut down when it was too cool. I'm glad that's not a problem anymore! But when I first got it, it was still a million dollars to accidentally press the internet button. Something I don't even think about these days. I think our house has ethernet outlets and it was built around the time I was graduating college. But I feel like houses now wouldn't? I don't know, does anyone use cords anymore?

I hate that they call it the 1900's. That makes me feel so old! lol

Same. I made an overzealous mistake. I apologize, lol.

My modem/router still has an ethernet cord to connect it to the internet, but all my devices use Wi-fi.  LOL It's like landline phones - I have never had a landline phone since moving out of my parents' house.  The kids today don't even know how to use that kind of phone.  If they need to call home on our phones at school, a lot of them don't even understand that you have to pick up the receiver and then dial a number.  And yes... we were born in the 1900s.  So old! LOL  My student teacher this year was born in 1999, which made me feel really old.  And that means some of next year's student teachers will have been born in 2000!

LOL I will probably be going to bed soon.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 30, 2021, 07:26:11 PM
LOL So true.

I noticed when I was backdating that you can date a story all the way back to 1950!  Can you imagine some old person typing up a fanfic they wrote back in 1950? LOL.  I sorted the BSB stories by date to see how old they go, and the oldest one is from 2000.  I didn't recognize any of the really old stories or authors, but they are mostly Nick romance and BSB/NSync slash.

I don't know that it would be surprising that people might still writing fanfic that wrote fanfic then, but I would be surprised if they ever decided to type anything that old, yes. But maybe they did a long time ago and it's just copy/paste now. What's the oldest backdated story on AO3? (Not Backstreet.)

I looked and the one narrated by Kevin's cat felt familiar, but I didn't look into it too much. Not here to read stories about Kevin's dead (I assume) cat with six chapters to go, lol.


No, it wasn't literally torture, but that's just the generic term I use for harming Nick in stories.  I guess the trope name would be "whump."  The amputation was justified though.

Ugh, Willa Ford is still awful.  What a weird thing to say.  Who would associate her song with 9/11, even if it did come out that day?  It's not like everyone would have heard it that day.  I don't even know what her second single was; I only remember "I Wanna Be Bad."

Yes, exactly!

I first read that term the other day. Is that like "this will suck for the characters"?

I don't either. Clearly because it came out on 9/11! lol


Thanks!  I don't mind being known for it, as long as people realize I write other stuff too.  But Broken and Curtain Call are the stories I'm best known for, at least on AC, and I'm fine with that.

I think they do know you write other things, but it's nice to know you may have the Nick cancer niche market on lockdown.  ;D


That makes sense and sounds like a good plan.  I guess you'll figure out what your next project is in a few chapters!  I'm curious to find out if you choose something totally different or stick with dark and tragic.

We shall see! I'm hopeful I can get another chapter done this weekend! I'm getting a late start on my writing today, though, so we'll see what happens. But I also feel like if I hit the right groove, these next three chapters could come out fairly quickly.

Any requests re: totally different versus dark and tragic? lol I ask, but I probably won't end up writing based purely on requests.


Thanks!  I think I was just excited to post the ending and didn't see the point in leaving my readers hanging or keeping poor Nick in peril any longer than necessary.  That one was pretty intense, even for me.

That's fair. I wonder what you'll do once you finish MBK. How many chapters are you ahead of what you're posting and do you currently have an idea of how long it will be?


Wow, you really did have a productive day!  Oops to the wrong POV, but glad you were able to fix it.

I finished my chapter with Nick and the boys flying home from the tour - yay!!  I'll figure out how to start Kevin's next chapter tomorrow.

I did finish backdating, and yep, that's the last one.  So if I feel like it tomorrow, maybe I'll start posting SAMS.

It hasn't been too difficult keeping these arcs going surprisingly. Overall, I've been able to start the next chapter after finishing one, but I haven't always been able to sustain after starting. I really want to try to get fast though, haha. I don't know that it will happen. Yeah, I wanted Howie to be the POV character, but the way the chapter was going, his thoughts and reactions weren't the most interesting of the available characters. I hadn't gotten super far, so it was a quick change.

Yay!!!! You finished your Nick tour chapter! Great work! No more tour scenes for a while, I hope. How has starting Kevin's chapter gone today?

Proud of you for backdating all your things!


I definitely have never written a purely fluffy, 100% happy novel either.  Yuck LOL.  Even a fluffy story needs some kind of conflict.  It doesn't have to be dark, but the character should struggle in some way.

Despite my love of darkness (or maybe because of it), I lean towards earned happy ending.  I have probably twice as many happy endings as sad or bittersweet endings.  I am a big fan of the bittersweet ending, where maybe a major character dies, but you know the surviving characters are going to be okay.  I've only written a few endings that are total downers.  How about you?

Short stories, yeah, but I don't think I have full fluffy novels either. I think when I originally envisioned what eventually became Beta Sigma Beta, I did want this fluffy novel, but it didn't end up becoming that because... Well, Team Dark, obviously, lol.

Hmmm... I'm pretty sure happy endings were the norm for things I finished? I started out with lots of "slice of life" stories, so they just naturally leaned happy. PBox would fall in the bittersweet category, I think, though I did originally intend it to be a downer ending. Can't say one way or the other on PNecklace at the moment, obviously -- even though I know what the answer is. None of the stories I ever wrote where I intended a downer ending (except for PBox) are finished, so... Really maybe my goal is to get to endings, lol.


LOL Nick definitely continued to make bad decisions into his twenties - probably worse decisions than he made at 19.  He had pretty much gotten himself together by the end of 2008.  Yeah, I started Guilty Roads in 2010, so I needed to make him more immature.  It wouldn't have worked with him being 30 LOL.  Plus, Kevin is also a major part of the plot, and he wasn't in the group at the time. *kicks Kevin*

It's been a long time since I've done any Amish research, but I don't think they traditionally celebrate Halloween.  But another benefit to making Nick a teenager is that I could make some of the Amish characters he meets teenagers too, so "rumspringa" comes into play and they can celebrate Halloween English-style.

LOL If we make it to 1000 deaths, the last one should definitely be cancer.  That, or he dies peacefully in his sleep as an old man - something completely mundane, after all the crazy deaths he has endured.

At least at 19, his best buddy and older brother didn't have wives to focus on... yet. I think post-Brian&Kevin marriages is when Nick got a little more lost. I know thirty-year-olds that haven't, so getting yourself together by 2008 is pretty good! Though we probably didn't fully feel like he had it together at that time. Aww, no kicking Kevin. Let's just throw plot bunnies at him. *tosses bunnies* lol

I didn't think they did either, but Halloween seems like a perfect way to rebel during Rumspringa. Candy and costumes!  :o

lol! Mundane would work better. He earned it after all that dying, lol.


I don't know.  I think if the first fanfic I'd ever found had been something like the one on AO3 where Brian and Kevin were fucking like rabbits as literal bunnies with long ears and fluffy tails, I would have been like, "WTF?!" and stayed far, far away from it.  Instead, I found one that was right up my alley and sought out more, which eventually led me to trying it myself.

Do you remember how you found out about fanfic or the first fanfic you read?

Literal rabbits is definitely a niche category.

I don't... Backstreet Bauhaus seems right? When did that site start?


In the words of Kevin, "Ah, the mystical pandaskunk!"  Pandaskunks are the strange, flying pandas with long, fluffy, skunk-like tails in the video for It's Christmas Time Again.  https://youtu.be/8Llx2shF_Eg?t=27  We made so much fun of that video around here and on Twitter when it came out.  I was home sick with the flu either the day it was released or later that week and decided to write a short Christmas story that would attempt to explain that video.  It started as a simple Rudolph parody and then went off the rails and turned into a whole trilogy.  It's very 00Carter-like in its humor, and I credit 00Carter for helping me hone my comedy writing skills.

There's a video for it?! I have missed so much. Please shame me, lol.

*Three-ish minutes later...*

Ummm... I love this song, but WTF did I just watch?

I love that the flu and the video inspired you to write an off the rails Rudolph story that became a trilogy, lol!


I still think Beta Sigma Beta was a great idea for a story - and a perfect one for you to write, especially at that time.  I just love the cleverness of Beta Sigma Beta as the name of the frat.  There really aren't too many BSB in college stories that I'm aware of.  Tracy wrote one, Finding Carter, but other than that, I can't think of any offhand.  I had an idea a long time ago about BSB Nick going to college, but it never even made it to outline stage.

LMAO at "fully functional Howies are on sale!"  Poor Howie.

Same. That was also one of my favorite part about it, naming the fraternity BSB, lol. I've thought maybe I'd go back and finish other unfinished things, and I did specifically say "unlikely to ever be updated" on most of them except Gobosei, where I said "I don't like to make promises, but there's a good chance you will eventually be able to read this whole story." I guess like you, I'm in the never say never camp, but we're also all past college age now, so a college story may resonate a lot less.

I know, poor Howie! I was such a terrible person! lol


My modem/router still has an ethernet cord to connect it to the internet, but all my devices use Wi-fi.  LOL It's like landline phones - I have never had a landline phone since moving out of my parents' house.  The kids today don't even know how to use that kind of phone.  If they need to call home on our phones at school, a lot of them don't even understand that you have to pick up the receiver and then dial a number.  And yes... we were born in the 1900s.  So old! LOL  My student teacher this year was born in 1999, which made me feel really old.  And that means some of next year's student teachers will have been born in 2000!

LOL I will probably be going to bed soon.

I think ours does too, now that you mention it. My laptop definitely has no way to connect to an ethernet. My college one did still have the option, though.

Yes! The students stare at me like I'm a crazy person when I use the phone. Born in 1999? Crazy! To be born into a world after Millennium was released... Is that nice or not? I can't decided.

Glad you finally went to bed at almost 3am! But at least you finished your chapter. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 30, 2021, 10:33:38 PM
I don't know that it would be surprising that people might still writing fanfic that wrote fanfic then, but I would be surprised if they ever decided to type anything that old, yes. But maybe they did a long time ago and it's just copy/paste now. What's the oldest backdated story on AO3? (Not Backstreet.)

I looked and the one narrated by Kevin's cat felt familiar, but I didn't look into it too much. Not here to read stories about Kevin's dead (I assume) cat with six chapters to go, lol.

I figured out how to use the advanced search to put all the AO3 stories in ascending order by date last updated, and there are a whole bunch dated 1950 that were clearly not actually written in 1950 LOL.  A few pages in, I found a Beatles fanfic backdated to 1964.  That could just be the year the story takes place, but it could be legit.  At least a Beatles fic written in 1964 makes sense, unlike the One Direction/Harry Potter crossover that is also dated 1964 LOL.  Apparently people were also writing Game of Thrones fanfic in 1969 LOL.  Then there are a series of Star Trek fanfics from 1975 that are legit and were originally published in fanzines.

I do remember the one narrated by Kevin's cat Quincy.  I'm not sure if I ever actually read it, but I definitely remember coming across it back in the day.


I first read that term the other day. Is that like "this will suck for the characters"?

I don't either. Clearly because it came out on 9/11! lol

LOL Basically.  It's described as a form of hurt/comfort that's heavy on the hurt.


We shall see! I'm hopeful I can get another chapter done this weekend! I'm getting a late start on my writing today, though, so we'll see what happens. But I also feel like if I hit the right groove, these next three chapters could come out fairly quickly.

Any requests re: totally different versus dark and tragic? lol I ask, but I probably won't end up writing based purely on requests.

How has your writing gone tonight?  I also got a very late start today.  My teacher bestie invited me over for day drinking and dinner, so I mowed the lawn and then headed over to her house and didn't write anything until about 9 p.m., when I wrote a sentence just to make sure I got something down.  I am not anticipating writing much more tonight, but hopefully tomorrow will be better now that I got my yard work and socializing quota in for the long weekend.

My only request is Death by Snail!  Otherwise, write what you wanna write!


That's fair. I wonder what you'll do once you finish MBK. How many chapters are you ahead of what you're posting and do you currently have an idea of how long it will be?

I don't know yet.  The Brian horror story, Fallen Angel, is still a possibility.  I also have a Nick suspense idea.  Or I may come up with something brand new.  Or maybe go back to Guilty Roads... ha!  We'll see.  I'm not far enough into MBK to give it any serious thought yet.  I just posted Chapter 10 yesterday and started Chapter 19 today, so I'm 8 finished chapters ahead.  I'm still thinking it's going to be in the 40-50 chapter range.  It feels like I could be nearing the halfway point.


Yeah, I wanted Howie to be the POV character, but the way the chapter was going, his thoughts and reactions weren't the most interesting of the available characters. I hadn't gotten super far, so it was a quick change.

LOL Poor Howie.


Hmmm... I'm pretty sure happy endings were the norm for things I finished? I started out with lots of "slice of life" stories, so they just naturally leaned happy. PBox would fall in the bittersweet category, I think, though I did originally intend it to be a downer ending. Can't say one way or the other on PNecklace at the moment, obviously -- even though I know what the answer is. None of the stories I ever wrote where I intended a downer ending (except for PBox) are finished, so... Really maybe my goal is to get to endings, lol.

Downer endings are tough.  Do you think that's why you haven't finished any of the ones that were supposed to be downers (or, in the case of PBox, changed them to be bittersweet?).

I only have one true downer of an ending to a novel in the post-Broken era, and it's the one that gives me the least sense of satisfaction or emotional connection.  It ends with two of the four main characters dead, one in prison, and one widowed.  I stand by that ending and would not change any of the characters' fates, but although I like the story, it's not one I particularly enjoyed writing or look back at with a lot of nostalgia the way I do other novels.  I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the ending itself, or if it's just coincidence that the ones with happy or bittersweet endings are the ones I feel more connected to.


At least at 19, his best buddy and older brother didn't have wives to focus on... yet. I think post-Brian&Kevin marriages is when Nick got a little more lost. I know thirty-year-olds that haven't, so getting yourself together by 2008 is pretty good! Though we probably didn't fully feel like he had it together at that time. Aww, no kicking Kevin. Let's just throw plot bunnies at him. *tosses bunnies* lol

Yeah, I don't think Nick was a hot mess yet at 19.  That was more 2003-2008ish.  Brian and Kevin getting married and then Kevin leaving the group probably didn't help, but I also think he was just at that age where he needed to find himself, the way most kids do in college.  Since he didn't go to college, he did it in his own way.

Fine... here, Kevin, have a plot bunny.  Just don't have #Anal Sex with it.


I don't... Backstreet Bauhaus seems right? When did that site start?

I wanna say 2001?  Maybe 2002?  Somewhere around there.


There's a video for it?! I have missed so much. Please shame me, lol.

*Three-ish minutes later...*

Ummm... I love this song, but WTF did I just watch?

I love that the flu and the video inspired you to write an off the rails Rudolph story that became a trilogy, lol!

Oh girl!  You did miss a lot!

That was my reaction the first time I saw it LOL.  https://twitter.com/RokofAges75/status/269142830767824896  The replies to this tweet are where the term "pandaskunk" was coined.

And then Mare made a challenge about it, but I had already started writing my story: http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/topic,3104.15.html


Same. That was also one of my favorite part about it, naming the fraternity BSB, lol. I've thought maybe I'd go back and finish other unfinished things, and I did specifically say "unlikely to ever be updated" on most of them except Gobosei, where I said "I don't like to make promises, but there's a good chance you will eventually be able to read this whole story." I guess like you, I'm in the never say never camp, but we're also all past college age now, so a college story may resonate a lot less.

Yeah, I think I would have a harder time writing a story set in college or high school now.  Another nail in the coffin for my Broken original novel LOL.  Maybe there's more hope for Gobosei.  See... never say never!


Born in 1999? Crazy! To be born into a world after Millennium was released... Is that nice or not? I can't decided.

Glad you finally went to bed at almost 3am! But at least you finished your chapter. :)

I don't think it's nice.  Imagine missing BSB at their peak!  We were born at the perfect time.  The late 90s were awesome!!  I think 1997 in particular was a magical year because so many of my favorite things came out in that year:  BSB's U.S. debut, Titanic, South Park, and Harry Potter, to name a few.

It was after 4 by the time I finally went to sleep!  Two days in, and I'm already getting into my "stay up all night and sleep all morning" summer schedule.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 30, 2021, 11:08:27 PM
Here's another rant about AO3:  I hate how it automatically labels each chapter as Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.  What if you have a Prologue and Epilogue and don't want them called "Chapter" anything?  I started posting SAMS and had to just post the prologue (which is very short, thankfully) and first chapter together as "Chapter 1."  Otherwise my numbering would have been off for the whole story, and I would have gotten confused when posting.

I just need to not do prologues and epilogues anymore.  I think SAMS is the last story that has both.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 30, 2021, 11:31:06 PM
I figured out how to use the advanced search to put all the AO3 stories in ascending order by date last updated, and there are a whole bunch dated 1950 that were clearly not actually written in 1950 LOL.  A few pages in, I found a Beatles fanfic backdated to 1964.  That could just be the year the story takes place, but it could be legit.  At least a Beatles fic written in 1964 makes sense, unlike the One Direction/Harry Potter crossover that is also dated 1964 LOL.  Apparently people were also writing Game of Thrones fanfic in 1969 LOL.  Then there are a series of Star Trek fanfics from 1975 that are legit and were originally published in fanzines.

I do remember the one narrated by Kevin's cat Quincy.  I'm not sure if I ever actually read it, but I definitely remember coming across it back in the day.

Those 1975 Star Trek ones make perfect sense. I'm going to say those are the earliest ones posted.

None of the other ones by the author sounded familiar though, so who knows!


LOL Basically.  It's described as a form of hurt/comfort that's heavy on the hurt.

Aww, I think the hurt and comfort need to be at least equal. You know I love to torture Nick, but he's gotta have a chance at earning his happy ending.


How has your writing gone tonight?  I also got a very late start today.  My teacher bestie invited me over for day drinking and dinner, so I mowed the lawn and then headed over to her house and didn't write anything until about 9 p.m., when I wrote a sentence just to make sure I got something down.  I am not anticipating writing much more tonight, but hopefully tomorrow will be better now that I got my yard work and socializing quota in for the long weekend.

My only request is Death by Snail!  Otherwise, write what you wanna write!

I hung out with my bestie today for brunch and then we ended up watching Soul, so good! It was really nice catching up with her in person. And it's been raining all day, so I came home ready to write and wrote about 350 words then picked hubs up from the train station. Then we ate dinner and cuddled, but now he's sleeping, so I'm ready to start writing a little again. I did spend a long time in my earlier writing session doing some rereading looking for the right quote, but I've got it and can move on now!

Your day sounds fun too! :) Or at least productive for the lawn mowing (not sure if it is also fun, lol). Glad you got a sentence in! Keep the streak alive for the month!

And don't worry, Death by Snail is the plan!


I don't know yet.  The Brian horror story, Fallen Angel, is still a possibility.  I also have a Nick suspense idea.  Or I may come up with something brand new.  Or maybe go back to Guilty Roads... ha!  We'll see.  I'm not far enough into MBK to give it any serious thought yet.  I just posted Chapter 10 yesterday and started Chapter 19 today, so I'm 8 finished chapters ahead.  I'm still thinking it's going to be in the 40-50 chapter range.  It feels like I could be nearing the halfway point.

Didn't word that well, haha. I meant if you'll want to hang on to the ending for a regular posting schedule or quicken your posting pace at that point. It was more a pondering than a question. Don't derail yourself on to the next thing yet! You're almost halfway done! That's exciting!


LOL Poor Howie.

I know... I'm terrible to poor Howie! I think the next chapter may be Howie's POV chapter.


Downer endings are tough.  Do you think that's why you haven't finished any of the ones that were supposed to be downers (or, in the case of PBox, changed them to be bittersweet?).

Not sure! I think it was more that they were Nick romances without the other Boys more than anything else! That and a downer romance is less fun.

PBox only became bittersweet because Nick refused to die, lol. It was for the best.


I only have one true downer of an ending to a novel in the post-Broken era, and it's the one that gives me the least sense of satisfaction or emotional connection.  It ends with two of the four main characters dead, one in prison, and one widowed.  I stand by that ending and would not change any of the characters' fates, but although I like the story, it's not one I particularly enjoyed writing or look back at with a lot of nostalgia the way I do other novels.  I'm not sure if that has anything to do with the ending itself, or if it's just coincidence that the ones with happy or bittersweet endings are the ones I feel more connected to.

I wonder if it has something to do with how you felt about writing it at the time. If you didn't feel connected to it with enjoyment while writing it, it makes sense that you wouldn't have nostalgia about it now. How far before getting to the downer ending did you start feeling the disconnect? Was it one you planned the downer ending for from the beginning?


Yeah, I don't think Nick was a hot mess yet at 19.  That was more 2003-2008ish.  Brian and Kevin getting married and then Kevin leaving the group probably didn't help, but I also think he was just at that age where he needed to find himself, the way most kids do in college.  Since he didn't go to college, he did it in his own way.

Fine... here, Kevin, have a plot bunny.  Just don't have #Anal Sex with it.

It's probably really hard trying to find yourself in the public eye. I feel for him. I'm sure I had plenty of hot mess moments, they were just much less widely documented, lol. I think we all do a little experimenting and soul searching in our early twenties. Modern society has just kind of made it that way.

LMAO!


I wanna say 2001?  Maybe 2002?  Somewhere around there.

Hmmm... Nope, that would be too late. I definitely started writing fanfic in 1999. I didn't post it anywhere (at the time), but I definitely wrote it. I have no idea then.


Oh girl!  You did miss a lot!

That was my reaction the first time I saw it LOL.  https://twitter.com/RokofAges75/status/269142830767824896  The replies to this tweet are where the term "pandaskunk" was coined.

And then Mare made a challenge about it, but I had already started writing my story: http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/topic,3104.15.html

I know! I told you to shame me!

LOL! I enjoyed all the "this has Nick written all over it." The Boys were just not animated well. I see you broke her "one chapter" challenge rules too, lol.


Yeah, I think I would have a harder time writing a story set in college or high school now.  Another nail in the coffin for my Broken original novel LOL.  Maybe there's more hope for Gobosei.  See... never say never!

It's not that bad with PBox! I mean, most of it doesn't take place in school, so that might be the difference, but it wasn't too bad getting back into "things that happen in high school" mindset. Although, the difference may be that while "coming of age" is a theme, high school drama tropes are not.

Aww, I bet many themes from Broken as is would still cross over without seeming too high school even with a high school aged protagonist.


I don't think it's nice.  Imagine missing BSB at their peak!  We were born at the perfect time.  The late 90s were awesome!!  I think 1997 in particular was a magical year because so many of my favorite things came out in that year:  BSB's U.S. debut, Titanic, South Park, and Harry Potter, to name a few.

It was after 4 by the time I finally went to sleep!  Two days in, and I'm already getting into my "stay up all night and sleep all morning" summer schedule.

Good point. I wouldn't give up experiencing the late 90's first hand! I forget sometimes that all those things were in 1997, but you're right! Super magical!

And you don't have to teach vampire kids at night to do it! How does it feel getting back to your natural circadian rhythm? That feels so late though! Now I feel old again.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 30, 2021, 11:35:52 PM
Here's another rant about AO3:  I hate how it automatically labels each chapter as Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.  What if you have a Prologue and Epilogue and don't want them called "Chapter" anything?  I started posting SAMS and had to just post the prologue (which is very short, thankfully) and first chapter together as "Chapter 1."  Otherwise my numbering would have been off for the whole story, and I would have gotten confused when posting.

I just need to not do prologues and epilogues anymore.  I think SAMS is the last story that has both.

I don't like how it automatically labels them either. I like how on AC, you can just replace it with whatever you want to write. As you know, I'm a "Chapter One: Chapter Title" author and don't like "Chapter 1."

I get how having a "Chapter 1" for the Prologue would be weird, because then the first chapter would be "Chapter 2."

I wonder what the reasoning behind the automatic labels was.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 31, 2021, 01:04:26 AM
Those 1975 Star Trek ones make perfect sense. I'm going to say those are the earliest ones posted.

None of the other ones by the author sounded familiar though, so who knows!

Yep, they do make perfect sense!  I know Star Trek fanfic published in fanzines was a major thing in the history of fanfic.  I'm not a Trekkie, but it's cool to see some of them archived online.

I do remember the name Carrie/Kikiduck.  I'm not sure I ever actually read any of her stories, but I know she was around in the early days.


Aww, I think the hurt and comfort need to be at least equal. You know I love to torture Nick, but he's gotta have a chance at earning his happy ending.

I agree, the comfort part is important too.  I don't know if mine are always equally balanced, but my "whumpiest" stories are usually the ones with the earned happy endings.


I hung out with my bestie today for brunch and then we ended up watching Soul, so good! It was really nice catching up with her in person. And it's been raining all day, so I came home ready to write and wrote about 350 words then picked hubs up from the train station. Then we ate dinner and cuddled, but now he's sleeping, so I'm ready to start writing a little again. I did spend a long time in my earlier writing session doing some rereading looking for the right quote, but I've got it and can move on now!

Your day sounds fun too! :) Or at least productive for the lawn mowing (not sure if it is also fun, lol). Glad you got a sentence in! Keep the streak alive for the month!

And don't worry, Death by Snail is the plan!

Oh good!  It's nice to catch up with friends.  I don't always want to go be social (especially on a day when I was looking forward to writing), but I'm always glad I did.

It was absolutely perfect weather here today - sunny and upper 60s/lower 70s - so it was a good day to mow the lawn and hang outside.  I hate yard work, but it's most tolerable on days like this.

I was hoping the 21 word sentence I wrote in one minute would improve my 3 words per minute average on Nano, but alas, it did not.  Oh well.  At least the streak is alive, and my next chapter is technically started.  I probably won't continue it until morning when I am more clear-headed LOL.

I'm glad you found the quote you were looking for and can move on!  And hooray for Death by Snail!


Didn't word that well, haha. I meant if you'll want to hang on to the ending for a regular posting schedule or quicken your posting pace at that point. It was more a pondering than a question. Don't derail yourself on to the next thing yet! You're almost halfway done! That's exciting!

Oh!  Haha, that makes sense now that I think about the conversation that led up to that part of your last post.  I probably will stick to the regular posting schedule with this one.


Not sure! I think it was more that they were Nick romances without the other Boys more than anything else! That and a downer romance is less fun.

PBox only became bittersweet because Nick refused to die, lol. It was for the best.

As someone who hates most romantic comedies and loves a good romantic tearjerker, I would argue that downer romances are way more fun!  But that's just me.  I do think stories with all the Boys are more fun than stories with just one of them, though, but that's harder with romance, where the focus usually is on one of them and a romantic partner.  That's the beauty of slash - you can focus on at least two of them that way.

Aww, good for you for putting up a fight, PBox Nick!  I don't think I've ever pardoned one of the Boys once I made the decision to kill him... I am merciless LOL.  Or maybe I'm just more uncompromising when it comes to changing my planned ending.


I wonder if it has something to do with how you felt about writing it at the time. If you didn't feel connected to it with enjoyment while writing it, it makes sense that you wouldn't have nostalgia about it now. How far before getting to the downer ending did you start feeling the disconnect? Was it one you planned the downer ending for from the beginning?

I do think that's a big part of it.  I never did feel very connected to it.  It was a story I started posting on a whim after a really productive writing weekend and then struggled to update consistently for over three years until I finally forced myself to finish it.  I really do like the story and am happy with the finished product, but it's not one I particularly enjoyed writing.  It was always more of a side project until I made it be my main project for one summer and finished it.  The downer ending was planned all along; I had the whole thing outlined chapter by chapter from the beginning and didn't stay from my outline except to condense it a little.  The fact that I forced myself to finish it does give me some hope that the same thing could happen with Guilty Roads someday.


It's probably really hard trying to find yourself in the public eye. I feel for him. I'm sure I had plenty of hot mess moments, they were just much less widely documented, lol. I think we all do a little experimenting and soul searching in our early twenties. Modern society has just kind of made it that way.

Yes, I agree.  I'm glad social media wasn't a big thing yet during most of that time in his life, so most of the bad behavior he's since copped to wasn't caught on video or widely publicized.  There was enough to know he was not in the best place in his life, but so much more came out after the fact when he did that People interview and then wrote his memoir.  I'm glad I did not know all those details at the time LOL.


Hmmm... Nope, that would be too late. I definitely started writing fanfic in 1999. I didn't post it anywhere (at the time), but I definitely wrote it. I have no idea then.

I looked it up, and yep, it was May 2001.  The Bauhaus is still online, just no longer being updated. http://backstreet-bauhaus.net/  So it must have been a different site.  I read my first fanfic in the summer of 1999 and started writing it sometime in the winter... either the end of 99 or very beginning of 2000.  I had finished my first "novel" (all 9,106 words of it LMAO) by February 2000 when I got it hosted on a site called Escape from Reality, which is also still online but no longer being updated.  God bless Angelfire LOL. https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/theyvegotitgoinon/  This damn site stopped updating partway through posting my story, so it's not complete on the site.  That kind of crap was a big motivator for me to figure out how to make my own site so I could be in control.


I know! I told you to shame me!

LOL! I enjoyed all the "this has Nick written all over it." The Boys were just not animated well. I see you broke her "one chapter" challenge rules too, lol.

My story was not written for the challenge.  I had already started it before Mare issued the challenge and knew it was going to be more than one chapter and have a banner, so I didn't even bother submitting it for that.  But yeah - this is why I don't do most challenges; I hate having rules to follow LOL.

Funny story - I flew out to Vegas to go to an IAWLT show with Rose and another friend in 2013, and we made shirts with the pandaskunk on the front.  We did VIP, and the Boys liked our shirts.  We had a nice little conversation with them about that video and asked if Nick was the one who came up with the pandaskunk or overall concept.  They said no, it was just designed by whatever animation company did the video.  We were disappointed there was no good back story behind it, but oh well.  At least we got a fun interaction out of it.  We wore those same shirts on one of the cruises, and Brian noticed us in the crowd (because they are bright red), so now it's become our thing.  We make new pandaskunk shirts in different colors for every tour.


It's not that bad with PBox! I mean, most of it doesn't take place in school, so that might be the difference, but it wasn't too bad getting back into "things that happen in high school" mindset. Although, the difference may be that while "coming of age" is a theme, high school drama tropes are not.

Aww, I bet many themes from Broken as is would still cross over without seeming too high school even with a high school aged protagonist.

That's good to know.  I do think Broken would have worked well with Nick as a high schooler, but the older and further removed from high school I get, the harder it seems to write that character and setting realistically.  Which is funny because when I was writing Broken, I was in high school and constantly questioning if my Nick seemed too immature because I was only 18 and didn't know what it was like to be 23 LOL.


How does it feel getting back to your natural circadian rhythm? That feels so late though! Now I feel old again.

It feels good!  I did some research on this last year and discovered there is a sleep disorder called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome.  It's where your natural circadian rhythm is off by at least two hours beyond what is considered "normal" sleeping and waking times, which makes it hard to fall asleep and wake up at normal times.  I think I may have a mild case of it.  It doesn't affect my day to day life because I don't let it - I drug myself with melatonin or Benadryl so I can sleep at night and wake up in the morning with multiple alarms - but it would explain why I fall into this nocturnal sleep pattern whenever I have an extended break from my normal work schedule.  I have done this every summer since I started teaching and no longer had a summer job, but never on purpose - it just gradually happens.  I also think it probably has a lot to do with my introverted personality and writing.  I like being up at night because it's quiet and no one bugs me, so there are fewer distractions.  I can focus better and be more productive.  There's no pressure to run errands or be social or do yard work in the middle of the night, so I can write or do whatever I want guilt-free.


I don't like how it automatically labels them either. I like how on AC, you can just replace it with whatever you want to write. As you know, I'm a "Chapter One: Chapter Title" author and don't like "Chapter 1."

I get how having a "Chapter 1" for the Prologue would be weird, because then the first chapter would be "Chapter 2."

I wonder what the reasoning behind the automatic labels was.

Another good point about the "Chapter One" vs. "Chapter 1."  AC is definitely better.

Yeah, I started out just posting the prologue as "Chapter 1" and the actual Chapter 1 as "Chapter 2," but I realized I would probably get confused by that down the road and leave out a chapter or something.  So I just posted the prologue and Chapter 1 together and am now back on track.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 31, 2021, 02:51:00 PM
I'll pop back in a little later to respond to our writing discourse, but I've apparently missed writing Justin the "Magnificent Bastard," dang! I forgot just how joyfully evil he was. I'm only a tiny bit into this scene, but I am loving every second of it so far. See, this is why I can't tag PBox&Co as a crossover on AO3 even though it technically is one, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on May 31, 2021, 03:18:59 PM
Hehe, I love evil fanfic Justin.  I agree with the crossover thing, though; I probably wouldn't tag characters from other fandoms if they were just there to be villains or be made fun of.  I would be tempted with a story like 00Carter where some of them really are legit characters, but somehow I don't think the fans of other boybands would enjoy the way their members are portrayed LOL.

I technically could have tagged other fandoms besides BSB for my pandaskunk stories because there are a lot of Disney and Star Wars characters that make appearances, as well as real people like Lance Bass, Aaron Carter, and Melissa Schuman, but I don't feel like people looking for stories in that fandom would see mine as a legit crossover, so it just feels like a spammy thing to do.

I'm glad you're having fun writing today!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 31, 2021, 11:30:36 PM
Yep, they do make perfect sense!  I know Star Trek fanfic published in fanzines was a major thing in the history of fanfic.  I'm not a Trekkie, but it's cool to see some of them archived online.

I do remember the name Carrie/Kikiduck.  I'm not sure I ever actually read any of her stories, but I know she was around in the early days.

I think it's awesome that some of those writers are archiving their fanzine works online as well! What a fun nod to some of the earliest fanfics! At least in the sense of the modern definition of "fanfic," transformative works have been around probably about as long as stories themselves.

I wonder when she started putting them on AO3. Obviously they're backdated, but I wonder if it was more recently or a while ago. When did you all start putting your stuff on AO3?


I agree, the comfort part is important too.  I don't know if mine are always equally balanced, but my "whumpiest" stories are usually the ones with the earned happy endings.

Despite being Team Dark, I think you have to. A story that goes from bad to worse to horrifying just makes me sad. I'd still read it, but I would need to go something really happy afterward like bury myself in a pile of puppies. It's easier when they end happy, lol.


Oh good!  It's nice to catch up with friends.  I don't always want to go be social (especially on a day when I was looking forward to writing), but I'm always glad I did.

It was absolutely perfect weather here today - sunny and upper 60s/lower 70s - so it was a good day to mow the lawn and hang outside.  I hate yard work, but it's most tolerable on days like this.

I was hoping the 21 word sentence I wrote in one minute would improve my 3 words per minute average on Nano, but alas, it did not.  Oh well.  At least the streak is alive, and my next chapter is technically started.  I probably won't continue it until morning when I am more clear-headed LOL.

I'm glad you found the quote you were looking for and can move on!  And hooray for Death by Snail!

I didn't write as much as I wanted to yesterday, but it was a well-deserved break and a good day overall, so in the gran scheme of things, missing out on a productive writing day was fine. I still kept the streak alive, though, and that's what matters!

That is perfect whether for yard work, not too hot but still nice. And now you don't have to do it today and can have a perfect writing day instead!  ;D

How do you track your writing times? I'm pretty meticulous about tracking and will note when I start writing, then if I go a long time (ten minutes or more) without writing, I'll adjust my start time by that amount. Especially if what I was doing was not writing related. If it's research, I might let it go for fifteen minutes befor I decided to adjust my start time. Doing that might help get your word count up. But a 21 word sentence in a minute is impressive!

Yeah, it's always annoying because there's usually some options depending on exactly the emotion I want to play into with the remember quote. I tested out two of them for a little bit, then decided on one eventually.


As someone who hates most romantic comedies and loves a good romantic tearjerker, I would argue that downer romances are way more fun!  But that's just me.  I do think stories with all the Boys are more fun than stories with just one of them, though, but that's harder with romance, where the focus usually is on one of them and a romantic partner.  That's the beauty of slash - you can focus on at least two of them that way.

Aww, good for you for putting up a fight, PBox Nick!  I don't think I've ever pardoned one of the Boys once I made the decision to kill him... I am merciless LOL.  Or maybe I'm just more uncompromising when it comes to changing my planned ending.

I love a good romantic comedy, but I was deep into dark and brooding PBox territory, so I didn't think to come up with stories that would have happy endings, lol. Realistically, I should have just stuck with PBox. A downer story with a fluffy romance and all five Boys getting time to shine, lol. I feel like eventually we should all just move on to OT5s, then we can write romance and include all of them!

Yeah, he was adamant about living no matter what I threw at him. So I eventually said, "Fine, you get to live, but it is going to suck a lot for you." And indeed it did suck a lot, but he also insisted on keeping Kevin, so I let him have that concession... kind of. I figure it ended up better in the long run, so I've just let Nick drive the bus. He hasn't crashed it yet! Although right now he's upset I let him have his way as he slowly realizes that he changed his mind. Muahaha. Too bad the story is almost over now, Nick.

I think it's probably harder to pardon with a full outline, even if it's fluid. The stuff in between where Nick decided to live and the planned ending was kind of fuzzy anyway, so I decided to try out his way and ended up enjoying it. It may have gone differently if I'd had a clear vision for that portion of the story outside of "they go to Rubiihoppou to find AJ and eventually end up in this horrifying castle," lol.


I do think that's a big part of it.  I never did feel very connected to it.  It was a story I started posting on a whim after a really productive writing weekend and then struggled to update consistently for over three years until I finally forced myself to finish it.  I really do like the story and am happy with the finished product, but it's not one I particularly enjoyed writing.  It was always more of a side project until I made it be my main project for one summer and finished it.  The downer ending was planned all along; I had the whole thing outlined chapter by chapter from the beginning and didn't stay from my outline except to condense it a little.  The fact that I forced myself to finish it does give me some hope that the same thing could happen with Guilty Roads someday.

That's always frustrating when you have a really productive writing session (or a few) and get something started, but then none of the rest of it is fun or easy. I think that's a lot of my unfinished things. They started out well and then didn't. I think it's great that you did reach an ending even if you had to slough your way there! That's true dedication to your craft!

I have hope for Guilty Roads too! Really, I'm just trying to keep it in the back of your mind while you work, haha.


Yes, I agree.  I'm glad social media wasn't a big thing yet during most of that time in his life, so most of the bad behavior he's since copped to wasn't caught on video or widely publicized.  There was enough to know he was not in the best place in his life, but so much more came out after the fact when he did that People interview and then wrote his memoir.  I'm glad I did not know all those details at the time LOL.

YES! Exactly all of this. It's nice having more access to them now, but I think it would have been harder seeing everything in real time back then. We may not have lovingly dubbed him Hot Mess Nick, we may have just given up on him. Glad we didn't!


I looked it up, and yep, it was May 2001.  The Bauhaus is still online, just no longer being updated. http://backstreet-bauhaus.net/  So it must have been a different site.  I read my first fanfic in the summer of 1999 and started writing it sometime in the winter... either the end of 99 or very beginning of 2000.  I had finished my first "novel" (all 9,106 words of it LMAO) by February 2000 when I got it hosted on a site called Escape from Reality, which is also still online but no longer being updated.  God bless Angelfire LOL. https://www.angelfire.com/ca2/theyvegotitgoinon/  This damn site stopped updating partway through posting my story, so it's not complete on the site.  That kind of crap was a big motivator for me to figure out how to make my own site so I could be in control.

I was about the same. The Orlando Story was one of my first pieces and I'm laughing that it's 13 chapters available, but only about 4500 words. They clearly felt like different enough scenes to be new chapters, but that's like a chapter of work for me now, lol.

I miss Angelfire. I'm pretty sure I had an Angelfire site of some sort at some point, but I couldn't tell you what it was now. I'm surprised that the site stopped updating in 2000! That was BSB heyday!


My story was not written for the challenge.  I had already started it before Mare issued the challenge and knew it was going to be more than one chapter and have a banner, so I didn't even bother submitting it for that.  But yeah - this is why I don't do most challenges; I hate having rules to follow LOL.

Funny story - I flew out to Vegas to go to an IAWLT show with Rose and another friend in 2013, and we made shirts with the pandaskunk on the front.  We did VIP, and the Boys liked our shirts.  We had a nice little conversation with them about that video and asked if Nick was the one who came up with the pandaskunk or overall concept.  They said no, it was just designed by whatever animation company did the video.  We were disappointed there was no good back story behind it, but oh well.  At least we got a fun interaction out of it.  We wore those same shirts on one of the cruises, and Brian noticed us in the crowd (because they are bright red), so now it's become our thing.  We make new pandaskunk shirts in different colors for every tour.

You're such a rebel! But great minds think alike I suppose.

LMAO! That is a funny story, but I am disappointed that they had nothing to do with the video. Also, I did not care for the pajama things' love story. I wanted more shots of the Boys ice skating and falling over instead, lol. Or the Boys riding the pandaskunks! Do you have any shirts like that? Because I would totally offer my services, lol. It would be like riding Falcor in the Neverending Story.


That's good to know.  I do think Broken would have worked well with Nick as a high schooler, but the older and further removed from high school I get, the harder it seems to write that character and setting realistically.  Which is funny because when I was writing Broken, I was in high school and constantly questioning if my Nick seemed too immature because I was only 18 and didn't know what it was like to be 23 LOL.

I love this dichotomy of feeling like you were too young to write older Nick and now too old to write a high school Nick. I do feel like people our age write YA novels all the time, so I don't think it matters if you're far removed from high school. I do think the bigger roadblock for you might be that you've moved on from Broken at this moment and have other things to focus on and that is okay! Maybe someday you'll want to go back to high school basketball playing Nick or something completely different for OF.

Also, I've said it before, but I always felt like PBox Nick read 18 anyway. I don't know if it matters unless we were trying to write 40-year-old Nick when we were 15; we would have likely failed at that.


It feels good!  I did some research on this last year and discovered there is a sleep disorder called Delayed Sleep Phase Syndrome.  It's where your natural circadian rhythm is off by at least two hours beyond what is considered "normal" sleeping and waking times, which makes it hard to fall asleep and wake up at normal times.  I think I may have a mild case of it.  It doesn't affect my day to day life because I don't let it - I drug myself with melatonin or Benadryl so I can sleep at night and wake up in the morning with multiple alarms - but it would explain why I fall into this nocturnal sleep pattern whenever I have an extended break from my normal work schedule.  I have done this every summer since I started teaching and no longer had a summer job, but never on purpose - it just gradually happens.  I also think it probably has a lot to do with my introverted personality and writing.  I like being up at night because it's quiet and no one bugs me, so there are fewer distractions.  I can focus better and be more productive.  There's no pressure to run errands or be social or do yard work in the middle of the night, so I can write or do whatever I want guilt-free.

Interesting! This reminds me of when I learned that sleeping through the night didn't really used to be a thing until the advent of electric lighting, especially in winter. People would go to bed when it got dark, wake up in the middle of the night and do some things, go back to sleep, then wake up with the sun in the morning.

I'm not really sure what mine is. Probably somewhere in the 11pm to 1am and wake up closer to 9am or 10am range. Unfortunately, gotta be places in the morning. I can usually function pretty well with alarm wakeups as long as I try to fall asleep by 11/11:30. It gets dicey after that. Thank goodness for coffee!

I think writing in the wee hours of the night is way less suspicious to other people than doing yard work in the wee hours of the night, lol!


Another good point about the "Chapter One" vs. "Chapter 1."  AC is definitely better.

Yeah, I started out just posting the prologue as "Chapter 1" and the actual Chapter 1 as "Chapter 2," but I realized I would probably get confused by that down the road and leave out a chapter or something.  So I just posted the prologue and Chapter 1 together and am now back on track.

I guess AC does have the "1. Chapter One: Chapter Title," but that just feels way less annoying compared to AO3's "Chapter 1: Chapter One: Chapter Title." It's barely noticeable on AC too, because it goes into the little drop-down box, but AO3's is at the top of every chapter.

I would hate that if I left out a chapter because the numbering was off. Glad you got it back on track for yourself.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on May 31, 2021, 11:54:21 PM
Hehe, I love evil fanfic Justin.  I agree with the crossover thing, though; I probably wouldn't tag characters from other fandoms if they were just there to be villains or be made fun of.  I would be tempted with a story like 00Carter where some of them really are legit characters, but somehow I don't think the fans of other boybands would enjoy the way their members are portrayed LOL.

I technically could have tagged other fandoms besides BSB for my pandaskunk stories because there are a lot of Disney and Star Wars characters that make appearances, as well as real people like Lance Bass, Aaron Carter, and Melissa Schuman, but I don't feel like people looking for stories in that fandom would see mine as a legit crossover, so it just feels like a spammy thing to do.

I'm glad you're having fun writing today!

I think he makes a great villain in BSB fanfic even if it is a little cliche. Even 00Carter, I don't know... Like we all love LancyBassy, but I just don't feel like NSYNC fans would love LancyBassy. But maybe they would;  LancyBassy is pretty great! And then Justin is a real character alongside Dr. Rough, who we do love, but I feel like the difference between them is that Dr. Rough is clearly a loving parody whereas Justin has some shades of "annoyance at his arrogance" to his character. I don't know though, maybe there are people out there who would be upset that we made Howie the villain, lol.

I agree, it does feel spammy. I think for it to really be a crossover where you'd tag the other fandoms or the characters, then each fandom needs to be fairly equal and in character. If the other fandom are in character, but are bit players, then it's not really a crossover. Alternatively, if they're major players, but super OOC, then it's unlikely the other fandom would want to read it. I'm certainly not clicking on any NSYNC fanfics where the Boys are characters when there are perfectly good Backstreet Boys fanfics I could read instead, you know?

It was fun! I didn't know I was missing Justin as a villain until this moment because Nick's drama was pretty interesting to me, but I think that's more about how Nick's been coping with it rather than his past being stirred up by other characters. I guess technically Justin was still the villain, but his absence was more distressing to our crew than his presence in this case. I don't know!

I did get almost 3,000 words written today and finished my next chapter! So five left to go! They feel like they could vary in length, so I'm honestly not sure what to do on them chapter split-wise. I'm thinking maybe just write the two arcs without thinking of them as chapters unless I clearly reach a point where I think "this is the end of a chapter" and then figure out how much space they take up?  :shrug: I think I can just pick up where I left off today, but it's nice having two spots I could go back and forth between if I wanted to again. :) And I got both arcs to their climax, so I'm pretty excited about that! And, thankfully, I'm pretty excited about continuing on so I'm nearly certain I won't be having an end-of-PBox style melt down, hooray!

Edited to Add: I had to up my word count goal again since it wasn't enough for five more chapters... sigh. I've gotta stop being so wordy, lol. Still at 9 words per minute. Still projected to finish around June 12th. June 20th feels more accurate, but who knows! Maybe NaNo is right and senses my inspiration!

Not edited to add (just wanted to separate it, lol): How'd writing go for you and everyone else out there that wants to join this discussion today?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 01, 2021, 12:52:54 AM
I wonder when she started putting them on AO3. Obviously they're backdated, but I wonder if it was more recently or a while ago. When did you all start putting your stuff on AO3?

I have no idea.  I've technically had an account on AO3 since 2015, but I never really went there until last year.  I started putting my stuff up last spring during quarantine and suggested others do the same as a backup because AC had gotten so glitchy, so Mare and Steph followed suit.  Tracy, Rose, and others from AC had already been posting there.


Despite being Team Dark, I think you have to. A story that goes from bad to worse to horrifying just makes me sad. I'd still read it, but I would need to go something really happy afterward like bury myself in a pile of puppies. It's easier when they end happy, lol.

Yeah, agreed.  If it's not going to have a happy ending, it should at least have a happy beginning or a happy middle LOL.


How do you track your writing times? I'm pretty meticulous about tracking and will note when I start writing, then if I go a long time (ten minutes or more) without writing, I'll adjust my start time by that amount. Especially if what I was doing was not writing related. If it's research, I might let it go for fifteen minutes befor I decided to adjust my start time. Doing that might help get your word count up. But a 21 word sentence in a minute is impressive!

I only track according to my Docs revision history, so it's not accurate as far as actual time spent writing vs. time spent researching or getting distracted.  I spend a lot of my writing time not-writing, which is why my average speed is so low.  I'm sure it would be higher if I only counted the time I was actually writing, but I focus fail so often, it would just waste even more time to track it that accurately LOL.  I spent almost three hours writing this morning, and my total came out to less than 300 words.  But I probably spent at least half that time researching and watching YouTube LOL.


That's always frustrating when you have a really productive writing session (or a few) and get something started, but then none of the rest of it is fun or easy. I think that's a lot of my unfinished things. They started out well and then didn't. I think it's great that you did reach an ending even if you had to slough your way there! That's true dedication to your craft!

I have hope for Guilty Roads too! Really, I'm just trying to keep it in the back of your mind while you work, haha.

Yeah, it really is frustrating.  I'm sure that's why there are so many unfinished fanfics online, because it happens to the best of us, and forcing ourselves to finish it is easier said than done.  Thankfully, this one was short for my novels, only 25 chapters, so I wrote the majority of it over one summer and was able to finish it.  I hate leaving things unfinished, especially when they have the potential to be great stories.  I won't forget about Guilty Roads because I still feel guilty about that one LOL.  I also have an unfinished Harry Potter crossover to try to finish at some point.


I was about the same. The Orlando Story was one of my first pieces and I'm laughing that it's 13 chapters available, but only about 4500 words. They clearly felt like different enough scenes to be new chapters, but that's like a chapter of work for me now, lol.

I miss Angelfire. I'm pretty sure I had an Angelfire site of some sort at some point, but I couldn't tell you what it was now. I'm surprised that the site stopped updating in 2000! That was BSB heyday!

LOL!  Seriously.  4,500 is one solid chapter or maybe two short ones.  My 9,106 word novel would maybe be three chapters now, but it was sixteen then!  It was probably still the longest thing I had ever written at that time.

Mine was on Geocities, but apparently Angelfire was the BSB of late 90s free website hosting sites because it's still around.  I wonder if your Angelfire site is still online?  Do you remember the name or anything about it?

I was curious so I googled and found this: https://web.archive.org/web/20010501233041/http://www.geocities.com:80/orlandostory/orlando1.html  Is that your Orlando Story??

Yeah, but that shows how fickle most teenyboppers were back then.  No warning or explanation or anything; they just randomly stopped updating it.  Same with so many other sites from that era.  I always vowed I would at least let people know if I decided to stop writing or updating my site.


LMAO! That is a funny story, but I am disappointed that they had nothing to do with the video. Also, I did not care for the pajama things' love story. I wanted more shots of the Boys ice skating and falling over instead, lol. Or the Boys riding the pandaskunks! Do you have any shirts like that? Because I would totally offer my services, lol. It would be like riding Falcor in the Neverending Story.

I know!  I found it hard to follow the [I think they're] elves' love story at first because I was so distracted by all the other random, non-Christmas-related stuff, like the pandaskunks and the submarine and the rocket LOL.  That's the kind of stuff I wove into my story.

We haven't had the Boys actually riding on the pandaskunk's back yet on a shirt, although that would be amazing!  If you feel like drawing that, that would be awesome!  The best I could do was photoshop the pandaskunk pulling Santa's sleigh and the Boys riding in that.  http://absolutechaos.net/viewseries.php?seriesid=259  It's on the banner for the second story.


I love this dichotomy of feeling like you were too young to write older Nick and now too old to write a high school Nick. I do feel like people our age write YA novels all the time, so I don't think it matters if you're far removed from high school. I do think the bigger roadblock for you might be that you've moved on from Broken at this moment and have other things to focus on and that is okay! Maybe someday you'll want to go back to high school basketball playing Nick or something completely different for OF.

Also, I've said it before, but I always felt like PBox Nick read 18 anyway. I don't know if it matters unless we were trying to write 40-year-old Nick when we were 15; we would have likely failed at that.

Very true.  I just feel like kids today are growing up in a totally different world from the one we grew up in.  But I'm sure high school drama is still high school drama.  Some things never change.  Or I could always set it in the 90s or early 2000s.  That's actually not a bad idea because it would save me some time researching.  Seeing as how Broken was written 18 years ago, I'm sure there have been medical advancements made with both cancer treatment and prosthetic legs.  Nick's top of the line C-leg is probably not considered top of the line anymore.  I'm just speaking hypothetically here because yes, I have moved on from Broken and don't have the desire to write OF or try to get a novel published at the moment.  But at least I know I have an idea if I ever get that itch again.

I don't think age makes as much of a difference now that we're all adults, but it does seem easier to write a character who's younger (especially when he's a real person you can go back and watch footage of at that age to remind yourself how he acted) than writing one who's significantly older than you.  Writing 41-year-old Nick as a 14-year-old would definitely have been a challenge LOL.


Interesting! This reminds me of when I learned that sleeping through the night didn't really used to be a thing until the advent of electric lighting, especially in winter. People would go to bed when it got dark, wake up in the middle of the night and do some things, go back to sleep, then wake up with the sun in the morning.

I'm not really sure what mine is. Probably somewhere in the 11pm to 1am and wake up closer to 9am or 10am range. Unfortunately, gotta be places in the morning. I can usually function pretty well with alarm wakeups as long as I try to fall asleep by 11/11:30. It gets dicey after that. Thank goodness for coffee!

I think writing in the wee hours of the night is way less suspicious to other people than doing yard work in the wee hours of the night, lol!

That is interesting!  I had never heard the thing about people getting up in the middle of the night to do stuff in the dark and then going back to bed.  That sounds similar to the habit I got into toward the end of this school year with my evening naps, followed by 3 hours of doing stuff before I went back to bed for the night.  I actually like waking up in the middle of the night and realizing I can go back to sleep for a few hours before my alarm goes off.  I have a much easier time falling back to sleep than falling asleep in the first place.  Although I've gotten better at that ever since I started listening to podcasts or documentaries as I fall asleep.

Your ideal sleep times are what mine usually are during the school year.  I rarely make it past 1 a.m. on a weekend because I'm so tired, and I usually wake up around 7-8 a.m. (and then go back to bed and sleep until 9-10.)  It starts to creep later and later in the summer.

LOL The neighbors would probably assume I'm burying a body in the backyard and call the cops.


I guess AC does have the "1. Chapter One: Chapter Title," but that just feels way less annoying compared to AO3's "Chapter 1: Chapter One: Chapter Title." It's barely noticeable on AC too, because it goes into the little drop-down box, but AO3's is at the top of every chapter.

I would hate that if I left out a chapter because the numbering was off. Glad you got it back on track for yourself.

Yeah, it does, but you're right - that doesn't bother me as much as AO3 because it's not as noticeable.  I just need to not do prologues anymore, but sometimes they feel necessary.  Like in SAMS, the prologue is actually a flash-forward to a later scene in the story, so it makes more sense as a prologue than a first chapter.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 01, 2021, 01:06:08 AM
I think he makes a great villain in BSB fanfic even if it is a little cliche. Even 00Carter, I don't know... Like we all love LancyBassy, but I just don't feel like NSYNC fans would love LancyBassy. But maybe they would;  LancyBassy is pretty great! And then Justin is a real character alongside Dr. Rough, who we do love, but I feel like the difference between them is that Dr. Rough is clearly a loving parody whereas Justin has some shades of "annoyance at his arrogance" to his character. I don't know though, maybe there are people out there who would be upset that we made Howie the villain, lol.

I agree, it does feel spammy. I think for it to really be a crossover where you'd tag the other fandoms or the characters, then each fandom needs to be fairly equal and in character. If the other fandom are in character, but are bit players, then it's not really a crossover. Alternatively, if they're major players, but super OOC, then it's unlikely the other fandom would want to read it. I'm certainly not clicking on any NSYNC fanfics where the Boys are characters when there are perfectly good Backstreet Boys fanfics I could read instead, you know?

Yep, totally agree.  I love Lancybassy and Drums, but I don't think NSYNC fans would.  And yeah, I'm with you on the definition of a true crossover.  I'm not a big fan of them in general, but the two I've written that I would tag as crossovers (ER and Harry Potter) had an equal balance between fandoms, and anyone reading them would be able to tell I'm a fan of both.


It was fun! I didn't know I was missing Justin as a villain until this moment because Nick's drama was pretty interesting to me, but I think that's more about how Nick's been coping with it rather than his past being stirred up by other characters. I guess technically Justin was still the villain, but his absence was more distressing to our crew than his presence in this case. I don't know!

I did get almost 3,000 words written today and finished my next chapter! So five left to go! They feel like they could vary in length, so I'm honestly not sure what to do on them chapter split-wise. I'm thinking maybe just write the two arcs without thinking of them as chapters unless I clearly reach a point where I think "this is the end of a chapter" and then figure out how much space they take up?  :shrug: I think I can just pick up where I left off today, but it's nice having two spots I could go back and forth between if I wanted to again. :) And I got both arcs to their climax, so I'm pretty excited about that! And, thankfully, I'm pretty excited about continuing on so I'm nearly certain I won't be having an end-of-PBox style melt down, hooray!

Edited to Add: I had to up my word count goal again since it wasn't enough for five more chapters... sigh. I've gotta stop being so wordy, lol. Still at 9 words per minute. Still projected to finish around June 12th. June 20th feels more accurate, but who knows! Maybe NaNo is right and senses my inspiration!

Wow, good for you!  Five more chapters to go!  You sound like me with upping the word count LOL.  I always underestimate how many chapters/words it's going to take me to finish.  I'm glad you're still on track to finish in June!


How'd writing go for you and everyone else out there that wants to join this discussion today?

Mine went... better than yesterday?  I at least added on to the one sentence I wrote yesterday and got a little further into my Kevin chapter.  I did not write as much as I thought I would, but that's on me for letting myself get distracted.  I made a book cover for Bethlehem and Heroic Measures for when I convert them to ebook format for my site.  Then I got the bright idea to run grammar check on the stories I did not have it turned on for and see what crazy suggestions Google would come up with.  I spent at least an hour editing all the mistakes it found in AHTIM alone... and now that I've realized how many missing words and similar mistakes I still didn't catch in my many read-throughs of that one, I feel like I need to do it for all my stories.  So there is my new boredom project now that I'm done backdating LOL.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 01, 2021, 09:11:16 PM
I saw a thread on Reddit today about "fanficiony names" (which I would call Mary Sue names), so I wondered, what's the most fanfictiony name you've put in a story?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 02, 2021, 11:00:11 PM
I saw a thread on Reddit today about "fanficiony names" (which I would call Mary Sue names), so I wondered, what's the most fanfictiony name you've put in a story?

Can't wait to hear Mare's contributions, lol.

I feel like I always used lame normal names like Victoria or Jessica or something like that. Maybe Minako is the most fanfictiony name I have? And it's only "weird" because I (and likely most of my readers) are English-speaking. I literally can't think of a fanfictiony name I've ever used.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 02, 2021, 11:12:53 PM
Yep, totally agree.  I love Lancybassy and Drums, but I don't think NSYNC fans would.  And yeah, I'm with you on the definition of a true crossover.  I'm not a big fan of them in general, but the two I've written that I would tag as crossovers (ER and Harry Potter) had an equal balance between fandoms, and anyone reading them would be able to tell I'm a fan of both.

Drums, thank you. I couldn't remember what we named Justin, lol. I think a crossover could be fine if the story is more genre blind as well. As long as you don't need to know a bunch ahead of time about whichever one isn't your fandom, it's probably more enjoyable for everyone.


Wow, good for you!  Five more chapters to go!  You sound like me with upping the word count LOL.  I always underestimate how many chapters/words it's going to take me to finish.  I'm glad you're still on track to finish in June!

I blame myself for including my editing word count too. I probably didn't need as many words as I have, but they're also getting longer than I think they would be, so maybe it's a combination of both. I derailed myself yesterday and tried to edit a tiny bit because that was all I could muscle out was examining old words instead of new words. I got 18 of them, but the streak is alive! We're starting the process of fertility testing (part of why I was in a wonky mood last week and a little MIA) and got some blood drawn yesterday morning. Then I was filling in for an absent teacher in our summer camp for the day and due to the lack of available bathrooms, I had the bright idea to limit my water intake on a hike. So of course, I was very dehydrated and tired by the end of the day with the worst headache and could not figure out how I ended up that way! lol I'm an idiot, basically. I was pretty bummed that I didn't get much writing done, but hopefully I can pick it back up tomorrow. I clearly needed another week of vacation.


Mine went... better than yesterday?  I at least added on to the one sentence I wrote yesterday and got a little further into my Kevin chapter.  I did not write as much as I thought I would, but that's on me for letting myself get distracted.  I made a book cover for Bethlehem and Heroic Measures for when I convert them to ebook format for my site.  Then I got the bright idea to run grammar check on the stories I did not have it turned on for and see what crazy suggestions Google would come up with.  I spent at least an hour editing all the mistakes it found in AHTIM alone... and now that I've realized how many missing words and similar mistakes I still didn't catch in my many read-throughs of that one, I feel like I need to do it for all my stories.  So there is my new boredom project now that I'm done backdating LOL.

How's the Kevin chapter going over the past couple of days? I know you said you did non-writing things today, but I hope it's going well overall.

Are your ebook covers very different from your banners? Is the process the same overall or is it pretty different?

I enjoy your new boredom project. Hopefully I caught most of them in Bethlehem, though I'll admit that reading in the wee hours of the morning is not conducive to catching grammar mistakes! (Or at least more subtle ones.)

How's the response to SAMS so far?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 03, 2021, 12:00:32 AM
I have no idea.  I've technically had an account on AO3 since 2015, but I never really went there until last year.  I started putting my stuff up last spring during quarantine and suggested others do the same as a backup because AC had gotten so glitchy, so Mare and Steph followed suit.  Tracy, Rose, and others from AC had already been posting there.

What made you decide to get an account on AO3 back then? Exposure in a different place? Seemed busier? I guess this is a question for everyone who cross posts, what was the appeal of moving back to the ff.net-esque websites?

Yeah, agreed.  If it's not going to have a happy ending, it should at least have a happy beginning or a happy middle LOL.

I think so too! I'm not a big fan of "Dead Dove. Don't Eat." stories, but as I said, I'll still read them. (A reference to a scene from Arrested Development that essentially means "this is horrifying from start to finish with really dark content. I have warned you, don't complain if you hate it.")


I only track according to my Docs revision history, so it's not accurate as far as actual time spent writing vs. time spent researching or getting distracted.  I spend a lot of my writing time not-writing, which is why my average speed is so low.  I'm sure it would be higher if I only counted the time I was actually writing, but I focus fail so often, it would just waste even more time to track it that accurately LOL.  I spent almost three hours writing this morning, and my total came out to less than 300 words.  But I probably spent at least half that time researching and watching YouTube LOL.

I didn't used to track it so meticulously either. I would just count the total time I spent staring at the computer, which was often hours. I typically go to NaNo and open a "update stats" pop up, then set the time I start writing and then if I focus fail, I'll write down when the top says "x minutes since last change" and adjust the start time later (or right then if I'm on top of it.)

You do say you're always looking for boredom projects though, lol.


Yeah, it really is frustrating.  I'm sure that's why there are so many unfinished fanfics online, because it happens to the best of us, and forcing ourselves to finish it is easier said than done.  Thankfully, this one was short for my novels, only 25 chapters, so I wrote the majority of it over one summer and was able to finish it.  I hate leaving things unfinished, especially when they have the potential to be great stories.  I won't forget about Guilty Roads because I still feel guilty about that one LOL.  I also have an unfinished Harry Potter crossover to try to finish at some point.

Oh easily! Sometimes there's an idea you can't let go of and you just gotta write it right then, but then once it's on paper... Poof! I wish I felt more inclined to finish my unfinished things. I'm also not happy to be seen as someone who doesn't finish things, but I also disappeared for several years, so maybe there's no expectations for me. Which is honestly freeing! Maybe everyone's new opinion of me is "cared enough to come back." I'll take that, lol.

So I hear you saying that the path to finish Guilty Roads may be your own guilty road. Hopefully it leads to endless love and you have some control. ;) I'll see myself out.


LOL!  Seriously.  4,500 is one solid chapter or maybe two short ones.  My 9,106 word novel would maybe be three chapters now, but it was sixteen then!  It was probably still the longest thing I had ever written at that time.

Mine was on Geocities, but apparently Angelfire was the BSB of late 90s free website hosting sites because it's still around.  I wonder if your Angelfire site is still online?  Do you remember the name or anything about it?

I was curious so I googled and found this: https://web.archive.org/web/20010501233041/http://www.geocities.com:80/orlandostory/orlando1.html  Is that your Orlando Story??

Yeah, but that shows how fickle most teenyboppers were back then.  No warning or explanation or anything; they just randomly stopped updating it.  Same with so many other sites from that era.  I always vowed I would at least let people know if I decided to stop writing or updating my site.

Same! I'm glad we got a little more prolific, though how nice to read an entire novel in like twenty minutes, lol.

LMAO at "the BSB of late 90s free website hosting sites." I remember nothing! Just that it existed. But as you know, I save everything, so it's possible when I go back to cleaning the house, I'll find it. I vaguely remember writing down my usernames and passwords on a piece of paper at some point and obviously saved that because how could it not be important!

I'm so unoriginal, lol. No, that's not my story. You'd probably be better off googling the first line or something if you want to deep dive into Angelfire. I cringe so hard at this story and my terrible spelling, oh to be eleven again and have a Romeo and Juliet-esque story about Nick in my heart, lol:

I was sitting in my room doing nothing at all and being very bored. My mom and dad occasionally went past, but that was it. I would have been eating dinner if it weren't for my brother and Benevolant.

You're totally right and that's very admirable of you.


I know!  I found it hard to follow the [I think they're] elves' love story at first because I was so distracted by all the other random, non-Christmas-related stuff, like the pandaskunks and the submarine and the rocket LOL.  That's the kind of stuff I wove into my story.

We haven't had the Boys actually riding on the pandaskunk's back yet on a shirt, although that would be amazing!  If you feel like drawing that, that would be awesome!  The best I could do was photoshop the pandaskunk pulling Santa's sleigh and the Boys riding in that.  http://absolutechaos.net/viewseries.php?seriesid=259  It's on the banner for the second story.

Elves makes sense. LMAO! It was the weirdest video, what do all those things have to do with Christmas?! I'm starting to wonder if I should have done drugs before I watched it. Would it have made sense then? lol

When do I have? Until 2022? I can figure that out by then probably. I still owe you some word chickens. They're almost done, just not quite up to my vision.

LMFAO! I love these banners so much. Is this series better at Christmas time?


Very true.  I just feel like kids today are growing up in a totally different world from the one we grew up in.  But I'm sure high school drama is still high school drama.  Some things never change.  Or I could always set it in the 90s or early 2000s.  That's actually not a bad idea because it would save me some time researching.  Seeing as how Broken was written 18 years ago, I'm sure there have been medical advancements made with both cancer treatment and prosthetic legs.  Nick's top of the line C-leg is probably not considered top of the line anymore.  I'm just speaking hypothetically here because yes, I have moved on from Broken and don't have the desire to write OF or try to get a novel published at the moment.  But at least I know I have an idea if I ever get that itch again.

I don't think age makes as much of a difference now that we're all adults, but it does seem easier to write a character who's younger (especially when he's a real person you can go back and watch footage of at that age to remind yourself how he acted) than writing one who's significantly older than you.  Writing 41-year-old Nick as a 14-year-old would definitely have been a challenge LOL.

Also true! Maybe we need a panel of high schoolers to tell us what they think of their novel. Do high schoolers still text each other? Do they have gym class? Would they jump at the chance to hang out with demons in a mythical world? Would they love our favorite PTSD amnesiac with a hair-trigger temper like I do? What if they hate the boyband vibes of our protagonists? Maybe I've made a mistake getting back into this story ten years later, lol.

Ooh, yeah, I think the medical advancements would be the harder thing to update than the "high schooler vibe." At least it's there if you want to revisit it.

Thank goodness we have old footage to remind us! But then I get sucked into the nostalgia instead of focusing on Nick's behaviors and speech patterns, lol. Alas. Now I want to read stories about 41-year-old Nick's married with children life written by a 14-year-old! This sounds judgy, but I just want to appreciate the naivety. I wonder what types of problems he would have... I just know how much I struggled with making Kevin a full dimensional character at that age and he was only in his late twenties/early thirties.


That is interesting!  I had never heard the thing about people getting up in the middle of the night to do stuff in the dark and then going back to bed.  That sounds similar to the habit I got into toward the end of this school year with my evening naps, followed by 3 hours of doing stuff before I went back to bed for the night.  I actually like waking up in the middle of the night and realizing I can go back to sleep for a few hours before my alarm goes off.  I have a much easier time falling back to sleep than falling asleep in the first place.  Although I've gotten better at that ever since I started listening to podcasts or documentaries as I fall asleep.

Your ideal sleep times are what mine usually are during the school year.  I rarely make it past 1 a.m. on a weekend because I'm so tired, and I usually wake up around 7-8 a.m. (and then go back to bed and sleep until 9-10.)  It starts to creep later and later in the summer.

LOL The neighbors would probably assume I'm burying a body in the backyard and call the cops.

Yes, that did remind me of it too! I was impressed that you could nap and then function. If I nap past a certain point, I am useless. It's hit or miss for me. Sometimes I can fall back asleep and sometimes I can't.

Same. Once it hits 1am, I am a mess. Unless I got into a crazy writing focus, then I won't even know what time it is until I look at the clock and then it hits me all at once how tired I am. I think 11am is the latest I'll wake up? 9-10 is pretty average for a weekend.

LMAO! Yes they would! I don't want to judge your body burying techniques, but I'm inclined to say that if it involves a lawn mower, you might be doing it wrong? lol


Yeah, it does, but you're right - that doesn't bother me as much as AO3 because it's not as noticeable.  I just need to not do prologues anymore, but sometimes they feel necessary.  Like in SAMS, the prologue is actually a flash-forward to a later scene in the story, so it makes more sense as a prologue than a first chapter.

Ooh, that's fun! Kicks off the action right away. I don't typically do prologues, but I know that would bother me a lot if a prologue pushed the chapter numbering in a bizarre way.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 03, 2021, 12:08:24 AM
I blame myself for including my editing word count too. I probably didn't need as many words as I have, but they're also getting longer than I think they would be, so maybe it's a combination of both. I derailed myself yesterday and tried to edit a tiny bit because that was all I could muscle out was examining old words instead of new words. I got 18 of them, but the streak is alive! We're starting the process of fertility testing (part of why I was in a wonky mood last week and a little MIA) and got some blood drawn yesterday morning. Then I was filling in for an absent teacher in our summer camp for the day and due to the lack of available bathrooms, I had the bright idea to limit my water intake on a hike. So of course, I was very dehydrated and tired by the end of the day with the worst headache and could not figure out how I ended up that way! lol I'm an idiot, basically. I was pretty bummed that I didn't get much writing done, but hopefully I can pick it back up tomorrow. I clearly needed another week of vacation.

Oh no!  I wondered what was up with you.  I hope you get some answers - fingers crossed that they are the kind of answers you want to hear!  No wonder you haven't been on as much.  I always get a headache when I don't drink enough water too.  I hope you rehydrated and are feeling better today!  Glad you were able to keep the streak alive!


How's the Kevin chapter going over the past couple of days? I know you said you did non-writing things today, but I hope it's going well overall.

Today was busy, so I didn't write anything until I got home tonight and wrote a sentence just to keep the streak alive.  I may try to add more before I go to bed; we'll see.  But yesterday was the first really good writing day I've had in a while - definitely since my summer started.  I wrote over 2000 words, which is what I need to do more of if I want to make my goal by the end of the month.


Are your ebook covers very different from your banners? Is the process the same overall or is it pretty different?

I enjoy your new boredom project. Hopefully I caught most of them in Bethlehem, though I'll admit that reading in the wee hours of the morning is not conducive to catching grammar mistakes! (Or at least more subtle ones.)

Most them are similar to the fanfic banner, but not exactly the same.  The dimensions are different (more like a real book cover), so what works on a banner doesn't always work with the book cover.  I actually just started making new, more minimalistic covers that don't include pictures of the Boys - that way, if people do want to download them to read on Kindle or whatever, they don't look like fanfic.  Once I finish grammar-checking all these old stories on Google Docs, I'll remake and repost the ebooks.

I think I had turned on the grammar check by the end of Bethlehem, so hopefully Google caught most of them too.


How's the response to SAMS so far?

Better than for Unsuspecting Sunday, its short story predecessor.  It has a few kudos, and one person has commented so far.  She had an awesome reaction to the first shocking moment of the story, which was fun to read.  It's been so long since I started that story, I forgot how much I looked forward to reactions like that.  It's fun having people read it for the first time.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 03, 2021, 12:22:50 AM
Oh no!  I wondered what was up with you.  I hope you get some answers - fingers crossed that they are the kind of answers you want to hear!  No wonder you haven't been on as much.  I always get a headache when I don't drink enough water too.  I hope you rehydrated and are feeling better today!  Glad you were able to keep the streak alive!

Here's to hoping! :) These are the last two tests for me and the news has all been trending in the right direction so far, albeit without the desired end results as of yet, of course. I took a nap and that usually solves the dehydration headaches, but it just didn't. Then I remember that I lost some blood yesterday too, and I was like, oh now it all makes sense, haha. Yup! Doing better today on hydration and was able to finish editing my chapter for update day. I changed a lot more and wanted to track it to compare to last week, but I opted to just send the chapter into the world when it hit 9pm or so (rather than doing edits and deep analytics). Not having Masked Singer to distract me definitely made it easier.


Today was busy, so I didn't write anything until I got home tonight and wrote a sentence just to keep the streak alive.  I may try to add more before I go to bed; we'll see.  But yesterday was the first really good writing day I've had in a while - definitely since my summer started.  I wrote over 2000 words, which is what I need to do more of if I want to make my goal by the end of the month.

Sometimes we've just gotta keep the streak alive. Hopefully today was fun busy the entire time! 2000 words yesterday is awesome! It sounds like you're getting into the summer writing groove; I hope you have several 2000 plus word days coming up! I believe in you making your goal!


Most them are similar to the fanfic banner, but not exactly the same.  The dimensions are different (more like a real book cover), so what works on a banner doesn't always work with the book cover.  I actually just started making new, more minimalistic covers that don't include pictures of the Boys - that way, if people do want to download them to read on Kindle or whatever, they don't look like fanfic.  Once I finish grammar-checking all these old stories on Google Docs, I'll remake and repost the ebooks.

I think I had turned on the grammar check by the end of Bethlehem, so hopefully Google caught most of them too.

That makes sense. I love all these neat extra things you do for your readers. It's probably nice to be able to read on an e-reader as opposed to a phone or computer screen. I love the idea for more minimalist covers. I feel like most book covers are pretty minimalist too.

And don't forget Text-to-speech! I'm sure that helped too. :)


Better than for Unsuspecting Sunday, its short story predecessor.  It has a few kudos, and one person has commented so far.  She had an awesome reaction to the first shocking moment of the story, which was fun to read.  It's been so long since I started that story, I forgot how much I looked forward to reactions like that.  It's fun having people read it for the first time.

That's awesome! I always love when readers share their reactions to specific parts, especially when they're meant to be shocking/tear-jerking/angering/etcetera. I'm happy you're finding new readers with this repost.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 03, 2021, 12:57:13 AM
What made you decide to get an account on AO3 back then? Exposure in a different place? Seemed busier? I guess this is a question for everyone who cross posts, what was the appeal of moving back to the ff.net-esque websites?

I don't know how long AO3 has been around, but that must have been when I discovered it.  I went ahead and got an account so I'd have it in case I wanted to post my stories there, and then I guess I just forgot about it.  That was during my semi-hiatus while I was getting my master's, so I probably didn't have the time to post stories there then.

While I will always love having my own site, it seems like fandom has moved away from individual sites in favor of big archives.  I do like the archives for the variety and amount of stories there.  The reader/writer interaction is nice, too.  I still have a handful of readers who leave comments on my site, but since I've started posting on AO3, the majority of my feedback comes from there, just as it used to come from reviews on AC.  I guess that's what it comes down to - I cross-post so I can reach a wider audience than just the people who visit my website.


I think so too! I'm not a big fan of "Dead Dove. Don't Eat." stories, but as I said, I'll still read them. (A reference to a scene from Arrested Development that essentially means "this is horrifying from start to finish with really dark content. I have warned you, don't complain if you hate it.")

I'm trying to think if I have ever read a fanfic that would qualify as that.  (And thank you for explaining what that means because I've never come across that phrase before.)  Maybe a short story, but I can't think of a novel that was truly dark from start to finish.  Even the darkest suspense stories I've read had happy endings.  I have read published novels that would probably qualify though, and I've enjoyed those, even though they were depressing and/or horrifying.  So I guess there's an audience for everything.  I always feel the need to give disclaimers for my stories that I worry may be too dark for some readers, but I have yet to have someone tell me they're too dark.  But even those stories weren't dark all the way through.


I didn't used to track it so meticulously either. I would just count the total time I spent staring at the computer, which was often hours. I typically go to NaNo and open a "update stats" pop up, then set the time I start writing and then if I focus fail, I'll write down when the top says "x minutes since last change" and adjust the start time later (or right then if I'm on top of it.)

You do say you're always looking for boredom projects though, lol.

That's a good way to do it.  Maybe I'll have to try it that way tomorrow.


Oh easily! Sometimes there's an idea you can't let go of and you just gotta write it right then, but then once it's on paper... Poof! I wish I felt more inclined to finish my unfinished things. I'm also not happy to be seen as someone who doesn't finish things, but I also disappeared for several years, so maybe there's no expectations for me. Which is honestly freeing! Maybe everyone's new opinion of me is "cared enough to come back." I'll take that, lol.

So I hear you saying that the path to finish Guilty Roads may be your own guilty road. Hopefully it leads to endless love and you have some control. ;) I'll see myself out.

LOL That's very true.  I don't think any of us expected you to come back to fanfic, so anything you post at this point is just an added bonus.  The readers who weren't around when you were writing before won't have any preconceived notions about you, and those who remember you as someone who disappeared without finishing projects will be impressed by your regular posting schedule and ability to finish stories.  I certainly am!  I'm glad you cared enough to come back.

LOL Love it!  It is a guilty road, for sure.


Same! I'm glad we got a little more prolific, though how nice to read an entire novel in like twenty minutes, lol.

LMAO at "the BSB of late 90s free website hosting sites." I remember nothing! Just that it existed. But as you know, I save everything, so it's possible when I go back to cleaning the house, I'll find it. I vaguely remember writing down my usernames and passwords on a piece of paper at some point and obviously saved that because how could it not be important!

I'm so unoriginal, lol. No, that's not my story. You'd probably be better off googling the first line or something if you want to deep dive into Angelfire. I cringe so hard at this story and my terrible spelling, oh to be eleven again and have a Romeo and Juliet-esque story about Nick in my heart, lol:

I was sitting in my room doing nothing at all and being very bored. My mom and dad occasionally went past, but that was it. I would have been eating dinner if it weren't for my brother and Benevolant.

You're totally right and that's very admirable of you.

Aww!  I googled your first line and couldn't find it.  I'm glad you still have the story saved though.  Aww, a Romeo and Juliet story.  Did Nick and the girl both die at the end?  I wrote a Romeo and Juliet-esque story back in the day too.  It was very silly.  I had read the real Romeo and Juliet by that point in my life, but I'm sure it was the Leo movie that inspired me more LOL.


Elves makes sense. LMAO! It was the weirdest video, what do all those things have to do with Christmas?! I'm starting to wonder if I should have done drugs before I watched it. Would it have made sense then? lol

When do I have? Until 2022? I can figure that out by then probably. I still owe you some word chickens. They're almost done, just not quite up to my vision.

LMFAO! I love these banners so much. Is this series better at Christmas time?

I've always said whoever came up with the concept must have been high, and I bet the experience of watching it is better if you're high too LOL.

Whenever you want!  We already have shirts from the 2019 DNA tour, so I don't know if we'll make new ones for next year.

Thanks!  They all take place at Christmas time, and I have tried to write them at Christmas time, but the last two got so long, I ended up starting them before Christmas and not finishing them until February in one case and April in the other.  If I was smart, I would start writing them in the summer so they'd be ready by Christmas, but I've always gotten ideas at the last minute.


Also true! Maybe we need a panel of high schoolers to tell us what they think of their novel. Do high schoolers still text each other? Do they have gym class? Would they jump at the chance to hang out with demons in a mythical world? Would they love our favorite PTSD amnesiac with a hair-trigger temper like I do? What if they hate the boyband vibes of our protagonists? Maybe I've made a mistake getting back into this story ten years later, lol.

Ooh, yeah, I think the medical advancements would be the harder thing to update than the "high schooler vibe." At least it's there if you want to revisit it.

Thank goodness we have old footage to remind us! But then I get sucked into the nostalgia instead of focusing on Nick's behaviors and speech patterns, lol. Alas. Now I want to read stories about 41-year-old Nick's married with children life written by a 14-year-old! This sounds judgy, but I just want to appreciate the naivety. I wonder what types of problems he would have... I just know how much I struggled with making Kevin a full dimensional character at that age and he was only in his late twenties/early thirties.

LOL We need a "Teens react to... BSB fanfic!"  Or "BSB fanfic turned original fiction!"

A teenybopper story about the Boys today would be entertaining for sure.  I know, I was so naive too, and I was mostly writing about Brian, who is only ten years older than me.  But there's a big difference in life experience from 15 to 25.  In my first story, I originally had Brian fall in love with a 16-year-old (because I was 14, so 16 sounded, like, so mature).  Then I realized that was technically illegal, so I aged her up to 18.  She and her twin sister both drove brand new VW Beetles in different colors because that was my dream car as a 14-year-old, and I had unrealistic expectations of what kind of cars teenagers would get to drive LOL.


I don't want to judge your body burying techniques, but I'm inclined to say that if it involves a lawn mower, you might be doing it wrong? lol

Clearly the lawnmower is to cut the body into smaller pieces so it's easier to bury!  The bones would probably mess up the blade though.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 03, 2021, 01:15:56 AM
Here's to hoping! :) These are the last two tests for me and the news has all been trending in the right direction so far, albeit without the desired end results as of yet, of course. I took a nap and that usually solves the dehydration headaches, but it just didn't. Then I remember that I lost some blood yesterday too, and I was like, oh now it all makes sense, haha. Yup! Doing better today on hydration and was able to finish editing my chapter for update day. I changed a lot more and wanted to track it to compare to last week, but I opted to just send the chapter into the world when it hit 9pm or so (rather than doing edits and deep analytics). Not having Masked Singer to distract me definitely made it easier.

Good!  I hope it continues to go in the right direction.  I am definitely not an expert, but I've heard it can take a lot of time and a lot of tries to get pregnant even when there is no fertility issue.  Hang in there!  Glad you're doing better today and were able to get your update done, even if you didn't get to edit and analyze it as deeply as you wanted to.

I agree about Masked Singer.  I love having TV shows to look forward to during the school year, but in summer when I'm off my schedule anyway, I don't really care.  I still have shows on Tuesday nights, and I haven't watched any of them yet.


Sometimes we've just gotta keep the streak alive. Hopefully today was fun busy the entire time! 2000 words yesterday is awesome! It sounds like you're getting into the summer writing groove; I hope you have several 2000 plus word days coming up! I believe in you making your goal!

Tonight was fun busy; we went out to dinner and played trivia at a bar and won third place!  The rest of the day was spent running errands and getting my car serviced, so not so fun.  But now that I've gotten my adulting out of the way, I can retreat back into my fanfic bubble.  I'm in the middle of this Kevin chapter now and don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, so it should be more productive writing-wise.


That makes sense. I love all these neat extra things you do for your readers. It's probably nice to be able to read on an e-reader as opposed to a phone or computer screen. I love the idea for more minimalist covers. I feel like most book covers are pretty minimalist too.

And don't forget Text-to-speech! I'm sure that helped too. :)

Thanks!  A lot of it stems from summer boredom and wanting to work on something fanfic-related without actually writing LOL.  Making banners and book covers is fun and requires a lot less mental effort.  I started making the ebooks sometime after getting my first Kindle Fire and before getting a smartphone.  It's a lot easier to read on a phone nowadays because most websites have mobile versions, but it wasn't back then.  I still prefer the ebook versions for when I'm wanting to read a whole novel.  I made them for a bunch of my old favorite stories by other authors too, and I've read my own too... and highlighted all the mistakes I found to edit later... ugh. LOL

I am proud of my minimalist covers because I am not a minimalistic person by nature.  They look more mature than my banners.

You're right; text to speech did help!


That's awesome! I always love when readers share their reactions to specific parts, especially when they're meant to be shocking/tear-jerking/angering/etcetera. I'm happy you're finding new readers with this repost.

Same!  I'm surprised because she's one of the kinky ones, and my story is not kinky.  But it's nice to see a slash writer enjoying my slash story, even though it's not full of sex scenes.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 03, 2021, 01:35:23 AM
Can't wait to hear Mare's contributions, lol.

I feel like I always used lame normal names like Victoria or Jessica or something like that. Maybe Minako is the most fanfictiony name I have? And it's only "weird" because I (and likely most of my readers) are English-speaking. I literally can't think of a fanfictiony name I've ever used.

LOL!  Mare comes up with the best ones!

I don't think Minako is that fanfictiony either.  It's different, but only because it's not a common name here.

I haven't used many fanfictiony names either.  I wrote a girl band story back in the day with characters named Ashalyn and Elyssa, which were more on the fanficcy side for me.  I also wrote a short story with a vampire character named Nastassia.  But otherwise, my female characters mostly have normal names.

I did write a parody back in the day called "Not Another Teenybopper Fanfic," and the girls in that story were named Nikki Cartier, Taylor, Ali, Praline, and Safyre.  It's a toss-up between Safyre and Nikki Cartier as the most fanfictiony name I have ever used.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 03, 2021, 09:40:28 PM
I don't know how long AO3 has been around, but that must have been when I discovered it.  I went ahead and got an account so I'd have it in case I wanted to post my stories there, and then I guess I just forgot about it.  That was during my semi-hiatus while I was getting my master's, so I probably didn't have the time to post stories there then.

While I will always love having my own site, it seems like fandom has moved away from individual sites in favor of big archives.  I do like the archives for the variety and amount of stories there.  The reader/writer interaction is nice, too.  I still have a handful of readers who leave comments on my site, but since I've started posting on AO3, the majority of my feedback comes from there, just as it used to come from reviews on AC.  I guess that's what it comes down to - I cross-post so I can reach a wider audience than just the people who visit my website.

That kind of thing happens to me all the time! Where I do something and forget about it.

I wonder if it's due to the variety, but also that it's a lot harder to lose things in general. Like all those abandoned Angelfire sites from way back when. I enjoyed AC because it brought a lot of people together, more than just an individual site would, but I also enjoy that authors have control over the way their work looks more with their own sites, so you get the full experience of their vision.

I think it's the community of AC that I miss. It's very different when it's quiet. Maybe some day someone will review something I post on AO3 and it'll feel like a community again, lol. At least this forum is still here. :)


I'm trying to think if I have ever read a fanfic that would qualify as that.  (And thank you for explaining what that means because I've never come across that phrase before.)  Maybe a short story, but I can't think of a novel that was truly dark from start to finish.  Even the darkest suspense stories I've read had happy endings.  I have read published novels that would probably qualify though, and I've enjoyed those, even though they were depressing and/or horrifying.  So I guess there's an audience for everything.  I always feel the need to give disclaimers for my stories that I worry may be too dark for some readers, but I have yet to have someone tell me they're too dark.  But even those stories weren't dark all the way through.

As promised, I will explain random tropes and fanfic things I know of when I mention them, lol! I think it's harder to make a novel dark throughout than it is to make a short story dark throughout. But you're right, there are definitely published novels that qualify better, though I can't think of one off hand at the moment.

Lately I've been worrying that I haven't given enough disclaimers. Like should I go back and add specific warnings to chapters? I just hate spoilers, but I don't know if people would prefer having them if they're willing to risk a spoiler. I like that "chose not to warn" exists.


That's a good way to do it.  Maybe I'll have to try it that way tomorrow.

Did it work?


LOL That's very true.  I don't think any of us expected you to come back to fanfic, so anything you post at this point is just an added bonus.  The readers who weren't around when you were writing before won't have any preconceived notions about you, and those who remember you as someone who disappeared without finishing projects will be impressed by your regular posting schedule and ability to finish stories.  I certainly am!  I'm glad you cared enough to come back.

LOL Love it!  It is a guilty road, for sure.

I didn't expect to either, and yet, here we are. It's probably heavy in the nostalgia and leaning into things that made sense. We can't say I'll finish anything yet, there's still five chapters, lol. Let's reserve that judgement for when I finish something that's not related to PBox. ;) Kidding, I'll probably finish it. I think it helps that like eleven-year-old Dee, I once again have stories in my heart that want to come out. And once it was enough of a thing, it's just not the same writing without the community. Not readers necessarily (though readers are nice too), but talking to other writers. :) As always, I'm happy to be back! :)

Do people often come back? I feel like it's usually more of a "once they're gone, they're gone" type thing.

Thanks for always enjoying my jokes. Backstreet jokes were something I didn't know I missed making until there were appreciative people to tell them to around again, lol.


Aww!  I googled your first line and couldn't find it.  I'm glad you still have the story saved though.  Aww, a Romeo and Juliet story.  Did Nick and the girl both die at the end?  I wrote a Romeo and Juliet-esque story back in the day too.  It was very silly.  I had read the real Romeo and Juliet by that point in my life, but I'm sure it was the Leo movie that inspired me more LOL.

I kind of have it saved? I think I got thirteen chapters of it on AC before something died. I might have it somewhere, but that would require a lot more effort.

They did not die! It was less a tragedy and more inspired by the rival "families" aspect. I feel like at the end of the story, the Boys won the battle of the bands competition and Nick got the girl. lol That sounds accurate based on my vague memory of it. The only other things that sticks out is Nick climbing in her window to see her like in Clarissa Explains It All, lmao.

Obviously the Leo movie! I don't think it's the worst adaptation of the play, but I also enjoy Baz Luhrman contrasting the ancient with the modern. He did it in Gatsby too and people hated it! But I always defended his choice.


I've always said whoever came up with the concept must have been high, and I bet the experience of watching it is better if you're high too LOL.

Whenever you want!  We already have shirts from the 2019 DNA tour, so I don't know if we'll make new ones for next year.

Thanks!  They all take place at Christmas time, and I have tried to write them at Christmas time, but the last two got so long, I ended up starting them before Christmas and not finishing them until February in one case and April in the other.  If I was smart, I would start writing them in the summer so they'd be ready by Christmas, but I've always gotten ideas at the last minute.

Absolutely! Not about to test that theory, but I agree completely.

Hmmm... I have ideas. I'll get back to you.

Aww, I feel like a holiday story works better when you're in a holiday mood. Maybe channel the Boys in Bethlehem and decorate your house with Christmas decorations, lol. I can see why they would take a while though.


LOL We need a "Teens react to... BSB fanfic!"  Or "BSB fanfic turned original fiction!"

A teenybopper story about the Boys today would be entertaining for sure.  I know, I was so naive too, and I was mostly writing about Brian, who is only ten years older than me.  But there's a big difference in life experience from 15 to 25.  In my first story, I originally had Brian fall in love with a 16-year-old (because I was 14, so 16 sounded, like, so mature).  Then I realized that was technically illegal, so I aged her up to 18.  She and her twin sister both drove brand new VW Beetles in different colors because that was my dream car as a 14-year-old, and I had unrealistic expectations of what kind of cars teenagers would get to drive LOL.

YES! lol Please teens, tell me what I've done wrong! I just don't want to turn Minako into a VSCO girl or anything!

It was only 7/8 years for me (I relished the time between our birthdays when it was only seven years, lol), but I just didn't have a clue on what a nineteen-year-old was doing with their life! Hence why I posted my old stories and laughed and said they were terribly naive as a college student (who then understood what a nineteen-year-old was doing with their life, which was... being a mess).

I get it! 16 is mature when you're 14. Sixteen-year-olds can drive, they have some level of responsibility, they seem so cool. And then you reach 16 and you're like "What was I thinking?" Aw, brand new VW beetles, so 90s! I also had unrealistic car expectations. I wanted a BMW Z3 so badly and not only could I have ever gotten one of those as a lower middle class student, but no one at my high school had one (or a Z4 by that point). Heck, I have an adult job now and still can't afford a BMW, lol.

You know, I had originally made Minako 17 in PBox because I was 17 when Never Gone came out and I... just didn't care about the legality that she was 17 and Nick was 25, supposedly. Again, the whole thing was less squicky when Nick reads 18 and in the big edit, I took out any clear definite age references (even though Minako and Renee are clearly still in high school). Then PNecklace starts with a reference to college, so that's my way of saying "we're all legal age here, don't @me about my questionable life choices in 2005," lol.


Clearly the lawnmower is to cut the body into smaller pieces so it's easier to bury!  The bones would probably mess up the blade though.

See, I foresaw this argument in response, but not only would the bones mess up the blades, but you would also spray blood everywhere. It would not be subtle. I stand by my judgement of your choice of tools to assist in the body burying.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 03, 2021, 10:05:15 PM
Good!  I hope it continues to go in the right direction.  I am definitely not an expert, but I've heard it can take a lot of time and a lot of tries to get pregnant even when there is no fertility issue.  Hang in there!  Glad you're doing better today and were able to get your update done, even if you didn't get to edit and analyze it as deeply as you wanted to.

I agree about Masked Singer.  I love having TV shows to look forward to during the school year, but in summer when I'm off my schedule anyway, I don't really care.  I still have shows on Tuesday nights, and I haven't watched any of them yet.

You're right. I also think it's harder for many people if they're trying in their thirties rather than their early twenties as I'd say most people do now. Wish it was something that was talked about more because it is a roller coaster of emotions that feels a little isolating at times. But dwelling doesn't usually help (except that one time I took inspiration from it for my writing), so it's important to just keep moving forward. Thanks for the support from afar!

I was worried about finishing! I had a moment where I thought, "Do I post this without editing to get it out on time?" It all worked out fine, but I've been telling myself that I need to start my edit on Sunday this week to be sure it's done. I've gotten about 600 words today, but ended up watching two tv episodes during dinner, so I may be done for the night. I'm going to try popping into my other arc and see if anything more substantial sparks from that. I'm trying to decide if I want to give AJ a specific powerup that I've never mentioned before... I'm wondering if it would be too unforeshadowed or make him too powerful without the proper training... Then again, everyone else has some downer shenanigans going on and he's fine, so I may need to give him something horrible so he doesn't feel left out, lol. I've also spent today hitting refresh on my stats, which I know they never jump crazily or anything, but I always do it anyway. It's a bad habit, lol.

That's just about the only show I watch live anymore, so it was nice knowing that I didn't have the commitment yesterday. I have so much tv I need to catch up on at some point, but I figure there's plenty of time. You've also got a whole summer!


Tonight was fun busy; we went out to dinner and played trivia at a bar and won third place!  The rest of the day was spent running errands and getting my car serviced, so not so fun.  But now that I've gotten my adulting out of the way, I can retreat back into my fanfic bubble.  I'm in the middle of this Kevin chapter now and don't have to go anywhere tomorrow, so it should be more productive writing-wise.

Congrats! Third place is awesome! Ugh, I hate getting my car serviced. I'm about due, but my mileage is never as high as they say it should be, so I don't even know that I have to go in, but hubs always insists.

Adulting is over-rated anyway! Retreat! lol I hope it's been a productive day and you've written many things about Kevin. :)


Thanks!  A lot of it stems from summer boredom and wanting to work on something fanfic-related without actually writing LOL.  Making banners and book covers is fun and requires a lot less mental effort.  I started making the ebooks sometime after getting my first Kindle Fire and before getting a smartphone.  It's a lot easier to read on a phone nowadays because most websites have mobile versions, but it wasn't back then.  I still prefer the ebook versions for when I'm wanting to read a whole novel.  I made them for a bunch of my old favorite stories by other authors too, and I've read my own too... and highlighted all the mistakes I found to edit later... ugh. LOL

I am proud of my minimalist covers because I am not a minimalistic person by nature.  They look more mature than my banners.

You're right; text to speech did help!

I get it. I've been wondering what fanfic related project I can pick up and I have zero ideas, lol. I think I just have to write. That makes sense! The internet in the early days of smart phones was a disaster. Are kindles and such less popular now because websites are more mobile friendly or do you think it's about the same? What a labor of love to make them for other fanfics! Is it easier to spot mistakes on the ebook format than computer? I wonder why that is? Same reason everyone says to write in comic sans?

I've always wished I could be the type of person who is minimalist because their aesthetic just seems so sleek. But, I am also not a minimalist person at all. This office that needs organizing speaks volumes on that without me saying anything, lol.


Same!  I'm surprised because she's one of the kinky ones, and my story is not kinky.  But it's nice to see a slash writer enjoying my slash story, even though it's not full of sex scenes.

I'm just happy you found a new reader enjoying your Nowie whether its kinky or not. :) I think it's always a good compliment when you're writing in an untypical genre and an author who writes in that genre enjoys your work. Feels like you're doing something right!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 03, 2021, 10:12:24 PM
LOL!  Mare comes up with the best ones!

Here at least. I can't imagine Mare actually using fanfictiony names in her stories.


I don't think Minako is that fanfictiony either.  It's different, but only because it's not a common name here.

I haven't used many fanfictiony names either.  I wrote a girl band story back in the day with characters named Ashalyn and Elyssa, which were more on the fanficcy side for me.  I also wrote a short story with a vampire character named Nastassia.  But otherwise, my female characters mostly have normal names.

I did write a parody back in the day called "Not Another Teenybopper Fanfic," and the girls in that story were named Nikki Cartier, Taylor, Ali, Praline, and Safyre.  It's a toss-up between Safyre and Nikki Cartier as the most fanfictiony name I have ever used.

Exactly.

I think vampires are a tossup. They need kind of out there names even though I guess they could technically be from any era. Ashalyn and Elyssa don't seem that bad.

Oh, now that you mention Nikki, I think I had a Nicole once. But I would only call Nikki/Nicole a fanfictiony name in BSB fandom because of how close it is to Nick. Same with something like Brianna, Alexandra, or... Howina and Kevandra? There's not a clear gender flip for those two, lol. Doubly so for Cartier being almost Carter, but also a fancy jewelry company, lol.

I think in a satire/parody, it would be wrong not to pick fanfictiony names. However, I noticed you didn't list Praline as a fanfictiony one and that screams fanfictiony to me as well, lol. I laughed so hard when I originally read that one, more than Nikki Cartier or Safyre.

I've now written "fanfictiony" so many times that it feels like even less of a word than it did before, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 03, 2021, 10:39:07 PM
That kind of thing happens to me all the time! Where I do something and forget about it.

I wonder if it's due to the variety, but also that it's a lot harder to lose things in general. Like all those abandoned Angelfire sites from way back when. I enjoyed AC because it brought a lot of people together, more than just an individual site would, but I also enjoy that authors have control over the way their work looks more with their own sites, so you get the full experience of their vision.

I think it's the community of AC that I miss. It's very different when it's quiet. Maybe some day someone will review something I post on AO3 and it'll feel like a community again, lol. At least this forum is still here. :)

Yes, all very true.  I keep a "link graveyard" on my site, mostly just to help myself keep track of those old sites that are no longer online so I can at least access them through the Wayback Machine if I want to reminisce.  There are definitely pros and cons to both, and that's why I enjoy cross-posting my stories.

I miss the community too.  I enjoy our nightly conversations, but I wish it wasn't just you and me usually LOL.


As promised, I will explain random tropes and fanfic things I know of when I mention them, lol! I think it's harder to make a novel dark throughout than it is to make a short story dark throughout. But you're right, there are definitely published novels that qualify better, though I can't think of one off hand at the moment.

Lately I've been worrying that I haven't given enough disclaimers. Like should I go back and add specific warnings to chapters? I just hate spoilers, but I don't know if people would prefer having them if they're willing to risk a spoiler. I like that "chose not to warn" exists.

I'm learning so much from you!

The first published novel that came to mind when I made that comment was "The Ruins" by Scott Smith.  It's a great horror/survival novel, but once it gets going, it just keeps getting darker and darker and never lightens up.  Another one I thought of is Stephen King's "Cujo."  That was the first book I read by him, and it's great, but much darker than the movie version.  I'm sure there are plenty of other examples, but those were the two I thought of right away.

I don't think you need to add specific warnings.  Mine are usually pretty generic, just warning readers that a story is going to be depressing or an emotional rollercoaster.  I hate spoilers too, so I would never warn about specific things that happen in the story.  If people are that easily triggered by sad or scary things, they should probably stick to fluffy romance.  But again, it's never been an issue as far as I'm aware.  The "Author chose not to use warnings" tag is basically a "Read at your own risk" disclaimer anyway.


Did it work?

Well, I forgot to track it as I was writing, but I did go back and look at the actual times it recorded changes in the version history.  I was amazingly focused today!  I wrote for four hours, and the longest pause I had was 23 minutes long.  Besides that one, I didn't have a pause longer than 6 minutes the whole time.  And I only watched one YouTube video!  I got 1,500 words written, yay!  Hoping to write some more tonight, but I haven't gotten back to it yet.  I did more grammar checking and editing on SAMS and finished making my minimalistic ebook covers.

Speaking of which, if you want a banner for PNecklace or anything else, I'd be happy to make you one.  I've been in the mood the last few days and have run out of my own stories to make them for.


I didn't expect to either, and yet, here we are. It's probably heavy in the nostalgia and leaning into things that made sense. We can't say I'll finish anything yet, there's still five chapters, lol. Let's reserve that judgement for when I finish something that's not related to PBox. ;) Kidding, I'll probably finish it. I think it helps that like eleven-year-old Dee, I once again have stories in my heart that want to come out. And once it was enough of a thing, it's just not the same writing without the community. Not readers necessarily (though readers are nice too), but talking to other writers. :) As always, I'm happy to be back! :)

Do people often come back? I feel like it's usually more of a "once they're gone, they're gone" type thing.

Thanks for always enjoying my jokes. Backstreet jokes were something I didn't know I missed making until there were appreciative people to tell them to around again, lol.

I have faith in you that you'll be able to finish five chapters!  How did the writing go today?

People come back to check in here every now and then, but I can't remember the last time anyone started writing and posting new stories after being gone as long as you were.  Maybe never.  It does seem like once people move on from writing fanfic, they move on forever.  Sometimes to other kinds of writing, and sometimes to other hobbies and real life stuff, I guess.


I kind of have it saved? I think I got thirteen chapters of it on AC before something died. I might have it somewhere, but that would require a lot more effort.

They did not die! It was less a tragedy and more inspired by the rival "families" aspect. I feel like at the end of the story, the Boys won the battle of the bands competition and Nick got the girl. lol That sounds accurate based on my vague memory of it. The only other things that sticks out is Nick climbing in her window to see her like in Clarissa Explains It All, lmao.

Obviously the Leo movie! I don't think it's the worst adaptation of the play, but I also enjoy Baz Luhrman contrasting the ancient with the modern. He did it in Gatsby too and people hated it! But I always defended his choice.

Aww!  I hate when that happens.  My R&J story is missing its epilogue, but I don't think much happened in it.  Knowing me, it was probably some cheesy scene in the afterlife because I was a big fan of those as a teenybopper LOL.  Mine was actually a sequel to a story in which Nick ruined his liver and needed a transplant and got Justin Timberlake's liver... yeah.  And then the R&J-esque sequel was about Nick falling in love with a girl who turned out to be Justin's sister?  Which I guess is where the R&J comes in, because Justin was always Nick's arch-enemy in my stories LOL.  Anyway, they get into a car accident in the middle of nowhere toward the end of the story, and Nick slowly dies of liver failure after his body rejects Justin's liver because he doesn't have his anti-rejection meds with him.  Then the girl remembers she has a bottle of Tylenol or something her purse, and she takes the whole bottle and kills herself out of grief.  I wrote some really stupid shit back in the day LOL.

I like your battle of the bands take on it with the happy ending!  And Nick climbing into her window like on Clarissa!  That is so cute.

I like Baz's R&J better than Gatsby, but I didn't think Gatsby was horrible.  My favorite Baz Luhrman movie is Moulin Rouge.


See, I foresaw this argument in response, but not only would the bones mess up the blades, but you would also spray blood everywhere. It would not be subtle. I stand by my judgement of your choice of tools to assist in the body burying.

LOL Very true - mowing over a body would be a bad idea!  Hopefully I'll never have to dispose of one...
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 03, 2021, 11:03:01 PM
I was worried about finishing! I had a moment where I thought, "Do I post this without editing to get it out on time?" It all worked out fine, but I've been telling myself that I need to start my edit on Sunday this week to be sure it's done. I've gotten about 600 words today, but ended up watching two tv episodes during dinner, so I may be done for the night. I'm going to try popping into my other arc and see if anything more substantial sparks from that. I'm trying to decide if I want to give AJ a specific powerup that I've never mentioned before... I'm wondering if it would be too unforeshadowed or make him too powerful without the proper training... Then again, everyone else has some downer shenanigans going on and he's fine, so I may need to give him something horrible so he doesn't feel left out, lol. I've also spent today hitting refresh on my stats, which I know they never jump crazily or anything, but I always do it anyway. It's a bad habit, lol.

I'm glad you were able to finish, even if it was down to the wire.  Is AJ's powerup important to the rest of the plot?  Does he need to have it now, or is it something you could foreshadow now and have him develop later?  (Though I'm not sure when, if you only have five more chapters... maybe in the next story? LOL)  You probably don't want him to come across as some kind of Chosen One who has all these extra powers no one knew about right when he needs them, so if there's not a way to foreshadow it, maybe you should try to come up with something else.  Lucky AJ, staying out of the drama LOL.

I checked my stats on AO3 today too and noticed that, after my novels, the short story that has the most hits is the stupid sci-fi/slash/m-preg I wrote for an April Fool's challenge here.  It doesn't have any comments and only kudos, but it has that damn Nick/Brian tag, so people clicked on it.  So if you want to improve your stats, have Nick and Brian kiss and slap a slash tag on it LOL.


Congrats! Third place is awesome! Ugh, I hate getting my car serviced. I'm about due, but my mileage is never as high as they say it should be, so I don't even know that I have to go in, but hubs always insists.

Adulting is over-rated anyway! Retreat! lol I hope it's been a productive day and you've written many things about Kevin. :)

Ugh, I know.  And of course they found an oil leak, so now I have to take it back next week to get that fixed.  There's always something, which is why I hate taking it in.  I usually go over my mileage and the recommended number of months, and nothing bad has happened... except apparently a leak? LOL  But I don't know if there's any correlation there.

Adulting sucks.  I did absolutely nothing productive today in the real world except dishes, and it was glorious!


I get it. I've been wondering what fanfic related project I can pick up and I have zero ideas, lol. I think I just have to write. That makes sense! The internet in the early days of smart phones was a disaster. Are kindles and such less popular now because websites are more mobile friendly or do you think it's about the same? What a labor of love to make them for other fanfics! Is it easier to spot mistakes on the ebook format than computer? I wonder why that is? Same reason everyone says to write in comic sans?

I've always wished I could be the type of person who is minimalist because their aesthetic just seems so sleek. But, I am also not a minimalist person at all. This office that needs organizing speaks volumes on that without me saying anything, lol.

I'm not sure about the popularity of e-readers.  I've learned to like reading that way because it's easier to lie in bed and read in the dark than with a paper book.  But I currently don't have a working Kindle, so I have to read on my phone.  It's okay, but I prefer having a bigger screen.  So I think there's still a place for e-readers for those who don't need a physical book.

I do think it's easier to find mistakes when I'm reading that way, maybe because fewer words fit on the screen so it's easier to focus on what's there instead of skimming?  I obviously didn't catch them all that way though because Google keeps finding more LOL.

It's not hard to make the actual ebooks.  I downloaded a free program called Calibre that does it.  It's just a matter of converting a doc to PDF and uploading it; then Caliber can convert it into different ebook formats that work for Kindle, Nook, etc.  The most time-consuming part was making a cover for each one, but like I said, I actually enjoy doing that, so it was fun.

I am way too materialistic to be minimalistic LOL.  My aesthetic is more colorful and cluttered.  But it's organized clutter.


I'm just happy you found a new reader enjoying your Nowie whether its kinky or not. :) I think it's always a good compliment when you're writing in an untypical genre and an author who writes in that genre enjoys your work. Feels like you're doing something right!

Absolutely!  It's a huge compliment.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 03, 2021, 11:15:51 PM
Here at least. I can't imagine Mare actually using fanfictiony names in her stories.


Exactly.

I think vampires are a tossup. They need kind of out there names even though I guess they could technically be from any era. Ashalyn and Elyssa don't seem that bad.

Oh, now that you mention Nikki, I think I had a Nicole once. But I would only call Nikki/Nicole a fanfictiony name in BSB fandom because of how close it is to Nick. Same with something like Brianna, Alexandra, or... Howina and Kevandra? There's not a clear gender flip for those two, lol. Doubly so for Cartier being almost Carter, but also a fancy jewelry company, lol.

I think in a satire/parody, it would be wrong not to pick fanfictiony names. However, I noticed you didn't list Praline as a fanfictiony one and that screams fanfictiony to me as well, lol. I laughed so hard when I originally read that one, more than Nikki Cartier or Safyre.

I've now written "fanfictiony" so many times that it feels like even less of a word than it did before, lol.

LOL No, and all the ones she has come up with were for jokes, either joke stories or jokes here on the forum.  But she does come up with some great ones!

I've seen several mentions of "Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way" on Reddit, and I thought it was just a joke, like the most Mary Sue fanficcy name ever, but apparently that is the name of the real main character from an infamous Harry Potter fic called "My Immortal."  I had seen references to this story before, but never looked it up, so I finally did...  OMG, it's so bad you can't tell if it's real or satire.


I think vampires are a tossup. They need kind of out there names even though I guess they could technically be from any era. Ashalyn and Elyssa don't seem that bad.

I think Nastassia the vampire was literally from Transylvania LOL, so I wanted to give her an Eastern-European sounding name.  It means "resurrection," so it worked for an undead character.

Ashalyn and Elyssa aren't too bad, but they are more teenybopperish than the typical name I would pick out.  It's the Ys LOL.  And the E instead of A in Elyssa.  I had read another fanfic with a character who spelled it that way and thought it was cool.


Oh, now that you mention Nikki, I think I had a Nicole once. But I would only call Nikki/Nicole a fanfictiony name in BSB fandom because of how close it is to Nick. Same with something like Brianna, Alexandra, or... Howina and Kevandra? There's not a clear gender flip for those two, lol. Doubly so for Cartier being almost Carter, but also a fancy jewelry company, lol.

Absolutely - nothing wrong with Nikki/Nicole until she ends up in a BSB fic and falls in love with Nick LOL.  Same with the other gender-swapped names.  There were a lot of Briannas and variations of Alexandra/Ali back in the day too.  Poor Howie and Kevin... they don't even have Mary Sues named after them!


I think in a satire/parody, it would be wrong not to pick fanfictiony names. However, I noticed you didn't list Praline as a fanfictiony one and that screams fanfictiony to me as well, lol. I laughed so hard when I originally read that one, more than Nikki Cartier or Safyre.

I've now written "fanfictiony" so many times that it feels like even less of a word than it did before, lol.

LOL I always loved Praline too.  I'm glad it made you laugh!  They were all fanfictiony in different ways - some for being overused in our fandom, others for just being weird and/or spelled weirdly.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 03, 2021, 11:28:25 PM
Yes, all very true.  I keep a "link graveyard" on my site, mostly just to help myself keep track of those old sites that are no longer online so I can at least access them through the Wayback Machine if I want to reminisce.  There are definitely pros and cons to both, and that's why I enjoy cross-posting my stories.

I miss the community too.  I enjoy our nightly conversations, but I wish it wasn't just you and me usually LOL.

I wonder if anyone else utilizes your link graveyard. I've seen a bunch of people recommending it on the fanfic reddit lately, but I feel like it's definitely easier to try to find something that used to be on an Angelfire or Geocities site and not an archive like AO3. Speaking of archiving, if there's anyone out there that misses the 2008 version of PBox and wants to archive it for personal reasons, I still have it and can pass it along to whoever; if you want the 2006 version of the first nine chapters, I don't reliably have access to that anymore, lol.

I also enjoy our nightly conversations. I think we're too long winded for everyone else to catch up and chime in, as opposed to the old days when we were too fast, lol. It's probably a little different if not everyone is consistently writing along with us and I think Tracy works nights a lot when we're here? Did I make that up? Really I'm just able to be here because hubs is either away on work trips or busy watching twelve sporting events at once, lol. I just sit next to him and type away.


I'm learning so much from you!

The first published novel that came to mind when I made that comment was "The Ruins" by Scott Smith.  It's a great horror/survival novel, but once it gets going, it just keeps getting darker and darker and never lightens up.  Another one I thought of is Stephen King's "Cujo."  That was the first book I read by him, and it's great, but much darker than the movie version.  I'm sure there are plenty of other examples, but those were the two I thought of right away.

I know a lot about a bunch of random stuff! lol Most of it is not useful in my day-to-day life, but you can't bet I am excited to mention these things when they are, lmao.

I haven't read The Ruins, but Cujo definitely fits! Stephen King writes so many dark things, it's great. I need to read some more of his more recent stuff.


I don't think you need to add specific warnings.  Mine are usually pretty generic, just warning readers that a story is going to be depressing or an emotional rollercoaster.  I hate spoilers too, so I would never warn about specific things that happen in the story.  If people are that easily triggered by sad or scary things, they should probably stick to fluffy romance.  But again, it's never been an issue as far as I'm aware.  The "Author chose not to use warnings" tag is basically a "Read at your own risk" disclaimer anyway.

I think I'm letting the posts in the reddit get to me and their opinion seems to be "warn about everything," haha. I figure I haven't fully tagged any of my stories anyway and probably won't do any tagging that would lead anyone genre blind to me, so... Maybe the specific "graphic depictions of violence" in addition to "chose not to warn" has tipped people off that I write dark stuff.


Well, I forgot to track it as I was writing, but I did go back and look at the actual times it recorded changes in the version history.  I was amazingly focused today!  I wrote for four hours, and the longest pause I had was 23 minutes long.  Besides that one, I didn't have a pause longer than 6 minutes the whole time.  And I only watched one YouTube video!  I got 1,500 words written, yay!  Hoping to write some more tonight, but I haven't gotten back to it yet.  I did more grammar checking and editing on SAMS and finished making my minimalistic ebook covers.

23 minutes is so short! Great job staying focused! I think a six minute pause is totally fine; sometimes you need a screen break. Yay, 1500 words! You were so productive today! I hope you can get back into it too. Glad your fanfic adjacent projects are going well. :)


Speaking of which, if you want a banner for PNecklace or anything else, I'd be happy to make you one.  I've been in the mood the last few days and have run out of my own stories to make them for.

Aww! I would love it if PNecklace had its own little banner. :) Thanks for the offer! As you know, digital media is not my forte, lol. Should I go on a google image hunt for you or just give an aesthetic?


I have faith in you that you'll be able to finish five chapters!  How did the writing go today?

People come back to check in here every now and then, but I can't remember the last time anyone started writing and posting new stories after being gone as long as you were.  Maybe never.  It does seem like once people move on from writing fanfic, they move on forever.  Sometimes to other kinds of writing, and sometimes to other hobbies and real life stuff, I guess.

I got my 600 words in earlier, 2 one hour sessions of 300ish words. I did end up switching arcs and got about 200 more words, but I may be done for the day as I popped back over to see if you replied, lol. I think I need to spend some time mulling over my AJ situation.

I was always an AJ as far as writing goes, may as well be prodigal daughter as well, lol. (I know the allegory is not exact here.) I'd always hoped I would find something to say again at some point, so I'm glad it finally happened. :) Kind of bummed I missed the cruise years though. I guess I technically moved on, but it was more being creatively spent than just not being interested anymore. Glad some other people check in sometimes. Maybe if they see we've been busy, they'll hang out longer.


Aww!  I hate when that happens.  My R&J story is missing its epilogue, but I don't think much happened in it.  Knowing me, it was probably some cheesy scene in the afterlife because I was a big fan of those as a teenybopper LOL.  Mine was actually a sequel to a story in which Nick ruined his liver and needed a transplant and got Justin Timberlake's liver... yeah.  And then the R&J-esque sequel was about Nick falling in love with a girl who turned out to be Justin's sister?  Which I guess is where the R&J comes in, because Justin was always Nick's arch-enemy in my stories LOL.  Anyway, they get into a car accident in the middle of nowhere toward the end of the story, and Nick slowly dies of liver failure after his body rejects Justin's liver because he doesn't have his anti-rejection meds with him.  Then the girl remembers she has a bottle of Tylenol or something her purse, and she takes the whole bottle and kills herself out of grief.  I wrote some really stupid shit back in the day LOL.

I like your battle of the bands take on it with the happy ending!  And Nick climbing into her window like on Clarissa!  That is so cute.

I like Baz's R&J better than Gatsby, but I didn't think Gatsby was horrible.  My favorite Baz Luhrman movie is Moulin Rouge.

I think it's an inevitable part of beginning to write fanfic in the era of floppy disks. Cloud storage is much easier for keeping track of everything.

LMAO! Of course the only semi-compatible liver they could find was Justin's and then Nick ended up dating his sister. Aww, sad his liver was what killed him; I'm surprised he forgot his meds for something like that. You know, it's good that we can look back and laugh at our early writings these days.

I feel like for feeling ho-hum about NSYNC at the time, I have written them a lot. I think I once tried to start a Sabrina-esque story where Nick and Justin were brothers, lol! Because I just didn't care for Aaron. I ended up not liking it, so it was good that I got to read Kelly's version several years later and that it didn't include Justin or Aaron, lol.

Battle of the bands felt like a reasonable BSB rivalry. Really, I'm just glad that the other band wasn't NSYNC; I dodged a cliche there for sure, lol!

Moulin Rouge is definitely his superior film! Overall, I enjoy him as a director, so I'll watch just about anything he does.


LOL Very true - mowing over a body would be a bad idea!  Hopefully I'll never have to dispose of one...

Or at least do the yard work body disposing during the day so you look less suspicious! Seems like that would be better, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 03, 2021, 11:51:55 PM
I'm glad you were able to finish, even if it was down to the wire.  Is AJ's powerup important to the rest of the plot?  Does he need to have it now, or is it something you could foreshadow now and have him develop later?  (Though I'm not sure when, if you only have five more chapters... maybe in the next story? LOL)  You probably don't want him to come across as some kind of Chosen One who has all these extra powers no one knew about right when he needs them, so if there's not a way to foreshadow it, maybe you should try to come up with something else.  Lucky AJ, staying out of the drama LOL.

He probably doesn't need to do it now, it just sounded cool. He's done portions of it before (mostly as a joke), but I thought it could be interesting if it had a more practical application. You're right, it would need to be in the next story. The timeline to add it is just too short. Although, I suppose I technically have about twenty unposted chapters where I could go back and add it in if I really wanted it to happen here in the end.

Obviously AJ can't be the Chosen One, Nick is the Chosen One! I'm kidding, lol. Nick struggles so hard all the time, does his best, and gets excited and unfocused when things go his way. AJ is lucky! Why am I being so nice to him and so hard on everyone else? Hmmm... Your days are numbered, AJ!


I checked my stats on AO3 today too and noticed that, after my novels, the short story that has the most hits is the stupid sci-fi/slash/m-preg I wrote for an April Fool's challenge here.  It doesn't have any comments and only kudos, but it has that damn Nick/Brian tag, so people clicked on it.  So if you want to improve your stats, have Nick and Brian kiss and slap a slash tag on it LOL.

I think that's more the slash and m-preg than the sci-fi aspect of it, lol. What was the April Fool's challenge, write a genre totally opposite of your typical work? Okay, but PBox&Co is very much Nick&Brian, not Nick/Brian, even though Brian likes to tease. I just can't lie to people like that for accolades, lol.


Ugh, I know.  And of course they found an oil leak, so now I have to take it back next week to get that fixed.  There's always something, which is why I hate taking it in.  I usually go over my mileage and the recommended number of months, and nothing bad has happened... except apparently a leak? LOL  But I don't know if there's any correlation there.

Adulting sucks.  I did absolutely nothing productive today in the real world except dishes, and it was glorious!

Oh no! Sorry your oil is leaking; that can get pretty scary. Glad it's good otherwise though. I drove my last car with a slowly dying transmission for about a year to a year and a half, so... I get it. It wasn't worth replacing the transmission though since it was a Saturn older than Millennium, lol.

Jealous. I went to work and did the dishes, lol.


I'm not sure about the popularity of e-readers.  I've learned to like reading that way because it's easier to lie in bed and read in the dark than with a paper book.  But I currently don't have a working Kindle, so I have to read on my phone.  It's okay, but I prefer having a bigger screen.  So I think there's still a place for e-readers for those who don't need a physical book.

I do think it's easier to find mistakes when I'm reading that way, maybe because fewer words fit on the screen so it's easier to focus on what's there instead of skimming?  I obviously didn't catch them all that way though because Google keeps finding more LOL.

It's not hard to make the actual ebooks.  I downloaded a free program called Calibre that does it.  It's just a matter of converting a doc to PDF and uploading it; then Caliber can convert it into different ebook formats that work for Kindle, Nook, etc.  The most time-consuming part was making a cover for each one, but like I said, I actually enjoy doing that, so it was fun.

I am way too materialistic to be minimalistic LOL.  My aesthetic is more colorful and cluttered.  But it's organized clutter.

That's a good point, it's like a cross between a phone and a book, and not quite as heavy as a tablet. I just like the way real books smell... but I also haven't read anything in a while.

That makes sense that it would be easier to catch with fewer things to focus on. Sorry Google keeps finding more though.

Oh, I'm glad there's a program! I was curious how you were using your website skills and digital savvy to convert files. Does it require you to have a cover or do you just like adding one in?

Same! All of that the same for sure. Case in point, I wore lobster print shorts today, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 04, 2021, 12:08:04 AM
LOL No, and all the ones she has come up with were for jokes, either joke stories or jokes here on the forum.  But she does come up with some great ones!

I've seen several mentions of "Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way" on Reddit, and I thought it was just a joke, like the most Mary Sue fanficcy name ever, but apparently that is the name of the real main character from an infamous Harry Potter fic called "My Immortal."  I had seen references to this story before, but never looked it up, so I finally did...  OMG, it's so bad you can't tell if it's real or satire.

I feel like it's almost harder to take a joke and run with it sometimes, so I always appreciate Mare's thought in her jokes. If anything, the backstories of these fanfictiony Mary Sues are better than their names.

Yeah, it's wild, right?! I didn't read too much into it, but it's all over TV Tropes too (and as you know, I love TV Tropes) and curiosity got the better of me a long while ago. Is it still updating or is it finally finished and/or abandoned?


I think Nastassia the vampire was literally from Transylvania LOL, so I wanted to give her an Eastern-European sounding name.  It means "resurrection," so it worked for an undead character.

Ashalyn and Elyssa aren't too bad, but they are more teenybopperish than the typical name I would pick out.  It's the Ys LOL.  And the E instead of A in Elyssa.  I had read another fanfic with a character who spelled it that way and thought it was cool.

So Eastern-European, so meaningful. My other OF story I've worked on for a while, I went all in on meaningful names for the characters. The rival was definitely named Damon (for its "demon" meaning) and I had a character that came out of a coma and used light powers named "Uriel," so... I was team baby name book for a very long time, lol. Somehow, this never really translated over to my fanfic writing though. I just picked normal sounding names that I liked.

I feel like the 90's were when weird spellings of typical names started, so to me it's more just 90's aesthetic than teenybopperish . Those Ys in the 90's! lol


Absolutely - nothing wrong with Nikki/Nicole until she ends up in a BSB fic and falls in love with Nick LOL.  Same with the other gender-swapped names.  There were a lot of Briannas and variations of Alexandra/Ali back in the day too.  Poor Howie and Kevin... they don't even have Mary Sues named after them!

And Brian falls in love with her too because Brianna is uninteresting, then they have this weird love triangle only for Brian and Nick to realize that they didn't love Nikki/Nicole at all, but each other! And then Nick realizes that dating someone with the same name as him would be weird. lol!

And now I have yet another idea for my comedy story. For sure naming the girl in the romance subplot Nikki or Nicole now, lol.

I know! I tried so hard to come up with a genderswap that made sense and I just couldn't come up with anything and just added feminine suffixes, lol! It just wasn't the same when Nick was with Nikki/Nicole and Howie was with a Hailey or a Hannah just because it started with an H.


LOL I always loved Praline too.  I'm glad it made you laugh!  They were all fanfictiony in different ways - some for being overused in our fandom, others for just being weird and/or spelled weirdly.

Ali for the AJ thing, but I don't think Taylor is that teenybopperish . I guess ladies with masculine names are more of a thing now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 04, 2021, 12:43:16 AM
I wonder if anyone else utilizes your link graveyard. I've seen a bunch of people recommending it on the fanfic reddit lately, but I feel like it's definitely easier to try to find something that used to be on an Angelfire or Geocities site and not an archive like AO3. Speaking of archiving, if there's anyone out there that misses the 2008 version of PBox and wants to archive it for personal reasons, I still have it and can pass it along to whoever; if you want the 2006 version of the first nine chapters, I don't reliably have access to that anymore, lol.

I have no idea.  Even having a links page seems obsolete at this point because there aren't many sites outside of the archive site that update anymore.  But there are still plenty of preserved websites with good, albeit old stories on them.  It would be hard to look for a specific story on one of the archives if you didn't know the title or author.  But then, I guess that would be hard to look for anyway.

Have you ever thought about making a website for the Pbox series and your other stories?  There's a fanfic project idea for you LOL.  It's not necessary, but it might be fun to have a place of your own to post not only the stories, but all the behind the scenes kind of stuff you talk about in your update posts here.


I also enjoy our nightly conversations. I think we're too long winded for everyone else to catch up and chime in, as opposed to the old days when we were too fast, lol. It's probably a little different if not everyone is consistently writing along with us and I think Tracy works nights a lot when we're here? Did I make that up? Really I'm just able to be here because hubs is either away on work trips or busy watching twelve sporting events at once, lol. I just sit next to him and type away.

Yeah, I do think we're hard to keep up with, and people that aren't writing or reading anymore probably don't care about most of what we discuss LOL.  Tracy does work a lot of night shifts, but she's more active on Twitter anyway.  We are way too long-winded to have discussions on Twitter! LOL


I haven't read The Ruins, but Cujo definitely fits! Stephen King writes so many dark things, it's great. I need to read some more of his more recent stuff.

If you like survival kind of horror, definitely check out The Ruins.  It's a pretty quick read because it's such a page-turner.  It's about a group of college kids who go off the beaten track to visit some ancient Mayan ruins while they're on vacation in Mexico, and things go horribly wrong.  I reread it last summer for inspiration while I was writing Bethlehem because I got one of my ideas from that book, but it's much darker than Bethlehem.  There's also a movie version that I actually saw before I knew it was a book, and that is good too.  The author of the book actually wrote the screenplay, so the basic plot is the same, but he purposely switched things up to keep you guessing.

I haven't read any of SK's super recent books, but if you haven't read 11/22/63, that is one of my favorites!  I recommend it to everyone because it's not even a horror story, so I think even people who don't like King's usual books would like it.  Do you have a favorite of his older books?


I think I'm letting the posts in the reddit get to me and their opinion seems to be "warn about everything," haha. I figure I haven't fully tagged any of my stories anyway and probably won't do any tagging that would lead anyone genre blind to me, so... Maybe the specific "graphic depictions of violence" in addition to "chose not to warn" has tipped people off that I write dark stuff.

I have noticed that too.  I wonder if that's a generational difference.  There's so much more talk about mental health and trauma and "triggers" these days than there was when we were growing up, so teens today are probably more conscious of that stuff.  I get it to some extent, but at the same time, it's just fiction.  And it does take away from the experience if everything gets an advance warning.  I live for those shocking moments, both as a reader experiencing them for the first time and a writer creating them.  But it seems like the majority of readers these days prefer dark stuff, whether it's kink or angst or full-on horror.  Like I've said, I have posted stuff that made me squirm, and my readers seemed to enjoy it.  If it was ever too much for any of them, they never mentioned it.


Aww! I would love it if PNecklace had its own little banner. :) Thanks for the offer! As you know, digital media is not my forte, lol. Should I go on a google image hunt for you or just give an aesthetic?

LOL I am much more artistic on the computer than I'm capable of being on paper, so it's a trade off.  If you have something specific in mind, definitely go Google image hunt!  Otherwise, a description of the aesthetic you want will work.  If you have a preference of what kind of color scheme, font style, etc. you want, let me know.


Kind of bummed I missed the cruise years though. I guess I technically moved on, but it was more being creatively spent than just not being interested anymore. Glad some other people check in sometimes. Maybe if they see we've been busy, they'll hang out longer.

I hope there will be more cruise years!  I haven't been able to go on one since 2014, and I miss them.

It seems like new albums tend to re-inspire people and bring them back, so maybe the Christmas album will help. 


LMAO! Of course the only semi-compatible liver they could find was Justin's and then Nick ended up dating his sister. Aww, sad his liver was what killed him; I'm surprised he forgot his meds for something like that. You know, it's good that we can look back and laugh at our early writings these days.

I feel like for feeling ho-hum about NSYNC at the time, I have written them a lot. I think I once tried to start a Sabrina-esque story where Nick and Justin were brothers, lol! Because I just didn't care for Aaron. I ended up not liking it, so it was good that I got to read Kelly's version several years later and that it didn't include Justin or Aaron, lol.

Battle of the bands felt like a reasonable BSB rivalry. Really, I'm just glad that the other band wasn't NSYNC; I dodged a cliche there for sure, lol!

LOL What are the chances?  Yeah, the whole thing was so convoluted!  It only took like four days without meds for him to die, which I'm not sure is the most realistic.  This was before I did any serious research; I just took whatever tidbits I did know and ran with them LOL.

I'm impressed you didn't use NSYNC for the battle of the bands!  I included them in quite a few of my old stories too, always as villains or being made fun of.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 04, 2021, 01:00:51 AM
I think that's more the slash and m-preg than the sci-fi aspect of it, lol. What was the April Fool's challenge, write a genre totally opposite of your typical work? Okay, but PBox&Co is very much Nick&Brian, not Nick/Brian, even though Brian likes to tease. I just can't lie to people like that for accolades, lol.

Yeah, it was the 2008 April challenge here: http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/topic,1036.0.html  We had to write something totally different from what we would normally write under a pen name and then try to guess who wrote what.  It was really fun!  That is hands down the worst story I have posted on AO3 though.  It is definitely the slash that gets people to click, not the sci-fi.

I'm not saying lie; I'm just saying maybe there's room for them to become more than friends in the end? I'm just kidding LOL.


Oh, I'm glad there's a program! I was curious how you were using your website skills and digital savvy to convert files. Does it require you to have a cover or do you just like adding one in?

Same! All of that the same for sure. Case in point, I wore lobster print shorts today, lol.

Yep, it was pretty easy once I figured it out.  You don't have to add a cover, but I like to because then it looks like a real book on Kindle.

Lobster shorts!  Love it!


Yeah, it's wild, right?! I didn't read too much into it, but it's all over TV Tropes too (and as you know, I love TV Tropes) and curiosity got the better of me a long while ago. Is it still updating or is it finally finished and/or abandoned?

I think it was finished, but taken down.  It's been reposted by other people, which is how I found it on ff.net.  There's a Wikipedia page about it if you want to read the whole history.  I skimmed it earlier.  It's interesting because no one knows for sure who actually wrote it and what their intent was.  Some author who's writing a memoir took credit for it and said it was satire, but it's not confirmed that she was telling the truth - people have questioned some inconsistencie s.


So Eastern-European, so meaningful. My other OF story I've worked on for a while, I went all in on meaningful names for the characters. The rival was definitely named Damon (for its "demon" meaning) and I had a character that came out of a coma and used light powers named "Uriel," so... I was team baby name book for a very long time, lol. Somehow, this never really translated over to my fanfic writing though. I just picked normal sounding names that I liked.

I feel like the 90's were when weird spellings of typical names started, so to me it's more just 90's aesthetic than teenybopperish . Those Ys in the 90's! lol

I love baby name sites too!  I sometimes tried to go for meaningful names, and sometimes I just used them to find names I liked or that fit the character.

Very true about the 90s names!


And Brian falls in love with her too because Brianna is uninteresting, then they have this weird love triangle only for Brian and Nick to realize that they didn't love Nikki/Nicole at all, but each other! And then Nick realizes that dating someone with the same name as him would be weird. lol!

And now I have yet another idea for my comedy story. For sure naming the girl in the romance subplot Nikki or Nicole now, lol.

I know! I tried so hard to come up with a genderswap that made sense and I just couldn't come up with anything and just added feminine suffixes, lol! It just wasn't the same when Nick was with Nikki/Nicole and Howie was with a Hailey or a Hannah just because it started with an H.

Ali for the AJ thing, but I don't think Taylor is that teenybopperish . I guess ladies with masculine names are more of a thing now.

LOL Yes!  That is one thing I don't think I ever got far enough to include in Not Another Teenybopper Story - a slash storyline!

I think Taylor just seemed like an overused teeny name to me at the time.  I guess that's when masculine names for girls were becoming really trendy.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 05, 2021, 04:47:52 PM
I have no idea.  Even having a links page seems obsolete at this point because there aren't many sites outside of the archive site that update anymore.  But there are still plenty of preserved websites with good, albeit old stories on them.  It would be hard to look for a specific story on one of the archives if you didn't know the title or author.  But then, I guess that would be hard to look for anyway.

Have you ever thought about making a website for the Pbox series and your other stories?  There's a fanfic project idea for you LOL.  It's not necessary, but it might be fun to have a place of your own to post not only the stories, but all the behind the scenes kind of stuff you talk about in your update posts here.

Does your links page have descriptions of the stories too or just titles and authors? If there are descriptions, I'm sure it would be a good resource if anyone was looking for a specific story from way back when. At least on AO3, you might be able to find it if you knew what the author might tag it as. Although, we all seem less specific on those, so there's probably some genre combing involved.

You know, I haven't. It would be fun to have all the behind the scenes stuff with it, but it's probably not something I want to tackle just yet until I decide for sure if I want to try and market it as OF or not. If I commit to trying to publish it, the less places it needs to be removed from, the better, probably. At this point, I think it's only here and AO3. I assume any lingering hint of it on BSBBLVD is long gone if they still archive old threads (or if the site even exists, haven't looked into it much) and I think it was maybe two other places which could be gone with the geocities purge. I haven't looked into it much at this point, but probably need to eventually.


Yeah, I do think we're hard to keep up with, and people that aren't writing or reading anymore probably don't care about most of what we discuss LOL.  Tracy does work a lot of night shifts, but she's more active on Twitter anyway.  We are way too long-winded to have discussions on Twitter! LOL

Hey, lately I've given people a couple of days here and there to catch up, lol! I can't imagine having these conversations on Twitter, it would take days to finish them... more days than it already does. And twitter just isn't built for walls of text, lol.


If you like survival kind of horror, definitely check out The Ruins.  It's a pretty quick read because it's such a page-turner.  It's about a group of college kids who go off the beaten track to visit some ancient Mayan ruins while they're on vacation in Mexico, and things go horribly wrong.  I reread it last summer for inspiration while I was writing Bethlehem because I got one of my ideas from that book, but it's much darker than Bethlehem.  There's also a movie version that I actually saw before I knew it was a book, and that is good too.  The author of the book actually wrote the screenplay, so the basic plot is the same, but he purposely switched things up to keep you guessing.

I haven't read any of SK's super recent books, but if you haven't read 11/22/63, that is one of my favorites!  I recommend it to everyone because it's not even a horror story, so I think even people who don't like King's usual books would like it.  Do you have a favorite of his older books?

I remember you mentioning that about the Ruins when we were talking about adaptations a while ago, actually. I think I'll check it out at some point.

I haven't read that one! I'll add it to the list. Carrie was definitely one of my favorites. And The Shining. I always meant to read The Dark Tower and never did.


I have noticed that too.  I wonder if that's a generational difference.  There's so much more talk about mental health and trauma and "triggers" these days than there was when we were growing up, so teens today are probably more conscious of that stuff.  I get it to some extent, but at the same time, it's just fiction.  And it does take away from the experience if everything gets an advance warning.  I live for those shocking moments, both as a reader experiencing them for the first time and a writer creating them.  But it seems like the majority of readers these days prefer dark stuff, whether it's kink or angst or full-on horror.  Like I've said, I have posted stuff that made me squirm, and my readers seemed to enjoy it.  If it was ever too much for any of them, they never mentioned it.

It may be. I wonder if it's also more frowned upon depending on how anything potentially triggering is handled. Like if it's in there just for shock value, I could see how it would be more upsetting than things that are handled from a place of realism and care. That and it's not like traditionally published works include any warnings or ratings for that matter.

Speaking of kinks, I'm almost to the point of posting my sex scene and I am very concerned about what kind of fetishes people will assume I have personally, lol.


LOL I am much more artistic on the computer than I'm capable of being on paper, so it's a trade off.  If you have something specific in mind, definitely go Google image hunt!  Otherwise, a description of the aesthetic you want will work.  If you have a preference of what kind of color scheme, font style, etc. you want, let me know.

Valid point! I'll go painting googling again. Otherwise some sort of broody Nick circa 2003-2006 that would look good blue-scaled; I can look for that too, but if you have any ideas off hand, I trust your judgement. I always liked the one I went with for PBox (I feel like a few different people gave me options originally), but couldn't tell you what the font is. Here's the PBox one: https://absolutechaos.net/stories/396/images/pbox.JPG I will need to ponder on a snappy tagline that fits in a 200 x 200 square, lol. My hope is to put them in a little line on the series descriptor, so it's probably good if they're the same size.


I hope there will be more cruise years!  I haven't been able to go on one since 2014, and I miss them.

It seems like new albums tend to re-inspire people and bring them back, so maybe the Christmas album will help.

Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Or at least it will inspire a slew of holiday stories!


LOL What are the chances?  Yeah, the whole thing was so convoluted!  It only took like four days without meds for him to die, which I'm not sure is the most realistic.  This was before I did any serious research; I just took whatever tidbits I did know and ran with them LOL.

I'm impressed you didn't use NSYNC for the battle of the bands!  I included them in quite a few of my old stories too, always as villains or being made fun of.

Well, I'd make my usual joke here, but I feel like the odds are much lower than the song, lol. I wonder how long it takes to reject an organ... Does it depend on the organ? I wonder if taking the medicine beforehand would make it longer? Do you ever get to a point where you don't need the medicine? I know nothing about health and medicine, basically, lol! I roped my bestie into being my "is this medically realistic consultant" as I OF PBox and the first thing I asked was, "can hand sanitizer be used to disinfect a cut in a pinch?" And she said, "not really, also it would hurt like hell, but a naive teenager might think it would, so you could probably still write that." And I thought it was needlessly complicated if it wouldn't actually work, so I scrapped that thought path.

You know, I wouldn't call the female lead of that story a self-insert, but it was dangerously close and I feel like I wanted nothing to do with being related to an NSYNC member, so I made up a band, lmao.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 05, 2021, 04:58:53 PM
Yeah, it was the 2008 April challenge here: http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php/topic,1036.0.html  We had to write something totally different from what we would normally write under a pen name and then try to guess who wrote what.  It was really fun!  That is hands down the worst story I have posted on AO3 though.  It is definitely the slash that gets people to click, not the sci-fi.

I'm not saying lie; I'm just saying maybe there's room for them to become more than friends in the end? I'm just kidding LOL.

I thought it sounded familiar! I did think it was an older thing you wrote for sure. I mean, you did write it as a joke/challenge in a short amount of time, so I can see why you think it's the worst. But the fun and joy is all that matters! If only the sci-fi was what got people to click, lol.

I just don't think there's time to break a romance and build another one while arguing with PBox Nick about why it's a good idea to uproot his life, lol. One of those three things sounds really time consuming.


I think it was finished, but taken down.  It's been reposted by other people, which is how I found it on ff.net.  There's a Wikipedia page about it if you want to read the whole history.  I skimmed it earlier.  It's interesting because no one knows for sure who actually wrote it and what their intent was.  Some author who's writing a memoir took credit for it and said it was satire, but it's not confirmed that she was telling the truth - people have questioned some inconsistencie s.

I don't know that I would want to take credit for that in a memoir whether it was satire or not, lol! It's this big part of fanfic lore, but why play up all the stigmatized parts of fanfic? I don't know if today is the day to deep dive back into that story, but I will probably do so at some point.


I love baby name sites too!  I sometimes tried to go for meaningful names, and sometimes I just used them to find names I liked or that fit the character.

Very true about the 90s names!

It's been a while since I did. I started doing it again with my name changes for the Boys and it is helping me pinpoint at least the ballpark of what I want their names to sound like for each one, but it has been a slow process.

I think what I did with them near the end of my initial fanfic career was looking at nationalities, regions, and popularity lists more than specific meanings.


LOL Yes!  That is one thing I don't think I ever got far enough to include in Not Another Teenybopper Story - a slash storyline!

I think Taylor just seemed like an overused teeny name to me at the time.  I guess that's when masculine names for girls were becoming really trendy.

There's still time! lol

It's definitely one of the more popular masculine names from our era. I think in fanfic at the time, it was shorthand for "this is the tomboyish character" rather than "seemed like a good name for the character."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 05, 2021, 05:11:24 PM
How's writing going the past couple days for everyone?

I woke up yesterday and all I wanted to do was write, but it was the literal end of the story and I promised myself that I wouldn't keep editing the end until I got there in the arcs, especially with five chapters left. I caved and wrote about 80 words of it and I'm glad I did because by the time I got home, I was too exhausted to write. What a waste of an inspiration day! I wonder if I would have chunked out this whole arc if I'd just stayed home and wrote, lol.

I've gotten a little over 1300 words so far today though, but kept focus failing an hour ago, so I decided to take a break and remind you all that I'm not dead, lol. I'm about 1,000 words from what could be the end of this chapter and it feels like I have the next chapter in me today too! (Or at least the start of it. I'm not quite as excited about the whole thing I was about it yesterday.) If I could get both chapters done (or even started), I would feel super productive! I'm happy that this ending is feeling more like "get it done" than "avoid and stare into the void."
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 05, 2021, 09:29:37 PM
What a waste of an inspiration day! I wonder if I would have chunked out this whole arc if I'd just stayed home and wrote, lol.

Apparently, it did carry over to today. I've written just over 3000 words and almost finished two chapters! I stopped on one with a little under a third left because it was starting to feel repetitive and I wanted to look at it with fresher eyes after I figured out what the hook was at the end of the chapter between two choices. I have about a third left on that second chapter as well after deciding on the previous chapter's hook, but I'm worried I've hit a wall. My two coffees aren't helping! :(

Edited to Add: Apparently my fanfic adjacent activity right now is fixing my outline. I want to write, I just feel tired. Think a third coffee will help? Someone stop me from drinking that much caffeine! lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 05, 2021, 11:35:55 PM
Edited to Add: Apparently my fanfic adjacent activity right now is fixing my outline. I want to write, I just feel tired. Think a third coffee will help? Someone stop me from drinking that much caffeine! lol

Did not have a third coffee. Managed about 700 more words, but very tired. Can't focus even though I know exactly what's supposed to happen for the rest of the chapter. Sigh. Hopefully sleep repairs my inspiration/focus and I can finish these two chapters tomorrow! About 900 words and 500 words to chapter length goals. Although the second chapter feels like it may need more than 500 words to finish, we'll see! It was a very productive day! If I can finish both of these tomorrow, I would be very excited! Then only three chapters left! I guess it's technically three full chapters, 1/3 of one chapter, and 1/6 of another chapter to go! Can't believe it's almost the end!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 06, 2021, 02:09:20 AM
Does your links page have descriptions of the stories too or just titles and authors? If there are descriptions, I'm sure it would be a good resource if anyone was looking for a specific story from way back when. At least on AO3, you might be able to find it if you knew what the author might tag it as. Although, we all seem less specific on those, so there's probably some genre combing involved.

The fanfic sites have short descriptions, but not specifics as far as what stories are on each site.  I do have a page of links to my favorite fanfics that includes summaries of each story.


You know, I haven't. It would be fun to have all the behind the scenes stuff with it, but it's probably not something I want to tackle just yet until I decide for sure if I want to try and market it as OF or not. If I commit to trying to publish it, the less places it needs to be removed from, the better, probably. At this point, I think it's only here and AO3. I assume any lingering hint of it on BSBBLVD is long gone if they still archive old threads (or if the site even exists, haven't looked into it much) and I think it was maybe two other places which could be gone with the geocities purge. I haven't looked into it much at this point, but probably need to eventually.

That's a good point.  It would be so hard to have to take a story down, but at least it would be for a good reason!


I remember you mentioning that about the Ruins when we were talking about adaptations a while ago, actually. I think I'll check it out at some point.

I haven't read that one! I'll add it to the list. Carrie was definitely one of my favorites. And The Shining. I always meant to read The Dark Tower and never did.

I probably do talk about The Ruins a lot because it really is one of my favorite horror movies and books, and I don't know anyone else personally who has read it.  Stephen King has read it and praised it though, so there you go.

I've never read The Dark Tower books either, but everyone who has says they're really good, so I should get on that.  I also want to reread The Shining because I read it in high school and didn't love it.  I think I was comparing it too much to the movie, which I grew up watching and love, and the book is very different.  I finally read Carrie a few years ago and enjoyed that one.  My favorites of his older horror books are 'Salem's Lot, The Stand, and Misery, although I have a soft spot for Cujo too.  That was the first King book I read when I was like 14, and it always stuck with me.  I loved the way he wrote the dog and made Cujo a sympathetic character who I cried for, even though of course I was rooting for the human characters to escape too.  Poor Cujo never meant to hurt anyone; he was just sick.


It may be. I wonder if it's also more frowned upon depending on how anything potentially triggering is handled. Like if it's in there just for shock value, I could see how it would be more upsetting than things that are handled from a place of realism and care. That and it's not like traditionally published works include any warnings or ratings for that matter.

Speaking of kinks, I'm almost to the point of posting my sex scene and I am very concerned about what kind of fetishes people will assume I have personally, lol.

Oh yeah, that make sense too.  There's a difference between writing things purely for shock value and writing shocking things that have a purpose for the plot and/or character development.

I have been there with writing fetishy stuff and then worrying about readers will assume about me.  That's when the author's notes come out. LOL  I always feel the need to explain that just because a character or scene comes out of my brain does not mean it's actually based on me or something I would enjoy in real life.  I think people get that, though.  No one thinks Stephen King is a serial killer just because he writes horror.


Valid point! I'll go painting googling again. Otherwise some sort of broody Nick circa 2003-2006 that would look good blue-scaled; I can look for that too, but if you have any ideas off hand, I trust your judgement. I always liked the one I went with for PBox (I feel like a few different people gave me options originally), but couldn't tell you what the font is. Here's the PBox one: https://absolutechaos.net/stories/396/images/pbox.JPG I will need to ponder on a snappy tagline that fits in a 200 x 200 square, lol. My hope is to put them in a little line on the series descriptor, so it's probably good if they're the same size.

That's super helpful, thanks!  Yeah, if you find specific pictures you want me to use, send them my way.  Otherwise, I can find a broody Nick from that era.  And I can give it a similar look to the PBox banner.  I think I even have a font that's similar, if not the same.


Well, I'd make my usual joke here, but I feel like the odds are much lower than the song, lol. I wonder how long it takes to reject an organ... Does it depend on the organ? I wonder if taking the medicine beforehand would make it longer? Do you ever get to a point where you don't need the medicine? I know nothing about health and medicine, basically, lol! I roped my bestie into being my "is this medically realistic consultant" as I OF PBox and the first thing I asked was, "can hand sanitizer be used to disinfect a cut in a pinch?" And she said, "not really, also it would hurt like hell, but a naive teenager might think it would, so you could probably still write that." And I thought it was needlessly complicated if it wouldn't actually work, so I scrapped that thought path.

You know, I wouldn't call the female lead of that story a self-insert, but it was dangerously close and I feel like I wanted nothing to do with being related to an NSYNC member, so I made up a band, lmao.

I know acute liver failure can happen quickly, like after an overdose.  One of my more recent stories also includes a liver transplant subplot (see, there I go recycling storylines again LOL), so I did do proper research for that.  I read articles about people needing liver transplants after overdosing on Tylenol, which is incredibly toxic to the liver in high doses.  If the liver completely shuts down, it would kill you within a week or so.  But I'm not sure how long it would take for a transplanted liver to reject and completely shut down without those anti-rejection meds.  Four days seems a little fast.  I think typically those meds have to be taken for the rest of the person's life.

I'm sure hand sanitizer or any kind of alcohol is better than nothing for disinfecting a cut in a pinch, but yeah, that does seem like it would hurt!  I know sanitizing my hands at school after getting a paper cut definitely stings.

LOL I don't blame you for not wanting your almost self-insert character to be related to an NSYNC member!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 06, 2021, 02:27:15 AM
I think what I did with them near the end of my initial fanfic career was looking at nationalities, regions, and popularity lists more than specific meanings.

That's what I tend to do too.  I love Social Security's baby names site because you can look up lists of popular names from different years.  I tend to start by scrolling through those lists to narrow it down to names I like, and then if I care about the meanings I'll look them up.  Nationalities are helpful too, especially when writing characters you don't want to give a typical, American-sounding name.


There's still time! lol

It's definitely one of the more popular masculine names from our era. I think in fanfic at the time, it was shorthand for "this is the tomboyish character" rather than "seemed like a good name for the character."

LOL True!  I technically never finished that story; I still have a bunch of ideas for it saved.  One of them may even have been a slash storyline.  So if I ever feel like resurrecting it, I have that option.

Also very true about the tomboyish character.  Do you tend to give characters names that fit their personality or intentionally go the opposite route?  I've probably done the former more than the latter, but sometimes I like giving female characters names that can be shortened to a nickname that fits them better than their full name.


How's writing going the past couple days for everyone?

I woke up yesterday and all I wanted to do was write, but it was the literal end of the story and I promised myself that I wouldn't keep editing the end until I got there in the arcs, especially with five chapters left. I caved and wrote about 80 words of it and I'm glad I did because by the time I got home, I was too exhausted to write. What a waste of an inspiration day! I wonder if I would have chunked out this whole arc if I'd just stayed home and wrote, lol.

I've gotten a little over 1300 words so far today though, but kept focus failing an hour ago, so I decided to take a break and remind you all that I'm not dead, lol. I'm about 1,000 words from what could be the end of this chapter and it feels like I have the next chapter in me today too! (Or at least the start of it. I'm not quite as excited about the whole thing I was about it yesterday.) If I could get both chapters done (or even started), I would feel super productive! I'm happy that this ending is feeling more like "get it done" than "avoid and stare into the void."

Aww, I hate those days when all you want to do is write, but you can't!  I'm glad you were able to get some writing in today.  I hope that inspired, excited feeling comes back tomorrow!

I've written about 500 words a day for the past two days.  Today I had plans in the afternoon, so I didn't get to write as long as I might have otherwise, but yesterday I didn't do anything and still couldn't get back into writing mode after I stopped my morning/early afternoon session.  I haven't had a good late night writing session in a while.  But I actually went to bed at a decent time because I was tired and am back up, wide awake, at 2 a.m., so maybe tonight's the night LOL.  I am also contemplating whether I should drink some writing fuel or if that's a really dumb thing to do in the middle of the night.  I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow, but I also don't want to intentionally mess up my sleep schedule any more than it already is or will be a few weeks from now.


Did not have a third coffee. Managed about 700 more words, but very tired. Can't focus even though I know exactly what's supposed to happen for the rest of the chapter. Sigh. Hopefully sleep repairs my inspiration/focus and I can finish these two chapters tomorrow! About 900 words and 500 words to chapter length goals. Although the second chapter feels like it may need more than 500 words to finish, we'll see! It was a very productive day! If I can finish both of these tomorrow, I would be very excited! Then only three chapters left! I guess it's technically three full chapters, 1/3 of one chapter, and 1/6 of another chapter to go! Can't believe it's almost the end!

It was probably a wise decision not to have a third cup of coffee, but I'm sorry you weren't able to focus.  I hate that feeling.  That's what has been happening to me too.  I hope you wake up refreshed and focused tomorrow!  Three more chapters... you've got this!!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 06, 2021, 04:11:14 PM
The fanfic sites have short descriptions, but not specifics as far as what stories are on each site.  I do have a page of links to my favorite fanfics that includes summaries of each story.

That's a good point.  It would be so hard to have to take a story down, but at least it would be for a good reason!

That would be a long links page to list every fanfic on every website, lol! At least your favorites page has summaries.

Yeah, that's why I haven't just bit the bullet yet... And am still publishing the sequel into the void like a crazy person, lol.


I probably do talk about The Ruins a lot because it really is one of my favorite horror movies and books, and I don't know anyone else personally who has read it.  Stephen King has read it and praised it though, so there you go.

I've never read The Dark Tower books either, but everyone who has says they're really good, so I should get on that.  I also want to reread The Shining because I read it in high school and didn't love it.  I think I was comparing it too much to the movie, which I grew up watching and love, and the book is very different.  I finally read Carrie a few years ago and enjoyed that one.  My favorites of his older horror books are 'Salem's Lot, The Stand, and Misery, although I have a soft spot for Cujo too.  That was the first King book I read when I was like 14, and it always stuck with me.  I loved the way he wrote the dog and made Cujo a sympathetic character who I cried for, even though of course I was rooting for the human characters to escape too.  Poor Cujo never meant to hurt anyone; he was just sick.

I'll read it someday, then we can discuss it together.

The book is very different, but I think they're both great in their own ways! Poor Cujo indeed! It was a very nuanced way of writing a "villain," I guess Cujo is the closest thing to a villain there. It's pretty hard to fully demonize a dog though, especially when so many people are Team Pets Over People. It's been a long time since I've read Cujo. Or any King, really. My mom loves him, so it was an easy read to pick up instead of having to trudge to the library.


Oh yeah, that make sense too.  There's a difference between writing things purely for shock value and writing shocking things that have a purpose for the plot and/or character development.

I have been there with writing fetishy stuff and then worrying about readers will assume about me.  That's when the author's notes come out. LOL  I always feel the need to explain that just because a character or scene comes out of my brain does not mean it's actually based on me or something I would enjoy in real life.  I think people get that, though.  No one thinks Stephen King is a serial killer just because he writes horror.

I think it goes back to the "know or are willing to research" aspect. If it's truly important to the plot or character development, then I imagine most authors would put in the due diligence to portray things as accurately (and hopefully sympatheticall y) as possible.

My author's note for that chapter: "You may assume at this point that I have a weird demon fetish. I don't! Although, I've now written two novels about demons and begun a third... in addition to never having met a demon... So who can say for sure? Probably not though." lol I get wanting to separate your person from your fiction.

You never know! Isn't it something like there's anywhere between 25 and 50 active serial killers at any time? Yup! Found it: https://people.com/crime/miranda-barbour-and-serial-killers-misconceptions/ (https://people.com/crime/miranda-barbour-and-serial-killers-misconceptions/)


That's super helpful, thanks!  Yeah, if you find specific pictures you want me to use, send them my way.  Otherwise, I can find a broody Nick from that era.  And I can give it a similar look to the PBox banner.  I think I even have a font that's similar, if not the same.

This will be my fanfic adjacent project this week, lol. I'm excited to see it.


I know acute liver failure can happen quickly, like after an overdose.  One of my more recent stories also includes a liver transplant subplot (see, there I go recycling storylines again LOL), so I did do proper research for that.  I read articles about people needing liver transplants after overdosing on Tylenol, which is incredibly toxic to the liver in high doses.  If the liver completely shuts down, it would kill you within a week or so.  But I'm not sure how long it would take for a transplanted liver to reject and completely shut down without those anti-rejection meds.  Four days seems a little fast.  I think typically those meds have to be taken for the rest of the person's life.

That makes sense that it would happen quickly after an overdose. Isn't the liver an organ that regenerates? I wonder how much you have to damage your own liver in order to need a transplant rather than just waiting for it to get better? Am I making this up? Isn't Tylenol pretty toxic in general? I feel like doctors are always recommending ibuprofin over tylenol for pain medication. If a liver shuts down and would kill you after a week, I'm sure that's probably a reasonable timeline for being off anti-rejection meds. Maybe throw in another day for the previous day's dose to fully wear of or something. Although, I feel like if I was Nick and on a "take this or die" medication, I wouldn't forget it? We've gotta be better about keeping Nick healthy!

You'll be proud of me, he hasn't gotten stabbed once yet in PNcklace! But now that I've realized that... maybe he's due for a stabbing? lol Poor Nick.


I'm sure hand sanitizer or any kind of alcohol is better than nothing for disinfecting a cut in a pinch, but yeah, that does seem like it would hurt!  I know sanitizing my hands at school after getting a paper cut definitely stings.

LOL I don't blame you for not wanting your almost self-insert character to be related to an NSYNC member!

My hands were really dry one random day after I asked that, and I definitely muttered a swear under my breath after trying to use hand sanitizer. I promptly texted her and admitted defeat. I'm glad I decided not to use it. Stabbing Nick is okay, but torturing him with hand sanitizer is just mean, lol.

Especially back in 1999! The shame! lol
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 06, 2021, 04:32:33 PM
That's what I tend to do too.  I love Social Security's baby names site because you can look up lists of popular names from different years.  I tend to start by scrolling through those lists to narrow it down to names I like, and then if I care about the meanings I'll look them up.  Nationalities are helpful too, especially when writing characters you don't want to give a typical, American-sounding name.

I haven't used the Social Security site, but it's exciting to know they have it! And it's probably where any baby name site gets their popularity list data anyway.

I think in general, I care less about meaningful names than I used to. I think I'm leaning more into the meaningful names for the OF PBox Boys simply to say, "yeah that seems like it could be Brian's name if he was named something else," lol.


LOL True!  I technically never finished that story; I still have a bunch of ideas for it saved.  One of them may even have been a slash storyline.  So if I ever feel like resurrecting it, I have that option.

Also very true about the tomboyish character.  Do you tend to give characters names that fit their personality or intentionally go the opposite route?  I've probably done the former more than the latter, but sometimes I like giving female characters names that can be shortened to a nickname that fits them better than their full name.

What made you decide to stop writing it?

Back in meaningful name days, I definitely did, but now I'm more of the opinion that parents would just name a kid something because they liked it, not because they were intending them to be whatever. Like hubs is definitely "Nick" because he was born around St. Nicholas Day, not because my FIL/MIL intended him to be a "victory for the people" or anything. He's probably not; jury might be out on whether our BSB Nick is a victory for the people, lol. Nickname names are a good way to give a character a more meaningful name without picking something weird based solely on its meaning, I think. I did pick based on meaning when you suggested possible old man character names for me and enjoyed the old man soundingness of Virgil and that it meant "staff bearer," so I was sold, lol. Perfectly fitting for the character I had written.


Aww, I hate those days when all you want to do is write, but you can't!  I'm glad you were able to get some writing in today.  I hope that inspired, excited feeling comes back tomorrow!

I've written about 500 words a day for the past two days.  Today I had plans in the afternoon, so I didn't get to write as long as I might have otherwise, but yesterday I didn't do anything and still couldn't get back into writing mode after I stopped my morning/early afternoon session.  I haven't had a good late night writing session in a while.  But I actually went to bed at a decent time because I was tired and am back up, wide awake, at 2 a.m., so maybe tonight's the night LOL.  I am also contemplating whether I should drink some writing fuel or if that's a really dumb thing to do in the middle of the night.  I don't have anywhere to be tomorrow, but I also don't want to intentionally mess up my sleep schedule any more than it already is or will be a few weeks from now.

I wrote about 4,000 words yesterday, so I wonder where I would have been if I could have done that on Friday, lol. I ended up sleeping in really late today, so if anything, my two cups of coffee made me really tired by the end of the day.

I've gotten about 1,200 so far today and am still not done with this chapter (the one that only required 500 more words). There's like two more things that need to happen, but I got super hungry and needed to eat. Then I followed you all on Twitter and checked in here, lol. Hopefully I can get back into it after this. Nano says I can write to the end of the month if I write about 360 words every day, which seems super doable, but I also think I've got more than that in me. We'll see!

Are you still on your Kevin chapter or are you back to Nick? It's interesting that you're having weekend slumps now rather than mid-week slumps. Do you think it's because more people want to do things on the weekend? How did waking up at 2am end up going? Did you write a lot or drink any caffeine?


It was probably a wise decision not to have a third cup of coffee, but I'm sorry you weren't able to focus.  I hate that feeling.  That's what has been happening to me too.  I hope you wake up refreshed and focused tomorrow!  Three more chapters... you've got this!!

I would have been a mess! It was for the best, although once I got into bed I was no longer tired and wide awake, but no writing inspiration came. Hopefully today is super productive for you too! Let's see if I can get back into this arc and finish it off today! Gotta go back and finish the other chapter where I just left myself a note that said [stuff happens]... Why am I like this? lol

Hope your writing has been well! And anyone else who's writing too!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 06, 2021, 05:39:11 PM
One of those two partially finished chapters complete plus the last scene from that arc in the final chapter! Now just 900 words to go back and get through to finish this arc! OMG, feels so exciting! I think I'm going to finish a novel this month, everyone! :o
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 06, 2021, 07:27:18 PM
I think it goes back to the "know or are willing to research" aspect. If it's truly important to the plot or character development, then I imagine most authors would put in the due diligence to portray things as accurately (and hopefully sympatheticall y) as possible.

My author's note for that chapter: "You may assume at this point that I have a weird demon fetish. I don't! Although, I've now written two novels about demons and begun a third... in addition to never having met a demon... So who can say for sure? Probably not though." lol I get wanting to separate your person from your fiction.

You never know! Isn't it something like there's anywhere between 25 and 50 active serial killers at any time? Yup! Found it: https://people.com/crime/miranda-barbour-and-serial-killers-misconceptions/ (https://people.com/crime/miranda-barbour-and-serial-killers-misconceptions/)

Yep, absolutely.  If it's something traumatic you've been through yourself, you have every right to write your truth, no matter how triggering it is for someone else reading.  And if you haven't been through it, you better do the research to write it as accurately and sympatheticall y as you can.

LOL I don't think a demon fetish is so weird, even if you did have one.  Look at how people are with vampires.  Even before Twilight, there used to be a lot of vampire fics in our fandom.  If vampires can be sexy, so can demons.  Especially when they look like Nick. LOL

True, maybe Stephen King is a serial killer.  Or maybe I am... burying the bodies in my backyard at all.


That makes sense that it would happen quickly after an overdose. Isn't the liver an organ that regenerates? I wonder how much you have to damage your own liver in order to need a transplant rather than just waiting for it to get better? Am I making this up? Isn't Tylenol pretty toxic in general? I feel like doctors are always recommending ibuprofin over tylenol for pain medication. If a liver shuts down and would kill you after a week, I'm sure that's probably a reasonable timeline for being off anti-rejection meds. Maybe throw in another day for the previous day's dose to fully wear of or something. Although, I feel like if I was Nick and on a "take this or die" medication, I wouldn't forget it? We've gotta be better about keeping Nick healthy!

You'll be proud of me, he hasn't gotten stabbed once yet in PNcklace! But now that I've realized that... maybe he's due for a stabbing? lol Poor Nick.

Yeah, livers can regenerate, but it takes time, so if the damage was severe enough to completely shut it down in a matter of days, you're screwed.  Tylenol in particular is toxic to the liver, but I think ibuprofen is harder on your stomach.  So pick your poison!  I'm an ibuprofen person myself though.

LOL This was dumb early twenties Nick, so of course he did not have his "take this or die" meds with him.  It's amazing he survives as many fanfics as he does, with all the ailments and injuries we throw his way.  I'm always in favor of another stabbing! LOL


I think in general, I care less about meaningful names than I used to. I think I'm leaning more into the meaningful names for the OF PBox Boys simply to say, "yeah that seems like it could be Brian's name if he was named something else," lol.

Back in meaningful name days, I definitely did, but now I'm more of the opinion that parents would just name a kid something because they liked it, not because they were intending them to be whatever. Like hubs is definitely "Nick" because he was born around St. Nicholas Day, not because my FIL/MIL intended him to be a "victory for the people" or anything. He's probably not; jury might be out on whether our BSB Nick is a victory for the people, lol. Nickname names are a good way to give a character a more meaningful name without picking something weird based solely on its meaning, I think. I did pick based on meaning when you suggested possible old man character names for me and enjoyed the old man soundingness of Virgil and that it meant "staff bearer," so I was sold, lol. Perfectly fitting for the character I had written.

I'm the same way with names.  I've always just picked names I like or that sound good for that character and only look at their actual meanings if I'm torn between names and need help deciding.  Based on what some parents name their kids, I assuming most of them don't bother to look up the meaning or don't care what it means.  For example, I have a friend whose son is named Cooper, which means "barrel maker" after the profession.  I doubt she thought, "Yes, I want my son to be a barrel maker!"  She just thought it was a cute name.  (Although she does like to drink, so maybe the meaning does fit LOL.)  I do like names that do have a more personal meaning or story behind them, like your husband being born close to St. Nicholas Day.  That is meaningful in a different way.


What made you decide to stop writing it?

Broken. LOL  I started it a few months before Broken, and it was always just a dumb side project that kind of fizzled out over the years.  It wasn't really a conscious decision to stop writing it; I just haven't updated it since 2007.


I wrote about 4,000 words yesterday, so I wonder where I would have been if I could have done that on Friday, lol. I ended up sleeping in really late today, so if anything, my two cups of coffee made me really tired by the end of the day.

I've gotten about 1,200 so far today and am still not done with this chapter (the one that only required 500 more words). There's like two more things that need to happen, but I got super hungry and needed to eat. Then I followed you all on Twitter and checked in here, lol. Hopefully I can get back into it after this. Nano says I can write to the end of the month if I write about 360 words every day, which seems super doable, but I also think I've got more than that in me. We'll see!

One of those two partially finished chapters complete plus the last scene from that arc in the final chapter! Now just 900 words to go back and get through to finish this arc! OMG, feels so exciting! I think I'm going to finish a novel this month, everyone! :o

Wow, congrats!!  You've had such a productive weekend!  You're so close to finishing!!


Are you still on your Kevin chapter or are you back to Nick? It's interesting that you're having weekend slumps now rather than mid-week slumps. Do you think it's because more people want to do things on the weekend? How did waking up at 2am end up going? Did you write a lot or drink any caffeine?

I had a really good writing day today and finished my Kevin chapter!  It's 7,000 words long.  ???  I kept checking my word count early on, worrying it was going to be long because I had a lot planned for it, and it was always lower than what I thought.  2,500 words... 3,000 words...  So I eventually stopped checking it and just kept writing.  Well, apparently it more than doubled in length since I stopped checking LOL.  Oh well.  It will just be long then!  I'm not sure what I would do differently to shorten it because I feel like everything I included is important and needed to be in there at some point... and if I split it into two chapters, I would need to come up with something else for the Nick chapter in between, which is a struggle I do not want to bring upon myself, based on how the last couple Nick chapters went.

I did not write anything else or drink caffeine at 2 a.m., and I ended up sleeping until almost noon today, but then I got up and wrote for like 5 hours straight.  I got over 2,000 words written!  What I did differently today was shower first, then go back to bed with my coffee and write.  That way I wouldn't get derailed by the urge to take a shower, which is what has been ending my writing sessions other days.

Yeah, I dunno, I think as long as I can be left alone for a few days without having to go anywhere or do anything I don't want to do, I will write.  Damn social obligations and adult responsibiliti es getting in my way LOL.  I don't know how people with kids get anything done.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 06, 2021, 08:45:30 PM
Yep, absolutely.  If it's something traumatic you've been through yourself, you have every right to write your truth, no matter how triggering it is for someone else reading.  And if you haven't been through it, you better do the research to write it as accurately and sympatheticall y as you can.

LOL I don't think a demon fetish is so weird, even if you did have one.  Look at how people are with vampires.  Even before Twilight, there used to be a lot of vampire fics in our fandom.  If vampires can be sexy, so can demons.  Especially when they look like Nick. LOL

True, maybe Stephen King is a serial killer.  Or maybe I am... burying the bodies in my backyard at all.

I feel like you can tell when someone is writing something from personal experience versus having dutifully researched it versus slapping it together. I can't quite explain the difference well, but it's like feelings jump from the words that aren't necessarily there even when something is very carefully researched and crafted.

Vampires are overplayed after Twilight and all the Anne Rice novels (plus both of them are anti-fanfic). Team demons! It's really just Nick with a couple extra body parts that get in the way sometimes, lol. I mean this in general, not just in a sex scene; being able to fly is neat, but life is hard when you have wings to maneuver through doorways, for instance. Although, I'll be honest, since they're not sentient body parts or anything, I don't always mention them. But I figure that's the same thing as not specifically mentioning a finger if that fingers's not doing anything and I always assume Nick still has ten fingers unless told otherwise, lmao!

I think demons were a harder sell just because they're not as prevalent as vampires and I made the conscious choice to not have them able to simultaneously be the demons and the Backstreet Boys, at least technically, you know I love my loopholes. It's easier to be a vampire and still be a Backstreet Boy, you just stop doing daytime appearances. I'm sure it would have been an easier sell if they were... I don't know... demons that drew power from applause and adulation rather than suffering so they could simultaneously be the Boys and demons, but that didn't fit the story I wanted to tell since they're something else in the PBox universe (but I won't say what yet because spoilers, obviously). Although, now that I'm saying it, demons that get powerful through praise sounds really interesting... However! If I finish all of PBox and then wrote yet another completely different story about demons, then people would assume I had some sort of demon fetish, lol.


Quote
Or maybe I am... burying the bodies in my backyard with my lawnmower.

Fixed it for you. lmao


Yeah, livers can regenerate, but it takes time, so if the damage was severe enough to completely shut it down in a matter of days, you're screwed.  Tylenol in particular is toxic to the liver, but I think ibuprofen is harder on your stomach.  So pick your poison!  I'm an ibuprofen person myself though.

LOL This was dumb early twenties Nick, so of course he did not have his "take this or die" meds with him.  It's amazing he survives as many fanfics as he does, with all the ailments and injuries we throw his way.  I'm always in favor of another stabbing! LOL

Makes sense! Organ failure is a real beast! So you're saying with my wonky stomach, I should actually be taking tylenol... interesting. Ibuprofen has always been less unsavory to me, not in a pill popping way, just tylenol tastes super chalky when it goes down.

I suppose you're right. Early twenties Nick was not a good packer for climate change between regions, so I assume he didn't think too hard about what he had on his person, lol. He survives through the sheer power of author love, of course! He's that 1 in a million odds for anything; fanfic Nick should apply for the lottery, he's very lucky. I'm a horrible person, now that I've said it... I kinda want to stab him... but in a nice way... for character development, lol.


I'm the same way with names.  I've always just picked names I like or that sound good for that character and only look at their actual meanings if I'm torn between names and need help deciding.  Based on what some parents name their kids, I assuming most of them don't bother to look up the meaning or don't care what it means.  For example, I have a friend whose son is named Cooper, which means "barrel maker" after the profession.  I doubt she thought, "Yes, I want my son to be a barrel maker!"  She just thought it was a cute name.  (Although she does like to drink, so maybe the meaning does fit LOL.)  I do like names that do have a more personal meaning or story behind them, like your husband being born close to St. Nicholas Day.  That is meaningful in a different way.

Yeah, same, if there's two equally good names, then it can be a good deciding factor. I think Cooper is a cute name for a kid (though not on any list I've ever had personally), but yes, I also knew it meant "barrel maker," lol. I don't worry about parents' drinking habits until I've had all their children in my class and they're all named after liquor brands. This has happened to me once, lol. I think it's better when it's a personal meaning too rather than a name meaning thing. :)


Broken. LOL  I started it a few months before Broken, and it was always just a dumb side project that kind of fizzled out over the years.  It wasn't really a conscious decision to stop writing it; I just haven't updated it since 2007.

All you needed to say. Completely understand, lol.


Wow, congrats!!  You've had such a productive weekend!  You're so close to finishing!!

I know! Hopefully I can chunk out this 900ish words and then there's only about 8,000 more to go! Crazy! And if these next two chapters are anything like the two chapters I did this weekend, then they'll fly by!

Although, my outline for this arc was very tight. I pretty much followed the major beats of the arc down to each bullet point without major changes (just some minor changes here and there, and writing more than a sentence to convey it, obviously), but it only ended up being five chapters worth as opposed to the six or seven I'd originally planned on. That was fine though, because it didn't need those extra chapters or it would have felt needlessly drawn out. But good thing I was loosey goosey with the other arc and added a whole chapter I hadn't bullet pointed plus one ended up having a clear division of content for two chapters worth of stuff, lol. Really, I think I'm most impressed that I finished two partially started chapters and wrote six others in one month! That's a pretty quick pace! I think I've been excited to finish, despite all the other things going on.


I had a really good writing day today and finished my Kevin chapter!  It's 7,000 words long.  ???  I kept checking my word count early on, worrying it was going to be long because I had a lot planned for it, and it was always lower than what I thought.  2,500 words... 3,000 words...  So I eventually stopped checking it and just kept writing.  Well, apparently it more than doubled in length since I stopped checking LOL.  Oh well.  It will just be long then!  I'm not sure what I would do differently to shorten it because I feel like everything I included is important and needed to be in there at some point... and if I split it into two chapters, I would need to come up with something else for the Nick chapter in between, which is a struggle I do not want to bring upon myself, based on how the last couple Nick chapters went.

I did not write anything else or drink caffeine at 2 a.m., and I ended up sleeping until almost noon today, but then I got up and wrote for like 5 hours straight.  I got over 2,000 words written!  What I did differently today was shower first, then go back to bed with my coffee and write.  That way I wouldn't get derailed by the urge to take a shower, which is what has been ending my writing sessions other days.

Yeah, I dunno, I think as long as I can be left alone for a few days without having to go anywhere or do anything I don't want to do, I will write.  Damn social obligations and adult responsibiliti es getting in my way LOL.  I don't know how people with kids get anything done.

That's really exciting after your couple of slow days! Wow 7000 words! Congrats!! I hate when I do that too. I always keep checking thinking that I might need to add a little something in and then it always surpasses it. I usually stop checking once it's in the 2500 range as long as I know I have something that will at least be 500 more words. After that, I just write until it's done. I feel like my writing goes smoother once I stop worrying about it too. I'd say unless you have a solid plan for a Nick chapter that can go inbetween, don't bother. Let it be long. It sounds like your Kevin chapters are more meaty, so let Kevin have the meat of this story. He's earned it! And it's great that you're having fun with it! :) But if Nick's giving you trouble, maybe you still don't want to write Hot Mess Nick after all, lol.

That's awesome! 2000 words in one writing session! I always find I do better too if I shower first thing when I get up instead of writing, then showering like I did today. I think it's the same thing as getting ready for work, showering just makes me feel like I'm ready for my day, but if I don't shower then maybe I'm ready for the day and maybe I'm not? It's like this weird middle ground.

Ugh, adult responsibiliti es are the worst! lol Anything on your docket the next couple of days? I wish I could stay home and write. I think if I had two more solid days, I could be done. Guess I'll stretch it out over the week, lol.

And once again, we're back to one really long to respond to post, lol!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 06, 2021, 10:05:41 PM
I feel like you can tell when someone is writing something from personal experience versus having dutifully researched it versus slapping it together. I can't quite explain the difference well, but it's like feelings jump from the words that aren't necessarily there even when something is very carefully researched and crafted.

Yes, I agree.  Research can get you so far, but knowing the facts is different from knowing firsthand what something actually feels like.


Vampires are overplayed after Twilight and all the Anne Rice novels (plus both of them are anti-fanfic). Team demons! It's really just Nick with a couple extra body parts that get in the way sometimes, lol. I mean this in general, not just in a sex scene; being able to fly is neat, but life is hard when you have wings to maneuver through doorways, for instance. Although, I'll be honest, since they're not sentient body parts or anything, I don't always mention them. But I figure that's the same thing as not specifically mentioning a finger if that fingers's not doing anything and I always assume Nick still has ten fingers unless told otherwise, lmao!

I think demons were a harder sell just because they're not as prevalent as vampires and I made the conscious choice to not have them able to simultaneously be the demons and the Backstreet Boys, at least technically, you know I love my loopholes. It's easier to be a vampire and still be a Backstreet Boy, you just stop doing daytime appearances. I'm sure it would have been an easier sell if they were... I don't know... demons that drew power from applause and adulation rather than suffering so they could simultaneously be the Boys and demons, but that didn't fit the story I wanted to tell since they're something else in the PBox universe (but I won't say what yet because spoilers, obviously). Although, now that I'm saying it, demons that get powerful through praise sounds really interesting... However! If I finish all of PBox and then wrote yet another completely different story about demons, then people would assume I had some sort of demon fetish, lol.

I think once you've made it clear that he has wings and described them a few times, you probably don't need to keep mentioning them in every scene, unless it's important. 

Demons are definitely less prevalent, but that's probably a good thing because it makes them more unique, especially in BSB fanfic.  I don't know that there's another BSB demon story out there, whereas there used to be a ton of vampire fics.  I also like the idea of demons who get power from praise!  But yeah, it might be good to branch out and try something totally different.


Fixed it for you. lmao

Haha, of course!  I knew the lawnmower would come up again.


He survives through the sheer power of author love, of course! He's that 1 in a million odds for anything; fanfic Nick should apply for the lottery, he's very lucky. I'm a horrible person, now that I've said it... I kinda want to stab him... but in a nice way... for character development, lol.

Yes, except for in 1000 Ways to Kill Nick Carter, where he's the unluckiest character ever.  Although he never stays dead, so maybe that does make him lucky.

Stab stab stab!!!


I don't worry about parents' drinking habits until I've had all their children in my class and they're all named after liquor brands. This has happened to me once, lol.

LOL!!  Classy!


I know! Hopefully I can chunk out this 900ish words and then there's only about 8,000 more to go! Crazy! And if these next two chapters are anything like the two chapters I did this weekend, then they'll fly by!

Although, my outline for this arc was very tight. I pretty much followed the major beats of the arc down to each bullet point without major changes (just some minor changes here and there, and writing more than a sentence to convey it, obviously), but it only ended up being five chapters worth as opposed to the six or seven I'd originally planned on. That was fine though, because it didn't need those extra chapters or it would have felt needlessly drawn out. But good thing I was loosey goosey with the other arc and added a whole chapter I hadn't bullet pointed plus one ended up having a clear division of content for two chapters worth of stuff, lol. Really, I think I'm most impressed that I finished two partially started chapters and wrote six others in one month! That's a pretty quick pace! I think I've been excited to finish, despite all the other things going on.

That's awesome that you were able to tighten it up a little!  Writing 6-8 chapters in a month when you're still working and have other personal stuff going on is impressive!!


That's really exciting after your couple of slow days! Wow 7000 words! Congrats!! I hate when I do that too. I always keep checking thinking that I might need to add a little something in and then it always surpasses it. I usually stop checking once it's in the 2500 range as long as I know I have something that will at least be 500 more words. After that, I just write until it's done. I feel like my writing goes smoother once I stop worrying about it too. I'd say unless you have a solid plan for a Nick chapter that can go inbetween, don't bother. Let it be long. It sounds like your Kevin chapters are more meaty, so let Kevin have the meat of this story. He's earned it! And it's great that you're having fun with it! :) But if Nick's giving you trouble, maybe you still don't want to write Hot Mess Nick after all, lol.

That's awesome! 2000 words in one writing session! I always find I do better too if I shower first thing when I get up instead of writing, then showering like I did today. I think it's the same thing as getting ready for work, showering just makes me feel like I'm ready for my day, but if I don't shower then maybe I'm ready for the day and maybe I'm not? It's like this weird middle ground.

Ugh, adult responsibiliti es are the worst! lol Anything on your docket the next couple of days? I wish I could stay home and write. I think if I had two more solid days, I could be done. Guess I'll stretch it out over the week, lol.

And once again, we're back to one really long to respond to post, lol!

Thanks!  Yeah, that's my thought too - if it was under 1,500 words, I would feel the need to add more, but I don't have a set limit on chapter length.  Most of mine end up under 5,000 words, but it's okay if they go longer.  Kevin's chapters are definitely more meaty.  He has more going on, or at least more that I wanted to write about LOL.  It really is a Kevin story; even Nick's chapters have been mostly reactionary to what Kevin is going through.  I have more subplots planned for Nick later, but I clearly did not give him enough to do beside tour during this part of the story.  Maybe I should have stabbed him? LOL

Yeah, maybe I will try showering first again tomorrow.  It is nice to have that out of the way, in case anything comes up later in the day - that way, it's much quicker to get ready.  All I have tomorrow is my nephew's baseball game, but that's not until evening, so it shouldn't affect my writing.  Tuesday I have to take my car back in to get that leak fixed, so I won't be able to write as long as I did today.

I hear you on just wanting two more days.  Wouldn't it be nice if every weekend was a three-day weekend?  I would get so much more done during the school year that way.  I hope you can carry your inspiration through the week!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 06, 2021, 10:32:55 PM
I think once you've made it clear that he has wings and described them a few times, you probably don't need to keep mentioning them in every scene, unless it's important. 

Demons are definitely less prevalent, but that's probably a good thing because it makes them more unique, especially in BSB fanfic.  I don't know that there's another BSB demon story out there, whereas there used to be a ton of vampire fics.  I also like the idea of demons who get power from praise!  But yeah, it might be good to branch out and try something totally different.

I usually only find important ways to bring them up again once I start to forget about them while writing. I'll be honest though, it's usually the tails I forget about. At least you can fly with wings, tails are just kind of there, lol.

I think they're less prevalent in general, depending on the content of a story. If it's a Heaven and Hell type thing, they're usually there, but they're less present than other standard fantasy races, even less so than angels, unless there's conjuring stuff going on. But you're right, I can't think of any other BSB demon stories. Once again, I'm the AJ.

The more I think about it, the more it sounds awesome, lol. Maybe it's a short story. I have no plot ideas for it, so right now it's going to live in the territory of "neat concept."


Haha, of course!  I knew the lawnmower would come up again.

 :biggrin: The perfect time!


Yes, except for in 1000 Ways to Kill Nick Carter, where he's the unluckiest character ever.  Although he never stays dead, so maybe that does make him lucky.

Stab stab stab!!!

If he doesn't stay dead, I'd say that's very lucky, lol.

lol! On it!


That's awesome that you were able to tighten it up a little!  Writing 6-8 chapters in a month when you're still working and have other personal stuff going on is impressive!!

For once I was not verbose. I'd say maybe it's the outline, but that's clearly not true in the other arc, so I don't know what the difference is here. Think I can keep up this 6-8 chapter/month pace? I'd be very prolific if I did!

Now I'm down to about 200 words to go in this chapter! Clearly I am less motivated to finish it (because I'm here), but I'm trying my best!


Thanks!  Yeah, that's my thought too - if it was under 1,500 words, I would feel the need to add more, but I don't have a set limit on chapter length.  Most of mine end up under 5,000 words, but it's okay if they go longer.  Kevin's chapters are definitely more meaty.  He has more going on, or at least more that I wanted to write about LOL.  It really is a Kevin story; even Nick's chapters have been mostly reactionary to what Kevin is going through.  I have more subplots planned for Nick later, but I clearly did not give him enough to do beside tour during this part of the story.  Maybe I should have stabbed him? LOL

Yeah, maybe I will try showering first again tomorrow.  It is nice to have that out of the way, in case anything comes up later in the day - that way, it's much quicker to get ready.  All I have tomorrow is my nephew's baseball game, but that's not until evening, so it shouldn't affect my writing.  Tuesday I have to take my car back in to get that leak fixed, so I won't be able to write as long as I did today.

I hear you on just wanting two more days.  Wouldn't it be nice if every weekend was a three-day weekend?  I would get so much more done during the school year that way.  I hope you can carry your inspiration through the week!

I think 5,000 is my upper limit. Once they start nearing 6,000, I usually try to find some way to split it and add wherever I need to add to reach 3,000 words each. I think it would be harder to do that in a story with strict POV structure than in one without that, since coming up with something for the other character for them to sandwich could be harder than just keeping the chapter long, like you said.

I think it's okay if Nick doesn't have as many subplots. He would be very busy with touring and being a Hot Mess anyway. I feel like there's only so much you can say about Hot Mess Nick if his stuff isn't really the focus of the story, then it just feels like filler.

lmfao! Yes, you should just stab him. Have him get mugged in the next chapter or something.

Aw fun, baseball game! But boo, leak fixing interrupting writing time! At least it will be fixed. If only you could write while you wait for your car to get fixed. Our dryer came, finally, but we apparently need another part no one told us we needed (some sort of stacking kit), so now I still can't wash my clothing. Things are about to get difficult; I am running out of underwear, lol.

I would love it if every week was a three day weekend. Then it would matter less if I was unproductive in general one day. I think I'd be less tired all the time too. Thanks! I hope so too! Hopefully this next Nick chapter goes smoothly for you!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 06, 2021, 11:38:27 PM
Done! One arc done! Only three chapters left! Can't believe it! I don't want to jinx it, but I'm about to finish a novel y'all! In only about 7 months! If it wasn't 10:30, I might just keep writing! I hate that I always feel most motivated to write when I finish a chapter, but should go to bed, lol.

On a side note, I worried I would struggle on those 900 words I needed (especially since I initially left myself a note that said [stuff happens]), but as usual, I had nothing to worry about because this chapter apparently needed about 1400 more words to be finished, lol. I had a couple missteps, but I hacked and slashed them until it was better. Now it's exciting and better paced.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on June 07, 2021, 01:13:54 AM
Writing is going OK for me this weekend. I'm almost done with Chapter 19... I'm at 1,300 ish words so I should finish it by morning provided Nick doesn't butt in. He's been quiet so far, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 07, 2021, 02:01:44 AM
I usually only find important ways to bring them up again once I start to forget about them while writing. I'll be honest though, it's usually the tails I forget about. At least you can fly with wings, tails are just kind of there, lol.

Do the demons use their tails like whips to hit each other with?  Cause I could see Nick and Brian doing that to each other a lot. LOL


I think they're less prevalent in general, depending on the content of a story. If it's a Heaven and Hell type thing, they're usually there, but they're less present than other standard fantasy races, even less so than angels, unless there's conjuring stuff going on. But you're right, I can't think of any other BSB demon stories. Once again, I'm the AJ.

It's cool to be the only one who's done something!  Angels have definitely been done in fanfic, but not so much demons.  Especially not lovable demons.


If he doesn't stay dead, I'd say that's very lucky, lol.

It's both a blessing and a curse.  On one hand, how lucky that he can miraculously come back to life for the next installment... but on the other hand, how horrible to have to die over and over again in 1000 different painful and/or humiliating ways.


For once I was not verbose. I'd say maybe it's the outline, but that's clearly not true in the other arc, so I don't know what the difference is here. Think I can keep up this 6-8 chapter/month pace? I'd be very prolific if I did!

With the right story, maybe!  You're on the end-of-story streak with this one, but if you continue on to the third installment, maybe you can keep that inspiration alive.  Or maybe you'll move on to something totally different, which can be equally inspiring.


I think 5,000 is my upper limit. Once they start nearing 6,000, I usually try to find some way to split it and add wherever I need to add to reach 3,000 words each. I think it would be harder to do that in a story with strict POV structure than in one without that, since coming up with something for the other character for them to sandwich could be harder than just keeping the chapter long, like you said.

I think it's okay if Nick doesn't have as many subplots. He would be very busy with touring and being a Hot Mess anyway. I feel like there's only so much you can say about Hot Mess Nick if his stuff isn't really the focus of the story, then it just feels like filler.

lmfao! Yes, you should just stab him. Have him get mugged in the next chapter or something.

Yeah, I'm trying not to just come up with filler for Nick.  That's how BMS got to be so long - lots of filler to keep things balanced between Nick and Claire.  I learned my lesson.  But don't tempt me with the stabbing LOL.  I actually don't think I've ever stabbed Nick in a story before... Brian, yes.  Nick, no?  Not that I can remember offhand, anyway.


Aw fun, baseball game! But boo, leak fixing interrupting writing time! At least it will be fixed. If only you could write while you wait for your car to get fixed. Our dryer came, finally, but we apparently need another part no one told us we needed (some sort of stacking kit), so now I still can't wash my clothing. Things are about to get difficult; I am running out of underwear, lol.

I would love it if every week was a three day weekend. Then it would matter less if I was unproductive in general one day. I think I'd be less tired all the time too. Thanks! I hope so too! Hopefully this next Nick chapter goes smoothly for you!

Oh no!  That's a long time you've been without a working washer.  That's so frustrating.  My washer broke last year right in the beginning of lockdown, and I didn't know what to do at first.  I didn't really want to go to a laundrymat or an appliance store or have a repairman come over.  So I did some googling and figured out it was just the belt that broke... and then I ordered a replacement belt for cheap and managed to fix it myself!  Thanks, YouTube!  I hope your part comes soon so you can get everything set up and working!

Yeah, for real - I feel like it takes me Friday night and most of Saturday to recover from the week, so I don't usually get into my writing groove until Sunday, and then the weekend's over before I know it.  We really should have Mondays off.


Done! One arc done! Only three chapters left! Can't believe it! I don't want to jinx it, but I'm about to finish a novel y'all! In only about 7 months! If it wasn't 10:30, I might just keep writing! I hate that I always feel most motivated to write when I finish a chapter, but should go to bed, lol.

On a side note, I worried I would struggle on those 900 words I needed (especially since I initially left myself a note that said [stuff happens]), but as usual, I had nothing to worry about because this chapter apparently needed about 1400 more words to be finished, lol. I had a couple missteps, but I hacked and slashed them until it was better. Now it's exciting and better paced.

Yay!!  So proud of you!  I know the feeling; I am always most motivated on Sunday night when I need to go to bed.  Ugh.  I hope you wake up still inspired and are able to write before/after work tomorrow.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 07, 2021, 02:02:38 AM
Writing is going OK for me this weekend. I'm almost done with Chapter 19... I'm at 1,300 ish words so I should finish it by morning provided Nick doesn't butt in. He's been quiet so far, lol.

Yay!  You are also almost done!  So proud of you, too; you've written this one so quickly!

I had a productive afternoon, but have yet to start my Nick chapter tonight.  But I did do some rereading and editing on the last few chapters, so that was still productive in its own way.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 07, 2021, 10:44:19 PM
I saw this thread on Reddit yesterday and thought it was a good question.  Is there something you did early in your fanfic writing that you don't do anymore?  https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/nu1mf9/is_there_something_you_did_early_in_your_fanfic/

The OP talked about writing vague summaries that were meant to be mysterious and intriguing, but probably just made prospective readers go, "Huh, what?" and scroll on by.  I was like, "Wow, that sounds like me!" LOL  I still don't like to give away too much in my summaries, but I think my last few have been better at revealing enough basic plot details to give people an idea of what the story's about without spoiling the surprises.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 07, 2021, 10:56:04 PM
I saw this thread on Reddit yesterday and thought it was a good question.  Is there something you did early in your fanfic writing that you don't do anymore?  https://www.reddit.com/r/FanFiction/comments/nu1mf9/is_there_something_you_did_early_in_your_fanfic/

The OP talked about writing vague summaries that were meant to be mysterious and intriguing, but probably just made prospective readers go, "Huh, what?" and scroll on by.  I was like, "Wow, that sounds like me!" LOL  I still don't like to give away too much in my summaries, but I think my last few have been better at revealing enough basic plot details to give people an idea of what the story's about without spoiling the surprises.

Good question!

I honestly feel like the summary for PBox is exactly that, vague intending to be mysterious and intriguing. So of course I made PNecklace mimic it, lol. I don't know that I have a better summary for either of them; I have a very hard time summarizing this tale. I will say though, that I feel like my holiday story summary is much better than any summaries I used to write. Give the basic idea without giving too much away. I made one tiny tweak to it after posting, which was to add "In December 1999" to the beginning, and then it got higher read counts.

Otherwise, things I used to do that I don't anymore... Weird dialogue tags is probably the biggest one. Post without editing or majorly proofreading? lmao Start writing and posting any old thing that came to my head?

I'm sure I probably still do a lot of things that are frowned upon, but I've really tried to be better about them. I can't think of any right now.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 07, 2021, 11:40:18 PM
Popping back and forth as I try to complete this week's edit. Whenever PBox Nick and I stumble over his feelings, I pause... So here I am again typing this reply off and on, lol.

Do the demons use their tails like whips to hit each other with?  Cause I could see Nick and Brian doing that to each other a lot. LOL

You know, they don't, lol! Honestly, Nick and Brian probably don't play fight as much as they should. Like I said before, tails are boring, they're just kind of there doing nothing... or wagging while they sleep like puppies, lol.


It's cool to be the only one who's done something!  Angels have definitely been done in fanfic, but not so much demons.  Especially not lovable demons.

Yes, my vague "It's about demons, but they're the heroes" description usually surprises people, lol. You can't help but love them when they're the Boys; they're just too warm and fuzzy. :)


It's both a blessing and a curse.  On one hand, how lucky that he can miraculously come back to life for the next installment... but on the other hand, how horrible to have to die over and over again in 1000 different painful and/or humiliating ways.

That's true, I guess it's not super fun if you're only coming back to life to die again! Now I feel bad adding to his misery, lol. Oh well, stab stab!


With the right story, maybe!  You're on the end-of-story streak with this one, but if you continue on to the third installment, maybe you can keep that inspiration alive.  Or maybe you'll move on to something totally different, which can be equally inspiring.

True! I think I'm getting ahead of myself, lol. The end of story streak is just a whirlwind though. It's been a while since I've been here.


Yeah, I'm trying not to just come up with filler for Nick.  That's how BMS got to be so long - lots of filler to keep things balanced between Nick and Claire.  I learned my lesson.  But don't tempt me with the stabbing LOL.  I actually don't think I've ever stabbed Nick in a story before... Brian, yes.  Nick, no?  Not that I can remember offhand, anyway.

Would you say more of Nick was the filler in that one or more of Claire? I can't remember. Okay, but there's a whole story about all the ways Nick can die, is a stabbing ever filler? lol Now that you mention it, I think the only one who hasn't gotten stabbed in PBox&Co is Brian! Maybe I should be stabbing Brian instead of Nick, lol.


Oh no!  That's a long time you've been without a working washer.  That's so frustrating.  My washer broke last year right in the beginning of lockdown, and I didn't know what to do at first.  I didn't really want to go to a laundrymat or an appliance store or have a repairman come over.  So I did some googling and figured out it was just the belt that broke... and then I ordered a replacement belt for cheap and managed to fix it myself!  Thanks, YouTube!  I hope your part comes soon so you can get everything set up and working!

Yeah, for real - I feel like it takes me Friday night and most of Saturday to recover from the week, so I don't usually get into my writing groove until Sunday, and then the weekend's over before I know it.  We really should have Mondays off.

I'm about to lose it, lol. This would be even worse if it was last year at the beginning of lockdown. I'm glad that yours was just a belt and easy to fix! And props to you for learning from a YouTube video! That's awesome! Oh actually, now that I think of it, our house flooded a little and we had to replace our flooring last year around this time. That was... fun. I basically hid upstairs every time the construction workers were here. It'll be next week. So another week and a half until I can do some laundry. Thankfully, a friend in our same community has been letting us borrow his washer in the meantime.

I feel like Saturdays were my groove days the past month. That's why Memorial Day was awesome. I got a groove Saturday and a groove Monday! I should just start taking random three day weekends here and there. You should do the same.


Yay!!  So proud of you!  I know the feeling; I am always most motivated on Sunday night when I need to go to bed.  Ugh.  I hope you wake up still inspired and are able to write before/after work tomorrow.

I actually did wake up inspired, but then remembered how long it took me to edit last week's chapter, so I opted to edit rather than write anything new. I finished the first scene and the second scene is much shorter, so it should go quick tomorrow. I have no idea what to Author Talk about this week though, lol.

One of my friends beta reading the OF version said she was really enjoying it so far, so that made me happy. Her only notes were asking me what some vocabulary was. :) And that I can be repetitive sometimes, lol. I was like "Absolutely I ramble. Please tell me where I'm repeating myself!" Realistically, I probably have to cut PBox down by at least 80,000 words, so if I'm repeating myself, I just want to cut it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 07, 2021, 11:42:18 PM
Writing is going OK for me this weekend. I'm almost done with Chapter 19... I'm at 1,300 ish words so I should finish it by morning provided Nick doesn't butt in. He's been quiet so far, lol.

Yay, you posted! I'm excited you're almost finished too!

Did Nick end up butting in or was it okay?

Yay!  You are also almost done!  So proud of you, too; you've written this one so quickly!

I had a productive afternoon, but have yet to start my Nick chapter tonight.  But I did do some rereading and editing on the last few chapters, so that was still productive in its own way.

How'd writing end up going today with the start of the Nick chapter?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 07, 2021, 11:55:55 PM
Good question!

I honestly feel like the summary for PBox is exactly that, vague intending to be mysterious and intriguing. So of course I made PNecklace mimic it, lol. I don't know that I have a better summary for either of them; I have a very hard time summarizing this tale. I will say though, that I feel like my holiday story summary is much better than any summaries I used to write. Give the basic idea without giving too much away. I made one tiny tweak to it after posting, which was to add "In December 1999" to the beginning, and then it got higher read counts.

Otherwise, things I used to do that I don't anymore... Weird dialogue tags is probably the biggest one. Post without editing or majorly proofreading? lmao Start writing and posting any old thing that came to my head?

I'm sure I probably still do a lot of things that are frowned upon, but I've really tried to be better about them. I can't think of any right now.

I'm a fan of summaries that make me curious enough to click, so let's keep writing vague, mysterious, and intriguing ones!

That's interesting that the addition of 1999 increased your read count.  I guess readers like nostalgia?  I usually do include the date if I'm writing a story set in a specific time period, especially if it's that far in the past. 

Those are all good ones.  I do still use some weird dialogue tags because "said" and "replied" get to be too repetitive for me, but not as much as I used to.  I probably use them more in third person fics than first person; I limit my vocabulary a little more in first person so the narration sounds more like it's coming from a real person.

Trying to think of some other things I no longer do...

- Put song lyrics at the beginning or end of a chapter (or sometimes in the middle).  I only use song lyrics if the song is actually part of a scene, being sung, listened to, or referenced by a character.

- Put author's notes all over the place.  (I saw this one a lot in that thread.)  I only write author's notes if I feel the need to explain something or give credit where credit is due, and I typically post them at the end of the chapter so they're not distracting.

- Write a novel without some sort of outline.

- Post chapters as soon as I finish them.

- Write cheesy epilogues that take place in Heaven.

- Include NSYNC members (except for 00Carter - that one gets grandfathered in for being almost 15 years old LOL).

- Write Nick cancer stories? LOL
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 08, 2021, 12:16:46 AM
You know, they don't, lol! Honestly, Nick and Brian probably don't play fight as much as they should. Like I said before, tails are boring, they're just kind of there doing nothing... or wagging while they sleep like puppies, lol.

Aww LOL.  That's a cute mental image you've created.


That's true, I guess it's not super fun if you're only coming back to life to die again! Now I feel bad adding to his misery, lol. Oh well, stab stab!

Stab away!  It will only stop once we get to 1000 deaths, and we have a long ways to go LOL.  But if it's any consolation, there's also the spin-off where Nick gets his revenge by killing fans.  So if you want to redeem yourself, you can write a kill next.  It's kinda fun writing Nick as a sadistic yet sexy serial killer!


Would you say more of Nick was the filler in that one or more of Claire? I can't remember. Okay, but there's a whole story about all the ways Nick can die, is a stabbing ever filler? lol Now that you mention it, I think the only one who hasn't gotten stabbed in PBox&Co is Brian! Maybe I should be stabbing Brian instead of Nick, lol.

I think it was pretty evenly balanced between them.  They both had filler subplots at different points in the story.

LOL If stabbing is the filler, it does make me wonder what's going on in the main plot that trumps that.

If Nick has already been stabbed and Brian hasn't, then yes, definitely stab Brian!  Spread the wealth pain!


I'm about to lose it, lol. This would be even worse if it was last year at the beginning of lockdown. I'm glad that yours was just a belt and easy to fix! And props to you for learning from a YouTube video! That's awesome! Oh actually, now that I think of it, our house flooded a little and we had to replace our flooring last year around this time. That was... fun. I basically hid upstairs every time the construction workers were here. It'll be next week. So another week and a half until I can do some laundry. Thankfully, a friend in our same community has been letting us borrow his washer in the meantime.

I feel like Saturdays were my groove days the past month. That's why Memorial Day was awesome. I got a groove Saturday and a groove Monday! I should just start taking random three day weekends here and there. You should do the same.

Oh no, having your floor replaced because of a flood at the beginning of lockdown sounds terrible!  But at least you got new flooring out of it; I hope you like it better than the old!  I'm glad you have a friend who's letting you use his washer so you don't have to go to the laundrymat.

Monday is the ideal day to take off.  Most people take off Fridays, but I can handle going to work on a Friday... because it's Friday!  The weekend is near.  But if you take off Monday, then you can avoid the Sunday night blues and come back to work knowing it's already Tuesday!  I should do that more, but I usually end up stressing over sub plans and wondering what I'm going to come back to the next day that I don't enjoy days off as much as I should, unless I'm traveling somewhere - then I don't really care; it can wait till I come back LOL.


I actually did wake up inspired, but then remembered how long it took me to edit last week's chapter, so I opted to edit rather than write anything new. I finished the first scene and the second scene is much shorter, so it should go quick tomorrow. I have no idea what to Author Talk about this week though, lol.

One of my friends beta reading the OF version said she was really enjoying it so far, so that made me happy. Her only notes were asking me what some vocabulary was. :) And that I can be repetitive sometimes, lol. I was like "Absolutely I ramble. Please tell me where I'm repeating myself!" Realistically, I probably have to cut PBox down by at least 80,000 words, so if I'm repeating myself, I just want to cut it.

I'm glad you got your editing out of the way so you won't stress out about that on Wednesday.  Yay for a good review from your friend!  That's good that she's giving you some notes of things you can edit, but glad it's overall enjoyable!


How'd writing end up going today with the start of the Nick chapter?

I ended up going upstairs to my writing room last night and got a good start on Nick's chapter in the early a.m.  My first late night writing session of summer!  Then I wrote some more after I woke up this morning, so altogether I was over my needed word count for today.  I also organized a couple closets, so it was a fairly productive day!  Hoping to get some more written tonight.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 08, 2021, 10:19:37 PM
I'm a fan of summaries that make me curious enough to click, so let's keep writing vague, mysterious, and intriguing ones!

Deal. I like being vague anyway, lol


That's interesting that the addition of 1999 increased your read count.  I guess readers like nostalgia?  I usually do include the date if I'm writing a story set in a specific time period, especially if it's that far in the past.

I like nostalgia too, so I get it. I thought maybe confirmation that it was classic Backstreet swayed everyone. No wives, no girlfriends, no children, just Boys. It's probably a good tactic to orient readers to the time frame right away.


Those are all good ones.  I do still use some weird dialogue tags because "said" and "replied" get to be too repetitive for me, but not as much as I used to.  I probably use them more in third person fics than first person; I limit my vocabulary a little more in first person so the narration sounds more like it's coming from a real person.

Trying to think of some other things I no longer do...

- Put song lyrics at the beginning or end of a chapter (or sometimes in the middle).  I only use song lyrics if the song is actually part of a scene, being sung, listened to, or referenced by a character.

- Put author's notes all over the place.  (I saw this one a lot in that thread.)  I only write author's notes if I feel the need to explain something or give credit where credit is due, and I typically post them at the end of the chapter so they're not distracting.

- Write a novel without some sort of outline.

- Post chapters as soon as I finish them.

- Write cheesy epilogues that take place in Heaven.

- Include NSYNC members (except for 00Carter - that one gets grandfathered in for being almost 15 years old LOL).

- Write Nick cancer stories? LOL

I'm pretty sure I've gone the opposite route to avoid them and made every character an unnecessary busy body instead, lol. I think in first person, it's also easier to differentiate between "me" and "not me" without having to tag it in some way. I can't think of the last time I used "replied."

Random song lyrics were all the rage way back when! I won't lie to you and say I don't use tiny pieces of songs, because I do that in spades without meaning too, but I can't think of the last time I specifically wrote down lyrics.

End of the chapter is the best place for Author Notes. It doesn't interrupt the story and you can talk about what went on.

I'm dying at this list, especially the question mark in "Write Nick cancer stories?" lol! Does PBox&Co get grandfathered in to having NSYNC in it too? Like I know PNecklace is new, but they can't just suddenly disappear from the story, lol.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 08, 2021, 10:43:55 PM
Aww LOL.  That's a cute mental image you've created.

Thanks. :) They're lovably created demons, lol.


Stab away!  It will only stop once we get to 1000 deaths, and we have a long ways to go LOL.  But if it's any consolation, there's also the spin-off where Nick gets his revenge by killing fans.  So if you want to redeem yourself, you can write a kill next.  It's kinda fun writing Nick as a sadistic yet sexy serial killer!

Do enough people have 900 more deaths in them? What was the inspiration for 1000 deaths? I think Nick deserves to be a sadistic and sexy serial killer after dying so many times, lol. Though I think his reaction to death by snail would be "WTF?" more than murderous rage, lol.


I think it was pretty evenly balanced between them.  They both had filler subplots at different points in the story.

LOL If stabbing is the filler, it does make me wonder what's going on in the main plot that trumps that.

If Nick has already been stabbed and Brian hasn't, then yes, definitely stab Brian!  Spread the wealth pain!

If nothing else, at least they had equal filler and not one more than the other. I think that's what would be hard about giving Nick extra plots in MBK if it doesn't feel like Kevin needs them, wouldn't want one story to be weaker just for being less A plot focused.

Something way more exciting than stabbing, obviously! lol Can't think of what that might be though... Maybe it's the opposite. It's a light and fluffy story with some F Plot stabbings.

LMAO! I misremembered my own story, I definitely stabbed Brian in PBox (how could I forget that he died?!); so I stabbed all of them lovingly at least once in PBox and Nick several times. So now we're back to me being on Chapter Forty-Eight without stabbing Nick yet... What do you think, Nick? Should I stab you? Then cryptic Nick pops up and goes "ummm..." It's been fifteen years, but we're due, lol.


Oh no, having your floor replaced because of a flood at the beginning of lockdown sounds terrible!  But at least you got new flooring out of it; I hope you like it better than the old!  I'm glad you have a friend who's letting you use his washer so you don't have to go to the laundrymat.

We had one of those big plastic wraps with the zippers up for about a week as it dried out, it was no fun. It's just new? Hubs picked the exact same flooring as before, he's such a creature of habit, lol. Yeah, me too. Now that I've had my own washer and dryer, I can't go back to a laundrymat.


Monday is the ideal day to take off.  Most people take off Fridays, but I can handle going to work on a Friday... because it's Friday!  The weekend is near.  But if you take off Monday, then you can avoid the Sunday night blues and come back to work knowing it's already Tuesday!  I should do that more, but I usually end up stressing over sub plans and wondering what I'm going to come back to the next day that I don't enjoy days off as much as I should, unless I'm traveling somewhere - then I don't really care; it can wait till I come back LOL.

Yes! We were joking about working four tens today and I was all for it for all the reasons you listed; I volunteered to never come in on a Monday again if it became real. That will never happen, but it sure would be nice. Sub plans are hard for sure, especially if you're just taking a random day off for something. On vacation, it's definitely easier to not worry about it.


I'm glad you got your editing out of the way so you won't stress out about that on Wednesday.  Yay for a good review from your friend!  That's good that she's giving you some notes of things you can edit, but glad it's overall enjoyable!

Finished today. I edited a lot more than I'd originally planned on in this chapter, but I think it ended up better for it. Maybe tomorrow I'll just be able to write. I've never gotten much done on a Wednesday, but tomorrow might be the day, lol.

It was exciting! I also enjoy... appreciate might be a better word... appreciate when they tear it to shreds, but engaging was good to hear. :)


I ended up going upstairs to my writing room last night and got a good start on Nick's chapter in the early a.m.  My first late night writing session of summer!  Then I wrote some more after I woke up this morning, so altogether I was over my needed word count for today.  I also organized a couple closets, so it was a fairly productive day!  Hoping to get some more written tonight.

That is a productive day! Closets, morning writing, late writing, and a baseball game! How was it getting back into the late night sessions? Better than morning writing or about the same? Hope last night and today went great and you finished the Nick chapter!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 08, 2021, 11:14:22 PM
I'm pretty sure I've gone the opposite route to avoid them and made every character an unnecessary busy body instead, lol. I think in first person, it's also easier to differentiate between "me" and "not me" without having to tag it in some way. I can't think of the last time I used "replied."

I enjoy "replied" as an alternate to "said" that's not weird.  It's nice when you can avoid dialogue tags altogether, but sometimes I enjoy putting them in just to break up longer pieces of dialogue.  First person definitely makes it easier to differentiate between characters, as well as not having to use characters' names as often.  You can get away with using more pronouns.  The main reason I decided to write my slash in first person was so it wouldn't get confusing with all the "he/his/him" LOL.  At least one of them could be "I/me" then.


I'm dying at this list, especially the question mark in "Write Nick cancer stories?" lol! Does PBox&Co get grandfathered in to having NSYNC in it too? Like I know PNecklace is new, but they can't just suddenly disappear from the story, lol.

LOL I know if I say definitively I am NEVER writing another Nick cancer story, I will inevitably get an idea for one and be tempted.  But I'm not planning to.

Yes, PBox & Co get grandfathered into the "No NSYNC" rule.  They can only disappear if you kill them.  Stab stab stab!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 08, 2021, 11:23:13 PM
Do enough people have 900 more deaths in them? What was the inspiration for 1000 deaths? I think Nick deserves to be a sadistic and sexy serial killer after dying so many times, lol. Though I think his reaction to death by snail would be "WTF?" more than murderous rage, lol.

The inspiration was a conversation (probably here) about how cruel we are all to Nick in fanfic and the show 1000 Ways to Die.  LOL He would have the WTF reaction to a lot of his deaths; some of them are pretty random.  He can get his revenge on the snail in Revenge of the Slaughtered.


Something way more exciting than stabbing, obviously! lol Can't think of what that might be though... Maybe it's the opposite. It's a light and fluffy story with some F Plot stabbings.

LMAO! I misremembered my own story, I definitely stabbed Brian in PBox (how could I forget that he died?!); so I stabbed all of them lovingly at least once in PBox and Nick several times. So now we're back to me being on Chapter Forty-Eight without stabbing Nick yet... What do you think, Nick? Should I stab you? Then cryptic Nick pops up and goes "ummm..." It's been fifteen years, but we're due, lol.

I would enjoy romantic comedies more if they contained random stabbing subplots LOL.

And yes, if it's been fifteen years, then Nick is definitely due for another stabbing!


Yes! We were joking about working four tens today and I was all for it for all the reasons you listed; I volunteered to never come in on a Monday again if it became real. That will never happen, but it sure would be nice. Sub plans are hard for sure, especially if you're just taking a random day off for something. On vacation, it's definitely easier to not worry about it.

I would absolutely work four tens over five eights!  I have also suggested having Wednesdays off so we never have to work more than two days in a row, but my district has not adopted this schedule yet. LOL


Finished today. I edited a lot more than I'd originally planned on in this chapter, but I think it ended up better for it. Maybe tomorrow I'll just be able to write. I've never gotten much done on a Wednesday, but tomorrow might be the day, lol.

Yay!  I hope tomorrow is a productive writing day now that your editing's out of the way for the week.


That is a productive day! Closets, morning writing, late writing, and a baseball game! How was it getting back into the late night sessions? Better than morning writing or about the same? Hope last night and today went great and you finished the Nick chapter!

Mornings have still been better, but I'm not quite in a routine with the late night writing yet.  I wrote a little bit last night, and then I went downstairs and watched a movie.  Today I wrote a tiny bit as I was getting ready in the morning, and then I was gone the rest of the day, so I haven't gotten back to it yet.  Hoping to get some more written tonight.  I still have a ways to go in the Nick chapter, so I won't finish it tonight, but hopefully by the end of the week.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on June 09, 2021, 01:16:39 AM
I am so close to finishing History. Two more chapters to go. This one is a flashback chapter but I'm having trouble picking moment in time that would kind of coincide with announcing Kevin's return. Cause the final chapter will obviously be about the announcement.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 09, 2021, 02:01:37 PM
Yay, you're so close!!

They announced Kevin was coming back in April, right?  So maybe something about their anniversary?  My first thought was showing when Kevin called Brian to join the group, but you already included that.  What about showing when Brian actually came down to Orlando and met the other guys for the first time, from Kevin's perspective?  Brian completed the Backstreet Boys then, and Kevin coming back makes them complete again, so that could go together.

Otherwise, what about showing the meeting where Kevin told the guys he wanted to leave the group?  I know you've included flashbacks to that moment, with Nick screaming that he hates Kevin and all that, but you haven't actually shown the whole scene, have you?  Or maybe a scene with Kevin and Kristin where Kevin makes the decision to leave and/or reacts to the announcement coming out that he's leaving.  They could talk about wanting to start a family and whatnot.  I think any of those ideas would work to connect to Kevin coming back.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on June 09, 2021, 02:46:55 PM
There's a few things I could do. I kinda started writing something but I might change it, I have plenty of time because I plan to update again Monday. I'm actually about to work on it after I make myself dinner.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 09, 2021, 10:30:12 PM
I enjoy "replied" as an alternate to "said" that's not weird.  It's nice when you can avoid dialogue tags altogether, but sometimes I enjoy putting them in just to break up longer pieces of dialogue.  First person definitely makes it easier to differentiate between characters, as well as not having to use characters' names as often.  You can get away with using more pronouns.  The main reason I decided to write my slash in first person was so it wouldn't get confusing with all the "he/his/him" LOL.  At least one of them could be "I/me" then.

I think I end up with a lot of "he smiled" type stuff from trying to break up long dialogue. Which probably isn't much better, lol! I feel like I only end up using a dialogue tag when someone is present, but hasn't spoken in a while and has nothing to do while speaking. If it made sense, I would absolutely make 80% of my scenes take place in a kitchen or something like that and give all the Boys a task to do that I could reference once they were quiet for a while, lol! LMAO! You're totally right on all the he/his/him things! I think this is an issue we have more than other fandoms (except for other boyband fandoms, of course) simply due to the sheer amount of male characters that are with each other for a good portion of the story. I think that's part of why epithets got so popular, and ridiculous! Anyone remember how Howie always got called "the Latin one"? At that point, just say "Howie." It's not like it's some cool epithet like The Blood King or something. Or like Hades got a lot of epithets because dying freaked the Greeks out; I feel like "he who receives many guests" was a frequent one. And Howie just gets "the Latin one"... Collectively, we should all be more creative. Even something mundane like "Howie, builder of beach-side condos" is better.


LOL I know if I say definitively I am NEVER writing another Nick cancer story, I will inevitably get an idea for one and be tempted.  But I'm not planning to.

Yes, PBox & Co get grandfathered into the "No NSYNC" rule.  They can only disappear if you kill them.  Stab stab stab!

I figured that was the reason, but I enjoyed that it was a question so much more than if you'd just written "possibly Nick cancer stories" or "write really long Nick cancer stories." At least it was "things you used to do that you don't anymore" and not "things you never do anymore." I call that a loophole around your vow to never say never!

Okay good. I know I'm a rule breaker, but... getting grandfathered in is good. lmao! You know, it's just not as much fun stabbing them.


The inspiration was a conversation (probably here) about how cruel we are all to Nick in fanfic and the show 1000 Ways to Die.  LOL He would have the WTF reaction to a lot of his deaths; some of them are pretty random.  He can get his revenge on the snail in Revenge of the Slaughtered.

That makes sense; we do often talk about how cruel we are to him. But, he's an equally picky muse, so I think it balances out some. It's probably more fun that they're random. Can he though? The premise is that it can't be killed.


I would enjoy romantic comedies more if they contained random stabbing subplots LOL.

And yes, if it's been fifteen years, then Nick is definitely due for another stabbing!

lol! That's how you get through some hurt/comfort, obviously.

It's only been about thirteen since I finished PBox? Close enough; you're right, he's due. Although, I meant since we've heard from the cryptic Nick account. A long discussion on stabbing him seems like the type of thing that would bring him back.


I would absolutely work four tens over five eights!  I have also suggested having Wednesdays off so we never have to work more than two days in a row, but my district has not adopted this schedule yet. LOL

Yes! My boss already claimed Wednesdays, but that would have been another option I would have opted for. I'm sorry your district is refusing to listen to your genius.


Yay!  I hope tomorrow is a productive writing day now that your editing's out of the way for the week.

Nope! Tired. Always so tired mid-week, lol. I think this will be another "I wrote a sentence to keep the streak alive" day.


Mornings have still been better, but I'm not quite in a routine with the late night writing yet.  I wrote a little bit last night, and then I went downstairs and watched a movie.  Today I wrote a tiny bit as I was getting ready in the morning, and then I was gone the rest of the day, so I haven't gotten back to it yet.  Hoping to get some more written tonight.  I still have a ways to go in the Nick chapter, so I won't finish it tonight, but hopefully by the end of the week.

I get that. You've been so used to your morning routine for a while, that it's probably hard to get a night routine going that's different from "go to bed at a semi-decent hour." I hope yesterday's night writing went well! I'm sending good vibes for your Nick chapter! :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 09, 2021, 10:32:00 PM
I am so close to finishing History. Two more chapters to go. This one is a flashback chapter but I'm having trouble picking moment in time that would kind of coincide with announcing Kevin's return. Cause the final chapter will obviously be about the announcement.

Yay!!!! Two chapters to go!!!  :party: All of Julie's suggestions were good; I can't think of anything else off hand. How did the writing post-dinner go? Did you end up going the direction you were planning or did you choose something else?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 10, 2021, 01:07:11 AM
I think I end up with a lot of "he smiled" type stuff from trying to break up long dialogue. Which probably isn't much better, lol! I feel like I only end up using a dialogue tag when someone is present, but hasn't spoken in a while and has nothing to do while speaking. If it made sense, I would absolutely make 80% of my scenes take place in a kitchen or something like that and give all the Boys a task to do that I could reference once they were quiet for a while, lol! LMAO! You're totally right on all the he/his/him things! I think this is an issue we have more than other fandoms (except for other boyband fandoms, of course) simply due to the sheer amount of male characters that are with each other for a good portion of the story. I think that's part of why epithets got so popular, and ridiculous! Anyone remember how Howie always got called "the Latin one"? At that point, just say "Howie." It's not like it's some cool epithet like The Blood King or something. Or like Hades got a lot of epithets because dying freaked the Greeks out; I feel like "he who receives many guests" was a frequent one. And Howie just gets "the Latin one"... Collectively, we should all be more creative. Even something mundane like "Howie, builder of beach-side condos" is better.

It's definitely easier when there's something for them to do so you can write in some body language or an action instead of a dialogue tag.

Oh, the epithets!  I remember them well.  I actually mocked that in a chapter of Not Another Teenybopper Fanfic, where they got super specific and obscure.  http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=7804&textsize=0&chapter=25


That makes sense; we do often talk about how cruel we are to him. But, he's an equally picky muse, so I think it balances out some. It's probably more fun that they're random. Can he though? The premise is that it can't be killed.

Oh, it's definitely his fault.  He's attention whore, and there's no better way to get attention than die.  Then all the focus is on him.

Random is definitely more fun.  If they were serious deaths, it would just be sad.  But the randomness makes them funny.

Ooh, good point, I forgot the snail was invincible.  He'll have to take revenge on the author then. ;)


Although, I meant since we've heard from the cryptic Nick account. A long discussion on stabbing him seems like the type of thing that would bring him back.

Oh, gotcha!  Yes, if cryptic Nick is still out there lurking, this does seem like the kind of thing he would comment on.


Nope! Tired. Always so tired mid-week, lol. I think this will be another "I wrote a sentence to keep the streak alive" day.

Ugh, I hate those days!  I went to bed/took a nap at 9 p.m. tonight because I was so wiped from sitting out in the heat through two ball games.  I got up at noon today, so I knew I couldn't really be ready for bed after only being awake nine hours... sure enough, I got up again at midnight.  This is how my sleep schedule gets so messed up LOL.


I get that. You've been so used to your morning routine for a while, that it's probably hard to get a night routine going that's different from "go to bed at a semi-decent hour." I hope yesterday's night writing went well! I'm sending good vibes for your Nick chapter! :)

I watched another movie instead of writing last night, and I didn't get very much written this morning (technically afternoon) - mostly just some edits on an upcoming chapter.  But I at least made it up to my writing room tonight, so hopefully tonight goes better.

I hope you get a good night's sleep and are less tired tomorrow.  At least it'll be Thursday, so the weekend's almost here!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 08:55:45 PM
It's definitely easier when there's something for them to do so you can write in some body language or an action instead of a dialogue tag.

Oh, the epithets!  I remember them well.  I actually mocked that in a chapter of Not Another Teenybopper Fanfic, where they got super specific and obscure.  http://absolutechaos.net/viewstory.php?sid=7804&textsize=0&chapter=25

OMG! I nearly died laughing; I had completely forgotten this. I was laughing at the different ways to describe green eyes and then the author's note in the middle of the chapter, but I lost it at "sea grass destroyer" and it only got better from there. Thanks, I needed that today, lol.


Oh, it's definitely his fault.  He's attention whore, and there's no better way to get attention than die.  Then all the focus is on him.

Random is definitely more fun.  If they were serious deaths, it would just be sad.  But the randomness makes them funny.

Ooh, good point, I forgot the snail was invincible.  He'll have to take revenge on the author then. ;)

You're right. He would get appropriate mourning for his death to satiate his need for attention. And if he becomes Brian's guardian angel, then he can savor that attention, lol.

Yeah, I think if it was 1000 stories about how he died of cancer, it would be very sad.

What if he reads it and thinks it's poetic and nuanced? If it's poetic and nuanced, it's not worthy of murder, lol.


Oh, gotcha!  Yes, if cryptic Nick is still out there lurking, this does seem like the kind of thing he would comment on.

It's been a couple days discussing the topic, so I think we're safe and can stab away!


Ugh, I hate those days!  I went to bed/took a nap at 9 p.m. tonight because I was so wiped from sitting out in the heat through two ball games.  I got up at noon today, so I knew I couldn't really be ready for bed after only being awake nine hours... sure enough, I got up again at midnight.  This is how my sleep schedule gets so messed up LOL.

I watched another movie instead of writing last night, and I didn't get very much written this morning (technically afternoon) - mostly just some edits on an upcoming chapter.  But I at least made it up to my writing room tonight, so hopefully tonight goes better.

I hope you get a good night's sleep and are less tired tomorrow.  At least it'll be Thursday, so the weekend's almost here!

You took a 9pm nap and still woke up at midnight ready to function! Witchcraft! Sitting in the heat and sun all day definitely wipes me out, so I would probably be ready for bed even if I only woke up nine hours before. What time did you wake up today? How'd writing go last night? Was today an unbooked day?

Editing is important! That's how I got 26 words out yesterday! The streak is alive... barely. I woke up wide awake at 6am or so and was thinking "maybe I should write this morning," but then hubs cuddled me and I feel back asleep. :( But when I woke up, I was very inspired to write!... a 400 word scene from the next book. ::) So still three chapters to go over here, lol. Going to try to write again this evening.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 09:38:45 PM
So I wrote a little, then refreshed my stats to see if anyone has read my updates. AO3 is kind of stagnant (I did post three chapters within a week, so that may be on me) and I thought about how we were discussing tag traffic. So I thought about what I might tag PBox&Co that I wouldn't consider spoilers and thought "well 'demons' seems like an obvious one," so I searched for it out of curiosity and there are a lot of stories on AO3 about demons, about 40,000. And then I found out both "demon/human relationships" and "demon sex" are tags. So, where do I go from here? lol

Did you ever add more tags to SAMS, Julie? Did it increase your reaership?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 10, 2021, 09:43:26 PM
OMG! I nearly died laughing; I had completely forgotten this. I was laughing at the different ways to describe green eyes and then the author's note in the middle of the chapter, but I lost it at "sea grass destroyer" and it only got better from there. Thanks, I needed that today, lol.

Glad you enjoyed it!  I got a laugh out of it too; it's been a long time since I've looked at that story!  Imagine all the new ones we could come up with now LOL.


You're right. He would get appropriate mourning for his death to satiate his need for attention. And if he becomes Brian's guardian angel, then he can savor that attention, lol.

Yeah, I think if it was 1000 stories about how he died of cancer, it would be very sad.

What if he reads it and thinks it's poetic and nuanced? If it's poetic and nuanced, it's not worthy of murder, lol.

Guardian angel would be a perfect gig, other than the fact that (I assume) only Brian can see him?

Not even I would want to read or write 1000 Nick cancer deaths LOL.

Haha, I can't wait to see Nick's tweets about how poetic and nuanced the death by snail story is!


You took a 9pm nap and still woke up at midnight ready to function! Witchcraft! Sitting in the heat and sun all day definitely wipes me out, so I would probably be ready for bed even if I only woke up nine hours before. What time did you wake up today? How'd writing go last night? Was today an unbooked day?

Editing is important! That's how I got 26 words out yesterday! The streak is alive... barely. I woke up wide awake at 6am or so and was thinking "maybe I should write this morning," but then hubs cuddled me and I feel back asleep. :( But when I woke up, I was very inspired to write!... a 400 word scene from the next book. ::) So still three chapters to go over here, lol. Going to try to write again this evening.

LOL I tried; I didn't get much done last night, but I did read a lot of Reddit threads.  I can't say I really got anything useful out of them, though, so I probably should have just stayed in bed.  Today I woke up at about quarter til noon and "wrote" for a couple hours.  I still haven't really hit my groove for this chapter yet.  I can't even blame Nick this time because he's back from tour and reunited with Kevin, which was what I was looking forward to.  I think I'm just in one of those "blah" phases, maybe from doing this 90 days in a row.  I'm tired of all my writing music, too.  But no worries, the streak is still alive, and I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon.  I have been doing little edits here and there in addition to working on the new chapter, so there's that too.

It's been nice to get some other stuff done too.  Today I finished the memoir I've been reading off and on for a while, caught up on some shows that have been saved on my DVR for a while, cleaned my house, made dinner, and folded a bunch of laundry.  That's the kind of stuff that doesn't get done when I spend all my time writing.

Aww, well, at least you got something written this morning, and now you have part of a scene for the next story!  How's the writing going tonight?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 10, 2021, 09:55:23 PM
So I wrote a little, then refreshed my stats to see if anyone has read my updates. AO3 is kind of stagnant (I did post three chapters within a week, so that may be on me) and I thought about how we were discussing tag traffic. So I thought about what I might tag PBox&Co that I wouldn't consider spoilers and thought "well 'demons' seems like an obvious one," so I searched for it out of curiosity and there are a lot of stories on AO3 about demons, about 40,000. And then I found out both "demon/human relationships" and "demon sex" are tags. So, where do I go from here? lol

Did you ever add more tags to SAMS, Julie? Did it increase your reaership?

I haven't gotten much on AO3 the last week or so either.  I did get a guest kudo for MBK today, but no comments on the last chapter I posted.  And the one person who was reading SAMS on AO3 left a comment the other day saying she went to my site and read the rest, so which makes me happy in one sense that she was sucked in enough to finish it in a few days, but then also disappointed I won't be getting any more comments from her LOL.  That is my own fault though because I did say in the story notes that the story is already finished and can be read in its entirety on my site.  I did not end up adding any more tags to it.  I just felt cheap using the Anal Sex tag, and the other thing I could have tagged it was too spoilery and would have ruined one of those big reveal moments.

Demons seems like a good tag!  So does Demon/Human Relationships.  Not sure about Demon Sex if it's just the one scene; that ventures into kink territory, but you might attract people who are into demons that way LOL.  Do you ever feel like you're writing for the wrong fandom?  As in, readers from other fandoms might be more interested reading fantasy and stories about demons?  Did you look at what other fandoms were represented in those 40,000 stories tagged Demons?  I'm not suggesting you switch fandoms or anything.  It just seems like fantasy is a super popular genre in other fandoms, but not BSB.  Maybe it's a RPF thing.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 10:01:10 PM
Glad you enjoyed it!  I got a laugh out of it too; it's been a long time since I've looked at that story!  Imagine all the new ones we could come up with now LOL.

It would be like a mini BSB history lesson, lol!


Guardian angel would be a perfect gig, other than the fact that (I assume) only Brian can see him?

Not even I would want to read or write 1000 Nick cancer deaths LOL.

Haha, I can't wait to see Nick's tweets about how poetic and nuanced the death by snail story is!

Sure, but every now and again, I bet Nick would say something like "Remind everyone how much you miss me." "Of course, I miss you, Frack." And Kevin is there and gives Brian a hug and says something like. "I miss him too." And Nick just basks in it. I'm not sure why I'm writing this down here, I'm pretty sure this is a story I've been holding on to, lol.

What's your upper limit on reading Nick cancer deaths? Since you're unsure of writing them anymore.

Not only tweets! He will be so moved by it that he will post instagram stories and live streams detailing all his emotions at death by snail, lol. Maybe I'm overselling this... Or maybe I'm not!


LOL I tried; I didn't get much done last night, but I did read a lot of Reddit threads.  I can't say I really got anything useful out of them, though, so I probably should have just stayed in bed.  Today I woke up at about quarter til noon and "wrote" for a couple hours.  I still haven't really hit my groove for this chapter yet.  I can't even blame Nick this time because he's back from tour and reunited with Kevin, which was what I was looking forward to.  I think I'm just in one of those "blah" phases, maybe from doing this 90 days in a row.  I'm tired of all my writing music, too.  But no worries, the streak is still alive, and I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon.  I have been doing little edits here and there in addition to working on the new chapter, so there's that too.

It's been nice to get some other stuff done too.  Today I finished the memoir I've been reading off and on for a while, caught up on some shows that have been saved on my DVR for a while, cleaned my house, made dinner, and folded a bunch of laundry.  That's the kind of stuff that doesn't get done when I spend all my time writing.

Aww, well, at least you got something written this morning, and now you have part of a scene for the next story!  How's the writing going tonight?

Reddit is a time suck for sure. Aw, I feel you on  the "blah" phases, I've had several of those (as you know, because I've complained about all of them). It's unfortunate that your blah phase has come during something you were looking forward too, though. When I feel kind of blah, I like to edit too. Perhaps after June we've earned ourselves a little break. Or maybe you'll be out of your blah phase by then.

That sounds like a productive day! I think it's good to do those things too because it gives you a break from staring at the screen. :) How full is your DVR now that you've caught up a little?

I know, it's pretty good to still have some things pop up every now and again. It's happen twice so far in this stretch, so that gives me some confidence that I won't need a long break between the two. Maybe just a short one.

Well... I got about 50 words so far, lol. Then utterly distracted myself searching through AO3 tags, as I mentioned. They are a rabbit hole.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 10, 2021, 10:24:48 PM
Sure, but every now and again, I bet Nick would say something like "Remind everyone how much you miss me." "Of course, I miss you, Frack." And Kevin is there and gives Brian a hug and says something like. "I miss him too." And Nick just basks in it. I'm not sure why I'm writing this down here, I'm pretty sure this is a story I've been holding on to, lol.

LOL Yes!  I want to read this story!


What's your upper limit on reading Nick cancer deaths? Since you're unsure of writing them anymore.

I'm willing to read way more than I would write, as long as they're well-written.  I think the last one I read was Swollen Issues in the early 2000s, so it's been a long time.  If anyone wants to write one (or a cancer story where Nick lives, or any kind of medical drama about any of the boys), I will read it!


Not only tweets! He will be so moved by it that he will post instagram stories and live streams detailing all his emotions at death by snail, lol. Maybe I'm overselling this... Or maybe I'm not!

I expect a live-reading on Twitch!  That would be much more entertaining than watching him play video games and bob his head to his own music LOL.


Reddit is a time suck for sure. Aw, I feel you on  the "blah" phases, I've had several of those (as you know, because I've complained about all of them). It's unfortunate that your blah phase has come during something you were looking forward too, though. When I feel kind of blah, I like to edit too. Perhaps after June we've earned ourselves a little break. Or maybe you'll be out of your blah phase by then.

But July is the next Camp Nano!  I'm determined to continue this streak until back to school craziness starts in August.  At least it hasn't felt like pulling teeth getting me to write.  It's not that bad; I can always get a few paragraphs written.  It's just not pages and pages at a time like I would like to be writing.  But I did think some more about that sequel idea I had, so the inspiration is still there... just not so much for the particular scene I'm in right now.


That sounds like a productive day! I think it's good to do those things too because it gives you a break from staring at the screen. :) How full is your DVR now that you've caught up a little?

Yep, exactly!  I feel more like a well-rounded human when I can list other things I did in a day besides stare at a computer screen LOL.  My DVR was up to 90% full, and I think I got it close to 50%.


Well... I got about 50 words so far, lol. Then utterly distracted myself searching through AO3 tags, as I mentioned. They are a rabbit hole.

LOL It happens.  I looked up the demons tag there too out of curiosity, and OMG, there are so many variations of "demon this" and "demon that."  Unsurprisingly, it looks like Supernatural is the most popular fandom for demon fanfics.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 10:28:22 PM
I haven't gotten much on AO3 the last week or so either.  I did get a guest kudo for MBK today, but no comments on the last chapter I posted.  And the one person who was reading SAMS on AO3 left a comment the other day saying she went to my site and read the rest, so which makes me happy in one sense that she was sucked in enough to finish it in a few days, but then also disappointed I won't be getting any more comments from her LOL.  That is my own fault though because I did say in the story notes that the story is already finished and can be read in its entirety on my site.  I did not end up adding any more tags to it.  I just felt cheap using the Anal Sex tag, and the other thing I could have tagged it was too spoilery and would have ruined one of those big reveal moments.

Demons seems like a good tag!  So does Demon/Human Relationships.  Not sure about Demon Sex if it's just the one scene; that ventures into kink territory, but you might attract people who are into demons that way LOL.  Do you ever feel like you're writing for the wrong fandom?  As in, readers from other fandoms might be more interested reading fantasy and stories about demons?  Did you look at what other fandoms were represented in those 40,000 stories tagged Demons?  I'm not suggesting you switch fandoms or anything.  It just seems like fantasy is a super popular genre in other fandoms, but not BSB.  Maybe it's a RPF thing.

Aww, your regular commenter! I wonder if she'll read more of the other things you have on you site too. That is great that she got so sucked in that she didn't want to wait for it to be on AO3 though. I may have inadvertently done the same thing by trying to catch AO3 up to here so I wasn't off on posting chapters since I mentioned that I cross post and then later that we chat here and my read count here for the last chapter was a lot higher than typical in a week, but I also feel like only two people are reading on AO3, so who knows!

It could be that it's getting warmer out and restrictions are ending in a lot of places, so maybe people just want to be outside. I felt like it always got slow here in the summer too.

I looked over it a little bit (but not in too much detail), the first page was a lot of anime fandoms as well as ones that already lend themselves to the inclusion of demons, like Supernatural. And a lot of incubi, which made perfect sense with the tags that seem popular. Have I ever felt like I was screaming into the void writing fantasy for BSB fanfic? Absolutely. Possibly more when I originally wrote PBox than now, even though it's quieter, since I hadn't quite gotten to the point where I was ready to own "this is what I do" without making comparisons. But here we are! I couldn't imagine PBox any other way, except for its potential as its own non-fanfic thing, of course. And truthfully, this might be the only demon story I have in me (other than that power from adulation thing); it just happens to be this huge thing I imagined that's taken up more of my time than originally intended, lol. As you know, if I'd had my way, they would have all died the first time and stayed dead, negating any chance for more story. You're the worst, PBox Nick.  :-*

There are some BTS demon fanfics (more the incubi route), so who knows if there's a KPop/anime overlap or what more than an overlap with anything remotely related to fantasy in BSB fandom. And yes, I don't know that people who wanted to read about demon sex would actually like the rest of my story, which is overall not about demon sex, lol. To be honest, I don't know if I even want to try to open it up to anyone outside BSB fans or someone who stumbles on it, especially if I end up making the decision to delete it later. It was mostly a case of "curiosity killed the cat." But I also like experiments -- that's why I wanted to see if you'd tested adding non-genre tags. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 10, 2021, 10:41:55 PM
Aww, your regular commenter! I wonder if she'll read more of the other things you have on you site too. That is great that she got so sucked in that she didn't want to wait for it to be on AO3 though. I may have inadvertently done the same thing by trying to catch AO3 up to here so I wasn't off on posting chapters since I mentioned that I cross post and then later that we chat here and my read count here for the last chapter was a lot higher than typical in a week, but I also feel like only two people are reading on AO3, so who knows!

It could be that it's getting warmer out and restrictions are ending in a lot of places, so maybe people just want to be outside. I felt like it always got slow here in the summer too.

Yeah, it was a great compliment!  I'm glad she let me know she finished it and loved it, just so I didn't have to wonder why she stopped commenting.  It's the risk we take by cross-posting, especially with older stories/chapters, but at least our stories are being seen by a wider audience either way.  I'm sure readership does ebb and flow, just like anything else.


Have I ever felt like I was screaming into the void writing fantasy for BSB fanfic? Absolutely. Possibly more when I originally wrote PBox than now, even though it's quieter, since I hadn't quite gotten to the point where I was ready to own "this is what I do" without making comparisons. But here we are! I couldn't imagine PBox any other way, except for its potential as its own non-fanfic thing, of course. And truthfully, this might be the only demon story I have in me (other than that power from adulation thing); it just happens to be this huge thing I imagined that's taken up more of my time than originally intended, lol. As you know, if I'd had my way, they would have all died the first time and stayed dead, negating any chance for more story. You're the worst, PBox Nick.  :-*

There are some BTS demon fanfics (more the incubi route), so who knows if there's a KPop/anime overlap or what more than an overlap with anything remotely related to fantasy in BSB fandom. And yes, I don't know that people who wanted to read about demon sex would actually like the rest of my story, which is overall not about demon sex, lol. To be honest, I don't know if I even want to try to open it up to anyone outside BSB fans or someone who stumbles on it, especially if I end up making the decision to delete it later. It was mostly a case of "curiosity killed the cat." But I also like experiments -- that's why I wanted to see if you'd tested adding non-genre tags. :)

It's definitely more important to be true to yourself and write what you love than to write what's popular just for kudos and comments.  And hey, you're obviously happy writing these stories, so write as many of them as you feel inspired to write!

Well, you'll have to let us know the results of your experiment if you end up using any of the demon tags.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 10:44:30 PM
LOL Yes!  I want to read this story!

Oh, I know! It's just not fleshed out in my head enough yet to be much of anything outside of random tiny things like this. There's definitely not a clear plot or even vision of an end, so even my plantser self probably couldn't do it justice right now, lol.


I'm willing to read way more than I would write, as long as they're well-written.  I think the last one I read was Swollen Issues in the early 2000s, so it's been a long time.  If anyone wants to write one (or a cancer story where Nick lives, or any kind of medical drama about any of the boys), I will read it!

That's the last Nick cancer story besides yours? I'm surprised! Maybe you have BSB medical dramas on lockdown these days. But I'll hope with you that someone will post one soon! :)


I expect a live-reading on Twitch!  That would be much more entertaining than watching him play video games and bob his head to his own music LOL.

I would watch all of that. It's "Nick reacts to fanfic," but instead of the smut he was expecting, it's a story about a snail killing him. I honestly don't think he would ever expect that if someone handed him a fanfic about himself, lol.


But July is the next Camp Nano!  I'm determined to continue this streak until back to school craziness starts in August.  At least it hasn't felt like pulling teeth getting me to write.  It's not that bad; I can always get a few paragraphs written.  It's just not pages and pages at a time like I would like to be writing.  But I did think some more about that sequel idea I had, so the inspiration is still there... just not so much for the particular scene I'm in right now.

I know! I was looking at that today and was thinking "will I have a project?" I hope you do continue the streak for that long; I'm here to keep encouraging you! That was the same as my blahs. I think I dwindle to sentences, but yeah, I feel you on wanting to write pages and only writing paragraphs or a piece of dialogue or something. Ooh, the sequel itch. It's a powerful one. Hopefully the inspiration for this scene comes soon!


Yep, exactly!  I feel more like a well-rounded human when I can list other things I did in a day besides stare at a computer screen LOL.  My DVR was up to 90% full, and I think I got it close to 50%.

Same. I sound so boring to anyone who asks these days, lol. Down 40%! That's a lot! I need to get ours down too, though at least 15-20% of it is things I don't plan on deleting until it makes me or breaks.


LOL It happens.  I looked up the demons tag there too out of curiosity, and OMG, there are so many variations of "demon this" and "demon that."  Unsurprisingly, it looks like Supernatural is the most popular fandom for demon fanfics.

That's what I said! Curiosity will get me every time, lol. Yeah, the subtags are crazy. Like the things people will type and be the only one with that tag is just insane. Supernatural makes perfect sense to me because it's already a huge part of the show; just like I would expect Twilight or Buffy to be among the most popular fandoms for vampires.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 10:56:41 PM
Yeah, it was a great compliment!  I'm glad she let me know she finished it and loved it, just so I didn't have to wonder why she stopped commenting.  It's the risk we take by cross-posting, especially with older stories/chapters, but at least our stories are being seen by a wider audience either way.  I'm sure readership does ebb and flow, just like anything else.

I'm glad she let you know too, because you're right, you do wonder if someone is commenting along then stops unless they tell you one way or another. It is a risk, but it's good for increased engagement, especially when our typical places aren't the hubs they once were.


It's definitely more important to be true to yourself and write what you love than to write what's popular just for kudos and comments.  And hey, you're obviously happy writing these stories, so write as many of them as you feel inspired to write!

Well, you'll have to let us know the results of your experiment if you end up using any of the demon tags.

Don't get me wrong, I still check more frequently than I know I should based on what I expect, lol. But yes, I'm really just writing to write at this point and sharing because I love it. That's all. :) I feel due for a more "canon" BSB story though. Can't wait for "Nick is Brian's guardian angel" where I can say, "Yes, I did write an entire series about demons. I obviously needed to write something about angels." lol!

I'm game. Maybe after I finish backdating PBox. Although, I feel like there's danger in expanding tags in a Team Dark story that probably needs more warnings than I'm willing to include based on spoilers, but it's not like they would be in a published book anyway, so... who knows! They'll tell me if they hate it, lol. Or realistically, they won't.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 10, 2021, 11:17:16 PM
Oh, I know! It's just not fleshed out in my head enough yet to be much of anything outside of random tiny things like this. There's definitely not a clear plot or even vision of an end, so even my plantser self probably couldn't do it justice right now, lol.

I totally get that.  Take your time, and focus on finishing the PBox series first!  Just letting you know I'm here for it when/if you eventually get around to it.


That's the last Nick cancer story besides yours? I'm surprised! Maybe you have BSB medical dramas on lockdown these days. But I'll hope with you that someone will post one soon! :)

I can't think of a more recent one.  If there is, it didn't make it onto my radar.  There was a fantastic Brian cancer story written during the Summer of Sadness, the same time I was writing Curtain Call (the beginnings were posted days apart without either of us knowing what the other one was writing), but that's the last one I've read.  The two other writers who I could count on to consistently churn out BSB medical dramas don't write anymore, so maybe I do have some sort of monopoly.  I've read a few more recent Brian heart problem stories on AO3, so those are still out there to some extent.  They're mostly short stories though.  I would love a novel!


I would watch all of that. It's "Nick reacts to fanfic," but instead of the smut he was expecting, it's a story about a snail killing him. I honestly don't think he would ever expect that if someone handed him a fanfic about himself, lol.

LMAO I would pay to see his reaction!  He would definitely never expect it.  Based on that one Perez Hilton Q&A thing they did in 2013ish where they were asked about fanfic, he clearly has no concept of what it actually is.  He's probably better off not knowing LOL.


I know! I was looking at that today and was thinking "will I have a project?" I hope you do continue the streak for that long; I'm here to keep encouraging you! That was the same as my blahs. I think I dwindle to sentences, but yeah, I feel you on wanting to write pages and only writing paragraphs or a piece of dialogue or something. Ooh, the sequel itch. It's a powerful one. Hopefully the inspiration for this scene comes soon!

Hopefully you'll be done with PNecklace and ready to start a new project by July!  You could just set your word count goal low if haven't actually started a new story by then.  It's coming up more quickly than I would like.  I need to kick it into high gear if I'm going to make my June goal, considering I'm not quite to the halfway point yet.  I should be able to keep the streak going, though, since I don't have a vacation planned now that the tour's been postponed again.  That is usually when I choose to let my streaks end so I don't have to worry about it while I'm traveling.  (Plus I don't like to think about what I'm putting the Boys through in my stories when I see them in real life LOL.)

Yes, the sequel itch.  That's an itch I haven't had in a long time!  It's still just kind of poking around my brain and hasn't progressed to the point of outlines or characters or titles or banners, but that's exactly how it started with BMS.  This feels similar in a lot of ways.  We'll see how I feel when this one's further along.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 11:41:25 PM
I totally get that.  Take your time, and focus on finishing the PBox series first!  Just letting you know I'm here for it when/if you eventually get around to it.

Aww! :) In the meantime, you get random one off musings like this, lol.


I can't think of a more recent one.  If there is, it didn't make it onto my radar.  There was a fantastic Brian cancer story written during the Summer of Sadness, the same time I was writing Curtain Call (the beginnings were posted days apart without either of us knowing what the other one was writing), but that's the last one I've read.  The two other writers who I could count on to consistently churn out BSB medical dramas don't write anymore, so maybe I do have some sort of monopoly.  I've read a few more recent Brian heart problem stories on AO3, so those are still out there to some extent.  They're mostly short stories though.  I would love a novel!

That's fun that two of you had a cancer story idea at the same time. Did you have a little writer discussion group for it? :) If Brian heart problem stories are popping up again, then there's a little expansion, so... what's the term below a monopoly? lol

I looked it up. You are the Dominant Firm of BSB medical dramas (you control at least half the market and have no significant competitors. The ones you do have are smaller firms who compete with each other for the rest of the market rather than you.) This is the weirdest thing I've googled in a while other than the random movie I stumbled on while searching the demon tag. "A Purgatory Story" wherein a demon falls in love with a human girl who appears in his realm. And I had a "is this PBox?" moment (it is not).


LMAO I would pay to see his reaction!  He would definitely never expect it.  Based on that one Perez Hilton Q&A thing they did in 2013ish where they were asked about fanfic, he clearly has no concept of what it actually is.  He's probably better off not knowing LOL.

I would too, but I'm also not positive I would want him to know that I wrote it. As much as I joke, I'm sure his actual reaction would be closer to "WTF" than detailed discussions on the fleeting force of life and nature rising up against man. But it should be the second! Again, I'm probably overselling this idea, lol. I think I missed that one, what did he say? (You don't have to find it; a summary is fine.) He is probably better off not knowing, lol.


Hopefully you'll be done with PNecklace and ready to start a new project by July!  You could just set your word count goal low if haven't actually started a new story by then.  It's coming up more quickly than I would like.  I need to kick it into high gear if I'm going to make my June goal, considering I'm not quite to the halfway point yet.  I should be able to keep the streak going, though, since I don't have a vacation planned now that the tour's been postponed again.  That is usually when I choose to let my streaks end so I don't have to worry about it while I'm traveling.  (Plus I don't like to think about what I'm putting the Boys through in my stories when I see them in real life LOL.)

Yes, the sequel itch.  That's an itch I haven't had in a long time!  It's still just kind of poking around my brain and hasn't progressed to the point of outlines or characters or titles or banners, but that's exactly how it started with BMS.  This feels similar in a lot of ways.  We'll see how I feel when this one's further along.

I had to up my word count goal again because the remainder wasn't enough for three chapters, and NaNo says I'll be done on June 15th, which is unlikely since that's my anniversary and hubs and I are doing a little staycation at the hotel we had our room block at next week. Although, I did request an hour to write each morning and he requested an hour of gym time, so if I don't finish it this weekend, maybe I'll get some solid writing done. I don't want to rule out that I'll get into the groove and this weekend will be like last weekend. I'm hoping it is, actually. It would be exciting if I had decided on my next project by July! :) I hope so!

I believe in you! You can do it! Maybe we can convince Tracy to join our July Camp projects. I get not wanting to write while traveling, since there's already so much going on. But you really don't like hugging Brian and thinking about how you stabbed him recently? lol

Have you had a sequel since BMS? I'm feeling like the answer is no, yeah? I get why the itch wouldn't have struck though if the stories didn't feel warranted having one and BMS was a long sequel, so you may have been sequeled out at that point. That's fun that it feels similar though, since Broken/BMS are close to your heart. :)
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: nicksgal on June 10, 2021, 11:44:38 PM
Uh oh! Page fifty! It's almost time for The Writing Thread Four! Get excited for this overplayed the Fast and the Furious joke to continue, lol!
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 11, 2021, 12:14:17 AM
That's fun that two of you had a cancer story idea at the same time. Did you have a little writer discussion group for it? :)

No writer discussion group, but it was perfect because her story couldn't have been more different from mine.  It was more of a bucket list type story, and you don't find out about the cancer till the second half, but my cancer story radar was pinging from the first couple chapters.  I just had a feeling that's where it was heading, and sure enough...  It was a great story!


If Brian heart problem stories are popping up again, then there's a little expansion, so... what's the term below a monopoly? lol

I looked it up. You are the Dominant Firm of BSB medical dramas (you control at least half the market and have no significant competitors. The ones you do have are smaller firms who compete with each other for the rest of the market rather than you.) This is the weirdest thing I've googled in a while other than the random movie I stumbled on while searching the demon tag. "A Purgatory Story" wherein a demon falls in love with a human girl who appears in his realm. And I had a "is this PBox?" moment (it is not).

LMAO!  Dominant Firm of BSB Medical Dramas.  I love that!!  I would welcome some "competition" though, which I wouldn't even see as competition.  There's room for all medical drama writers, the more the merrier!  Just do your research first!

Oh, that is always interesting where you find a movie or book with a seemingly similar idea to one of your stories.  Usually it turns out to be not that similar.  Have you ever come across something that was really similar to your work that you had no idea about when you were writing it (maybe because it didn't exist yet)?  I had something similar happen the other day; I watched a new movie that was trending on Netflix because, again, it made me radar ping and reminded me of something I'd written, and sure enough... I found it very predictable, probably because I wrote a novel with a similar premise, although mine went a totally different direction.


I would too, but I'm also not positive I would want him to know that I wrote it. As much as I joke, I'm sure his actual reaction would be closer to "WTF" than detailed discussions on the fleeting force of life and nature rising up against man. But it should be the second! Again, I'm probably overselling this idea, lol. I think I missed that one, what did he say? (You don't have to find it; a summary is fine.) He is probably better off not knowing, lol.

LOL I would be mortified if any of them ever read one of mine.  So yeah, "BSB Reacts to Fanfic" is probably not a good idea.

I will link the video because it's easy to find: https://youtu.be/Gyv2X0BqxBI?t=54  Basically, Nick thinks fanfic has "a lot of gossip" (??), until Kevin informs him that the two of them hook up in fanfic and calls it "freaky."  Kevin has clearly read some slash LOL.  Nick clearly does not know what he's talking about, which, again, is probably a good thing.


I had to up my word count goal again because the remainder wasn't enough for three chapters, and NaNo says I'll be done on June 15th, which is unlikely since that's my anniversary and hubs and I are doing a little staycation at the hotel we had our room block at next week. Although, I did request an hour to write each morning and he requested an hour of gym time, so if I don't finish it this weekend, maybe I'll get some solid writing done. I don't want to rule out that I'll get into the groove and this weekend will be like last weekend. I'm hoping it is, actually. It would be exciting if I had decided on my next project by July! :) I hope so!

I believe in you! You can do it! Maybe we can convince Tracy to join our July Camp projects. I get not wanting to write while traveling, since there's already so much going on. But you really don't like hugging Brian and thinking about how you stabbed him recently? lol

You are so prolific!!  That's awesome that you keep upping your word count goal and are still on track to finish in time.  A staycation, that sounds nice!  And that'll be perfect if you do your writing while he's at the gym.  An hour a day is enough to keep the streak alive, at least.

I hope Tracy does join us!  She'll need to decide on a new project too, since History is almost done.  Tracy, do you have any more thoughts on what you'll write next?

LOL True story - last time I did a VIP was during their Vegas residency, and I insisted on standing next to Howie for the photo because I felt so guilty about brutally killing him ten days earlier and just wanted to give him a big hug.  Thankfully, he did not know that.


Have you had a sequel since BMS? I'm feeling like the answer is no, yeah? I get why the itch wouldn't have struck though if the stories didn't feel warranted having one and BMS was a long sequel, so you may have been sequeled out at that point. That's fun that it feels similar though, since Broken/BMS are close to your heart. :)

Not a novel-length sequel to another novel.  Technically SAMS is a sequel to a one-shot, but I don't really count that one.  I think of it more as Unsuspecting Sunday being a prequel to SAMS.  There's also my pandaskunk stories, but those are novellas.  I swore I would never write another sequel because I don't have a good track record for finishing them, but I have no regrets about writing BMS.  I guess I would consider writing another one with the right idea and inspiration.  I feel like the basic idea is there; it just needs some development.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on June 11, 2021, 01:06:22 AM
In answer to your question Dee, yeah I did end up choosing something. I think it works a lot better than what I was going to go with originally so I think these last two chapters should come easily. I dunno what I'm writing after this. I've got nothing. I have a list of some ideas but nothing solid.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 12, 2021, 07:58:02 PM
I love what you went with, Tracy!  It was perfect.  Let us know if you want any feedback on your new story ideas.

How's everyone's weekend going?

I am slowly but surely making my way through my Nick chapter.  It feels like I'm not even to the heart of the chapter yet, but I just checked my word count, and it's already over 3,000 words... so I'm thinking this may be another long one.  I guess that'll balance out the monster Kevin chapter I wrote last week.

I also got two comments right off the bat on today's update, which was really nice, especially considering I didn't get any feedback on last week's chapter.  It's funny because last week's chapter was probably my favorite one in the entire story up to that point, but it didn't have Nick, Brian, AJ, or Howie in it, only Kevin.  This week's had all five.  I wonder if that was the difference in how it was received by readers.  Does that ever happen to you, where parts you love get no reaction, and the parts that do get commented on are ones you don't consider to be all that special?
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on June 12, 2021, 09:00:04 PM
I had some stuff written in that notebook that I told you about. There was an original handwritten draft of the first few chapters of Take Me Home, and two paragraphs of something that I was playing with. I keep going back to this idea with aliens or something.

In the notebook that I hadn't looked at in about three years I found it was interesting I was playing with a hunger games type of thing, but there were a lot of references to other stuff Iike that Malaysia airlines flight that went missing and some other conspiracy theories. I had an idea for a story to be centered around NYC during a blackout too. I don't know where I was going with any of it, I guess at the time I wrote it down anyway.

I keep meaning to catch up on your story, Julie. I might do that tonight on my lunch at work. Sorry about that!

I've been disappointed by feedback on something before. There were a few times where this has happened for whatever and since I overthink a lot I tend to think it means that it sucked. Which I used to be in that mind set a lot, but thankfully I don't think that way for the most part anymore. It's perfectly fine to be disappointed though especially since you worked so hard on it.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 12, 2021, 09:23:17 PM
Ooh, all those ideas sound intriguing.  You could probably combine some of them, too.  An alien invasion could be the cause of a plane disappearing and a widescale blackout.  A Hunger Games type fic could be interesting, too.

No worries!  I wasn't fishing for feedback, just commenting on how it can vary chapter to chapter.  I don't assume that a chapter or story that doesn't get any feedback sucks, just that maybe it doesn't resonate with readers as much as it did with me.  That, or people are just busy and haven't gotten around to reading yet or can't think of what to comment on.  It is a little disappointing when you work hard on something and don't get any kind of feedback on it, but it happens.  As long as I'm happy with what I wrote, I don't let it bother me.  I have also gotten better at not overthinking or worrying about what other people think.

Another thing to remember is that there are a lot of "silent readers" out there - people who read every chapter and never say a word.  Some people, especially those who don't write themselves, just don't feel comfortable leaving reviews.  I don't remember ever really emailing writers with feedback until I started writing and posting stories myself.  Then I realized how much people appreciate hearing that someone enjoyed their story, so I started saying so.  Major kudos to the readers who don't write themselves and still take the time to leave comments.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: FrickingKaos on June 12, 2021, 09:50:15 PM
I really do love the alien invasion one lol. I think I'm gonna see if I can finish Take Me Home or something before I work on anything new yet, because I kind of want to go and complete it. There's that Brian story that I was playing with that's a spin off of Nick and Amanda. I also have that storm chasing one that I was going to redo as well. Lots of ideas floating around. Nothing fully formed yet. There's the unfinished one shot too.

I actually was googling writing prompts the other night to see if anything interested me. There was a time travel one I found interesting too.
Title: Re: The Writing Thread: Orlando Passaggio (aka The Writing Thread 3)
Post by: RokofAges75 on June 12, 2021, 10:29:10 PM
Ooh, time travel.  That always intrigues me, but it seems like it would be tough to write.  It makes my head hurt.  But I like the concept.  What kind of time travel would you be most interested in writing?  Like, would they go far back in time or into the future?  Or into the recent past to try to change something from their own history, like in The Butterfly Effect?  That is one of my favorite time travel movies.

Has anyone else used writing prompts to get an idea?  I don't think I have, other than the monthly challenges here.