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I'm boxing up books to donate to the library's sale, and came across something that's set me on fire.
( Read more... )
tl:dr: I'm keeping the book; there's a story there!
( Read more... )
tl:dr: I'm keeping the book; there's a story there!
The unattended Moment
7 Aug 2019 01:20 pmFor most of us, there is only the unattended
Moment, the moment in and out of time,
The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight,
The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning
Or the waterfall, or music heard so deeply
That it is not heard at all, but you are the music
While the music lasts.
T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets, "The Dry Salvages" V (1941)
C L Polk, author of the marvelous Witchmark, has a great post up about writing original characters.
ETA: Might as well toss out tthe link to the Wendig post I mentioned, which has been my go-to for character building.
ETA: Might as well toss out tthe link to the Wendig post I mentioned, which has been my go-to for character building.
2019 WIP list
23 Jan 2019 11:27 amMy reorganization project is reminding me how frequently I used to do WIP lists to keep myself on track.
The 2013 list had 23 items listed, with the first four in order of priority. I am happy to say I did finally wrap up items 1-3, although it took 3 years. (What took 3 years was #3: Deceiver grew to 168K.)
For 2019, I'll carry forward a few items from that old list, including #14, Assorted Yuletide NYR prompts that look interesting, which now accounts for 10 separate items.
( 2019 WIPs to Finish List )
The 2013 list had 23 items listed, with the first four in order of priority. I am happy to say I did finally wrap up items 1-3, although it took 3 years. (What took 3 years was #3: Deceiver grew to 168K.)
For 2019, I'll carry forward a few items from that old list, including #14, Assorted Yuletide NYR prompts that look interesting, which now accounts for 10 separate items.
( 2019 WIPs to Finish List )
[MEME] 30 Weeks of Fanfic: Sequels
24 Jun 2015 08:51 amWeek 21: Sequels: Have you ever written a sequel to a fic you wrote, and if so, why, and if not, how do you feel about sequels?
Yes. Sometimes the sequel is a scene that was cut from the original fic (Living Even More Dangerously); a few times it's been a story that's simply been broken in half to cover two adjacent bingo prompts (How Does Your Garden Grow I & How Does Your Garden Grow II) but most often it comes about because readers ask "And then what happened?" (The Other Half's Not Bad Either) or because I don't feel right about where I left a character at the end of a particular fic (Distress, the three stories that follow KP Duty).
Yes. Sometimes the sequel is a scene that was cut from the original fic (Living Even More Dangerously); a few times it's been a story that's simply been broken in half to cover two adjacent bingo prompts (How Does Your Garden Grow I & How Does Your Garden Grow II) but most often it comes about because readers ask "And then what happened?" (The Other Half's Not Bad Either) or because I don't feel right about where I left a character at the end of a particular fic (Distress, the three stories that follow KP Duty).
Week 20: Do you ever get bunnied from other people's stories or art in the same fandom?
Not recently. In my first few fandoms it happened once from a story (though that was less 'bunny' and more 'writing in response to a story that I really disliked'), and a few times from art (mostly fanart and doujinshi).
Week 19: When you have bunnies, do you sit down and start writing right away, or do you write down the idea for further use?
If a scene or idea seizes me strongly, I'll try write out as much of it as I can (or at least leave a voice memo in my phone). When I was in college sometimes this seizing was intense enough that I'd write for 12 to 16 hours almost non-stop, but those days are in the distant past.
Things of the "vague concept" variety —
If a scene or idea seizes me strongly, I'll try write out as much of it as I can (or at least leave a voice memo in my phone). When I was in college sometimes this seizing was intense enough that I'd write for 12 to 16 hours almost non-stop, but those days are in the distant past.
Things of the "vague concept" variety —
- "I wonder how one would to do a story with the First Slayer and the Last Guardian?"
- "Felix and Kenzi meet in a laundromat and talk about men while folding socks"
- "June tricks Chloe into grocery shopping"
- "Explore the Xanadu/Jason Blood/Etrigan relationship"
- Carla and Monica
Week 12 : Have you ever attempted an "adaptation" fic of a favorite book or movie but set in a different fandom?
Yet another question I'm going to answer with "Yes and no."
The 'no' part is that I've never set out specifically to adapt something. The 'yes' part is that, when attempting to fill a anonymous prompt on the warcraftkink comm — "blood elf mage lezzes it up in Ramakhan" — I realized that the idea of two women teaming up to defeat the men who have scammed/controlled/threatened them sort of reminded me of Bound. ~ Once I noticed that similarity, I began to edge in little details (such as the mage wearing only violet). As the fill turned into a multichapter femslash action adventure (Salvage Operation), I began to work in conversations and scenes from the movie (Cyndriel's come-on to Vaska, for example, was inspired by Violet's initial attempt to seduce Corky), and was steered in the direction of how to end the fic.
All in all, it was a fun experiment (though I'm almost certain it was nowhere near as porny as the requester might have wanted).
Yet another question I'm going to answer with "Yes and no."
The 'no' part is that I've never set out specifically to adapt something. The 'yes' part is that, when attempting to fill a anonymous prompt on the warcraftkink comm — "blood elf mage lezzes it up in Ramakhan" — I realized that the idea of two women teaming up to defeat the men who have scammed/controlled/threatened them sort of reminded me of Bound. ~ Once I noticed that similarity, I began to edge in little details (such as the mage wearing only violet). As the fill turned into a multichapter femslash action adventure (Salvage Operation), I began to work in conversations and scenes from the movie (Cyndriel's come-on to Vaska, for example, was inspired by Violet's initial attempt to seduce Corky), and was steered in the direction of how to end the fic.
All in all, it was a fun experiment (though I'm almost certain it was nowhere near as porny as the requester might have wanted).
Week 10: Pairings: Have you ever gone outside your comfort zone and written a pairing you liked, but found you couldn't write, or a pairing you didn't like, and found you could?
Yes to both.
Ages ago I promised a giftfic to someone. They wanted T/J slash. I could see the potential—canonically, the two are goofy, rowdy, very loyal best friends—but I just couldn't write it. At all. Months went by. Guilt accumulated. I finally had to bring in a third character, a sort of frenemy of them both, who more or less tricks T into a seme-off to see who can please J more.
In 2011 I participated in a multi-round fanfiction contest solely to push my comfort zone. Every round a new pairing was revealed, and I had 2 weeks to write something for it. Because I'd typically focused most of my fics on only a few characters in the canon, chances were that most of the rounds I was going to have to not only write characters I'd never written before, but in pairings that hadn't ever been on my radar (and a lot more quickly than I usually write). ~ As it turned out, my most popular fic in that fandom came from that contest, and involved characters I'd never written before.
Yes to both.
Ages ago I promised a giftfic to someone. They wanted T/J slash. I could see the potential—canonically, the two are goofy, rowdy, very loyal best friends—but I just couldn't write it. At all. Months went by. Guilt accumulated. I finally had to bring in a third character, a sort of frenemy of them both, who more or less tricks T into a seme-off to see who can please J more.
In 2011 I participated in a multi-round fanfiction contest solely to push my comfort zone. Every round a new pairing was revealed, and I had 2 weeks to write something for it. Because I'd typically focused most of my fics on only a few characters in the canon, chances were that most of the rounds I was going to have to not only write characters I'd never written before, but in pairings that hadn't ever been on my radar (and a lot more quickly than I usually write). ~ As it turned out, my most popular fic in that fandom came from that contest, and involved characters I'd never written before.
[MEME] 30 Weeks of Fanfic: OCs
29 Mar 2015 10:41 amWeek 8: Do you write OCs? If so, what do you do to make certain they're not Mary Sues? If not, explain your thoughts on OCs.
I do now and again. I hope that they escape Suedom by almost always* being minor characters.
I view OCs like cameos or supporting roles in a movie (or quest-givers in videogames): they're there for a scene or two to move the plot along, provide bits of exposition or color, or give the main character(s) someone to talk or react to. They might flirt with/hit on/sleep with the MC, but it's never going to develop into a Serious Relationship.
------
*Except for my two earliest fanfics (in which the OCs were main or nearly-main characters) and my chaptered femslash promptfic Salvage Operation, which was OC/OC in an action-adventure Indiana Jones-type setting.
I do now and again. I hope that they escape Suedom by almost always* being minor characters.
I view OCs like cameos or supporting roles in a movie (or quest-givers in videogames): they're there for a scene or two to move the plot along, provide bits of exposition or color, or give the main character(s) someone to talk or react to. They might flirt with/hit on/sleep with the MC, but it's never going to develop into a Serious Relationship.
------
*Except for my two earliest fanfics (in which the OCs were main or nearly-main characters) and my chaptered femslash promptfic Salvage Operation, which was OC/OC in an action-adventure Indiana Jones-type setting.
Week 7: Have you ever had a fic change your opinion of a character?
In general, whatever "external input" gives me my first impression of a character tends to stick, whether it's consuming the canon or reading in a fandom before I see/read the canon it belongs to. In the latter case, most of the time I've been lucky enough to read fics that accurately captured the canon in a very IC way (almost every Eroica fic written or archived by Kadorienne, for example). The only time that reading before viewing led me astray and set me up for disappointment was in Arslan: most fics featuring Daryun/Narsus made them seem almost canon, which… they really didn't seem to be when I finally saw the anime, even with my slash goggles set to the highest setting.
Writing is more of a 'Yes'. When there are characters I have to write—characters I previously had little to no interest in (or knowledge of)—for a contest, an exchange, or because canonically they need to be in a story, the process of digging and poking almost always gives them enough new dimensions that they become interesting. This happened with several characters in Seed, with a handful of characters I had to write for the YGOFF contest (primarily the Bakurae), with Pegasus and Jounouchi in the Temenos stories, and with Rommath and Astalor in Deceiver.
In general, whatever "external input" gives me my first impression of a character tends to stick, whether it's consuming the canon or reading in a fandom before I see/read the canon it belongs to. In the latter case, most of the time I've been lucky enough to read fics that accurately captured the canon in a very IC way (almost every Eroica fic written or archived by Kadorienne, for example). The only time that reading before viewing led me astray and set me up for disappointment was in Arslan: most fics featuring Daryun/Narsus made them seem almost canon, which… they really didn't seem to be when I finally saw the anime, even with my slash goggles set to the highest setting.
Writing is more of a 'Yes'. When there are characters I have to write—characters I previously had little to no interest in (or knowledge of)—for a contest, an exchange, or because canonically they need to be in a story, the process of digging and poking almost always gives them enough new dimensions that they become interesting. This happened with several characters in Seed, with a handful of characters I had to write for the YGOFF contest (primarily the Bakurae), with Pegasus and Jounouchi in the Temenos stories, and with Rommath and Astalor in Deceiver.
Week 5: If you have ever had a character try to push their way into a fic, whether your "muse" or not, what did you do about it?
I've rarely had this happen with a character who wasn't slated to be in the fic in the first place. The few characters that have suddenly burst into full bloom have almost always been minor canon or original characters who are only there to provide structure, atmosphere, bits of exposition, or momentum primarily by giving the MC someone to talk and react to (i.e., the written equivalent of props and set dressing); examples are the two captains (and especially Captain Nan) in World's Worst; Noroshi in Face Voice Hands; Magus Ramalket in Deceiver.
I generally let Unexpectedly Lively Characters have free rein to see how they'll behave and where they'll go, as I think that a character that's sparked for me might be more interesting for readers as well. The only time I can think of that I have sidelined such characters was the first draft of Chapter 7 of World's Worst. Two OCs there—Tessa and Ironhewn—came from nowhere and were certainly a lot of fun to write, but ultimately they were cut because, not only did they slow the narrative down, I had no idea where to take them after their first appearence.
I've rarely had this happen with a character who wasn't slated to be in the fic in the first place. The few characters that have suddenly burst into full bloom have almost always been minor canon or original characters who are only there to provide structure, atmosphere, bits of exposition, or momentum primarily by giving the MC someone to talk and react to (i.e., the written equivalent of props and set dressing); examples are the two captains (and especially Captain Nan) in World's Worst; Noroshi in Face Voice Hands; Magus Ramalket in Deceiver.
I generally let Unexpectedly Lively Characters have free rein to see how they'll behave and where they'll go, as I think that a character that's sparked for me might be more interesting for readers as well. The only time I can think of that I have sidelined such characters was the first draft of Chapter 7 of World's Worst. Two OCs there—Tessa and Ironhewn—came from nowhere and were certainly a lot of fun to write, but ultimately they were cut because, not only did they slow the narrative down, I had no idea where to take them after their first appearence.
[MEME] 30 Weeks of Fanfic: Muses
1 Mar 2015 05:22 amWeek 4: Do you have a "muse" character, who speaks to you more than others, or who tries to push their way in, even when the fic isn't about them? Who are they, and why did that character became your muse?
The short answer: No.
The longer answer: Yes, but only in a limited sense. Now and then I do find a minor character unexpectedly asserting themselves and becoming more vivid in my mind's-eye than I thought they would—this happened with Captain Nan in World's Worst, and seems to be happening with Astalor in Deceiver—but as for appearing in every fic? No.
I'm not sure I'm accurately comprehending the concept of 'muse' as addressed by this question anyhow, as my experience of it within the context of fandom has generally been that it's invoked to justify lengthy conversations with one or more entities about how hopped-up on sugar the writer is. This is something I've always found mildly annoying (albeit harmless), but it's certainly colored the connotation of the term for me.
The short answer: No.
The longer answer: Yes, but only in a limited sense. Now and then I do find a minor character unexpectedly asserting themselves and becoming more vivid in my mind's-eye than I thought they would—this happened with Captain Nan in World's Worst, and seems to be happening with Astalor in Deceiver—but as for appearing in every fic? No.
I'm not sure I'm accurately comprehending the concept of 'muse' as addressed by this question anyhow, as my experience of it within the context of fandom has generally been that it's invoked to justify lengthy conversations with one or more entities about how hopped-up on sugar the writer is. This is something I've always found mildly annoying (albeit harmless), but it's certainly colored the connotation of the term for me.
My "28 Minutes" method
10 Feb 2015 07:26 amAs much as I love to write, even with almost ideal surroundings it usually takes me a while to get started unless I have a looming deadline or I'm in that too-rare PUT DOWN WORDS RIGHT NOW! throe of inspiration.
Obviously, since I wrote for a living for 25 years, I've had to come up with various strategies to compensate for my lack of discipline.
Here's the most recent.
( A flowchart sort of thing. )
I can't recall how I arrived at this, but most likely it was on one of the rare days when I had the house to myself. When that happens I feel a real pressure not to 'waste' any of my windfall of hours, but of course that's when my Inner Brat kicks up and rebels against Should and I fritter away and faff about and generally waste time (all the while being extremely pissed at myself). ~ The 28 Minute Rule is essentially carrot-and-stick for that mulish brat: "Write for less than a half-hour and then you can go back to staring at the Shiny Distractions."
It's working, at least for the moment. *g*
(And if nothing else, sticking to it ensures that you spend at least half your time writing.)
P.S. As I was writing up this post it occurred to me that this idea may have gestated from my fond memories of the 20-minute word wars in the #yuletide IRC channel a few years ago.
If you try this for yourself and it works, let me know!
Obviously, since I wrote for a living for 25 years, I've had to come up with various strategies to compensate for my lack of discipline.
Here's the most recent.
( A flowchart sort of thing. )
I can't recall how I arrived at this, but most likely it was on one of the rare days when I had the house to myself. When that happens I feel a real pressure not to 'waste' any of my windfall of hours, but of course that's when my Inner Brat kicks up and rebels against Should and I fritter away and faff about and generally waste time (all the while being extremely pissed at myself). ~ The 28 Minute Rule is essentially carrot-and-stick for that mulish brat: "Write for less than a half-hour and then you can go back to staring at the Shiny Distractions."
It's working, at least for the moment. *g*
(And if nothing else, sticking to it ensures that you spend at least half your time writing.)
P.S. As I was writing up this post it occurred to me that this idea may have gestated from my fond memories of the 20-minute word wars in the #yuletide IRC channel a few years ago.
If you try this for yourself and it works, let me know!
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trope_bingo ok so here's my card:
( trope bingo card )
But here's where it gets interesting: for a lark, I decided to combine the prompts from this with the
genprompt_bingo card I picked up a a few weeks ago — and amazingly, most of the combinations were entirely do-able.Finally, I added in the prompts from my round 3 (2012)
hc_bingo card (I didn't get a card in round 4, and they're closed to cards right now) and my "fluff" bingo card.http://trope-bingo.dreamwidth.org/97854.html?thread=1056574#cmt1056574
http://genprompt-bingo.dreamwidth.org/1299.html?thread=4371#cmt4371
http://hc-bingo.dreamwidth.org/35915.html?thread=341579#cmt341579
http://cottoncandy-bingo.dreamwidth.org/2014/02/01/round-two-signups.html?thread=504308#cmt504308
Sorry Kael
7 Nov 2011 05:48 pmThe news that Asric and Jadaar will be on Darkmoon Island just ...well, I haven't been bitten so hard by MUST WRITE THIS NAO fever for ... well, for several months.
Asric and Jadaar as roustabouts! Running booths! Nabbing pickpockets! and partaking of free ale for employees~!
(Whee, maybe there was mold on the bread I used for that sandwich, because I'm inexplicably giddy.)
Asric and Jadaar as roustabouts! Running booths! Nabbing pickpockets! and partaking of free ale for employees~!
(Whee, maybe there was mold on the bread I used for that sandwich, because I'm inexplicably giddy.)
I love you, Kink Bingo, I really do
7 Jun 2010 12:37 pmI am having an absolutely wonderful time with this.
So far, two Crimson Spell fics (both sort of humorous, I hope). One angsty Gankutsuou that practically exploded from me last night. ~ Two more CS fics (in progress, as part I and part II of the same story using side-by-side prompts) and I'll have my first BINGO!
It's interesting. Because the fics *can* be short (the 500 word limit is cake) -- well, almost NEED to be short (in order to get 25 of them done) I'm not agonizing and fretting as much over setup, motivation and so on.
~ Despite my natural internal word-counter that clicks to "enough" around 3,000 words, so far these much shorter pieces don't feel that truncated. (Probably because I've come up with relatively good last lines.) Yes, the titles are all sort of lame, but eh.
~ none of the prompts scare me too much. The technology one is a little iffy (as is historical roleplay, but I have vague ideas for both). Happily, I didn't get mpreg. :p
~ so far, I'm most pleased with the Gankutsuou one. They all can use a bit more work and polish (and flessssssh ;p) but the bone structure is there.
Fics (and my bingo card of themes) are posted (f-locked til they go up on the KB site).
So far, two Crimson Spell fics (both sort of humorous, I hope). One angsty Gankutsuou that practically exploded from me last night. ~ Two more CS fics (in progress, as part I and part II of the same story using side-by-side prompts) and I'll have my first BINGO!
It's interesting. Because the fics *can* be short (the 500 word limit is cake) -- well, almost NEED to be short (in order to get 25 of them done) I'm not agonizing and fretting as much over setup, motivation and so on.
~ Despite my natural internal word-counter that clicks to "enough" around 3,000 words, so far these much shorter pieces don't feel that truncated. (Probably because I've come up with relatively good last lines.) Yes, the titles are all sort of lame, but eh.
~ none of the prompts scare me too much. The technology one is a little iffy (as is historical roleplay, but I have vague ideas for both). Happily, I didn't get mpreg. :p
~ so far, I'm most pleased with the Gankutsuou one. They all can use a bit more work and polish (and flessssssh ;p) but the bone structure is there.
Fics (and my bingo card of themes) are posted (f-locked til they go up on the KB site).
Just had one of those ...
6 Apr 2010 07:14 pm... "I'm sure everyone's thought of this but me" moments.
Every time I get a random idea / chunk / paragraph oh-ho moment .. I just plonk it in a Private entry "for later" - this way, it's written out, easy to find, and retains the original light bulb date even after being copied and pasted and tossed into the WIP.
Every time I get a random idea / chunk / paragraph oh-ho moment .. I just plonk it in a Private entry "for later" - this way, it's written out, easy to find, and retains the original light bulb date even after being copied and pasted and tossed into the WIP.
The joy of wicked ideas
2 Apr 2010 12:55 pmThere are few pleasures like getting smacked upside the head by an idea that just gets ... juicier and more wicked the more you freewrite about it.
Hm, this calls for a "the cat that ate the canary" userpic. ;p
* whistles *
Hm, this calls for a "the cat that ate the canary" userpic. ;p
* whistles *