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Jenn did this, and her answers are so interesting and helpful to me and my poor writerly ego, that I had to go ahead and answer them myself.
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
The cracky ones come from conversations, jokes, combining two unusual things--if you give me a mismatched pair of ideas, it is much more likely that I will come up with a crackfic than anything else. Other ideas seem to descend out of thin air. And there are images, themes, and lyrics that resonate with me until somehow, a fic is formed. Can I make an idea show up? Not really. But if I'm looking for something, sometimes I find it.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Yes. Those are the ones I sit down without any idea of where I'm going, and I just start writing. Pages later, I have a fic. It's happened about...three times, I think, and I like all those fics still, though they met with varying success. (Reversal, the prequel to "First Flight", and Impossible (Sliders fic))
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Usually writer's block happens when I've written myself an impossible situation. I just have to figure out how I went wrong, fix it, and try not to tear out too much hair. But it usually ends up being worth it eventually.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
Yes, and no. I like tweaking, but i hate the large-scale stuff. Word choice, punctuation, spelling--those are fun. Simple. Clean. Story flow? Erg. I do get in the mood for it sometimes, though.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
Let's ask Annerb. If she were here, she'd tell you--"oh, heck, yes." Those stupid things. Endings suck. But I usually know when I've found it. Readers don't always agree, but that's because they don't understand the meaning of the phrase, "Satisfying UST."
...Am I being bitchy tonight? I feel like I'm being bitchy.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
I feel bad taking titles from song titles/lyrics. I always feel very transparent. That being said, sometimes it's necessary. Also, I never have a title while I'm writing--it usually takes me until I'm about to post the damn thing. And I'm not very creative. Sometimes I just pick a title I can remember.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
What is this plot you speak of? Actually, I do usually plot out stories, but um...I'm not very good at it. I always, always end up changing the main thrust of the story along the way...barring the three unusual fics mentioned above, and the little ficlets that only have one main thrust. (Hee. I so wasn't thinking of the double meaning to that one).
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
I usually start out with an idea of who I need to follow for the story to work. I either think about it ahead of time, or write myself into a corner fairly quickly. But if I follow the initial idea, it always straightens itself out. And sometimes a story is made by thinking about someone's point of view in relationship to a particular idea or event.
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
They do! I particularly like ones where I have an idea hit me right away. ;-) But I also like thinking about them for a while and then sitting down to write without knowing where I'll end up. I think of them as puzzles to solve, trying to fit the pieces together into a coherent whole. Oh, wow. I'm tired.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
Hmmm...I'd have to say yes. And no. because sometimes it's hard to move beyond "insert tab a into slot b. Repeat." But it can also be amazing to put together two characters and explore their interactions and reactions in an intimate situation.
And that's me!
Ideas. Where the hell do they come from? Can you make those little fuckers show up?
The cracky ones come from conversations, jokes, combining two unusual things--if you give me a mismatched pair of ideas, it is much more likely that I will come up with a crackfic than anything else. Other ideas seem to descend out of thin air. And there are images, themes, and lyrics that resonate with me until somehow, a fic is formed. Can I make an idea show up? Not really. But if I'm looking for something, sometimes I find it.
Wild horse-bunnies. When a story just gets pulled right out of you. Do you get them?
Yes. Those are the ones I sit down without any idea of where I'm going, and I just start writing. Pages later, I have a fic. It's happened about...three times, I think, and I like all those fics still, though they met with varying success. (Reversal, the prequel to "First Flight", and Impossible (Sliders fic))
Writer's block. Have you been scourged?
Usually writer's block happens when I've written myself an impossible situation. I just have to figure out how I went wrong, fix it, and try not to tear out too much hair. But it usually ends up being worth it eventually.
Clean up duty. Do you like editing?
Yes, and no. I like tweaking, but i hate the large-scale stuff. Word choice, punctuation, spelling--those are fun. Simple. Clean. Story flow? Erg. I do get in the mood for it sometimes, though.
The ending. Is it hard for you to find the ending?
Let's ask Annerb. If she were here, she'd tell you--"oh, heck, yes." Those stupid things. Endings suck. But I usually know when I've found it. Readers don't always agree, but that's because they don't understand the meaning of the phrase, "Satisfying UST."
...Am I being bitchy tonight? I feel like I'm being bitchy.
The title. Where do you get yours? Do you have yours when you start the story?
I feel bad taking titles from song titles/lyrics. I always feel very transparent. That being said, sometimes it's necessary. Also, I never have a title while I'm writing--it usually takes me until I'm about to post the damn thing. And I'm not very creative. Sometimes I just pick a title I can remember.
Plot. If you plot out your stories first, raise your hand.
What is this plot you speak of? Actually, I do usually plot out stories, but um...I'm not very good at it. I always, always end up changing the main thrust of the story along the way...barring the three unusual fics mentioned above, and the little ficlets that only have one main thrust. (Hee. I so wasn't thinking of the double meaning to that one).
POV. How do you choose your POV for a scene? For a story?
I usually start out with an idea of who I need to follow for the story to work. I either think about it ahead of time, or write myself into a corner fairly quickly. But if I follow the initial idea, it always straightens itself out. And sometimes a story is made by thinking about someone's point of view in relationship to a particular idea or event.
Challenge. Do you like them? Do they inspire you?
They do! I particularly like ones where I have an idea hit me right away. ;-) But I also like thinking about them for a while and then sitting down to write without knowing where I'll end up. I think of them as puzzles to solve, trying to fit the pieces together into a coherent whole. Oh, wow. I'm tired.
Sex. Do you like writing sex?
Hmmm...I'd have to say yes. And no. because sometimes it's hard to move beyond "insert tab a into slot b. Repeat." But it can also be amazing to put together two characters and explore their interactions and reactions in an intimate situation.
And that's me!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 07:32 am (UTC)From:And I don't think you're bitchy.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 08:52 pm (UTC)From:...where did all my capitals go?
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 02:06 pm (UTC)From:Bwah!
And, yes, titles are the evilest thing on the planet.
Is that why you like Sam/Vala so much? There is no Tab A for Slot B so you can be all sorts of creative? ;)
Yay writing meme!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 06:33 pm (UTC)From:Bwah!
Look, I caught my redundancy ahead of time. I was going to say precisely that.
That's one of the reasons I like what you write so much! So all those other people, of course they're just very silly and lack imagination. *g*
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 08:54 pm (UTC)From:Whether you're writing to me or Abyssis, flattery will get you everywhere in this journal! *g*
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 09:30 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 08:53 pm (UTC)From:I think Sam/Vala is all about the what-if, the pitting of the "good" girl against the naughty one. I'm still not very creative with their sex.
Oh, well. Something to work on.
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 02:43 pm (UTC)From:Amen!
no subject
Date: 2008-01-26 08:54 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2008-01-27 05:59 am (UTC)From:*makes T-shirts for all!*
no subject
Date: 2008-01-27 07:02 am (UTC)From: